News

Our team has created an area of green space at the SEED Foundation community centre in Bersive 1 camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The centre is where women, men and families recovering from trauma can spend time tending a garden, planting seeds and re-connecting with nature. The SEED Foundation addresses the mental health … Continued

Salih Yosuf, 45, is married with five children and lives in Domiz 2 camp. He shares what gardening means to him and has built an ingenious water feature in his home garden. “I spend most of my time in my garden that I established two years ago. Roses are my favourite plant of all because … Continued

Molokhia, or jute mallow, is a popular ingredient of middle eastern dishes and is grown widely by gardeners in refugee and IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Molokhia is rich in fibre, helping to improve digestion and lower cholesterol. It is also rich in potassium, which can help to lower blood pressure.  Noora, … Continued

Hajar Eido Khadida is a 23-year-old student living in Khanki IDP camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We chatted to her about her garden and life in general during the Covid-19 pandemic. 🌿 How much time do you spend in your garden and why is it important to you?I spend 30 minutes every day … Continued

It was an absolute pleasure speaking to Andrew O’Brien on his Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast. Andrew is an online garden coach, podcaster, blogger. He spoke about Lemon Tree Trust’s garden at the 2018 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in his first ever podcast, and so it was great to join him for this episode, three … Continued

In our special book offer, launched in collaboration with Bloom magazine, when you make a donation to the Lemon Tree Trust, we will send you a signed hardback copy of ‘War Gardens: A Journey Through Conflict in Search of Calm’ by Lalage Snow. Blurb: “In this millennium, we have become war weary. From Afghanistan to … Continued

The Azadi Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is run by a small team of gardeners headed up Aveen, our Operations Manager. We asked team members Ismail and Shalal (pictured below) some questions about their work in the garden and their favourite plants. Ismail “I’m Ismail, a Syrian refugee. … Continued

Huge gratitude and thanks go to Erin Benzakein, Becky Crowley and all the team at Floret Flowers. As well as a generous donation of Floret seeds to our emergency ‘Gardener to Gardener’ Seed Appeal, Erin has published a lovely interview feature with our founder Stephanie Hunt on the Floret website. In the feature, Stephanie chats … Continued

Our heartfelt thanks go to Bridget and Henrietta at The Land Gardeners for donating profits from the first issue of their new pop-up magazine to Lemon Tree Trust. In this beautiful digital magazine, The Land Gardeners share what to plant and how to grow in lockdown. Plus, read about Erin Benzakein’s favourite pink flowers, Paul Bangay’s most-loved garden book, Kay … Continued

This International Tea Day, our operations manager, Aveen, shares her delicious and refreshing recipe for herbal tea. It blends rose, lemon balm, rosemary, lavender, santolina and mint. Before Covid-19, Aveen and our group of gardeners enjoyed taking tea together in the Azadi Community Garden in Domiz. After a busy session tending to the plants, it … Continued