Lucy Willcox credits Crocus for their ‘organic’ collaboration which promises fresh content over the coming year.

Explaining how the collaboration came about, Willcox says: “It was one of those great Instagram connections. I started posting more content from my garden, talking about planting combinations and why certain layouts work so well together. The posts had a great response from my followers, and I could see the need for me to provide links to the plants I was featuring. Showcasing the plants in this way meant people could buy in one click and add them into their own gardens. This was the start of a great Willcox x Crocus partnership.

“It has been a wonderful relationship which has grown organically. With the Crocus customers and our joint followers in mind, planning content together was a real pleasure. Throughout the process, the entire Crocus team, from branding to nursery, have been an absolute joy to work with, and I look forward to this partnership developing overtime”.

The first part of the campaign to launch was her own dedicated page on the Crocus website, where all the plants from her own award-winning garden can be purchased.

Willcox has also released her first planting plan from one of the borders, which received the Planting Design award at this year’s Pro Landscaper Project Awards. This will be the first of many available to purchase from her website.

It becomes clear when speaking to Willcox that her background works incredibly well for providing a healthy perspective for such a collaboration, as she references her younger self, the keen gardener who only had – but made the most of – her West London balcony.

“My first flat had a tiny balcony; there was hardly any room to get out there, but I just filled it with pots! It’s then that I became enthralled with plants.” says Willcox.

“I then moved to my first house with a very overgrown garden, ready to make it my own. That’s when I became fully obsessed with gardens and garden design. Because I came to gardening as a balcony gardener, I’m very aware when I’m posting content that not everyone has much space so I try to provide inspiration across the gardening board.

“Sometimes people just want to grow something. It could be a pot for a terrace, a pot on your balcony or by your front door. I want to be able to appeal to as many people as possible and introduce everyone to the joys of gardening.”

Yet this process of beginning the journey can be intimidating, she thinks, so it is again something that has factored into her work with Crocus and accounts for people who may have a smaller budget.

It means their collaboration is aiming to be all-encompassing, so that people can go to one place and be able to buy everything as opposed to becoming intimidated by having to go to several places.

“I think people get a bit scared with gardening. They’re worried about how much knowledge or equipment they might need to successfully sustain a plant or beds. I believe that if you start small with something like a pot, even if you’ve got a garden, it’s a great place to begin.

“Equally, if you’re working with a tight budget, it’s easy to produce an amazing pot display, rather than trying to put one or two plants in a garden bed which will just disappear in the space. I would always say, go for a fantastic pot scheme to bring some joy into the space you have.

“So, to make it a simple process for customers, we’re going to set up ‘A One Stop Pot Shop’, curated by myself and available to buy straight from the Crocus website. There will be several pre-designed displays to choose from with different pots style and sizes to suit all aspects and colour schemes. Once selected, the pot, the soil and all the plants will be delivered together really simplifying that step that can be so daunting for many.

“Because I’ve been working with plants and in the industry for over 20 years, I have a great understanding of what I would put together in a pot and I’m excited to share that knowledge.”

Willcox came into gardening from a career of producing television commercials back in 2005, so the process of planning and producing content is something she is well-versed in.

The collaboration with Crocus will continue to use Willcox’s own garden as the basis for the content, and she expanded upon the kinds of things gardeners can expect to see from it.

“We’re going to be talking about different planting combinations and how people can put things together at different times of the year and the important things to think about when you’re putting planting designs together.

“This involves combining shrubs and grasses, using contrasting form and textures, all the things and all of the principles that I use when designing.

“We’ve got a plan for content for the whole of next year which is great, it’s going to be a very exciting partnership.”

Promisingly, Willcox also revealed she is planning on doing some live content with Crocus from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show next year.

Elsewhere, it has been a busy year for Willcox, who earlier this year also partnered with Chris Hudson on a range of portable lighting.