Mary Keen has worked in, documented and designed gardens all over the world for decades. But it’s the garden she’s made at home, during her ninth decade, that she writes most affectionately about.

In her seventh book, Diary of a Keen Gardener, she reflects on both a life shaped by plants and her more recent years, when she has weathered grief, illness and aging. It’s an honest love letter to what makes a garden. And it’s here that we meet Mary, on a breezy spring day, to take a studied tour around her Gloucestershire garden.

Diary of a Keen Gardener is available in hardback now, and you can follow Mary’s exploits on instagram: @keenkeengardener.

This podcast is inspired by my book, Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson on my website and instagram account @⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠⁠⁠Niwaki⁠⁠⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW.

If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Sarah Raven and Ula Maria. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it.

This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.