Some of my biggest gardening inspiration comes from friends who I wouldn’t have expected to love growing stuff. They love having plants around them but they wouldn’t necessarily call themselves gardeners, though they always get results and enjoy it. I wanted to focus on some of my friends’ gardening adventures this year as they’re really rather brilliant.
Chris and Jess
Chris recently moved to Cardiff to be closer to Jess and one of the first things they did was organise an allotment to share. Just starting out, their new Instagram account is my favourite right now! They’re showing that the reality of allotment life is a bit of hard work with vegetable rewards growing fairly quickly.
So the crops have gone MENTAL. We haven’t spent as much time at the plot as we’d have liked in the last few weeks, but popped up this evening to find that everything is looking beautiful and healthy (including the French beans that I had prepared a eulogy for 🙏🏻). Sweetcorn, French beans, kale, and the beginnings of tomatoes and strawbs 🍓 🌱 ☀️ . . . . . #proudplantparents #crops #growyourown #gyo #kitchengarden #vegpatch #everythingisstillalive #itsamiracle #allotmentlife #garden #allotmentlove #nature #veggiegarden #cardiff
Dolly and Alan
Dolly and Alan have lived in their flat for a few years now in Wapping, London. It has a good sized small balcony for the big smoke and this summer they’ve added pots, veg and flowers really making the most of the space. Opting for medium to large pots on balconies means you can grow more and reduces watering.
Katie, Rich, Oliver and Isabella
Adam
Adam has started a new honey farm in his spare time and when he’s not doing that, he’s making cool house plant things like this terrarium.
Angela
Angela is an interior designer and stylish homeware entrepreneur with an excellent houseplant collection including homegrown avocado plants. Avocados can be started easily by resting the seed on a narrow glass jar, the lower quarter just touching the water. Replenish the water every few days to keep it clearn.
Lois
Lois admits to killing lots of plants, including succulents but her orchid looks fab. Orchids are generally some of the best flowering house plants to look after, just dunk them in a bowl of tap water once per week and then drain. Once a month add a little specialist orchid fertiliser.
