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5 Tips from a master gardener

Guru of greenery Athol McLaggan’s brilliant outdoor advice

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By Heidi Bertish  | January 25, 2018 | Gardens

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‘I have only met gardens that have been encouraging and quick to forgive my mistakes. In a world that demands a façade of constant perfection, gardens gently remind me that it is only by failing that you learn to do things better and more importantly, to do things differently’

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‘As you grow older and mature as a gardener you realise that gardening

is more about observing than controlling’

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‘As you grow older and mature as a gardener you realise that gardening

is more about observing than controlling’

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‘I love simple plants.

Plants that are willing, hard-working and grow easily from seed or cutting. I

always look around to see what is growing happily and without help in the area I’m

working and then incorporate those plants into my palette’

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‘The compost heap should be the focus of every garden. It should be

celebrated, in full view- and not hidden away in the back corner. The act of

making compost reflects the rhythm of our own lives’

Photographs: Elsa Young

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