Maple & Fern is a journal of one garden in permanent shade: a long, north-facing plot under mature trees, where the sun arrives for a few hours and the compost heap is the sunniest spot on the property.
I began writing it in 2017, largely to keep track of what survived. The list of failures is long and instructive. The list of successes is shorter and more interesting: ferns, hostas, hellebores, moss, and a maple I planted the year the journal began, which now turns the colour of a struck match every October.
Everything here is written from that one garden, in one climate, with one wheelbarrow. No sponsorships, no miracle products, no advice I have not tested — often twice, often the hard way.
— Thomas Greenwood