Duckings Garden, East Sussex

At Duckings, a beautfiul 18th century country home, we aimed to allow pockets of wildness to creep back into the garden. We created a low maintenance garden producing food, fuel and fibre for the family, while giving back to nature. As always, our practices aim to be beneficial to wildlife and to help foster a deeper connection with the land.

Key Features:

• Wildlife pond - creating a haven for water loving plants and animals, and slowing the flow of water on the property to create natural irrigation.

• Food Forest with Wildflower Meadow – creating an abundance of perennial low maintenance foods including fruits, nuts, and berries. Undersown with a wildflower meadow to create a haven for pollinators. 

• Small scale reforestation - planting over 2,000 native trees over 3 acres to bring back native woodland.

• Honeybees – introduction of beehives to the site to add to the increasing biodiversity.

• Rewilding - some areas of this land were left to rewild completely and with great success.

All of this work has amounted to harmonising the land with the wider landscape and has brought back much biodiversity to the area. We have attracted rare birds such as hawks and created habitats for declining hedgehogs, various species of butterflies, adders, rare newts, frogs and herons, a huge number or endangered wildflowers and heirloom fruits and vegetables while providing the family with a natural landscape of colour and beauty, birdsong, organic produce, connection with the land and the knowing that they’re doing their bit to live more harmoniously with nature.