Gardens without borders: Talks at Gardening Scotland and the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show
It has been our great pleasure this month to give two talks at gardening shows in the UK.
Gardening Scotland: 1 June
We were delighted when Scotland’s Rural University College student John Thoumire contacted us about his ‘College Street’ garden, inspired by the Lemon Tree Trust show garden at RHS Chelsea 2018.
John’s garden, ‘Bayet’ means ‘home’ in Arabic. The garden aims to raise awareness of the importance of gardens and gardening to people fleeing war and violence, helping them to overcome trauma and move on with their lives. A Silver Gilt medal was awarded.
We helped to sponsor Bayet and during Gardening Scotland, we gave an illustrated talk and hosted a Q&A session with John. We explored John’s background and journey from war correspondent to gardener and how gardens create community.
RHS Chatsworth Flower Show: 5 June
We joined Chatsworth House head cut flower grower Becky Crowley to offer a new perspective on cut flowers at the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. In our talk, ‘Gardens Without Borders’, we explored how the cutting garden at Chatsworth is linked to the flora of Kurdistan and the gardens that people are building there in refugee camps. Becky gave behind-the-scenes views of the cutting garden and we showed how flowers are as important to survivors of war in Kurdistan as they are to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.
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Find out more about our work and how gardening helps survivors of war
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
Inside the polytunnels at the Hêvî Community Garden in Gawilan refugee camp, Garden Manager Othman Qewas carefully selects fruit trees and flowering plants grown from seed. Joined by Hamid Abdullah, Lemon Tree Trust’s Horticulture and Landscape Consultant, the plants are loaded into the car before setting off to visit families across the camp. As part of our ongoing children’s outreach programme in Gawilan camp, … Continued
Bringing together residents to celebrate the home gardens they have grown, tended and transformed over the past year, Lemon Tree Trust’s 2026 Annual Garden Competitions have taken place across nine refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This year’s competitions introduced a greater emphasis on welcoming new participants alongside … Continued