In the summer of 2019, Anja Lautenbach posted one of her first lavender cutting tutorials on Instagram. Having spent seven years creating a garden from scratch in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, propagating almost every plant, roses and wisteria, hydrangeas, lavender, dahlias and more, his advice was not without serious experience. in gardening
A few years later, when gardening and horticulture found a new audience thanks to the pandemic, the self-taught gardener's easy tips began to spread in step-by-step video tutorials. make it almost free, create a garden by cutting, dividing, layering and collecting plants.
Today, the advocacy group has more than a million followers on social media channels, including 690,000 on Facebook and nearly half a million on the Instagram account @Anya_thegarden_fairy, where her tutorials include cutting and dying 'Roseanne' geraniums. Sprinkle Cosmos or Gaur. His goofy videos showing how to cut lavender have reached 10 million views.
His first book is "The Money Saving Gardener". Create the Garden of Your Dreams on a Budget,” where Anya introduces readers to gardening philosophy and step-by-step instructions for each of the propagation methods. . The book summarizes all the knowledge he gained while creating his garden. Apart from young hedging plants, fruit trees and the popular 'Tai Haku', about 90 per cent of the garden has been created by propagation. It guides the reader through easy-to-follow instructions and lists of plants, which method is best, and when and how to take softwood and hardwood cuttings, and immature or root cuttings. His gardening philosophy is based not only on saving money, but also on growing as sustainably as possible, reusing and recycling where possible, and working in harmony with nature.
The success of his videos is undoubtedly their accessibility. often breaks down complex placement skills into very simple ones. He attributes this approach in part to the fact that English is not his first language. "I think I'm walking a tightrope," he says of the short, crisp path he guides his followers through each process. When a publisher asked her to write a book and she realized she had to write 40,000 words, she jokingly asked her husband if he knew many English words.
It also has incredibly enthusiastic instructions that are engaging with minimal botanical language or confusing garden jargon. "I think we're definitely making it difficult," she said of a global approach to discussing gardening skills. "We also create a lot of rules. As soon as you start, if you open the book and say "don't do this, don't do that", people will think. "I never oiled the roses."
Instead, he reduced his skills to simple formulas. “You can get it in a one-minute video. They say it's as simple as that, and these basics will lead to success, and then lead to more success. Then you can go back to the books if you want to learn more.'
His book is dedicated to the two women who helped him become a gardener together: his mother and his late mother-in-law. The seeds of his obsession with breeding were planted in his childhood, growing up with his grandparents in Poland, where farming or foraging was not a pastime but a necessity for war survivors. Something my mother always brought up as well. "Our window coverings were always full of cuts. When you're a kid, you don't think much, but it gave me so much passion without knowing it. Of course, now that I'm a mother, I understand that sometimes seeds need time to germinate."
After growing up in Eastern Europe in the 1980s, Anya came to the UK in her 20s to study English. "We are disconnected from the west," he says. "I soon realized that the only way to achieve anything in life is to learn English." He left a career in business development and worked as a handyman, working at Mohammed Fayed's estate, Balnagown Castle, on the outskirts of Inverness. Language
Despite being surrounded by the incredible scenery of the Scottish mountains, his heart was strong. After calling home one day in tears, his mother told him to grow plants. "He said. "Bring a plant. Because plants grow at home." And from there, Lautenbach began to grow and cultivate new plants with the help of the knowledge he acquired in childhood. "There is a kind of magic. When the roots of my cuttings grew, it suddenly seemed to me that at the same time I was growing my own invisible roots, and I felt more comfortable and at home."
When his English was good enough he went south to Buckinghamshire to return to business life; salesman, but what he calls a creative soul. She got married in 2012 and gave birth to her first son before moving into her current home. But just as she found her dream home on the edge of an area of outstanding natural beauty, purple emperor butterflies appeared in the clouds on the other side. At the edge of his garden there was room to grow. collection of hives (now there are 11), even in a serious psychological crisis.
"Honestly, I was isolated at the time," he explained. “I never sought help for mental health. I think I suffered from postpartum depression. And since then I have been diagnosed with ADHD. "I felt trapped and completely lost, and I couldn't even walk because I had a baby." Being alone at home with the children while dealing with the devastating effects of a close family member's long-term illness in Poland plunged her into a deeper crisis. “It was like one storm after another. And I was very bored. "I always cried and fought against everything that happened at home."
Knowing her great need, her mother-in-law begged her to take up gardening, showing her inspirational gardens, teaching her design and encouraging Anya to take cuttings from her garden in Durham. “All I could control was my plants and the creation of life. it was almost like a positive dose of medicine," he said. "It saved me from having a serious nervous breakdown for generations."
After a few years, he says it's amazing to see the bond he's created. “People say it's taking too long, but that's not true. Because you know, when I suddenly look at my photos, it's awesome. Of course, the only "secret" is to plant it in the right place and provide it with the necessary conditions.
Her first-hand experience of how growth can be challenging and life-enhancing, how life's most difficult situations can be overcome, and provide hope and a path forward, also inspired her approach to social media. When the pandemic hit and gardening became a relief for many, Anya met other famous gardeners, including Klaus Dalby, Charles Dowding and others, for lively discussion and inspiration. In doing so, he created a unique relationship with his many followers who connected with him and explained how plant reproduction helped them even in the most difficult situation. She hopes to capitalize on this in the future by working with mental health charities.
But they have another key way of creating meaningful connections between generations. In the fall of 2022, one of her followers wrote to her via Instagram that she had been trying to grow roses from her late mother's house in the Cotswolds, but the cutting had failed and she was asking for help; "And he said: "You know, these roses connect me to my mother. "If they get it, that's great for me." Anya took the cuttings, grew them in her garden and began to bloom. "Now we plan to collect them and replant them," he says. "I lost my mother-in-law, but she lives, her legacy continues. "Reproduction can connect us both with past generations and future generations."
The money saving gardener. Dorling Kindersley is published on 1 February and costs £16.99.
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