This week I’m speaking to garden designer, writer and podcast host Rachel McCartain. Rachel believes the garden should work for you, that it should suit your lifestyle. If you struggle to reconcile the garden you want with the time you have to spend on it, this is the episode for you. Whether you have your own garden or you create gardens for others, Rachel’s advice will no doubt prove useful. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Tree Bumblebees About Rachel McCartain: Rachel founded PlantPlots.com...
Aug 31, 2020•36 min•Ep. 105
This week I’m speaking to botanical storyteller Amanda Edmiston. Amanda trained in herbalism and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of historical plants and botanical figures but in this episode, we focus mainly on what Amanda does and her work around Elizabeth Blackwell’s book ‘A Curious Herbal’. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Conopid Flies About Amanda Edmiston: “Amanda takes people into the stories she tells and brings other worlds, redolent with layers of history into people's lives. Immersio...
Aug 24, 2020•36 min•Ep. 104
This week I’m speaking to nationally acclaimed entomologist and author of the book ‘Wasp’, Richard Bugman Jones, about a species of wildlife that may not spring to mind as one of your immediate favourites. Wasps, yellow jackets, jaspers, stripy bastards…whatever you call these members of the insect world and whether you love them or loathe them, you will certainly learn lots about them as Richard explains their life cycles and the role they play in ecosystems. If you’re not convinced to become a...
Aug 17, 2020•32 min•Ep. 103
This episode is somewhat of a follow-up to my interview with Jeff Lowenfels in Episode 51. Following that interview, I found myself asking a few more questions, particularly about how we’re progressing with research into mycorrhizal fungi here in the UK. So here I am talking to Petra Guy, who’s based at Reading University. Petra looks mainly at woodland health from the perspective of mycorrhizal fungi but we cover a lot of garden territory too including proprietary fungi mixes, composts and repl...
Aug 10, 2020•31 min•Ep. 102
This week I’m talking to Vicki Cooke of Plant Heritage. Plant Heritage is a UK charity that works to conserve cultivated garden plants, predominantly through the National Plant Collection scheme and their Plant Guardians initiative. Think National Plant Collections are the preserve of stately homes with huge gardens or horticultural institutions? Not at all! In fact, you could start you own on an allotment, in your greenhouse or porch, you could choose a genera with a 1000 species or just one an...
Aug 03, 2020•27 min•Ep. 101
This week I’m talking to Dr Lionel Smith, horticulture lecturer and author of the book Tapestry Lawns: Freed from Grass and Full of Flowers. As the title suggests, a tapestry lawn replaces grass with flowering dicots, increasing biodiversity, lowering maintenance needs and seriously upping the aesthetic value of a lawn. Living with a tapestry lawns involves a little bit of self-education around how you treat plants and I start by asking how to overcome one of my own biggest worries about having ...
Jul 27, 2020•34 min•Ep. 100
This week I’m chatting with Stephanie Hafferty. Amongst other things, Stephanie is a writer, speaker, long-time champion of No-Dig gardening, a food growing expert, a talented chef she shares some brilliant tips with us this week. The knowledge comes thick and fast in this episode, so you may want to grab a pen and paper before you begin listening! Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Asian Hornets About Stephanie Hafferty: “I’m an organic no dig kitchen gardener, plant based cook, award winning fo...
Jul 20, 2020•41 min•Ep. 99
This week I’m speaking to Andrew Hesser, the man behind Bryan’s Quest, a website and YouTube channel dedicated to exploring the natural world from the perspective of Bryan, a blind person. Andrew is also blind and draws on his personal experiences of gardening, volunteering for the National Trust and getting out and about in nature to produce videos and a library of resources for gardeners, in order to highlight how the natural world can be experienced without sight. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the ...
Jul 13, 2020•37 min•Ep. 98
This week I’m speaking to Professor Doug Tallamy, author of amongst other things, the internationally influential wildlife gardening books Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope. Prof. Tallamy calls for an urgent rethink of gardening methods and backs up these calls with an illustrious career's worth of research, facts and figures This interview is a must-listen for wildlife gardeners everywhere! Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Rosemary Leaf Beetle About Prof. Douglas W. Tallamy: “Doug Ta...
Jul 06, 2020•33 min•Ep. 97
This week, I’m speaking to Karen Lawton, co-author of the book ‘The Sensory Herbal Handbook’. The book isn’t just about herbalism, it’s about developing a connection to plants and yes, this can include talking to them! ‘The Sensory Herbal Handbook’ is a manual for learning not just to look at plants but to really see them. If you want to take your appreciation of plants to a deeper level, this episode is a good place to start. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Summer Snowflake About Karen Lawton...
Jun 29, 2020•36 min•Ep. 96
This week, I’m speaking to esteemed entomologist Dr Ian Bedford about accepting the insects in your garden and learning to accept their vital role in the wider ecosystem. We talk about the how gardens can work alongside public spaces to provide habitats for beleaguered bugs, how we can reconcile growing food with welcoming bugs and whether reports of Insectageddon are justified. About Dr Ian Bedford: “I have been fascinated by insects and other invertebrates for most of my life. Starting out as ...
Jun 22, 2020•37 min•Ep. 95
This week I’m speaking to James Basson of Scape Design. James runs his design practice along with wife Helen out of the south of France and their work is synonymous with a naturalistic style, the use of native plants and often, the implementation of matrix or grid planting to populate large areas of landscape. It was this part of James’s practice that initially sparked my interest and we get round to talking about that towards the end of the interview, but first we cover the type of work underta...
Jun 16, 2020•31 min•Ep. 94
This week’s interview is with Kenya-based organic farming champion Simon Murungi. Simon is an organic farming trainer and founded the organization SOFAFRICA (Spreading Organic Farming in Africa). He is passionate about Agro Ecological Regenerative Agriculture and Rural Development and sees organic farming methods as a sustainable approach that can turn around smallholder agriculture from mere subsistence farming to a more commercial enterprise. We talk about why Simon believes organic agricultur...
Jun 09, 2020•28 min•Ep. 93
This week I’m speaking to expert ornithologist Ricky Whelan about a talk he gives on the Secret Life of Crows, which has surprised Ricky with its “unexpected but massive interest and attendances”. As a life long lover of crows myself, I thought it would be great to find out a bit more about these birds in general, but also in a garden context. So if you’re intrigued to find out how corvids organise their societies, how they communicate, about their love lives and about the good and not so good t...
Jun 02, 2020•29 min•Ep. 92
This week, I’m talking to journalist and author Val Bourne about her book The Living Jigsaw: the secret life in your garden. Val is a perfect example of a gardener who loves ornamental plants as much as she respects the wildlife in her garden. She walks the walk, produces writing based on her observations and has a palpable love for all the things that share her garden. We talk about how to achieve an outdoor space where there’s room for everything to flourish. About Val Bourne: Val Bourne is an...
May 25, 2020•36 min•Ep. 91
This week I’m chatting to author of the book I Ate Sunshine for Breakfast, Michael Holland. The book is a botanical and environmental textbook for children that makes learning about even quite complex topics such as plant scientific names seem like fun. I talk to Michael about activities you can do with children using stuff you can find in your cupboard, about some of the most engaging horticultural concepts for kids and how you can make learning entertaining. About Michael Holland: Expert ecolo...
May 19, 2020•28 min•Ep. 90
This episode is the fourth and final part of the Design Experts series and this week’s guest is New Zealand-based garden designer Xanthe White who runs Xanthe White Design which has offices in Auckland and Wellington. As with the other episodes in the design experts series, we talk about the practicalities of running a design practice in the region, what the client design relationship looks like and the evolving face of garden design. The interview starts with me asking Xanthe about the beliefs ...
May 12, 2020•28 min•Ep. 89
This is an interview I did with garden designer and author of the book Scent Magic, Isabel Bannerman. You will deduce from some of the comments in the episode that it was recorded in autumn last year and for one reason or another, I’ve sat on it all that time, never quite sure when to release it. Of course, there are scents in the garden all year round, but when you’re heading towards winter and the scent of a sweet pea flower seems a lifetime away, somehow I couldn’t quite get together the enth...
May 05, 2020•31 min•Ep. 88
I’m speaking to Peter Marren, author of Chasing the Ghost: My Search for all the Wild Flowers of Britain. Peter travelled the length and breadth of Britain to track down those native species he’d never seen growing in the wild. Like all the best hero’s journeys, the path must be littered with challenges, disappointments, interesting characters, in this case both plants and people and the drama of the journey travelled surpasses the quest. This episode is perfect for those of us lucky enough to s...
Apr 28, 2020•31 min•Ep. 87
This week I’m talking to anarchist organiser, agroecologist and grassroots herbalist, Nicole Rose. Nicole runs the Solidarity Apothecary, an organisation supporting mainly prisoners and refugees either by supplying herbal remedies or by facilitating the growing and making of these. We talk about Nicole’s work to help prisoners, refugees and other facing state repression by helping them with their physical and mental wellbeing through a connection to nature. About Nicole Rose: “I’m undertaking a ...
Apr 21, 2020•26 min•Ep. 86
This week I’m speaking to Tomos Jones. Tomos is a PhD student at the University of Reading where he’s currently researching invasive plants. There are 17000 plant species from all over the world currently residing in our gardens here in the UK. A small percentage of these manage to jump the garden fence and survive in the wild and a smaller percentage still become a problem. But although it’s a small percentage that become invasive, anyone who’s done battle with Japanese Knotweed knows they can ...
Apr 14, 2020•34 min•Ep. 85
This week I’m speaking to butterfly expert Peter Eeles. If you’re interested in encouraging more butterflies into your garden and you’d like to know what plants to grow to encourage them, we discuss how you can be a better gardener for butterflies and it doesn’t stop at growing some buddleia! Peter is the author of the book Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies. The book is THE definitive guide to UK butterflies and documents the different life stages from adults down to the smallest eg...
Apr 07, 2020•34 min•Ep. 84
This week I’m speaking to Nicola Mehdi who’s been making and using natural dyes using the contents of her own and other people’s gardens and over the years through trial and error, she’s gained a huge amount of knowledge that she’s happy to share. If you’re stuck indoors with little to do, making dyes is a fantastic pastime that you should be able to do using just the contents of your garden or store cupboard. This episode is for anyone looking to learn a new skill or keep children entertained a...
Mar 31, 2020•54 min•Ep. 83
This week’s guest is writer Julian Hoffman and we’re talking about his book Irreplaceable. I read the book a few months back and as you might expect from reading the blurb, it’s about those irreplaceable wild environments and the species we’re in danger of losing. But it’s also about the people who are so deeply connected to the landscapes and the animals they’re battling to save. Julian speaks about why it’s imperative that we stop the destruction of precious landscapes, how we can help at the ...
Mar 24, 2020•33 min•Ep. 82
This week I’m talking to Aaron Bertelsen about his new book ‘Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots’. Aaron is the resident kitchen gardener at Great Dixter but as with many who work there, he lives and breathes the Great Dixter way of life and works tirelessly to support the house and garden. You may find him harvesting produce in the kitchen garden, serving lunch to guests and students, hosting horticultural royalty in the house or travelling the world to promote Great Dixter. ‘Grow Fruit & V...
Mar 17, 2020•30 min•Ep. 81
This week I’m speaking to Jeff Lowenfels, author of the ‘Teaming With’ series of books, specifically about the latest volume in the series ‘Teaming With Fungi: The Organic Grower’s Guide to Mycorrhizae’. Jeff writes the longest running gardening column in the US, is a former president of the Garden Writers of America and was inducted into the GWA Hall of Fame in 2005. He lectures on organic gardening, has presented a gardening show on television and is the founder of a programme that has resulte...
Mar 10, 2020•37 min•Ep. 80
Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast. In this episode, I’m talking to ecologist and woodland owner Simon Leadbeater. We talk specifically about whether trees are sacred; spoiler alert, Simon thinks they are and he explains eloquently and convincingly why. He touches on books by authors you may well have already read; The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano. However, if you believe trees are sacred and sentient, a problem arises, namely ...
Mar 03, 2020•41 min•Ep. 79
This episode I’m speaking to Victoria Leedham, Co-Curator and Gallery Manager of the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden. I visited the garden earlier this month and even in winter garb, it was beautiful, set as it is in ancient woodland with streams running through it that pour down from Leith Hill in Surrey. The sculptures in the garden are diverse in character and look stunning within the location, each one fitting harmoniously into the backdrop of planting and landscape. Victoria is responsible ...
Feb 25, 2020•35 min•Ep. 78
Hello and welcome to this episode of the podcast. This episode is the hotly anticipated Part 3 of the Design Experts series and this week’s guest is South African garden designer Leon Kluge who runs a design practice in Cape Town. I spoke to Leon about his work and the particular set of challenges he faces in South Africa. And let’s just say, you might just think twice the next time you moan about aphids…Leon goes out of his way to source and propagate plants from his local region and he discuss...
Feb 18, 2020•30 min•Ep. 77
This episode I’m joined by 3 guests; Louise Moreton who heads up the horticultural programme at Wicor Primary School and 2 of the MiniHorts themselves, Rebecca and Kieran. Louise set up a horticultural programme at the school 11 years ago, initially in a voluntary capacity. The programme became such a success she’s now employed by the school and works 4 days a week to deliver what has become a vital part of the curriculum. Rebecca and Kieran are Year 6 pupils who are members of the after school ...
Feb 11, 2020•25 min•Ep. 76
