Forest Garden Brighton – Growing Hollingdean

Join Forest Gardeners on Sunday 16 November 2025, 10am in Hollingdean Park

11th Nov 2025

Today’s Forest Gardening 10-12 CANCELLED due to illness. Many apologies! Watch this space as we may slot in another event before December. Thanks folks 🌿

Join Growing Hollingdean volunteer Forest Gardeners on Sunday 16 November 2025, 10am at Hollingdean Park

Meet at the Lynchet Road Shed

Join us for a fun few hours 10-12pm on Sunday 16 November 2025 for Forest Gardening, learning and sharing. Everyone welcome to join the Growing Hollingdean volunteers in the park.

Our Forest Gardening in October

What a productive time in the Forest Garden on Sunday 19 October 2025, our Growing Hollingdean volunteers managed to beat the rain. We weeded, mulched apple trees, chatted, cleared some Cherry Plum suckers and nettles.

Wildflowers planted in the Forest Garden this Autumn

Volunteers were very excited to be planting wildflowers around the orchard, purchased from Wildflower Conservation Society and paid for with funds raised from the plant fair in April, a big thank you to you. These included Common Columbine / Aquilegia vulgaris, Common Vetch / Vicia sativa, Selfheal / Prunella vulgaris, Foxglove / Digitalis, Primrose / Primula vulgaris, Achillea / Achillea millefolium and Fox and Cubs / Pilosella aurantiaca.

Do you know why ‘Fox and Cubs’ native plant has that name?

A ‘Fox and cub’ plant a hairy herbaceous perennial and is visited by bees for nectar and pollen. Is it a vibrant, burnt orange colour (like a fox) but the larger open flower (the ‘fox’) often shelters unopened buds (the ‘cubs’). Funnily enough, we didn’t see our actual fox this time in the park – usually it likes to keep an eye on what we’re doing and our snacks – which we keep well out of its way of course.

Sharon Fruit from Hollingdean Park Orchard, November 2025, picked by volunteer gardeners — *Banana ripening trick for the Sharon Fruit*

Sharon Fruit Tree in Hollingdean Park Orchard

The Sharon fruit weren’t quite ready to eat at snack time (we’re experimenting with ripening them in a paper bag with a ripe banana). We all enjoyed a cup of Bengal Spice tea, said to be good for its melatonin stimulating properties and various other goodies. Yummy after our satisfying few hours of weeding.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who came!

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Get Growing in Hollingdean, Forest Garden Care Training Day, Sunday 13th July 2025

8th Jul 2025

Hollingdean Family Hub, Hollingdean Park and Community Orchard, 10.30am to 4pm

B&H Food Partnership in partnership with Cultivate have given us funding to organise a training day on how to care for your forest garden hosted by the extremely knowledgeable and charismatic lead gardener Stephan Gehrels. The event is completely free with a delicious light lunch and refreshments is also provided on the day. Please click this link Get Growing in Hollingdean – Forest Garden Care Training Day Tickets | Brighton & Hove Food Partnership for more info and to register. We currently have tickets for 15 adult places, children are welcome without tickets.

Join us for a hands-on day of learning essential maintenance skills including:

Seasonal pruning techniques for fruit trees and shrubs
Mulching and soil care to keep plants healthy
Natural pest management and plant health
Harvesting and preserving your forest garden bounty
Planning for year-round productivity

Whether you were with us from the design day or this is your first time getting involved, you’ll gain practical skills to help our community gardens flourish for years to come. Bring your own gardening gloves and any tools you have (we have some extras to share).

Hollingdean Community Orchard and Forest Garden entrance June 2025

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Growing Hollingdean volunteers plant the forest garden at Hollingdean Park Community Orchard

17th Mar 2025

On a fun sunny Sunday in March 2025

Volunteers planted a new edible forest garden at Hollingdean Park Community Orchard

We are really lucky to have been supported by Brighton & Hove Food Partnership and Brighton Permaculture Trust and to have been funded by Cultivate EU- a programme to promote food growing in many cities across Europe. In February an edible hedgerow, including fruit trees was planted between the Family Hub and the playpark. This month Hollingdean Community Orchard is being planted with new layers of plants so that it becomes a Forest Garden.

Everyone is welcome to visit. Please take care of the new young plants. It is wonderful to see them grow and come back to enjoy their fruit later in the year. We can all sample a few and leave more for others, too, including wildlife. This year the new plants need to get their roots down and really bed in. As the garden becomes mature, so it will become more and more fruitful over the years.

Volunteers planted a new edible forest garden at Hollingdean Park Community Orchard, March 2025 — Stephan briefing the volunteers

What is a forest garden?

“Forest gardens are food-producing systems which seek to emulate natural woodland ecosystems as closely as possible. They consist of mainly perennial plants which are agriculturally productive or useful, growing as they would in the wild.” Says Permaculture Association This includes fruit and nut trees, climbers and vines, shrubs such as currant bushes, herbaceous perennials and herbs, ground cover plants and roots. Some plants maybe edible and some medicinal. They all have a place in the Forest Garden.

Thank you to Community Chef Anna who cooked us all a lovely lunch! And everyone who helped make it a really productive day

Thank you to Stephan at Brighton Permaculture Trust, Helen at Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, Hollingdean Family Hub and Growing Hollingdean volunteers for organising all of this.