Planting kindness with the National Garden Scheme
“I remember when I was just grass.”
There’s something quite magical about gardens. The way they help us slow down, breathe deeply and notice the small and wonderful things all around us. Gardens make us happy. And they make us healthier, too. Created by people, for people, gardens are a precious part of the ‘Natural Health Service’.
At the heart of this blooming, generous world is the National Garden Scheme. Through this wonderful organisation, thousands of gardeners open their gates each year to share something very special.
In this new partnership with the National Garden Scheme, DCUK celebrates the power of gardens with two passionate Gardener Ducklings. These welcome additions to our flock love to remind us that they were once plants too; beginning life as bamboo, they’ve been hand-raised from soil to smile!
A community that helps kindness blossom
Since 1927, the National Garden Scheme has been supporting vital nursing and health charities through its open gardens. From tea and cake to admissions and donations, every visit helps raise funds to support people living with cancer, Parkinson’s, poor mental health, and the challenges of unpaid caring.
It’s a simple, beautiful idea: open your garden to help the world grow a little kinder.
Meet the National Garden Scheme Ducklings
Inspired by these generous gardeners, our Gardener Ducklings in lavender and sage-coloured dungarees, sensible sunhats, wellies, and packed pockets are ready to dig in - whether it’s soil or cake on offer!
Ducks are natural nurturers who share responsibilities like childcare and prefer to sleep and explore together. Ducks can feel grief when they lose a friend, and joy when foraging side-by-side.
And when it comes to gardens? They’re right at home.
Ducks that garden, and gardens that give back
Ducks are brilliant, organic gardeners. A good gardener duck will happily hoover up slugs, snails and beetles without scratching about (unlike other popular poultry we might mention). They spread nutrient-rich “manure” as they go and won’t destroy your prize perennials. Maybe the occasional nibble of a juicy strawberry or crisp green lettuce, but who can blame them?
Beak-first into the soil, they connect with the natural world in ways that benefit both body and mind. Just like us, they flourish in green spaces. Just like us, they find joy there.
A partnership that helps good things grow
DCUK is so proud to partner with the National Garden Scheme to celebrate the power of gardens, not just as beautiful places, but as spaces of care, recovery and hope.
With every Gardener Duckling, a new seed is sown. We’re donating 20% of every National Garden Scheme Gardener Duckling purchase to help support nursing and health charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Carers Trust, Horatio’s Garden, Parkinson’s UK, The Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing, Maggie’s, Country Trust, and the Army Benevolent Fund. Your order helps make a real difference.
Seeds of kindness matter because helping others bloom matters. Your order makes a real difference.
Open gardens? Let’s have a beak
In 2026, on the eve of the National Garden Scheme’s centenary, our Gardener Ducklings are thrilled to be joining the celebrations. And what a garden party it promises to be.
With Baker Ducklings on catering, Garden Birds offering tours and tips, and Beekeepers, Flower, and Floral Ducklings all digging in, it’s going to be bloomin’ marvellous.
Tea, cake, and the flock together in a beautiful garden. Really, does summer get any better than this?
