Working with Nature
20 years Creating a 5 Acre Wild & Herbal Garden Sanctuary
Holistic Garden: Mature Trees, Native Plants, Native Flowers & Herbs
Why It Began
Influenced by books, we decided to move to a smallholding to grow our own organic food and herbs.
Creating the garden on this 5 acre small holding was always a big challenge. It’s tested our motivation and commitment to the limit.
So what were my aims?
I’ve always loved animals and have been vegetarian and vegan for the majority of my life. Since my early 20s, I’ve chosen organic food to support wildlife, soil, human and animal welfare.
My love of wildflowers has grown since I was a child. I wanted to grow as many as I could. This would help me to get to know them better and create biodiversity.
Essentially, I wanted to follow my passion for wildlife, nature, plants and trees. I wanted to create a wild, animal haven that would attract native pollinators, insects and wildlife. So in my own small way I could help the environment.
My Herbal and natural healing training taught the benefits of food as medicine and herbs as food. Hence, I love cooking healthy, nutritious meals and discuss nutrients/diet with clients, as part of their healing process.
My vision during training to be a Herbalist was this:
I passionately wanted to grow as many of the herbs that I was learning about. I really wanted to get to know the plants. I wanted to be able to show my clients the plants that were in their formulas. It’s a deep commitment of mine to show how we can all grow our own medicine chest.
The Condition of the Land
When we first moved to the smallholding, we found the land neglected. The soil was degraded. It took years trying to find ways to improve the soil fertility, and reclaim it for the plants and herbs I really wanted to grow.
While some of the land had been farmland, a lot was concrete with derelict, old and rotten buildings. We had our work cut out to reclaim it. We had to get machines to break up the concrete and remove rubble. Many times lorries got stuck on the land.
Keep Going
Often we wondered whether we should give up – when the weeds seemed to take over, when plants died, or when a new storm washed away all our hard work.
It took years to even resemble a garden.
I was working full-time in a demanding job, helping others overcome their own barriers. It meant little work/ life balance. It was very exhausting and demoralising, emotionally, physically. It seemed there was no progress. Rather, it felt like going backwards at times!
Each Failure a Lesson
You learn a lot from failure. We learned the art of patience, of listening to the land, of experimenting with different methods. Slowly, the garden began to take shape.
Eventually a way forward was to get structure, so we put in an arbour and pathways. Lined with native flowers and shrubs, colour and scent began to emerge. Trees were planted.
We dug out two ponds that had been there previously. This stopped some flooding and brought life to the soil.
We put up a solar tunnel to grow veg and more unusual herbs such as Teatree. I started with beds of herbs to treat certain body systems. We planted an orchard, with its own biodiversity, including many traditional cooking apples, many rare cider apple varieties and hardy, traditional dessert apples.
We used Permaculture principles, layering straw and cardboard, mulch and chippings. It was an uphill struggle, battling against broken equipment and persistent weeds.
Animal Appetites
One of my main aims is to help wildlife and animals. The masses of ducks, geese, chickens, goats and pigs – all rescue or pets, meant the garden took a hammering too! All the animals were left to range freely. They were very healthy, as they enjoyed the herbs and self medicated!
Many of the animals we kept have passed on naturally which has given the wild garden a chance to mature.
The garden was not without its losses. Deer and rabbits would often munch on freshly planted saplings, undoing hours of hard work in a single night. Yet, we persisted.


“Call This a Garden?”
I think the garden reflects my values: sustainability, healing, and compassion. It’s all organic. No chemicals —only the mainly wild, native species I’ve come to love. But as the garden grew, so did the judgment from others.
I got a lot of criticism for sticking to my vision growing mainly native plants and trees, and not growing more attractive borders with more hybrids, best at Chelsea plants, a well mown garden.
I heard, “Call this a garden?”, many times. I was criticised for not using Roundup, for hand-weeding invasive plants, for allowing the garden to look untidy. But I had a vision and was sticking to it.
This garden was not about convention; it was about connection
Every plant had a purpose. Every “weed” had a story, a folk remedy, a connection to the past. I wanted to show others how herbs and plants could be medicine, how they could nourish both the body and the soul. I believed that nature’s wisdom, passed down through generations, was a resource to be revered, not discarded.
A Sense of Fulfilment & The Rewards
For every setback, there was a victory —like the day I harvested my first batch of homegrown herbs and turned them into soothing teas and healing balms. The joy of being able to step outside and pick herbs for meals or remedies outweighed the frustrations.
There’s been great satisfaction in seeing the young saplings now grown with me in to large trees, powering above my head. The only difference – they get stronger as they get older!
There’s great pleasure now helping others to see the benefits of being in, and connecting to, the Natural world. The garden is part of my and others healing, therapeutic process. This means so very much.
I started a local group of wildflower enthusiasts, inviting others to share my passion for native plants.
Together, we go on excursions to find rare plants, exchanged tips and stories, and find solace in each other’s company.
The garden has become not just a place of personal healing, but a hub to share knowledge.
You can get a guided tour and explore the garden, herbs and nature as part of my Women’s One Day Wellness Retreat – Or contact me to arrange for me to give a talk. Please contact me on the link below
*Contact Paula
Paula Stone T: 01953 788722 M: 07766 885631
Walnut Tree Farm,
Church Road,
Carleton Rode,
Norfolk
NR16 1RR
Meadowsweet Life Balance, Naturally


