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The podcast takes its name from Laetitia’s first book, The Virgin Gardener , which I’ve been a fan of for years for the way it demystifies gardening for the uninitiated, cutting through all the horticultural patter and communicating a love for plants in a down-to-earth manner which makes beautifying the home with fabulous plants achievable for anyone, no matter how big or small the available space (balconies and window boxes are catered for, and you should see what Laetitia can do with a mossy pot and a jam jar).
It’s an approach I always try to keep in mind in my day job as I help families tame their gardens, and enthuse them about the potential of their outdoor space. But many of us are both time- and cash-poor, and I’ve seen friends and family so often travel down the slippery slope from the delight of acquiring a garden along with a new home, to despondency as the Green Thing beyond the back door becomes more master than servant. Gardens are supposed to bring us joy, but so often they can be sources of stress. Over the coming year I’ll be working on some resources to be made available on Gardens, Weeds & Words to help people take back control of their gardens, and one of things that’s been so interesting for me on Instagram is watching how my work has been moving in a complementary line to Laetitia’s, particularly with her current series of Instagram stories on 5 Minute Gardening. So when she got in touch to suggest we join forces for a podcast series, there was really no decision to be made.
We’ve recorded a short teaser episode as an introduction to the series, and hope to have Episode One – featuring none other than garden designer extraordinaire and RHS Chelsea Flower Show judge James Alexander Sinclair – out by the middle of March. We’d love it if you had a listen, even more if you subscribed, and if you felt able to leave us a review, well…I think we’d be just beside ourselves with joy.
The teaser episode of The Virgin Gardener Podcast can be found on iTunes here.
Laetitia has written two gardening books, The Virgin Gardener and Sweet Peas for Summer, both published by Bloomsbury. She can be found on her website at laetitiamaklouf.com, where you can sign up to her newsletter, on Twitter at twitter.com/laetitiamaklouf and Instagram at instagram.com/laetitiamaklouf.