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It all begins with a spark of inspiration, followed by hours of daydreaming, sketching out designs, planning plant combinations, and working through the practicalities of ‘how-to’. From there, ideas take shape through action, sometimes ‘manic’ action - in keeping with my Manic Botanic ‘handle’ - and sometimes peppered with deep bouts of procrastination! This page is my weekly blog, detailing what’s going on in my garden that week. If you sign up to my free newsletter, you’ll receive these blog posts direct to your inbox every Sunday to browse at your leisure.
© 2026 The Manic Botanic. You’re welcome to read, share, and enjoy this content, but copying or republishing without permission is not allowed.
Do I look like I have my life together?
Don’t worry, I don’t have my ducks in a row either.
You are the weakest link. Goodbye.
Gardens and corporate life have more in common than you might think.
I need a medic alert bracelet
I’m just not confident they’d come looking until they got hungry…
A swamp creature guarding a peat bog
You know those moments in time where you wish you’d given it a little more thought before hand?
Defeating Satan’s root ball
I’ve amended the list of ‘shittiest garden jobs ever’ and we have a new leader!
I have a dream. A stupid one…but a dream nevertheless.
Sensible decision making when it comes to animals is not part of my DNA.
The Husband makes a tactical error he’ll live to regret
A husband should never dare his wife to write a Substack article after a disagreement….
In the Olympics of self- deception, I always win
When the seed catalogue arrives in the mail, I experience a sudden loss of control….
Things I did not know
I didn’t know lots of things when I first started out on this gardening lark.
I want better pests
Other countries have better pests than New Zealand. Why couldn’t we have some? I REALLY want a squirrel.
The holiday home I no longer want (and couldn’t afford anyway)
I always dreamed of having a holiday home. Now I don’t want one.
The appearance of competence
The great thing about gardening is that you can hide your failures.
There are people who have gardens and then there are gardeners
There are people who have gardens and then there are gardeners.
Gardening with children is supposed to be magical
There was the vision….and then there’s the reality.
Memorable menopausal moments
When ‘menopause brain’ gets you down, just read this. You’ll feel less stupid.