Planting the seeds... 'NATURE IS THE GREATEST HEALER'

We may never have green thumbs like garden guru Lynda Hallinan, but she explains why creating a piece of paradise is good for the soul

- Wendyl Nissen

Author, broadcaster, part-time farmer, parent and plantoholic Lynda Hallinan has spent half her life digging up ideas for growing food and flowers in Kiwi gardens and writing about them. Her new book The Joy of Gardening celebrates the healing power of nature.

You are a gardening guru loved by many – what is it about you that people relate to?

I over-disclose and tell all my secrets, so I’m never afraid to admit when I get things wrong, which I do a lot. I also don’t really believe in people being experts as gardeners. Sometimes you have a knack with plants and sometimes you don’t, and there ain’t nothing you can do. People are afraid of their gardens and think they are out to defeat them, whereas I have always thought nature sometimes helps you and sometimes hinders you, and that’s just how it is. I also don’t like being a know-it-all expert. I don’t want to lecture anyone on gardening.

What is the best thing about your life at the moment?

The best thing is that it’s spring. Of all the times to be locked down, spring is the best season because you cannot go outside and come back inside not feeling refreshed. My garden is full of new greenery, which is fresh, young and exuberant, so you’d have to be a real curmudgeon not to find some pleasure out there.

In your book The Joy of Gardening, you address some tough life events such as suicide, death and dementia. How does gardening help to heal?