Forest of Calm – BBC Gardeners World
This beautiful feature garden, A Forest of Calm is designed and led by Leigh Johnstone (AKA The Beardy Gardener) and co-created with a group of home-educated young people at Bramshaw Village Hall.
Beyond our back gardens there are incredible natural landscapes waiting for us to escape into, forests of calm that can inspire, restore and help us heal.
With mental illness accounting for 23 per cent of all ill-health in England, our National Parks can play an important role in helping to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the nation. Adults from the Solent MIND group in Hythe have also been consulted on the garden design and Hythe Men’s Shed will be involved in creating some of the garden furniture.
A Forest of Calm seeks to capture the beauty of the New Forest National Park. The garden features a native woodland edge, a place of enjoyment and adventure, which opens out onto the iconic heathland landscape that humans and animals share together, including the famous New Forest pony. The garden will be created using the ideas and experiences of the home-educated young people from across the New Forest that meet at Bramshaw Village Hall.
A highlight of the project will be a showcase of the finished garden at the BBC Gardener’s World Spring Fair event at Beaulieu. The home-educated young people will be involved in constructing and presenting the garden alongside Leigh Johnstone. When the show closes, the garden will be transported to Bramshaw Village Hall to be installed with the young people there to remain and for all visitors and users of the hall to enjoy into the future.
Leigh Johnstone – aka ‘The Beardy Gardener’ is a theatre director turned gardener and award winning garden designer who rediscovered his passion for plants during the Covid-19 pandemic. He is popular on social media and an active mental health campaigner, using his past struggles to advocate for the power of gardening to improve wellbeing. Leigh will be assisted by Lily Clarke.
Jacqueline Rolls – Willow artist and sculptor will create the life-size sculpture of a New Forest pony that will be a main feature of the garden. She will run several sessions with the home educated young people at Bramshaw Village Hall, teaching them willow weaving techniques so that they can create sections of the pony.
This event is supported by the New Forest District Council and the New Forest National Park Authority.
Ticket prices for this event vary, see below for further information.
£22.50 (Adults 17 yrs +)
£21.50 (61 yrs +)
£16.25 (Adult/Senior with Disability)
£12.50 (5-16 yrs)
£9.50 (5-16 yrs with a disability)
£0 (under 5 yrs & carers)
