On S3E15 of The Gardener Ben Podcast, I get to speak to Charles Carr, Head of Production at @hilliergardencentres.

Home-growing all of their stock, supplying 22 garden centres and their online store with peat-free grown stock 50 weeks of the year, Charles and I explored his journey into the world of horticulture and the challenges faced by the garden centre group going fully peat-free. We discussed how some plants that we have been used to purchasing have really struggled with the changeover, while others, such as ferns, have become much easier to produce and therefore more readily available.

If you haven’t yet registered your vote to lobby the UK government into taking action and banning the use of peat in the horticultural industry — which sees enough peat removed from the environment to fill 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools each and every year — head over to @peatfreepartnership now and make your voice heard.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

The podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

Next week, I have the pleasure of being joined by Anna from @seed_ball. So until then, happy gardening!

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S3E 14 of the Gardener Ben Podcast is about mindfulness, self, and the quest to be present. It features a conversation with Nicola from @soulfulwisdomacademy.

Nicola is a shamanic dragon priestess who I have visited several times for Reiki healing. It’s no coincidence that this particular podcast episode is scheduled, as it marks one year exactly since I visited Nicola for the first time.

At the end of 2024 into 2025, I was really struggling with my mental health. I was incredibly depressed, lost, and weighed down, carrying pain, grief, and anxiety that I didn’t know how to let go of. I had lost the ability to hear the voice in my head. I couldn’t decipher which way was up or which way to turn next. Luckily, I had people around me to guide and help me, and although I had started personal therapy, I was determined to do as many things as possible to make myself feel as well as I could.

One of these things was to try Reiki healing. The experience was beyond moving, and even if you’re sceptical, as I was when I first visited Nicola, the experience could not be doubted.

So, at a time of year which is traditionally dark, depressing, and challenging for many of us that struggle with mental health issues, I wanted to bring you this personal conversation with Nicola, who shares with us the gifts that she has and her journey into using those gifts to help others like me.

I really hope that you enjoy the conversation, and if there’s something that you’re struggling with, you reach out and ask for the help that you need.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

Next week, we’re swinging back to the topic of horticulture and gardening, and I’m joined by Charles Carr from @hilliergardencentres. Until then, happy gardening.

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S3E13 this week, I’m rejoined by the amazing Katrina from @buildingafoodforest_scotland. We spoke last year on season two but had so much to catch up on. I thought it would be wonderful to invite them back to the podcast to see how the 2025 growing season ended and see how Clayton and the rest of the family were getting on.

Katrina juggles a busy family life while wearing many different hats, including homeschooling Clayton, who has severe autism and has found a real passion for gardening and being outside with his mum. She also manages, unbelievably, to squeeze in a little time for some crochet every now and then, and has also written a few books.

Please do head over to her channels, either on Instagram or on YouTube, and show the account some love, especially if you have a young person in your life who has expressed an interest in gardening.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, creating timeless roses since 1968 and winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

Next week, I’m excited to bring you a conversation with @soulfulwisdomacademy, who I’ve visited for Reiki therapy several times, which I have found really helps with my overall well-being, mindfulness, and mental health issues over the last 15 months.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

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After a short festive break, the Gardener Ben Podcast is back with season three and episode 12. I would like to stress there is absolutely no pressure and no rush to be getting on with tasks in the garden whatsoever at this time of year. The garden is slumbering quietly, and winter is doing its thing, breaking organic matter down and cleansing the garden of harmful fungal spores, pathogens, and disease problems.

There’s no rush to be getting seeds sown, pots washed, or to rush out and start clearing the beds, borders, or doing your winter pruning. I’ll be touring you through my schedule in the weeks to come, so I hope if you take nothing else away from this week’s episode whatsoever, it’s someone else giving you the permission to take things easy, slowly and gently, for the beginning parts of the year.

This week on the podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Conrad, the name behind @thatbotanicguy, an account I followed on Instagram for a very long time, coveting his large collection of tree ferns and tropical plants he gets to grow outside in his garden. I hope that you enjoy our conversation.

Next week, I’m catching up once again with @buildingafoodforest_scotland. We had so much to talk about on our first episode together that I wanted just to touch base and catch up to see how the growing season of 2025 turned out in the end.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

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S2E11 of the GardenerBen Podcast features @david_long_gardens.

As I’ve been doing lots of shuffling about and redesigning here at North Lodge, and after meeting David at the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, I thought who better to catch up with and talk us through his design process when he takes on a professional garden project.

David covers all areas of Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire in his work, so please do head to his page and show his account some 💚

The GardenerBen Podcast will return on Monday 5th of January after a belief festive holiday, when I’ll be joined by Conrad, known as @thatbotanicguy. The GardenerBen Podcast is brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com

Edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson

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S3E11 of the Gardener Ben podcast features an in-person informal conversation with Philip Harkness from @harknessroses1879.

Philip is the fifth generation of his family to be at the helm of the Harkness rose company, and it was a real honour to get to know him properly, away from the hustle and bustle of the floral marquees of show season.

During our conversation, Philip shares his thoughts and opinions about organic gardening, the environment, his love of dogs, and a few details of some new upcoming releases which are becoming available over the next few months. Head to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or my YouTube channel to listen now!

I hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation and join me again next week for one more episode before Christmas, featuring @david_long_gardens.

The Gardener Ben podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

The Gardener Ben podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

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The Gardener Ben Podcast is all about the topic of peat this week. I had the absolute pleasure of talking to @sally.nex from @peatfreepartnership a few weeks ago about this all-important topic, which has raged on in the horticultural industry for the entirety of my horticultural career.

Many of you will be shocked to read that the legal extraction and destruction of peat bogs and habitat is still allowed. And although many of you desperately try to make the correct decisions when you’re buying compost and plants, there is still a lot of hidden peat being used within the horticultural industry. This still stacks up to be a vast quantity, hidden in things like houseplants, the packaging of bulbs and tubers, as well as live herb plants purchased from supermarkets. I was also shocked to find out that peat is added to manure for the production of mushrooms, proving that you’re never too old to learn something new.

@peatfreepartnership is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to government to bring the legal extraction of peat in the UK to an end. If this is something that is important to you as a gardener or environmentalist, please follow the link and make sure that you sign the petition and share it with all of your online friends and followers.

Next week on the Gardener Ben Podcast, I’m joined by Philip Harkness of @harknessroses1879, chatting about many different topics, including, obviously, roses — so tune in next week.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

Until next week, happy gardening.

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As we rapidly head towards the festive season and many of us are starting to trim and decorate our homes in preparation for Christmas, I’m joined once again on the Gardener Ben podcast by Dr José Costa @childrensallergy for a conversation about allergies and Christmas trees.

This is always a difficult time in our household with regards to allergies. The Christmas tree, the moving around of the furniture, and the season in general can be really triggering for Mark, and Dr Costa has some great advice about how we can prevent flare-ups and survive the festive season if this is an issue in your household.

Next week, in a change of schedule, I’m joined by @sally.nex from the @peatfreepartnership to discuss the ongoing issue of the use of peat in the horticultural industry. The Gardener Ben podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealsroses.com.

Edited by mark_hamilton_anderson

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The Gardener Ben podcast heads off to the Gold Coast of Australia for this week’s episode, where I’m joined by Chloe, a member of @goldcoastrosesociety.

She explains how a trip to a local flower show with her mum sparked a passion for roses, which has taken her down a rabbit hole into the wonderful world of roses. I really hope that you enjoy our conversation, and if you have access to a local rose society like the one Chloe belongs to, make the most of this valuable resource and head over to the @goldcoastrosesociety Instagram page to show the account some love.

Next week, with Christmas looming around the corner, I’ve invited the wonderful @childrensallergy back to the podcast to guide us through how we can all survive the festive season, navigating allergy flare-ups when it comes to decorating the house and festive feasting.

The Gardener Ben podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creators of timeless roses since 1968.

Go online and shop at peterbealesroses.com now, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #listenow

This week on the Gardner Ben podcast, I’m joined by @ethan__mi

A plant and soil ecologist who is currently located in Edinburgh but Hales from Close by here in the New Forest

A passionate Plants person whose followed his interests through botany and into ecology it was lovely to get to know Ethan more personally, especially as he attended the same horticultural college as myself here on the south coast

I hope that you enjoy this episode and the passion vast knowledge that seems to ooze from every sentence Ethan says

Next week, the gardener Ben podcast is heading all the way around the world for a really lovely conversation with Chloe a member of the @goldcoastrosesociety

The gardener Ben podcast is brought to you in association with Peter Beales roses winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creating timeless roses since 1968

go online and shop at www.atpeterbealesrose.com and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok

#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #listennow #gardener #stremingnow