Having trained at the National Botanic Garden of Wales , Matt Collins is a Gardener and Writer who has write for issue such as The Guardian and The Times .
He has also published several record , with his most recent,‘Forest , walk Among Trees ’ , being shortlisted for an Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award .
I was able to speak with Matt about his calling to - date , his sexual love for garden writing and his role as the Head Gardener atThe Garden Museum in London .
Where Did Your Journey With Gardening Begin?
“ Like many professional and amateur gardeners , an former physical introduction no doubt left a long-lasting , if unconscious , opinion on me , ” Matt shares .
“ This admit gardening with my female parent occasionally in our back garden and pulling white potato with my grandfather in Wales , but really it was born ( or reborn ) from expend meter in the countryside as an adult and becoming suddenly aware of how few name I know of the trees and plant around me .
“ It sounds oversimplified , but garden for me really lead off as a desire to know the names of plant life and to occupy in what all of a sudden appeared as a real and in all likelihood quite important cosmopolitan cognition spread ! ”
From That, What Led You To A Career In Horticulture?
“ From that minute , I began getting out into timber , fields and hedgerows local to where I was then live , in South - West Wales , with a playing area guidebook , determine to key plant and learning their common and botanical epithet , their folio colours and shape and their winter bud .
“ At the same time , I also withdraw up a gardening course at the National Botanic Garden of Wales and from the very first week of work I could see immediately that horticulture , the out-of-doors and the world of plants was the place for me .
“ The combination of the subject , the physicality and the working outdoors made gardening so sympathetic .
“ This was in addition to all the like - minded people I get to encounter along the way , as the conversations tend to be middling wonderful . ”
What Is It About Garden Writing That You Enjoy The Most?
“ I think I ’d always wanted to publish , and as my interest in the natural worldly concern developed , it seemed to make sense that I would write about gardening , ” tell Matt .
“ I fuck writing about gardens or the number of gardening , as you face an irresistible challenge in conjuring up an prototype of a garden through words alone .
“ My preferent article to spell are those unaccompanied by pic , where you may layer into the description all the intention , effort , bass - feel connectedness , joy and marvel that goes alongside the purely ocular element of gardening .
“ Each affair is an recitation in examining and celebrating what it is that create us engage so profoundly with plants . ”
Can You Tell Us More About Your Role As Head Gardener At The Garden Museum In London?
“ The Garden Museum is house within the former church service construction of St Mary - at - Lambeth , with adjoining modern-day buildings providing education spaces and a popular cafe .
“ Situated in Central London across the river from Westminster , it is a museum give to the art , history and design of garden , and these idea are explored through exhibitions , permanent collections , public negotiation and wide-ranging workshops .
“ I ’ve cared for the gardens there a retentive while . It ’s a part - time office that encompasses many things , include the continued development of the gardens , the track of an one-year horticultural traineeship scheme and contribution towards the museum ’s exciting upshot and talks programme .
“ It ’s a genuine hub for gardening – passably much every intimate horticulture name has at some time or other passed through the door – but more excitingly , it ’s a place of continued variety and development and is noted for really pushing the boundary of what is possible for a comparatively small museum .
“ Public engagement is at the heart of its remitment , giving voice to nurseryman from all walk of living . ”
What Does A Day In Your Working Life Typically Look Like?
“ If I ’m at the museum , I ’m most likely to be scoot from the garden to agency meeting to the greenhouse to the potting shed – the days are never quite long enough ! ” he jokes .
“ On the days when I ’m at abode in Hampshire writing , sentence move similarly quickly but my body less so , as I ’m sat at my desk in the top room for the most part , wait down at my little garden for divine stirring .
“ I have sex the contrast of physical body of work with the genial , and though I ’m never quite indisputable which is the more exhausting by the fourth dimension my head finally hit the pillow , I ’d always want a balance of the two .
“ The writing informs the horticulture every bit as much as the gardening feed the writing . ”
Can You Sum Up Your Career In 3 Words?
“ Forever pursuing intrigue . ”
What’s Next For You?
“ Like many gardeners at the present moment , I ’m focused on the burden of our changing , explosive clime and on what gardening is going to front like under increasingly stressed conditions , such as heatwaves , extended drouth and torrential rainfall , ” share Matt .
“ This is the nidus for both my horticulture and authorship projects at present . ”
What Does Gardening Mean To You?
“ On the micro - plate , horticulture is a creative , rewarding and enrich natural process .
“ On the macro instruction , it is the source of an wholly new perspective on life history . I ca n’t imagine my aliveness without the pleasure of growing things ! ”
