What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. Hold onto those horticultural reins and steer her steady - May madness has hit! Both Saul and Lucy are feeling the pressure of spring, what with shows, seedlings, sunshine, rainfall (and subsequently, LOTS of weeds!). So, how do the Head Gardener duo navigate the bombardment of jobs? By taking a few deep breaths! And also remembering to take time out to enjoy why we are all here in the first place, to garden. We also have exciting Chelsea Flower Show plans, as Lucy helps build a show garden for the first time, and Saul then joins her for the marvel that is Monday Press Day. Twitter link: Saul @GardeningSaul Instagram link: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. Lucy and Saul are back to their day-jobs after Beaulieu, Holidays and House sales - which means things are bound to go wrong. This week Saul has had the dreaded curse of 'threes', as three catastrophes have befallen his usual fun at Stonelands, but like water off a ducks back you must reach out for the positives, embrace the setbacks as learning opportunities and enjoy the Garden as May brings one of the most beautiful periods in the growing year! Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. With Saul taking a well deserved rest, Lucy delves into her past to explain why she is such a keen horticulturist. Now retired, her smallholder parents had a massive influence on her career choice. Their horticultural heritage also sheds light on a fascinating collective of market gardeners who, between them at their peak, produced 50 per cent of the UK's glasshouse salads. Termed the 'Land Settlement Agency', it brought many happy times for Lucy and her parents, as hopefully the interviews confirm (apologies to those two asparagus customers!!). If you'd like to watch the video I mention in this episode, follow this link, or search for 'Growth with the LSA': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmvyX3RWv4Q Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. A favourite annual fixture in their diaries, Lucy and Saul report back from the recent BBC Gardeners' World Spring Fair, held at the beautiful gardens of Beaulieu Motor Museum, in the New Forest. As well as helping out on stage with interviews and talks, the duo have had the pleasure of giving tours with Head Gardener, Kelvin Yapp, and his team. Our reputation must proceed us because the estate gang have kept us incredibly well fed and watered - plus, regular podcast listeners have not let us down via their supplies of biscuits - thank you, one and all! Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. Well rested and well fed, Lucy returns from a break in Norfolk this week - but how on earth do gardeners squeeze a holiday in when spring has sprung? Is there ever a good time to leave your garden unattended? Saul also has time away from his Stonelands Estate, so the duo explain how the Donyland and Stonelands trains stay firmly on the tracks whilst their Head Gardener is absent. Automated systems, nifty plant trickery - and the help of green-fingered gardening friends, neighbours and colleagues - all help to ensure that Head Gardeners can rest, while their estates can tick over, unaffected. Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. Lucy is away on here Easter holidays, so Saul takes the opportunity to enjoy a sunny Saturday morning to bring you listeners along at a look at how is back garden, full of exotic and tender plants have fared. The winter has been very cold, very dry and very wet in equal thirds so his collection of unusual plants has been tested to its limit! Having said that many of the plants that are starting back into growth have surprised Saul and have given him good heart to plant out in the mild, maritime climate that he enjoys in his Devon garden. Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. For this very special episode we're catching up with Lucy, who along with Audley End Gardeners Gemma Sturges and Kelly Fowler, are designing and building a Grow Your Own Show Garden at BBC Gardeners World Autumn Fair at Audley End. The trio are very experienced gardeners, especially with Fruit and Veg, but have stepped outside their comfort Zone with this Show Garden Project. So we catch up with them to see how the initial design was decided, how they are choosing which Veg and Fruit to display, those nurseries and companies that are helping them and a very special cameo appearance from Terry Porter, Show garden Veg supremo who passed on some sage advice and also super secret tips (Not disclosed in this podcast!). So join us for the start of Lucy, Gemma and Kelly's Show Garden adventure. Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Gemma @gemma_sturges Instagram Links: Lucy headgardenerlc Gemma madamtuberist Kelly fedbyplants Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. After our recent shout out for gardening conundrums, the Talking Heads podcast audience has done us proud! Between Lucy and Saul, the Head Gardener team answer all manner of horticultural questions, from how to keep strawberries healthy, to why magnolias are being denuded - and all manner of things in between. Why do red onions bolt? How do you grow lemongrass? How do I establish fritillaries in my meadow? What do you think of grafted vegetables? What can I grow in dry, windy shade? And our favourite question to answer: what will you do when you retire? Any guesses....?! Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. You can't of failed to be aware of the impact we have on our natural environment and this week one of the big stories has been the feeling of most of the trees in Plymouth city centre - where Head Gardener Saul calls home. So along with lucy the Talking heads pair discuss whether we are taking the green environment in our cities and towns seriously and whether we should invest more to bring the best of the built and natural environment in partnership - after all isn't that what gardening is all about! Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well, it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year, bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. This week, Lucy has been given the exciting task of observing an ancient Donyland border plan, and interpreting what direction it should take next. Given the climate's present desire to turn on a sixpence, should she attempt to preserve the original designer's plans, or is she at will to evolve them? All gardeners face similar questions in their borders, large and small, so she and Saul muse over what the modern day design process should be. Oh, and we also get exciting peach and tomato news! Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show Support the show

What is that on the horizon - well it's Spring of course. The klaxon for warmer, longer days is finally sounding and Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy are looking forward to it immensely. Spring is a wonderful time of year but also incredibly busy for all professional gardeners up and down the country as the gardens come alive with colour, texture and the occasional weed! Join them both as they navigate this beautiful time of year bringing you the sights and sounds of Stonelands and East Donyland, as well as their home gardens and beyond. Lucy is partial to a list - in fact if you've ever seen her notepad its endlessly filled with tasks to do, little squares and many ticks. Most Head Gardeners have a extensive 'To-do list' its part of the fabric of our practice and they are all so important, so join the Talking Heads duo as they look through a few tasks on theirs and how they hope to accomplish them and stick that next tick down. Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Lucy and Saul turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. Spring is beckoning, so Saul fires his mower up (but not where you'd think...!) while Lucy is busy deciding where and when to mulch. She also reports back on her visit to the Garden Press Event, and reveals her exciting project for 2023: a show garden! We then return to the topic at hand, gardening, to see what the two have planned for their respective estates during spring. The jobs list is certainly changing with the seasons. Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Lucy and Saul turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. Lucy has been at the cutting edge of journalism this week at the Garden Press Event, so Saul takes you on a solo journey down the Dawlish Water at Stonelands to look at what wildlife greets him on a beautiful February morning. Gardening for Wildlife is a big topic for discussion in the garden media at the moment, with many gardeners specifically creating elements of the garden with wildlife in mind - so Saul discusses his view on encouraging wildlife and why its necessary to think about our animal cousins as an essential part of the garden makeup. Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Lucy and Saul turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. This week, Saul rests his mighty voice, while Lucy takes us on a tour of her home kitchen garden, just outside Colchester. Here, she talks you through her 2023 grow your own plans, as she daydreams of early broad beans, baby carrots and lush spinach. Fruit pruning also needs to be completed, and while some trees should be cut back in summer, there are plenty of edible berry and orchard crops that warrant attention now. The episode is also audio-bombed by Isaac (the cat). Never let it be said that we don't go the extra mile to lay on a suitably furry Saul stand-in...! Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. Gardening, like all hobbies and professions, are not immune to the fashions of the moment - whether you're a Galanthophile, Daffodilaholic or need to be the biggest pumpkin on social media. But are these trends the horticultural world's friend or foe, the answer is complicated, whereas trends help highlight the garden to newcomers they can also form a barrier of gardening perfection and cost for some. Lucy and Saul take a look at what trends they follow and those that are maybe a little bemusing. (Apologies for Saul's sound quality - his microphone decided to die, but the sledgehammer has been dutifully applied and it should be working again for next week!) Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. We've all enjoyed those visits to gardens where we've left with bellies full of cake and an imagination full of ideas, so why not become a significant part of that hugely rewarding process? Opening your garden for charity can feel like a daunting process, but inspired by the National Garden Scheme's recent 2023 media launch, Lucy and Saul discuss the many benefits it can bring. Talking to an NGS county organiser, and overcoming any hesitancies you might have, will help raise funds for brilliant causes and give your garden a motivational focus. Twitter links: Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Saul @GardeningSaul Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Lucy and Saul turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. The constant rain or frost maybe slightly depressing at this time of year - especially if you are itching to get outside and start working the soil! But it does give us an excuse to sit in our potting shed or workshop and start writing up those plans for the year. Saul and Lucy are making plans now for the year as a great way of giving our work structure as we get busier and busier come the spring and summer. Ordering plants and seeds, maintaining or purchasing machinery, surveying trees and getting creative with new border designs are an ideal way to spend your time now to get on leg-up on the season ahead. So listen in to see what the Head Gardening pair are putting together! Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Lucy and Saul turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. With snowfall and spring indicators at the forefront of Saul and Lucy's minds, it's clear the start of the season is still at the mercy of the weather. But this downtime is an excellent opportunity to initiate revamping or restructuring areas of your plot, so get your design head on! Regardless of whether your garden is estate- or courtyard-sized there are plenty of resources out there to whet our appetites and twitch our purse strings. So, with that in mind, the duo describe those that are their favourites. Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. This week both Saul and Lucy are failures!! But does that matter - of course not. Failure - things going wrong, plants dying, weather ruining our garden are all part of the process, and in fact should be celebrated rather than hidden away. This episode we talk about failure as one of the most important parts in the life of gardener and how it informs a future practice and makes us look at the garden in a different light. Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show

We are in the depths of winter, and whatever the weather may - or may not - have in store for us in this traditionally chilly month, Head Gardeners Saul and Lucy turn their thoughts to the year ahead. Often mistaken for a quieter season, there are plenty of winter tasks to complete and projects to initiate. Winter pruning, leaf clearing, renovations and new plantings will all be discussed (we can't promise that conversations about biscuits and lists won't also appear...). Whatever the topic, the duo hope to prime us all for the unfolding gardening seasons. In this episode, we hear from newly appointed Head Gardener, Danny, asking what advice we would have liked to have been given when we first stepped into our roles. Assessing resources, not rushing in, trusting your instincts and being happy with your decisions are all top of the list, as Lucy and Saul consider the varied tasks and responsibilities this role brings. Hopefully these will resonate with Head Gardener listeners, and guide up-and-coming horticulturists, too. Twitter links: Saul @GardeningSaul Lucy @HeadGardenerLC Intro and Outro music from https://filmmusic.io "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Support the show Support the show