The Green Estate’s Volunteers Create New Community Forest Garden

In 2024, The Green Estate was successful in receiving a small pot of funding from the National Garden Scheme to help us establish a community forest garden in an underutilised area of the site that used to be home to pygmy goats, adjacent to the beehives.

The funding enabled us to purchase plants and materials to establish the new garden, which will be finished by spring 2025. A forest garden is a productive planting technique that follows permaculture principles and echoes the natural ecosystem found in a woodland environment – with different layers of plants. Compared to a traditional allotment, within a forest garden, you are more likely to find perennial planting of edible and useful plants, and you won’t see many straight lines. After the establishment phase of 2–3 years, the garden should be low-maintenance.

Jayne, The Green Estate’s Growing Communities Ranger, said: ‘It has been great fun getting to work on a new space with the volunteers. Following the forest garden method, we designed the layout and uses of the space together, and the volunteers have been at the heart of planting it up. Currently we have planted the soft fruit and fruit trees, plus edible hedging. Species include gage, apple, raspberries, jostaberries, gooseberries, rhubarb and currants.

‘The focus has been on creating a backbone of planting that people will understand and recognise, rather than anything too weird and wonderful. In spring, we will plant out the herbaceous layer of planting, which will be a bit more playful, add some colour and attract biodiversity. This is an experimental project to see what grows well over time, and ultimately, the hope is we create a nice space for people to enjoy.’