A Legacy in the Making.

On half a hectare of my family’s ground in the hills of Shropshire, we are growing a native, many-layered habitat - a forest garden and wildflower meadow, made to feed wildlife and to teach, long after we are gone.

I grew up on this smallholding - a forest garden in all but name - before spending half a decade in California, where, with others, I helped grow and give away more than eighteen thousand native plants for conservation. Now I have carried that work home, to give back to the ground that raised me - and to pass it on, through workshops and with local schools.

What we hope to grow Learn the method
A meadow of native wildflowers in bloom - red poppies, blue cornflowers and golden blooms.
01 / 08
Our intention

What we hope to grow here

We are at the very beginning, but we have set out to build something meant to outlast us: a native, many-layered habitat, alive with wildlife, and a living classroom for anyone who wishes to learn.

Turn a half-hectare of old family ground into a thriving, many-layered native habitat - woodland edge, hedgerow, meadow and forest garden woven as one.
Re-establish a native wildflower meadow of local provenance, feeding pollinators, birds and the whole web of life that leans on them.
Raise British-native trees, shrubs and wild flowers from seed of known local origin - the surest route to a genuinely local landscape.
Share all that we learn - forest gardening, meadow-making, propagation - openly and without charge, so others may do the same.
Make room for what already belongs here: bee and butterfly, hedgehog and bird - the quiet returning life of a countryside given its chance.
Hand this ground to the next generation richer than we found it. In the end, that is the whole of it.

Land is best held gently, and handed on richer than we found it.

02 / 08
The place

A small piece of family land

My family has worked this corner of the Welsh Marches for generations. Growing up here on this smallholding - trees, fruit, vegetables, hens and hedgerow all managed together as one. It was a forest garden in all but name, long before I had the words for it.

After many years away, I have come home to that same ground. It is not large - half a hectare of Shropshire hillside - but it is enough to make something lasting, and the right place to begin. The work now is simply to give back to the land that raised me.

A boy riding a bullock down a Shropshire lane while a man walks alongside, on the family smallholding.
early life on a smallholding
03 / 08
The method

The seven-layer forest garden

A forest garden copies the structure of a young wood, stacking useful and wildlife-friendly plants into seven layers on the same patch of ground. Because they occupy different heights and root depths, they cooperate rather than compete. Select a layer to read it.

Select a layer above to read it.
The seven-layer model was pioneered in temperate Britain by Robert Hart (1913–2000), who made his celebrated forest garden on a smallholding at Wenlock Edge - here in Shropshire. That small orchard-turned-woodland became the template forest gardeners the world over still follow.

A practical guide - preparing the ground →

04 / 08
The herbal

An example of the wild flowers we are bringing back

Britain has lost the greater part of its wildflower meadows within a single lifetime. Restoring one begins with knowing the plants - here are some of the native wild flowers and hedgerow plants of the Marches. Colour indicates the bloom or berry.

The scarlet cups of disturbed and cultivated ground; its seed can wait decades in the soil for the plough or the spade.

Bloom Jun–Aug

Lore - petals were long made into a mild syrup to soothe coughs and ease sleep; this is not the opium poppy.

Insects - a pollen-rich flower (it makes no nectar), worked by honeybees, bumblebees and hoverflies.Soil - an annual pioneer of bare, disturbed ground; it quickly covers turned soil and holds it while slower plants establish.
Common poppies flowering in a summer field

Once common in cornfields, now cherished and largely reintroduced - a brilliant blue and a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Bloom Jun–Aug

Lore - an old remedy for tired, sore eyes, used as a gentle eyewash; mildly anti-inflammatory.

Insects - nectar-rich and much loved by bees, butterflies and hoverflies; tiny bud-nectaries also draw in ants and other beneficial insects.Soil - a slender annual - its gift is to the insects rather than the soil.
A blue cornflower in bloom

The great “moon daisy” of road verges and meadows - a broad landing-place for hoverflies and beetles.

Bloom May–Sep

Lore - used much like chamomile: a soothing tea for coughs, and a wash for cuts and bruises.

Insects - its broad, open face is an easy landing-place for hoverflies, solitary bees, beetles and butterflies.Soil - a tough perennial that knits and binds the meadow sward, and thrives on poor ground.
An oxeye daisy in bloom

Glossy gold on tall stems, lighting up damp old pastures through the summer.

Bloom Apr–Oct

Lore - best admired, not used: the fresh plant is acrid and blistering to the skin, and poisonous to eat.

Insects - early pollen and nectar for small bees, beetles and flies.Soil - a perennial of old damp pasture; left alone by grazers, it helps hold an unimproved sward together.
A meadow buttercup in bloom

Thistle-like purple heads of late summer - one of the very best native nectar sources for butterflies.

Bloom Jun–Sep

Lore - a traditional astringent, once used for small wounds and sore throats.

Insects - one of the very best native nectar plants for butterflies and bees; its seed-heads then feed goldfinches.Soil - a deep taproot draws up moisture and helps open and structure heavy ground.
Common knapweed in flower

A quiet workhorse: it feeds long-tongued bumblebees and fixes nitrogen from the air to enrich the soil.

Bloom May–Sep

Lore - a gentle old tonic; its flowers, rich in plant oestrogens, are still studied for menopausal symptoms.

Insects - a key nectar source for long-tongued bumblebees.Soil - a legume - working with soil bacteria, it fixes nitrogen from the air and feeds the plants around it.
Red clover in bloom

Tall spires of the woodland edge, each bell tailored to the bumblebee. Beautiful - but every part is poisonous.

Bloom Jun–Jul

Lore - the source of digitalis, a life-saving heart medicine, yet deadly poisonous. Never taste it.

Insects - its tubular bells are shaped for bumblebees, its main pollinators.Soil - a woodland-edge biennial; its role is for the bees, not the soil.
A foxglove in flower

Low cushions of yellow-and-orange - “eggs and bacon” - and the vital food-plant of the Common Blue butterfly.

Bloom May–Sep

Lore - little used in medicine; in folk practice a mild calming herb - its true gift is to wildlife.

Insects - the vital foodplant of the Common Blue and other butterflies and moths, and rich in nectar for bees.Soil - a legume that fixes its own nitrogen, quietly enriching the thin, poor soils it favours.
Bird’s-foot trefoil with a Common Blue butterfly

Feathery leaves and flat, creamy flower-heads on tough stems - a meadow all-rounder that endures drought.

Bloom Jun–Sep

Lore - the classic “woundwort”: long used to staunch bleeding, and taken as a tea to break a fever.

Insects - its flat flower-heads are a landing-pad for a wide range of insects - hoverflies, beetles and solitary bees.Soil - deep-rooted, it draws up minerals from below (a classic “dynamic accumulator”) and its leaves enrich a compost heap.
White yarrow flower-heads in bloom

The backbone of the English hedge - dense, thorny and quick to establish. A froth of May blossom for the bees, then red haws that feed thrushes and fieldfares through the winter.

Blossom May · Haws to Feb

Insects - a froth of May blossom feeds countless bees and hoverflies, and its leaves support the caterpillars of many moths.Soil - deep, dense roots bind the hedge bank and hold the soil.
Hawthorn blossom on the branch

Fierce black spines and a cloud of white blossom before the leaves come. Its blue-black sloes ripen after the first frosts - food for wildlife, and the makings of sloe gin.

Blossom Mar–Apr · Sloes Oct

Insects - among the earliest blossom of the year, vital to bees emerging in spring; a foodplant for many moths and the Brown Hairstreak butterfly.Soil - suckering growth knits and stabilises the soil, even on poor, exposed ground.
Blackthorn blossom (Prunus spinosa)

A gentle, coppiceable native hung with yellow lamb’s-tail catkins in late winter. Nuts for dormice and jays; long, whippy rods for weaving and beanpoles.

Catkins Jan–Mar · Nuts Sep

Insects - late-winter catkins give some of the year’s first pollen to bees, and the leaves feed many moth caterpillars.Soil - its falling leaves make a rich leaf-mould, and its roots steady the bank.
Hazel catkins in late winter

Our only native maple - compact, tolerant and a glorious butter-yellow in autumn. Early flowers draw insects; winged keys spin down to feed small birds and mammals.

Autumn colour · flowers May

Insects - spring flowers draw pollinators, the aphids it hosts feed ladybirds and hoverflies, and its leaves support several moths.Soil - content on almost any ground, its leaf litter feeds and improves the soil.
Field maple foliage and winged keys

The wild rose that scrambles through the hedge, pale pink and lightly scented in June. Its scarlet hips, rich in vitamin C, hang on well into winter for the birds.

Flowers Jun–Jul · Hips autumn

Insects - open, pollen-rich flowers for bees and hoverflies, and a larval foodplant for several moths.Soil - long, scrambling stems and strong roots help bind and hold the hedge bank.
A wild dog rose in bloom

Evergreen shelter and winter berry - the classic native for a thick, stock-proof, year-round hedge. The female trees carry the bright red berries that see blackbirds through the cold.

Evergreen · Berries winter

Insects - its small flowers feed bees, and it is the foodplant of the Holly Blue butterfly.Soil - dense evergreen cover shelters the soil and its life the year round.
Holly leaves and red berries in winter

A softer, damp-loving native with lacecap white flowers and translucent red berries in generous bunches. Fine autumn leaf, and a favourite of bullfinches.

Flowers Jun · Berries autumn

Insects - lacecap flowers are worked by hoverflies and beetles, and it is a larval foodplant for moths.Soil - at home in damp ground, it helps hold and stabilise wetter soils.
Guelder rose berries in autumn

A hedgerow larder

The hedge was once a pantry and a medicine chest as much as a boundary. A handful of the native plants our forebears gathered from it, for tonics and for food:

Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna - the commonest hedge of all. Berries, leaves and blossom were brewed into gentle tonics for the heart and circulation, or set into jellies.
Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica - hedge banks and waste ground. The young spring shoots were boiled for a nutrient-rich spring tonic, and made into soup, and even beer.
Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria - damp ground by hedges and ditches. Its almond-scented flowers sweetened wines and teas, and were taken to settle the stomach.
Dog Rose & Rosehip Rosa canina - scrambling through the country hedge. The autumn hips were cooked into syrup, a high vitamin-C tonic to carry through the winter.
Common Mallow Malva sylvestris - path edges and hedge banks. Its soft, mucilaginous leaves were infused to soothe a cough or an unsettled digestion.
The traditional uses noted above are shared for interest, not as instruction. Several of these plants are poisonous - never eat or self-medicate with them, and always seek expert identification first.

The Physicians of Myddfai

Long before the chemist’s shop, this was Britain’s medicine. Its most celebrated keepers were the Physicians of Myddfai - a family of Welsh healers led by Rhiwallon and his sons, who served the lords of Dinefwr in the 13th century and, by legend, descended from the Lady of the Lake at Llyn y Fan Fach. Their remedies, later written into the Red Book of Hergest, drew on some 175 native plants - foxglove and poppy among them.

Classic English herbals & household books
The Old English HerbariumAnglo-Saxon - early manuscript remedies of the same tradition as Bald’s Leechbook, recording native plant cures set down a thousand years ago.
The Herball1597 - John Gerard. A great illustrated catalogue of plants: their forms, where they grow, and the old uses they were put to.
The English Housewife1615 - Gervase Markham. A practical country handbook of cookery, brewing and herbal remedies for everyday ailments.
The English Physician (Complete Herbal)1652 - Nicholas Culpeper. Written to put plant medicine into ordinary hands, setting down the native herbs and their healing virtues.
05 / 08
Where this comes from

Half a decade of restoration, carried home

This is no new undertaking for me. For half a decade, with a like-minded partner, I helped build and run Root for Peace - a native-plant nursery and conservation non-profit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Together we grew and gave away more than eighteen thousand native plants to protect sensitive habitat, working alongside the US National Park Service, the Sierra Club, Save The Bay, Hoopa Tribal Forestry and others. It was a partnership from the first, and the credit belongs to the many hands that put those plants in the ground.

We also ran a very successful teaching program as the Miwok Grocery Store - teaching local people the ways of the Miwok tribe of Marin County. It also raised funds that went to help communities in drought-stricken lands.

That work is my past, and my grounding. What I care for now is bringing everything it taught me home - to a small piece of Shropshire, and to any who wish to learn.

Young native plants raised in pots at the nursery.
Raising native plants from seed

See the full California collection →

06 / 08
The teaching

Passing the knowledge on

Growing the habitat is only half the work; the other half is passing on how it is done. This project is made to teach as much as to grow - so the knowledge, like the land, outlives any one pair of hands.

Hands-on workshops and talks on the practical craft of this work - forest gardening and the seven-layer system, making and caring for a wildflower meadow, raising native trees and flowers from seed, and the old herbal lore of the Marches hedgerow.
Working with schools, young people and local community groups to connect the next generation with native plants, wildlife and the countryside - because the surest way to protect a place is to help people come to love it early.

Arrange a workshop, talk or school visit →

07 / 08
Start your own

Try it on your patch

British Flora grows British-native trees, shrubs and wildflower plugs of known provenance - a dependable source for a hedgerow, meadow or forest garden.
Choose native seed of UK - ideally local - provenance. Sow in autumn or early spring onto bare, low-fertility ground, press it in without burying, then cut once in late summer and clear the clippings.
The Centre for Alternative Technology’s free guide, The Edible Forest Garden, is an excellent, practical introduction to the seven-layer approach.
08 / 08
Principles

Held gently, handed on richer

Everything grows from one conviction: that land is best held gently, worked with patience, and left better than we found it. Three principles hold the whole together.

To rebuild a thriving, many-layered native habitat - increasing wildflower populations and the wildlife that depends upon them.
Low-impact and multi-generational, not intensive or industrial - protecting rural quiet while enriching the living environment.
To leave something lasting: a healthier piece of countryside, and the knowledge, freely given, for others to do the same.

Read: the case for diversity →

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Get in touch

Learn, visit, or lend a hand

Whether you are starting your first wildflower patch, curious about forest gardening, or would simply like to follow the work as this small piece of land comes to life, you are most welcome to write.

Contact us →

Also from us - Tasty Tonic, superior tonics & cordials.