Kew Gardens Launches 'The Grow Wild Guide' – A Free Resource for Community Growing Projects

Today, 22 September 2025, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, launches The Grow Wild Guide providing an essential resource to help individuals and community groups set up and run successful growing projects across the UK. 

The first resource of its kind produced by the world leading conservation charity, the guide draws inspiration from the stories and experiences of over 400 community initiatives supported by Grow Wild, a national outreach programme from RBG Kew. The Grow Wild Guide provides practical tips, expert advice, and inspiration for creating green spaces that bring people together and promote biodiversity. This free, downloadable guide is now available on the Grow Wild website. The new guide showcases the incredible work done by local groups who have been supported through Grow Wild, featuring their successes and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. From creating vibrant wildflower meadows to building inclusive community gardens, the guide provides practical steps for anyone looking to improve their local environment and create green spaces that foster community spirit. The new guide will make these resources available to an even wider audience, enabling more groups to create successful projects in their own communities. Specifically, it advises on:

• the benefits of growing UK native species for biodiversity and people
• how to define your vision, find volunteers and partners, and raise funds
• what to grow to support wildlife
• how to motivate your team
• how to tell your group’s unique story 

Grow Wild has been supporting grassroots community growing projects across the UK for over a decade, engaging communities with the power of nature and horticulture. The programme has directly impacted the UK’s 30% most deprived areas, creating spaces where people can come together to learn, grow, and connect with nature.

The Grow Wild Guide is the culmination of over £1 million in grants awarded to 375 young people and over 400 community projects since Grow Wild’s inception in 2014, along with more than 5 million digital interactions with supporters across the UK. During this time, over 306,000 seed kits and 25,600 fungi kits have also been distributed.

Participants from community projects Grow Wild has supported in recent years have commented:

• "Everybody enjoys coming and generally tend to come back, saying they feel so relaxed in the garden." - Incredible Edible Garforth volunteer, Garforth (Leeds​)
• "Gardening has helped so much with everybody’s mental health." - — Mary, Social Prescriber​at Headin2Horticulture (Belfast)
• “Our community garden is as much about the space as the opportunity to bring people together.” Jack, Lead Volunteer at Wild Roots Community Garden (Newcastle)
• “In today's busy world of screens and demands it's amazing. I have somewhere to just come and kind of get away from it all.” - Volunteer at Wild Roots Community Garden (Newcastle)

Polly Gifford, Grow Wild & Youth Programme Manager at RBG Kew, says: "The Grow Wild Guide is a culmination of years of learning from our wonderful community projects across the UK. It’s an empowering resource that we hope will inspire even more individuals and groups to create their own green spaces. Whether you’re looking to start a garden or rejuvenate a community space, the guide offers everything you need to take that first step. At Kew, we believe in the power of nature to bring people together and inspire positive change — and we’re thrilled to share this resource with communities across the UK."

Since its inception in 2014, Grow Wild has become a cornerstone of community engagement in the UK’s green spaces. Voted the UK's Best Environment Project in the National Lottery Awards on BBC One in 2018, the programme has reached millions of people through its seed kits, grants, and digital platforms. With a social media following of 64,000 the initiative continues to inspire individuals and groups to take action for nature and the environment. The new Grow Wild Guide reflects the programme’s commitment to empowering local communities to create positive, lasting change through nature. The Grow Wild Guide is now available to download for free on the Grow Wild website: https://growwild.kew.org. Limited printed copies will also be available for distribution to groups and at events across the UK.

ENDS

For more information or images, please contact the Press Office at pr@kew.org

Hi-res media images can be downloaded here: https://we.tl/t-CsfH19ha2Y