Nor'West News: March 03, 2022

6
Thursday March 3 2022
The instigator of smiles and his garden
• By Fiona Ellis and John
Cosgrove
ALTHOUGH HE gives away
his home-grown fruits and
vegetables to the community,
Mark Leighs does not see himself
as a gardener.
Instead, the St Albans resident
sees himself as an instigator of
smiles. His Dover Courts garden
contains items of whimsy with
which he aims to brighten the
day of passers-by.
“If you can make one person
smile in tough times, that’s not a
bad thing, is it?” Leighs said.
His favourite items were the
superhero-inspired scarecrows,
although they were not as well
made as some of his other installations.
“That’s simply because of
the reactions they get from the
youngsters that go by, and the
parents with their even younger
ones.”
Iron Man and Superman currently
watch over the garden,
with a possible Spider-Man to
join later.
Just the day before, some children
had walked past, and their
eyes had lit up as they pointed
out the scarecrows.
“Big pay cheque right there. It’s
not a monetary pay cheque . . .
but it’s a hell of a pay cheque.”
The garden also contains
poetry by Robert Frost and Spike
Milligan, as well as Leighs’ own
compositions under the pen
EYE-CATCHING: Mark Leighs aims to brighten people’s days with his St Albans garden,
which is a blend of flowers, produce and recycled installations. PHOTO: STAR MEDIA
name Omar Kiam.
Proving the adage that one
person’s trash is another person’s
treasure, Leigh has incorporated
second-hand items into the
displays.
“I go for walks and I do the opshop
circuit and a lot of them have
junk outside the front for free.”
Some junk still had life in
them. For example, he found two
rubber ducks for the garden this
way.
“To be able to create something
that can make at least one
other person in my little community
go ‘oh cool’ well, that’s a
win for me.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has
caused Leighs to spend more
time in the garden.
“When we were all locked
down I got into taking conscious
effort in my garden.”
Until that point, he knew only
a little about gardening, as it was
not a hobby he’d had the time to
cultivate.
He liked the fact it was an activity
that anyone could do that
required little money.
Among the crops were corn,
tomatoes, strawberries, beans,
rhubarb, peas, and cabbages.
“I used to just do veggies but
then I realised that bees don’t eat
veggies as much as humans.”
Now he also grew flowers as
part of a “balanced” garden.
A sign notified people the
home-grown bounty was free
and invited them to help themselves
to items in the garden
fridge.
This was in part a homage to
a man he remembered from his
childhood, who had a market
garden but also gave away snack
items, such as carrots.
“Of course, I have a nice
munch now and then.”
Leighs also has a desire to give
back to the community. This is
because he lives in council housing
subsidised by the public, so
he wants to give something in
return.
People of all walks of life were
struggling due to the Covid-19
pandemic, he said.
A former street kid, he empathised
with people who were
experiencing difficulties.
“Times are tough out there.”
He hoped people would come
away from his garden with
something to eat, a smile, or even
the inspiration to go and create
something themselves.
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