Why Women Grow

Alice Vincent
  • 5.0 (52)
  • HOME & GARDEN

'These rich and intimate conversations offer new perspectives on our interactions with nature' - The FT I’m Alice Vincent and I’ve been on a quest to understand why women go to ground when there’s so much else to do. In Why Women Grow I have inspiring conversations with designers, chefs, entrepreneurs, and writers in their gardens. This isn’t a podcast about gardening. Sure there’s bit of that but we discuss resistance, motherhood, spirituality, saving the planet and much more. These stories made me think differently about what it is to grow, and I think they’ll do that for you, too.

  1. 3D AGO

    Pollyanna Wilkinson on designing a life-proof garden

    With a clutch of medals from RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows, a bestselling garden design book and more than half a million social media followers, Pollyanna Wilkinson has gained a well-earned reputation for making elegant, contemporary and liveable gardens accessible to all. But while hundreds of thousands of people look to Polly’s approach for inspiration and guidance, her own garden is a retreat for a scant few: her family, her design team and herself.  We meet Polly on a clear, crisp morning in her studio garden in Surrey, to talk about how her life, career and motherhood have intertwined with her design practice in ways that might surprise her fans.  Pollyanna Wilkinson's book, How to Design a Garden, is one of my go-tos, so do check it out. Find out more about her design practice at Studio Pollyanna. She’s also on Instagram, @pollyanna_wilkinson, substack and TikTok. Next up, we speak to activist, author and chef, Olia Hercules.  This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson ⁠on my website⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠Niwaki⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW. If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Claire Ratinon and Robin Wall Kimmerer. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it.  This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.

    25 min

  2. MAR 25

    Milli Proust on building a garden

    When you become known for your garden - and what you grow there - what does it mean to up peasticks and move? ⁠Milli Proust⁠ is a gardener, writer and floral designer based in a remote corner of West Sussex. She spent a decade transforming her garden, but when we visited her she was just about to leave it. We met Milli - and her gorgeous whippet Jimmy - under the shade of an enormous oak tree to reflect on what has been, and imagine what is still to come.  Milli’s latest book, ⁠How Does Your Garden Grow⁠, is available now and shares practical guidance and encouragement for anyone wanting to grow flowers. She can also be found posting wisdom and inspiration on Instagram: @⁠milliproust⁠. This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson ⁠on my website⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠Niwaki⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW. Next up, we hear from author and columnist India Knight.  If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Jamaica Kincaid and Sarah Raven. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it. This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.

    29 min

  3. MAR 24

    India Knight on making home in a garden

    There’s a school of thought that believes the garden to be an extra room of the house - albeit, outside. If that’s the case, then India Knight is a masterful host. The author and columnist, who has written 13 books, is a homemaker with an unabashedly joyful approach to how we make our lives beautiful. In the days when the quinces are beginning to ripen, sitting in the doorway between her green and pink house and abundant garden, India tells us about how coming to gardening as a total beginner transformed how she lives. You can read more warm and witty insight into homemaking in India’s latest book, HOME, as well as on her substack as India Knight.  This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson ⁠on my website⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠. Thank you to our friends at ⁠Niwaki⁠. You can get 10% off your order with the code WHYWOMENGROW. Next up, we hear from garden designer Pollyanna Wilkinson. If you’re new to the Why Women Grow podcast, do check out our previous episodes, including guests such as Paula Sutton and Anna Jones. And if you’ve enjoyed this episode, it would mean so much if you could rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you’re listening in on, or share it with someone you think may enjoy it. This episode was produced by Holly Fisher. The theme music is by Maria Chiara Argiro.

    26 min

  4. SEASON 7 TRAILER

    Season 7: trailer

    It's been a bleak old winter, but spring is upon us and with it comes a brand new season of the Why Women Grow podcast. This Spring, we’re exploring what it means to leave behind a garden that changed your life, how can we start again, and how can we connect with lost loved ones in a time of war?  Once again, we’ve been talking to brave, inspiring and witty women about their lives and gardens. Join Alice Vincent for all-new episodes of the Why Women Grow podcast, with Olia Hercules, Milli Proust, India Knight and Pollyanna Wilkinson, launching on the 24th March. Made in partnership with Niwaki.

    2 min

  5. 09/30/2025

    Daisy Johnson on how landscape shapes us

    Daisy Johnson made headlines when she became the youngest person ever shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2018, when she was 27. But, as she tells us in this episode, her shortlisted novel Everything Under was born of a time of great transition and growth.  Water ripples throughout Daisy’s work, from the remote rain-lashed house in Sisters to the ambiguous murk of Fen, with its shapeshifting characters who are inseparable from their landscape. On the banks of the Thames in Oxford, the author explains how water has accompanied her throughout her life, from the fenlands of her adolescence to the canals and rivers of her adulthood and matrescence.  Daisy Johnson's latest publication, The Hotel, is a collection of short stories that offer the perfect accompaniment to autumn evenings. Long Wave, her next book, will be out next year. This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson on my ⁠website⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠.  Use code WWGAUTUMN at ⁠⁠⁠Crocus.co.uk⁠⁠⁠'s checkout to save 20% on full priced plants. It is valid when you spend a minimum of £50 on full priced plants and / or bulbs. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other codes or offers.

    26 min

  6. 09/30/2025

    Isabella Tree on rewilding a garden

    Today we are at the Knepp Estate - a huge rewilding project across 3500 acres of land, undertaken by the writer and conservationist Isabella Tree and her family. As she outlines so beautifully in her bestselling memoir Wilding, when Isabella moved into Knepp, then her husband’s family estate, she inherited more than just a castle. A crumbling property and a financially precarious farm were part of the package too. By the late 90s the couple found themselves in debt and realised they needed to stop farming - but what to do with all this land? Well that’s when they decided to try an experiment to bring back wildlife that would become their life's work. 25 years later the result is Knepp Wildland. The site, part of which is open to the public, now plays host to all sorts of species including roaming pigs and ponies alongside some of Britain’s rarest animals: turtle doves, nightingales and purple emperor butterflies. We join Isabella among the golden fields of ragwort and beneath nesting storks to learn what makes a woman tear up a rule book for the sake of ecology’s survival - before being taken to one of the estate’s best-kept secrets: the walled garden at the castle. As the sun sets, she tells us about the courage and conviction needed to make real change. If you’d like to find out more about Knepp, head to www.knepp.co.uk for information on how to visit and to sign up to the Knepp newsletter for events, the Rewilding Garden Blog, safaris and the Knepp Wilding podcast, which Isabella hosts.  This podcast is inspired by my book, ⁠Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival⁠, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson on my ⁠website⁠ and instagram account @⁠⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠⁠.  Use code WWGAUTUMN at ⁠⁠⁠Crocus.co.uk⁠⁠⁠'s checkout to save 20% on full priced plants. It is valid when you spend a minimum of £50 on full priced plants and / or bulbs. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other codes or offers.

    36 min

  7. 09/30/2025

    Michelle Ogundehin on finding home

    What is it that makes a home? Interior design may not seem the first port of call to consider when we think about our gardens, but Michelle Ogundehin’s approach to how our environments affect us shows just how important the outside world can be on our wellbeing.  Michelle, who is a series judge on Interior Design Masters, describes herself as a homes therapist. After training as an architect, she was the Editor in Chief of Elle Decoration for over a decade. Now, through books such as Happy Inside, Michelle’s approach encourages a holistic and thoughtful way to live that shrugs off trends for emotional insight.  At Bedgebury Pinetum, where Michelle comes to walk, we speak about the life changes that helped her reassess how to live - and how bringing the outside in can change how we do, too.  Glean more of Michelle's wisdom through her book, Happy Inside or her subscription service, the Happy Insiders Club. Michelle is also on Instagram and Substack, @michelleogundehin.  This podcast is inspired by my book, Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival, which is available in all good bookshops. We’ve also been photographing our guests and their gardens and you can see the beautiful images captured by India Hobson on my website and instagram account @⁠⁠alicevincentwrites⁠⁠. Use code WWGAUTUMN at ⁠⁠Crocus.co.uk⁠⁠'s checkout to save 20% on full priced plants. It is valid when you spend a minimum of £50 on full priced plants and / or bulbs. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other codes or offers.

    31 min

  8. SEASON 6, EPISODE 1 TRAILER

    Beyond the Garden: new season trailer

    Leaves are falling, the sunsets are glowing, and we’re taking every moment we can to reflect here on the Why Women Grow podcast. This autumn, we’re exploring beyond the garden: into the stories crafted alongside fairytale rivers in Oxford, beneath the wingspan of storks flying over rewilded land in Sussex and getting lost in the woodlands of Kent.  We’re delving even deeper into the matters that make us human: what it is to mother, what it is to make a home, what it is to change our landscapes for the future with three incredible guests: author Daisy Johnson, conservationist and writer Isabella Tree and author and broadcaster Michelle Ogundehin. Stay tuned for new episodes of the Why Women Grow Podcast, with me Alice Vincent, coming on 30th September. It can be confusing knowing what to plant or how to look after your garden, which is why I’m so glad we’ve partnered with our friends at Crocus this year. Crocus is the country’s most trusted online gardening brand, with a website that’s packed full of advice, inspiration and products to help bring your dream garden to life. Do check out Crocus’s website to find out more, and if you see something you like, use the code WWGAUTUMN to enjoy 20% off all full-priced items for Why Women Grow listeners. Check the show notes for full Ts & Cs.

    1 min
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Trailers

5
out of 5
52 Ratings

About

'These rich and intimate conversations offer new perspectives on our interactions with nature' - The FT I’m Alice Vincent and I’ve been on a quest to understand why women go to ground when there’s so much else to do. In Why Women Grow I have inspiring conversations with designers, chefs, entrepreneurs, and writers in their gardens. This isn’t a podcast about gardening. Sure there’s bit of that but we discuss resistance, motherhood, spirituality, saving the planet and much more. These stories made me think differently about what it is to grow, and I think they’ll do that for you, too.

Information

  • Creator
    Alice Vincent
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Alice Vincent
  • Show Website
    Why Women Grow

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