This month, Fiona meets Åsa Gregers-Warg, head gardener at Beth Chatto Plants and Gardens. They tour the gardens, and reflect on Beth Chatto’s legacy, discussing how we can adapt our gardens to promote resilience and withstand changing environmental conditions. “We haven't used any herbicides or pesticides for the last few years. And we all have to be water wise these days as well. It started off with the gravel garden being the only part of the garden that was never irrigated. But since a...

It's safe to say the weather has been incredibly unusual this year. A wet cold spring was followed by a slug-filled summer. And here in the Midlands, we’ve already experienced our first frosts!  Sally Morgan, author of the Resilient Garden Handbook, has been tackling these challenges head on. She speaks with Fiona about what makes a resilient garden, and how we can overcome unusual growing conditions.  “We’re perhaps the first generation of gardeners who can't look back to their...

As the nights draw in, Chris sits down with Nick Dunn, professor of urban design at Lancaster University. Nick is also the founding director of the Dark Design Lab, exploring the impacts of nocturnal activity on nature. Nick enlightens us about the role darkness plays in our gardens and artificial light's impact on the wider environment.  “What light pollution basically does is it alters the way plants and animals behave. The classic example is of moths being drawn to bright lights. But...

Fiona chats with Nick Mole, Policy Officer from the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK who shares why pesticides should be banned from use in our urban spaces, and how communities can be affected by pesticide use.    “Knowing that there are alternatives to pesticides that do work, pesticide use in our towns and cities is completely unnecessary. France has banned the use of all non-agricultural pesticides. They have legislation in place and it works. It is often hard, councils are facing all...

What do bed sheets, hessian and bacteria have in common? They might help us reduce the amount of plastic we use in our veg plots!  Award-winning author, gardener, peat- and plastic-free advocate Sally Nex shares fascinating advice for reducing, reusing and recycling the 500 million pots, seed trays, and other bits of plastic we get through in our gardens every year in the UK. “When we chip a pot and it goes directly into our soil, it's going to stay there for the next 400 years,” says...

We’ve got a double bill this month to help you save more water in your garden over the summer. We’re joined by Jo Osborn from the charity Waterwise – who tells us that in England alone, we face a potential water deficit of close to 5,000 million litres of water every day by 2050. She shares how crucial it’s we conserve more of it in our homes and gardens. And climate change gardening guru Sally Morgan talks rainwater and grey water harvesting. She reveals ways to water plants more...

In this month’s Organic Gardening Podcast, Chris Collins chats to Nick Hamilton – son of organic gardening pioneer Geoff Hamilton – and finds out more about his gardening journey and life at his beloved Barnsdale Gardens. We’ve always had a close relationship with the gardens and Nick, a former Garden Organic trustee, and shared many planting schemes and plant cuttings over the years. Our ‘Paradise Garden’ (now part of Coventry University), with its pergolas and pond, was built to...

Chris Collins chats to Josiah Meldrum, co-founder and owner of Hodemedods, about growing beans and pulses in the UK climate. Josiah explains how Hodemedods works with British farmers to supply pulses, such as lentils and chickpeas, in as sustainable way as possible and often using organic methods. He shares some varieties that can grow well in our gardens and how they grow more unusual crops such as chickpeas and lentils. He also shows how easy it is for British gardeners to overlook the...

To celebrate Food Waste Action Week (18-24 March), Chris Collins and David Garrett join Fiona to bust the myths around composting. If you want to know how, why and what to compost this is a must-listen. David, our head of knowledge transfer at Garden Organic, shares the reasons he loves compost, and talks through the different composting systems at our organic demonstration garden, and how to use them. “We're producing kitchen waste at home so why not process it ourselves and produce...

Our CEO Fiona Taylor visits Slimbridge to chat to Simon Rose from the  Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) about ways to create similar habitats in your growing space.  With 75 per cent of wetlands in the UK lost in the last 300 years, Fiona explores the importance of urban bluescapes and bogs as a homes for wildlife. “Wetlands are really rich in wildlife – in fact 40 per cent of the world's species are reliant in some way on wetlands,” says Simon, who is Head of Experience Development at...

Join Fiona Taylor as she chats to Adam Alexander, aka the Seed Detective.

Our guest this month is Anthony McCluskey from Butterfly Conservation, who shares some fascinating advice about how to support butterflies and caterpillars in your growing space. We chat to Butterfly Conservation’s urban butterfly project officer about the importance of attracting more butterflies and nighttime pollinators such as moths. And he provides some brilliant advice on things you can plant and do in your garden to help support pollinator populations. “Recent studies show more than...

In this month’s podcast, Chris hops across the border to visit the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to learn more about its conservation work. He chats to Kirsty Wilson, herbaceous supervisor at the botanic gardens, to discover more about its 350-year-old living collection of plants and its research projects. Kirsty, a presenter on BBC Scotland’s Beechgrove Garden, explains the steps the garden is taking to help fight climate change, including preserving struggling plants, using green and...

In this month’s podcast, we chat to Pam ‘The Jam’ Corbin about making seasonal jams and chutneys from homegrown produce. As the UK's leading expert on preserving, Pam shares some of her best-kept preserving secrets in October’s Organic Gardening Podcast. Pam cemented her reputation as a preserving expert at Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s River Cottage. And in her latest book, Pam the Jam: The Book of Preserves, she provides detailed instructions for making more than 100 of her favourite...

In this month’s podcast, Fiona chats to environmentalist Jane Davidson – our new Vice President - about the impact of climate change on her life and her gardening. In a fascinating discussion for our September Organic Gardening Podcast, the former Welsh Government minister shares her organic gardening trials and triumphs in North Pembrokeshire, and the importance of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act, which she spearheaded. “We’ve lost 70 per cent of species in my lifetime…and...

This month’s delicious Organic Gardening Podcast offers 50-minutes of organic gardening advice and growing stories from our experts at the height of the harvest. The August garden might be bursting at the seams but now’s a great time to be planning for next year. Chris and Fiona chat about growing potatoes for a Christmas crop and planting for the hunger gap in early spring. And discuss protecting your soil over autumn and winter with green manures. Also in this episode Fiona finds out...

In this unpruned episode of the Organic Gardening Podcast, Sarah Brown sits down for a chat with ecological grower and garden designer Jack Wallington about his book, A Greener Life.  Whether you're a seasoned gardener seeking to deepen your understanding of sustainable practices or a beginner eager to embark on a greener gardening journey, prepare to be inspired as Jack imparts his wisdom, revealing his secrets to a more sustainable and fulfilling gardening experience. From incorporating...

 In this month’s podcast, our Head Gardener Emma O’Neill gives us a backstage tour of her brilliant Backyard Biodiversity show garden at Gardeners’ World Live – and the take aways to use in your own garden. Emma talks to Fiona about the climate-change focus of the silver award-winning garden, which gave gardeners inspiring ideas to help their garden better withstand drought and flooding.  She shares the benefits of permeable paths and gravel gardens for absorbing run off. And growing a...

In this month’s podcast, Chris Collins chats to the ‘Banksy of Veg’ - food and gardening activist Sara Venn – about the importance of community gardening. The founder of Incredible Edible Bristol talks us through her journey into gardening and how she realised eco-friendly, organic gardening was the right route. “I learnt there's an awful lot of horticulture that isn't very good for the planet,” she says. “There's an awful lot of horticulture that's quite posh…and there’s a lot that...

Our gardens and growing spaces have never been more important as biodiversity declines. Listen to our fascinating conversation with wildlife gardening pioneer Chris Baines as he discusses the “wildlife revolution” in our gardens and the sea-change in attitudes towards incorporating nature-friendly habitats and techniques. “Gardens made a big, positive difference [to wildlife] once people started to see them as a place where they could enjoy and encourage wildlife, rather than a place that...

In this Cut Flower Special of The Organic Gardening Podcast, Sarah Brown chats with Jo Wright from Flowers from the Farm and Debbie Scott, from East Lothian Flower Farm, as they share their experience of growing cut flowers organically, offering valuable insights into the benefits of supporting local flower growers. “Growing organic flowers made complete sense as we think about what we do very carefully," says Jo. "Cut flowers are a luxury, and we think the onus is much greater on the...

The first day of spring is here and we’re starting to sow the seeds of the gardening year. Chris Collins pays a visit to Richard Wilford at Kew Gardens where he talks about tackling pests and reducing digging. “Our tolerance of pests has changed,” says Richard. “You’ve just got to accept the fact you’re going getting some aphids sometimes, and not get your sprayer out every time you see one. Allow the garden ecosystem to do what it needs to do…and then you won’t need to worry about pest...

Spring is just around the corner and our Organic Gardening Podcast team are sharing their excitement at the gardening year ahead. Our head of horticulture Chris Collins chats to Fiona about his love of hardy annual flowers. He discusses how to prepare ahead and get the ground ready, and what to sow for a fabulous display in the summer. At his allotment, he’s making new plants from old by lifting and dividing herbaceous perennials. And Sarah Brown chats to Jack Wallington about his move...

 “Everyone deserves a meal” is one of the mottos of organic gardener Sarah Mead as she tackles garden pests – and is the thread running through this month’s podcast. Fiona takes a tour of Sarah’s beautiful, Soil Association-certified organic garden at Yeo Valley dairy farm in Blagdon, and find out how she works alongside wildlife rather than trying to eradicate pests. “It’s critical to leave things alone so you don’t break the food chain because once you’ve done that you’ve lost the...