S03.5 Episode 4: What your garden wants from you

Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S03.5 E04 show notes

A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.

These notes may contain affiliate links. 

Garden soundtrack

00:40 spring settling in, and it’s been a warm, dry start

02:34 what your garden wants from you, the last in my series of readings on how to find yourself in a state of harmony with your garden

reading

08:00 ‘Cow Parsley’ from Jack Wallington’s Wild About Weeds, read by Milli Proust

interview

10:52 Jack joins us to talk about the impact of his book five (now six!) years on, how practical it really is to incorporate weeds purposefully into our gardens, and whether a gentler, more natural approach to planting has any cut through beyond the garden media. 

12:08 Did Jack’s pro-weed stance feel like a lonely position to be adopting back in 2019?

13:28 The effect on Jack’s garden design practice

13:54 The manifesto approach to writing your first book

14:42 Has there been a noticeable change in the attitude of gardeners towards weeds since the publication of the book?

17:50 Has there been any trickle down to the general public from a wilder look embraced by top garden designers at shows like Chelsea?

22:54 A plant in the wrong place? Weren’t they here first? But gardening is largely about declaring what we want to grow and where. How does Jack find a middle ground?

25:25 Managing a weedy population – regular culling

26:22 Jack’s wildflower meadow and help with weeding

27:15 Practical steps with embracing weeds – where do you start with becoming wild about weeds?

29:22 A weedy through-line – how weeds flow through all of Jack’s work

***

Thank you to Milli Proust for her delightful reading from Jack’s book, Wild About Weeds, published by Lawrence King in 2019.

My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing, is published by DK Life, and is available here

I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees. 

substack: Bramble & Briar website: www.andrewtimothyobrien.com email: [email protected] instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB