Chris was on Gardeners' World 2025 Winter Special Episode 2 when Adam Frost joined him at John Massey's stunning gardens at Ashwood Nurseries near Kingswinford in the West Midlands.
On this episode of Chit-Chats, Chris shares his passion for the winter garden and the important part scented witch-hazels play, and we learn about the enormous numbers in John's Garden as well as some of Chris' favourites.
We also find out about mosaicing your meadows, using aspirin on the tomatoes, walking trees, what to look out for when buying Wollemi pine seeds, The fantastic Adam Greathead Award, grandma's elderflower champagne, and Chris' penchant for half-mooning.
Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/ Ashwood Nurseries Birmingham Botanical Gardens Winterbourne Garden Great Dixter Jardin Le Vasterival Witch Hazel Nursery Pan Global Plants West Dean Gardens Bluebell Arboretum
More Not Just a Garden Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/home Website: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ep67: A Good Ol' Chit-Chat With... Tom Cranham
08/03/2026 | 1h 12 mins.
Tom Cranham from Tom's Terraria Design was on Gardeners' World 2025, Winter Special episode 3 showing his stunning (and huge!) terraria as well as his exquisite collection of iridescent begonias.
On this episode of Chit-Chats, we get an idea of what it must feel like to be walking through the world of Avatar, thanks to the incredible variety and beauty of begonias, and we learn some handy tips on where to start with terraria, from those as small as Sweetpea's teapot terrarium, to glass cabinets to fill a wall.
We also hear about the unusual animals Tom has started introducing into the bedroom, the plants he donates to botanical gardens around the country, the advantages and disadvantages of horses, the once in a lifetime trip to Nosy Mangabe, and we find out which jam is the king of jams, especially if you have grandma’s old jam-pan.
Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/ Lyon Botanic garden Masoala National Park Trebah Garden Glasgow Botanic Garden Saihoji Moss Temple Chatsworth
More Not Just a Garden Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/home Website: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Not Just a Garden Bonus ep10
04/03/2026 | 58 mins.
On the final Not Just a Garden Bonus Episode 10 for this series, we are looking at spring in the garden in the form of hyacinths, crocuses, daffs, hummingbird hawkmoths and newts.
We also take a look at sonic hedgehog proteins, dogs licking cane toads, a beautiful antidote to AI images, whether AI can be used to help with grief, beaver reintroduction to the UK, the perils of Atropa belladonna in the beauty industry, the tragic catastrophe at Lake Nyos in Cameroon, and some incredible new research on whale sharks.
In our final Quazy Quiz, Sweetpea releases Hate, Date or Room-mate on Bear, and on the last Who Am I? we find out which Gardeners' World presenter was bass player in The Tumbling Dice🎸🎲🎲
Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/bonus-episodes/
More Not Just a Garden https://notjustagarden.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/ https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/ https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ep66: A Good Ol' Chit-Chat With... Eleanor Cochrane
01/03/2026 | 1h 19 mins.
Eleanor Cochrane was on Gardeners' World 2025, ep28 when she showed us her beautiful late summer jewel borders at The Copper House Garden on the Kent/Sussex border.
On this episode of Chit-Chats, not only do we set the record straight on Eleanor's feelings towards yellow flowers, but we also find out about her incredible experiences volunteering at Great Dixter, how she manages her sizeable garden without a greenhouse in sight, how to create a perennial meadow, the fortuitous discovery of their beautiful woodland ponds, and the importance of succession planting.
We also hear about Eleanor's hidden stash behind the sofas, her husband's similarities to Aiden Turner, a grave warning if importing topsoil, hoeing in a good way, and what to do if you have bad legs.
Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/ Great Dixter Sissinghurst Beth Chatto The Bumblebee Trust Sarah Raven Dahlias Halls of Heddon Parkers Catalogue
More Not Just a Garden Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/home Website: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Not Just a Garden Bonus ep9
25/02/2026 | 49 mins.
On Not Just a Garden Bonus Episode 9, now that spring is approaching, we consider our seed-snails, Jetfire daffs, Yin Yang beans, and Hobbes' favourite stick.
We also explore the variable world of licking toads, active-volcano-dwelling sharks, Portuguese urine toothpaste, bioluminescent honey fungus, and the pitfalls of chewing tobacco leaves, even for cowboys.
In our Quazy Quiz, Sweetpea flummoxes Bear once again with her Quazy Quareer but we learn a lot about animal faeces in the process, and we're getting through the last of the Gardeners' World Presenters with another Who Am I?
Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/bonus-episodes/
To help make this podcast happen, please visit our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/notjustagarden
More Not Just a Garden https://notjustagarden.co.uk/ https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/ https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/ https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to Not Just a Garden!A name that came about after we laboriously tackled a weed-infested, overgrown, black-run-steep patch of field into something vaguely resembling a garden. Literal blood, sweat and tears were spent in the process but once the beds were built, the plants began to grow and the wildlife took over, we agreed it was not just a garden, but something so much more; a shared achievement, a bonding experience, an escape from screens, a hideaway for tranquil moments, a safe space to sit and put the mad and confusing world to rights.Our continued shared love of gardening has had us avidly watching Gardeners’ World each week, taking notes here, animatedly discussing there, which has in turn lead us to giving a Sweetpea & Bear style recap on our podcast! Just a mother and daughter chewing the fat over Nick, Frances and Adam’s big garden moves, enjoying Monty and Toby’s poetic presenting, learning intriguing garden history from Advolly and hanging off Carol’s every propagating word.The programme has also brought into our living rooms each week a novice, professional, serious, hilarious, quirky, eccentric, inspiring world of guests, all of whom we want to know so much more about. So our Good Ol' Chit-Chats series was born; each episode we chat with a previous guest on Gardeners’ World and find out more about what would make their dream garden.So grab a cup of tea and flask of coffee, a glass of wine, a whisky, a Pimms, an Apple and Pear juice or anything in between, and join us for a Good Ol’ Chit-Chat about Not Just a Garden!Sweetpea & Bear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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