Introduction to Forest Gardening

Name: Introduction to Forest Gardening
Start: 2025-10-11T09:30:00+01:00
End: 2025-10-11T15:30:00+01:00
Location: Grow Wilder, 181 Frenchay Park Rd, Bristol BS16 1EL

Schedule

Sat Oct 11 2025 at 09:30 am to 03:30 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Grow Wilder, 181 Frenchay Park Rd, Bristol BS16 1EL | Bristol, EN

Join us for a practical exploration of urban forest gardening in the beautiful and established forest garden at Grow Wilder in Frenchay.
Learn the basics of how to transform your garden, field or window box into an abundant and climate-resilient space that has year-round interest, is low maintenance and provides a haven for wildlife! Forest gardening is a natural design system anyone can use to grow plants productively and sustainably, even in a small space – despite the name, trees are entirely optional!
The day is a mix of classroom and outdoor sessions. Hot drinks are provided, but please bring a packed lunch. Dress for the weather and bring a notebook.
Timings : Doors open at 9.15 / Workshop from 9.30 to 3.30 (inc. teabreak & lunch)
Costs : Visit the Green Bottle Sliding Scale (https://futuredreams.org.uk/green-bottle-sliding-scale) as a guide to deciding what tier of course fee you should pay.
£49 Full
£42 Part-Concession
£35 Full-Concession
Content
* What is forest gardening: the basics
* Why have a forest garden: benefits/possibilities and limitations
* Tour of an established forest garden
* Permaculture principles and design process: an overview
* Working with perennial plants, plant guilds and polycultures
* Forest garden maintenance and products
Who is it for
* This is for anyone who may have heard or seen the terms ‘forest garden’, ‘food forest’ or ‘agroecology’ and is curious, but unsure what these mean in practice. Learn more about these concepts, starting with the basics.
* Anyone living in an urban situation with an average-sized garden, or a small patio, balcony or window box, who would like to do something to improve that space for nature, wildlife, food growing or even just their own use and enjoyment.
* Anyone who already has a productive garden but would like to learn how to grow more productively and sustainably in a small space, for example by making use of vertical space.
* Anyone with a larger space such as a field, wanting to make all or parts of it more climate-resilient and wildlife-friendly, improving soil health and water retention in the process.
* Basically, anyone who would like the tools and inspiration for creating and maintaining an abundant, wildlife-friendly and low-input space!
The day is run by Alex Reuer, who is on a mission to make forest gardening accessible to everyone. A qualified orchardist and budding arborist, she has a background in permaculture design, having completed the Shift PSC in 2017. She has experience in facilitating land-based workshops and is excited to be teaming up with Shift and Grow Wilder to get more and more people excited about forest gardens!
Please feel free to get in touch with Alex direct for any advance questions about the day: [email protected]
Read more about Forest Gardening here: https://fernbranchtreecare.com/2025/07/16/forest-gardening/