Episode 179: Ecological Gardens with Sid Hill

Do you want to know how to grow plants and get the best out of your outdoor space? Do you find traditional gardening media baffling and/or boring? Then you’re in the right place, because the Roots and All podcast is here to dig deep into how to create a successful garden.

If you want honest information and insider knowledge about how to get results, join irreverent horticulturist Sarah Wilson as she chats to the best people from the world of plants and gardens. Sarah is on a mission to help you create your own beautiful green environment, with a focus on saving resources and working with nature.

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This episode my guest is Alan Heeks, former corporate world inhabitant, organic farmer, coach and author of the book ‘Natural Happiness’. After his transition into organic farming, Alan realised that “a cultivated organic ecosystem is a profound guide to tending human nature, and that organic growth methods have parallels for people: such as composting your stress, and using crop rotation to avoid burnout.” We explore the idea further… About Alan Heeks Alan Heeks had a baptism by mud at age 42, when he dropped out of a successful business career and followed a wild impulse to start an organic farm as an education centre where young people could find their roots and direction as they entered adult life.       Despite Alan's lack of any relevant experience, the project succeeded, and gave him a huge education too. He explains, "I realised that a cultivated organic ecosystem is a profound guide to tending human nature, and that organic growth methods have parallels for people: such as composting your stress, and using crop rotation to avoid burnout."       Alan's new book about this approach, Natural Happiness, also draws on the workshops he has led for hundreds of people sharing his insights, from troubled teenagers to super-stressed NHS doctors. Alan and his wife Linda live in Hay-on-Wye, and grow many of their own vegetables.   Links www.naturalhappiness.net   Twitter  Facebook   LinkedIn   YouTube  Other episodes if you liked this one:  Forest Bathing - Forest Bathing, or Shinrin Yoku, is the practice of immersing yourself in nature as therapy. It’s the perfect antidote for those who feel disconnected from the land and unattached from nature, which is increasingly likely to happen in a world where 55% of us live in urban areas. In this episode, I speak to Stefan Batorijs who founded Nature and Therapy UK in 2017, as a response to a growing need to foster a spiritual and psychological connection to the land. If you’ve always wondered what Forest Bathing, or Shinrin Yoku, entails, this is the episode for you!   Gardening for Your Senses - This week I’m chatting with writer Kendra Wilson. Kendra has written a vast amount about gardening but I was particularly interested in speaking to her about her book Garden for the Senses. Engaging all your senses can lead to a deeper connection with the landscape and it can be an unusual and transformative experience. I wanted to find out how we can all learn to better use our senses and firstly, what prompted Kendra to write the book.  Support the podcast on Patreon

Natural Happiness

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where my guest is Mark Schofield, Plantlife’s Road Verge Advisor for the UK. Mark has a huge amount of experience when it comes to green space conservation and is currently involved in a number of projects across the country to manage road verges better for wildlife involving biomass harvesting trials and the use of AI in surveys. He’s also one of Plantlife’s representatives for the #NoMowMay campaign, and in this interview, he talks about how we can maintain both private and public green spaces more sympathetically for wildflowers and the wildlife they support. About Mark Schofield Mark used to work for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust before he joined Plantlife as their Road Verge Advisor for the UK. He has 15 years of experience of road verge and urban green space conservation and has organised extensive citizen science surveys. He is currently involved in a number of projects across the country to manage road verges better for wildlife involving biomass harvesting trials and the use of AI in surveys. Mark is also one of Plantlife’s representatives for the #NoMowMay campaign, and has written much of the guidance on the Plantlife website for how we can maintain our lawns and public green spaces more sympathetically for wildflowers and the wildlife they support.    Links No Mow May and lawn management guidance: https://www.plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/nomowmay/ https://www.plantlife.org.uk/advice-learning/managing-grassland/    Trends in green space management:  Report from APSE with good news from local authorities for meadows and biodiversity priorities   Other episodes if you liked this one:  Tapestry Lawns - This episode, 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 one…   Gardening for Your Senses - This week I’m chatting with writer Kendra Wilson. Kendra has written a vast amount about gardening but I was particularly interested in speaking to her about her book Garden for the Senses. Engaging all your senses can lead to a deeper connection with the landscape and it can be an unusual and transformative experience. I wanted to find out how we can all learn to better use our senses and firstly, what prompted Kendra to write the book.  Support the podcast on Patreon

No Mow May

This episode, my guest is Sam Frings who founded The Organic Plant Nursery. Sam explains in his own words how he got started and how things have been along the way. It’s not easy being a pioneer, but listen on to find out how Sam and his family have battled against the odds to do it right. Links www.organicplantnursery.co.uk Other episodes if you liked this one:  Running a Green Nursery with Chris Williams of Edible Culture - This week I’m speaking to Chris Williams, co-founder of Edibleculture, an inspirational nursery based in Faversham in Kent. From the day the nursery was established 5 years ago, ethically and ecologically sounds principles have been employed to create the brilliant business that exists today. We talk about how the nursery succeeds where so many others are failing to make changes; using peat-free compost, gardening organically without chemicals, eliminating single use plastics from their sales output and many other initiatives that make this nursery truly revolutionary.  School Gardening - 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 gardening club and leads in the MiniHorts programme, passing on their knowledge and enthusiasm to younger pupils. The MiniHorts have been in the media quite a bit, including featuring in an episode of Gardeners’ World in 2017, so they’re seasoned pros at this sort of thing! If you don’t have children or children of school age, I think you’ll still find this episode interesting and inspiring, it’s well worth a listen. Support the podcast on Patreon

Episode 284: The Organic Nursery

This episode, my guest is Sarah Dodd AKA the Tree Hugging Lawyer and founder of law firm Tree Law. Sarah specialises in civil and criminal claims arising from disputes with trees, in particular trees causing damage to properties. She’s also the host of Tree Law TV channel on YouTube and today, we find out all about her background, her work and the law as it relates to trees. What We Talk About Common neighbour disputes when it comes to trees Subsidence Cutting trees that overhang your property Is there such a thing as a right to light or a right to privacy? How TPOs work Is enough done to protect trees through the law? About Sarah Dodd  Sarah is the Tree Hugging Lawyer and founder of law firm Tree Law. Sarah specialises in civil and criminal claims arising from disputes with trees, in particular trees causing damage to properties. Sarah acts for various clients including homeowners, commercial properties owners, insurers, local authorities and developers. Sarah is a past chair of the Subsidence Forum and a member of the LTOA, MTAO and the Arboricultural Association. Sarah is the host of Tree Law TV channel on YouTube providing free contents answering some commonly asked questions about trees.   Sarah is hosting the Tree Law summer conference in London on 17 September.  Tickets are on sale for that event at Lincoln’s Inn via Eventbrite -  Treelawconference  www.treelaw-ap.co.uk Other episodes if you liked this one: Trees with Peter Thurman - Selecting and planting trees can be a minefield. Never fear though, help is on hand as ‘legend in the world of trees’, Kew-trained, Peter Thurman is here to provide straight-forward advice about what to do and what not to do when buying a tree and planting it out. Discover how to select the right tree for your garden’s soil type and which species of tree will help you create the effect you are targeting. Learn how pleached trees can become an attractive alternative to fencing, just beware of the High Hedges Act! Does it pay to have patience when growing your tree, or is it easier to have instant impact? Pick up some valuable tips and tricks on the planting process. From deciding which food you should feed your prized specimen with, to mulching and watering, your questions are sure to be addressed in this informative episode.   Irreplaceable with Julian Hoffman - This episode’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 individual level and why it’s vital to maintain the connection between people and place. Support the podcast on Patreon    

The Tree Hugging Lawyer

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. Listen on to find out how their connection to nature feeds into their music. What We Talk About Sam & Megan’s gardening backgrounds Gardening sustainably and for the community Gardening as a creative outlet?  How gardening inspires when you are looking for creative prompts How gardening factors into their music? The garden soundscape About Misner & Smith Northern California based unclassifiable duo Misner & Smith treasure the unpredictability of their band. Technically precise songwriting mirrored with an improvisatory spirit and soaring harmonies have made the band consisting of Sam Misner and Megan Smith 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, Misner & Smith makes music gloriously nonconforming.  The duo first met at a Shakespeare festival as professional actors in California in 2002 but began working as a musical duo two years later when Sam and Megan discovered a mutual love of roots music, Woody Guthrie, and in particular, harmony singing. Before the release of their career defining sixth LP ALL IS SONG, the duo had released five critically acclaimed records, including Halfway Home (2004), Poor Player (2008), Live at the Freight & Salvage (2010), Seven Hour Storm (2013), and headwaters (2017). It was that 2017 release that found the group stripping their sound back down to where it began, two voices and two instruments. headwaters was recorded live in the studio and features the duo doing what they do best. On ALL IS SONG, they build upon that momentum and turn in their finest work to date, an album of inspired declarations to the power of music, song, and, most importantly, collaboration. www.misnerandsmith.com YouTube  Other episodes if you liked this one: Natural Fibres - 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.   Soundscapes & Landscapes - This week I’m speaking to Dr Mike Edwards, Chief Listening Officer at Sound Matters, a company focussed on using sound and listening to create more sustainable and resilient futures. Sound Matters provided the soundtrack to the Rewilding Britain garden that one best in show at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. Mike recently spoke passionately about climate change, soundscapes and landscapes at the Beth Chatto Symposium and wowed a lecture theatre full of rapt listeners with his prowess on the didgeridoo. Support the podcast on Patreon

Episode 179: Ecological Gardens with Sid Hill

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