Ideas for seeing and caring for gardens as living systems.
03. Talks & Learning
Through illustrated talks, practical resources and developing workshops, I help people understand the relationships between soil, plants, wildlife, food, people and time.
Creating a Living Garden is my established talk and is available to book now. I can also develop talks and tailored sessions around related subjects for groups with a particular interest or audience.
Practical workshops, live online learning and courses will develop gradually from this work.
Available to book
Creating a Living Garden
What changes when we stop treating a garden as a collection of separate features and begin to understand it as a living system?
Creating a Living Garden explores the relationships that allow gardens to become beautiful, productive and rich in life. Drawing on practical experience, ecological thinking and examples from real gardens, it offers a different way of seeing - and a useful basis for deciding how to act.
The talk is structured around the principles of the Living Garden Approach, which help people move beyond isolated gardening tips and begin to understand how soil, planting, wildlife, seasonal change and human activity influence one another.
The emphasis is practical and hopeful. A Living Garden does not require perfection or a complete redesign; it begins with closer observation and more thoughtful choices.
Suitable for:
garden clubs and horticultural societies;
community and environmental organisations;
schools and educational groups;
allotment and food-growing groups;
landowners and rural organisations;
venues and events with an interest in gardens, ecology or sustainability.
The talk can be delivered in person or online, with time for questions and discussion.
Tailored sessions
A growing body of subjects
I can develop talks or tailored sessions for groups where the subject fits my experience and the wider Living Garden approach. The exact emphasis can respond to the interests, knowledge and setting of the audience.
If your group has a particular subject in mind, please get in touch to discuss whether I can create an appropriate session.
Possible themes
Ways of Seeing: learning to read a garden as a living system;
Soil and biodiversity: understanding the life beneath and around us;
Seasonal stewardship: knowing what to do, when to act and when to wait;
Ecological food growing: connecting productive gardening with soil, habitat and diversity;
Orchards, trees and habitat: caring for productive landscapes as living communities;
Relationships in the garden: companion planting, intercropping and ecological connections.
The Living Gardens Starter Guide
A free place to begin
The Living Gardens Starter Guide is a downloadable introduction to observing and caring for a garden as a living system.
It introduces some of the ideas behind my talks and writing, helping readers look more closely at their own gardens and identify thoughtful first steps.
The Guide is suitable for anyone who wants to begin applying the Living Garden approach at home, whether they are caring for an established garden, an allotment or a new space.
Learning through practice and conversation
Workshops and courses
I am currently developing practical workshops, live online sessions and courses around the Living Garden approach.
These will begin with subjects that emerge most strongly from my talks, writing and practical work. Possible areas include observation, soil, biodiversity, productive gardening and seasonal stewardship.
I will announce each workshop or learning opportunity when its subject, format and date are confirmed.
Planning a talk or learning event?
Next steps
Tell me about your organisation, audience, preferred date, location or online format, and expected audience size.
You do not need to know which talk you require before getting in touch.