Garden Gab Podcast

Garden Gab Podcast
  • 5.0 (36)
  • Home & Garden
  • Updated Weekly

Hosted by two garden design professionals and longtime friends, Tessa and Molly, Garden Gab is your weekly escape to a front porch conversation about living beautifully, both in the garden and beyond! Join our club as we chat about what we’re growing, learning, and dreaming up, whether it is in our own cottage gardens to our clients’ outdoor spaces. If you are curious about the garden world or want some green thumbed inspiration — you’re invited to join the gab.

  1. 5d ago

    Garden Gab Club 022: Summer Solstice Shenanigans

    Welcome back to the Garden Gab Club people! It's the lazy, hazy days of summer... and we are loving it. The garden has entered that glorious, slightly chaotic point in the season where the zucchini won’t stop coming, the weeds are winning (until they’re not), and every day seems to hold a small excuse to stay outside just a little longer. In this episode, we’re settling into the rhythms of midsummer—celebrating the summer solstice, sharing simple adventures close to home, and talking about the gardens that are teaching us patience, abundance, and joy. From Cahaba lilies blooming in Alabama rivers to neighborhood dinners, overflowing vegetable beds, and the plants quietly carrying our gardens through the hottest days of the year, we’re reflecting on why the simplest moments often become the ones we remember most. We also wander into a conversation about beauty (you’ll need to check out this wedding of the century!) that can’t be manufactured, why real experiences matter more than perfect pictures, and how gardens continue to offer hope—even in the hardest places. So grab something cold to drink, find a shady spot, and come spend an hour in the garden with us!   Links: Subscribe to the show Substack HERE to stay in the know on all things Garden Gab! This book might sounds like a downer, but wow… War Gardens is filled with such HOPE! Molly’s BF introduced her to the magic of… Mater Magic! And let’s just say… her raised beds be lovin’ it!

    57 min

  2. Jun 15

    Garden Gab Club 021: Little Tessa in the Big Apple

    The girls popped a cold one today because the pod is officially 21 people! They are settling into summer with a proper catch-up episode, or should we say… just a good ole fashioned gab! This week, Tessa shares what she's learned from opening her own garden for workshops. They discuss why waiting for the "perfect" space might be keeping us from doing the things we dream of right now. What if people were invited into imperfect and personal gardens?? Down home is filled with the surprising questions visitors ask, meadow updates, goldfinches, and the simple joy of homemade cake shared under a garden pavilion. Then the girls head out and about as Tessa recounts a whirlwind trip to New York City, from wandering Central Park with a stroller to dining at the legendary Blue Hill at Stone Barns and exploring the ever-evolving plantings of the High Line. Along the way, they reflect on Frederick Law Olmsted's vision for public green spaces, the restorative power of landscapes, and why travel is almost always money well spent! Pour yourself something cold, pull up a chair on the porch, and join us for a midsummer Garden Gab!! Don't forget to subscribe to stay in the know on our show Substack, leave a review, and share the show with your favorite garden friend!   Show Notes: + Tessa might call this Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake a peasant cake after her illustrious career as a wedding cake designer, but you will feel rich the second it hits your tongue!! + Molly's life (and the lives of those who she has shared these with) has been deeply altered by this Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! And they really are that easy. + If the girls were emphatic enough about watching Chef's Table on the episode, take this as another nudge to do yourself a favor and at least watch Dan Barber's episode! + Check out Experiencing Olmsted: The Enduring Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted's North American Landscapes, the book that started Tessa's Central Park curiousity!

    55 min

  3. May 21

    Garden Gab Club 020: Remembering Planting Designer Nigel Dunnett

    Welcome back, garden gabbers. This episode is a little more reflective as Molly and Tessa remember Nigel Dunnett who was a giant in ecological planting design and someone whose work deeply shaped both of their own work as designers. In the wake of his passing at the end of April, it only feels fitting to pay tribute to a man who deeply influenced so many.  Molly shares stories from her time working with Nigel in Sheffield, and together the girls unpack what made his work so powerful... planting that brings the feeling of wild, immersive, and living landscapes into urban spaces—for people! From Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to the Barbican in London to countless other project across the UK and the world, Nigel’s legacy is everywhere. In light of his passing, the conversation turns a bit deeper... why does this work matter? And can we do it here, where we are? It also only feels fitting to wrap the episode with a bit of Garden Busts, noting that sometimes we hold the weight of hope of where we want to go and what we are still learning with joy. Thanks for joining the gab! Don’t forget to subscribe to the show Substack HERE and share the show with a garden friend!   Show Notes: + Gardens Illustrated Talking Gardens interview with Nigel + To read more in depth about Nigels work, check out his books The Dynamic Landscape (written with James!) and Naturalistic Planting Design.  + Read more about the Heemparks in the Netherlands that Nigel discusses in the podcast linked above.

    1h 7m

  4. May 16

    Garden Gab Club: Chelsea Draft Picks #3

    The time has finally come! Tessa and Molly discuss the final three Main Avenue show gardens for the 2026 Chelsea Flower Show… and let’s just say this last batch has some big expectations on their shoulders! Can Tom Stuart Smith raise Best in Show once again? Will Kazuyuki Ishihara defend his 2025 sweep of Best in Show AND People’s Choice Award? The girls also unpack what it takes to get a gold medal at Chelsea, and even more, what sets a Best in Show apart. But most importantly, Tessa and Molly make their picks for top honors as well as possible dark horses in other categories. What are you most excited to watch at this year’s Chelsea? We would love to hear! Thanks for joining us for this special Chelsea Flower Show hype!! Stay tuned for our follow up with Don and Janice (Molly’s parents) who will be at the show on opening day!! Thanks for joining the Gab!!

    48 min

  5. May 16

    Garden Gab Club: Chelsea Draft Picks #2

    Garden Gabbers… did we forget to tell you that we are going to have on the ground correspondents at the 2026 Chelsea Flower Show?! It’s not Tessa…. and not Molly… IT’S DON AND JANICE, Molly’s beloved parents. Although it is rude they are not taking Molly with them, we can put that aside and live vicariously. So stay tuned for a post show recap with our boots on the ground. The girls review the next round of gardens which are all centered around worthy causes including raising awareness for preserving the countryside of England, giving children peaceful havens in nature, and advocating for teens to find careers in the green industry. There are Chelsea veterans alongside newer names, all coming to bat for a gold medal this year! Stay tuned for our third round of Chelsea Flower Show draft picks where we will also make our picks for Best in Show, People’s Choice Award, and our Dark Horse thoughts!

    12 min

  6. May 4

    Garden Gab Club 019: The Art of the Shagginess Metric

    Welcome back Garden Gabbers for Episode 19, our final episode in our teenage years! And let’s just say in the words of Tessa Pinner, mama’s hot! The girls jump straight into the woes of a hot and dry spring, which has Tessa pinning for… a plunge pool baby!  You know it's officially the kick off are gardening season with talk about drought, strawberry picking, and the ever-present feeling of being just a little behind in the garden. Speaking of plunging, the girls dive straight into what makes something art versus craft, and how that question shows up in both creative work and garden design. The two introduce a new concept—the “Shagginess Metric”—to explore where gardens fall on the spectrum between wild and perfectly buttoned-up, and how client preferences shape that balance. Are you more of the ballerina bun type, or do you let your hair down a bit?? Do let us know! Buckle up for some bonus stories this episode include a strawberry freezer disaster, a memorial Japanese maple, and why April might just be the best month in the garden. Thanks for Joining the Gab!   Show Notes: If you like Tessa are pinning after a cool down, may we direct you here to long after these beautiful Plunge Pools   We have mentioned the Pastoral Gardens book a few times because, I mean… can you even with these pictures... not to mention the beautiful words!    Out of an abundance of caution, we highly recommend Kindle readers (especially those who read at night while drifting into sweet slumber… like Molly) invest in a Kindle Case with a handle! Protect your face!

    49 min

  7. Apr 19

    Garden Gab Club 018: Still in Our Spring Basking Era

    Hello Garden Gabbers!! Tessa and Molly are back with more plant talk and hope that you are joining with them by basking fully in the glory that is spring!! The girls dive straight into all things Down Home and Out-and-About including fairy garden parties, strawberry picking and a new way of spending park time. After a quick horticultural hormone check-in (let’s just say the girls are feeling botanically frisky), it is time for a surprise trip to a dream spring destination!!! But you will have to listen to see where… The show wraps with another Bloom Report (think viburnums and native azaleas…) and of course DOOR PRIZES!!! The travel talk has Tessa and Molly reflecting on their own hopes for taking both a domestic and international Garden Gab adventure, and they want to hear from you!! Be sure to subscribe to the show Substack HERE to stay in the know on all things Garden Gab, and email us thoughts, questions and ideas at gardengabclub@gmail.com. Thanks for joining the gab! Show Notes: Are you in your 30’s and also realizing it is time to stop avoiding fate and just dive head first into birding now… first step is the Merlin app! This is our third time to link to this podcast interview of Milli Proust with Alice Vincent and WE STILL LOVE IT! As we say on the show WE ARE SAT for the first Great Garden Show at the Newt!

    50 min

  8. Apr 6

    Garden Gab Club 017: This Is Our Garden Super Bowl!

    Hello there Garden Gabbers! On this episode of the pod, Tessa and Molly spare no speck of enthusiasm whilst introducing what some might declare as the Super Bowl of the gardening world... The Chelsea Flower Show! On the episodes leading up to the best week of the year, Tessa and Molly are discussing this year's main show gardens, what we are expecting, and (since Molly is involved...) there is chatter about a Chelsea Flower Show bracket contest?! Who doesn't love a game! And prizes!! Let us know your thoughts... While we have no idea what is happening with March Madness or, quite frankly, the Super Bowl... the girls are laser focused on this year's show! And they want to bring you to also delight in the theater of the whole production! Tessa and Molly also chat in the newly introduced committee, Curiosity Corner, about what they have been digging into in order to cultivate curiosity in their own lives. Tessa unpacks what she gleaned on a Create Academy course from the dynamic duo of Julian and Isabel Bannerman. Molly discusses Milli Proust's new best selling book, How Does Your Garden Grow! We also get a quick wildlife report featuring bees and a tiny tiny turtle, a bloom report featuring cherries and Lady Banks roses, and of course... Door Prizes!   Thanks for joining the Gab! Be sure to subscribe to the show Substack HERE and leave us a review!! So thankful for everyone who is joining the club!   Show Notes: + To learn more about the Chelsea Flower Show and Project Giving Back be sure to explore those thinks! + If you are interested in taking the Create Academy class for yourself, explore the Bannerman's Class... or see if there are other classes that might scratch your own curiosity itch!  + If you missed it in last weeks show notes, we cannot recommend Milli Proust's book, How Does Your Garden Grow, with any more unbridled enthusiasm than what we have expressed on the show!!!! + If you are as enamored with Milli as much as we are, be sure to check out her interview with Alice Vincent on building a garden. + If you, like Tessa and Molly, find seed packets tucked into random spots and think to yourself, I really need one place to keep those... look no further than this here tackle box.  + On a delightful yet non-garden related note... Molly has restocked her spring Pura scents and her life (and home) is better for it!

    1h 1m
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5
out of 5
36 Ratings

About

Hosted by two garden design professionals and longtime friends, Tessa and Molly, Garden Gab is your weekly escape to a front porch conversation about living beautifully, both in the garden and beyond! Join our club as we chat about what we’re growing, learning, and dreaming up, whether it is in our own cottage gardens to our clients’ outdoor spaces. If you are curious about the garden world or want some green thumbed inspiration — you’re invited to join the gab.

Information

  • Creator
    Garden Gab Podcast
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Garden Gab Podcast

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