Meet Amy Chatterjee | Gardener and YouTuber

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amy Chatterjee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Simply put – I was having such a good time envisioning and watching my own garden blossom (pun intended), that I wanted to share that passion with others. I’ve always loved watching the gardening programs in the UK. It is a big industry built around cultivating beautiful yet functional gardens but when I look at domestic and local content there is a gap in programming in the tropics. We have the ability to build and evolve our gardens year-round. Strangely, the lack of content in this regard didn’t make sense to me and I found a niche where I could build a following doing something I am passionate about. I started my YouTube channel, @gardenglowup, because I wanted to update my backyard as a simple weekend project. But along the way, I got so wrapped up in it, that I haven’t stopped gardening since. As mentioned before, there wasn’t a big community of gardeners on social media in South Florida, or at least none that I knew of – so, I ventured to share my gardening journey and see what interest I can drum up, especially in my local community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As life sometimes does, I did not go out looking to become a gardener– I came by it accidentally. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I needed a project while I would be on maternity leave (in hindsight, this was crazy). At the time, I decided that updating the landscaping in front of my house was the project for me! So I tore everything out with no plan and everything that I attempted to plant in that area died. So I kept trying, because my landscaping was now even worse than before. After trying for so long and being persistent, I eventually created a meaningfully beautiful space.

This experience had many ups and downs but when the space started to bloom, it expanded my sights to my backyard. I learnt so much and had such a good time that I just wanted to share it with others. During this process, I stumbled upon and devoured information on design principles, technical skills, and even found resources throughout the community to make gardening an accessible and successful venture. I ultimately decided that I wanted to document it all for others.

The vision for Garden Glow Up is to make gardens accessible. The notion of accessibility has been a driving force behind the decisions I have made up to now. I really want to create spaces that feel open and available to my audience. I want them to look at what I’ve done and realize: all plants in my garden are available to you as well, my [before] garden probably looks a lot like yours, and I’m creating vistas that you could create too. I want to pique the interest of the community so that they truly believe they can do it too.

Community is also important to me and I want to build community around spaces that already exist. There are certainly gardens in our local areas, nurseries and vendors that are creating beautiful spaces and décor using plants, so I’ve also focused on bringing a spotlight to these different community members.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I were putting together a garden itinerary for a friend, I would definitely make a day of going to the Redlands. They have all kinds of nurseries, I would narrow down which nurseries to go to based on my friend’s interests, if you like native plants you can go to Casey’s Corner, if you like growing what you eat you can go to Little River Cooperative, if you like succulents you can go to Isaac Farms, if you like orchids you can go to R.F. Orchids. There are so many nursery options in the Redlands and there are also places to stop to eat, like at Robert Is Here, you can get lost there for an entire day.

The following day would be spent touring nurseries in Horse Country – there is Casaplanta, Lighthouse Nursery and Quest Orchids, they are all wonderful.

I would incorporate a garden tour for inspiration, and I would definitely go to Flamingo Gardens, not only do they have great gardens, but they also have wildlife, it is a wonderful location with endless vistas.

To entertain the children, I would make a day of going to Delray Beach Children’s Garden, their garden teaches children how to grow plants, making it a wonderful day for everyone.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have encountered so much support from my friends and family throughout the whole process. My family (but especially my husband) has been going on adventures with me to different gardens and letting me stop to take 1000 pictures. My sister has helped me design and implement new projects, my besties for introducing me to new groups, proofreading a new post, sharing my content, or simply liking it. The support has been overwhelming and has made a new (and potentially scary) venture fun and exciting.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garden_glow_up/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gardenglowup

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5gojQ3xK0a4l4m1_V082Jw