Welcome to Untold Hours

A new weekly behind-the-scenes blog from The Children’s Gardening Coach

Welcome to Untold Hours, my brand new weekly Monday instalment here on LinkedIn.

For many people, the work of The Children’s Gardening Coach looks exciting and visible. School tours, show gardens, press events, campaign launches and thousands of children getting their hands in the soil. Those moments are powerful and important. They are also only a fraction of the reality.

Untold Hours is about the work you do not see. The hours behind the camera. The time at the desk. The planning meetings, the funding conversations, the strategy, the school calls, the rewrites, the budgets and the long-term thinking required to build something meaningful in children’s gardening and outdoor education.

Over the past decade, I have worked with tens of thousands of children, supported schools across the UK and built programmes designed to make gardening accessible to every setting, regardless of budget. What people often miss is the infrastructure behind that impact. Sustainable change in school gardening does not happen by accident. It requires partnerships, curriculum thinking, logistical planning and a clear vision for how gardening improves children’s wellbeing, confidence and learning outcomes.

This weekly blog is where I will share that side of the journey. Not as a highlight reel, but as an honest look at what it takes to grow a movement.

This week, that movement stretches far beyond the UK.

One of the most significant projects currently taking shape behind the scenes is Brothers With, a creative partnership between myself and my brother, Dale.

Our connection with Nagasaki began in 2015 when we created our first show garden at Huis Ten Bosch. That opportunity marked a turning point in our careers and established relationships that have endured for more than a decade. Now, we are returning to Japan with a far more ambitious vision.

Brothers With is rooted in the belief that art, gardening and community can intersect in powerful ways. While my work focuses on children’s gardening education and school engagement, Dale’s work centres around outdoor therapy and creative wellbeing. Through his project, Active Outdoor Therapy, he supports children through nature-based experiences that build resilience, confidence and emotional strength.

When we bring those two worlds together, something unique happens.

The Japan project is about building an international model for community connection through gardening and creativity. We are developing immersive garden experiences that will involve schools, families and local communities. The goal is to create spaces and programmes that demonstrate the positive effects gardening can bring to children’s lives, from improved mental wellbeing to stronger social skills and deeper environmental awareness.

This is community-led, education-focused and designed to be sustainable.

Last week, we held meetings with schools in Japan as part of the ongoing development of this project.

There was a language barrier, and we were supported by translators throughout the discussions. At times, conversations slowed down as ideas were clarified and rephrased. However, what became clear very quickly is that educators speak the same language.

When we discussed children’s wellbeing, every head nodded.
When we talked about outdoor learning, the enthusiasm was obvious.
When we explored how gardening builds confidence and resilience, the understanding was immediate.

Whether in the UK or Japan, teachers and school leaders share the same ambition. They want children to feel capable, connected and inspired. They want education to extend beyond the classroom walls. They recognise the value of hands-on learning and the measurable benefits of nature-based education.

Despite cultural and linguistic differences, the aim of the project shone through clearly. Gardening is a universal tool. It transcends borders because it connects us to something fundamental. The desire to give children meaningful, positive experiences outdoors is shared across continents.

That meeting may never appear on social media. There were no staged photos or launch announcements. But it represented months of planning and years of relationship building. It was one of those untold hours that quietly move a project forward.

In September, we will return to Nagasaki to run an international school tour.

This next phase will involve working directly with schools to deliver workshops, engage students and demonstrate how gardening can be embedded into educational practice. The aim is not simply to visit, but to collaborate. We want to listen to local educators, understand their context and co-create something that works for their communities.

International work brings complexity. There are logistical challenges, cultural considerations and significant preparation required. However, it also brings enormous opportunity. By connecting schools across countries, we can share best practice in children’s gardening, outdoor education and community engagement.

The long-term ambition is to create a model that links communities through gardening, showing how nature-based education can unite families and schools around a shared purpose.

One of the most rewarding aspects of this project is working alongside my brother.

Dale’s background in outdoor art therapy adds depth to everything we are building. His understanding of how nature and art supports emotional regulation, confidence and mental wellbeing complements my focus on educational structure and school delivery. Where I might think in terms of curriculum and scalability, he thinks in terms of therapeutic impact and personal growth.

That balance strengthens the project.

As brothers, we have grown up with shared experiences and values. Bringing that into our professional work adds another layer of meaning. There is something powerful about building projects that not only educate children, but also demonstrate what family collaboration can look like.

Our hope is that the spaces and programmes we create do more than teach children how to grow plants. We want them to bring families together. We want parents and carers to feel invited into the journey. We want communities to gather around shared outdoor spaces. Gardening has always been intergenerational, and this project leans into that truth.

If we can use this international platform to strengthen both education and family connection, then the impact will go far beyond the garden itself.

At the heart of everything I do as The Children’s Gardening Coach is community.

Whether it is supporting UK schools through School Gardening Success, launching national campaigns, building show gardens or developing international partnerships, the underlying goal remains the same. Gardening is a vehicle for connection.

It connects children to nature.
It connects schools to families.
It connects brands to purpose.
It connects communities to shared spaces.

With Brothers With in Japan, we are aiming to do exactly that on a wider scale. We are building something that blends children’s gardening, outdoor education and creative wellbeing into a project that can inspire across borders.

The visible moments will come. The tours, the installations, the photographs.

But for now, this is the work behind the scenes. The conversations, the planning and the steady progress that turns vision into reality.

These are the untold hours.

And every Monday, I will be sharing more of them.