The Growing Community is for you if you are interested in plants, gardening, nature and growing.  EVERYONE is welcome, whether you are a complete novice or a seasoned gardener.  It takes a whole range of people with different skills, abilities and talents to create a good community!  The in-person meet ups will take place in and around central Scotland, so to make the most of your membership, it would be helpful to be able to access this location.  If you can’t, you will still be able to soak up the vibes via the WhatsApp community.

As a garden designer, it is my job to get gardens off to their best possible start.  After the garden has been installed, it is over to the owner of that garden to ensure it flourishes.  I want to help people get the skills and know how to do that and learn how to garden and care for their spaces. 

I have been working professionally in horticulture for more than 10years.  Over this time I’ve seen so many instances, and heard so many stories, of people having their gardens inappropriately treated by people who call themselves gardeners.  I’m not here to criticise those people.  But fundamentally I believe that everyone should have the skills and know-how to be able to look after and tend for their own gardens.    Gardening doesn’t have to complicated or scary.  It’s an incredibly fun and rewarding activity, and I promise you that as soon as you begin to garden, you will get the bug and you won’t want to stop.

I also believe that gardening, and finding a connection to the land, is so healing.  Our modern fast-paced world is incredibly stressful and can take its toll on our nervous systems.  It definitely did for me when I worked in a corporate environment – one that never stopped, until I physically had to.  I don’t think I would have made it through that stressful time if I hadn’t found gardening.  

We all need to unplug sometimes.  Gardening is the perfect way to do that.  By getting outside and paying attention to nature, we can learn that nature works at her own pace – as humans we can’t hurry her along, we have to work alongside her.  Gardening makes us slow down, pay attention to nature’s ebbs and flows and appreciate the beauty of each of the seasons in its own right. 

If you want to create a new habit, a community is integral – it provides support, companionship, accountability, and most importantly, so much advice and inspiration.  In the past, gardening was something that was passed down through the generations – from mothers and fathers to children.  Sadly, a lot of this knowledge has been lost, but to keep gardening alive, we have to find other ways to learn.  I think communities like this will be key to keeping that knowledge alive and our gardens growing and flourishing.