Hello and welcome back to the Mic the Gardener Gardening Podcast. 

In this week's episode I chat to garden & landscape designer and author, Jack Wallington about his new book 'A Greener Life: Discover the Joy of Mindful & Sustainable Gardening'. This book is a must have if you wish to pursue and learn more about sustainable garden practices and to work alongside nature in your own green space. 

Jack tells us about how this, his third book, came about including how and where he writes and much more. He also tells us why it's the most important and personal thing he's ever done.

I talk to Jack about how he got into writing, how you write your first ever book and the book writing process. 

Jack, his partner and Rumbles the cat have also moved from London to Yorkshire, and we chat about his new garden and how the pressures of working and living in London led to changes in Jack's outlook on life. 

As an experienced and successful landscape and garden designer, I ask Jack if the process of designing your own garden is different from designing a clients. We also look at his aspirations to build a Chelsea Flower Show garden.

To learn more about Jack head to his website Jack wallington.com or to his Instagram account

You can also follow me on my Instagram account Mike_TheGardener, where you will find me broadcasting live, every Sunday at 10am from my own garden. 

If you have enjoyed this episode, please leave a review with your podcast provider and don't forget to follow/subscribe as there are more weekly episodes to come. 

Hello and welcome back to the Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast with me, your host, Mike Palmer.

In this week's episode I pay a visit to the Harold Hillier Winter Garden near Romsey, United Kingdom.

It's a stunning garden year-round, but the winter garden is beautifully planted with trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs which provide amazing winter colour, scent, texture and all-round interest.

I chat with Head Gardener, Fran Clifton about:

We also chat about her role as Head Gardener, her career, her own garden and much, much more.

For more information about the Harold Hillier Gardens, click on the link to their website - https://www.hants.gov.uk/thingstodo/hilliergardens.

As always, thanks for listening to this episode.

If you're new to the podcast, do check out the previous episodes from the first two series. There are some cracking interviews, plant specials and much more.

If you've enjoyed this episode, don't forget to follow/subscribe and please do leave a review with your podcast provider.

And finally, I love hearing from all of you, so please do contact me if you have any messages, questions or ideas for future episodes. You can email me at the shows email [email protected] or follow me on my Instagram page @mike_thegardener where you can message me directly.

See you next week.

Mike

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Mic the Gardener podcast.

This week I head to the stunning Arundel Castle Gardens, West Sussex, United Kingdom  to chat with Head Gardener, Martin Duncan.

As you will hear, Martin is an extremely experienced and knowledgeable Head Gardener with some very prestigious jobs under his belt. We chat about Martin’s illustrious career to date, some of the very distinguished people he has worked for, his love of landscape design, the role of Head Gardener and much more.

We also discuss how to attract the younger generation into the world of horticulture and gardening, as subject very close to my own heart.

Later in the episode we chat to Rose Philpot, a young gardener about gardening at Arundel and how she was attracted to gardening and her hopes for her future.

I also chat to senior gardener, Izzy McKinley, who is responsible for the organic, kitchen garden and propagator who tells us about her career, her love of gardening and propagation and her own garden.

I have posted a selection of pictures taken at Arundel Castle Gardens on the day of the podcast. Click here to view

To learn more about Arundel Castle Gardens head to their website or you can find them on Instagram.  

If you wish to contact me you can do so through my Instagram page or by emailing the show at [email protected].

As always, don't forget to follow/subscribe and to leave a review with your podcast provider.

See you next week.

Mike

Hello and welcome back to Series III of the Mic the Gardener Gardening Podcast. I’m delighted to be back after the New Year break.

In this first episode I go back to the most fundamental and important component of our gardens…. soil.

Without soil we have no plants, trees, shrubs, vegetables, fruit, perennials or bulbs. My parents used to tell me to spend a pound on the hole and a penny on the plant. That’s so true.. Our gardens, containers and balconies will only truly flourish if the soil is healthy.

In this episode I chat to Dr Anton Rosenfeld, from Garden Organic who tells us everything we need to know about our soil. He tells us:

Its a fact-filled episode and really is the starting point of any garden, irrespective of whether you’re growing your own or maintaining a beautiful ornamental garden, or indeed both.

You can find out more about your soil and growing organically at www.gardenorganic.ork.uk.

If you wish to contact me, please email [email protected] or you can follow me on my Instagram account (@mike_thegardener) where you can also message me directly.

Please don’t forget to FOLLOW & SUBSCRIBE to the Mic the Gardener Gardening Podcast to make sure you don’t miss out on the fun and of course the great gardening content. And perhaps you’d be kind enough to leave a review and tell your friends about the podcast

See you next week.

Mike

Hello, hello, hello!

I'm so excited to have started work on Series 3 of the Mic the Gardener podcast. In fact, much like the Forth Bridge, I never quite stop thinking about and/or working on the podcast.

I have one episode already recorded and almost ready to go on Friday 11th February, when I return.  And there are some very exciting episodes on the schedule for Series 3.  Don't worry, I'll be teasing more about those at the end of each episode.

As always, I love to hear from you so please drop me an email ([email protected]) or follow me through my Instagram account (@mike_thegardener) where are you can follow my gardening exploits, my weekly live garden Sunday Stroll and much more. And of course you can message me through my Instagram account. 

Mike

Hello there, it's Mike Palmer here, your host from the Mic the Gardener podcast. 

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you all for listening to the podcast and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a very happy holiday period and my very best wishes for a happy, healthy & safe new year. 

I'll be back sometime very early next year so keep your eyes peeled for more news from me very soon.

In the meantime.... HAPPY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Mike 

In this episode, the very last of Series 2, I revisit some of the great conversations from a selection of the great guests I've had join me over the last few months.

Clips include:

Michael Perry (aka Mr Plant Geek)

Ben Cross (Alstromeria Ben)

Neil Lucas (Ornamental Grasses)

Anna Pavord

Danny Clarke, the Black Gardener

Naomi Slade

Mark Lane

Gareth Richards

Andrew Fisher Tomlin

Freddie Strickland

Sienna Hosta Nursery (Hostas)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of my guests in Series 2 for making it the great success it has been.

And finally, and as always, my thanks to each and everyone of you for listening each week and for your lovely comments, feedback and podcast reviews.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a happy holiday time and sending my very best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe New Year.

I'll be back again in the New Year with series 3, more great guests, more great plant specials and lots more.

Mike

In this weeks episode, the last interview of the second series, I chat to Danish gardening superstar, Claus Dalby.

As well as being the owner of a stunning garden in Denmark, Claus has his own publication company and incredibly considers himself a hobby gardener; a hobby gardener with 396,000 followers on Instagram.

In this Christmas special episode, I chat to Claus about his Christmases as a child, what Christmas means to him now and, of course, his wonderful do-it-yourself Christmas decorations, which are videoed from his Christmas Studio within the grounds of his own house.

We also chat about his career, his books, the gardens has visited across the world and much, much more.

Whilst this is the last interview of the second series, there is a final, compilation episode next week to round off Series 2.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you for listening each week and contacting me with your lovely feedback and for leaving comments and reviews on Apple Podcasts.  And if you don't already, do follow/subscribe to future episodes of the podcast. You can also catch up on the exciting first series of the podcast.

I am already working on the third series of the Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast podcast.

As such, if you have any ideas, people you’d like me to interview or things you think should be included in Series 3, you can email me at the podcast email, [email protected]. Alternatively, you can follow/message me on Instagram (@mike_thegardener).

I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas/holiday period and look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year.

Mike

Welcome back to another episode of the Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast.

In this week's episode I chat to curator of RHS Wisley, Matt Pottage. And in this conifers special, Matt tells us all about the best conifers we can grow in our gardens.

Conifers have had a bad press in recent decades, following the controversy over leylandii hedges. Yes, the ones which some people have allowed to tower over properties, depriving them of light and causing many neighbourly disputes. Further, very popular in the 1970s were dwarf conifers, which eventually grew into huge, unsightly blobs in our gardens.  

But,conifers are due a revival. There are many, many beautiful evergreen and deciduous conifers out there which make perfect garden worthy plants.  Planted alongside other shrubs and perennials, they make a great addition to the garden. There are also conifers for statement pieces and, in light of the recent issues around box blight and box caterpillar, some conifers can make great hedging alternatives.

Matt talks us through conifers for different soil locations, discusses pests and diseases (of which there aren't many!) and tells us how we can propagate conifers for our own garden.  He also mentions by variety some specifically great examples that we can use, including some particular favourites of his own.

If you love conifers, or are looking to re-introduce conifers into your garden, grab a pen and paper, a cuppa and enjoy this information packed episode.

Some of the conifers we talk about today, I photographed during my visit to RHS Wisley, and can be seen by clicking the link here. 

As always, thank you so much for listening to the Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast and please do FOLLOW/SUBSCRIBE to ensure you don’t miss new episodes.  And, if you listen through Apple Podcasts, please do leave a review.

You can follow me for more gardening action through my Instagram account @mike_thegardener. 

Thanks for listening and I'll see  you next week. 

Mike

Hello! And welcome back to the Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast page.

This week I have a rather exciting Plant Special episode for you featuring penstemon.  I speak to RHS gold medal winning nursery owner, Julia Mitchell of GreenJJam nurseries, specialists in growing penstemon.

As with all of my Plant special episodes, we chat about everything you need to know about growing penstemon including:

It's a truly in-depth chat which will enable us all to go away and grow the best penstemon in our borders next year.

If you're looking to add more penstemon to your collection, or, indeed to start growing penstemon, then you can head to the nursery website www.greenjjam.co.uk.  For still more information, why not follow GreenJJam Nurseries on their Instagram page.  And, if you don't already follow me, then you can head over to my Instagram page, @mike_thegardener. 

As always, my thanks to Julia for sharing her knowledge and expertise with us.  

I'll be back next week, as usual with another Mic the Gardener - Gardening Podcast episode.  In the meantime, if you wish to send me a message, you can email me at the pod email address [email protected]. 

I'd like to say ‘hello' to you if you're new to listening to my podcast… welcome along! Don't forget to follow/subscribe to make sure you don't miss out on any new episodes. And finally(!), if you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a review.

See you next week.

Bye-bye!