Tayshan Hayden-Smith

Tayshan Hayden-Smith was born and raised in Ladbroke Grove, West London. He was fortunate enough to have broken into professional football in his late teens. However his path soon took a turn. After the Grenfell Tower fire in North Kensington, he turned to guerilla gardening as a form of therapy.

Tayshan founded Grow to Know, a not-for-profit collective offering creative nature-based solutions. They aim to solve environmental and social challenges through impact-driven collaborations. He believe’s through Grow to Know’s work that there is hope for the seeds of change to be planted.

Since 2019 he has developed, curated and collaborated with the likes of Penguin Random House, Nike, Natural History Museum and has lead creatively through two statement RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens which evoked thought, emotion and conversation. In 2023 he became an RHS Ambassador for young people and community gardening.

Learn from Tayshan Hayden-Smith in his Earthed course ‘Activating Your Activism: Planting Seeds For Change’ or watch his talk as part of the Digital Earthed Summit. 

“We are all part of an ecosystem, a community, and it needs to be our mission to take action together for the better of society and the environment.” – Tayshan Hayden Smith