Where do you get inspiration for the garden?
The Peter Rabbit^TM Garden was designed by Richard Lucas, who took one of the designs to Chelsea Flower Show and won gold. The garden is inspired by Beatrix Potter’s illustrations and her love of gardening, even the features are designed to look like her illustrations.

The flowers are heritage flowers, so things that would have been around in the 1940s and before, and I’m growing a lot of flowers identified from her books.

I’ve recently commissioned a local, green woodworker – Owen Jones – to create the fences, which will be put in in January.

Which flowers do you like in the garden?
My favourite flowers are snapdragons (antirrhinum). I love them because you can see them in her illustrations. There’s a massive variety but I love that the flower looks like a dragon.

Kids love it when you squeeze the side of it and make the mouth open. I also love it because of the bees. It’s fun to watch them access it – if they land on the lip it weighs down and opens for them like a cocoon.

What tips do you have for other gardeners?
I grew up with gardening, and I’ve never been a tidy gardener – being a tidy gardener isn’t necessary. The key is to put back more than you take out of nature.

Let grass grow, just trim it when necessary, leave stick piles, make your own compost. Create habitats all over the place.

Which is your favourite part of the garden?
My favourite part of the garden is the huge variety of flowers that grow and how many insects access the flowers. It shows how much you can fit into a small garden.

What wildlife do you get currently?
At the moment, a lot of birds. There are two water features in the garden so the birds are always bathing and there’s a sparrow family living in the garden. There are blackbirds and a myriad of insects and pollinators.

How do you attract/look after wildlife?
We’ve got a quiz for the kids around the garden. We’ve placed objects that are good for protecting and attracting wildlife. Things such as pipes, which are a good place for hedgehogs and other rodents.

We have air bricks for insects and bees. We’ve also got garden canes specifically for bugs to crawl into – ladybirds love them.

These are to encourage people to put them in their own garden and to show them what is possible. I research and grow lots of flowers that are good for insects.

What steps do you take to keep it ‘tidy’ whilst being wildlife friendly?
I try not to keep the garden unnatural, just manage it to keep it neat. We don’t use any chemicals and we use peat-free compost. The garden is totally organic.

What are your future plans for helping wildlife?
I’d like to provide more information for visitors, encouraging them to look after wildlife. I’d like to collaborate more with schools and other organisations.

The World of Beatrix Potter is a platinum business member of Cumbria Wildlife Trust.