The business sells a wide range of flowering species and plants with bright foliage as well as offering terrarium building at Corner Corner
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Growing up in Cumbria – three miles from the nearest village – Plant And Person founder, Will Daltrey, became accustomed to chatting with the neighbouring cows for company.
“If you stand at the gate of a massive field and wait about 10 minutes, you’ll find they all come over to you slowly,” he said.
“My dad left when I was quite young, although still lived nearby, but it was quite lonely, so I shared much of my upbringing with them.
“You can definitely sense what they’re thinking and I knew they were interested in me because they’d keep on coming over.”
As we’re talking at Plant And Person’s regular weekday stall in Canada Water’s Deal Porter Square, customers drift over to make purchases – a colourful rhododendron, a hanging basket of ivy, a jazzy potted maranta.
Each is treated to Will’s gentle advice and guidance. Some tell tales, other ask earnest questions.
Patiently, he dispenses suggestions and answers.
Slowly it dawns on me that this steady flow of patrons serves very much the same purpose as his bovine mates of old – the warmth of community.
Having studied computer science at Newcastle University, an institution he and his friends described as “a place of drinking with a learning problem”, he became a teacher, relocating to London to train and then work.
He spent 15 years in the profession when the pandemic prompted a change.
“In some ways, lockdown was a good time because we were looking after the wellbeing of the children – teaching them values for life,” said Will.
“But then it felt like the plug was pulled and we were back teaching to the tests again.”
Will had grown up around his parents’ gardens and vegetable plots but had “never realised” he liked gardening until the pandemic provided an opportunity.
“I have a large balcony and, with that extra time, I started growing plants on it,” he said.
“I created a real jungle – tunnels, waterfalls and plants all along the railings and trained over the ceiling. There’s even a grape vine.
“I really enjoyed learning about the different species and looking after them, seeing the cause and effect of my actions and how they responded to it.
“I could spend hours just dead-heading – it was very mindful.
“What was in my head at the time was the idea that the plants were looking after my mental health.
“That’s really the idea behind the name Plant And Person.
“Initially the big idea for the business was about doing workshops to make terrariums – miniature gardens in glass containers.
“My wife also started selling them and found out there wasn’t much money to be made doing that.”
helping others build tiny gardens
But the creativity persisted and Plant And Person has also branched out into retail with Will selling plants from a stall at Canada Water and at Wapping Docklands Market on Saturdays, just across the river.
“We’re currently running workshops at Corner Corner in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre in partnership with British Land,” he said.
“People come from all over London and they really get the wow factor when they arrive here.
“We set everything out on long tables. There’s a tutorial and everyone gets 90 minutes to build their terrarium.
“There’s loads of different materials to choose from, with different sizes and colours of stones.
“Then we have a variety of soils and mosses as well as trinkets.
“The price includes three plants, so I need 90 for a class, but I bring about 500 so everyone gets exactly what they want.
“That’s only workable because I can sell the ones that are left over on the stall.
“I never do a demo because then people would copy it, but you see everyone collecting what they want to use and taking inspiration from each other.
“They come up with some amazing ideas.
“I do miss being a teacher, so I really value the opportunity to get up in front of people and talk about something I’m interested in.
“Selling plants on the stall is really lovely when it’s the summer and the weather is good. It can be more of a slog in winter, of course.
“But you get to know all the people locally and that’s absolutely wonderful. I’ve been doing it for three years and I’ve made loads of friends.
“It’s also really lovely to be approached by strangers and then to see them come back over time.”
selling plants in east and south-east London
Will sources his plants from Holland, Belgium and the UK, offering a wide, ever-changing variety.
In addition to the succulents and small plants used in the terrariums, he sells much larger specimens.
On the day of our interview, the stall is a riot of early summer colour with pots of vibrant flowers and plants sporting exotic-looking foliage.
There are fuchsias, a relative of the jasmine and lavenders already starting to come out.
“My favourite is the maranta fascinator or prayer plant with its beautiful green and pink leaves,” he said.
“It’s really the species that got me into decorative foliage and house plants and it’s absolutely stunning.
“The most important thing for me though, is that the plants I sell work for the people I sell them to and fit what they’re looking for.
“If people are looking for something that’s easy to care for I’ll often recommend the snake plant – dracaena trifasciata – which is a really popular choice and very low maintenance.
“Another really good option is a zamioculcas or ZZ plant, which are really easy to care for because it’s happy in all sorts of conditions indoors.
“It can even go without water for a while.
“I’m always learning myself, but I love when people ask for advice or suggestions so I can help them find the plants that work for them.”
key details: Plant And Person
Plant And Person’s next Terrarium Building Workshop is set to take place at Corner Corner on May 26 at 7pm.
Tickets cost £38.62 including all materials and fees. Bookings can be made here.
You can find Will selling plants and dispensing advice at Deal Porter Square in Canada Water most weekdays and at Wapping Docklands Market on Saturdays.
Find out more about the business here
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