Loving Your Garden - Better Gardening Podcast

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11 Times RHS Chelsea Gold Medallist (and LYG member), David Stevens, has designed a few gardens in his long career (understatement). Enough to earn him 26 RHS medals and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Garden Designers. In this short video (link below), David outlines 8 key steps to consider before embarking on a garden makeover that will save you time, effort, and tears. He finishes by outlining a postal design service* that makes his knowledge and expertise surprisingly accessible.   
                                                                                                                          *Promo
David Stevens Website: https://david-stevens.co.uk/
David Stevens Email: [email protected]

You can watch this interview with accompanying images on our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE7j8D7HCZXg-V6OyRdZxYg

Now that we have fan mail, please do text in some feedback. Also, take advantage of John's fifty years plus experience in professional horticulture and send in any gardening questions you may have.

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link: https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9

And to sign up for our free subscription newsletter which this month features a peat-free fact sheet, advice on growing (and getting rid of Bamboo) and John Stirland's demo of taking softwood cuttings (there's still time) it's here: http://eepurl.com/iP4Wd2

To contact Loving Your Garden, perhaps with questions for John, it's:
[email protected]

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Recent press reports would have you believe Bamboo is the devil incarnate but does it deserve its bad reputation? While it's certainly true some varieties can be highly destructive, are gardeners right to shun it at all costs?
Who better to ask than Tony Churley who's been growing varieties of Bamboo for the best part of forty years? Both John Stirland and I have had bad experiences with Bamboo so we didn't give Tony a free ride. Still, he puts up some strong arguments for the plant, how to buy the right varieties, how to contain it effectively, how to prevent its invasion from a neighbouring garden, and how to get rid of it if you want it gone.  

Now that we have fan mail, please do text in some feedback. Also, take advantage of John's fifty years plus experience in professional horticulture and send in any gardening questions you may have.

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link: https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9

Our New YouTube Channel link is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE7j8D7HCZXg-V6OyRdZxYg

And to sign up for our free subscription newsletter it's here: http://eepurl.com/iP4Wd2

To contact Loving Your Garden, perhaps with questions for John, it's:
[email protected]

Send us a text

Firstly, apologies for our silence over the past few weeks, we've been busy creating a brand new YouTube channel and subscription newsletter (links below) as well as overhauling our Facebook group to accommodate the massive new growth of 'Loving Your Garden' - now 378 thousand members.

Now that we're back into the routine we've re-commenced series 4 with a gardening clinic - hosted by myself and our resident horticulturist John Stirland with the added pleasure of the company of Barbara Stalker, Assistant County Organiser for the National Garden Scheme in Cambridgeshire. Barbara makes a strong case for the excellent UK National Garden Scheme which turns an amazing garden near you into a public source of inspiration for just a couple of days over the Summer. 

John discusses the importance of knowing your soil by way of explaining why those new plants you bought in Spring may not be thriving as you expected plus our usual discussion about pests and diseases which have been a particular problem after a very wet Spring.  As ever, we've added chapters to help you navigate the podcast. 

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link: https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9

Our New YouTube Channel link is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE7j8D7HCZXg-V6OyRdZxYg

And to sign up for our free subscription newsletter it's here: http://eepurl.com/iP4Wd2

To contact Loving Your Garden, perhaps with questions for John, it's:
[email protected]

Send us a text

It's always a pleasure and a privilege to be in the company of one of the UK's foremost plantswomen, Rosy Hardy. With countless RHS gold medals to her name, Rosy has become a leading authority on Herbaceous Perennials and this is pure gold for any gardener that is looking for a new dimension to their garden.  If you're in a rush, go to our chapter page and choose your topic of interest but to be honest,  you'd be better staying for the whole conversation to catch every last morsel of knowledge!

In association with Magic Mind - Mental Performance Shots

They have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code LOVEGARDEN20 at checkout

You can claim it at: https://www.magicmind.com/lovegarden 

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link:

https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9

You'll find a friendly community of gardeners from many backgrounds, all sharing a love of plants and gardening. 

Please get in touch with any feedback or questions for John to: [email protected]

Send us a text

It’s always a pleasure to welcome our favourite Nature Watcher Mary Porter onto LYG. Spring in the UK is a great time for an update from Mary whose knowledge and experience of the natural world is much appreciated by all of us at LYG and to listeners of her regular spot on my Boom Radio show. This is a lovely chat about the current state of our wildlife and how we can encourage more creatures into our gardens, both for the good of the environment and our mental-wellbeing.

In association with Magic Mind - Mental Performance Shots

They have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code LOVEGARDEN20 at checkout

You can claim it at: https://www.magicmind.com/lovegarden 

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link:

https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9

You'll find a friendly community of gardeners from many backgrounds, all sharing a love of plants and gardening. 

Please get in touch with any feedback or questions for John to: [email protected]

Send us a text

  In association with Magic Mind - Mental Performance Shots
They have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code LOVEGARDEN20 at checkout
You can claim it at: https://www.magicmind.com/lovegarden 

We have a double bonus for you in our latest episode with John Stirland laying out some solid tips for getting your lawn into top shape for Summer and with guest Ed Zamo dropping into Rod's Summerhouse with a professional take on removing nuisance tree or shrub stumps from your garden.
I've created some chapters if you're in a hurry but this is fun and full of useful tips so it's well worth staying through the episode.

Ed's website for further info:
https://www.stumpbeaver.co.uk/

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link:
https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9
You'll find a friendly community of gardeners from a variety of backgrounds all sharing a love of plants and gardening. 

Send us a text

There is nothing so satisfying than adding food to your dinner plate that you've grown from seed.  While many gardeners are well-equipped to sow and propagate both vegetables and ornamentals,  most others prefer the convenience of potted and plug plants. However, with the costs of plants and food now a significant factor, growing from seed is an attractive option. 
Tom Sharples has devoted almost half a century to the seed industry and recently retired as Senior Horticultural Manager at Suttons Seeds. Following on from John Stirland's practical advice for seed-sowing earlier in the year, Tom shares his knowledge and tips for our latest episode including the one thing you should do when buying seed from a garden centre.

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link:
https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9
You'll find a friendly community of gardeners from a variety of backgrounds all sharing a love of plants and gardening. 

Send us a text

Deep Joy! Winter's last hurrah is nearly upon us, at least if you're in Northern Europe, and it's time to finish off the Winter pruning. Our resident horticulturist John Stirland covers the basics and answers member questions on specific plants including Philadelphus, Fig, Ceonothus, Honeysuckle, and roses. As ever, John covers a lot of ground with lots of snippets of really useful information so it's worth listening through the whole half hour.

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link:
https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9
You'll find a friendly community of gardeners from a variety of backgrounds all sharing a love of plants and gardening. 

Send us a text

Our resident horticulturist John Stirland kicks off season 4 of Loving Your Garden - Better Gardening Podcast with a masterclass in seed sowing.  John is in full flow here with oodles of great advice on growing plants from seed as a new gardening year gets underway. John also takes questions from our LYG site members.  It's best to sit back and enjoy the full episode but if you're tight for time, our chapter guide may be helpful.

If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, here's the link:
https://bit.ly/3oIzVr9
You'll find a friendly community of gardeners from a variety of backgrounds all sharing a love of plants and gardening. 

Send us a text

You'll need to check out the Loving Your Garden site to see our festive guests in their Santa gear but you can hear the fun in our season finale as horticulturist, gardening writer, broadcaster and RHS judge, Martin Fish, and multi-award-winning garden designer, David Stevens join John Stirland and LYG founder Rod Whiting for an end of season chat over a tipple or two.
Have a pen and paper handy as we discuss a busy gardening year, highlights & failures (yes, professionals have them too), and plans for the New Year with lots of plant suggestions and advice about design, trees for smaller gardens, and winter plants, amongst other things.
If you're strapped for time, you can select from our chapters although you're better listening through so as not to miss any nuggets from our excellent guests.

Thanks to our UK-based sponsors Fitzgerald Laing Decorators:
for a free quote and advice on any project, here's their Facebook Group:  https://bit.ly/3zvPicB

PROUD TO HAVE BEEN A FINALIST  IN THE ‘22 GARDEN MEDIA GUILD AWARDS FOR PODCAST OF THE YEAR.