About the event

As we move towards the Spring Equinox and the lengthening of days, join us for a morning of wandering and poetry at the beautiful Stone Lane Gardens.

You will be in the company of Devon poet Chris Waters, who will gently guide us through the creative process, and Sarah Augbaya from Saving Devon's Treescapes.

We will quietly explore, observe and reflect on our relationship to our changing treescapes and the cyclical nature of the seasons.

Our senses and the tranquil atmosphere of the gardens will provide us with a rich starting point for personal writing in the form of the brief and vivid haiku – a Japanese form of poetry consisting of just three lines, often intended to depict the essence of a specific moment in time.

Open to all aspiring writers, all ages and experience welcome. All participants are invited to submit their final pieces to Saving Devon’s Treescapes Ash Archive - an emotional and artistic response to Ash dieback.

Special thanks to Stone Lane Gardens for allowing us to use this beautiful tranquil space for this event.

About Chris Waters

Chris Waters is a poet and musician, living in South Devon. He is a published poet with four poetry collections who has won several prizes, including the Bridport Prize for his poetry. Chris particularly enjoys live readings and collaborations with fellow musicians as well as many other creative projects, including a spell as a storyteller for the National Trust.

About Stone Lane Gardens

Stone Lane Gardens is an enchanting 5-acre woodland gardens on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park, famous for it's National Collection of Birch and Alder trees and annual sculpture exhibition.

It is an RHS Partner Garden and an accredited BGCI Botanic Garden, an internationally recognised, very prestigious and unique world-wide accolade bestowed by the BGCI at Kew, London.

This event is organised by Saving Devon's Treescapes, a project led by Devon Wildlife Trust on behalf of the Devon Ash Dieback Resilience Forum. Saving Devon’s Treescapes is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, this project aims to strengthen Devon's treescapes in the face of ash dieback disease. The project is working with Devon's communities, landowners and businesses to plant and nurture 250,000 trees outside of woodlands across Devon.

This project is also generously funded by One Tree Planted and other funders.