The Gardener Ben Podcast

This week on the Gardener Ben Podcast, I’m joined by Kenny @raybould_and_wild, who I’m lucky enough to call a personal friend. He has one of those jobs within the horticultural trade that I’m positive is incredibly stressful, but which many gardeners can only dream about — bringing together floristry, gardening, maintenance, and buying all in one role. Officially, Kenny is the Director of Horticul...

On today’s episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I had the absolute privilege of getting to know Gracie from @gracerosefarm. I’ve been following her on Instagram for so long, and there are some really exciting things happening both personally and with the business as they plan to relocate to the other side of the country, taking their daughter and extended family of animals with them. We talked abo...

On episode three of series three of the Gardener Ben podcast, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down for a face-to-face chat with the infallible, bold, and plain-speaking @ann.russell.3958. We are lucky enough that Ann lives very close to us here in the New Forest, which presented a real opportunity to have an open and rambling conversation — very much off-topic for me — over some tea and cak...

Joining me on this week’s episode of the podcast is Robin Jennings, Senior Brand and Marketing Manager @heirloomroses. Robin joins me for a conversation about how the brand is advancing its range into bulbs and specialist perennials, how they are making huge movements to reduce single-use plastic waste with fully recyclable and compostable packaging, and the option to have your roses shipped with...

Welcome back to the Gardener Ben podcast. I hope that you’ve all had a wonderful summer. It seemed to have never ended here on the south coast of the UK, with temperatures soaring for weeks on end and very little rain for nearly three months. This has caused autumn to arrive early; the garden is tired and ready for a rest. In this season, I’m planning to bring you some incredibly interesting conve...

Catch Episode 19 the finale in Series 2 of Gardner Ben's podcast, now streaming on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and on my YouTube channel. You all enjoyed Episode 1 so much from Season 1, that I invited @mark_hamilton_anderson back to conclude Season 2. He was used AI to form the questions they had for me/ us catch our conversation now! This has been an incredibly exciting season and special thanks. Go...

On this week's episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I’m joined by Matt, one of the gardening team from @peterbealesroses. Mark, Ethel, and I packed up the car and headed to Norfolk last weekend to spend an absolute glorious day walking around the Peter Beales show garden, garden centre, and restaurant. An utterly extraordinary experience and incredibly inspirational. I’m taking some wonderful idea...

Listen to episode 17 of season two of the Gardener Ben podcast. Now it’s streaming on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and my YouTube channel. This week, as we head into the month of June, it’s time to change gears with our maintenance in the rose garden. As we see the appearance of our first flowers, it’s time to start liquid feeding every two weeks, and of course, make sure that you’re removing any spent...

Listen to episode 16 of season two of the Garden of Ben podcast now. It’s streaming on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and on my YouTube channel. This week I’m downloading from the Chelsea Flower Show, and I’m joined by two very special guests, president and vice president of @newenglandrosesociety, @ld_gisel, and @regan305, whom I’ve promised to take whenever they like. During our chat, we talk about the...

The wait is finally over, and the doors to the Chelsea Flower Show have opened—an opportunity for the world to see the gardening trends and new plant varieties that will grace our gardens in the months and years to come. I’m going to bring you loads of content from the show over the coming weeks. On today’s episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I’m joined by @childrensallergy, an expert in airborne...

Take a listen to episode 14 of season two of my podcast, now streaming on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and on my YouTube channel. Don’t forget, there’s also a bonus episode slipped into the schedule that I recorded last week @bbcgwfair. On this week's episode, I had the pleasure of talking to the very knowledgeable @matt.pottage, who, although being an incredibly busy man, managed to take the time to j...

Episode 13 of season two of the Gardener Ben podcast is available for you to stream on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube. It’s been a frustrating week in the garden, with soaring temperatures meaning that keeping up with the watering has been a real challenge. I’ve also been in a personal battle with a local squirrel who’s not only taken to digging in the top of one of my very precious trees, br...

Bonus episode brought to you from the BBC Gardeners world Fair, Beaulieu. I had a marvellous day wandering around the show, admiring some amazing garden concepts, enjoying some great food, and of course, had the opportunity to purchase some amazing plants from specialist nurseries and some of the best growers in the country. A busy time for everybody, but I wanted to offer my personal thanks to th...

On this week's episode, I had to confess that I haven’t managed to spend a huge amount of time in my own garden. Being a full-time garden landscaper, this time of year keeps me on my toes in other people's gardens, and mine has to take a little bit of a backseat. This is one of the main reasons I’m so disciplined and organized with my own schedule—sharing content well before you actually need to b...

Episode 11 of season 2 of my podcast is available to stream on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube now, covering topics such as organic pest control of aphids, greenfly, and black fly; focused watering of newly planted first-season roses and shrubs; and we’re all about soil as I get to have the most wonderful and enlightening conversation with Becky from the account @sow_much_more. No matter what...

On this week’s episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I talk you through the process of lifting and dividing herbaceous perennials, which can be a great way of giving yourself plants to trade with friends and family. Now the garden is actively growing, it’s very easy to feel that it’s under attack from all sorts of critters such as lily beetles, slugs, and snails, which, as you would expect, is the...

Episode 9 of season two of the Gardner Ben podcast is packed full of what I’ve been up to over the last week or so. With the proper arrival of spring, I’ve unwrapped my tree ferns and given them their first watering and feed of the year. As the spring bulbs continue to flower, it’s important that you not only deadhead them but also give them a good liquid feed to ensure that they will flower prope...

On today’s episode of the Gardenerben podcast, I talk at length about watering and spring feeding as we move into the spring months and things start to really warm up. It’s important if you’ve planted new roses or shrubs over the autumn and winter season you keep a close eye on their watering even if it rains I also share some hints and tips about how you can improve success by watering properly i...

On today’s episode, we’re heading up to Shropshire, where I caught up with @our.english.topiarygarden. This episode could not be better timed, as after many years in their containers, Mark and I have finally got round to planting the huge 8-foot-tall yew pyramids I’ve been growing. They have finally made their way into our newly landscaped Wintergarden, where they’re making the centerpiece and bac...

In this week's episode of the Gardener Ben podcast, I have the absolute pleasure of catching up with Nick, the owner and operator of @gilbertsdahlias, just outside Romsey in Hampshire. We talk about dahlias, the hybridization of new varieties, and Nick shares with us some really good hints and tips on how a professional grower goes about lifting, storing, dividing, and propagating his stock. Throu...

As we creep towards the beginning of spring, the garden is slowly waking up. I’ve had my flower press out again to encapsulate and capture just a few of the early spring blooms. At North Lodge, I'm also pressing on with the new winter garden. The digger has been in and removed the stumps from the laurel hedge we cut down, and it’s now time to start mulching and preparing the area for planting. On...

Episode 4 of my podcast is available for you to download and stream now. Now that March has arrived, it’s time to really start sowing some seeds. I’ve got some tomatoes and the first batch of peas sown in the greenhouse outside. It’s time for some carrots and some beetroot, which I’ll have to keep tightly covered under cloches to save them from the pesky birds. On today’s episode, I’m joined by Ka...

As we head towards March, I finally got the time to weigh my way into the last frontier of the garden. Now celebrating just under seven years in this particular cottage, what will be known as the Wintergarden is going to take quite a lot of work. I’ve started by removing the very strange laurel hedge, which ran along our drive, opening up the space. I’m going to have to get a mini digger to remove...

‘My rose has black spot’. What should I do? Is the largest question? I get asked online The prevention of most pest and disease problems in the rose garden is far better than ever reaching for the cure and with good basic gardening practices you can pretty much avoid most of the issues we face This video contains many different techniques and nuggets of information regarding to proper pruning Deep...

This week’s episode of the Gardener Ben podcast features @cheshire_head_gardener. I had the most wonderful, relaxed, and enlightening chat with Tristan, exploring his role as Head Gardener @barnston_estate. We talked freely about his gardening style and his passion for repurposing, reusing, and building a garden. Make sure that you head to his Instagram page once you’ve listened, give him a follow...