Interview with The Land Gardeners

From the rolling fields of Oxfordshire to soil-healing initiatives around the globe, The Land Gardeners have quietly become leaders in the growing global soil movement. Founded by Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld, The Land Gardeners began with a shared passion for growing organic flowers and has evolved into a rich, multi-layered project that blends horticulture, soil science, education, writing, and advocacy. At the heart of everything they do is one fundamental element: soil—not just as a growing medium, but as a living, dynamic force capable of healing both ecosystems and communities. Save Soil was delighted to be a part of their wonderful exhibition 'Soil: The World At Our Feet' at Somerset House in the UK.

In this fascinating conversation, we explore the origins of their work, their ambitious vision for the future, and why they believe that nurturing soil is one of the most powerful climate solutions of our time.

Discover more about the Land Gardeners

It’s been such a pleasure exploring your website and all of your work. What you’re doing with The Land Gardeners is incredibly broad—it spans growing, designing, education, writing, and now curating major events like exhibitions. How would you introduce your work to someone encountering it for the first time?

Bridget:
Well, I think the common denominator in all those things is soil. We began The Land Gardeners to think about how we could look after and garden land. Initially, we started at a horticultural level, growing organic cut flowers in Oxfordshire in the UK. But behind the scenes, we were always experimenting with the soil—how to improve it. Our aim was, how could we scale that work to 10,000 acres or 200,000 acres? How could we colour in the whole of England by healing soils? We started a long time ago—this has been a 20-year journey. We certainly don’t have all the answers. But we make compost, we’re making a garden tonic now, we’re working with microbes and exploring different ways—whether with green manures or amendments—to help our soils.

Henrietta:
Yes, having started with our hands in the soil, growing these flowers, it led us on this research journey. We’re now looking at how people are feeding soils globally. We’ve just been to Australia, New Zealand, Cuba and India. At the end of last year we went through America. We are trying to research methods for feeding the soil without chemicals—to de-risk farmers and growers to come off chemicals, so they can, as far as possible, access inputs on their farm or neighbouring farms or plots to feed their soils and their plants. There’s such a wealth of information out there. People are doing such incredible things. We really just want to share those stories and make all that information open source.

Bridget:
We are encouraging different farmer groups to come together and pool resources. For example, one might be an arable farmer with the carbon source—straw or hay. Then livestock farmers might have manure or other inputs. There are some really nice synergies. If you really start looking around your farm or garden, you can find all sorts of things to feed your soil.

Henrietta:
Some of these practices are rooted in indigenous wisdom and others are new ways of feeding the soil.

Among all the environmental issues you could have focused on, what was it about soil that resonated so deeply for both of you?

Bridget:
The big thing was that, around the year 2000, we both became incredibly aware of the climate issue—how huge and pressing it was, and how fast it was approaching. We both had young children, and we kept thinking, "How can we make a difference?" We felt disempowered. Gardening and growing was something we knew, and we thought: how can we use this to help? The more we read and learned, the more we started—almost intuitively—to realise that if we could get the soil functioning properly, it could benefit the planet. Over time, we have realised how significant this really is—how critical soil is to all live on earth. From carbon drawdown to water retention, nutrient-dense food, and even reducing pressure on healthcare systems—so many incredible benefits come from getting soil right.

Henrietta:
Yes. We were also designing gardens, and thinking: what does real beauty look like in a space, in a garden, in nature? And it’s when it’s really humming with life—filled with creatures, insects, birds. That only happens when the soil is alive and thriving. As Bridget said, it all has its foundation in the soil. We have lost 97% of our meadows in the UK since World War II. If we want that biodiversity back, we have to start with soil and healing the environment.

That’s beautifully said. And in many ways, it feels like you’ve been ahead of your time—championing soil long before it became part of the mainstream climate conversation. Was there a shared moment or inspiration that led you to start working together on The Land Gardeners?

Henrietta:
Our children were at nursery together. We started chatting at the school gates, and that’s really when we decided to join forces. It was our children that brought us together, and it’s kind of poetic, since so much of our work is about preserving the soil for future generations.

That’s such a lovely connection—the idea that your own children, the next generation, were the catalyst for this work aimed at securing a future for their world. You’ve touched on soil as a climate solution, and with biodiversity loss becoming a central concern, we’d love to ask—what role do you see gardeners and land managers playing in addressing those issues?

Bridget:
As we now know, the more diversity you have above ground, the more you’ll have below—and vice versa. There’s so much life in the soil. Sometimes it’s dormant, but if you get the environment right, it starts humming. You get this incredible diversity and complexity—a kind of metropolis beneath the surface. It’s all interconnected—not just through plant roots, but in many ways. Science is only just catching up, trying to identify and name all that life in the soil. But beyond that, there’s the energetic link between soil and everything above it. That’s something we wanted to explore in the exhibition (SOIL: The World at Our Feet, 2025, at the Southbank Centre, London UK) —how soil is linked not only to what’s above it, but to the cosmos, the planets, the moon. Two hundred years ago, people planted by the moon and stars. Now we silo everything—we look at soil as separate from plants, separate from energy. That whole interplay is something we really want to understand and support.

Henrietta:
And gardeners really do make a huge contribution. Even with just a pot on your terrace or a small garden, you can help biodiversity. In the exhibition, we had a film about Great Dixter. It showed how healthy soils lead to abundant gardens and incredible biodiversity. They’ve been surveyed and rank among the highest in the UK for biodiversity. So our gardens—this patchwork across the country and the world—can play a vital role.


Wonderful. And congratulations on the exhibition in London—it’s generated a lot of excitement. Could you tell us a bit about how it came to life?

Bridget:
We wrote a book called Soil to Table—a mix of recipes and ways to feed your soil. We wanted to engage people gently. At the start of the book, we describe what soil is and what it does, in a light and beautiful way. We were surprised at how many people responded to that—perhaps because it had cake recipes too!

Then we thought, what’s the next step? So we went to Somerset House and pitched the exhibition. To our surprise, they said yes. They were incredibly kind. They asked us to research artists working around soil—which was unexpected, as we’re not art curators, we’re gardeners! But we learned so much, and Somerset House supported us with two brilliant curators—Claire Catterall and May Rosenthal Sloan. It really showed us the power of art to connect and communicate.

Henrietta:
It was fascinating to see what pieces resonated with people. Some had political messages, some focused on community, others on the life beneath the soil. We finished with our World Map of Hope—featuring people around the world healing soils. We wanted to show there is hope. Soil is a solution. We can do this together.


For those who couldn’t attend the exhibition, is there a theme or common thread that stood out across all the contributors?

Bridget:
There was a huge range—some focused on the geology of soil, others on life within it, or who owns it, or cultural relationships to it. But all of it felt very accessible. We all come from the soil and go back to it.

We also helped create a series of films—looking at life under the soil, how plants and soil communicate, food and farming systems, even fibre and clothing. All of those films will be available on our new platform—Soil and The Land Gardeners.

Henrietta:
Yes, and the artists all shared a curiosity about soil. We want the exhibition to travel around the world. And in each place, we’ll include local artists telling their soil stories. Which will bring a global picture of SOIL.


That’s very exciting. We have strong volunteer bases in those countries, so I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to hear that. To wrap up—what are you both most excited about for the future of The Land Gardeners?

Henrietta:
We’ve got a lot going on—trials with farmers across the UK to find scalable, natural soil solutions. It’s not easy, but we’re hopeful. The goal is to make these solutions simple, reliable, and accessible.

Bridget:
And raising awareness—through exhibitions, books, and maybe even a film! And we’d love for people to share their own stories. We’re building a global map of soil healing efforts. If you know someone doing amazing things for soil, please get in touch with us.


Where can people find the map?

Bridget:
It will be available online, and it will travel with the exhibition—growing and evolving as it goes from country to country.

Discover more about the Land Gardeners