Dan Pearson wrote gardening columns for The Observer for ten years and his book Natural Selection – A Year in the Garden is a month-by-month collection of the best of these columns. We caught up with Dan to find out what inspired his columns and how he has changed as a gardener.
An Interview with Dan Pearson
How did it feel to follow in the footsteps of Vita Sackville-West and Christopher Lloyd in writing for The Observer?
It felt like a luxury and a privilege. I never dreamt that I would end up following in the footsteps of people who for me were writing mentors. I love how they brought gardens to life by the way they wrote.
Did the transition from having a tiny garden in London to 20 acres in the country change the way you wrote about gardening?
Inevitably it did. It was a very different space and you always have to bear in mind your audience because the reader needs to feel like they can take something away from each piece. Writing about plants in detail helps me achieve this. I read once that Christopher Lloyd used to take a sample of a plant he was writing about and bring it to his writing desk in a pot so he could observe it at close quarters as he wrote. I do this too wherever possible.
How have you changed as a gardener since moving from a small garden to a large one?
I now take a longer-term view of the garden. When I moved to Somerset I started planting trees in tens. I could only accommodate one or two in my garden in Peckham. Gardening in Somerset was a case of looking up and looking out, whereas in London I was looking in and looking down. When you garden in a bigger space you have the same amount of energy but it goes into a wider range of things. Gardening is as difficult in a small space as a large space. In a small space you have to think about keeping things calm and clear. In a bigger space the challenge is to try and pace it. I am conscious of not doing too much and of trying not to make too much of a mark.
Your articles display an acute observation of the seasons. Is this instinctive or is it something you have learned?
The changing seasons are something that I have always thought about. Ever since I was young I wanted to be outside. There are differences in gardens between months and weeks, days and even hours, right down to the detail of minutes. It might be that the light falls in a way that it never will again and I am keen to observe these nuances.
What is the best thing a gardener with a small urban plot can do to remain aware of the changing seasons?
Make sure that every season is celebrated in the garden. Having interest all year round doesn’t have to involve having 52 plants so that one looks good every week. Many plants work extremely hard and have three or four seasons of interest, whether in bark, flower or berry. Make sure you find room for a plant for each season, and choose plants that work hard and do not just have one moment of glory.
Which topics have generated the strongest feelings among your readers?
I think readers warmed to the idea of growing with nature and not against it. Also, I hope that my forays into guerilla gardening encouraged people to be confident in gardening against the odds. I think that today there is a wider consciousness of the need to garden in urban areas, and that you can do it in your own way. You can break the rules. There are 100,000 different ways to grow a plant.
Natural Selection: A Year in the Garden
By Dan Pearson
Faber, £20 RRP
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