297 episodes

Do you want to know how to grow plants and get the best out of your outdoor space? Do you find traditional gardening media baffling and/or boring? Then you’re in the right place, because the Roots and All podcast is here to dig deep into how to create a successful garden.

If you want honest information and insider knowledge about how to get results, join irreverent horticulturist Sarah Wilson as she chats to the best people from the world of plants and gardens. Sarah is on a mission to help you create your own beautiful green environment, with a focus on saving resources and working with nature.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you don’t miss an episode.

Roots and All - Gardening Podcast Sarah Wilson

    • Leisure
    • 4.8 • 42 Ratings

Do you want to know how to grow plants and get the best out of your outdoor space? Do you find traditional gardening media baffling and/or boring? Then you’re in the right place, because the Roots and All podcast is here to dig deep into how to create a successful garden.

If you want honest information and insider knowledge about how to get results, join irreverent horticulturist Sarah Wilson as she chats to the best people from the world of plants and gardens. Sarah is on a mission to help you create your own beautiful green environment, with a focus on saving resources and working with nature.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast to make sure you don’t miss an episode.

    The Tree Hugging Lawyer

    The Tree Hugging Lawyer

    This episode, my guest is Sarah Dodd AKA the Tree Hugging Lawyer and founder of law firm Tree Law. Sarah specialises in civil and criminal claims arising from disputes with trees, in particular trees causing damage to properties. She’s also the host of Tree Law TV channel on YouTube and today, we find out all about her background, her work and the law as it relates to trees.
    What We Talk About
    Common neighbour disputes when it comes to trees
    Subsidence
    Cutting trees that overhang your property
    Is there such a thing as a right to light or a right to privacy?
    How TPOs work
    Is enough done to protect trees through the law?
    About Sarah Dodd 
    Sarah is the Tree Hugging Lawyer and founder of law firm Tree Law. Sarah specialises in civil and criminal claims arising from disputes with trees, in particular trees causing damage to properties. Sarah acts for various clients including homeowners, commercial properties owners, insurers, local authorities and developers. Sarah is a past chair of the Subsidence Forum and a member of the LTOA, MTAO and the Arboricultural Association. Sarah is the host of Tree Law TV channel on YouTube providing free contents answering some commonly asked questions about trees.  
    Sarah is hosting the Tree Law summer conference in London on 17 September.  Tickets are on sale for that event at Lincoln’s Inn via Eventbrite - Treelawconference 
    www.treelaw-ap.co.uk
    Other episodes if you liked this one:
    Trees with Peter Thurman - Selecting and planting trees can be a minefield. Never fear though, help is on hand as ‘legend in the world of trees’, Kew-trained, Peter Thurman is here to provide straight-forward advice about what to do and what not to do when buying a tree and planting it out. Discover how to select the right tree for your garden’s soil type and which species of tree will help you create the effect you are targeting. Learn how pleached trees can become an attractive alternative to fencing, just beware of the High Hedges Act! Does it pay to have patience when growing your tree, or is it easier to have instant impact?
    Pick up some valuable tips and tricks on the planting process. From deciding which food you should feed your prized specimen with, to mulching and watering, your questions are sure to be addressed in this informative episode.
    
Irreplaceable with Julian Hoffman - This episode’s guest is writer Julian Hoffman and we’re talking about his book ‘Irreplaceable’. I read the book a few months back and as you might expect from reading the blurb, it’s about those irreplaceable wild environments and the species we’re in danger of losing. But it’s also about the people who are so deeply connected to the landscapes and the animals they’re battling to save. Julian speaks about why it’s imperative that we stop the destruction of precious landscapes, how we can help at the individual level and why it’s vital to maintain the connection between people and place.
    Support the podcast on Patreon
     
     

    • 24 min
    Song of the Garden

    Song of the Garden

    This week my guests are Northern California based musical duo Misner & Smith. Sam, who is Misner, and Megan, who is Smith comprise one of the most acclaimed acts in the Americana world. Blending elements of that genre with bluegrass, traditional folk ballads, and more pop leaning ideas, they’ve been described as making music that is gloriously nonconforming. Aside from their musical chops, Sam & Megan are expert gardeners who focus on pollinators, sustainability and community gardening. Listen on to find out how their connection to nature feeds into their music.
    What We Talk About
    Sam & Megan’s gardening backgrounds
    Gardening sustainably and for the community
    Gardening as a creative outlet?
    
How gardening inspires when you are looking for creative prompts
    How gardening factors into their music?
    The garden soundscape
    About Misner & Smith
    Northern California based unclassifiable duo Misner & Smith treasure the unpredictability of
    their band. Technically precise songwriting mirrored with an improvisatory spirit and soaring
    harmonies have made the band consisting of Sam Misner and Megan Smith one of the most
    acclaimed acts in the Americana world. Blending elements of that genre with bluegrass,
    traditional folk ballads, and more pop leaning ideas, Misner & Smith makes music gloriously
    nonconforming. 
    The duo first met at a Shakespeare festival as professional actors in California in 2002 but began working as a musical duo two years later when Sam and Megan discovered a
    mutual love of roots music, Woody Guthrie, and in particular, harmony singing. Before the
    release of their career defining sixth LP ALL IS SONG, the duo had released five critically
    acclaimed records, including Halfway Home (2004), Poor Player (2008), Live at the Freight & Salvage (2010), Seven Hour Storm (2013), and headwaters (2017). It was that 2017 release that found the group stripping their sound back down to where it began, two voices and two instruments. headwaters was recorded live in the studio and features the duo doing what they do best. On ALL IS SONG, they build upon that momentum and turn in their finest work to date, an album of inspired declarations to the power of music, song, and, most importantly, collaboration.
    www.misnerandsmith.com
    YouTube 
    Other episodes if you liked this one:
    Natural Fibres - This week’s guest is multi-media artist Hanna Varga. Hanna incorporates the natural world into her work and her current projects involve foraging for fibres she turns into both useful and beautiful items. The conversation began with Hanna talking about her work past and present and developed into a really important conversation about the value of items at their more than fiscal level.
    
Soundscapes & Landscapes - This week I’m speaking to Dr Mike Edwards, Chief Listening Officer at Sound Matters, a company focussed on using sound and listening to create more sustainable and resilient futures. Sound Matters provided the soundtrack to the Rewilding Britain garden that one best in show at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. Mike recently spoke passionately about climate change, soundscapes and landscapes at the Beth Chatto Symposium and wowed a lecture theatre full of rapt listeners with his prowess on the didgeridoo.
    Support the podcast on Patreon

    • 28 min
    Shrouded in Light

    Shrouded in Light

    This week my guests are Kevin Philip Williams and Michael Guidi, authors of a new book ‘Shrouded in Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands’. I’ll let Kevin and Michael say more about the idea behind it but a book about horticulture that compares natural landscapes to graffiti and branch frameworks to sigils catches my attention immediately…
    What We Talk About
    The premise behind the book
    What is a shrub?
    Why have shrubs fallen out of fashion?
    Which of the global shrublands most inspires and informs their planting design at the garden level
    Good examples of designed shrublands
    The future of innovative garden design
    Shrouded in Light: Naturalistic Planting Inspired by Wild Shrublands by Kevin Philip Williams and Michael Guidi
    Other episodes if you liked this one:
    The View From Federal Twist - This episode features James Golden, talking about the naturalistic garden he’s built around his home in New Jersey. James’s garden has been created intuitively over time and sits perfectly within the landscape, in fact is a landscape in its own right. Sometimes baffling, sometimes threatening and without utilitarian purpose, the garden is nonetheless life-affirming, vital and dramatically beautiful in different ways from one moment to the next.
    
Gardening in a Changing World - My guest this episode is garden and landscape designer and writer, Darryl Moore. Darryl is one of the most, if not in my opinion, the most informed voice on gardens and design in the UK and his new book Gardening in A Changing World: People, Plants and the Climate Crisis presents an overarching perspective of the complexity of plant life, and the ways that we can begin to appreciate and work together with plants, rather than against them, in addressing the rapidly changing conditions affecting the planet.
    Support the podcast on Patreon

    • 25 min
    A Floral Feast

    A Floral Feast

    This week my guest is Carolyn Dunster. Carolyn is a planting designer, botanical stylist, garden writer and author of a book all about eating flowers entitled ‘A Floral Feast: A Guide to Growing and Cooking with Edible Flowers, Foliage, Herbs and Seeds’. We discuss how to expand your culinary endeavours to encompass the ornamental parts of your garden.
    A Floral Feast: A Guide to Growing and Cooking with Edible Flowers, Foliage, Herbs and Seeds by Carolyn Dunster
    Other episodes if you liked this one:
    Edible Flowers with Jan Billington - In this episode, I’m speaking to Jan Billington of Maddocks Farm Organics, a flower farm in Devon growing and selling organic edible flowers. We talk about the easiest and tastiest flowers you can grow, colour trends, some more unusual edible flowers and how you can use edible flowers for your own special event. The episode starts with Jan telling us about her farm and why she feels her business needs to give something back.
    
Welcome to Mintopia - This week’s guest is Dr Si Poole, founder of Mintopia, a website dedicated to mint featuring its own online reference library for the different types, the mintopaedia. Si holds one of the National Collections of mint and holds getting on for 200 different cultivars. From his plastic-free, organic nursery, he sells themed collections of mints and he’s passionate and knowledgable about every aspect of the Mentha genera, impressive given that there’s much more to this plant than mint sauce and mojitos. 
    Support the podcast on Patreon

    • 22 min
    Garlic

    Garlic

    My guest this week is Kumud Gandhi, a food scientist, author and founder of The Cooking Academy. Kumud has written a book called The Garlic Story, a look at the history of garlic and its culinary uses. We talk about how garlic has been celebrated and revered throughout history, the different types and uses and how you can incorporate more of it into your life.
    'The Garlic Story' is a celebration of all things garlic with over 50 delectable recipes, promising a flavourful journey that showcases the diverse and irresistible facets of this humble ingredient.
    The Garlic Story by Kumud Gandhi
    www.thecookingacademy.co.uk
    Other episodes if you liked this one:
    Unusual Edible Plants - This episode I’m speaking with Kevin Hobbs & Artur Cesar-Erlach, authors of EDIBLE: 70 Sustainable Plants That Are Changing How We Eat which looks at edible plants from around the world that are revolutionising how we grow, eat and appreciate food. It tackles important questions like what do we eat when our usual diets are no longer sustainable, how do we future proof food and how can we be more mindful about what we eat and considers what the future of global food production might look like.
    
Climate Cuisine with Clarissa Wei - this episode of the podcast, I’m speaking to journalist and host of the Climate Cuisine podcast, Clarissa Wei.
    On her podcast, Clarissa shares the stories of the crops grown sustainably around the world. The goal is to highlight climate-centric conversations about crops and the food we eat as they become increasingly important to the resiliency and survival of our food systems.
    Support the podcast on Patreon

    • 18 min
    Sustainability Matters

    Sustainability Matters

    My guest this week is Nadine Charlton. Through her business Home Spring Gardens, Nadine provides specialist services to the horticultural and landscape construction industry, advising on sustainable best practice and creating beautiful gardens and landscapes with an environmental conscience. We talk about the importance of sourcing sustainable garden products, how you can tell whether what you’re buying is sustainable and whether enough is being done on this front.
    About Nadine Charlton & Home Spring Gardens
    Nadine provides specialist services to the horticultural and landscape construction industry
    with commitment to sustainable best practice and creating beautiful gardens and landscapes with an environmental conscience. 
    She has exhibited personally at RHS shows, and has project managed and advised on multi award winning gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
    Nadine has an ability to see a vision and make it happen, connecting people and bringing
    teams, partners as well as commercial objectives together with demonstrable results. She
    has a lifelong passion of historic landscapes and architecture and is an advocate for using
    traditional methods with the benefit of modern insights and techniques.
    A passionate lover of outdoor living, Nadine is committed to innovation and education;
    inspiring the next generation.
    www.homespringgardens.co.uk
    Nadine is currently working with Landscape Architect Michael Lote on his debut show garden ‘It doesn’t have to cost the Earth’ which will be featured at RHS Malvern Spring Festival 9-12 th May 2024 showcasing innovative sustainable construction products and methods. 
    The garden will be repurposed to Woodoaks Farm which is owned by the Soil Association Land Trust to create a permanent training and educational space to facilitate learning for school children and adults, growing together with the horticultural and agricultural industry.
    Other episodes if you liked this one:
    Historic Roses
    
Irises
    Support the podcast on Patreon

    • 23 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
42 Ratings

42 Ratings

DailyKindleReader7458 ,

Wonderful!

What a wonderful podcast. I love listening to every episode. As a fruit/veg/flower gardener and an animal advocate, I enjoy gardening for pollinators and wildlife, too. I love all that I’m learning from this podcast— and it always leaves me feeling inspired! Thank you for every episode!

Old-New Gardener ,

Informative and thought-provoking

Making a career change and returning to a field I studied long ago, I’m hungry for a wide variety of gardening information. This podcast is just what I need and one of the best I’ve found so far! It’s catching me up on the latest and the topics are highly interesting to me. Listening is helping me find my way, and along the way I’m learning a lot. Thank you and keep up the good work!

Dfsteed ,

Great show

This is a great podcast. Such a diverse range of subjects and guests. It is always filled with little gems of information. Many of the authors Sarah has had on have written really great books that I may otherwise not heard about. I look forward to listening every week.

Top Podcasts In Leisure

Sword AF
Smosh
Fallout Lorecast - The Fallout Video Game & TV Lore Podcast
Robots Radio
Critical Role
Critical Role
Duck Call Room
Si Robertson & Justin Martin
The Big Three by Donut Media
Donut
李诞
李诞

You Might Also Like

Gardeners' Corner
BBC Radio Ulster
The Organic Gardening Podcast
Garden Organic
Gardening with the RHS
Royal Horticultural Society
grow, cook, eat, arrange with Sarah Raven & friends
Sarah Raven
Talking Gardens
Our Media
BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast
Immediate Media