Talking Gardens

If you could create your dream garden from pieces of all of your favourite places, and if you could grow any plants in the world, what would you choose? Who would you have as your imaginary head gardener, or garden designer?  In Talking Gardens, the new podcast from the team behind Gardens Illustrated, host Stephanie Mahon asks the great and the good of the gardening world to construct their ultimate fantasy growing space. Series one begins on Tuesday 21st March 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, head gardener Fergus Garrett talks about his fantasy garden, from the borders of Great Dixter, where he has worked since 1992, and the spirit of its creator Christopher Lloyd, to the wild landscapes of Turkey. Fergus picks interesting people and places from all over the world to be a part of his dream space, and talks about who might take on running Dixter after him. Find out why he couldn’t live without features such as a hunk of rock, and why he would have to have a magic portal, a meadow and a sneaky cocktail - but would bar the garden gate to snobbery and a no-can-do attitude. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Writer and Gardens Illustrated columnist Alice Vincent, author of new book and podcast Why Women Grow, talks to Stephanie about her dream garden, from her fantasy writing studio inspired by Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage to a mossy path, naturalistic planting and a glasshouse for entertaining friends such as Diana Ross (the garden writer, not the disco diva). As well as this, she explains how she once had dinner with Piet Oudolf without knowing who he was, and why she won’t abide anything with a face in the garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Stephanie speaks to world-renowned landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith, who has created numerous famous gardens and landscape projects, including RHS Garden Bridgewater near Manchester. They talk about his new Plant Library at the Serge Hill Project, his work abroad in India and Morocco and his dream of eliminating plastic from gardens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, ethnobotanist and self-confessed plant geek James Wong talks us through the immersive, green, tropical garden of his dreams, featuring a James Bond-esque glasshouse/living room with a retractable roof. He discusses watching Gardeners’ World as a plant-obsessed child in the tropics, back when his dream was a temperate garden. Find out why James would now prefer to fill his garden with foliage over flowers, how summer-blockbuster movies inspire his terrarium designs, and how he thinks poison dart frogs would make the perfect pets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, head gardener Troy Scott Smith talks about his ultimate imaginary garden, drawing inspiration from some of the places he has worked, including Iford Manor Gardens in Wiltshire and Bodnant in North Wales. He chats about the legacy of Sissinghurst and reveals why they won’t be watering the borders there in summer anymore. Tune in to find out who inspired him to change his approach, why Troy would always have visitors to his fantasy garden and what he hates about variegated plants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, renowned nurserywoman and herb grower Jekka McVicar constructs her fantasy garden. She talks about bucking the trend by adopting organic and peat-free early on, and the challenges of growing plants for the Chelsea Flower Show. Jekka explains her love of Chinese garden design features such as moon gates and discusses the influence of the cookbooks her grandmother wrote. Unsurprisingly, Jekka’s imaginary Eden would be filled to the brim with herbs, but she would never allow a leylandii hedge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Charlie Harpur, head gardener of Knepp Castle’s newly rewilded Walled Garden in Sussex, constructs his dream garden. Choosing the nostalgia and sense of exploration from the gardens of his childhood to the feeling of adventure that he found while working at Villa Boccanegra in Italy, he also admits to being a plant nerd about alpines, reveals how things are progressing at the experimental Knepp project and reflects on how gardening saved his life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the final episode of the series, award-winning garden designer and Gardens Illustrated contributing editor Sarah Price constructs her fantasy garden. From the biodiversity of the alpine meadows in northern Spain to the Heem Parks of the Netherlands, Sarah chooses elements of the natural world to create her dream space. We hear about her upcoming Chelsea Flower Show Garden, why she couldn’t live without bulbs and how children make a garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Talking Gardens podcast, Cleve West talks about his design for the Centrepoint Garden at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which will feature a fallen tree and the remains of a demolished house, representing the idea of homelessness, as well as self-seeding plants, ‘weeds’ and pioneer species. We also hear about what veganic gardening involves, and Cleve’s advice for first-time Chelsea designers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Designer Charlotte Harris talks about the garden she and Hugo Bugg are creating at the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show for Horatio’s Garden, the charity that makes gardens at NHS spinal injury centres. It will be the first main avenue show garden to focus on accessibility, and Charlotte discusses developing the design by speaking with patients. She also talks about how this is the most technical garden they have ever created, including inventing a brand-new, permeable, cement-free paving material for the paths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Designer Tom Massey talks about his 2023 Chelsea show garden for the Royal Entomological Society, which he hopes will show how important people and their gardens are to insects. Tom discusses the design, which will include an outdoor laboratory with curving roof inspired by the shape of an insect’s eye; as well as what brownfield gardening is, why we don’t use the term ‘pest’ anymore, and which insect is his all-time favourite. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Designer Chris Beardshaw talks about his show garden for Myeloma UK at the 2023 Chelsea Flower Show, which comprises a formal English border and a curated woodland garden of eternal spring with two temples. He reveals some shocking truths about his first-ever Chelsea show garden 25 years ago, involving a cloud of whitefly, trusses of tomatoes and the King; reflects on how the show has changed since then; and champions the specialist nurseries behind the scenes who really make everything happen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harry Holding is creating his first-ever show garden at Chelsea this year for School Food Matters in the All About Plants category, and chats to us about how his design is both beautiful and edible, and should encourage children to take an interest in where their food comes from. We hear how he got his start while still at school himself by launching a food-growing business; we learn what an ‘edimental’ is; and how Harry is losing sleep over the construction and transport of some challenging, curved, rammed-earth walls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, cook, food writer and passionate home gardener Nigel Slater talks to Stephanie Mahon about what he would include in his dream garden, from the inspirational spaces of Japan to the stars in the sky, and from soft green moss to bright bronze azaleas. Find out how he stole his front garden, how he went to war with foxes and lost, and the reason that fairies and soft serve ice-cream would have to be part of his fantasy garden. Discover how he managed to get Dan Pearson and Monty Don to design his own back garden, and the one gardening trend that really winds him up. Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more great garden inspiration and planting ideas, and subscribe, at www.gardensillustrated.com Enjoyed this episode? Tell a friend, make sure to leave a review or comment, and let us know who you would next like to hear talking about their dream garden. Follow now so you never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Landscape designer Marian Boswall constructs her fantasy garden, the first important ingredient of which would be love. Find out why Marian wants to experience the garden from the perspective of a bug and a bird, as well as in slo-mo and fast-mo, and how being ‘invisible’ is helpful when out beaver spotting. Discover what the secret of quick composting is, how she learned to love yellow… and why she wants a pair of wolves in her dream garden. Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more great garden inspiration and planting ideas, and subscribe, at www.gardensillustrated.com Discover Marian Boswall’s top tips on creating a sustainable garden; see a beautiful low-maintenance garden she designed; and learn more about her favourite plants with medicinal qualities. Enjoying this podcast? Why not tell a friend to listen too? Make sure to leave a review, or a comment to let us know who you would most like to hear talking about their dream garden. Follow now so you never miss an episode. Show notes Books Terry Pratchett book Reaper Man Laline Paull book The Bees Merlin Sheldrake book Entangled Life  People 42 Acres, nature reserve and wellbeing centre, founded by Lara and Seth Tabatznik Thich Nhat Hanh, dubbed the ‘father of mindfulness’ Satish Kumar, peace activist Dr Elaine Inghams Soil Food Web Nicole Masters Integrity Soils Ideas Rewilding (beavers)  The Great Dixter Biodiversity Audit  Making compost Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Errol Reuben Fernandes, head of horticulture at the Horniman Museum & Gardens, chooses all the elements he would like in his fantasy garden, from the wonder of Trebah Garden in Cornwall and the sense of discovery exploring a wonderful wasteland near his childhood home, to a swimming pond with jetty and a giant sculpture by Richard Serra. Discover his top picks of shade-loving plants and tips on how to make a microforest, and find out which garden visitors would be banned from his dream space. Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find out more about Errol and the Horniman Museum Gardens, as well as more great garden inspiration and planting ideas at www.gardensillustrated.com Enjoying this podcast? Tell a friend, make sure to like, leave a review or comment, and let us know who you would like to hear talking about their dream garden. You can also follow us so you never miss an episode. Show notes Trebah Garden, Cornwall Brownfield gardens Plant pick: Hydrangea aspera ‘Koki’  Artist Richard Serra Photographer Juergen Teller  Artist Joan Mitchell Fulham Palace Garden Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, world-renowned planting designer Piet Oudolf talks to Stephanie about the projects that have shaped his career and why he has never had time to dream . Discover why he enjoys creating gardens in the public realm more than private spaces, why he closed his nursery and garden and what he has planned for exciting upcoming projects, including the reimagining of his borders at RHS Garden Wisley.  Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more great garden inspiration and planting ideas, and subscribe, at www.gardensillustrated.com  Enjoyed this episode? Tell a friend, make sure to leave a review or comment, and let us know who you would next like to hear talking about their dream garden. Follow now so you never miss an episode.  Show notes Piet Oudolf at Work book  Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen’s book Planting the Natural Garden - read our review here. Lurie Garden, Chicago The High Line, New York City RHS Wisley Glasshouse borders being replanted Camden Highline, London Future Plants New plant selected by Cassian Schmidt and Piet at Hermannshof is Schizachyrium scoparium 'Ha Ha Tonka' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, gardener and writer Arthur Parkinson describes his dream of a walled garden with orangery, and all manner of plants and birds. Hear about his fantasy lagoon filled with flamingos, his orchard meadow and why even in his dream space he would have to have practical elements such as a gate for plant and pot deliveries - but would never allow a windchime to pass the threshold.  Enjoying this podcast? Tell a friend, make sure to leave a review or comment, and let us know who you would like to hear talking about their dream garden. Follow now so you never miss an episode.  Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more great garden inspiration and planting ideas, and subscribe, at www.gardensillustrated.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, designer and gardener Isabel Bannerman - whose projects include the private garden of King Charles at Highgrove, and Arundel Castle - describes what she would have to include in her dream garden, from a woodland stream setting and scented shrubs such as mock orange, to elm trees and rambling roses, a place to sit and a greenhouse. Discover why she thinks naturalistic planting looks like hard work, how she is no good at growing vegetables and where she would go in a time machine. Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more great garden inspiration and ideas, including Isabel and husband Julian’s top garden books, and subscribe at www.gardensillustrated.com  Enjoyed this episode? Tell a friend, make sure to leave a review or comment, and let us know who you would like to hear talking about their dream garden. Follow now so you never miss an episode.  Show notes: Ribes odoratum Mock orange Philadelphus ‘Manteau d'Hermine’  Rosa ‘The Garland’ Gravetye Manor garden - William Robinson Ninfa Gardens Giverny, Monet’s garden Louise Dowding’s Yews Tree Farm garden Highgrove Keder Greenhouse polytunnel  Arundel Castle garden Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices