James Cooper

James Cooper did not grow up gardening. He grew up in a new-build on the edge of Sheffield where the garden was a patch of lawn his dad mowed on Sundays, and the most domestically ambitious thing he witnessed was his mum assembling flat-pack furniture. He came to plants late and came to DIY through necessity rather than enthusiasm.

The first flat he rented had a small concrete yard. He put a few pots out there - basil, then mint, then a courgette that took over half the space - and something shifted. He started noticing other people's yards, other people's window boxes, the way plants appeared in the most unlikely urban corners. He started writing about it because he couldn't quite articulate it any other way.

His DIY writing tends towards the honest end of the spectrum. He documents what he's tried, what went wrong, and what he'd do differently - which is, he believes, more useful than the tutorials that make everything look easy. His gardening writing is similar: grounded in what actually grows in the conditions most urban people have, which is to say not much direct sun and a lot of wind.

James has written for the Guardian, Gardens Illustrated, and various small magazines that no longer exist. He lives in a Victorian terrace with a north-facing back garden that he is slowly winning.