This week my guests are Northern California based musical duo Misner & Smith. Sam, who is Misner, and Megan, who is Smith comprise one of the most acclaimed acts in the Americana world. Blending elements of that genre with bluegrass, traditional folk ballads, and more pop leaning ideas, they’ve been described as making music that is gloriously nonconforming. Aside from their musical chops, Sam & Megan are expert gardeners who focus on pollinators, sustainability and community gardening. ...
Apr 15, 2024•28 min•Ep. 282
This week my guests are Kevin Philip Williams and Michael Guidi, authors of a new book ‘Shrouded in Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands’. I’ll let Kevin and Michael say more about the idea behind it but a book about horticulture that compares natural landscapes to graffiti and branch frameworks to sigils catches my attention immediately… What We Talk About The premise behind the book What is a shrub? Why have shrubs fallen out of fashion? Which of the global shrublands most ...
Apr 08, 2024•26 min•Ep. 281
This week my guest is Carolyn Dunster. Carolyn is a planting designer, botanical stylist, garden writer and author of a book all about eating flowers entitled ‘A Floral Feast: A Guide to Growing and Cooking with Edible Flowers, Foliage, Herbs and Seeds’. We discuss how to expand your culinary endeavours to encompass the ornamental parts of your garden. A Floral Feast: A Guide to Growing and Cooking with Edible Flowers, Foliage, Herbs and Seeds by Carolyn Dunster Other episodes if you liked this ...
Apr 01, 2024•23 min•Ep. 280
My guest this week is Kumud Gandhi, a food scientist, author and founder of The Cooking Academy. Kumud has written a book called The Garlic Story, a look at the history of garlic and its culinary uses. We talk about how garlic has been celebrated and revered throughout history, the different types and uses and how you can incorporate more of it into your life. 'The Garlic Story' is a celebration of all things garlic with over 50 delectable recipes, promising a flavourful journey that showcases t...
Mar 25, 2024•19 min•Ep. 279
My guest this week is Nadine Charlton. Through her business Home Spring Gardens, Nadine provides specialist services to the horticultural and landscape construction industry, advising on sustainable best practice and creating beautiful gardens and landscapes with an environmental conscience. We talk about the importance of sourcing sustainable garden products, how you can tell whether what you’re buying is sustainable and whether enough is being done on this front. About Nadine Charlton & Ho...
Mar 18, 2024•24 min•Ep. 278
My guest this week is Polly Nicholson. Polly is the owner of Bayntun Flowers in Wiltshire, and holds the national collection of Tulipa (Historica) with Plant Heritage. Polly has also written a book called ‘The Tulip Garden: Growing and Collecting Species, Rare and Annual Varieties’ which is released on the 21st March and today she shares her knowledge of this complex and fascinating group of plants. About Polly Nicholson Specialist flower grower and tulip expert Polly Nicholson is the owner of B...
Mar 11, 2024•19 min•Ep. 277
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where my guest is Kyo Maclear. Kyo is an author and her latest book is centred around family secrets, her mother and how gardening shaped their relationship and helped her frame their mutual experiences. About Unearthing Kyo Maclear's Unearthing: A Story of Tangled Love & Family Secrets is published on 7th March 2024. It’s a gripping and emotionally eloquent memoir about a family secret revealed by a DNA test, the lessons learned in its aftermath, and...
Mar 04, 2024•25 min•Ep. 276
Vicky Chown is a Medical Herbalist, foraging instructor and self taught permaculturist. She’s head gardener at Omved Gardens, a fascinating community garden in London which focuses on food, creativity and wellbeing. What we talk about The idea behind Omved Gardens How nature factors in to the garden Where food and creativity fit in The design of the site and how it feeds into the purpose and the overall experience for visitors Who uses the site The activities that take place About Vicky Chown Vi...
Feb 26, 2024•19 min•Ep. 275
Caroline & Jon have created the most amazing swimming pond in their back garden and have documented their journey on social media, posting videos of year-round swimming adventures and pond-life. If you need inspiration to tackle a garden project you’ve always thought was just a pipe-dream, listen in as Caroline & Jon offer their refreshingly optimistic and can-do approach. What we talk about What made Caroline & Jon install a pool in their garden? Planning permission Filling the pond...
Feb 19, 2024•24 min•Ep. 274
Alexandra Steed is a passionate landscape architect with a profound commitment to art, sustainability, and the transformative power of landscapes. Alexandra recently authored Portrait to Landscape and we talk about the possibility of and the necessity for shaping our landscapes so they may help to heal the earth. What we talk about Why portrait to landscape? The biosphere An overview of Alexandra’s ideas for better landscape design and management? Urban vs rural landscaping Can we rely on change...
Feb 12, 2024•28 min•Ep. 273
Perrine Bulgheroni is a renowned farmer who, along with Charles Herve-Gruyer, co-authored the Living with the Earth series of books and co-founded the famous Bec Hellouin, an ecoculture farm in Northern France. We talk about growing produce, closed loop farming, how food growing helps capture carbon and how to manage your natural environment for maximum benefits for people, wildlife and ecosystems. What we talk about What ecoculture is Does it take up less space than traditional agriculture? The...
Feb 05, 2024•20 min•Ep. 272
Miles Hayward is a dendrophile and keen plantsman, who discovered a passion for Japanese Maples and soon began to accumulate a wide variety of different cultivars. He started Miles Japanese Maples in 2016 specialising in Japanese Maples, after becoming frustrated by the lack of good quality trees in garden centres and local nurseries. He now grows high-quality trees in relatively small numbers, focussing on quality over quantity. What we talk about What is a Japanese Maple? The different species...
Jan 29, 2024•26 min•Ep. 271
My guest this week is Catherine Conway-Payne. Catherine is the course director of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s diploma in Herbology and an expert on the history of natural remedies. Catherine recently authored possibly the most beautiful book ever, a book called ‘Herbology – A Physic Garden Pharmacy’ where she looks at the origins of the physic garden at RBGE in the mid-17th Century. She recreates and reimagines original recipes from that time, mentioning in the book the historical uses ...
Jan 22, 2024•23 min•Ep. 270
This episode features horticulturist, garden designer, RHS Show Judge and plant guru Nina Baxter. We talk about what garden designers do, why they differ from landscapers, how you can find one and what they might charge for their work. Whether you’re thinking of hiring a garden designer, thinking about becoming one or are just curious about the profession, this is worth a listen. Nina begins by describing her journey into garden design… What we talk about What is a garden designer? Where can you...
Jan 15, 2024•25 min•Ep. 269
My guest this week is writer, broadcaster, nature observer, citizen scientist and champion of the outdoors, Kelly Brenner. This episode came about off the back of a listener suggestion and begins with a look at Lycoris radiata aka the Death Flower, and its place in nature and culture. This may seem an odd choice of subject for this festive time, but this is the last episode of 2023 and the nearest to the winter solstice, which heralds the death of the sun, so it somehow seemed fitting. Dr Ian Be...
Dec 18, 2023•28 min•Ep. 268
My guest this week is Belgian nurseryman Karel Goossens. Karel runs an internationally renowned nursery supplying box plants and is the Chariman of the Belgian arm of the European Boxwood & Topiary Society. With decades of experience growing box and an irreverent approach to tackling the problems that go along with it, when he was recommended to me, I thought he was my ideal sort of guest! He does recommend intensive cultivation methods which include spraying chemical fungicides and insectic...
Dec 11, 2023•25 min•Ep. 267
This week's guest is Naomi Slade. Naomi is a journalist, author, designer and consultant. She works as a writer and broadcaster and lectures on a range of specialist subjects. She has written a number of popular gardening books and as if that weren't enough, she's also an award-winning garden designer and will be exhibiting the Flood Resilient Garden, which she's co-designed with Ed Barsley, at RHS Chelsea 2024. We're speaking about her latest book, The Winter Garden: Celebrating the Winter Seas...
Dec 04, 2023•22 min•Ep. 266
This week’s guest is multi-media artist Hanna Varga. Hanna incorporates the natural world into her work and her current projects involve foraging for fibres she turns into both useful and beautiful items. The conversation began with Hanna talking about her work past and present and developed into a really important conversation about the value of items at their more than fiscal level. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Cabbage Whiteflies About Hanna’s ‘Say It With Knots’ Project "I am currently w...
Nov 27, 2023•26 min•Ep. 265
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where my guest is Gill Perkins, CEO of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. We talk about bumblebee populations and habitats, what we can do to encourage and care for bumblebees in our gardens and about the role of bumblebees in tomato pollination, which came as a complete surprise to me! Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Fuchsia Gall Mite What We Talk About Bumblebee concerns Bumblebee identification Honeybees and beekeeping Encouraging and caring for bumbl...
Nov 20, 2023•26 min•Ep. 264
This week’s episode my guest is Pete Russell, founder of Ooooby, an online platform which matches customers with small scale, local growers. Shopping for food in this way promotes homegrown produce, farm to consumer sales, supports independent growers, helps people to buy local, protects our farming heritage and helps us to move away from the chronically broken food system we currently live under. Listen in as Pete tells us how Ooooby works and how you can get involved if you’re interested. Dr I...
Nov 13, 2023•26 min•Ep. 263
My guest this episode is New Zealand based landscape designer Jo Wakelin. Jo creates low impact and environmentally conscious spaces and her own garden is a masterclass in water-wise planting that sits lightly within the landscape - beautiful but in keeping with its surroundings both aesthetically and ecologically. We talk about her extensive research and the lessons she’s learnt along the way. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Black Vine Weevils What We Talk About Jo’s work and what she does in...
Nov 06, 2023•26 min•Ep. 262
This week’s episode, my guest is Clive Farrell. Clive is a butterfly expert who established The London Butterfly House at Syon House and has dedicated his life to breeding and studying the butterflies of Britain and the world. His latest project has been to develop the 100 or so acres around his home in Dorset into a haven for insects, that features unusual, even magical elements such as a giant fibreglass dragon, a replica of a Saxon longhouse that is home to a huge bog oak sculpture, a temple ...
Oct 30, 2023•27 min•Ep. 261
This episode my guest is Jarema Osofsky, founder of the design studio Dirt Queen NYC and author of Moon Garden: A Guide to Creating An Evening Oasis. Moon gardening is an enchanting way to slow down in the evenings, immerse yourself in nature and cultivate a relationship with your plants and the moon and I’m talking with Jarema about how you can create your own. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Large Hairy House Spiders What We Talk About What is a moon garden? Do they have to contain all white...
Oct 23, 2023•28 min•Ep. 260
This episode I’m speaking with Kevin Hobbs & Artur Cesar-Erlach, authors of EDIBLE: 70 Sustainable Plants That Are Changing How We Eat which is a beautifully illustrated book looking at edible plants from around the world that are revolutionising how we grow, eat and appreciate food. It tackles important questions like what do we eat when our usual diets are no longer sustainable, how do we future proof food and how can we be more mindful about what we eat and considers what the future of gl...
Oct 16, 2023•31 min•Ep. 259
This episode, my guest is Susan Poizner. Susan is the author of the award-winning fruit tree care book Growing Urban Orchards and her new book, which is now an Amazon Number One Bestseller, Grow Fruit Trees Fast . Susan trains thousands of new growers worldwide through her award-winning fruit tree care training program and is the host of The Urban Forestry Radio Show and Podcast and an ISA Certified Arborist. She founded the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in Toronto in 2009, helps others es...
Oct 09, 2023•31 min•Ep. 258
This episode, my guest is qualified herbalist Meghan Rhodes. Meghan discusses how we can tap into our gardens for better health, why herbs are good for dealing with conditions that are manifestations of multiple problems, such as stomach issues, the 7 keys tastes you find in herbs and how you can get started on your own journey using herbs for wellbeing. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Spanish Slug Story What We Talk About How herbalism adds another layer of wellbeing to gardening Why taste is...
Oct 02, 2023•35 min•Ep. 257
Hello and welcome to Roots and All, where my guest this week is urban apiculturist Mark Patterson. Mark founded and runs Apicultural where he work with businesses and communities to invest in natural capital, improving the environment for pollinators and delivering pollinator monitoring surveys for clients. He provides honey bee hive management solutions, beekeeping training and education and also supplies quality urban honey to a select group of establishments. So you’d think Mark would be all ...
Sep 23, 2023•31 min•Ep. 256
My guest this week is David Hedges-Gower. David is a prominent figure in the UK's lawn care industry, known for his expertise and dedication to promoting sustainable lawn care practices. He wrote the book ‘Modern Lawn Care’, is the Chairman of The Lawn Association, founded the world’s first lawn care qualification and works tirelessly to promote responsible, sustainable lawn care practices that benefit the environment and homeowners. What David has to say on lawns certainly challenged my notions...
Sep 18, 2023•33 min•Ep. 255
This week, my guest is Andrew Bullock, who runs The Lavender Garden Nursery. Andrew holds the National Collection of Buddlejas and grows a huge range of lavenders and buddlejas from his nursery in The Cotswolds. We talk about how to attract pollinators to your garden, when and how to prune your buddlejas and lavenders, whether buddlejas are invasive, why lavenders are sometimes short-lived and anything else you ever wanted to know about these two plants for pollinators. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of t...
Sep 11, 2023•32 min•Ep. 254
Several years ago, Penn Allen inherited a collection of diaries that had been meticulously maintained by her great grandmother. Penn discovered the diaries documented the building of her great grandmother and grandfather’s Arts and Crafts house and the development of the garden that followed. She uncovered an untold story of her family, of plant hunting and of rock gardens - one that has significance to the wider world of horticultural history and in fact, goes some way to rewriting it. Dr Ian B...
Sep 04, 2023•22 min•Ep. 253
