Gardening's unexpected revival: a crisis-fueled obsession taking root

Bob Mortimer’s simple wisdom – ‘Gardening comes to everybody’ – has sparked a surprising trend: a surge in amateur gardeners, driven by life’s challenges, not just sunny weekends.

From wuthering heights to weed whacking: caitlin moran’s accidental bloom

For journalist Caitlin Moran, the urge to dig began amidst the chaos of a new baby and a marriage on the rocks. ‘It was like a proper Wuthering Heights, Cathy going mad on the moors,’ she recalls, describing her first foray into the garden. ‘I thought: I don’t have a child on me, I’m going to dig.’ A muddy hour later, she’d created a border – a testament to her raw, unfiltered emotions.

Now, alongside fellow Gardeners’ World regular Adam Frost, she’s hosting ‘Outsidin’, a podcast exploring this renewed connection to the earth. The pair’s chemistry is palpable, evident even before they record their fourth episode, featuring appearances from Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Dawn O'Porter.

A gardener's soul, revealed

Adam Frost, a former gardener himself, emphasizes the deeply personal nature of the hobby. ‘A garden should be someone’s personality,’ he explains. ‘When you’re designing for someone else, it’s that idea of listening and creating something that they want.’ He admits to feeling a genuine nervousness presenting his designs, recognizing that he’s essentially crafting a piece of someone’s soul.

Caitlin’s own garden, a sprawling testament to her solitary passion, is a far cry from a meticulously planned masterpiece. ‘I’ve tried to recruit my brothers and husband to help,’ she admits with a wry smile, ‘but they’re more like the muscle machine – ironically, because they’re all just chain-smoking geeks.’ Even Pete Paphides, her husband, spent 20 minutes strapping elastic bands to his trousers, convinced worms would attempt to climb his legs.

Despite these challenges, Caitlin is driven by a singular goal: ‘I just want you one day to walk through the doors and go: how have you done this? This looks incredible!’ The garden, a vibrant tapestry of wildflowers and silver birches, reflects her own journey – a messy, beautiful, and deeply personal expression of self. The Toffee Club, as Bob christened it, perfectly encapsulates this sentiment – a space for ‘people who like toffees,’ according to the Gardening guru.

‘When Bob says Gardening comes to all of us,’ Adam reflects, ‘I think for a lot of people that gets set up in childhood. Your childhood garden is really vivid.’ This shared nostalgia underscores the podcast’s potential, promising a conversation that resonates far beyond the neatly trimmed borders of a suburban garden. The podcast's success is a testament to the fundamental human need for connection and grounding – a need that, it seems, is being nurtured one spadeful of soil at a time.