My gardening world
Pam Ayres
A regular on radio and TV, writer Pam Ayres is known for her warm, insightful poems about everyday life. She’s a keen wildlife gardener and her latest book, Who Are You Calling Vermin?, defends grey squirrels, moles and dung beetles. She lives in the Cotswolds with her husband, theatre producer Dudley Russell.
What’s your gardening style?
I grow wholesome food for us to eat, and I garden for wildlife. I try not to plant anything unless it produces nectar, or berries, or blossom. I’ve got lots of seats – there’s nothing I like more than just sitting quietly and seeing what’s around. I was sitting by one of the borders and saw what I thought was a Catherine wheel, all coiled up – then it uncoiled and travelled away and it was a tiny grass snake. If I hadn’t been sitting there quietly I wouldn’t have seen it.
What can gardeners do to attract wildlife into the garden?
I’ve got a huge pile of what most people would look upon as a bonfire – a great big pile of sticks and prunings. I’ve got it enclosed in hazel hurdles but I will never set fire to it because it’s full of insects, and the hedgehogs go in there, and little voles too – I call it a ‘non-fire’.
Where do you get your lifelong love of gardening from?
My dad. I was born in 1947 in a council house, one of six children. All the houses had a long garden, and every evening the dads were out there growing food – they weren’t doing it for pleasure, they had to feed their families. My dad was a marvellous gardener – you’d have a great patch of potatoes, rows of runner beans and a big block of broad beans.
Your new book isn’t afraid to tackle some thorny issues to do with our attitudes to the countryside. Would you say you’re a campaigner?
I’m not a tub-thumper, but the reason I feel so passionate about what’s happening in the countryside is that I have seen the decline. Just after the war, you took it for granted that the cuckoo would come in the spring, and swifts and swallows would come in their thousands, and there would be frogs and toads in the garden, and water voles in the brooks. And all this has just gone. So in a tiny way I’m trying to arrest the decline where I can. ■ Pam Ayres’ new book, Who Are You Calling Vermin? (£12.99, Ebury Spotlight) is now available to buy.