JUST ASK PIPPA!

After training as a botanist and gaining her MSc in Crop Protection, Pippa Greenwood spent 11 years in charge of the RHS Wisley plant pathology department. She is the author of countless best-selling books and is a long-standing voice on BBC 4 Gardeners’ Question Time. Here she talks with Daniel Heighes

- Daniel Heighes

How has your year gone, Pippa?

I’ve been so lucky, I’ve escaped the horrors of it really, just tucked myself away from a little more than usual. For me the worst downside personally so far has been not being able to see my friends as easily as before and, on the work front, so many talks I should have been giving have had to be cancelled or postponed… and I really love the proper eye-to-eye contact of a talk at a gardening club!

Who do you credit for giving you your enthusiasm for all things gardening?

I owe it all to my lovely mother. She’s sadly no longer with me in person, but she’s still there in my heart – she taught me so much, all from a very young age, mostly just by watching, talking and getting involved.

What is your favourite veg and your favourite fruit?

With veg, most of it! If I can’t say that, then freshly picked sweetcorn. For fruit, I am a total devotee of raspberries.

What is your veg plant hell?

Cauliflowers. I just cannot grow them, they simply don’t do what they should... the only good thing is that I’m not too keen on eating them either, but I still find it frustrating!

I see you were the gardening consultant on the gardening detective TV show Rosemary & Thyme. How did that come about? What did it involve you doing?