This week, I’m talking to journalist and author Val Bourne about her book The Living Jigsaw: the secret life in your garden. Val is a perfect example of a gardener who loves ornamental plants as much as she respects the wildlife in her garden. She walks the walk, produces writing based on her observations and has a palpable love for all the things that share her garden. We talk about how to achieve an outdoor space where there’s room for everything to flourish.

About Val Bourne:

Val Bourne is an award-winning author and journalist, photographer and lecturer. She gardens organically in the Cotswolds, growing a huge range of ornamental and edible plants. Val is a true plantaholic and her work is informed by growing often challenging plants and observing how they interact, not only with each other but with other species that share the garden. 

What We Discuss:

The idea behind The Living Jigsaw

Slugs and snails in the garden - how bad are slug pellets? Garlic spray? 

Which roses work in an organic garden

Is leaving patches of garden undisturbed a necessity?

Some key wildlife plants

When to cut grassy areas of the garden

Some of the best and worst practices for a wildlife garden

Links:

Val Bourne - The Natural Gardener

The Living Jigsaw: the secret life in your garden by Val Bourne - Kew Publishing, 2017

SLUGS IN GARDENS: THEIR NUMBERS, ACTIVITIES AND DISTRIBUTION. PART 2 - Barnes, H. F. and Weil, J. W. 1945. Slugs in gardens: Their numbers, activities and distribution. Part 2. Journal of Animal Ecology. 14 (2), pp. 71-105. 

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