Plants Grow Here - Horticulture, Landscape Gardening & Ecology

What makes a native garden design "modern"? What garden trends have defined Aussie landscaping culture in 2023, heading into 2024? And how can you use a show garden as a lead magnet to gain work as a designer? In this episode, MIFGS Achievable Gardens medalist Daniel Althaus answers these questions and more to help us understand why his garden Circles of Life was such a show-stopper this...

Do you still feel the passion you had for plants when you started this game? Or are you just turning up to work each day, going through the motions? My guest Maria Failla from the Growing Joy Podcast is here to teach us how to "connect with nature," "find our joy," or practice "self care," even if those terms don't really resonate with us. Plant care is a form of...

In ep.172 I talked about ten career pathways in amenity horticulture. It was a quick run through some of the most important jobs in our industry, and pathways you can take throughout each sector. In this episode, I dig into these pathways in a bit more detail with the help of Growing Joy's podcast host Maria Failla. As an indoor plant enthusiast and hort media professional, she was able to wa...

If you can't classify and name plants, how can you successfully work as a horticulturist? You probably don't need to know the exact scientific name for every plant you work with, but a basic understanding of how plant taxonomy works is a must for any serious gardener. In this episode, you'll learn how to name plants, how plant families work, and what on earth plant taxonomy and bino...

Which indoor plant should you treat yourself or a loved one to this Christmas? In this episode, Jane Perrone, host of the On the Ledge podcast is back on the show to tell us why these 13 plants make awesome indoor plants, and how to look after them. From the beginner mode plants that are pretty much unkillable, to the fussy expert mode plants, these are some of the "best" indoor house pl...

If you found my last chat with MIFGS gold medalist Peter Donegan inspiring, you'll love this episode. Irish landscape architect and MIFGS gold medallist Peter Donegan is back on the podcast to describe his upcoming design for MIFGS 2024. Listen to him speak about where he's drawing his inspiration from for this next design, why it's an important topic to shine a light on, and why th...

Do you want to share your love foe trees with others? Why not curate and lead your own tree walks? Greg Packman is back on the show and this time he's going to teach us how to curate your own tree walk. In this episode, you'll learn how to organise, promote, and lead your own tree walks. EPISODE LINKS Greg's Twitter: https://twitter.com/GregPackman Greg's LinkedIn: https://www....

What can an Aussie horticulturist learn by working in Europe's famous gardens? In this episode, Ash Walker is back to help us learn what he's learnt by working in Monet's garden, Kew, and several other world-class gardens in Europe. How was he trained to approach aspects of gardening, such as deadheading, irrigating and pest management, and how does that differ compared to what we s...

What's it like to work in hort media? How do you get started? And why does Scott keep referring to himself as a "hero"? In this episode, Scott Smith and I talk about horticulture media careers, including traditional media and modern social media careers. EPISODE LINKS Follow Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-h-smith-mcihort-diphort-rhs-3ab122227 Follow Daniel on L...

A garden is an opportunity to express something deeply personal which resonates for people who are able to receive your message in a bottle. In this episode, I chat with Irish landscape architect Peter Donegan, who designed the Bam Stone Garden at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS), which tied for the Gold Show Garden Award. We start by discussing garden trends and native p...

Have you ever been stuck in a toxic workplace? This episode is all about the culture of fear at horticulture workplaces around the country. Simon Harrison is manager for parks at Wollondilly Shire Council in the outer west of Sydney, and he's experienced his fair share of workplace tensions. In this episode he helps us understand what it takes to turn workplace culture around in the right dir...

Nursery businesses don't run themselves. There are a series of plateaus they reach that can be difficult to move beyond. How can a young, hungry nursery eat up more market share? And how can an established nursery that's doing the same thing, day in, day out, behave like a young and hungry nursery that's eating up that market share? Whether your business is at the stage where it nee...

Dr Ian Smith is back! This time he's going to pretty much sum up half of the wisdom that's ever been dropped on this podcast in 170 episodes. Ecology isn't just for nature's benefit (although, of course, it is partly for nature's benefit). It's also for our own selfish benefits. EPISODE LINKS Follow Ian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EcologIan Ian's LinkedIn: ht...

Is sustainability about more than just atmospheric carbon? This week's guest, Mark Laurence, makes a strong case for a wider perspective when it comes to climate change by using climate-adaptive planting and ecosystem development. We can't simply focus on sucking carbon out of the atmosphere, because that neglects the biggest greenhouse gas of all: water. Listen to this episode to learn...

Have you ever wondered what career pathways there are in the ornamental landscape? From plant production to maintenance, and a whole lot of stuff inbetween, here are 10 amenity horticulture career pathways. This episode is based on a two-part article I wrote for the Hort Journal industry magazine which transformed into a webinar I delivered to TAFE NSW students on behalf of the Australian Institut...

What's it like landscaping on-the-tools? What skills do you need? And who can call themselves a landscaper, anyway? In this episode, TAFE NSW teacher Rob Wardlaw gives us an insight into what it's really like to work as a landscaper on the tools. This career pathway mixes elements of horticulture and construction and lets you create beautiful landscapes that others can only dream of crea...

Why is there so much bad gardening advice online? And what are some of the worst pieces of advice you're likely to hear? Join Dr Vikram Baliga and I as we uncover some of the comically bad gardening "hacks" that have ever been created. From the disgusting to the bizarre, we'll help you avoid following ridiculous advice by uncovering the science behind WHY these ideas won't...

When you're watching sport on the telly, do you realise how much passion goes into the grounds? I'm not talking about the passion from the coaches, the players and the fans. I'm talking about the sportsturf managers who go to extraordinary lengths to ensure the optimal conditions are available on the grounds. As this episode's guest, TAFE NSW teacher David Little says, great tu...

Let's have a chat about mental health. Let's not be preachy, but just have a discussion about practical tips to help you in your own journey. Because let's face it: there aren't a whole lot of resources available for blue-collar workers who are struggling with mental health. We'll also take a look at a case study of an organisation that provides free counselling over the p...

How do the best NRM experts deal with invasive and environmental weeds, without reaching for chemical herbicides as a first resort? By using Integrated Weed Management (IWM) strategies, of course. These include physical, cultural, biological, genetic, regulatory and finally chemical tools as a last resort. Kate Blood is Program Manager for weed management at the Victorian Department of Energy, Env...

We all agree that natural resources need our help. But how do we create ecosystems that last, using native plants, within budget, and on-time? To celebrate National Tree Day in Australia, our sponsors at Arborgreen have helped to create an information-packed episode. We'll take you through all of the major steps you'll need to follow when creating and improving natural habitats to suppor...

If you didn't get to this year's The Landscape Show in Melbourne, don't worry! We're about to take a virtual tour and speak with 18 of the 88 vendors that were on display over two podcast episodes. We'll learn about innovative and sustainable products and services, new ways of doing things, and we'll hear from some brands that have become household names. In this epis...

If you didn't get to this year's The Landscape Show in Melbourne, don't worry! We're about to take a virtual tour and speak with 18 of the 88 vendors that were on display over two podcast episodes. We'll learn about innovative and sustainable products and services, new ways of doing things, and we'll hear from some brands that have become household names. In this epis...

Victoria is set to ban logging in native forests for timber. Sounds great, right? But let's dig a little bit deeper and see if we've missed something here. Paul Reid educates people on social media about what it's really like in Aussie forestry as The Aussie Logger. He works in a forestry plantation setting, but he feels strongly that we have a responsibility to conduct native loggi...

Brent Purtell runs the 51st floor kitchen garden at Capitaspring skyscraper in Singapore, and in this episode we take a look into what his job's like on a day-to-day basis. What's it like to grow veggies on a skyscraper? What unique challenges are present? How can you tackle them? Brent's moving back to Melbourne this year, so if you're looking to hire a highly capable horticul...