BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, Frances Tophill, will be sharing her gardening advice and tips at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, which returns to Birmingham’s NEC, June 14-17. Frances will be doing a live on-stage demonstration, as well as several other appearances across the show.
Frances Tophill shares some brilliant tips for budding gardeners! / Photo Credit: Rachel Warne
This week, to celebrate National Gardening Week, we asked Frances to share her top five tips on how to take the plunge and get into gardening – from inspiration sources to making gardening work for your needs. Here’s the advice she had to give…
1) Use Social Media
There are so many platforms where people can display their ideas and creations. Things like Pinterest or Instagram, or anything visual, can be particularly inspiring! I am always scanning the net for new ideas to try out.
2) Grow Things Indoors First
Your home is something you use every day. Once you realise the benefits of bringing greenery to your indoor space (both visually and for your health), you’ll soon want to expand into the great outdoors, where looking after plants becomes much easier, because nature does a lot of the work for you!
3) Read A Good Book
You may be the kind of person who finds inspiration from beautiful pictures, or perhaps you’re more thorough and like to really research something before you start. Some books offer a bit of both – in-depth knowledge and visual inspiration – so pick a good one, buy it and make sure you read it!
4) Grow Something Useful And Relevant To Your Life
Are you a cook? If so, grow edibles. Are you an artist? Try growing plants for pigments or dyes. Are you a mathematician? Then work out a beautiful geometric design and build beds from it. If you harness your existing interests in the garden, then you are much more likely to begin naturally incorporating gardening into your everyday life.
5) Start! Go Out And Do It – It’s Addictive
Growing things can be joyful and satisfying in so many ways. You might end up cooking what you’ve grown or use your plants for crafts like weaving and dyeing. Or maybe you’ll just enjoy seeing the insects and birds using your outdoor space. Whatever the outcome, I guarantee that once you start – even if it’s just with a small potted plant – you’ll become addicted.
Tickets for BBC Gardeners’ World Live are now on sale; visit www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com for more information.