This forest garden is an ongoing project responding to a journey of discovery, using an opportunity to transform the grass lawn of a small garden into a rich wealth of diversity, incorporating precious plants inherited from family members no longer alive, in an attempt to promote biodiversity in the face of climate crisis compounded by the intensive, industrially farmed mono-crops that dominate the surrounding landscape.

In the forest garden, a world of mysterious expectancy emerges from the ephemeral, rhythmic repetition of cycles and seasons, where time confuses and dissipates, vibrant and busy with light and life. Despite its tiny size, the forest garden is wild, an alchemy of memory and dreams, a play between artist and plants, provoking the dormant seed bank, urging new arrivals, pruning and harvesting, watching the (in)visible and listening to the (in)audible, challenging the senses with patience and adversity, chaos and order, growth, decay and metamorphosis.

Over the last few years the garden has re-emerged into the pubic discourse as a growing understanding of the effects of climate change and the state of the planet in our Anthropocene world, acknowledging the contribution gardens can play as part of a biodiverse ecology. In 2014, Standford initiated this body of work by studying the design, implementation and maintenance of a temperate forest garden - or food forest - with leading expert and author Martin Crawford, on his research site in the South West of England, UK.  

(un)planted 2025 
Herbarium project - in progress
Expectancy
2025
colour HD video - in progress 
stereo sound

Antler
2019
Performancet to camera
colour HD video 2.21”
stereo sound

Fig Tree
2021 
Performance to camera
colour HD video 3’17”
stereo sound
Storm
2019
colour HD video 7’22”
stereo sound
Pas de deux 2021
colour HD video 19’33”
stereo sound
Melt 2019
Performance to camera
colour HD video 4’33”
stereo  sound
In the Forest Garden2025
digital album
© Sophie Standford, 2025
Unless otherwise indicated, all materials on these pages are copyrighted.
No part of these pages, either text or images may be used for any purpose other than personal use, unless explicit authorisation is given by Sophie Standford.