I ghostwrote this book for Nik Southern and we beat Alan Titchmarsh on Amazon, sorry Alan.
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Extracts
1. As more people cram into cities, space is becoming sacred. The houses we buy are smaller, landlords prevent us from personalising our properties, and owning a garden... who does? But we’re reclaiming the space around us as our own urban jungles. When I travel across London, I see nature tumbling over balconies, taking over windowsills and blocking up walkways. And within these walls, nature is taking over too. Greening up your gaff is an easy, inexpensive way to style our home, breathing life into it without having to do much at all.
2. Before we get started, let’s get one thing out in the open. Everyone kills plants. Me, probably Monty and most definitely your mate with green fingers. There I said it. My advice? Don’t be a fusspot. Did you know, one of the easiest ways to kill a plant is overwatering it? Watering can down! To keep your plant alive, we need to go back to the root of the problem. You have to understand where your plant has come from - where its roots are. Think about it this way: plants have evolved over thousands of years to adapt to specific conditions, be it succulents storing water in the dry desert or ferns needing less light under the damp canopy of the Amazonian rainforest. Sure you might not be able to put Tarzan up for the night, but your house already presents many microclimates which recreate these natural wonders of the world. From a hot south facing window sill, to the top of a kitchen cupboard that gets all the steam from your kettle, you just have to think a little differently about your space. And the same goes for what you give your plant. If it only rains twice a year in the desert, does your cacti want all that water? Or if a fern has evolved on the forest floor, why is it scorching on your unshaded windowsill? Once you understand these principles, may you all live happily ever after.
3. Psst! Take a leaf out of other people’s plants... Ok, not literally, but looking at where other people keep plants happy is a shortcut to success. Is there a Chinese restaurant on your street with a big happy jade in the window? Or when you peer into your neighbour's front room (we all do), do you spy a healthy fiddle fig? Does the balcony three floors down bloom with bamboo or is the girl with the desk opposite you smuggle watering her cacti collection? If these people can grow these plants in those places - so can you.
1. As more people cram into cities, space is becoming sacred. The houses we buy are smaller, landlords prevent us from personalising our properties, and owning a garden... who does? But we’re reclaiming the space around us as our own urban jungles. When I travel across London, I see nature tumbling over balconies, taking over windowsills and blocking up walkways. And within these walls, nature is taking over too. Greening up your gaff is an easy, inexpensive way to style our home, breathing life into it without having to do much at all.
2. Before we get started, let’s get one thing out in the open. Everyone kills plants. Me, probably Monty and most definitely your mate with green fingers. There I said it. My advice? Don’t be a fusspot. Did you know, one of the easiest ways to kill a plant is overwatering it? Watering can down! To keep your plant alive, we need to go back to the root of the problem. You have to understand where your plant has come from - where its roots are. Think about it this way: plants have evolved over thousands of years to adapt to specific conditions, be it succulents storing water in the dry desert or ferns needing less light under the damp canopy of the Amazonian rainforest. Sure you might not be able to put Tarzan up for the night, but your house already presents many microclimates which recreate these natural wonders of the world. From a hot south facing window sill, to the top of a kitchen cupboard that gets all the steam from your kettle, you just have to think a little differently about your space. And the same goes for what you give your plant. If it only rains twice a year in the desert, does your cacti want all that water? Or if a fern has evolved on the forest floor, why is it scorching on your unshaded windowsill? Once you understand these principles, may you all live happily ever after.
3. Psst! Take a leaf out of other people’s plants... Ok, not literally, but looking at where other people keep plants happy is a shortcut to success. Is there a Chinese restaurant on your street with a big happy jade in the window? Or when you peer into your neighbour's front room (we all do), do you spy a healthy fiddle fig? Does the balcony three floors down bloom with bamboo or is the girl with the desk opposite you smuggle watering her cacti collection? If these people can grow these plants in those places - so can you.