The 5 Minute Garden
with Laetitia Maklouf
This post contains affiliate links
This was a complete delight to record, the first opportunity Laetitia and I have had to chat on mic since the first season of The Virgin Gardener Podcast. For all the fun and leg pulling, I don’t think there’s anyone who manages quite so well to articulate that feeling you get when your garden begins to overwhelm you, or who has made it their mission to get to grips with that sense of inertia, and devise a way to push through it and to regain the joy in your garden, in the way that Laetitia has with her #fiveminutegarden social media hashtag, and now the book of the same name.
Laetitia explains how her gardening style has changed over the years since her first book, The Virgin Gardener, through establishing her garden as described in Sweet Peas for Summer and finally developing a gardening strategy that works for a busy working mum. There’s an extract from the latest book read by Emma Jo Real Davies, as well as the usual cameos from a startled pheasant and an angry squirrel.
Please do continue to share the podcast on social media, and if you’d really like to brighten my day, leave a review on iTunes or your podcast app of choice. Or drop me a note in the comments section below, having listened on the embedded player on this page.
Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S02E10 show notes
A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
These notes may contain affiliate links.
Garden soundtrack
Gardening without Chelsea.
The RHS Virtual Chelsea Flower Show https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/virtual-chelsea
Lockdown gardening interest
The Independent Plant Nursery Guide http://independentplantnurseriesguide.uk/
Should we look for a silver lining?
Reading 03:20
Extract from The Five Minute Garden by Laetitia Maklouf, read by Emma Jo Real Davies. https://amzn.to/36l871Z
Interview with the Laetitia Maklouf 05:15
05:44 Standard Laetitia Lore and the Sweet Pea Seeds
07:29 Sharing online
08:44 How Laetitia has changed as a gardener
09:28 Gardening in small spaces – the benefits of limits
10:03 Moving to real earth – option paralysis
10:36 Prescriptive approach vs you do you
11:08 Trust in your gardening instinct
12:13 Being ruthless. Or… not…! (Hotbin Darling)
https://www.hotbincomposting.com/
13:10 Lockdown sourdough progress
14:24 Teaching the children through gardening
20:34 Being politely steely
22:00 Gardening overwhelm
26:10 The Five Minute Gardener
31:37 Gardening as a transactional relationship
33:25 On the decision not to have photographs in the new book
36:44 What is Laetitia going to do when she grows up?
***
Lockdown gardening communicators on Instagram
Just some of the folk who have really taken the opportunity to bring people into their own gardens (particularly encouraging and inspiring when some of them are multi award-winning designers) over the past couple of months. Don’t miss Ann-Marie Powell’s lunchtime talks at https://www.instagram.com/myrealgarden/, or Jo Thompson’s daily morning dog rambles through the Sussex countryside in the company of birds and her lovely labrador Rush https://www.instagram.com/jothompsongarden/. And of course, past friends of the podcast Alice Vincent https://www.instagram.com/noughticulture/ and Caro Langton at RoCo https://www.instagram.com/studio.roco/, teaching us about small space gardening and houseplants in their stories. All incredibly generous, and remarkably accessible.
Thank you to Laetitia for joining me on this episode. Laetitia's book The Five Minute Garden, published by National Trust Books, 2020, is available here https://amzn.to/36l871Z
Laetitia's website: https://laetitiamaklouf.com/
Laetitia on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/laetitiamaklouf
And to Emma Jo Real Davies for reading from Laetitia’s book. Emma Jo’s brilliant podcast, The Female Struggle is Real is here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-female-struggle-is-real/id1215423183 or you can find her on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/emjorealdavies/, or on the airwaves here https://www.kmfm.co.uk/on-air/the-hit-list-with-emma-jo/
I’m ever grateful to all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees.
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Lockdown discounts: A year of garden coaching
I’ve been very excited about my new venture – even before the lockdown I’d decided that online garden coaching would be a fantastic way for me to work with more people than I can physically get around to, helping them to make the very best of their gardens in a way that suits the life they lead. With the all the uncertainty around our lives just now I’m holding the the introductory price for the full 12 month programme as well as offering a quarterly payment plan, and there’s 50% off an hour’s Skype consultation call. Please click here to book your place.
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Hello! I’m Andrew, gardener, writer, photographer, and owner of a too-loud laugh, and I’m so pleased you’ve found your way to Gardens, weeds & words. You can read a more in-depth profile of me on the About page, or by clicking this image.
