Stay ConnectedIf 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 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.
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In this episode we hear from Tayshan Hayden-Smith, the footballer turned community gardener and activist, who tells Stephanie about the landscapes and people that have inspired him, including Meanwhile Gardens and his mum. Discover why he loves the buzz and energy of urban environments, with pavement plants growing in the cracks and crevices, and why he believes we need to rethink what we consider a garden to be. He explains how the fire at Grenfell Tower in London was a turning point in his life that led to him founding the not-for-profit organisation Grow 2 Know, challenging the gardening establishment and creating meaningful gardens in London and at the Chelsea Flower Show to help close the green gap and widen access to nature for more people.
Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more great garden inspiration and planting ideas at www.gardensillustrated.com
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Alan Titchmarsh MBE - gardener, broadcaster, author and national treasure - talks to Stephanie about the gardens, places, people and plants that he would like to include in his dream garden, from a tiny cottage garden on the coast of Cornwall to York Gate garden near Leeds and the ultimate summerhouse at Wolverton Hall. Discover which famous designer he would like to ask to create his little piece of paradise, what he really thinks of rewilding and why his legs are censored in North Korea.
Talking Gardens is created by the team at Gardens Illustrated magazine. Find lots more garden inspiration and planting ideas at www.gardensillustrated.com
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What would you include in your dream garden? On this season of Talking Gardens, that’s what we asked all new gardening guests, from Alan Titchmarsh to Kate Humble, and Tayshan Hayden-Smith to Nigel Dunnett. Discover who would want a napping tree and a cup of tea that never goes cold; who Ann-Marie Powell has been Insta-stalking; why garden designer Andy Sturgeon would need an entire multiverse to create his dream garden; and how gardener Jimi Blake dodges bears while botanising. That’s the Talking Gardens podcast from Gardens Illustrated magazine, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday. Follow now to make sure you never miss an episode.
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In this episode, garden designer and TV presenter Arit Anderson creates her dream garden, choosing the wow factor of Dan Hinkley’s Wyndcliffe garden on the sea and a West Country sunset. Discover what she thinks about in-between planting, her cold and soggy childhood holidays in the Lake District, how she finds being on TV, and what she means by ‘shade-loving’ people. Tune in to find out why Arit would love a bluebell meadow and the reason she would never allow leaf blowers in her fantasy space, or in her own 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
Enjoy this podcast? 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.
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In this episode, gardener and garden writer Tamsin Westhorpe talks about her dream garden, from the lived-in atmosphere of an old Arts and Crafts garden to the coastal landscape of The Durrells in Corfu. Find out about the horrible old jumper she keeps pristine in a plastic cover in her wardrobe because of who once complimented it, and why she would have to have an outdoor shower, pots of succulents and a daybed. We hear about Tamsin’s varied career, from art-school drop-out to parks keeper and interior landscaper, and why she thinks gardening is vital for mental health.
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
Enjoy this podcast? 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
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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
Giverny, Monet’s garden
Louise Dowding’s Yews Tree Farm garden
Keder Greenhouse polytunnel
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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
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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 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
New plant selected by Cassian Schmidt and Piet at Hermannshof is Schizachyrium scoparium 'Ha Ha Tonka'
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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
Plant pick: Hydrangea aspera ‘Koki’
Artist Richard Serra
Photographer Juergen Teller
Artist Joan Mitchell
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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
People
Ideas
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