Weirdly this post has been a bit tricky to write , because my memory is a bit shite.

Like most when inspiration is needed we seek it from the picture oracle that is Pintrest, I fell quick and hard down the witchy garden search rabbit hole, saving pin upon pin , some of which I have shared above, I wanted full Practical Magic, Apothecary cave, cottage core esq vibes.

But with well over 100 pins saved and me looking at them as a collection it hit me like a fish to the face that while the majority of them were very appealing aesthetically speaking they were not particularly accessible or achievable now or in the future.

I started thinking hard about the garden back in October 2025 when I had a discussion with a good friend Lizzy about the theme for the next Witch Haven Fest.

I will share the full story about this festival later in the blog and all our previous themes, for right now I shall give the short version. The short version is I struggle to travel and have since the end of Covid, so I was gifted a very large bell tent as my tiny little bungalow can not really host more than a couple of people to stay. So said tent has been going up on front lawn since 2022 for a long weekend and all of my wonderful friends travel down to visit.

This year I wanted to be a little more organised and wanted to include doing something with the rear garden space and plants. I asked all my friends what would they feel is appropriate and we all voted and chose Plant Allies. My friend had a wonderful plant oracle card set which we decided to use to pick all the plant allies.

We wanted as much involvement as possible so organised a video call with everyone to draw the cards, we spread the cards out on the sofa and then either they allocated the person with the cards to pick one for them or they directed them in the pile to the card they wanted.

The idea being we could work with out allies throughout the year coming together in August for the next Witch Haven Fest and planting them in my space to connect me with all the others. But also to be able to grow and harvest the herbs and send them back to others as a group resource. As we all know in our witchy workings and spending, herbs these days don’t come cheap. So if I could grow those I use on the regular it would help me to get outside, connect more with the plants as they grow and give me a better understanding of their uses as I harvest and process them.

I have been Pagan for a good long while so have a good knowledge base around both the medicinal and magical use of herbs, where I felt I was lacking slightly was the processing and making shelf stable products that will last, so as a Yuletide treat to myself in December I purchased a master herbalism course from the centre of excellence which covered all the bases of these preparations.

I also wanted to add another challenge because …oh I am stupid…. or wanted to give another layer to this project to push me to get outside and grow. If I am doing it for others I am more likely to keep it up and make the effort.

I did some googling and search for subscription boxes related to growing and found quite a few to my surprise and settled on this one, The Floral Project, you receive five packets of seeds through your letter box once a month to sow and grow , and then when they are ready to harvest you give them away in bouquets. Perfect I am around the corner from a cemetery I could put them on lonely graves. So I signed up with the first box due in January , more on this later.

Apologises, if you are still here I thank you for your patience as I squirrel through side quests to final get to my actual point and the reason for the post.

With the plant allies, and the flowers in mind I started creating lists of the plants I would like to grow and thought about how I would like to separate them. I knew that caution would need to be given to the potentially poisonous and medicinal herbs, so they would be separated and then the culinary would be better to be in its own place as well as the flowers, and with all the energy being given to create this magical space I also needed to give back to the other inhabitants so added a wildlife pond into the plans.

The front of the house has a huge lawn which is mowed thanks to the housing association so there wasn’t much space to grow much apart from a narrow slip of gravel and paving slabs under the living room window. For a good long while I have loved and covetted the rustic look of whiskey barrel planters they give me the cottage core , magical whimsy I am looking for.

With this in mind when I started writing lists of needs in the first weeks of January I ventured onto Facebook Marketplace and did a basic search and to my surprise up popped a listing for what I was looking for.

I messaged the seller, asking if they could offer a discount if I purchased four , how much compost would it take to fill each planter , and would they be willing to deliver as they were located slightly out of area.

Thankfully the universe answered with a lovely lady, not only offering a discount and reasonable delivery costs, but also an offer to supply enough compost to fill them. They were priced very reasonably and I arranged a date and time for their arrival and made payment via Paypal, all in all a very simple and easy process which made me feel positive at getting started.

The next big thing was finding a gardener, and clearing the current jungle that was the rear garden , the side alley way had become so thick with brambles I am surprised Indiana Jones hadn’t rolled out with some lost relic , chased by some distant tribe. Maybe squirrel worshippers. I had used check a trade before but if by some weird coincidence while I was doom scrolling that night an advert for Bark came up, it was a website you could post jobs needed adverts on, in all sorts of categories from cleaners, to carers and even gardeners.

I think this was around the 3rd of January so very fresh into the new year I had tried in previous years to find a gardener but hadn’t much luck with the majority having no space other than regular customers, but being winter and not much going on I was in luck and chap from a local firm reached out to come and look and provide a quote.

This being my second successful task ticked off already and only three days into the year I was super happy about it all.

After the drawing of the plant allies and a little Witchy book research lists started forming, the medicinal, the culinary and the flowers

I had a vague idea of what I wanted to plant and where I wanted to plant so then I started to think on how it could be adapted for myself with my limitations and disabilities. Bending can be a problem and moving around, the gravel was causing me issues and lack of places to sit, I would like clear divisions that could be marked between sections and I would need to be able to reach all of it without too much effort. Around waist height would be ideal.

Budget was also a massive block being on benefits you don’t particularly have a huge amount of surplus funds and raw materials such as wood are not particularly cheap so needed someone that understood this and work out a financial plan I could work with.

Back to Pintrest and Etsy for another dive down a rabbit hole this time looking for various versions of waste height planters , tiered planters and herb planters, raised beds and the like. Getting an idea for both shape , style and average costs.

With all this in mind I drew a very crude idea for my meeting with the gardener, listing all the major points of importance.

Points of importance

• Clear current Jungle
• Accessibility
• Tiered planters wrapping round garden edge
• Hexagon herb / pond planter
• Waist Height with clear divides
• Clearing or covering gravel for better mobility
• Budget friendly
• Recycled materials if possible.

I find when speaking with others especially if they are new people I can get anxious and a little flustered so writing these prompts keeps me from getting overwhelmed and on point.

I can hear you sigh of relief as you finally read the list above and see the inspiration behind it, with most things I think everything happens for a reason and the universe when you ask a question or a need sometimes replies which exactly what you need at that time and that is what I adore about magic. The give and take of the world around us is amazing, you just need to sit back and listen and watch for those signs.

Don’t worry I haven’t completely gone down the crazy train, I understand coincidences and things just lining up but the people and the timing of all that has gone into creating this space has been something of a miracle, the space spoke and the vision I had and needed has been made. In the seven months of this year it has materialised a epic working space and I really can’t wait to share it with you all.

But that again , is for another time and space and blog post… so I can keep you guessing and wanting more , until next time love from my haven to your home. x