Growing the next generation of gardeners: an update from Lemon Tree Trust
We are pleased to share an update on our work during the first eight months of 2026, with a special focus on our work with children across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Syria.
This year, we have placed a particular focus on the next generation of gardeners, creating more opportunities for children and young people to discover gardening, learn about nature and the environment, and experience the benefits of growing together.
Growing the next generation of gardeners
Throughout 2026 so far, we have continued to bring gardening into schools, community gardens and family homes, reaching children across displaced communities, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Through planting, growing and environmental activities, children have had opportunities to learn practical gardening skills, understand more about the natural world and take part in caring for their surroundings.
We have also been developing new ways for children to enjoy our community gardens. At the Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, a new children’s activity space is giving younger children somewhere to play, draw and spend time while their families tend their growing areas. Older children can also become more involved in gardening alongside their families.
These activities are helping to introduce a new generation to the community gardens and gardening and the possibilities they offer.
Gardens that bring people together
Our community gardens – Azadî in Domiz 1 camp and Hêvî in Gawilan camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, alongside our Ridgecrest Community Garden in Dallas, USA – continue to provide important spaces for people to grow, learn and spend time together.
For families living in densely populated refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps, access to green space is often limited. These community gardens provide places where people can grow food and flowers, connect with others and make new friends, while creating spaces that foster a sense of agency and hope.
Our gardening activities also support wider goals around wellbeing, community building, women’s empowerment and food security. Through home gardens, community growing spaces, gardening competitions and the distribution of seeds, plants and trees, we continue to support people to grow for themselves and their families.
Creating greener communities
Greening the environments where people live remains at the heart of our work.
This year, we have continued to grow and distribute hundreds of plants and trees grown from seed in the polytunnels at our community gardens, while helping children and families learn about caring for plants and improving their immediate surroundings.
Our environmental activities also encourage people to look at their surroundings in new ways, including how everyday materials such as old vehicle tyres can be reused to create planters and growing spaces.
Every plant grown and every garden created contributes to greener, healthier environments and helps bring nature into neighbourhoods where green space can be scarce.
Alongside this work, our Tree & Plant Appeal was extended with the support of our match funder and ran from April through to the end of August, helping us raise funds to grow and distribute many more trees, plants and seedlings across displaced communities. We will share a separate update on the appeal, including the total raised and what these funds will help us achieve, in due course.
Looking ahead
Throughout the rest of 2026, we will continue to develop our work with children and young people, support our existing community gardens and look for opportunities to create and improve growing spaces in other communities.
We will also be holding our Annual Cooking Competitions, which remain a popular and much-anticipated event of the year. Food made from home-grown, community-grown and locally sourced ingredients provides a simple but powerful way for people to come together, to share food and celebrate their cultures and traditions.
Our work continues to contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including those relating to good health and wellbeing, food security, gender equality, sustainable communities and life on land.
Our aim remains simple: to help create gardens and green spaces that bring hope, nourishment and connection to people living in displaced communities.
With gratitude
None of this work would be possible without the support of our donors, grant-givers and partners.
Thank you to everyone who continues to stand with Lemon Tree Trust and the communities we work alongside. Your support helps us create opportunities for people to grow, connect and build greener futures.
Together, we are bringing beauty, dignity and opportunity to communities affected by displacement and helping to grow the next generation of gardeners.
We are pleased to share an update on our work during the first eight months of 2026, with a special focus on our work with children across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Syria. This year, we have placed a particular focus on the next generation of gardeners, creating more opportunities for children and young … Continued
Photos and videos by Youssef Ibrahem. Over the last six months, a corner of the Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has been created especially for children. Families who visit the garden together now have a dedicated space for their youngest members, with games, a slide and small low tables … Continued
Aveen Ibrahem is Operations Manager at Lemon Tree Trust, overseeing our community gardening and cooking programmes across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Her work supports activities in Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, as well as outreach and coordination across the nine camps where Lemon Tree Trust currently operates. Having lived in Domiz 1 … Continued