HortWeek Podcast

Flowers From the Farm co-chair Meg Edmonds runs the the Roots Family Farm Shop with her husband Will, part of their diversified organic farm business based in Worcestershire for some 20 years.

In 2017 they returned to the cut flowers market and she talks about how she is facing water storage challenges presented by climate change as well as how to expand in the tricky post-lockdown period:

"There is certainly a change in the market place that we are seeing...We're emerging from the lockdown period where people are starting to question even more what they can do with their money and who they can support."

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With the Flower Farmers’ Big Weekend festival on 5-7 August due to showcase the best of flower farming, Meg gives valuable advice to others who would like to start up a cut flowers business.

FFTF estimate that 85% of the UK population are now within 30 miles of a flower farmer and says there's plenty of scope to increase the 1,000-strong membership.

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Garden Connect creates online solutions to connect garden centres with their customers - websites, webshops and loyalty programmes and Meijer is helping organise the International Garden Centre Association Congress, held in the Netherlands from August 28-September 2.

Meijer speaks about how his business grew in lockdown as retailers moved online and the differences between Netherlands and UK trading in garden centres, such as differing uptake of online and furniture sales in the two countries.

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Sam Rivers, ICL Technical Controls Manager and Sean Loakes, Syngenta Ornamentals Technical Manager speak about spray application in this podcast.

They talk about the benefits to growers getting a spray right how to do that including the effect does pressure have on droplet size, why is boom height over the crop is important and the effect of forward speed when making an application.

Rivers gives example of using these principles and talks about legislation such as groundwater regulations and Sustainable Use Directive effect on how people spray now.

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This week director of garden products show SOLEX Gina Hinde tells us what we can expect from the show and how the industry is dealing with inflation, oversupply, and setting prices.

Numbers for SOLEX are at similar levels to 2019, SOLEX’s last in-person exhibition and this year features include a BBQ masterclass with Marcus Bawdon who will be joined by a 'Masterchef'.

Hinde says: "Off the back of the unprecedented demand and supply shortages that we saw last year, retailers purchased much greater volumes of stock earlier than they’ve ever before...you’ve got spiralling inflation, the war in Ukraine, the resurgence of overseas travel and the consistently poor weather have all combined to curb the demand back to the 2019 levels which have resulted in an abundance of stock... which means that the forecasting for next year is going to be a bit difficult and becomes a bit of a gamble on how much to manufacture."

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British Summer Fruits has rebranded as British Berry Growers and chairman Nick Marston tells the HortWeek podcast why there could be record consumption this year.

Wimbledon tennis and campaigns for raspberries and Love Fresh Berries month will help boost sales in July. British berries remain an affordable treat, with sales doubling in a decade, he says.

But the National Food Strategy's labour announcement isn't enough to serve the sector. An additional 10k visas will not stop the £29m waste of unpicked fruit recorded on 2021, while automation is still some way off. Marston discusses how production cost prices have risen 15% and labour is 50% of the cost of production.

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Interior landscaper and plant stylist Ian Drummond has been at the forefront of the indoor plants revival in recent years.

He was one of the owners who sold Indoor Garden Design to Nurture Landscapes in 2021. He's now set up on his own as Ian Drummond Botanical Design and is also consulting for Nurture.

He discusses Elton John's parties and his neon pink macrame hanging houseplant studio complete with drag queen DJ at Chelsea Flower Show.

Plants at work week from 27 June - 1 July will promote greenery in the office post-lockdown, while flowering houseplants such as African violet could feature in Indoor Plant of the Year 2022.

Drummond says flowering indoor plants can be an addition to foliage and that garden retailers could use room sets to promote houseplant arrangements throughout the house, including in kitchens and bathrooms.

Lack of peat-free and UK grown remain issues and Drummond discusses ways ahead.

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Southern Trident CEO Steve Harper talks Glee new products, carbon neutrality, the extending Responsible Sourcing Scheme, increasing prices for growing media and about future legislation.

Southern Trident is a UK company with strong roots in India specialising in coir based growing medium and homewares, and operates the brands Coco & Coir and Harmony Gardens.

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A strategic and conceptual landscape consultant who works in diverse landscapes around the world, Kim Wilkie explains what a landscape-led approach means:

"I think [there's] a bit of confusion about what landscape-led means. For me it's looking at the soil, the topography, the way that water has formed the shape of the land, and then also understanding of human history and the stories to go along with that land."

Wilkie discusses the history and influence of English gardening culture and how he the 'English landscape movement' in the 18th century celebrated naturalistic landscapes and "the celebration of well-farmed land was seen as beautiful in itself" which informs his attitude to landscape and practice on his own farm.

Another of his passions is regenerative farming and he tells host Rachael Forsyth why he is "mystified by the campaign against cows" when it comes to climate change. He argues that actually, they might be part of the solution when farming is done right:

"Counter-intuitively, flood meadows grazed by cattle sequester carbon into the ground faster and more permanently than any amount of woodland or any other form of carbon capture."

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Landscapers are not getting the recognition they deserve, and have more of a hand in garden designs than many realise, says Keys Landscape Construction owner, TV consultant and builder of an award-winning Chelsea Flower Show garden, Rupert Keys:

"When you see it on TV they always mention the designer and they never mention the contractor and I think that really needs to change"

Concerned about the skills shortage in landscaping, Rupert Keys launched his TASK Academy in a bid to address this and at RHS Malvern Spring Festival, was able to open the public eyes to the unseen work that goes on under the surface of garden projects. But ultimately, he says the Government needs to act.

Keys also reflects on some of the current challenges of costing projects as inflation spirals, as well as ongoing projects which include a scheme in the Cotswolds which his company Keyscape Landscape Design and Construction has been working on for more than 10 years. 

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Having designed gardens for 20 years, Lynne Marcus was appointed the chair of the Society of Garden Designers in 2006. 

Marcus tells the HortWeek podcast about how she has had to adapt the way she designs gardens to adapt to the effects of climate change. She also touches upon how clients are responding, advising on how to lead them to make sustainable choices. 

As well as some of her favourite design choices, Marcus reveals her least favourite – artificial grass – and why she believes it needs to be banned. 

Marcus also outlines the SGD’s upcoming symposium which will address the deepening climate crisis and explore the positive impact garden and landscape design can have on the environment.

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