Grasping the Nettle

Tales from a Modern Country Gardener

Tamsin Westhorpe

Dig into a delightfully funny memoir this autumn: one woman’s guide to making a living with muddy fingernails, steel toe-capped boots and a can-do gardening attitude.

“Charming, good-humoured and inspiring”

– Alan Titchmarsh

Have you ever watched Gardener’s World and fantasised about getting your hands dirty like Monty Don? Or perhaps you don’t even give a passing glance to the office plants person dusting the dieffenbachias …

Whatever side of the garden fence you’re on, prepare to be charmed by these tales of life spent outdoors told by someone who’s not afraid to stand out like a sunflower in a row of cabbages.

Tamsin Westhorpe’s memoir of memorable mishaps whilst making a living with mud permanently under her fingernails will win over any reader. A cast of colourful characters pepper the pages as she tells all about her hapless horticulture exploits.

What do you say on live TV when you’re asked the best place to put a garden gnome? Is nudist gardening a good idea? And why do the roses surrounding beautifully manicured English lawn bowling greens grow so vigorously?

The answers to all these questions and more are revealed in Tamsin’s fresh, funny and fearless look at how horticultural can shape a life.

Praise for Tamsin Westhorpe

“Enchanting… made me want to rush out into my own garden”
– Constance Craig Smith, Daily Mail

“Self-deprecating and practical … a welcome arrival”
– Anna Pavord, The Sunday Times

“Perfect bedside or bath time reading”
– Laetitia Maklouf, author of The Five Minute Garden

“I felt as if I were kneeling down in the damp soil right next to her”
– Mike Palmer, garden designer and writer

“Peppered with outdoorsy insights”
– Helen Yemm, Daily Telegraph

About the author

Tamsin is a hands-on gardener at her family garden, Stockton Bury in Herefordshire, which regularly features in round-ups of the best UK open gardens to visit. She is also a public speaker, podcast presenter and RHS judge. Her proudest achievements are being a judge at RHS Chelsea and starting her career as a greenkeeper at a young age.

When she isn’t in the garden, Tamsin is a features writer for newspapers and magazines. She is also former editor of The English Garden, and deputy editor of Amateur Gardening magazine. She is a prolific lecturer at home and abroad and her aim is to make her audiences laugh.