Ken Thompson speaks about his new book ‘The Sceptical Gardener‘…
How would you sum up The Sceptical Gardener?
It’s a collection of my articles from The Daily Telegraph over the last few years, with a sprinkling of pieces that never appeared in the paper. It is a good book to dip into at random, although to make it easier to read straight through, we have arranged the articles into eight broad themes, from garden wildlife and growing food to interesting things about plants.
What inspires your articles?
Inspiration can come from almost anywhere, but I quite often start with a recent piece of scientific research. The article may focus completely on that, or it may lead me to do more research. Or I may read something in a book or magazine, or hear something on the radio, and that sets me off looking for the evidence. Sometimes I leave science behind entirely and instead write about, for example, gardeners on Desert Island Discs, or whether all plants really have common names.
Which topics have you found the most intriguing to write about?
Every article starts with me being intrigued by something. But sometimes it is when I look at something that seems too obvious to waste time on, such as what we really mean by a herbaceous border, or what bees can do for strawberries. It is always fun to look at things that everyone believes without really thinking about it, for example that wildflowers prefer poor soil. Nearly always, the truth turns out to be far more interesting than you might expect.
How could this book help gardeners?
To be honest, a fair bit of the book is there because I just thought it was interesting; it doesn’t set out to make you a better gardener. For instance, I hope people might enjoy reading about changing fashions in flower names for girls, but that is not going to change how you garden. On the other hand, I hope some of it will. For example, understanding that some woody plants really need to be grafted, but that most do not, is very likely to change your attitude to plant propagation, and save you some money. I guarantee that if you take my advice about growing raspberries, you will be glad you did.
Have any of your articles caused controversy?
Until recently, The Daily Telegraph had space for online comments directly after the article. What that taught me is that saying anything – good or bad – about cats is the literary equivalent of applying a match to a barrel of gunpowder.
What is among your top pieces of gardening advice?
Almost too many to mention, but the importance of soil is a recurrent theme. Specifically, the best way to make compost, the huge importance of mulching, and not only of knowing what sort of soil you have, but thinking twice before trying to change it. If you want one piece of advice for any gardener, how about: ‘look after your soil and everything else will take care of itself’.
What is top of your list of ‘don’t bother’ gardening practices?
Again, I think there is a common theme: any gardening advice from someone trying to sell you something should be approached with great caution. For example, planting by the moon is always a waste of time, nest boxes for bumblebees don’t work, and buying boxes with bees already inside is a waste of money. Forest gardening is a very inefficient way to grow food, most ‘unusual’ fruits aren’t worth growing, and for most people, buying vegetable plug plants is a bad idea. And last but not least, most of us, most of the time, use too much fertiliser.
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