The Gardener Ben Podcast

Take a listen to episode 14 of season two of my podcast, now streaming on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and on my YouTube channel.

Don’t forget, there’s also a bonus episode slipped into the schedule that I recorded last week @bbcgwfair.

On this week's episode, I had the pleasure of talking to the very knowledgeable @matt.pottage, who, although being an incredibly busy man, managed to take the time to join me for an informal and very enjoyable conversation.

Mathew is the head of horticulture and landscape strategy @theroyalparks, an author and writer on @scribehound_gardening, and like me, a massive houseplant enthusiast who loves the rare, different, and unusual.

He’s taken on a massive public task, which many would shy away from. Listening to him talk about his new role, his journey into gardening, and his long-term approach to maintaining these beautiful public spaces gives me hope for horticulture's long-term future.

In my own garden, I’m having to dial back how much physical gardening I’m doing in favor of creating the massive body of work I’ve set out for myself this year.

Next week, the podcast takes us in a very different direction, and I’m joined by @childrensallergy. I will be talking at length about hay fever and airborne allergies, so if these are affecting your ability to garden and impacting your life, make sure to listen next week.

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Episode 13 of season two of the Gardener Ben podcast is available for you to stream on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube. It’s been a frustrating week in the garden, with soaring temperatures meaning that keeping up with the watering has been a real challenge. I’ve also been in a personal battle with a local squirrel who’s not only taken to digging in the top of one of my very precious trees, breaking off at least seven or eight of its new fronds, but it also went on a little bit of a rampage, causing utter destruction in the greenhouse. This week’s guest is John Williamson, @johnwilliamson.dartmoor, maker of the very endangered and beautifully crafted Devon Stave basket. This dying Bushcraft is more than just an art form, and talking about the process all the way from the selection of timber to the construction of the actual basket and its use was really inspiring.

Listen to the full episode now, and make sure that you head over to John's profile and show his account some love 💚

Next week, I’m joined by @matt.pottage, talking about his new role as head of horticulture and landscape strategy @theroyalparks.

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Bonus episode brought to you from the BBC Gardeners world Fair, Beaulieu.

I had a marvellous day wandering around the show, admiring some amazing garden concepts, enjoying some great food, and of course, had the opportunity to purchase some amazing plants from specialist nurseries and some of the best growers in the country.

A busy time for everybody, but I wanted to offer my personal thanks to those who spared the time to speak to me about their garden concepts and design processes.

Starting with @david_long_gardens. His garden really needed to be enjoyed from on the stage, where its cool, fresh, dense planting mixed beautifully with wood, corten steel, and woven willow.

I also had the pleasure of talking to Una from @kingstonmaurwardcollege, part of a team of four students bringing together a stunning installation centered around a path made of grey engineering bricks and laid with hazel rounds, carefully planted with snowball bushes and juvenile birch.

Special thanks go to Lizzy from @capelmanor, a mature student part of a larger group approaching their project from a different angle, displaying a garden very much of two sides: a north-facing aspect, damp and lush, full of decaying timber and ferns.

And on the reverse, the south side is arid and dry, featuring alpine gravel and a structural yucca. Both equally beautiful in their design and execution.

Last up was a very enjoyable chat with Emma, who’s head of horticulture @hilliergardencentres. There was a stunning installation depicting four very distinctive styles of gardening in one space, proving that even on not a very average plot size, you can create a multitude of very different feeling spaces within one.

On this week's episode, I had to confess that I haven’t managed to spend a huge amount of time in my own garden. Being a full-time garden landscaper, this time of year keeps me on my toes in other people's gardens, and mine has to take a little bit of a backseat. This is one of the main reasons I’m so disciplined and organized with my own schedule—sharing content well before you actually need to be doing things.

I am, however, pressing on with getting in my pea sticks and plant supports to ensure my herbaceous perennials stay exactly where I want them to during the coming months.

I’ll also be going around the garden placing in some marker sticks so I know where I have holes in my spring bulb display. This saves me from disturbing any existing bulbs when I come to bed out bulbs at the end of the year.

This week's guest is Rob Smith (@robsallotment). Rob is a garden writer and the author of the book Grow to Eat. He is also on the RHS Fruit, Vegetable, and Herb Expert Group panel, helping decide the varieties that we all grow every year in our gardens.

Gardening in a very different way to me, if it’s not tasty, edible, or useful, Rob pretty much doesn’t grow it. This proves that even with a relatively small space, you can still have a highly productive garden producing something for the table for pretty much every meal.

Next week’s guest is John Williamson (@johnwilliamson.dartmoor), basket maker extraordinaire.

Don’t forget to get involved if you’ve enjoyed listening and leave a comment on your favorite platform.

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Episode 11 of season 2 of my podcast is available to stream on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube now, covering topics such as organic pest control of aphids, greenfly, and black fly; focused watering of newly planted first-season roses and shrubs; and we’re all about soil as I get to have the most wonderful and enlightening conversation with Becky from the account @sow_much_more.

No matter what point in your gardening journey you are at, whether you’ve been doing it for years or you’re following for hints and tips as you just start out, this is a must-listen episode. Becky is a garden writer, soil expert, ecologist, and botanist, and like me, is incredibly passionate about no-dig organic gardening and the health, condition, and biodiversity of soil.

Proving that if you really pay attention to your soil, you can really grow a garden. Look out for her newly released book ‘Grow a New Garden’ or ‘The Seed Collectors Kit,’ both of which are out now.

In next week’s episode, I’m joined by @robsallotment, whose garden focuses very heavily on tasty and useful produce to cook and eat, while you know it’s completely the opposite here at North Lodge in my garden, which is just roses, dahlias, and sweet peas.

#garderben #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #listennow #streamingnow #gardener #organicgardening #helpingyougrow #gardenersofinstagram #grow #ecologist #botanist #gardenwriter

On this week’s episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I talk you through the process of lifting and dividing herbaceous perennials, which can be a great way of giving yourself plants to trade with friends and family.

Now the garden is actively growing, it’s very easy to feel that it’s under attack from all sorts of critters such as lily beetles, slugs, and snails, which, as you would expect, is the focus point of conversation with this week’s guest.

I’m joined by Vicky from @newforesthostas, who, together with her husband Steve, runs a nursery specialising in foliage plants and has multiple awards from Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace flower shows.

The nursery is packed full of plants—in fact, I’m very confident in saying that Vicky is utterly obsessed with hostas. I could talk to her all day. She shares with us some expert advice on how to deal with slugs and snails, and why you should not surround them with slices of cucumber, which seems to be very much this year’s ridiculous online trend!

Next week, the podcast heads off to Devon, where I have the pleasure of chatting to Becky (@sow_much_more), who is a botanist, ecologist, gardener, and author of a brand-new book just released: Grow a New Garden.

#gardenerben #gardener #podcast #gardeningpodcast #podcaster #listennow #streamingnow #helpingyougrow #gardenersofinstagram #gardengram #spotify #amazonmusicpodcast #applepodcasts

📱📻🎙🎧

Episode 9 of season two of the Gardner Ben podcast is packed full of what I’ve been up to over the last week or so.

With the proper arrival of spring, I’ve unwrapped my tree ferns and given them their first watering and feed of the year. As the spring bulbs continue to flower, it’s important that you not only deadhead them but also give them a good liquid feed to ensure that they will flower properly next year. Never remove the foliage from a plant until it goes yellow or brown naturally.

This week’s guest is Brad from @selectroses, who joined me for a most informative and enjoyable chat from British Columbia. Brad and his team run a specialist rose nursery, retailing hundreds of different varieties of roses. He’s also responsible for hybridizing many brand-new varieties, and as you can see from the pictures, he is a very talented gardener who, like myself, grows many different things apart from roses.

Please make sure that you give the episode a good listen and head to Brad’s profiles both on Instagram and on YouTube, and show his accounts some 💚.

Next week, we’re heading back to The New Forest, and I get to catch up with Vicky from @newforesthostas ahead of their first open days of the year.

#gardenerben #podcast #podcasts #listennow #streamingnow #gardener #gardeningpodcast #helpingyougrow #gardenersofinstagram #selectroses

On today’s episode of the Gardenerben podcast, I talk at length about watering and spring feeding as we move into the spring months and things start to really warm up. It’s important if you’ve planted new roses or shrubs over the autumn and winter season you keep a close eye on their watering even if it rains I also share some hints and tips about how you can improve success by watering properly in the greenhouse

My guest this week is @run.dive.jwr who is involved with @tacomarosesociety , i’ve said it several times before but I’m incredibly jealous of the amount of community spirit and joy that are American friends share within their rose growing communities

listen to the full conversation on Apple Spotify, Amazon and now on YouTube, next week we’re staying on the other side of the Atlantic and I get to talk to Brad from @selectroses

#gardenerben #gardener #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #roses #listennow #streamingnow #helpingyougrow #chat

On today’s episode, we’re heading up to Shropshire, where I caught up with @our.english.topiarygarden.

This episode could not be better timed, as after many years in their containers, Mark and I have finally got round to planting the huge 8-foot-tall yew pyramids I’ve been growing. They have finally made their way into our newly landscaped Wintergarden, where they’re making the centerpiece and backbone of this new area.

Bee and her husband have spent nearly 30 years creating their perfect topiary garden—a long-term vision that has come together in an absolutely astonishingly beautiful, stylish, and timeless garden that looks great in all four seasons.

Bee talked me through where they gain their inspiration and some hints and tips for keeping box and yew healthy and happy. It’s lovely to hear that through their Instagram account, they’ve met some wonderful real-life gardening friends and have found a real sense of community from building their social media account.

Head over to @our.english.topiarygarden now and show their account some 💚.

Next week, I’m slingshotting it back across the Atlantic Sea, where I’m talking to Justin from @tacomarosesociety.

In this week's episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I have the absolute pleasure of catching up with Nick, the owner and operator of @gilbertsdahlias, just outside Romsey in Hampshire.

We talk about dahlias, the hybridization of new varieties, and Nick shares with us some really good hints and tips on how a professional grower goes about lifting, storing, dividing, and propagating his stock. Throughout the entire conversation, Nick's passion, commitment, and enthusiasm for the dahlia shine through. What you can’t unfortunately see is the look on his face when he’s talking about his favorite varieties and walking around the dahlia field at sunrise during high summer.

Please head across to their Instagram channel and show it some love 💚

And if you’re ever near Romsey, make sure that you pop into Gilberts to not only take a look at the dahlias in August, September, October, and into the very beginning of November, but also to grab yourself a good slice of cake or a hearty ploughman in their café.

Something that Nick said during our conversation has got me a little scared, so I’m off out into the garden now to see whether I can dig up this enormous dahlia imperialis I have - wish me luck!

On the next episode, we’re talking all things toy when I get to catch up with Bee Wilson of @our.english.topiarygarden.

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