Valerie McBride-Munro

BSc (Hons) Hort; PG Dips (Broadcast Journalism) (Plants & Plantsmanship);  C&G; C. Hort; MCIHort

Thank you for reading my profile. I have had a life-long love of plants, although it was as a mature student that I graduated with honours from Pershore College of Horticulture

I have been solving plant and gardening problems for more than 20 years  – in print for a number of UK’s leading national gardening magazines, online, on the radio and now in person in your own garden.

I was UK’s first cyberspace plant agony aunt at i-Garden.

I have now developed this problem solving service to a more personal level as garden coach & mentor Auntie Planty.  It gives me huge joy to share my horticultural knowledge in this way.

I am also a freelance broadcast journalist, contributing to television, radio and gardening websites.   For many years I produced and was the voice of BBC Red Button coverage of Chelsea Flower Show, and this only ceased when the specific production unit moved away from White City.

I have regularly answered gardening questions on BBC Radio London’s Lesley Joseph Show on Sundays, and a new project is ‘Gardening Matters’ on the digital station Brooklands Radio.

My first degree is BSc (Hons) in horticulture, to which I have added a PG Dip (Broadcast Journalism); Dip Plants & Plantsmanship;  C&G teaching adults certificate.  I have recently completed a specialised course on trees;  I’m a full member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture.

I’m proud to be a Visitor Guide at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew;  I’m a past chairman of The Garden Media Guild.

I look forward to hearing from you!