📙 Part 2: Describe a person you know who loves to grow plants

This episode's vocabulary

To be (hard) pushed to do something - to find it difficult to do something.

Plot (noun) - a small piece of land that has been marked or measured for a particular purpose.

Greenhouse (noun) - a building with a roof and sides made of glass, used for growing plants that need warmth and protection.

Green fingers (plural noun) - the ability to make plants grow.

To potter about/around (sth) - (phrasal verb) - to spend time in a pleasant, relaxed way, often doing small jobs in your house.

Flowerbed (noun) - an area of ground where flowers are planted.

To trim (verb) - to make something tidier or more level by cutting a small amount off it.

Shrub (noun) - a large plant with a rounded shape formed from many small branches growing either directly from the ground or from a hard stem, grown in gardens.

Overgrown (adj.) - covered with plants that are growing thickly and in an uncontrolled way.

Lawnmower (noun) - a machine used for cutting grass.

Secateurs (plural noun) - a garden tool that has two short sharp blades and is used for cutting plant stems.

Shears (plural noun) - very large scissors.

To pave (verb) - to cover an area of ground or a road with materials such as stone, concrete, or bricks that will form a hard, level surface.

Moss (noun) - a very small, green or yellow plant that grows especially in wet earth or on rocks, walls, and tree trunks.

Lichen (noun) - a grey, green, or yellow plant-like organism that grows on rocks, walls, and trees.

Shed (noun) - a small building, usually made of wood, used for storing things.

Bits and pieces (idiom) - small things or jobs of different types.

Orderly (adj.) - well arranged or organized.

Up/down your street (idiom) - to be the type of thing that you are interested in or that you enjoy doing.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, are you ready?

R: Yes.

M: Shoot.

R: I'm honestly a bit pushed for people to talk about in this respect. Since most of my friends don't have gardens, plots or greenhouses that I know of. The one person I do know who has green fingers or, well, of any sort would be my dad. He's constantly pottering around the garden of my childhood home. If he isn't helping others with their gardens that is. He doesn't really grow anything that could be sold or eaten as food unless we're talking about the local rabbits. Usually, it's just maintaining the decorative flowerbeds, trimming the shrubs and making sure things aren't getting to overgrown. I make it sound easy. But given the amount of equipment he seems to go through to do it, it's hard to understand how it isn't actually a full-time job for him. I've lost track of the number of lawnmower blades, and secateurs, and shears that I bought for him as birthday presents. They seem to get put to good use though. So it's not a waste of money or time. What makes the necessity of all this stuff all the more surprising is that it only seems to be used for the back garden, our front garden is covered over in decking where it isn't paved over. So nothing grows there, apart from the occasional moss or lichen. There's enough space out the back for a shed to store all the bits and pieces though. So that's not such a big deal. I think it would be more difficult if it were being kept in the house to be honest, since that's where my mom stores her shoes. I'm not sure it's actually growing the plants he likes. It's just sort of the idea of maintaining order. My dad is a very orderly person. So this sort of hobby seems right up his street. It's also a good testbed for the skills he uses to help others elsewhere. Like I said, he likes to help people out with their garden. So they're quite lucky he doesn't charge for this, to be honest, he could make a fortune given the amount of practice he's had and the number of people that he's helping. So good for him. Hopefully, he'll keep doing it because like I say it seems to keep his life in order and it certainly seems to be something that he enjoys.

M: And what about you? Do you enjoy growing plants?

R: No, I'm definitely not gifted in that respect. I'm better at killing plants than I am at making them live.

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Discussion

M: Oh yes, Rory is a plant killer.

R: Oh, yeah. I forgot we talked about that. Yeah.

M: The episode was about plants. Right? And you told the world how you killed a couple. Yeah, I'm also a plant killer. Yeah, I've recently killed a lemon tree. A small lemon tree.

R: Why did you have a lemon tree?

M: Because it was given to me as a birthday present. And then...

R: It's somebody that hates you.

M: It didn't survive even a year, for a year. So it just died. Aw... What a strange topic, dear listener. Now you should focus and think if you have this person. If you don't, unfortunately, you'll have to lie. It's okay to lie to the IELTS examiner. Okay? Or you can steal Rory's story. All right? Or you can talk about Rory. I'm going to tell you about Rory. He's from Scotland. And he enjoys growing plants. And you'll have fun. Because you're gonna imagine Rory in your head and which will make you, you know, happy and pleased in your IELTS speaking exam. Okay, Rory, you said that I'm a bit pushed for people.

R: Yep. So it's like I'm struggling to think of something. I'm a bit pushed for time. I'm struggling to find enough time. I'm a bit pushed for people to talk about. I'm struggling to think of people to talk about and that might be a good strategy actually. To buy time for you to organize your ideas in your head a bit more. Just be like, oh, I'm a bit pushed to talk about this because I'm not really sure about who I should talk about. And then you launch into your main idea.

M: Yeah. Exactly. So I'm a bit pushed for ideas. I'm a bit pushed for time, pushed for people because here, describe a person. A very good synonym is to have green fingers. So I enjoy growing plants - I have green fingers. Or I don't have green fingers. Actually, once I've heard this expression on some TV show, they used it. I was so happy.

R: I don't think it's used very often. It's quite an old expression.

M: Yeah, true, true. So the one person I do know, like, I really know this person, I do know the person would be my dad. Rory's dad. is constantly pottering around the garden. Aw, that's so cute, pottering around the garden. So if you potter around, you run around the gut and doing something?

R: Oh, no, you don't run around. You're just going around doing little bits and pieces. Our small jobs. It's not a very intensive activity.

M: Ah, okay. So potter around, so go from place to place doing small things around the garden. Can I potter around my house?

R: Yes, you can potter around the kitchen.

M: Potter around the kitchen cooking something, yeah? Can I potter around my room when I kind of I clean something, I fix things?

R: Yes, absolutely. It's like small jobs.

M: Rory's dad doesn't really grow anything that could be sold or could be eaten. So you can say this person doesn't grow anything that could be eaten.

R: Ooh, it's passive voice.

M: Yeah, nice. And then Rory used a lot of specific vocabulary, dear listener, because we're talking about growing plants. Of course, we're gonna use, what, maintain the decorative flower beds. Oh...

R: But a flower bed is just... It's like a part of the soil where there's lots of flowers. Usually of a specific kind. And if they're decorative, then their purpose is to look nice.

M: Isn't it cute, dear listener? A flower bed. Like a bed for flowers. Oh, so cute. And then trim the...

R: Well, shrubbery or shrubs. That's just... Shrubs are like bushes. And the shrubbery is an area of the garden where those things are planted. So you can say trim the shrubbery or trim the shrubs. It doesn't matter.

M: And making sure things aren't getting overgrown, because they can overgrow, right? So plants.

R: Yes, if they overgrowth, it means they go over the borders of where they're supposed to be.

M: Right. And then you can mention the amount of equipment this person uses. So Rory mentioned a lawn mower. And lawn mower blades, you know, when you cut the grass you use this lawn mower. And what's the next word?

R: Secateurs are... Secateurs are... They're just garden, garden scissors. Shears are also garden scissors. Secateurs are small garden scissors and shears are big garden scissors. That's all you need to know. I'm sorry if there are any gardeners listening. I know that's not what they are. But I'm trying to help people out to visualize what I'm talking about.

M: And, dear listener, believe me, these words would be enough. If you can remember one of them. And believe me, yeah, so flowerbeds, trim the shrubbery, lawnmowers, and shears. Wow. Yeah, very specific garden vocabulary here.

R: But regardless of what they are, they get put to good use, which just means that they are used properly for the job that they're intended for.

M: And Rory, you gave everything to your dad as a present, right?

R: Well, yeah. It's either black shirts or garden equipment. It's very easy.

M: Oh, wow. Nice. Garden equipment, okay. And sometimes this person can work at the back garden. Right? So we have this garden and also the back garden. And the front garden as well.

R: But we never have a side garden. Just a front garden or a back garden.

M: What's this occasional moss or the next word you said?

R: Oh, lichen. Moss is green and furry. Lichen is pale green or pale blue, and a bit more stringy. But they're both things that grow on stones or very hard ground.

M: So it's something like we don't really want growing there, yeah?

R: I don't know if you don't want them working there. There's... Oh, what's it called? I think it's called restoration ecology. So lichen and moss are some of the first plants to grow in places that have been wiped out by fires or something like that. So they're quite important for restoring the quality of the soil that they grow on. But they might not be so nice if you've got some nice paving in your garden that they're growing on.

M: Hmm. Okay. Where do we keep all the garden equipment and bits and pieces? In a shed. Okay? So a shed, usually a wooden shed is this space, this little house, where we keep these bits and pieces, garden bits and pieces. And the expression is to do the gardening. Yeah? Grow plants or do the gardening. He's into gardening, you can also say, yeah? And then Rory explained the reasons why his dad enjoys this. It's the idea of maintaining order. Yeah? So my dad enjoys maintaining order. He's a very orderly person. Orderly - like he enjoys order. So this is a sort of hobby. And this hobby seems right up his avenue. Hey!

R: Or right up his street.

M: Yeah, it's right up his street. Or it's not up my street. It's right up my street, or avenue is an idiomatic expression, which means it's right for him, for this person. And then Rory's dad doesn't charge anything for his gardening because he helps other people to do their gardening as well. So yeah, otherwise he could make a fortune.

R: He should start, to be honest.

M: Yeah, definitely.

R: If I were him, I would do that.

M: Right, dear listener, how are you doing? Yeah, the topic is very specific. And today we've given you some nice specific vocabulary about gardening equipment, about like to have green fingers, to potter around the garden. That's a nice one. So yeah, if you never grow anything, and you don't have anybody who grows stuff, feel free to talk about Rory's dad. And you can actually say, oh, you know, I listen to IELTS Speaking for Success podcast. And there I know Rory and his dad enjoys growing plants.

R: Gardening and growing plants.

M: Well, you know, so, dear listener, now you know Rory's dad. Yeah, maybe we need a picture of Rory's dad. For you, dear listener, to make sure you do know Rory's dad.

R: I don't think so. He kind of likes to keep out of the public eye.

M: Thank you for listening! And we'll come back in the next episode speaking part three, where we're going to talk about growing things. Bye!

R: Bye!

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