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Leo Mc Ewan photo website
A childhood spent renovating gardens and growing veg has led Leo to a career passion for edibles. He answers our questions on all things gardening.

What first gave you an interest in gardening?

I grew up in Dorset, which gave me an appreciation for nature and the outdoors.

I always helped my parents in the garden growing up. We moved house a few times, which included some home renovations. I helped a lot with re-landscaping; shifting soil, building walls using Purbeck stone, creating veg plots. I have lovely childhood memories of picking fresh artichokes and tasting honeysuckle flowers. I think my mum contributed a lot to my appreciation of the environment.

At the time of the first Covid lockdown, I took on a local allotment with my mum. This allowed me to stay working outside, learning how to grow my own veg. Eating fresh was beneficial too.

Eventually, this spiralled into making horticulture a career!

Can you tell us more about your career in horticulture?

For a long time, I didn’t really realise a career in horticulture was an option. I was encouraged towards the arts world, and I initially went towards photography.

I was doing some commissions from different companies. I didn’t have a studio as a start-up photographer, so would look for different locations. I found the balance of my interest changing from wanting to take natural style photography to just wanting to photograph the plants!

That tipped over, until eventually I managed to find a historic garden who were happy to take me on with relatively little knowledge.

I found the balance of my interest changing from wanting to take natural style photography to just wanting to photograph the plants!

Leo

Having gained some experience through horticulture jobs, I’m now doing a two-year full-time diploma in horticulture at RHS Wisley. I will have an RHS Level 4 qualification at the end of it.

What sort of garden space do you have now?

I’m in student accommodation and I keep lots of houseplants on my windowsills.

I have been experimenting with houseplants for a while – in my family home, at one stage I made a green living wall with lots of potted plants and herbs. I did have a bit of an issue with things drying out and dying or attracting pests!

So, now I limit my collection to a few more interesting choices and maintain what I’ve got time for.

In the first year of my course, I had a student allotment inside Wisley gardens. One of the coursework assignments included making a cropping plan and proving an ability to do productive gardening. That was fun and a nice opportunity to have a bit of space.

Now I’m a second-year student, so no longer have that allotment. I’ve taken on one of the parish allotments in the village of Wisley, where I can experiment with permaculture, perennial edible plants and agro-ecological techniques.

I’m starting off slow with what I’m growing this year, opting for my favourite veg which include Swiss chard, peas, kale and potatoes. I’ve got lots of seeds of perennial herbs and veg that I’m going to put in, including some interesting, foraged varieties like giant celery.

Leo allotment produce website
Produce from Leo's allotment

Now you’re on your third allotment, what lessons have you learnt along the way?

I knew about ‘no-dig’ gardening when I had my first allotment and I really followed it to a T! I built some raised beds, added loads of compost and grew solely in those. It was helpful to grow this way in raised beds, as the rest of the allotment was riddled with all the worst perennial weeds - bindweed, mare’s tail and couch grass.

I'm more patient and try to work with nature.

Leo

Now I go with the principle of covering the land with a green layer, making sure the space is full and tolerating the weeds more. I’m more patient and try to work with nature.

What do you most enjoy doing in the garden currently and why?

Recently, I have been enjoying constructing living structures like archways and fences using willow. These can be woven together with both live plants and woody debris to make a support for plants, shelter against the wind, architectural interest, and habitat for wildlife. They’re also a sustainable use of garden waste and continue to grow material each year to add to the structure.

I love growing edible plants and foraging wild edibles, seeing if some of the weeds we complain about – like nettles – can be used in cooking. In my first job, the head gardener was a herbalist so I had a lot of advice passed on. I also worked as a kitchen gardener at The Pig, where we were encouraged to forage seasonal plants. We’d pick edible flowers and garnishes from the coastline – things like sea kale, that are accessible for everyone.

Do you typically like to garden on your own or with others?

For me, horticulture is best with a mixture of socialising and space. I’m a strong advocate for using gardening to build community, strengthen relationships and practise team working. For some people, working alongside others in the garden can offer mental health benefits and contributes toward reducing loneliness, anxiety, and depression.

I love having the opportunity to express my creative freedom in my own garden, but I also get a thrill out of working together to complete a project.

Leo

For others, and I too sometimes value this – working alone is invaluable for soothing stress and offering a quiet space to work through personal issues. I love having the opportunity to express my creative freedom in my own garden, but I also get a thrill out of working together to complete a project!

What effect would you say gardening, or spending time in nature, has had on your health & wellbeing?

Being in touch with nature helps to put a lot of things in life into perspective. I find it very grounding and calming working in the garden in the fast-paced world we live in.

Being in touch with nature helps to put a lot of things in life into perspective.

Leo

Nature is forgiving, patient and rewarding, so people can learn a lot by becoming stewards of the land.

Gardening full time helps to keep you fit and strong, but the physical benefits also come as a by-product of reduced tension, breathing fresh air, movement and contact with nature’s microbes.

In your experience, do you think that gardening is something men take part in or talk about a lot or not?

I’m seeing things change, but there is still an outdated stigma around roles in the garden. Working with flowers and herbs can be labelled as a stereotypical job for a certain demographic, and so can working with heavy machinery.

It is brilliant to see gardening reaching a wider and more diverse audience which I think is inspired by a revolution of environmentally conscious people.

It is brilliant to see gardening reaching a wider and more diverse audience.

Leo

Horticulture is brilliant for inclusivity nowadays, as well as being accepting of different cultures. It’s an open opportunity for people to do what they want with it.

What do you think would encourage more men to spend time gardening?

I think that to encourage more men into gardening, the industry needs to work on making gardening more accessible and attractive to all.

How did you come across Thrive?

A colleague made me aware of the charity when I was looking into social and therapeutic horticulture. I have completed one of Thrive’s short course introductions to STH.

Have you discovered any helpful gardening tips along the way that you could share?

I had a bit of an ah-ha moment when I first understood that everything in the garden has a role to play.

Pests and diseases, weeds and death all have a part in the circle of life and along with that bring their own unique benefits. Without every part of the chain, the garden starts to stagnate.

[With] edible growing, my best advice is to research your favourite vegetables and grow what you like to eat, as that will be your biggest success.

Leo

This has inspired me to tolerate less favourable insects and ‘volunteer plants’ to learn from them and encourage natural responses such as beneficial animals and plant succession.

When it comes to edible growing, my best advice is to research your favourite vegetables and grow what you like to eat, as that will be your biggest success.

What’s your next garden project?

I’ve been accepted to do a further year, specialising in edibles at Wisley. I’ll be able to do my own self-driven projects focused on edible growing.

I am planning to focus on solutions to grow edible plants in a changing climate. I’m researching methods of cultivation and plant species that provide perennial, low maintenance, wildlife friendly and climate resistant crops. A large part of this is shifting towards vegetables that withstand hotter and drier summers and wetter winters. This gives an exciting excuse to play with new food in the kitchen.

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