Ahead of her UK tour helping ameateur gardeners all over the country answer their green-fingered queries, Country Living caught up with Carol Klein to get some insight of our own.

It's set to be a busy year for Carol, with her tour starting in March, her usual presenting slot at the Chelsea Flower Show in May, and a new Channel 5 series of Gardening with Carol Klein about to start filming.

So, while we had her full attention (sharing it only with a cup of tea), we asked Carol all about 2022's big gardening trends, how to approach slugs and snails and how to garden more sustainability this spring/summer.

What are the stand-out gardening trends we can look for this year?

I think right across the board – and you are going to find this at Chelsea too – it’s all about getting back to nature and gardening organically. Going with the flow rather than trying to impose on it.

I think it is partly a consequence of what we have all been through in the last couple of years. Gardening was already popular (there was over 11 million gardens in the UK), but lots of new people got into it during lockdown. Even people who didn’t have gardens got very interested in growing things. There are a lot of health benefits of doing that, too, both physical and mental.

I also think there is going to be a huge emphasis on growing your own.

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Carol Klein

With organic gardening in mind, how should we approach garden 'pests'? The RHS have just taken slugs and snails off of their official pest list...

I didn’t even know there was an official pest list! I think people should deal with slugs like I do: organically.

Quite honestly, if we didn’t have slugs and snails we would all be knee-deep in debris and rubbish because that is what they do: they chomp through it. I know sometimes they chomp through your favourite lettuce as well but they are part of the ecosystem and they do a really important job. People ought to try and leave them.

There are lots of ways of discouraging lots of these things. We’ve got a tree here, a bird cherry. For years, I wondered why it was so incredibly popular with blue tits and then, when we were doing a book, the photographer took a picture of its leaves in autumn. Of course, there were aphids all over them. That’s exactly what the birds were after.

I am a true believer that if you establish the balance in your garden it really is self-sustaining and you absolutely don’t need chemicals. We are completely organic here and have been forever. It works.

So, it is important for people to attract more birds?

Yes, absolutely – and attract other insects too. For example, hover flies will eat aphids, too.

It's about bits of companion planting here and there, like French marigolds between your vegetables. We must provide lots and lots of plants that bees and other pollinating insects can feed on and make sure they are right throughout the entire year. We had bumble bees in the garden yesterday and they were going for the snowdrops earlier. Now, there are lots of hellebores providing food for them. It is all about establishing your balance.

Bird nest boxes to buy for the garden
Fallen Fruits Triangle Bird Box House, FSC-Certified (Pine Wood), Black/Natural
Fallen Fruits Triangle Bird Box House, FSC-Certified (Pine Wood), Black/Natural
£13 at John Lewis
Credit: John Lewis
Barkwood Bird Nest Box
Barkwood Bird Nest Box
Now 29% Off
Credit: Not On The Highstreet
New England nest box - green
New England nest box - green
Credit: Crocus
Curve cavity nest box
Curve cavity nest box
Credit: Crocus
Dovecote nest box
Dovecote nest box
Credit: Crocus
Natural log tit nesting box
Natural log tit nesting box
Credit: Crocus

How else can people be sustainable in their gardens this summer?

Number one, have a compost heap. Even if you have a small garden, you can still do that. You can buy a compost bin if you like or you can make a small heap in the corner of your garden. Keep on turning it over so there is lots of oxygen in there. Then add any waste you can get hold of.

Also, come the autumn, make a leaf mould heap. Get a simple wire frame and chuck the leaves in it. Neighbours are usually happy to give collected leaves to you or even the local council might. It makes a wonderful material.

I know it is easy for me to say, with a slightly bigger garden than usual, but you really can establish that kind of sustainable cycle. Don’t throw anything away. All the weeds and everything else can go on the compost. Get the weeds before they start weeding and, with perennial weeds, make sure you are only using the tops and that you are throwing away the roots.

Carol Klein is touring the UK starting in Guildford on 27th March and ending in Richmond on 17th April 2022. Tickets are on sale now. BOOK TICKETS