The Gardener Ben Podcast

S3E13 this week, I’m rejoined by the amazing Katrina from @buildingafoodforest_scotland. We spoke last year on season two but had so much to catch up on. I thought it would be wonderful to invite them back to the podcast to see how the 2025 growing season ended and see how Clayton and the rest of the family were getting on.Katrina juggles a busy family life while wearing many different hats, including homeschooling Clayton, who has severe autism and has found a real passion for gardening and being outside with his mum. She also manages, unbelievably, to squeeze in a little time for some crochet every now and then, and has also written a few books.Please do head over to her channels, either on Instagram or on YouTube, and show the account some love, especially if you have a young person in your life who has expressed an interest in gardening.The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, creating timeless roses since 1968 and winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.Next week, I’m excited to bring you a conversation with @soulfulwisdomacademy, who I’ve visited for Reiki therapy several times, which I have found really helps with my overall well-being, mindfulness, and mental health issues over the last 15 months.The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #listennow #gardeningpodcast

After a short festive break, the Gardener Ben Podcast is back with season three and episode 12. I would like to stress there is absolutely no pressure and no rush to be getting on with tasks in the garden whatsoever at this time of year. The garden is slumbering quietly, and winter is doing its thing, breaking organic matter down and cleansing the garden of harmful fungal spores, pathogens, and disease problems.There’s no rush to be getting seeds sown, pots washed, or to rush out and start clearing the beds, borders, or doing your winter pruning. I’ll be touring you through my schedule in the weeks to come, so I hope if you take nothing else away from this week’s episode whatsoever, it’s someone else giving you the permission to take things easy, slowly and gently, for the beginning parts of the year.This week on the podcast, I have the pleasure of talking to Conrad, the name behind @thatbotanicguy, an account I followed on Instagram for a very long time, coveting his large collection of tree ferns and tropical plants he gets to grow outside in his garden. I hope that you enjoy our conversation.Next week, I’m catching up once again with @buildingafoodforest_scotland. We had so much to talk about on our first episode together that I wanted just to touch base and catch up to see how the growing season of 2025 turned out in the end.The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #listennow

S2E11 of the GardenerBen Podcast features @david_long_gardens.As I’ve been doing lots of shuffling about and redesigning here at North Lodge, and after meeting David at the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, I thought who better to catch up with and talk us through his design process when he takes on a professional garden project.David covers all areas of Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire in his work, so please do head to his page and show his account some 💚The GardenerBen Podcast will return on Monday 5th of January after a belief festive holiday, when I’ll be joined by Conrad, known as @thatbotanicguy. The GardenerBen Podcast is brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.comEdited by @mark_hamilton_anderson#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #listennow

S3E11 of the Gardener Ben podcast features an in-person informal conversation with Philip Harkness from @harknessroses1879.Philip is the fifth generation of his family to be at the helm of the Harkness rose company, and it was a real honour to get to know him properly, away from the hustle and bustle of the floral marquees of show season.During our conversation, Philip shares his thoughts and opinions about organic gardening, the environment, his love of dogs, and a few details of some new upcoming releases which are becoming available over the next few months. Head to Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, or my YouTube channel to listen now!I hope that you enjoy listening to our conversation and join me again next week for one more episode before Christmas, featuring @david_long_gardens.The Gardener Ben podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.The Gardener Ben podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.#gardenerben #podcaster #gardener #gardenpodcast #streamingnow

The Gardener Ben Podcast is all about the topic of peat this week. I had the absolute pleasure of talking to @sally.nex from @peatfreepartnership a few weeks ago about this all-important topic, which has raged on in the horticultural industry for the entirety of my horticultural career.Many of you will be shocked to read that the legal extraction and destruction of peat bogs and habitat is still allowed. And although many of you desperately try to make the correct decisions when you’re buying compost and plants, there is still a lot of hidden peat being used within the horticultural industry. This still stacks up to be a vast quantity, hidden in things like houseplants, the packaging of bulbs and tubers, as well as live herb plants purchased from supermarkets. I was also shocked to find out that peat is added to manure for the production of mushrooms, proving that you’re never too old to learn something new.@peatfreepartnership is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to government to bring the legal extraction of peat in the UK to an end. If this is something that is important to you as a gardener or environmentalist, please follow the link and make sure that you sign the petition and share it with all of your online friends and followers.Next week on the Gardener Ben Podcast, I’m joined by Philip Harkness of @harknessroses1879, chatting about many different topics, including, obviously, roses — so tune in next week.The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.Until next week, happy gardening.#gardenerben #podcast #gardeningpodcast #helpingyougrow #listennow