S4 Ep9: September: It’s time to embrace the dark! – with Nick Dunn

This month, Fiona meets Åsa Gregers-Warg, head gardener at Beth Chatto Plants and Gardens. They tour the gardens, and reflect on Beth Chatto’s legacy, discussing how we can adapt our gardens to promote resilience and withstand changing environmental conditions. “We haven't used any herbicides or pesticides for the last few years. And we all have to be water wise these days as well. It started off with the gravel garden being the only part of the garden that was never irrigated. But since a couple of years ago, we don't water the rest of the gardens either.” Also in this episode… Fiona and Chris are preparing their gardens for winter, even in the cooler months there’s still plenty to do! In the postbag, the team tackle questions on reusing old compost, dealing with coddling moth, and why it's crucial not to leave soil bare at this time of year. Thanks again to our sponsors, Viridian Nutrition. Visit their website at www.viridian-nutrition.com.

It's safe to say the weather has been incredibly unusual this year. A wet cold spring was followed by a slug-filled summer. And here in the Midlands, we’ve already experienced our first frosts!  Sally Morgan, author of the Resilient Garden Handbook, has been tackling these challenges head on. She speaks with Fiona about what makes a resilient garden, and how we can overcome unusual growing conditions.  “We’re perhaps the first generation of gardeners who can't look back to their grandfathers and ask for advice. I know what my grandfather would tell me and it's totally not applicable to today's style of gardening and conditions. So we’re learning on the job. Everybody will be different because everybody's micro-habitat is different to the next.” Also in this episode… Fiona and Chris are already planning next year's food growing, and Chris encourages you to keep on sowing - even through the winter months. In the postbag, the team tackle a complicated compost query, and investigate some troublesome tomatoes. Thanks again to our sponsors, Viridian Nutrition. Visit their website at www.viridian-nutrition.com

As the nights draw in, Chris sits down with Nick Dunn, professor of urban design at Lancaster University. Nick is also the founding director of the Dark Design Lab, exploring the impacts of nocturnal activity on nature. Nick enlightens us about the role darkness plays in our gardens and artificial light's impact on the wider environment.  “What light pollution basically does is it alters the way plants and animals behave. The classic example is of moths being drawn to bright lights. But beyond that it's much more serious because it can interfere with important feeding, mating, navigating and also prey-predator relationships”  Also in this episode… Despite the late start, Fiona and Chris celebrate their growing successes, and tell you why you should try “seed rambling”.  From the postbag, the team troubleshoot how to bring life to contaminated clay soil, what you can do with a problematic rosemary bush and how to rescue a diseased rose.     Thanks again to our sponsors, Viridian Nutrition. Visit their website at www.viridian-nutrition.com

Fiona chats with Nick Mole, Policy Officer from the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK who shares why pesticides should be banned from use in our urban spaces, and how communities can be affected by pesticide use.    “Knowing that there are alternatives to pesticides that do work, pesticide use in our towns and cities is completely unnecessary. France has banned the use of all non-agricultural pesticides. They have legislation in place and it works. It is often hard, councils are facing all sorts of difficulties. So we do need that support from our legislators.”    Also in this episode…  Chris and Fiona discuss why hardy annuals are popping up in Chris’ allotment now, and look forward to September seed sowing. From the postbag, the team troubleshoot a late flowering courgette, and with the help of listeners, find out what animal was causing last month’s strawberry piles! Thanks again to our sponsors, Viridian Nutrition. Visit their website at www.viridian-nutrition.com Sign the petition to ban the use of pesticides in urban spaces https://pesticidecollaboration.org/go-pesticide-free/

What do bed sheets, hessian and bacteria have in common? They might help us reduce the amount of plastic we use in our veg plots!  Award-winning author, gardener, peat- and plastic-free advocate Sally Nex shares fascinating advice for reducing, reusing and recycling the 500 million pots, seed trays, and other bits of plastic we get through in our gardens every year in the UK. “When we chip a pot and it goes directly into our soil, it's going to stay there for the next 400 years,” says Sally. “Experiments have shown that earthworms, which are living in soils high in microplastics, lose weight and soil biodiversity is a fraction of what it is in clean soils.” Also in this episode… Chris and Fiona chat about the delay in germination and plant growth due to the cool start to the summer – and reassure that it’s not too late to sow now. From the postbag, Anton advises on using organic slug pellets, and the team mull over what creature might be creating ‘strawberry piles’!

We’ve got a double bill this month to help you save more water in your garden over the summer. We’re joined by Jo Osborn from the charity Waterwise – who tells us that in England alone, we face a potential water deficit of close to 5,000 million litres of water every day by 2050. She shares how crucial it’s we conserve more of it in our homes and gardens. And climate change gardening guru Sally Morgan talks rainwater and grey water harvesting. She reveals ways to water plants more effectively, and the importance of soil health. “No dig is important because we don't want to disturb the fungi in the soil,” she says. “Most plants have a relationship with the mycorrhizal that extends beneath the plant – and it’s this fungus network that does the watering for them, finding water in the soil.” Also in this episode… We'll be answering your questions about how to deal with box hedge moth, what to do about allotment-loving ants, and how to tackle chilies that are not hot.

In this month’s Organic Gardening Podcast, Chris Collins chats to Nick Hamilton – son of organic gardening pioneer Geoff Hamilton – and finds out more about his gardening journey and life at his beloved Barnsdale Gardens. We’ve always had a close relationship with the gardens and Nick, a former Garden Organic trustee, and shared many planting schemes and plant cuttings over the years. Our ‘Paradise Garden’ (now part of Coventry University), with its pergolas and pond, was built to commemorate Nick’s father and TV gardener Geoff.  More than 25 years ago, Nick had what seemed like an impossible task – taking over a collection of 30 or so organic gardens designed for television and turning them into a visitor attraction aimed at inspiring people to grow organically. In 2023, Barnsdale marked its 40th anniversary.  “I don't have any problem with people referring to me as the son of Geoff as I'm very proud to be his son. The gardens are his legacy…and still rolling on today,” says Nick. “I want to continue to show organic gardening is not complicated or difficult - it's easy! And because you're working in tandem with nature, nature helps you along the way.” Also in this episode… Chris and Fiona chat about our Every Garden Matters research paper – showing small steps in any size garden can have a positive impact on biodiversity. And from the postbag, we tackle how to safely dispose of laurel debris and old garden pesticides, and discuss whether we should feed birds all year round.

Chris Collins chats to Josiah Meldrum, co-founder and owner of Hodemedods, about growing beans and pulses in the UK climate. Josiah explains how Hodemedods works with British farmers to supply pulses, such as lentils and chickpeas, in as sustainable way as possible and often using organic methods. He shares some varieties that can grow well in our gardens and how they grow more unusual crops such as chickpeas and lentils. He also shows how easy it is for British gardeners to overlook the multiple uses of beans. “People miss a trick in the UK when it comes to runner beans. We tend to think of them as something you harvest green, but the rest of the world don't do that: they also dry them,” says Josiah.  “In Poland, they've got a fantastic tradition of growing and harvesting these delicious white runner bean seeds…and in Greece, you'll have giant ‘Gigantes’. I would encourage everyone to save beans and eat them. The scarlet runners and the white seeded beans are absolutely delicious!” Also in this episode… Anton reveals how to grow ‘green chickpeas’, and whether it’s worth growing a crop of lentils. From the postbag, he discusses how to deal with moss on vegetable plots, and Chris and Fiona chat about the effects of the wet and windy spring. Many thanks to our sponsor Andermatt Garden, which offers high quality environmentally-sustainable products for the home and garden at andermattgarden.co.uk.

To celebrate Food Waste Action Week (18-24 March), Chris Collins and David Garrett join Fiona to bust the myths around composting. If you want to know how, why and what to compost this is a must-listen. David, our head of knowledge transfer at Garden Organic, shares the reasons he loves compost, and talks through the different composting systems at our organic demonstration garden, and how to use them. “We're producing kitchen waste at home so why not process it ourselves and produce compost? It's a circular economy in our own homes,” says David. “We're taking ownership of the waste and not relying on someone else to deal with it for us.” Also in this episode… Chris and Fiona chat about what to sow and plant now and how to care for winter ponds. 

Our CEO Fiona Taylor visits Slimbridge to chat to Simon Rose from the  Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) about ways to create similar habitats in your growing space.  With 75 per cent of wetlands in the UK lost in the last 300 years, Fiona explores the importance of urban bluescapes and bogs as a homes for wildlife. “Wetlands are really rich in wildlife – in fact 40 per cent of the world's species are reliant in some way on wetlands,” says Simon, who is Head of Experience Development at the WWT, which is based at Slimbridge Wetlands Centre in Gloucestershire. “But they also help prevent flooding and reduce carbon emissions. Wetlands are actually faster than rainforests at locking up carbon.” Simon and Fiona discuss ways you can mimic these diverse habitats in your own growing space. “Whenever you introduce water into the garden it's one of the best biodiversity boosters, and that could be anything from a bucket to half a barrel. Dig a hole, fill it with water, put some rocks and some plants in it and I guarantee that within weeks you’ll attract wildlife,” says Simon. “The sediment that settles on the bottom of a pond is another opportunity for carbon sequestration, even in a back garden setting.” Also in this episode… Chris Collins and Fiona chat about jobs you can be getting with this month, and Anton Rosenfeld delves into the postbag to help answer your questions. This month, they chew over using woodchip as a mulch, how to tackle rats, and ways to save money in the garden.