Questions answered

I occasionally get asked why I have so many online aliases, so here's a brief explanation.

When I worked for a nursery in Cornwall I was employed to grow a huge range of trees, shrubs, perennials and indoor plants. Nonetheless this range wasn't enough for me; I was driven by my love of plants to find out about an enormous number of other plants too, and this is where 'Ben's Botanics' was born. Ben's Botanics became the place where I could share my love of plants that weren't necessarily grown by my employer, and has brought me in touch with other plant lovers across the globe. Ben's Botanics can now be found on Twitter (@BensBotanics), Facebook and Pinterest too.

I realised that I had ideas for articles and features to write, but many of these didn't seem appropriate for Ben's Botanics. I decided to start this blog, and named it 'Pots and Polytunnels' because at that time I was getting my ideas from my work for my former employer. Each day I was surrounded by plants in pots and often worked in polytunnels... somehow the name seemed to work!

After being made redundant by my previous employer I decided to start my business, known as 'Pen And Trowel'. Why the name? As well as offering practical gardening I also offer a consultancy/advisory service. Pen and Trowel can be found on Twitter (@PenAndTrowel), but I tend to use Ben's Botanics pages as well, hence the crossover. I also still use Pots and Polytunnels for Pen And Trowel writing so that my content is in one place- another blog may appear in due course though!

I hope this explains why I have so many different aliases. I might have been better bringing everything 'under one roof', but my redundancy and change of professional direction came as a surprise. Whatever the name of the blog, website or social media account you come across, I really hope you enjoy what you read.