Introducing the Hope Garden

And breathe…

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# Introducing the Hope Garden

_Community space at the heart<br>of a wildlife forest garden 💚_

[![Jake Rayson smiling](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_100,h_100,c_thumb,g_face,r_max/v1572195912/jake-askance.png)](/)

by Jake Rayson

[hopegarden.uk/slides/intro](https://hopegarden.uk/slides/intro/)

###### Funded by [Local Places for Nature](https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/local-places-nature), delivered by [National Lottery Heritage Fund](https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/) with [Welsh Government](https://www.gov.wales/local-places-nature-programme)

##### Press `P` to see notes and credits

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* This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), embedded work may have other licenses.

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# Agenda

💡 1. Ideas  
🌳 2. Forest garden  
☕ *<small>Tea break</small>*  
🐛 3. Wildlife garden  
👫 4. Community Assembly  
🥪 *<small>Free lunch</small>*

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# 1. Ideas

![Drone photo of field](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_720/v1726233590/240718-drone-north-south.webp)

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Joining up the dots

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# Why are we here?

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# Life

![Big fat juicy Elephant-hawk Moth caterpillar](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_870/v1725827951/240711-elephant-hawk-moth-caterpillar-square-stalked-willowherb.jpg)

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# Nature & Climate Emergency

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Photo by Cameron Strandberg on [Wikimedia](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fire-Forest.jpg)

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# Introducing the Hope Garden

![Sketch of Hope Garden](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_480/v1719872159/garden-sketch-230711.jpg)

1. Community Assembly 
2. Wildlife garden 
3. Forest garden

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# Pobl, tir a natur

![Estonian wood meadow in the sunshine](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_480/v1725903800/240828-wood-meadow.jpg)

* **People, land and nature**
* Humans doing *good*
* [Tending the Wild](https://tendingthewild.com/tending-the-wild/) by Kat Anderson
* [Tir](https://carwyngraves.com/tir-the-story-of-the-welsh-landscape/) by Carwyn Graves

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## “Neither in any other community of<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;Western Europe, nor anywhere in the<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;tropics, does the number of vascular<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;plant species within a few square meters<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;reach the numbers counted on the<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;Estonian wooded meadows.”

_[When culture supports biodiversity:<br>The case of the wooded meadow](https://f001.backblazeb2.com/file/GardenWildDocs/When-culture-supports-biodiversity-Kull-Kukk-Lotman-2003-accessible.pdf)_<br>Kull, Kukk & Lotman 2003

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> The top five wooded meadows according to their local (1m²) vascular plant species richness, on the basis of our existing data, are Laelatu (76) and Vahenurme (74) in the western part of mainland, Tagamõisa (67) and Küdema (65) in Saaremaa, and Tärkma (61) in Hiiumaa.

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# Culture shift

![](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_520/v1580331101/sweet-chestnuts-8217120039.jpg)

You Do Not Like Them. So You Say.  
Try Them! Try Them! and You May.  
Try Them and You May, I Say.

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# Multi-threaded garden

![Children in a field looking for bugs](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_420/v1726232310/240913-hope-garden-school-wildlife-id.jpg)

* *Food:* resilient crops
* *Gardens:* resilient ecosystems
* *Community:* resilient networks
* *Policy:* decouple food from profit
* **Education**

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# Aims

![Sketch covered area](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_320/v1719872146/canvas-sketch-230812.png)

* A blueprint
* Best practise model
* Perennial veg collection 
* Workshop space
* Outdoor classroom
* Garden for future generations

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# Features

![Sketch of Hope Garden](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_240/v1725615616/240820-marianne-sketch.jpg)

* Covered meeting space
* Benches
* Water fountain
* Bird bath
* Gabion habitat
* Raised beds
* Herb garden

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# Direct community action<br>grassroots garden

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# 2. Forest garden

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# Definition

## Edible ecosystem

![Bumblebee on pinkish flower of sedum (Hylotelephium spectabile)](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_390/v1568734751/sedum-185FABF3.jpg)

### “Growing edible crops<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;in a wildlife garden”

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# Characteristics

![Illustration of climax vegetations & position of forest garden by wild wood](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_784/v1575064970/climax-vegetation.png)

1. Sustainable 
2. Productive
3. Wildlife friendly
4. Layers
5. Perennial

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* Illustration of forest garden in “climax vegetation”
* The further right you go, the more energy, less diversity, more fragility
* Illustration from Martin Crawford’s Creating a Forest Garden

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# Characteristics

![Comfrey leaves chopped around base of fruit tree](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_236/v1544220176/comfrey-mulch-41974058974.jpg)

1. Sustainable 👈
2. Productive
3. Wildlife friendly
4. Layers
5. Perennial

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* Mineral accumulators & nitrogen fixers
* Wildlife predators for pests
* Permanent “living mulch” ground cover
* Trees, perennials & soil biota sequester carbon.
* Biodiversity encouraged
* Native plants **where possible**
* Low maintenance!

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# Characteristics

![Red round strawberry-like fruit on Cornus kousa tree](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_236/v1543873414/cornus-kousa-fruit-39541199411.jpg)

1. Sustainable
2. Productive 👈
3. Wildlife friendly
4. Layers
5. Perennial

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* Fruit, nuts, leaves, shoots, roots…
* Herbs, wood, canes, dyes etc
* Multi-layered, using all available space efficiently

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# Characteristics

![Hoverfly on inflorescence of open pink flowers](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_236/v1596913692/hoverfly-200806.jpg)

1. Sustainable
2. Productive
3. Wildlife friendly 👈
4. Layers
5. Perennial

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* Native plants, as co-evolved
* [Wildlife features](https://www.forestgarden.wales/wildlife-features/)
* Create ecosystem, create pest control & nutrients

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# Characteristics

![Lots of trees and shrubs](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1579988540/toona-sinensis-new-zealand-flax-169-41164041491.jpg)

1. Sustainable
2. Productive
3. Wildlife friendly
4. Layers 👈
5. Perennial

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[Forest garden layers](/layers/)

1. Canopy
2. Small trees
3. Shrubs
4. Herbaceous perennials
5. Ground cover
6. Climbers 
7. Rhizosphere

* Layers are really efficient, in a lazy way!
* My logo is 3 basic layers: canopy, shrubs, herbaceous perennials

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# Characteristics

![Silvery grey pointy leaves of Cardoon](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_236/v1588966048/cardoon-leaves-996060.jpg)

1. Sustainable
2. Productive
3. Wildlife friendly
4. Layers
5. Perennial 👈

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Perennial, mostly, plus easy annuals 🙂

* Lower maintenance
* Less soil disturbance
* More efficient
* More nutritious

Some annuals, veg like courgettes & squash, and some that self-seed, eg [Marigold](https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Calendula+officinalis) and [Nasturtium](https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Tropaeolum+majus)

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# Guidelines

![Windbreak of small yellow plants](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1544006420/cornus-stolonifera-flaviramea-K8xbDnRk.jpg)

1. [Windbreak](/windbreak/) 👈
2. [Tree spacing](/spacing/)
3. [Ground cover](/ground-cover/)
4. [Nutrients](/nutrients/)

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* Protect from elements & predators
* Wind
  * [Windbreak hedge](/windbreak/)
  * [Nurse tree](/nurse-tree/)
  * [Dead hedge](/dead-hedge/)
* Wind & cold
  * Greenhouse
  * Polytunnel
  * Cold frames
  * Potting shed
  * Heated propagation bed

Also protect some young plants from direct sun.

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# Guidelines

![Plan of tree diameters](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1573738171/tree-spacing-169.png)

1. [Windbreak](/windbreak/)
2. [Tree spacing](/spacing/) 👈
3. [Ground cover](/ground-cover/)
4. [Nutrients](/nutrients/)

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* Forest garden emulates woodland edge
* Need to make sure enough light gets to understorey
* **Plant for final size**!
* Check [PFAF](https://pfaf.org/user/Default.aspx) & [RHS](https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/Search-Form) for sizes
* More work to move than to plan!
* For cultivated fruit trees, choose right [rootstock](/rootstock/)
* Formula: ¼ to ½ average canopy diameters

Illustration based on Martin Crawford’s Creating a Forest Garden

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# Guidelines

![Ground covered by green plant with blue flowers](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1544109909/alefoot-40762351925.jpg)

1. [Windbreak](/windbreak/)
2. [Tree spacing](/spacing/)
4. [Ground cover](/ground-cover/) 👈
5. [Nutrients](/nutrients/)

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* **Always** keep the ground covered
* Annuals, use a mulch. Forest garden, use ground cover plants
* When establishing, use bark or wood chip, plus temporary ground cover
* Wood chip mulch [does not rob nitrogen](https://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/wood-chips.pdf) (PDF)!
* I prefer bark but wood chip more available
* Best temporary ground cover in West Wales, [White Mustard](https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Sinapis+alba)—buy bulk

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# Guidelines

![Dangly purple flowers of comfrey, daft white dog in background](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1543959826/comfrey-flower-29851000577.jpg)

1. [Windbreak](/windbreak/)
2. [Tree spacing](/spacing/)
4. [Ground cover](/ground-cover/)
5. [Nutrients](/nutrients/) 👈

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* Calculate **[nutrient budget](https://www.natureworks.org.uk/nutrients/)**, Creating a Forest Garden Ch.6
* Have soil test for nutrients & pH, local farmers co-op
* Make sure to have enough “system plants” providing nutrients
* NPK — Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium
* Nitrogen: alder, pea family, Sea Buckthorn, Autumn Olive
* Potassium: [comfrey](/comfrey/)
* Phosphorous: not really provided by plants
* ['Bocking 14'](https://www.organiccatalogue.com/products/comfrey-bocking-14-plants_mh6390), sterile, bred for nutrients
* [Dwarf Comfrey](https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/75444/Symphytum-ibericum/Details), good thick ground cover

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# Principles

![Quince on a tree, young forest garden beyond](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1544353992/quince-44062747435.jpg)

1. Work with nature 
2. Vegan, organic, natural
3. Native plants where possible
4. People at heart 💚

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# Principles

![Creating a Forest Garden book on desk](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1636733254/creating-forest-garden-book.jpg)

1. Work with nature 👈
2. Vegan, organic, natural
3. Native plants where possible
4. People at heart 💚

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* “Working with nature to grow edible crops” is subtitle of Martin Crawford’s seminal book [Creating a Forest Garden](https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/product/creating-a-forest-garden-2/)
* Create balanced ecosystem for weed control, pest control & nutrients
* No dig
* Sustainable

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# Principles

![Recycled hoggin path in a garden](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1635168770/john-little-hoggin-path.jpg)

1. Work with nature
2. Vegan, organic, natural 👈
3. Native plants where possible
4. People at heart 💚

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* Vegan - because why kill animals and terrible impact of industrial farming
* Organic, no artifical pesticides or herbicides
* Natural - sustainable local materials, not new concrete, no plastic, no oil. Or at very least recycled.

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# Principles

![Tapestry of native wild flowers in a field](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1595533954/wildflower-plant-combinations-200719.jpg)

1. Work with nature
2. Vegan, organic, natural
3. Native plants where possible 👈
4. People at heart 💚

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* Use in **bulk** eg windbreaks & ground cover
* Native plants co-evolved with wildlife
* Food source for invertebrates
* Support food web
* “If something is not eating your plants, then your garden is not part of the ecosystem”

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# Principles

![People planting trees on a mound in a field](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420,h_241/v1543959649/tpo-27226348918.jpg)

1. Work with nature
2. Vegan, organic, natural
3. Native plants where possible
4. People at heart 💚 👈

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* People tend the land
* Rekindle relationship with the world
* Management, management, management
* Who will look after the garden?
* Always budget for it in a project
* Grow gardeners as well as gardens
* [Tending the Wild](https://archive.org/details/tendingwildnativ0000ande) by Kat Anderson - Native American knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources

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# 3. Wildlife garden

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# Key elements

1. Design for ecosystems
2. Create habitat
3. Native plants

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# Design for ecosystems

![Screenshot of species distribution map around Cilgerran](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_520/v1725861504/240711-wwbic-species-records-map-cilgerran.jpg)

* Survey your ecology
* Research the area
* What is rare/protected?

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* Hope Garden [ecology survey](https://f001.backblazeb2.com/file/HopeGarden/WWBIC-Hope-Garden-Ecological-Survey-11-07-2024.pdf)
* Hope Garden [native plant species](https://hopegarden.uk/species/)

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## Who’s eating what?

![Big fat juicy Elephant-hawk Moth caterpillar](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_420/v1725827951/240711-elephant-hawk-moth-caterpillar-square-stalked-willowherb.jpg)

* Elephant-hawk Moth ([Deilephila elpenor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deilephila_elpenor)) caterpillar
* On Square-stalked Willowherb ([Epilobum tetragonum](https://plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9h.7aw))
* [Also](https://waarneming.nl/species/1696/relations/) [eats…](https://dbif.brc.ac.uk/invertebratesresults.aspx?insectid=2893)

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## Grow for inverterbrates

![Insects on yellow Fennel flowers](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1564497080/fennel-04BB6F24.jpg)

* Native plants co-evolved with invertebrates
* Invertebrates foundation of food web
* Think nectar, pollen & *primary food plant*

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# Create habitat

![Dead hedge by John Little](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1726252630/john-little-dead-hedge-169.jpg)

* Water
* Dead hedge
* Hedges
* Tri-cut grass
* Crevices

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## Ponds

![Pond early morning](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_520/v1544027745/misty-wildlife-pond-26465730067.jpg)

* Biggest ecological impact
* [Native pond plants](https://lincspplants.co.uk/)
* Range habitat

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## Crevices

![Gabions by fence](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_520/v1686651005/undergrove/gabion-pillar-fence-230522.jpg)

* Gabions [“unit of structural habitat”](https://twitter.com/grassroofco/status/1568930839307624449)
* Dry stone walls
* Log piles

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# Native plants

![Hand-made garden sign saying “If something is not eating your plants, then your garden is not part of the ecosystem”](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_320/v1688041510/if-something-is-not-eating-your-plants-crop.jpg)

* Natural pest control & fertility
* Native plants co-evolved with invertebrates
* Invertebrates foundation of food web

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## Japanese Maple vs Hawthorn

![Acer in the autumn on left, Hawthorn in blossom on the right](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_580/v1688041172/acer-hawthorn.jpg)

* Acer japonicum—Japan & S Korea
* Crataegus monogyna—Europe, NW Africa, W Asia  
* [Database of Insects & their Food Plants](http://dbif.brc.ac.uk/hosts.aspx) (DBIF)

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## Japanese Maple

![Screenshot of DBIF website, listing 1 interaction for Acer japonicum](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_640/v1688041580/dbif-acer-japonicum-screenshot.png)

### [Total interactions](http://dbif.brc.ac.uk/hostsresults.aspx?hostid=74) = 1

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## Hawthorn

![Screenshot of DBIF website, listing 1 interaction for Crataegus monogyna](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_900/v1688041910/dbif-acer-crataegus-screenshot.jpg)

### [Total interactions](http://dbif.brc.ac.uk/hostsresults.aspx?hostid=1665) = 197

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## Where native plants?

![Flowering shrub next to river](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1688043815/viburnum-opulus-poland-130527.jpg)

Biomass bulk in forest garden

* Windbreaks 👈
* Ground cover
* System plants

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* Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)

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## Where native plants?

![Bed of low growing ground cover with blue flowers](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1546380638/alefoot-28171871628.jpg)

Biomass bulk in forest garden

* Windbreaks
* Ground cover 👈
* System plants

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Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

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## Where native plants?

![Orange berries on silver leaved shrub](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1580911534/sea-buckthorn-31131832578.jpg)

Biomass bulk in forest garden

* Windbreaks
* Ground cover
* System plants 👈

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Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)

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## Revel in the vernacular

![Sundew sticky plant in bog](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1561388206/peatfree-drosera.jpg)

* Work with nature
* Where are you?
* Conditions?
* What grows?

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**Use local materials**

* Photo is Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)

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## All plants are useful

![Close-up of spiky edged nettle leaves](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1688044723/nettle-100905.jpg)

* Most UK natives on [PFAF](https://pfaf.org)
* Edible, herbal, weaving, building, nutrients etc
* Wildlife food & habitat
* **Make new friends**

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![Butterfly](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_540/v1688045330/araschnia-levana-120429.jpg)

* Nettle (Urtica dioica), photo by Maksym Kozlenko on [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Urtica_dioica_-_common_nettle.jpg)
* Edible leaves, medicinal, barrier plant, fibre, leaf protein, food source for Map butterfly (Araschnia levana)
* Photo by Jörg Hempel on [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Araschnia_levana_LC0263.jpg)

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## Cultivars

![Red currants on the bush](https://res.cloudinary.com/growdigital/image/upload/w_420/v1688045793/ribes-rubrum-110729.jpg)

* Cultivars better cropping
* Nativar is native cultivar
* Cultivar generally inferior
* Neighbouring near-natives

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# Native plants where possible!

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# 4. Community Assembly

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## Democractic deficit?

* [Citizens’ Assembly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_assembly)
* [XR “Decide together”](https://extinctionrebellion.uk/decide-together/citizens-assembly/)
* [Community or Peoples’ Assembly](https://www.trustthepeople.earth/resources)
* Plenty of alternatives

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## Key features

* Non-hierarchical
* Structured
* Decision making process 
* “Wisdom of the crowd”

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# Three pillars

1. Radical inclusivity
2. Active listening
3. Trust the process

<h6 class="breadcrumb">Ideas — Forest garden — Wildlife garden — <u>Community Assembly</u></h6>

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# The End of the Beginning

![Sketch of Hope Garden](https://res.cloudinary.com/hopegarden/image/upload/w_640/v1725615616/240820-marianne-sketch.jpg)

<hello@hopegarden.uk>