This article aims to examine the nature of “community” in community gardens and to
also assess their community-building capacity. It applies a social capital framework to do
this. The paper argues that different types of community may form in and around community
gardens. This difference may impact on who it is that benefits from the social capital
generated by them. The rest of the article is structured as follows. It begins by reviewing
some of the definitional issues around the terms community and community garden. The
social capital framework applied for the study is then outlined and the research methodology
is briefly explained. The paper then presents results from two case-study community
gardens, both of which are based in or around Nottingham, a city in the East Midlands
region of the UK. The two case studies represent typical examples of two types of community
garden, one which is more “place-based” and another which is more “interest-based”.
The case material reflects these two types, although it recognises that these types may not
always map neatly on to one garden. They thus represent dominant influences in terms of
community building. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this work for
policy-makers and practitioners. It also suggests areas for future research.