Workshop: Gardening for Biodiversity in a Climate Crisis
This forward-thinking workshop is an opportunity to rethink our approaches to garden maintenance, planting, and all traditional gardening practices. As gardeners and allotmenteers, we often forget we act as custodians not only of the land but also of its inhabitants. While traditional gardening encourages us to 'sanitise' our spaces by removing a range of ‘threats’, this works to alienate our wildlife and contribute to its decline.
This workshop explores what role gardeners can play in enhancing the miraculous relationship between the plants and animals in our spaces. During the session you will gain insight into simple, achievable actions that can help you to encourage biodiversity in your garden and learn to adopt a more relaxed attitude to the way you manage your space. Alongside practical demonstrations of our own radical ‘nature-first’ approach, we aim to discuss current trends in sustainable gardening, with a critical approach to their impact. The session will leave you confident in moving beyond simply ‘organic’ or ‘chemical free’, into embracing the wild, without sacrificing what is most valuable to you in your space.
‘If something is not eating your plants, then your garden is not part of the ecosystem’: alternative approaches to pest and disease management
Creating habitats, forage, and water
Introduction to some projects for the wildlife gardener: ponds, bee banks, wildflower meadows
Holistic garden practices: dead-hedging, composting and mess!
Meet Jack (he/him)
Jack is a Garden Education Officer at Walworth Garden, teaching students on our Level 2 Practical Horticulture Skills Diploma course. He lives in South London and explores building complex ecosystems through experimental planting and habitat creation to benefit people and wildlife.
Price: £92
Note for Southwark residents: Our weekend workshops are now available by paid booking only. We are no longer able to offer free places due to the discontinuation of external funding. We hope to offer free places again at some point in the future.