Roots and All - Gardening Podcast

This week’s guest is Roger Hirons, a horticultural expert and speaker, who’s been in the industry for over 35 years. Roger has just released a really excellent book called the Gardener’s Guide to Hedges and Living Boundaries, which covers preparation and design advice for establishing a new living boundary; advice on dealing with existing boundaries in need of restoration or extension; planting for both your human and wildlife neighbours and also a directory of some really interesting hedging plants, climbers and trees. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: The Swallowtail What We Talk About Why plant a hedge or living boundary instead of installing a fence? What is a living boundary? Which plants are well suited to creating a fedge? What plants are good for wildlife? Boundaries that are low maintenance Boundaries that are good for security Mounds aka bunds Wall shrubs Tips for staking newly planted plants Hedges that are good for wildlife  When to cut a hedge if being considerate of bird nesting and feeding behaviours About Roger Hirons Roger Hirons has been a horticultural speaker for over thirty years, presenting to garden clubs and societies as well as the University of the Third Age and the Women's Institute. Since studying horticulture at Pershore College, he has also run and co-run plant centres and worked in the landscaping industry for nearly twenty years. Links Gardener’s Guide to Hedges and Living Boundaries by Roger Hirons - The Crowood Press Ltd, October 2022 Other episodes if you liked this one: Low Allergen Planting with Olivia Kirk Ivy with Fibrex Nurseries Patreon Membership

Hello and welcome to this episode of Roots and All. This week, I’m speaking to landscape architect Sally Bower. Sally has just been awarded the main RHS prize for her Bursary Report titled ‘Nature Rising from the Rubble’ which looks at gravel and recycled aggregate gardens in Essex and London. Specifically, Sally looked at John Little’s Hilldrop garden, RHS Hyde Hall, Beth Chatto’s gravel garden, the Langdon Nature Discovery Car Park and the Horniman Museum Grasslands garden and her findings were invaluable if you’re interested in designing with or growing in these types of media, and Sally had some surprising findings of note too. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Harlequins What We Talk About The purposes of the study and the distinctions between the different growing media used by people creating gravel/rubble gardens Is this style of gardening be appropriate across the whole of the UK? Big Sky Meadow - is this style of planting is as labour intensive as a traditional flower border might be? In Beth Chatto’s garden, when beds are newly installed or are refreshed, they are subject to double digging during which process mushroom compost is incorporated to improve soil fertility. How does this gel with the idea that plants grow really well in low fertility, well-drained gravel substrates? John Little’s private garden and how it is built to encourage biodiversity How important is a site specific approach? One of the gardens is a success because once the plants grow through the aggregate and reach the clay below, they grow happily and healthily. Isn’t this just a gravel mulched garden rather than a proper gravel garden? How gravel gardens make a positive environmental contribution Why does soil which contain demolition waste high in lime capture carbon more quickly? Sally’s favourite example of this type of garden from the ones she wrote about About Sally Bower Based in Liverpool, I’ve been a landscape architect and garden design for over 20 years. My designs aim to develop attractive low impact schemes which reconnect people with nature, support wildlife and respond to the site and its setting. I am particularly interested in what it means to make a ‘wild’ garden and brownfield gardens for biodiversity and wildlife. Links www.sallybower.co.uk Link to Sally’s Report - ‘Nature rising from the rubble’ Other episodes if you liked this one: John Little of the Grass Roof Company Beth Chatto with Catherine Horwood Patreon Membership

My guest this episode is the super-talented and creative gardener and designer Brent Purtell and we’re talking about the Capitaspring Rooftop Garden in Singapore, which shares the ‘2nd highest’ building ranking along with 3 other buildings, all the same height. There are 3 gardens on the building, covering an area of 10,000 square feet and containing a mixture of ornamentals and edibles, all growing at dizzying heights. Brent was involved on the build and design side before he became the Head Gardener, overseeing the maintenance of Capitaspring Rooftop Garden.  Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Stinky pigs What We Talk About What is the Capitaspring Rooftop Garden and where is it located? How much growing space is there in total? The kind of things which grow in the garden How productive a rooftop edible can forest be How the produce is used The challenges of growing edibles on a rooftop Who visits the garden?  About the Capitaspring Building & Gardens The Capitaspring building was completed in early 2022. At 280m high, it shares the ‘2nd highest’ building ranking along with 3 other buildings, all the same height. This is due to Singapore having a cap of 280m on any new building. It's owned by Capitaland, a major property developer in Singapore and the region. Designed by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, and Carlo Ratti, it is very much a flagship building for the company and Singapore in general, with the relatively unique use of planting throughout the building. Current tenants are the big investment house JPMorgan, for example.  An article about the building Within the tower are three restaurants. These are: ‘Sol and Luna’ on level 17 - a casual latin inspired theme ‘Kaarla’ on level 51 - Fine dining coastal Australian ‘Oumi’ on level 51 - Fine dining Japanese Originally there was no concept of a ‘food forest’ or similar from the architects, and indeed, the chef's garden only takes up 50% of the overall rooftop space, with the other 50% planted in typical ornamental, low maintenance fashion. Rather, the addition of the edible section came from 1 Group, who reached out to a local company, Edible Garden City Pte Ltd to help with the design and installation. www.ediblegardencity.com Edible Garden City was started in 2012 with the aim of ‘helping Singaporeans grow their own food’. It has 3 pillars to the business, one being food production at 2 ‘urban farms’, which supplies produce to many restaurants through the city, including many Michelin starred. The second pillar is education, which runs workshops for the public at the aforementioned urban farm, along with onsite workshops for teachers in schools across the city. Thirdly, they design and build edible gardens, with over 260 built to date. The majority of these are gardens built within schools so that the students have access to a working garden, however many gardens have been built for commercial/hospitality venues, including the famous ParkRoyal Hotel, Marina Bay Sands etc. The remaining founder Bjorn Low, is a very recognised figure within Singapore for his environmental efforts. The garden was opened in Feb/march 2022 and so is still quite new and produces approx 70 - 80 kgs of produce a month. For example, here is a breakdown for October: Apple mint 200gm Brazilian Spinach 19.6kg Fame Flower 1kg Lemon Balm 800gm Lemon Myrtle 1.5kg Moringa leaves 10gm Kaarla Salad mix 12kg Purslane 3.1kg Rosemary 280gm Thyme 50gm Wasabina Mustard 1.5kg Wild Water Cress 15.5kg Mizuna Mustard 1.5kg Komatsuna 1kg Oyster Leaf 500gm Wild Pepper 500gm Pumpkin x 3 Edible flowers 2kg And here are a few of the ways the kitchen use them all: KAARLA CLOSED LOOP SALAD - ROOF TOP LEAVES AND FLOWERS, TIGER NUT CURD, DAIKON WESTERN PRAWNS, GERALDTON WAX, NATIVE TAMARIND ARDEN GROWN TIGER NUT ICE CREAM, TIGERNUT NOUGATINE, WHITE CHITOSE CORN, CALAMANSI JELLY, POACHED ORANGES AUSTRALIAN MARKET OYSTER, FIG LEAF AND OYSTER PLANT VINEGAR 8PP SESAME CRUST TUNA SERVED WITH WOOD-FIRED PADRON PEPPER, LEMON MYRTLE DRESSING LOBSTER DONABE - Garden Komatsuna, Tofu, Shungiku, Chestnut, Mitsuba, Seafood Dashi KOHITSUJI YAKI - Grilled Australian Lamb, Red Garlic Sauce, Lemon Myrtle, Lemon Balm, Calamansi, Satsumaimo UNI IKURA - Sea Urchin, Salmon Roe, Wasabina, Yuzu CHIRASHI Sashimi Of The Day, Daily Produce From Our Food Forest BUTA KAKUNI - Braised Australian Pork Belly, Fresh Yuzu, Fame Flower, Eringii, Egg Yolk, Mountain Caviar SHIO KOJI TEPPAN CHICKEN - Free-Range Chicken , Sansho Koji, Garlic Flower, Curry Leaf The ‘Kaarla closed loop salad’ in particular is popular as a signature dish.  Links www.1-group.sg www.kaarla-oumi.sg/kaarla Other episodes if you liked this one: Food Forest in Your Garden Food Forests for Plant Lovers Patreon Membership

To book-end the winter break, I’m sort of picking up where we left off by talking about a way to mark the passing of the year and the seasons and to ground yourself and your gardening endeavours in the natural patterns that govern them. My guest is Lia Leendertz, author of the annual The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide and she starts by talking about the origins of her almanac. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Winter in the veg garden What We Talk About The history of Lia’s Almanac How Lia intends for people to use the Almanac throughout the year The importance connecting with traditions, celebrations and rituals The monthly list of gardening jobs Gardening by the phases of the moon Underlying themes of the Almanac; the pond and the zodiac A discussion of Lia’s line about the month of August, “Your ancestors would be proud to see how far you have come, sipping a glass of cold wine and laughing in the sun.” About Lia Leendertz Lia is an award-winning garden and food writer based in Bristol. Her reinvention of the traditional rural almanac has become an annual must-have for readers eager to connect with the seasons, appreciate the outdoors and discover ways to mark and celebrate each month. Links The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2023 by Lia Leendertz - Octopus Publishing Group, September 2022 Lia’s Website Lia on Instagram Lia on Twitter  Other episodes if you liked this one: The Wheel of the Year with Dr Rebecca Beattie Garden Roots with Lulah Ellender Patreon Membership

My guest this week is Dr Rebecca Beattie. Rebecca has just released a book called ‘The Wheel of the Year’, which is a look at what is happening in nature and in ourselves as the seasons move from one to the other. She suggests tools and rituals to rediscover and appreciate each seasonal festival, giving you a chance to pause, reflect and connect you to the wheel of your own life. As this is the last episode of 2022 and the winter solstice is just 2 days away, I thought this would be a perfect way to wrap up the year and to encourage you to take time to appreciate, well time, as it passes and as things shift from one state of being to another. Christmas can be a frenetic time so I hope you can take half an hour out of your schedule to sit down and listen to Rebecca and to contemplate your place in the wheel of the year. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Lycaenidae butterflies What We Talk About What is the wheel of the year? The origins of the events and customs you find at the sabbats In our secular society, are we beginning to realise the importance of connecting back to a framework that makes sense of time and our place in the world? Useful hints for people to make sure they remember to mark the passing of seasons at appropriate times Advantages gardeners have in terms of being connected to the wheel of the year Our own annual wheel of the year and how this connect to those that occur in nature  How our unsettled seasons might affect how we celebrate the sabbats About Rebecca Beattie Dr Rebecca Beattie is a Wiccan Priestess with a PhD in Creative Writing. Rebecca grew up on Dartmoor, which gave her an early appreciation of the power and joys of nature. She has been practising solitary witchcraft for twenty years and an initiate of the Gardnerian Wiccan tradition for fifteen. She is acclaimed for her highly informed teaching of witchcraft subjects at Treadwell’s Books in Bloomsbury. By day she is a professional in a major charity, with advanced degrees in Literature and Creative writing. Links The Wheel of the Year by Rebecca Beattie - Elliott & Thompson Ltd, October 2022 Catherine Heatherington Designs Other episodes if you liked this one: Sacred Woodlands with Simon Leadbeater Sensory Herbalism with Karen Lawton Patreon Membership

This week’s guest is Martyn Richards who is the Home & Garden Manager for Agriton UK, part of a large European group of companies who manufacture products to help commercial and domestic users deal with the ‘soil, crop, animal waste cycle’. Martyn contacted me to see if I would be interested in speaking to him about their bokashi composting system and I thought, yes, I would, because I didn’t really understand the process. So my first question to Martyn was, just what is bokashi? Listen now and all will be revealed… What We Talk About What is bokashi compost?  How bokashi systems are different to traditional composting methods What can you compost? Is there anything you can’t? Do you need to add anything for the process to work? What are Bokashi organisms? Where do they originate from? Is it expensive to set up? Does it work at any scale? Does what you put in affect what comes out in terms of nutrient value? What is Bokashi bran? Links Agriton’s Bokashi Brochure  www.agriton.co.uk Other episodes if you liked this one: The Composting Process Feeding Your Soil with Humanure Patreon Membership

This week, my guest is David O’Carroll. David runs an 11 acre agroforestry learning centre in Totnes, Devon where he teaches natural farming methods, based on the techniques around Indigenous Microorganisms (IMO) and Korean Natural Farming (KNF). He focuses on building healthy soil to produce healthy plants and is both generous with his time and knowledge as he aims to share the details of his techniques to help other growers. What We Talk About What is Korean Natural Farming? What is IMO? How do you make it? Why do you need it? What is LAB? How does it help plants? Is KNF as useful for ornamental plants as it is for edibles? Do you need a lot of space to make the KNF preparations? Preparations for home gardeners to try  Links www.ballaghbotanicals.co.uk www.zerosoap.info  Other episodes if you liked this one: Mycorrhizal Fungi with Jeff Lowenfels Garden Amendments with Nigel Palmer Patreon Membership

This week, my guest is renowned horticulturist Andrew Bunting. Andrew is the Vice President of Horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, where he leads the utilization of planting and design to promote environmentally sound gardening practices across the organization. Andrew's extensive experience informs the work of PHS' Public Gardens and Landscapes team which maintains a network of public gardens and landscapes across the Pennsylvania region, contributes to creating vital greenspace and encourages all to see the impact of horticulture in their own lives and I must say, it sounds a really wonderful organisation.  Andrew’s expertise extends to many subjects but given his experience of gardening large landscapes in an area where deer are prevalent, and given that at this time of the year in the UK, our gardens are becoming tasty prospects when the wider landscape is offering slim pickings, I thought it would be very useful to get Andrew’s take on managing deer. What We Talk About The species of deer Andrew deals with in the US Can you exclude deer from a garden? How can you do this? Deer deterrents  Plants that can cope with predation  Is it just eating plants that’s the problem? Do deer trample on plants too? The times of the year are they most active Deer welfare About Andrew Bunting Andrew Bunting, Vice President of Horticulture at PHS, leads the utilization of planting and design to promote environmentally sound gardening practices across the organization.   As a renowned horticultural expert, Andrew's extensive experience informs the work of PHS' Public Gardens and Landscapes team which maintains a network of public gardens and landscapes across the Philadelphia region, contributes to creating vital greenspace and encourages all to see the impact of horticulture in their own lives. Links Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Other episodes if you liked this one: Foxes in Your Garden with Terry Woods Cats and Gardens Patreon Membership

This week’s guest is permaculture designer and author of 'The Plant Lover's Backyard Forest Garden’, Pippa Chapman. Growing our own food is becoming more and more important, and Pippa has tips on creating a year-round food forest that is low-maintenance and good for wildlife, that can work in a variety of aspects and that is an enjoyable and beautiful space for people too. What We Talk About What is a forest garden? Can forest gardens can be a bit limited in their plant palettes? Does a forest garden have to be a decent size in order to work? Food forest design techniques such as keyhole beds and lasagne beds The random assembly design technique Pippa’s essential perennial food plants Good examples of forest gardens About Pippa Chapman RHS-trained and garden designer, Pippa Chapman, is the author of 'The Plant Lover's Backyard Forest Garden', where she shares how she turned her grassy and paved back garden into an abundant, biodiverse, edible and beautiful forest garden that provides for her family and the local wildlife. Pippa also includes flowers into her garden design, so the garden is both beautiful and productive, and gives advice on using perennials for structure and food, as well as info on guilds, polycultures and growing in containers. Pippa's real-life examples and years of experience will help anyone create their own multilayered, edible paradise that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Growing our own food is only going to become more important, and a food forest of any size can offer: year-round food that is low-maintenance; wildlife habitat; beautiful gardens for people to enjoy; carbon sequestration; shady microclimates; and more.  Links 'The Plant Lover's Backyard Forest Garden’ by Pippa Chapman - Permanent Publications www.thoseplantpeople.com Other episodes if you liked this one: Introduction to Forest Gardening with Jake Rayson Food Forest in Your Garden Patreon Membership