Gardens, weeds & words. An odd name for a blog. But really, that’s just what it’s all about. I spend a good part of each day messing about with, staring at, or thinking about all three, so naming the blog after them seemed like an entirely sensible thing to do. At least you know what you’re in for.
Spring is well and truly here, and so is garden designer and writer Jack Wallington, who joins me for the last episode of this mini series of the podcast celebrating the ideas behind his book, Wild About Weeds.
Winter’s not yet done with us, but there's always something to do in the garden. Delving back into Jack Wallington's Wild About Weeds to find out how to manage these rebel plants. And thinking about how the picture perfect garden fits
Autumn is settling in and, if we’re honest, we start to spend less time actively gardening. More time for the soil to grow what it really wants, more time for us to start dreaming next year’s garden into being…
We salute summer as it reaches its peak and, just as quickly, begins to pass the baton on to the next season, and enjoy a reading from the introduction to Jack’s book, from which the episode title’s been shamelessly pinched
Chef, grower, teacher, herbologist – it’s always hard to categorise my guests on the Gardens, Weeds & Words podcast and Maya Thomas is no exception. Suffice to say that a love of plants or people – and usually both – infuses everything she does, and so where better to focus our conversation for this episode than on the subject of herbs…
Love it or hate it (and why would you hate it?), the RHS Chelsea Flower Show offers a fantastic platform for charities to promote their work. In this episode, I’m joined by Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, whose Gardens for Good Causes initiative brings together designers, landscapers and charitable organisations, creating headline-grabbing show gardens with the power to bring change where it’s most needed.
There’s an intricacy and generosity of spirit to the work of floral artist and broadcaster Hazel Gardiner that betrays her love of story telling, as well as hinting at her ability not just to absorb energy from the creatives she works along side, but to amplify that vibrancy and share it back around. In this episode she joins me to talk about her varied career path, the roots of her artistic approach and, of course, her garden
To celebrate the publication of my first book, To Stand and Stare: how to garden while doing next to nothing, I’m having the tables turned on me. For this episode, I find myself on the other side of the mic as friend of the podcast Alice Vincent drops by to interview me about how the book came about, how it relates to my wider work, and why a title that’s very much not a ‘how to garden’ manual still manages to have so many ‘how to...’ sections in it.
I’m so delighted to have florist and grower Milli Proust on the podcast for the last episode of 2022. Her book From Seed to Bloom was one of the highlights of the year for me, as it has been for many others, and the images of her floral arrangements and beautiful growing space in West Sussex continue to provide a gorgeous backdrop to pleasant reveries. We discuss her emphasis upon the seasons and the land, on story and theatre, and the impact that becoming a mother has had on her work. And laugh, a lot.
Now you’re here, I’d love you to look about – have a read, and let me know what you think. It’s great if you feel moved to share a post, but I’ll be delighted if you leave me a comment. I always write back, unless you’re clearly a robot or an inveterate spammer.
The blog is accessible from the navigation bar under the logo at the top of the page. Or, for more about gardens, weeds & words, read on...

In this opening episode of season 4, we wander down the intertwining hedgerow paths of May Morris’s 1893 Arcadia wallpaper design, featuring a passage from her book Decorative Needlework beautifully read for us by Milli Proust.
That sense of wild, magical, yet familiar garden space leads us directly into the work of this episode’s guest: French illustrator Margot Réverdy.