diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 4f90665..9e28876 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ See `README.md` for the full architecture and `BOOTSTRAP.md` for setup.
 disinto/
 ├── dev/           dev-poll.sh, dev-agent.sh, phase-handler.sh — issue implementation
 ├── review/        review-poll.sh, review-pr.sh — PR review
-├── gardener/      gardener-poll.sh, gardener-agent.sh — backlog grooming
+├── gardener/      gardener-run.sh — files action issue for run-gardener formula
+│                  gardener-poll.sh, gardener-agent.sh — recipe engine + grooming
 ├── planner/       planner-poll.sh — files action issue for run-planner formula
 │                  prediction-poll.sh, prediction-agent.sh — evidence-based predictions
 ├── supervisor/    supervisor-poll.sh — health monitoring
@@ -111,12 +112,16 @@ spawns `review-pr.sh <pr-number>`.
 criteria, oversized issues, stale issues, and circular dependencies. Invoke
 Claude to fix or escalate to a human via Matrix.
 
-**Trigger**: `gardener-poll.sh` runs daily (or 2x/day) via cron. Accepts an
-optional project TOML argument.
+**Trigger**: `gardener-run.sh` runs 2x/day via cron. It files an `action`
+issue referencing `formulas/run-gardener.toml`; the [action-agent](#action-action)
+picks it up and executes the gardener steps in an interactive Claude tmux session.
+Accepts an optional project TOML argument.
 
 **Key files**:
-- `gardener/gardener-poll.sh` — Cron wrapper: lock, escalation-reply injection for dev sessions, calls `gardener-agent.sh`, then processes dev-agent CI escalations via recipe engine
+- `gardener/gardener-run.sh` — Cron wrapper: lock, memory guard, dedup check, files action issue
+- `gardener/gardener-poll.sh` — Recipe engine: escalation-reply injection for dev sessions, processes dev-agent CI escalations via recipe engine (invoked by formula step ci-escalation-recipes)
 - `gardener/gardener-agent.sh` — Orchestrator: bash pre-analysis, creates tmux session (`gardener-{project}`) with interactive `claude`, monitors phase file, parses result file (ACTION:/DUST:/ESCALATE), handles dust bundling
+- `formulas/run-gardener.toml` — Execution spec: preflight, grooming, blocked-review, CI escalation recipes, agents-update, commit-and-pr
 
 **Environment variables consumed**:
 - `CODEBERG_TOKEN`, `CODEBERG_REPO`, `CODEBERG_API`, `PROJECT_NAME`, `PROJECT_REPO_ROOT`
diff --git a/gardener/gardener-run.sh b/gardener/gardener-run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2147123
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gardener/gardener-run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# =============================================================================
+# gardener-run.sh — Cron wrapper: files action issue for run-gardener formula
+#
+# Runs 2x/day (or on-demand). Guards against concurrent runs and low memory.
+# Files an action issue referencing formulas/run-gardener.toml; the action-agent
+# picks it up and executes the gardener steps in an interactive Claude session.
+# =============================================================================
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)"
+FACTORY_ROOT="$(dirname "$SCRIPT_DIR")"
+
+# Load shared environment (with optional project TOML override)
+# Usage: gardener-run.sh [projects/harb.toml]
+export PROJECT_TOML="${1:-}"
+# shellcheck source=../lib/env.sh
+source "$FACTORY_ROOT/lib/env.sh"
+
+LOG_FILE="$SCRIPT_DIR/gardener.log"
+LOCK_FILE="/tmp/gardener-run.lock"
+
+log() { echo "[$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S)Z] $*" >> "$LOG_FILE"; }
+
+# ── Lock ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+if [ -f "$LOCK_FILE" ]; then
+  LOCK_PID=$(cat "$LOCK_FILE" 2>/dev/null || true)
+  if [ -n "$LOCK_PID" ] && kill -0 "$LOCK_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+    log "poll: gardener-run running (PID $LOCK_PID)"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+  rm -f "$LOCK_FILE"
+fi
+echo $$ > "$LOCK_FILE"
+trap 'rm -f "$LOCK_FILE"' EXIT
+
+# ── Memory guard ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+AVAIL_MB=$(free -m | awk '/Mem:/{print $7}')
+if [ "${AVAIL_MB:-0}" -lt 2000 ]; then
+  log "poll: skipping — only ${AVAIL_MB}MB available (need 2000)"
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+log "--- Gardener run start ---"
+
+# ── Dedup: skip if an open run-gardener action issue already exists ───────
+OPEN_ACTIONS=$(codeberg_api GET "/issues?state=open&type=issues&labels=action&limit=50" 2>/dev/null || true)
+if [ -n "$OPEN_ACTIONS" ] && [ "$OPEN_ACTIONS" != "null" ]; then
+  EXISTING=$(printf '%s' "$OPEN_ACTIONS" | \
+    jq '[.[] | select(.title | test("run-gardener"))] | length' 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
+  if [ "${EXISTING:-0}" -gt 0 ]; then
+    log "poll: open run-gardener action issue already exists — skipping"
+    log "--- Gardener run done ---"
+    exit 0
+  fi
+fi
+
+# ── Fetch 'action' label ID ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+ACTION_LABEL_ID=$(codeberg_api GET "/labels" 2>/dev/null | \
+  jq -r '.[] | select(.name == "action") | .id' 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+if [ -z "$ACTION_LABEL_ID" ]; then
+  log "ERROR: 'action' label not found — cannot file gardener issue"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# ── File action issue ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+ISSUE_BODY="---
+formula: run-gardener
+model: opus
+---
+
+Periodic gardener housekeeping run. The action-agent reads \`formulas/run-gardener.toml\`
+and executes the steps: preflight, grooming, blocked-review, CI escalation recipes,
+AGENTS.md update, and commit-and-pr.
+
+Filed automatically by \`gardener-run.sh\`."
+
+PAYLOAD=$(jq -nc \
+  --arg title "action: run-gardener — periodic housekeeping" \
+  --arg body "$ISSUE_BODY" \
+  --argjson labels "[$ACTION_LABEL_ID]" \
+  '{title: $title, body: $body, labels: $labels}')
+
+RESULT=$(codeberg_api POST "/issues" -d "$PAYLOAD" 2>/dev/null || true)
+ISSUE_NUM=$(printf '%s' "$RESULT" | jq -r '.number // empty' 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+if [ -z "$ISSUE_NUM" ]; then
+  log "ERROR: failed to create action issue for run-gardener"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+log "Filed action issue #${ISSUE_NUM} for run-gardener formula"
+matrix_send "gardener" "Filed action #${ISSUE_NUM}: run-gardener — periodic housekeeping" 2>/dev/null || true
+
+log "--- Gardener run done ---"