Work has finally started on my local primary school wildlife forest garden. There is a lot to do, the plan is for a seating area held by a gabion horseshoe-shaped wall, which will have integral seating and wildlife habitat (think bee logs, hoverfly lagoons etc). And then there's the labyrinth, the fruit trees, the native wild flowers….

It could be overwhelming but as the saying goes, “bird by bird”.

I’m very interested in the labyrinth. I hope to use recycled self-binding gravel as the hard standing material for the paths and seating area. It’s great, as it doesn’t require a plastic membrane and provides habitat for certain species of solitary bee. The idea is to use it for the labyrinth as well, and then form the shape using a different aggregate like crushed concrete, and grow Wild Thyme or another low profile native wild flower.

If you’re interested in the detail, I have some notes and designs online at grwd.uk/primary

Forest Garden Primer class 🥳

It is party time, I have finished my new short class, the Forest Garden Primer! It’s only 20 minutes long but crams an awful lot in to a very little timespace. Use the discount code EARLYBIRDPRIMER to get 50% off, which means it will be £2 rather than £3.99.

In West Wales, we have had two days of intermittent rain in the past 7 weeks and it’s only mid-June. Now is the time for dramatic action on the Climate Crisis. For gardens, this means growing native plants & resilient perennial crops and creating wildlife habitat to counteract the massive loss to ecosystems caused by industrial agriculture.

This means planting trees in urban areas, to provide shelter, and clean and cool the air. It means creating wildlife allotments, so that everyone has access to green space to grow food, no matter where they live.

For economics, this means taking essential services (water, electricity, telecoms, travel) back into public ownership. The profit motive is only delivering dividends and bonuses, not the investment in the resilient infrastructure we require. Look at what is happening to the water supply in Kent. Look at the state of the River Wye.

I am going to start shifting the focus of my work toward climate activism. Yes, forest gardens are activism (the original Woke Gardening 😛) but they are even more powerful when delivered as a common good, properly funded and organised by and for the people.

Forest garden photos

Inspirational quote

“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

YouTube latest

I am very proud of this video, my first every YouTube Short ie it’s under 60 seconds. A good summary of what makes a dead hedge. And my 12yo edited the video as well!

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Big list of handy resources

Head over to my resources page natureworks.org.uk/resources

Quick links

Roots and All - My favourite podcast: always listening, always learning
A Letter from a Million Years Past - Korean native plant herbal garden at Chelsea this year
Saving moths may be just as important as saving the bees
The Lost Forest Gardens of Europe
Espalier - An Ancient Perennial Edible Art Project

Hire me

Wildlife and food forest garden designer for hire, remote design a speciality. Prices online.

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