What started as one neglected garden in a small Irish village has since become a philosophy, helping others turn their own overlooked corners into places where wildlife and people can thrive.
When Happy Eco News published the story of Nature’s Acre earlier this year, the focus was on one place, a neglected Victorian walled garden in the village of Stamullen, County Meath, that had gradually become a place for wildlife, food growing, children, schools and community activity.
It is still about that at its core, but over the past few months something else has become clearer: the most interesting thing may be what happened when the ideas began to escape beyond the garden.
The story began during the first COVID lockdown in 2020. I was given the chance to use part of a neglected walled garden in the centre of the village. At first I thought it was about growing food, doing some digging and taking control. Through much trial and error and many wrong turns, that changed! Instead of trying to change and control every little thing, we began to work with what was already there. That simple change in attitude has become the essence of GardeningWell.
Furthermore, we want people to start to see their own places differently, be it a schoolyard, a back garden, a neglected patch beside a community centre, a balcony, or a roadside verge. Most of us have some small piece of the world we can call our own.
Since the first Happy Eco News article appeared, the story of Nature’s Acre has continued to spread. The book has turned up in independent bookshops and libraries in Ireland and abroad, and the GardeningWell project has continued working with schools, Scouts, community groups and people trying to make ordinary places better for wildlife.
Nature’s Acre has quietly taken root beyond its first publication, finding its way into independent bookshops and libraries across Ireland and abroad while the GardeningWell project continues bringing its wildlife-friendly message to schools, Scouts, and community groups. Photo courtesy of Ciaran De Buitlear.
I’m encouraged to see these ideas spread. Felicity in Dundalk contacted me about a tricky gravel area, prone to flooding, poor soil and little light, and she needed a low‑maintenance solution. We worked with what was there, and it became a ‘wee oasis.’
Wildlife gardening doesn’t need an acre, perfect soil, lots of money, huge amounts of time and energy. It needs observation, patience, small choices that allow life to exist and thrive. That same thinking is now being turned into practical resources for schools and families.
Wildlife gardening needs no perfect soil, large budget, or endless time, just observation, patience, and small choices that allow life to thrive, a philosophy now being turned into practical resources for schools and families across Ireland, such as Felicity’s garden in Dundalk. Photo by Ciaran De Buitlear.
GardeningWell has developed free wildlife-garden materials that show how even a very small school space can include a mini pond, native plants, wildflowers, food growing, and habitat for insects and birds.
This is where I think the project has changed most: at the beginning, GardeningWell was about what we were doing in one garden, but now, it is about helping other people do something.
Environmental problems are often ‘too big’ and can leave people feeling powerless. Climate change, biodiversity loss and habitat destruction are enormous issues, and individual gardens will not solve them, but that does not mean small places are unimportant. Our connection with nature develops through it in our daily lives.
When people notice a place, they start to care and protect it. That is why I am not interested in simply telling people that nature is in trouble; they already know that. People might benefit more from understanding how to connect to nature, listen to the land. One way to do this is to care for one place and care for it long enough to really see it. Then make some room and see what happens.
Last month, the story of Nature’s Acre is popping up further afield than I ever expected. It is being featured in the 50th Anniversary Almanac of Harrowsmith magazine in Canada. I find that quite extraordinary. The original garden sits behind ten-foot brick walls in a small Irish village; the idea is now reaching readers thousands of kilometres away. There are places like it everywhere, overlooked corners where children learn, and people are universal. It is not really about a special garden; it is about an ordinary place being treated as though it mattered, because it does, and perhaps that is something people need.
Every acre is nature’s acre; we just look after it for a short time.
