Talk | James Canton | Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the World - Garden Museum

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Talk | James Canton | Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the World

Join us to celebrate the launch of James Canton's latest publication, Renaturing: Small Ways to Wild the World, in conversation with Matt Collins, writer and Head Gardener at the Garden Museum.

Twenty years ago, James Canton moved from London to the English countryside. Behind his farm labourer’s cottage was a small, abandoned field with a ‘for sale’ sign. James knew that the two-acre patch of earth held more potential – as a place for nature to return and flourish.

Here is the story of how, over a number of years, he undertook a project to ‘rewild’ the field: digging a pond, forging meadowlands, creating habitats for birds and insects, encouraging flowers and plants that support pollinators and wildlife. Eventually what was once just a grassy space was again buzzing with life.

Join author James Canton in conversation with garden, landscape and travel writer, and Head Gardener at the Garden Museum, Matt Collins as they discuss this accessible and everyday approach to rewilding that can be adapted by anyone from the ambitious gardener to the casual window-box owner.

Speaker Biographies

  • James Canton

    James Canton

    Dr James Canton is Director of Wild Writing at the University of Essex. He is the author of Grounded: A Journey into the Landscapes of Our Ancestors (2023), The Oak Papers (2020), Ancient Wonderings: Journeys into Prehistoric Britain (2017) and Out of Essex: Re-Imagining a Literary Landscape (2013), which was inspired by his rural wanderings in East Anglia. He has written for the Guardian, reviews for the TLS and Caught by the River, and is a regular on television and radio.

  • Matt Collins

    Matt Collins

    Matt is a garden, landscape and travel writer, and Head Gardener at the Garden Museum in London.

    Trained at the Botanic Garden of Wales, Matt contributes articles and essays for publications including The Guardian, Spectator, The Times, RHS's The Garden and Hortus. He writes a monthly column for the Daily Telegraph and reviews books for Gardens Illustrated. Matt has several books published internationally by Pavilion Books.

    Matt’s interests lie at the intersection between cultivated and natural environments; his latest book, Forest, Walking Among Trees (Pavilion) traces an intercontinental pathway between British trees and their wild-wooded counterparts, and was shortlisted for an Edward Stanford Travel Writing award.

    Matt is a member of the Garden Media Guild.