In this week's episode I chat with writer, author and owner of Bressingham Gardens, Adrian Bloom. We talk about: The beautiful gardens at Bressingham. Adrian's career, to date The creation of Foggy Bottom His new book, Foggy Bottom - A Garden to Share Photography, plants, and lots, lots more To order Adrian's new book, Foggy Bottom - A Garden to Share, click here. To learn more about Bressingham, click here. To learn more about Foggy Botton garden, click here. To follow me on my...

In this week's episode, I chat with garden writer and author, climate change expert and editor of Amateur Gardening magazine, Kim Stoddart. We chat about: Kim's excellent new book, 'The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden', published by Cool Springs Press. Resilience The importance of connecting with nature Wellbeing Emotional regulation Nutrient density, and, of course, lots more To learn more about Kim head to her website by clicking here, or to her Instagram account by...

In this week's, episode, I head back to the Cotswolds for what is fast, becoming my annual get together with garden writer, Val Bourne. The weather, not on our side, this time, meant we had to record this episode in the lounge of Val's beautiful cottage. We chat about: Writing for a living Val's pretty cottage garden Erythroniums Dahlias Ed Sheeran (!), and, Lots more as always Please don't forget to follow/subscribe as there are more episodes to come. And please do leave a...

In this week's, episode of the Mike The Gardener – Gardening Podcast, I chat to my friend and one time tutor, garden writer, broadcaster, and author, David Hurrion.   Twenty years ago, I was lucky enough to have had David as the tutor of my RHS level 1 course. As you will hear in today’s episode, David’s vocation has been to share his vast knowledge of all things, plants, gardening and horticulture with others. He’s also been a journalist, writer and editor, working for publications,...

In this week’s episode of the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I chat with garden writer, veg grower and author, Rob Smith.  Rob’s new book ‘Grow to Eat: Growing Colourful & Tasty Vegetables From Seed’ is published by Quadrille Publishing on 28th March, 2024 and in this episode we chat about: How Rob’s passion for growing veg started His career to date How the book came about The BBC TV programme, The Great Allotment Challenge, which Rob won in 2015 Rob’s plans for the...

In this week's episode of the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I chat with award-winning garden designer, Manoj Malde. We chat about his new book 'Your Outdoor Room' published by Frances Lincoln on 21 March 2024. We chat about: His childhood His career in the fashion industry The book and how it came about Manoj's Chelsea Flower Show Gardens His TV work, and lots more You can find out more about Manoj by clicking here and follow him on Instagram by clicking here You can...

In this week’s episode of the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I chat with Lucy Hutchings (@shegrowsveg) about her career to date. In 2018, Lucy took to Instagram to chart her progress growing her own fruit & vegetables. She now has a following of over 180,000.  In this episode, I chat to Lucy about her career to date, including her work as a writer, author, garden designer, and now, entrepreneur as she and business partner, Kate Cotterell have set up the UK Heirloom Seed Company....

Hello and welcome back to this week's episode of the Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast. This week, I speak to garden, owner and author, TJ Maher. TJ is an artist who has an incredible eye for using colour, forms and texture in his beautiful Patthana Garden in Wicklow, Ireland. His new book, published by Pimpernel Press on 7th March 2024 is ‘Grounded in the garden - an artist's guide to creating a beautiful garden in harmony with nature’ and looks closely at the creation of the Patthana...

In this week's episode of the Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I chat once again to Jekka McVicar whose new book '100 Herbs to Grow' is published 7 March 2024 by Quadrille Publishing. In this fascinating and in-depth chat, we talk about: Jekka's new book, '100 Herbs to Grow'. How to inspire people to grow The future of small and independent specialist nurseries How Jekka spends her ‘me-time’ Her plans for the future, and much more. This is truly another great chat with Jekka, and...

In this week's episode of the Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I chat with Scotland Grows Editor and Podcaster and freelance writer M.T. O’Donnell.  Amongst many topics, we discuss: MTs, role as Editor and Podcaster for Scotland Grows. The Scotland Grows magazine. The challenges of gardening in Scotland.  The TRELLIS charity - Gardening for Well-Being, and lots more.  You can find out more about Scotland Grows by clicking here. My thanks to MT for taking time out of her schedule...

In this week's episode of the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I return to Kingston Maurward, horticultural college, where I learnt my trade many, many years ago. Nigel Hewish, the Head Gardener there, is responsible for the national collection of salvias held within the grounds of the college. What Nigel doesn't know about salvias frankly, isn't worth knowing. In this informative episode, we chat about: Where salvias originate from How to grow them How to propagate them How...

Hello and welcome to the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast. In this first episode of Series 7, I'm delighted to be joined by the rather lovely Anya Lautenbach, a.k.a. Anya, The Garden Fairy (Instagram). Anya's brand new book, her first, The Money Saving Gardener is published on 8 February by DK books. We chat about: How the book came about The writing process Anya's first gardening memories How a personal tragedy led to her building a beautiful garden of her own How she got...

In this weeks episode, I chat to another Head Gardener, Nigel Hewish of Kingston Maurward college in Dorchester. I completed my horticultural training at Kingston Morwood many years ago, and it was a delight to catch up with Nigel to talk about the gardens and his career. In this chat, we cover: Nigel's career to date His love of trees and shrubs The plant collections at Kingston Maurward The impacts of climate change, and lots more. There's also some very handy gardening advice...

In this fascinating episode,  I chat to Charles Carr, who is the Head of Wholesale Nurseries at Hillier Nurseries Limited.  Charles took me on a tour of the site and it's just incredible to see this massive operation, and the technology thats in use, the skills of the staff all around the site and most importantly, the quality of the plants that are produced. I chat to Charles about his role and, as with so many conversations I've had in this series, we talk about the impact of climate...

In this episode of the Mike the Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I go back to a garden, that's not too far from me, the Harold Hillier Gardens in Ampfield near Romsey to chat to Head Gardener, Fran Clifton. I last visited Fran a couple of years ago, when we talked about the stunning winter garden, but today, we talk about: Fran's role as head gardener What the role entails How much time does she actually get to spend in the garden as opposed to looking after the paperwork in the office ...

Hello, and welcome to this weeks episode of them Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast.  This week I chat with Harry Baldwin, the Head of Horticulture at the beautiful Borde Hill Gardens near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, UK.  In this current series of the podcast, I've been chatting to a number of Head Gardeners & Heads of Horticulture about their roles, their careers and the gardens they work in.  I met with Harry in late September to talk about his career, his job at Borde Hill, the...

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast. In this episode, I chat to gardener, writer and author, Miranda Janatka, whose second book, Happy Indoor Garden has just been published by Batsford Books. Until recently, Miranda was also a senior content creator for the fabulous Gardeners’ World magazine. We chat about: Her career to date How she got into gardening Her books and the writing process How own garden, and of course lots more My thanks to...

In this episode I travel to Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens near Weymouth in Dorset (UK) where I chat to Curator, David Pearce. We chat about: His role as Curator. The gardens and how they're looked after and maintained. The historic plant collection Gardening jobs for autumn and winter. David's own plant passions. Why people should go to Abbotsbury Gardens. The joy and passion that working in the garden, and within the horticultural industry...

Hello, and welcome back to episode two of series 6 of them Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast. In this episode, I chat with Roz Chandler, a cut flower farmer and teacher, writer, speaker, and fellow podcaster. And, if that were not enough, she is also an award-winning wedding florist based in Milton Keynes. I chat with Roz about everything you could possibly need to know about growing cut flowers from how she started to how to keep the business running successfully. To learn more about...

Hello and welcome back to Series 6 of them Mike The Gardener - Gardening Podcast. The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed the title of the podcast has changed very slightly. I'm ditching the 'MIC' (which was a nod to the microphone element) in favour of MIKE. And, in a further change for this series, I will have an occasional co-host who I introduce you to in today's episode. Going forward, there will still be your favourite content, including: Interviews with great, gardening,...

Hello, and welcome to this bonus episode of the Mike the Gardener – Gardening Podcast. This time we return to the allotment with Otis to see what has been happening since we were last there a few weeks back.  And, I can assure you, the allotment has been very, very productive. I know that, because we've been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of some of the delicious crops, including bumper hauls of courgettes, beans and beetroot.  In today's episode, we touched upon the use of...

Hello and welcome to this last episode in the current series of a Mic The Gardener - Gardening Podcast. As I said last week, we have a great final guest today, in fact, it's my youngest guest on the podcast ever.  Now, one day, when I was whiling away time on good old Instagram, I stumbled across an account in the name of The First Time Gardener. Now, there are two people behind this particular account, one of whom is probably more in charge of the shall we say administration, whilst the...

In this week's episode, I head back to Otis and Ben's allotment to see how things are progressing so far this season. I'm delighted to advise that for the first time in the series, so far, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Clear blue skies, a very gentle breeze and temperatures soaring, especially in the tunnel. Today we chat about: Some nifty little hacks, including how to make more cuttings from tomatoes Companion planting The impact of the current and prolonged dry spell in the...

In this week's episode of the Mic The Gardener - Gardening Podcast, I chat with friend and nursery owner, Ruth Goudy. Ruth is one of the owners of the Kiln Farm Nursery in Kesgrave, Ipswich alongside husband Paul. We chat about: How the nursery came about How it grew and developed into the thriving business it is today What is entailed in running a successful garden centre What are the future plans for the garden centre? And lots, lots more. It's a fascinating insight into garden...