Date – 15 January 2026 - 16 January 2026
Time – 12:00 am
15 & 16 January 2026, The University of Manchester
Tickets on sale now: www.wildinggardens.co.uk
“Wilding Gardens is a conference for anyone with a garden, schoolyard, balcony or window box; with influence over a city park, a roadside verge, an orchard or a churchyard in the country. It’s a conference of evidence, ideas and collaboration – and, above all, hope.”
Craig Bennett, CEO The Wildlife Trusts, Speaker
The inaugural Wilding Gardens Conference on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 January 2026 at The University of Manchester, will bring together leading voices in rewilding, horticulture and environmental science for two days of radical thinking, practical inspiration and community action.
This bold new conference aims to transform how we think about gardening and green spaces – turning everyday landscapes into powerful tools for biodiversity, climate resilience and ecological recovery.
A Defining Moment for the Future of Our Green Spaces
Renowned garden designers and horticulturists James Hitchmough, Adam Hunt, Lulu Urquhart, Charlie Harpur and Tom Stuart-Smith have joined forces with rewilding champions Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell alongside The University of Manchester to host the Wilding Gardens Conference.
Wilding Gardens will bring together some of the most inspiring gardeners and ecologists, practitioners and thinkers to show how we can garden to save wildlife and resources, create resilience and combat climate change. It’s a step beyond ‘nature-friendly’ gardening – a vision that can create wilder, more dynamic green spaces in our towns and cities and our own backyards, while at the same time providing places of beauty and joy.
Featured speakers include:
- Isabella Tree – Conservationist and author of Wilding
- Craig Bennett – CEO, The Wildlife Trusts
- Professor James Hitchmough – Professor Emeritus of Horticultural Ecology, University of Sheffield
- Tom Stuart-Smith, Adam Hunt, Lulu Urquhart – award-winning garden designers
- Fergus Garrett, Alys Fowler, Jason Williams (aka The Cloud Gardener) – inspirational and forward-thinking gardeners
- Poppy Okotcha – ecological home grower and community gardener
- Dave Goulson – bestselling author and Professor of Biology at University of Sussex
- Professor Kathy Willis – Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford
- Charlie Harpur – Head Gardener, Knepp Estate
- Anna Gilchrist – Senior Lecturer in Environmental Planning, University of Manchester
- Mike Edwards – sustainability consultant, Chief Listening Officer at Sound Matters
- Dr Katherine Baldock – Associate Professor of Ecology, Northumbria University
- Charlie Burrell – conservationist and founder of Knepp Wildland
Key themes of the conference:
- Gardening for the planet – how gardens can lead global change
- What Does ‘Wilding a Garden’ mean? – beyond sustainable and nature-friendly
- Darwin’s Tangled Bank – understanding food webs and habitats
- The enemy at the gate – confronting peat, pesticides and harmful practices
- Wilding grey spaces – from schoolyards, balconies and rooftops to urban parks and green corridors
- Running out of water – how to create dry gardens and rain gardens – designing for drought, flood and future resilience
- We’re doing it! – inspiring stories from communities already greening their spaces
A range of ticket prices are available. including an allocation of free tickets for students over the age of 18 in full time education, undertaking environmental or land-based studies in higher education settings. Wilding Gardens CIC is seeking donations to support this initiative. Applications for free student tickets are open on the Wilding Gardens website here.