THE GRUMPY GARDENER


P


askett Public Relations is Britain’s longest established specialist gardening PR consultancy and after almost 50 years


there is no signs of things slowing down. MD, Graham Paskett – also the blogger Graham The Grumpy Gardener – is a former newspaper journalist and he and his former reporter wife Jennie love and look after a four acre garden in rural Staffordshire.


“Having been a gardener all my life enables me to write with some authority on the subject and this is a significant benefit to my clients,” he says. Here is a quick-fire run through some of them...


Gardening highlights


The Chelsea Flower Show is still the highlight of the gardening calendar in Britain and this year Griffin Glasshouses really did have something to shout about. Griffin’s Linda Lane teamed up with The Wonky Artist – Rachel


Smith-


Ruffle. She was left with a spinal injury after an accident aged 23. She learned to paint watercolours, lying on her side in bed and using both hands to hold the brush. She is now an internationally collected artist. At Chelsea she had three quarters finished garden painting and asked celebrities to ‘lend a hand’ with a few finishing touches. The final painting will be auctioned in aid of the spinal injuries charity, Horatio’s Garden.


forest is essential to wellbeing of red squirrels. These lovely creatures have lived in Britain since the end of the last ice age, as opposed to the larger greys that now populate most UK gardens. They were first introduced as a novelty species in the 1850s and many carry a squirrel pox that does not harm them but is fatal to reds.


‘We only issue press releases on behalf of our clients that we know highlight real news’


Grass lawns remain a mainstay of British gardens and battery powered lawnmowers and garden products care play a rapidly increasing role. STIGA UK has harnessed the power of their latest SWIFT lawnmower whose batteries


can be used to


run the range of hand held garden products – strimmers, hedge cutters, blowers and powered pruners. This means gardeners need only one charger and the batteries are fully interchangeable with hand- held tools in the STIGA range – an energy efficient and quiet solution. Who doesn’t love red squirrels and Graham provides


a public


relations service to the Red Squirrel Survival Trust. This national charity exists to protect both the native red squirrel and the nation’s native woodland. A healthy national


www.diyweek.net


Real news Talking of forests and timber, another Paskett PR client is Forest Garden, the UK’s leading producer of wooden garden sheds and fencing panels as well as other timber garden buildings, containers and greenhouses.


Growing BIG


in a small space is a campaign to encourage people with small gardens – even balconies – to join the GYO revolution and benefit


from home-grown fruit and vegetables using some of the Forest Garden products designed to be used in small spaces. Richard Salmon has spent his


entire working life involved in lawns and grasscare and is one of the UK’s leading lawncare experts, through his ProLawnCareUK business. Using his knowledge


BASICS BACK TO


Red squirrels, garden sheds, mowing the lawn and painting in the greenhouse – all in a day’s work for the Grumpy Gardener.


and experience, Richard has recently talked to the garden press about the huge benefits to nature and wildlife of sensibly mowing grass lawns on a regular basis and dismisses the argument put forward by some influencers that mowing is harmful to wildlife and the environment. “With my reporter hat still firmly


on we only issue press releases on behalf of our clients that we know highlight real news. Gardening remains


important to so many people of all ages and the mass of evidence proving its physical and mental health benefits and well as safeguarding general well being ensures its continued role in society,” adds Graham.


APRIL 2022 DIY WEEK 25


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