The Wildlife Garden Podcast

Hi all!

It’s been nearly a year now since the last episode of The Wildlife Garden Podcast. We’ve had a lot to deal with in our personal lives so it has had to take a back seat. Ellie and I (Ben) are no longer working together, but Ellie is still going strong with her business, Ellies Wellies Organic Gardening.

Although we’ve headed our separate ways, we’ve decided that we really want to keep the podcast going. You’ll have a little longer to wait, but we will return this summer for a new series! If there are any topics you want us to cover, let us know. You can always contact us via the comments on Substack or email us at [email protected].

Over the next few months I will be walking around 1,400 miles from the tip of Scotland at John O’Groats, right down to the furthest reaches of Cornwall at Lands End. Wish me luck with the weather and I hope to make some interesting botanical sightings along the way.

Ellie is having an adventure of her own. As a Francophile, two weeks wildlife spotting around the French countryside can’t get much better, that’s if she finds time amongst drinking wine and eating cheese! She is particularly looking forward to her stay at Le Moulin De Pensol in the Limousin area near Limoges. With 8 hectares of rewilded land, they have an amazing array of wildlife. They are listeners to the podcast too, so get a big thumbs up from us 👍. If you’re interested in staying there yourself, you can find out more here Rural Holiday Accommodation In France - Le Moulin De Pensol.

While we have been away, other wildlife gardeners have been busy. Huge congratulations to our friends at The Wildlife Garden Project who have just launched the amazing Wildlife Garden Directory. The directory is a simple website where people looking for a wildlife friendly gardener can put in their postcode and find like minded professional gardeners near to them. If you are looking for a gardener, or you’re a gardener yourself and want to be listed on the directory, follow this link for more information Find a Wildlife Gardener - Wildlife Garden Directory.

We are both looking forward to getting back behind the mics this summer. Until then, we hope you have a fabulous spring and enjoy the sunny months to come.

Ben and Ellie

As we head into June we encourage you to leave the mower alone, with a little help from Plantlife. Then we have the second part of our interview with the fabulous Dr Abigail Lowe, talking about the preferred food for pollinators. And we polish things off with a stunning garden speedwell as our Native Plant of the Month, Veronica spicata ssp. spicata.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to PayPal.

Our Links

Find the podcast in your podcast app

The Wildlife Garden Podcast | Facebook

The Wildlife Garden Podcast (@thewildgdn) | Twitter

Ellie’s Wellies – Organic Gardening | Facebook

The Wild GDN | Youtube

Websites for Wildlife Gardeners

Garden Wildlife Recording Schemes

Buzz Club

Big Butterfly Count

Big Garden Bird Watch

BTO Garden BirdWatch

Nature Overheard

Bugs Matter

Sightings

Blackbird

White-tailed Bumble Bee

Poplar Hawk Moth

Hedgehog

Grey Heron

Carrion Crow

Wood Pigeon

No Mow May

Plantlife Guide To Liberating Your Lawn

No Mow May The Right Way

Wildlife Garden Forum Symposium

Dr Abigail Lowe

Nature Overheard Project

Urban Nature Project

Plants, pollinators and their interactions under global ecological change: The role of pollen DNA metabarcoding

Shifts in honeybee foraging reveal historical changes in floral resources

Using DNA metabarcoding to investigate honey bee foraging reveals limited flower use despite high floral availability

Seasonal progression and differences in major floral resource use by bees and hoverflies in a diverse horticultural and agricultural landscape revealed by DNA metabarcoding

Spiked Speedwell - Veronica spicata ssp. spicata

Biological Flora of the British Isles: Veronica Spicata

Botanical Society for Britain and Ireland Plant Atlas 2020

RHS - Veronica spicata

Gardeners World How to Grow Veronicas

Early Bumblebee

Buff-tailed Bumblebee

White-tailed Bumble Bee

Pantaloon Bee

Yellow Legged Mining Bee

Heath Fritillary

This month we are thrilled to interview Dr Abigail Lowe, Community Science Officer at the Natural History Museum and an expert on plants and their pollinators. We also have a brief clip from the British Trust for Ornithology and a wildlife gardening correspondent too! If that’s not enough, we then look at a spring delight, the charming Windflower or Anemone nemorosa.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to PayPal.

Our Links

Find the podcast in your podcast app

The Wildlife Garden Podcast | Facebook

The Wildlife Garden Podcast (@thewildgdn) | Twitter

Ellie’s Wellies – Organic Gardening | Facebook

The Wild GDN | Youtube

Websites for Wildlife Gardeners

Sightings

Hairy-footed flower bee - Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Lacewings

Two-pronged Bristletails

Red Dead-Nettle

Greenfinch

Wildlife Garden Forum Symposium

All WLGF talks

Rob Jaques - Observing extreme weather events through weekly garden wildlife records

Dr Abigail Lowe

Nature Overheard Project

Urban Nature Project

Plants, pollinators and their interactions under global ecological change: The role of pollen DNA metabarcoding

Shifts in honeybee foraging reveal historical changes in floral resources

Using DNA metabarcoding to investigate honey bee foraging reveals limited flower use despite high floral availability

Seasonal progression and differences in major floral resource use by bees and hoverflies in a diverse horticultural and agricultural landscape revealed by DNA metabarcoding

Anemone nemorosa

Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) (plantlife.org.uk)

Anemone nemorosa L. in BSBI Online Plant Atlas 2020

Bilberry bumblebee - Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Melanostoma mellinum | NatureSpot

Platycheirus discimanus | Flickr

The Fern | UKmoths

Endophytus anemones [Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects (ukflymines.co.uk)

Flax Tortrix Cnephasia asseclana | UKmoths

Save The Trees Of Armarda Way

STRAW Plymouth (Save the TRees of Armada Way)

Join us in our Garden Jungle with a fabulous book by Professor Dave Goulson. If that's not enough, we have brand new research from Professor Goulson's team on garden birds and we look at a fabulous tree for wildlife, the native Holly.

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Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

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CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

Gardens should be full of flower all year round! In this episode we prove you can have every colour of the rainbow brightening your garden this winter. Then pucker up for our Native Plant of the Month: Mistletoe.

Keep the podcast running by making a donation! We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

And follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

It's sometimes said that wood is most alive when it is dead. In this episode we delve deep into the rotten world of deadwood and discover the fascinating range of creatures that rely on it. We then pick one tree in particular, the stunning Silver Birch for our 'Native Plant of the Month'.

Keep the podcast running by making a donation. Every penny goes towards our running costs and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal.

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

A big question many wildlife gardeners may have asked themselves...should we Rewild our gardens? After a chat about our opinion, we get 'fernatical' about the Hart's Tongue, the first fern as part of our native plant of the month!

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

In this episode we ask...what is fruit? And what fruits are good for wildlife? Then, as our native plant of the month, we take on the thorny yet fruity staple of the British garden and countryside, the humble Hawthorn.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

Have you ever wondered what all the buzz is about in your garden? This episode we get to grips with some of the wild bees you are likely to find, with the help of 'The Secret Life of Garden Bees' by Jean Vernon. We then learn about a knockout Knautia for your garden, the charming Field Scabious.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK FOR SHOWNOTES

This week we dive deep into the musty world of your compost bin and look at the wildlife you could find there. We are also joined for the second time by worm expert Dr Emma Sherlock. Then, we cover our first native pond plant, the charming Flowering Rush or Butomus umbellatus.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK FOR SHOWNOTES

In a jam packed episode we ask: Is spring coming earlier? We then take a closer look at earthworms with Senior Curator of Annelids at the Natural History Museum, Dr Emma Sherlock. Finishing the episode, a favourite grass, Molinia caerulea or Purple Moor Grass, is our native plant of the week.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK FOR SHOWNOTES

We've made it! One year of the podcast and 24 episodes later, we have a chat about our own way into gardening and test ourselves on what we've learned so far. Then we look at our most ancient native tree, the Yew.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

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CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

A new year is upon us and we start in style by taking a break from our own rules and discuss wildlife we've seen outside gardens over the Christmas holidays. Then we return to the fantastic Dr Ian Bedford who tells us exactly why there is no need for pesticides in any garden! We finish by discussing the delightful Dog Rose, whose ruby red berries speckle hedgerows up and down the country over winter.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

As winter comes on more birds start to visit our garden and we discuss some of the plants looking good right now. Then, our guest Dr Ian Bedford tells us about how he gardens for wildlife and insects. We also discuss a botanical mystery about the fabulous native shrub Daphne mezereum, which is followed by our native plant of the week, the incredible Crab Apple.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

 CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

Book club is upon us so we delve deep into the world of pollination with a fantastic book by ecologist Professor Jeff Ollerton. After that, Ellie takes a sip of our homemade Sloe Gin while Ben waxes lyrical about the fantastic (if thorny) shrub Prunus spinosa, otherwise known as the Blackthorn.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

 CLICK FOR SHOWNOTES

As Hedgehogs roam the British countryside looking for a place to nestle down and hibernate for the winter, we discuss how you can help them in your own gardens. Then we take a look at a favourite wildflower of ours that looks fantastic in any garden: the Teasel.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK FOR SHOWNOTES

Sad news at The Wildlife Garden Podcast HQ as the largest tree on our terrace was felled by a neighbour. We lament its loss then tell you what you can do to protect trees in your area and how to choose one for your own garden. We also host Helen Bostock for the second part of her interview about wildlife gardening with the RHS, then profile the fabulous field maple as our native plant of the week!

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK FOR SHOWNOTES

We host the head wildlife gardener at the RHS, Helen Bostock, as our guest this week. We chat all about the work behind the scenes on the Plants for Bugs and Plants for Pollinators projects as well as her ongoing work encouraging us all to garden with wildlife in mind. As our native plant of the week, we take a look at chef's favourite Oregano. 

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

Moths are stunning and fascinating creatures that share our gardens. This episode we talk about what they are, why they are important and how we can help them! We also share our enthusiasm for the year-round beauty that is Viburnum opulus, or the Guelder Rose.

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES

For our latest book club we read the charming guide to 'Making a Wildflower Meadow' by Pam Lewis. We also chat about the beguiling Bramble which is a boon for your autumn crumbles and wildlife too!

Help us keep the podcast running by making a donation! Every penny goes towards our running costs, and means there are no adverts or sponsors messages to listen to. We're grateful for any donations to our PayPal

Watch us on Youtube The Wild GDN

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter too, if you are so inclined!

CLICK HERE FOR SHOWNOTES