Jenny Steel is an Oxford educated Plant Ecologist, experienced lecturer and tutor in adult education, a professional gardener, photographer and former plant nursery woman, with more than 20 years experience of writing about and teaching organic gardening, wildlife gardening and natural history topics.  She has appeared on Gardener’s World with Alan Titchmarsh and presented a series of items on the BBC 2 gardening show, How Does Your Garden Grow. She has worked with a great variety of organisations including the Royal Horticultural Society, Natural England, Atropos, Ernest Charles, the Adult Residential Colleges Association (ARCA),  Usborne Books, Complete Gardens, Growing Native and several of the Wildlife Trusts.  She is currently working with the wild bird food company Haiths, Oxfordshire County Council and the Emmy Award winning film company Panache Productions who are making a film about her wildlife garden.

 Jenny is a keen photographer and photographing plants, wildlife, gardens and landscapes is an important part of her work.  Her pictures have been published in many magazines and newspapers and on websites, as well as being used to illustrate her own books and articles.

Jenny's guides to Wildlife Gardening can be found in many bookshops and mail order catalogues, Royal Horticultural Society shops, at The Lost Gardens of Heligan, and Amazon.  She has written for BBC Easy Gardening Magazine, Guardian Unlimited (the website of the Guardian newspaper), the Countryman, the Oxford Times and Oxford Mail, Butterfly Conservation, Spaces Magazine, Country and Border Life, several of the Wildlife Trust's magazines and the Daily Express.  She wrote for Organic Garden and Home Magazine for 7 years and has recently contributed to New Consumer Magazine, the Ecologist Magazine, The Kitchen Garden Magazine and BBC Gardens Illustrated.   

Teaching a one day course at Wiggly Wigglers

Jenny's particular interests are plant and insect interactions, our native butterflies and moths, birds and of course, wildflowers and garden wildlife of all sorts.  She is passionate about wildflower meadows, wildlife ponds, wildlife friendly herbaceous borders and growing her own vegetables.  Her two acre garden in South Shropshire is the venue for her one day wildlife gardening courses.

If you wish to contact Jenny with regard to her writing, teaching or photographs please email her at jenny@wildlife-gardening.co.uk or telephone on 01588 673019

Jenny and Bill recently at Haiths, discussing the new wildlife garden she is designing for them (and no, she's not asking him for money!)

It all began at an early age.....