Grandma Turns Into an Internet Sensation by Sharing 20-Second Clips of Helpful Gardening Tips

Gardening enthusiast Elvie Perrin, who goes by @gardenwithelvie, never expected to be a TikTok star when she signed up for social media amidst the pandemic. The grandmother, who retired as a Papakura district councillor after 15 years in New Zealand, is passing on something valuable to the new generation– her wealth of gardening knowledge. Her granddaughter, Rebecca, introduced her to the platform, and Perrin never guessed her fan following would go from null to nearly 40,000 today. Even though her family helps her out in filming, every ounce of knowledge shared is Perrin’s own, per The Post. 

Perrin is TikTok’s favorite gardening guide

While every bit of information is just a click away for the youth, the learning that comes from decades of expertise is unmatched. Well, that is what Perrin brings to the table. The grandmother shares interesting tips and tricks to build a thriving garden of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. In her most popular video with nearly a million views, Perrin shares a brilliant gardening hack to get rid of slugs and snails chomping up her precious plants. She showcased her beer trap that had lured in all the slugs to save her garden. “Look what it did in one night. I’m off to town to get some more beer, and I might have something for myself!” she signs off.

Interestingly, most of Perrin’s videos are limited to only 20 seconds. She realized the short attention spans of the current generation and caters to her audience accordingly. In another viral snippet, the gardener revealed her season’s first harvest of passion fruits that she planted the year before. Her gardening tips range from the right way to plant flowers alongside veggies to aid in pollination to the recipe for her delicious tomato relish and homemade pesto. You would often find her with a hose or hoe in her garden, watering or weeding to ensure her plants thrive. 

Perrin’s journey

Perrin disclosed that her TikTok endeavor began when her granddaughter came to live with her during the lockdown. The latter had originally flown in from Australia to study law at Auckland University but moved in with her grandma once the lockdown began. Perrin recalled that her granddaughter said, "Nana, why don’t you do TikTok? Because young people don't really know much about gardening, and you could teach us a lot about growing our own food." Thus, began her journey into content creation. Despite the meagre views at the beginning, Perrin continued sharing her knowledge while her family helped her with the technological aspects. 

The grandmother believes her popularity was because of her friendly demeanor and practical advice. “I believe that gardening should be simple and enjoyable, rather than overly technical or difficult,” she said. Often, her pet cat and her granddaughter’s dog would feature in her videos that her audience loved. The energy and cheer Perrin brings to her videos is contagious and has contributed to her massive popularity on the internet. In an interview with The Post, she said, “I always smile because young people want something cheery and bright, don’t they? And I always give a big ‘cheerio’ to sign off.” Perrin posts twice a week and ensures that her posts are both entertaining and informative.

You can follow @gardenwithelvie on TikTok for more videos.