Roots and All: Recent Episodes
Sarah Wilson
Roots and All is a podcast designed to help you get growing. Whether your interested in plants indoors or out, this podcast will give you the information you need to create your perfect green environment.
This week’s guest is Annika Zetterman, a Swedish garden designer teacher and author of New Nordic Gardens. Annika designs visually beautiful gardens which encompass sustainability, respect for the local environment and exemplify all the best aspects of Scandinavian design. Annika talks about the ethos behind Scandinavian design and decodes why the gardens featured in her book are so stunning.
Bug of the Week: Grasshoppers
Thanks to Betakut for sponsoring this episode https://www.betakut.co.uk/shop
Liz Zorab has been documenting her growing efforts, firstly via a blog and then her hugely popular YouTube channel. She’s recently written Grounded: A Gardener’s Journey to Abundance and Self-Sufficiency in which she talks about her new site in Wales & how her gardening journey went hand in hand with her improving health.
Bug of the Week: Black Garden Ants
Brought to you by the team at LECHUZA, suppliers of self-watering pots and planters. www.lechuza.co.uk
This week’s episode is a little bit different as it’s a recording of me chatting to Daniel Fuller on the brilliant Plants Grow Here podcast. Although we may be geographically antipodean, there are a lot of similarities between Roots and All and Plants Grow Here, as Daniel and I both cover a wide range of horticultural topics, including those on the fringe and we both love a bit of geeking out! Join us as we dive into the world of podcasting and gardening. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Garden snails This episode is brought to you by new green-tech company Harvst. The company's recently launched smart web-connected ‘mini greenhouses’ are designed to help people grow more at home, with less effort and minimal space. Choose between The Yard and The Terrace; both are simply popped directly on the ground or patio, they’re self-watering, climate controlled, space efficient and enable you to grow your own produce without the need to tend every day. So whether you’re a budding beginner or a seasoned pro, visit www.harvst.co.uk and take advantage of a 5% discount on all 4 seasons and eco Mini Greenhouse orders from now until the end of July. Simply use the code mentioned in the episode. About Daniel Fuller Daniel is the primary host on the Plants Grow Here Podcast and content writer. Currently based in St. Kilda, Melbourne, he has been working in the horticultural maintenance field for 8 years, leading crews for most of this time. The idea of Plants Grow Here was born from his desire to learn more from people who have specialised knowledge and a passion for what they do. Links www.plantsgrowhere.com Plants Grow Here Podcast
This week I’m speaking to Jessica Walliser, author of ‘Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden’, a scientific look at companion plant to find out if it works, in what way and why.
Bug of the Week: Red lily beetle
This episode is brought to you by So & Mo, a new lawn care brand giving everyone the confidence to be a lawn expert.
This week, I’m speaking to Danielle Draper, Manager of the Cats Protection National Cat Adoption Centre in Surrey & we’re talking about that sometimes contentious issue of cats and gardens. Love them or hate them, you can’t get away from them. Danielle’s here to talk about learning to live harmoniously alongside the neighbourhood felines.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Narcissus Bulb Fly
This episode is brought to you by Natural Grower. Get 15% off their range www.naturalgrower.co.uk Code
This week I’m speaking to Harriet Gross, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Lincoln. She was part of a team that won a gold medal for the Digital Capabilities garden at the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show and she is the author of The Psychology of Gardening. Harriet talks about our emotional connection to our gardens and just what it is we get from gardening.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Stridulation
This episode is sponsored by the London College of Garden Design Melbourne.
This episode is the last one before Valentine’s Day. Of course, you may be thinking about buying some flowers to give on Sunday so I thought, what better person to interview than a British flower grower? So I’m talking to Ben Cross of Crosslands Flower Nursery, a family owned and run nursery specialising in cut Alstroemerias. Ben is an expert grower, public speaker, an ambassador for British flowers and founder of the British Flowers Rock Campaign.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Tobacco Whitefl
A Hamamelis! In this week’s episode I’m speaking to Fiona Edmond of Green Island Gardens about one of the stars of the winter garden, the Hamamelis aka witch-hazel. Fiona is the holder of the National Collection of Hamamelis and she talks about their cultivation and goes through some of the fool-proof and some of the choicer varieties. I dare you not to buy one after listening!
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Fig Wasps
This episode is sponsored by gardencourses.com
This week’s episode features garden designer and horticulturist Jo McKerr, who runs Pratensis Gardens. Jo is particularly interested in designed spaces where soil health, biodiversity and wildlife are encouraged but which still look good to the human eye.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Winter Moths
This episode is sponsored by the London College of Garden Design Melbourne.
I’m kicking off the year on the podcast with an interview with conservationist and wild meadows expert Keith Datchler. We talk about the state of our wildflower meadows, their importance for biodiversity and where we, as humans, fit as part of the biodiversity that feels at home in meadows.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Winter Bumblebees
This week I’m talking to Dr Jack Hunter, anthropologist and author of the book Greening the Paranormal: Exploring the Ecology of Extraordinary. The book isn’t about fairies at the bottom of the garden, although they do get a mention in the episode, but looks more at ways of studying and engaging with the super-natural and considers how these might be useful when approaching the environmental crisis.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Holly Leafminer
I’m talking to Anna Soper, a Canadian artist, writer, podcaster about Kate Crooks, a largely forgotten Canadian botanist whose work Anna uncovered for a project she undertook in 2018. Anna’s research into Kate Crooks has unearthed pieces of a historical jigsaw puzzle which leave us wondering how many other botanists and specimens are out there just waiting to be discovered and how many of these important pieces of the botanical record have been lost forever.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Fleas