IELTS Speaking Part 2: A Person Who Loves to Grow Plants – Model Answers 2026

This is a new Part 2 topic in the official IELTS Speaking question bank for May–August 2026. You have one minute to prepare and two minutes to speak. Go straight into the person and the detail.

Cue Card

Describe a person who loves to grow plants (e.g. vegetables, flowers) at home or in the garden.

You should say:
– Who this person is
– What plants he or she grows
– How he or she grows the plants
– And explain why he or she loves growing plants

Model Answer

My grandmother on my mother’s side has maintained a thriving garden for as long as I have been alive. She lives about an hour from the city, and every time I visit, the first thing I do is walk through the garden before I even go inside the house.

She grows an impressive range of things. Vegetables like tomatoes, bitter melon, and several varieties of leafy greens run along the back fence. Along the sides she has sampaguita, roses, and sunflowers that she rotates depending on the season. The whole space feels deliberately planned but somehow still wild, like something that grew on its own but was guided by someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

She is entirely self-taught. No formal classes, no YouTube tutorials. She learned through decades of trial and error and through conversations with neighbours who had been gardening even longer than she had. She makes her own compost from kitchen scraps, avoids chemical pesticides, and waters by hand every morning and evening without exception. The discipline she brings to it would honestly put most professional operations to shame.

The reason she loves it goes back to where she grew up. She came from a farming province where growing food was not a hobby but a necessity. The garden connects her to that life and to the people she grew up around. She also finds it genuinely meditative. She once told me that when she is in the garden she forgets everything else. The bills, the news, the things she cannot control. For those two hours in the morning it is just her and whatever is growing. I think most people would pay a lot of money for that kind of peace.

Why This Works

The answer opens with a vivid, specific detail (walking through the garden before going inside) that grounds it immediately. The description of her method is precise without being technical. The closing explanation of why she loves it moves from personal history to emotional insight.

📌 Band 7-8 Vocabulary:
– deliberately planned — done with clear intention and forethought
– trial and error — finding a solution by trying different methods
– compost — decayed organic matter used as fertiliser
– meditative — having a calming, reflective quality
– necessity — something required rather than chosen

IELTS Speaking Part 3: Growing Plants Questions and Model Answers

Question 1: What are the advantages of growing vegetables or flowers at home?

Model Answer:
The most obvious advantage is knowing exactly what has gone into your food. No pesticides, no additives, no guessing. Beyond that, there is solid research supporting the mental health benefits of gardening. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that gardening reduced cortisol levels more effectively than reading after a stressful task. In the UK, the National Health Service now includes social prescribing programmes where GPs can refer patients to community gardening projects as part of mental health treatment. That kind of institutional recognition does not happen without strong evidence behind it.

Question 2: Do many people grow vegetables or flowers at home in your country?

Model Answer:
It varies by generation and location. In rural areas it remains common and practical. In cities it has seen a genuine resurgence, particularly since the pandemic when people with outdoor space suddenly had both the time and the motivation to use it. In the UK, allotment waiting lists reached record lengths in 2020 and 2021. In the US, seed sales spiked by over thirty percent in the same period. It became one of the more unexpected cultural shifts of that time. People who had never grown anything suddenly wanted to.

Question 3: Is it easy to grow plants at home?

Model Answer:
It depends entirely on what you try to grow. Herbs like basil and mint are genuinely beginner-friendly and will survive most amateur mistakes. Tomatoes require more attention but are manageable. Anything that needs precise soil conditions or specific pollination is considerably harder. The learning curve is real but not discouraging if you start with the right plants. Most people who give up early do so because they started with something too ambitious. The advice most experienced gardeners give is the same. Start small, accept failure, and build from there.

Question 4: Why do some people like to grow plants?

Model Answer:
The reasons range from the purely practical to the deeply personal. Some people grow food to cut grocery bills or to eat more healthily. Others are drawn to the meditative quality of working with living things at a slow pace. There is research from the University of Bristol suggesting that soil contains bacteria called Mycobacterium vaccae that triggers serotonin release in the brain, which would explain why gardening reliably improves mood. Beyond the science, I think there is something fundamentally satisfying about nurturing something from nothing. It is one of the oldest human activities and it still works.

Examiner Tips for IELTS Speaking Part 2 Growing Plants

Tip 1: Use sensory detail.
What does the garden look like, smell like, feel like? One specific sensory detail is worth three general descriptions.

Tip 2: Explain the why with depth.
Connecting the habit to personal history or emotional need is what separates a Band 7 answer from a Band 6.

Tip 3: For Part 3, use real studies or real programmes.
The NHS social prescribing reference and the University of Bristol bacteria research are the kind of specific details that make Part 3 answers genuinely impressive.

Common Mistakes on This Topic

Describing only what the person grows without explaining how or why
Using only simple adjectives like “beautiful” or “nice” to describe the garden
Part 3 answers that give only a personal opinion with no external reference
Opening with “I would like to talk about…”

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a confirmed IELTS Speaking Part 2 topic for 2026?
Yes. A Person Who Loves to Grow Plants appears in the official IELTS Speaking question bank for May–August 2026 as a new topic.

What if I do not know anyone who grows plants?
Adapt the answer. A neighbour, a teacher, or a character from something you have watched are all valid. The examiner is assessing your English, not verifying your social circle.

How do I make Part 3 answers sound less rehearsed?
Build them around one concrete fact or example rather than a general opinion. Specific beats general every time.