ALISON JENKINS GARDEN DESIGNER

A few weeks ago I attended a one-day workshop with garden designer Alison Jenkins. Alison believes that all our green spaces can be beautiful, fruitful and sustainable.  She works from a smallholding in Somerset, South West England, two-acres of mixed beds of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers, set against a breathtaking backdrop of rolling hills.

The workshop focuses on designing and creating an edible garden, one that not only looks beautiful and is rich in wildlife, using solely sustainable and organic methods, one that you can eat too.

The first part of the day we spent indoors, sat around Alison’s kitchen table, with wide-open glass doors, so although inside, we felt immersed in her garden as we learnt about the history of smallholdings and permaculture.  It was fascinating to understand how our land has changed so much, and today, there are thankfully more and more people returning to previous methods that work in harmony with the land and wildlife.

We spent the afternoon in the garden, where we looked at the variety of plants Alison grows, side by side, and individual questions were answered, which gave the whole group plenty of inspiration and the confidence to take the first steps to create our unique edible gardens.

Alison designs in a wonderfully unique way, her smallholding is truly beautiful, and remains perfectly functional, providing a constant supply of food for her family throughout the year. 

Gently mown paths lead through tall grasses full of meadow flowers and past an orchard, with a flock of chickens beyond.  Climbing beans and squash growing up and over ornate frames mark the entrance to the edible garden.  There are no neat border edges, with plants allowed to self-seed and a soft blend between gravel paths and gently overflowing beds.  It is hugely inspiring, both from a gardening and floristry design perspective.  I love the mix of intention and letting the plants gently do their own thing, the aesthetic, the approach of ease to gardening and practical function is unique and highly attractive, both in feel and approach.

Alison has created a mass of natural structures from willow and hazel, supporting the larger plants, and opts for less visually invasive black protective netting, instead of the more obvious bright green.  Her garden has a feeling of relaxed, almost accidental beauty, yet every added element is carefully considered, within the garden’s entirety. She favours Twool’s undyed Naked Twine (made in the UK from the wool of Dartmoor Sheep) over mass produced natural jute.  I love the synergy between her large garden structures, with the smaller structures I often create and use within floristry – for example I use the same willow and hazel, to create natural wreath bases.  And I am looking forward to my order of Twool’s undyed Naked Twine to arrive.  I left feeling inspired both for my garden and for new floristry ideas. 

Through plenty of experimenting, Alison has grown squashes on the compost heaps, courgettes inside chimney pots, created mass tunnels of brassica, placed pumpkins on raised hazel wreaths, broad beans over hurdle fences and herbs in galvanized buckets.  Working to the principle of permaculture, she has three layers within her garden – the upper layer includes the fruit trees, a mid layer of perennials and a lower level of ground cover, including rambling strawberries. 

Alison’s smallholding remains fruitful and aesthetically pleasing throughout the year, with an ongoing assortment of produce and beauty.  Her manner is gentle and hugely encouraging, and I urge anyone interested in creating an edible garden, with a mixture of functionality, beauty and sustainability, to look at her Workshops - you will love Alison’s approach.  For those of you not in the UK, Alison kindly recommended the following books (most of which I ordered and am slowly reading through):

• Urban Farmers: The Now (and How) of Growing Food in the City

• Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition, Jeff Lowenfels, Wayne Lewis

• Charles Dowding's Veg Journal: Expert no-dig advice, month by month, Charles Dowding

• Eat What You Grow: How to Have an Undemanding Edible Garden That Is Both Beautiful and Productive, Alys Fowler

• Grow & Cook: An A-Z of what to grow all through the year at home, Mark Diacono

• Grow & Cook: The Ultimate Kitchen Garden Guide, Mark Diacono

• Veg Patch: No. 4 (River Cottage Handbook), Mark Diacono