Posts by Kate Poland
The Citizen Gardener: ‘Even looking at a picture of a river or a wood can improve your mood’
Kate Poland on the mental health benefits of plants, efforts to ‘normalise’ gardening for Black and minority ethnic people, and some surprisingly speedy snails
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: Contested Spaces
Kate Poland on the battle for land, a planning overhaul and an eye-opening podcast about climate change
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘We can do our bit to save water’
Kate Poland on an impending water crisis in the UK, and what gardeners can do to help protect this precious resource
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘Be radical and grow your own food’
Kate Poland on how we can take advantage of the increased interest in food-growing during lockdown
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘There are some inspiring online activities for those who love the outdoors’
Award-winning community gardener Kate Poland has put together a comprehensive list of websites and organisations providing a virtual escape during lockdown
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘Seeds are now as elusive as Glasto tickets’
Kate Poland on the huge demand for her free seeds and how we can take control of a monopolised supply chain
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘There is no waste in nature’
Kate Poland on how we can reduce rubbish in the garden
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘In nature, plants look after themselves, but people can forget, go away, or just give up’
Kate Poland’s guide to growing in small spaces, based on her first year as the gardener for an entire Hackney postcode
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘A lack of plant diversity means one in five species could be under threat’
Kate Poland on the biodiversity crisis, how individuals can plough their own furrow amid the seed industry’s oligopoly, and why sprouts are not just for Christmas
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘An urban garden at night brings wildness and community’
Kate Poland on how developments are disrupting the important balance of natural light and darkness for community spaces, why she’s happier knitting at night, and how a group of local gardeners have put the borough on the map in Europe
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘My friend’s dad used to say a garden is made in winter’
Kate Poland on how to use the cold months to renew your garden, why leaves should be left alone, and how growing spaces can help tackle food poverty
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘I’m steering clear of garden centre plants’
Kate Poland on pesticides, the launch of a gardening union, and putting community spaces on the map
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘Turn dead, grey space into stepping stones for insects’
Kate Poland on green infrastructure and how we can make it work in Hackney and beyond
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘It’s time for the untidy to have a go’
Kate Poland on a budding union of gardens, the joys of shinrin-yoku, and how you can help nature while getting drunk
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘There’s no such thing as a pest’
Kate Poland on how to create a pest-resistant environment and setting the wheels in motion for a mobile shed in Hackney
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘Much maligned ivy is great for nature’
Kate Poland on the Gardens Manifesto, an outdoor classroom and the benefits of hairy-leaved plants
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘We need to get used to weeds in the streets’
Kate Poland on mulching, plant dyes and the tension between wildlife and tidiness
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘It’s been a joy to see so many people benefit’
Kate Poland bids a fond farewell to Cordwainers Garden, which closes on 5 April after eight bountiful years
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘I’ll put up with being labelled a vandal’
Award-winning community gardener Kate Poland on smashing up paving and sowing seeds
Read MoreThe Citizen Gardener: ‘You don’t need a big space’
Award-winning community gardener Kate Poland has a few tips and tricks for growing in confined conditions
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