Mizen Head Food Forest

An edible garden for people & pets!

Step inside this space

A self-sustaining space growing food from berries & fruit to fresh leaves & nuts year-round, maximising produce with minimal input of time, energy & resources.  Harvests will be enjoyed by the clients & their visitors as well as feeding the wonderful menagerie of animals that call the place home too including rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens & ducks!

 The re-imagining process

Dig deeper & explore how this space is being transformed..

The Space

A sloping half acre site with views along the sides of Sheeps Head & Mizen Head peninsulas & the sea beyond.  The space contained a lots of grass & newly planted trees.

 The Client Brief

“We want to create a forest garden that we can harvest edibles for us & the animals & grow herbs for making medicines.  A key task is to replace the grass with a variety of trees, shrubs & plants that will survive the wind & shallow soils on this site.  We also know that there are lots of birds, butterflies, bats & moths that live in & off the space so ensuring that we continue to cultivate habitat for this wildlife & more is vital.  ”

The Design Process

This client choose Design Package 3 – ‘Design & Plan’ which includes:

 In-depth Site Survey & Pre-Design Consultation

Draft Concept Design & mood boards

Final Design Master Plan (to scale) & Detailed Planting Plans

Design Realisation Guide. 

Bespoke Planting Care Calendar

Design Presentation & Consultation

The Build 

These clients from the outset were clear that they wanted to develop their new garden themselves with the help of volunteers using our detailed design plans.  Their accompanying Design Realisation Guide was organised into four different garden zones & phased through the seasons with specific tasks allowing the clients to focus on individual areas or tasks by the time of the year.  Full plants & materials lists were also included with quantities, prices & suggested suppliers giving them all the information they need on what to get, how much & from where as well as organise the project according to available budget over time.  

Client Testimonial

“We met Kloe and Adam when they held a Charity Open Day at their own showcase garden – ‘The Garden of Re-Imagination’.  We were impressed by their knowledge and passion for gardening with the environment.
We had been looking at creating a Forest Garden in our back field, which had sheep on for many years.  Our idea for the field is to have as many edible plants as possible, both for our own food and for the many animals that we care for, from Donkeys down to Guinea-Pigs.  We had been planting native trees, but did not have a plan for the whole area, we were just doing things a bit at a time. Oh what a lot of grass and rushes we have!

We were inspired by Kloe and Adam’s garden, as soon as we learned that they do Landscape Design we knew that we wanted to work with them.  The initial questionnaire was comprehensive, highlighting things that we had not even thought of, making us think about what we really want.  On the site visit it was so good to have affirmation that Kloe and Adam really do know their subject. They picked up the lie of the land very quickly, and asked all the right questions of us to work out what our vision is, and how they can help to make it happen.  They brought us a beautiful design which is inspiring, bringing all the components of the land together to create a landscape that will invite us to spend a lot more time there. 

As of Spring 2021, we have made a start on the work, using the guidance provided by the plans.  The design plan is cleverly broken down into different areas, making it logical to work through one area at a time. Because of the Pandemic we cannot source all our selected plants at the moment, the software included in our design package allows us to research alternatives, which we can run past Kloe and Adam for their advice.  We are out of our comfort zone with some of the plants suggested, but they are exciting, and we look forward to learning more about them as we progress through the field, working on each area.  We are very happy to have met Kloe and Adam, pleased with their work, and feel confident to proceed knowing that we have their ongoing support.“
– Susy and Francis Greaves –