A bar manager who calls himself the Cloud Gardener has turned the balcony of his 18th floor Deansgate apartment into a horticultural haven.
Jason Williams, who is originally from London, started his ‘Cloud Garden’ in lockdown last year with just one or two plants but by the summer his garden had blossomed into a bounty of vegetables and even has its own pond.
Tending such a garden has kept Jason busy, but finding his green fingers has also helped him tackle his mental health issues.
“I deal with anxiety and depression and gardening really helps me to create a routine,” he told The Manc.
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“I just found that being with nature really balances me.”
The Cloud Garden has everything from cauliflower and kale to strawberries
Laying the groundwork wasn’t easy, however. ‘Cloud Gardening’ is an entirely different ball game to gardening at ground level.
At 18 storeys high, the Cloud Garden has its own climate, with temperatures around 15 degrees higher than on ground level. This means the cloud garden has its own seasons so traditional rules on when to plant seedlings do not apply.
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Not only does the Cloud Garden have a different climate, there aren’t any insects up there, either – so Jason has had to create his own ecosystem by introducing lace-wing larvae to pollinate his plants.
When Jason first started he struggled to find any advice on balcony gardening, which he learned has completely different rules to traditional horticulture.
He said: “I had to come to terms with the fact that my growing space is completely different and so it requires a completely different mindset.”
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In 2021, Jason learned as he went and decided to share his newfound wisdom by setting up a Cloud Gardener YouTube channel.
Not only does Cloud Gardener UK share gardening tips, it also posts vlogs with open, honest conversations about mental health in the hope of normalising these discussions.
“Living in Deansgate I have such an amazing view and I see so many balconies that are just not used,” he stated.
Local gardeners at the Sale Slug and Lettuce plant swap
Jason’s Cloud Garden has attracted attention from all over the world. And it’s proved to be an inspiration.
One American couple had given up on gardening because their plants kept getting attacked by pests, but decided to give landscaping at high levels a go after discovering Jason’s channel.
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They said it ‘brought joy back into their lives’.
More content is appearing on the channel all the time.
Not only does Jason promote the benefits of gardening for improving mental health, he is also invested in the local community – creating a garden in the bar he manages, the Sale Slug and Lettuce.
Local residents donate plants to the garden and on every third Sunday of the month Jason organises a plant and seed swap at the bar, where gardeners can meet up and share their expertise.
The event has been a roaring success and for the next event Jason has booked out half of his beer garden to accommodate all of the guests.
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“I started my YouTube channel this year just to show people what can be achieved in such a small urban environment,” he stated.
“It’s my dream that through Cloud Gardener UK I can help others to not suffer in silence and give them the strength to open up.”
Shoppers report getting stuck for FIVE HOURS in Manchester Arndale car park
Daisy Jackson
Shoppers in the city centre say it took almost five hours to exit the Manchester Arndale’s multi-storey car parks this weekend.
Motorists say they were crawling along in the multi-storey car park for hours on end.
One person slammed the lack of management of the parking complex after spending ‘four hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic’.
Another ‘trapped’ shopper said they arrived back to their car at 5pm but didn’t manage to actually exit the Arndale car park until 9.40pm last night.
@manarndale We currently seem to be trapped in the multi storey parking complex. We arrived back at our car at 5pm and it is now 8pm, we are on level 12. To illustrate how things are going the arrow is over a car which at 5pm was in the yellow square, so 5 spaces in that time. pic.twitter.com/CLp0Yjw5oR
They even helpfully shared a diagram showing that a car in front had travelled only ‘five spaces’ in the space of three hours.
One tweet showed someone timing their journey (or lack of) on their phone, racking up an eye-watering five hours, three minutes and two seconds in the multi-storey.
@MENnewsdesk I think have officially broken the record for the longest time trying to exit the Arndale Car Park on Saturday 26th November. It took us 5 hours 3 minutes to get from Level 12 to the exit. It is not fit for purpose Manchester Council!! FUMING! pic.twitter.com/VK6sTBX9N2
Other images show cars snaked back on the spiralled ramp leading in and out of the space.
They wrote: “Can someone come and help in the Arndale carpark! On floor 11 and we have been static for 1hr. Most expensive carpark I’ve ever been in and now I can’t get out.
One person tweeted: “Never again. A nightmare being stuck in your car park yesterday for 4 hours!!!! Bumper to bumper traffic queues, no management from staff, wasted fuel, extortionate fees! Babies, children, disabled & elderly all trapped. Disgusting (none) management!”
Replying to several people on Twitter, they said: “Hi – we’re sorry to hear about your experience. The car park adjacent to us is owned & managed by @ManCityCouncil.
“We believe the congestion was due to traffic flow on the surrounding streets. If you have any other queries we would recommend you contact the Council directly.”
TfGM’s Head of Highways, Peter Boulton, said: “Manchester is a top destination and with a number of events and the Christmas markets adding to the usual retail and leisure offering, the last couple of weekends have seen increased numbers of people travelling into the city centre by both car and public transport.
“We’d encourage anyone coming to Manchester to think about how they are going to get in, around and out of the city and to plan their journey in advance, avoiding the busiest times and routes where possible.”
MASSIVE crowds seen blocking tram tracks outside Manchester Arndale last night with reports of fireworks being thrown
Daisy Jackson
Huge crowds of young people were seen swarming around the Manchester Arndale last night causing chaos, with reports of fireworks being thrown.
The chaotic scenes saw tram lines blocked, with trams having to move slowly through Exchange Square.
Witnesses say there were as many as 700 people crowded outside the shopping centre with police trying to break up the gathering.
There were also reports of alarms being set off inside the Arndale and fireworks being thrown around.
Councillor Pat Karney, who shared a video from Exchange Square on Sunday evening, told the Manchester Evening Newsthat people in the crowd were as young as nine years old.
Down at Exchange Sq. We are monitoring very large numbers of young people. Causing delay on the trams and lots of them asked to leave the Arndale. pic.twitter.com/P6TtTMvEGS
He said to the paper: “It’s surprising just how young some of the travellers are that are coming down to the Arndale, I would say as young as nine, up to about 16-years-old.
“The majority have just been parading up and down Cross Street and Market Street, the problems mainly lie with the minority who have been setting off alarms in the Arndale and throwing fireworks around. Others have been standing on the tram tracks in Exchange Square and staff have had to pilot trams in and out.
“It is a Christmas headache that we don’t need. There must have been around 700 of them. Some were causing havoc and nuisance inside the Arndale so the police had to come down and help disperse the crowds and security staff at the Arndale threw a lot of them out too.”
Olivia Stringer -
29th April 2021 
