HortWeek Podcast

Landscape industry veteran of 53 years, there's little Alan Sargent hasn't seen when it comes to landscape and garden projects. And now he's decided to write some of the more curious, humourous and even scandalous ones in his latest book, "Confessions of a Landscape Gardener".

With a career spanning 5 decades, he reflects on how his stories take readers back to a time pre-internet, pre mobiles, even pre-telephone! So part of the challenge of relating the stories was "trying to describe to somebody how different world was, 50 years ago, in the world of landscaping".

Although the industry is making strides towards being more environmentally friendly, with electric vehicle fleets and sustainably-sourced landscape materials, Alan says he sees a new "butter mountain" on the horizon in the form of ceramic paving as it is not recyclable.

He says: "I probably condemns about 800m a year" of artificial turf, thereby consigning vast amounts of plastic to landfill because of poor installation practices.

Legal hot spots include peat-free alternatives as growers sue growing media producers as their products fail to perform as promised and "wipe out whole batches of plants". He forecasts that it will become "quite an issue".

A prolific self-publisher of books, Alan's next opus, due just in time for Christmas 2023, will be the "A-to-Z of Paving" which will cover all aspects of paving projects.

Alan is of course a HortWeek man through and through having written more than 100 articles for the title over his tenure. Find his impressive and essential catalogue of advice for landscapers and gardeners, his Sargents' Solutions, at HortWeek.com.

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Garden designer Lee Burkhill - better known as the Garden Ninja - is a career changer (from law in an IT setting).

After a part-time RHS garden design course (which he thought of as a passtime), couple of competitions and RHS shows later, his career took off, "like being strapped to a rocket!

"I suppose it has been incredibly rapid compared to people that maybe went to horticultural college or university to study design. But having said that, it really feels to me like it was always my passion."

He advises entrants to horticulture to take maximum advantage of any opportunities to gain knowledge: "If you can volunteer for someone, do it, you'll learn something. If there's a competition, if there's something, something or some way you can get involved, you never know what's going to come of it.

Lee never planned a career in TV, but the opportunity on BBC's Garden Rescue programme (co-starring Charlie Dimmock) came about after Lee had built a profile on YouTube with gardening advice. But gardening TV is not a bed of roses he says:

"It's been a tough year for garden media...The fact there's a cost of living crisis, all of these things impact on a huge level because for a lot of people hort design plants are a luxury. They're not a necessity. So it's the first thing to go. 

"There's Garden Rescue, there's Gardener's World - that's still the two main garden shows that have funding...looking at the viewing figures and the response from the public, it seems to be a show that has a really good feel-good factor."

Lee explains what inspires him to keep coming up with fresh design ideas, the working dynamic with Charlie Dimmock, and what he hopes to add to the show:

"Since I've joined, I've been really pushing for more knowledge. Like, let me explain the 'why' about these plants, the why about the design, so that people can then interpret that to their own gardens rather than just showing them lots of nice things, nice plants, nice layouts.

He is also passionate about the need to improve diversity in horticulture, to get horticulture into schools and address career issues such as wages:

"We should open our doors a bit more, explain things more, help people, welcome them in. You know, there's enough cake for everyone in terms of hort and gardening."

While he's not planning any more shows for now, "when I next do one, I'd like it to be sort of a bit left field, the next level of Garden Ninja",he says. "I'd love to create a garden that looks like Mother Nature's finally got revenge on what we've done to the planet...kind of like scary garden [with] flame and smoke and a crevasse and stuff like that."

And he's got a few ideas for his own show: "not necessarily a makeover show like garden rescue, but something that just gets me really hands deep in design and plants and the why - why does this work?"

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Sue Beesley is owner of Bluebell Cottage Gardens and nursery in Cheshire.

She grows and propagates 700 different perennials at the nursery which she took over in 2007.

From an IT background Sue came into horticulture "as a complete amateur" at the age of 45. "I think one of the great things about horticulture is it's a fabulous industry for people to come into as a second, third or even fourth career", she says.

The nursery, which works in tandem with the gardens and a tea room, sells plants on site but also sells by mail order and online. Sue also exhibits at shows and is active on social media. It is a lot of work and Sue discusses how she manages the workload - a mixture of effective training, delegation and being a very capable multi-tasker.

She talks about the challenges and benefits of shows and her experience of using X (formerly Twitter). Initially reluctant, she soon found that "Twitter for me was a way of engaging with both a gardening audience online, but critically, with the media. Facebook I think is wonderful for engaging with your immediate customers and direct followers."

She speaks about the barriers to expansion, and the specific challenges of horticultural businesses: "You need land and you need structures and land is expensive and under huge competition for potential other purposes...even if you get over that hurdle, you've got planning permission over polytunnels and structures. 

She has abandoned her own plans to build "a cracking wholesale nursery of good hardy perennials. There's huge capacity missing from the UK in that arena" due to lack of funds and a partner to share the risk. Instead Sue is expanding her growing area and she has a great interest in renewable energy which she says is a "no-brainer".

She also discusses how horticulture has not been "embraced" UK as it has in Netherlands to the UK's detriment.

Sue is also active with the RHS at Bridgewater and is vice chair of the Herbaceous Plant Committee. She became a Council member this year which is "seriously exciting" and she is "seriously impressed" with the people and the way it is run.

"What I'm trying to bring is that connection between horticulture and business and sustainability and hopefully come at it from a multi-dimensional point of view."

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HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

This week HortWeek writer and business consultant Neville Stein interviews Scott Smith, head gardener at Beechgrove and presenter on BBC Scotland to talk about his career path and route into a career in professional gardening.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

Hear from people who have found their way into their chosen career through different paths, what their job involves and what it means to them.

This week we focus on botanical gardens management with interviews with Raoul Curtis-Machin, director of horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, interviewed by HortWeek writer and business consultant Neville Stein.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

Hear Steve Barrow, plantarea manager at British Garden Centres. He talks to HortWeek writer and business consultant Neville Stein about what his job involves and how he came to the role.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

Business consultant and HortWeek writer Neville Stein interviews Liam Beddall, senior rose consultant at David Austin Roses. He talks about how he was able to bring his passion for modern languages into his work to create a unique career in horticulture.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

HortWeek writer and business consultant Neville Stein interviews Lucy Lewis, horticultural lecturer at Sparsholt College, about the courses they offer and the career opportunities that can open up after you have qualified.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsors MorePeople.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

Hear from people who have found their way into their chosen career through different paths, what their job involves and what it means to them.

This week we focus on Horticultural Education with an interview with Sarah Hale, horticultural courses officer at the RHS.

Hear about options for training and qualifications with the RHS and how it can be a 'passport' to an exciting career in horticulture.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation.

At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.

We hear from people who have found their way into their chosen career through different paths, what their job involves and what it means to them.

Every two weeks, for the next two months, we will be releasing two episodes covering a particular job area.

This week we focus on plant breeding and horticulture consultant Neville Stein interviews Simon Crawford, plant breeder a Burpee.

Hear about what the world of plant breeding offers, what the opportunities are and the skillset required. In a world that is facing significant climate change challenges, the need for plants that can adapt to heat, drought and other abiotic stresses has never been more important, and the work of plant breeders who are in high demand.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.