Growing Together: A Four-Week Pilot Garden Journey for International Students

AAGarden’s pilot programme exploring nature connection, wellbeing and community through gardening.

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About the Pilot

Root Yourself was AAGarden’s first four-week pilot garden programme designed for international students in London.

Moving to a new country is not only about adapting to a new environment, language and culture. It is also about finding a sense of belonging and building meaningful connections with people, places and everyday surroundings. For many international students, creating a relationship with a new city takes time.

Through this pilot, AAGarden explored how a shared garden space could support this process. By spending time with plants, learning gardening skills and sharing experiences with others, participants were invited to slow down, reconnect with nature and explore what it means to create a sense of home in a new place.

The garden became more than a place for growing plants. It became a space where people could meet, exchange stories and gradually develop their own roots.

Why Gardening?

Gardens are places of patience, care and connection. Unlike many urban environments that encourage speed and productivity, gardens invite us to observe, respond and grow alongside the natural world.

For AAGarden, gardening is not only about planting and maintaining plants. It is also a way of building relationships with places and communities. Through Social and Therapeutic Horticulture approaches, gardening can create opportunities for reflection, creativity and connection.

The theme “Root Yourself” reflects the journey of both plants and people. Just as plants need time, care and a supportive environment to establish roots, people also need opportunities to connect, belong and feel grounded in unfamiliar surroundings.

The Four-Week Journey

The Root Yourself programme followed the rhythm of a garden, beginning with planting, developing through care and ending with reflection and nature connection.

Across four sessions, participants explored different ways of engaging with the garden from learning practical gardening skills, to discovering plant stories and reflecting on their own relationship with nature and place.

Week 1: Planting New Beginnings

The journey began by exploring the garden space, discovering plants and planting seeds together. This first session introduced participants to the rhythm of gardening and created an opportunity to slow down and become familiar with the space.

Planting a seed became a gentle reminder that new beginnings take time. Just as plants gradually adapt to their surroundings, people also need time and care to establish connections in a new environment.

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Week 2: Discovering Plant Stories

In the second session, participants explored the stories held within plants. Through observation and conversation, we discussed how plants connect with food, culture, memories and different places around the world.

The garden became a shared space where different experiences could meet. Through plants, participants were able to exchange stories and discover connections between their own backgrounds and the natural world around them.

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Week 3: Growing Through Care

The third session focused on the practice of caring for the garden. Participants developed practical gardening skills through activities including plant propagation, creating seed records, supporting vegetable growth and harvesting together.

These activities highlighted that care is at the heart of gardening. By caring for plants, participants also contributed to the shared garden environment and became part of its ongoing story.

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Week 4: Reconnecting with Nature

The final session introduced Wisdom Walk, a reflective practice that encourages people to slow down, observe and reconnect with their surroundings.

Through paying attention to plants, sounds and small details in nature, participants explored how moments of connection can be created in everyday life, not only within gardens, but also in parks, streets and familiar journeys.

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Explore the Journey

To celebrate this pilot programme, AAGarden created a journey booklet documenting the four-week experience.

The booklet includes memories from each session, plant stories, gardening activities and resources for participants who would like to continue exploring their relationship with plants and nature.

Root Yourself

Root Yourself was a beginning, an exploration of how gardens can support connection, curiosity and belonging. We believe gardens are not only spaces where plants grow.

They are also spaces where people can develop relationships with nature, discover connections with others and create a sense of belonging in the places they call home.

Through small acts of care, we can learn to grow together.

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About AAGarden CIC

AAGarden CIC creates inclusive gardening experiences that connect people with nature, creativity and community.

Through Social and Therapeutic Horticulture, creative practice and shared growing spaces, AAGarden explores how gardens can support wellbeing, belonging and connection in urban communities.

Acknowledgements

This pilot programme was made possible with the support of: Greenwich Healthier Communities Fund