This blog is the bit of the online world where I get to decide what happens. And I’ve decided to dedicate it to gardens, and plants – those we like (pretty flowers), and those we collectively disdain (evil weeds – it’s interesting how unnecessarily binary we can get about things). Here you can find book reviews, and tool reviews, practical advice and stories from other gardeners, seasonal observations and reflections upon how our gardens sit within the landscape. And along the way, I might find time to mull over what our attitudes to all these things has to say about us.
Now you’re here, I hope you might have a few minutes to have a poke around and see what’s of interest, and leave me a comment at the end of a post, if you’re inclined (I do love a comment, and aim to respond to them all). If you’re pushed for time and would prefer a podcast, there’s one of those too – the Gardens, weeds & words podcast here. If you think you’d benefit from some gardening advice, have a look at my one-to-one online garden coaching programme. Otherwise, come and talk gardens and plants with me me on twitter or instagram, where you can find me as @AndrewTimothyOB.
Winter’s not yet done with us, but there's always something to do in the garden. Delving back into Jack Wallington's Wild About Weeds to find out how to manage these rebel plants. And thinking about how the picture perfect garden fits
Autumn is settling in and, if we’re honest, we start to spend less time actively gardening. More time for the soil to grow what it really wants, more time for us to start dreaming next year’s garden into being…
We salute summer as it reaches its peak and, just as quickly, begins to pass the baton on to the next season, and enjoy a reading from the introduction to Jack’s book, from which the episode title’s been shamelessly pinched
Chef, grower, teacher, herbologist – it’s always hard to categorise my guests on the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast and Maya Thomas is no exception. Suffice to say that a love of plants or people – and usually both – infuses everything she does, and so where better to focus our conversation for this episode than on the subject of herbs…
Love it or hate it (and why would you hate it?), the RHS Chelsea Flower Show offers a fantastic platform for charities to promote their work. In this episode, I’m joined by Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, whose Gardens for Good Causes initiative brings together designers, landscapers and charitable organisations, creating headline-grabbing show gardens with the power to bring change where it’s most needed.
There’s an intricacy and generosity of spirit to the work of floral artist and broadcaster Hazel Gardiner that betrays her love of story telling, as well as hinting at her ability not just to absorb energy from the creatives she works along side, but to amplify that vibrancy and share it back around. In this episode she joins me to talk about her varied career path, the roots of her artistic approach and, of course, her garden
To celebrate the publication of my first book, To Stand and Stare: how to garden while doing next to nothing, I’m having the tables turned on me. For this episode, I find myself on the other side of the mic as friend of the podcast Alice Vincent drops by to interview me about how the book came about, how it relates to my wider work, and why a title that’s very much not a ‘how to garden’ manual still manages to have so many ‘how to...’ sections in it.
I’m so delighted to have florist and grower Milli Proust on the podcast for the last episode of 2022. Her book From Seed to Bloom was one of the highlights of the year for me, as it has been for many others, and the images of her floral arrangements and beautiful growing space in West Sussex continue to provide a gorgeous backdrop to pleasant reveries. We discuss her emphasis upon the seasons and the land, on story and theatre, and the impact that becoming a mother has had on her work. And laugh, a lot.
Susanna Grant’s mission seems to be to make gardening easy for people; particularly people who live in the city, where space is at a premium and buildings huddle together to crowd out the light. From behind an unassuming garden gate in Hackney, her courtyard store Linda glows, filled with the kind of lush, green growth that thrives in these conditions. We talk of shade and weeds, community gardens and cake, perennial window boxes and sending worms through the post.
Spring is well and truly here, and so is garden designer and writer Jack Wallington, who joins me for the last episode of this mini series of the podcast celebrating the ideas behind his book, Wild About Weeds.