Six Best Gardening Podcasts & Books

What’s keeping you busy? Apart from gardening, of course! If you are like us, all you do when you take a break from your garden is... talk about plants, read gardening blogs, listen to gardening podcasts and watch gardening programmes. No judgement here! Because more inspiration and extra knowledge can only do good. 

Here is a subjective and non-exhaustive selection of encouraging gardening books and podcasts for you to explore when you finally settle back on the sofa after a long day in the garden. 

Podcast - an ever-growing medium of learning and entertainment. It is a digital audio series of talks, produced by journalists, experts or enthusiasts.  It can bring comfort when you feel lonely or need a little pick-me-up, just like a radio programme would. The difference between a radio station and a podcast is that the latter offers content on demand, meaning that you can listen to it anytime. All you need is the internet, or you could download episodes ahead and listen to them offline (maybe while you garden… haha). Podcasts focus on individual topics, so there is a better chance of finding one that talks about your unusual hobby.

You can listen to podcasts either in the browser, or on your mobile. We are linking to the desktop versions below. For the mobile version, please find the Podcast App on your phone (or download the app from App Store) and search for podcasts by name or topic. 

The RHS Gardening Podcast
Weekly talks with gardening experts, designers, scientists, growers and many others. The RHS Gardening Podcast offers horticultural advice, inspiration and tried-and-tested solutions to gardening problems.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/podcasts

What we love about it: Trusted gardening professionals giving the latest horticultural advice.

The Organic Gardening Podcast
Monthly episodes, delivered by Garden Organic -  UK's leading organic gardening charity, that promotes organic growing as essential for a healthy and sustainable world. Hosted by Sarah Brown and Chris Collins, this podcast helps you garden the organic way, with advice, tips and interviews.

What we love about it: Seasonal advice and useful tips for novices and experienced gardeners alike.

Roots and All
Gardening Podcast of the Year - Garden Media Guild Awards 2019. Fortnightly episodes that you can download, stream or view show notes and transcriptions. Hosted by Sarah Wilson, the garden designer with focus on wildlife and environmental benefits, without compromising on aesthetic style. The topics vary from making natural dyes to school gardening, to growing fruit and veg in pots to foraging.

What we love about it: Sarah’s podcast is independent and covers a wide range of subjects with focus on wildlife and the environment. 

Fresh From the Pod & The Untold Story of Gardening
These two podcasts are powered by Candide - Gardening app for gardeners. The host - Tamsin Westhorpe, is a journalist and gardener, the Royal Horticultural Society judge, co-chair of the Garden Media Guild and a writer. She travels throughout the UK to meet with the most influential people in horticulture to talk plants, gardening and business.

https://candidegardening.com/GB/podcasts

What we love about it: Cleverly presented, with fantastic guests. Not to be missed is the ‘Nashir Karmali the Gardening Chiropractor’ episode.

The Garden Log
Hosted by Ben Dark, head gardener, the winner of Garden Media Guild 2018. The Alan Titchmarsh New Talent Award. “Horticultures most discursive podcast.”

https://thegardenlog.libsyn.com/

What we love about it: Charming voice of the host, who talks gardening in an atmospheric way.

Cultivating Place
Recommended by our friends from across the pond - The Garden Conservancy. This weekly podcast illustrates the many ways in which gardens are integral to our natural and cultural literacy. The host, Jennifer Jewell explores how and why we garden and what we mean when we garden. 

https://www.cultivatingplace.com/

What we love about it: This podcast gives gardeners a credit for being agents for positive change in the world.

Here are top 6 gardening books to make you dream big! Have fun exploring garden design ideas and learn new techniques.

Planting: A New Perspective by Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury
Piet Oudolf is the rockstar among garden designers, known for using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses. Oudolf creates striking landscapes, valued for their structure and colour. Included in the book are his designs with plant schemes, for anyone who would like to incorporate the plants used in his famous projects in their own garden.

See inside the book: https://oudolf.com/planting-a-new-perspective

Plastic-free Gardening by Fiona Thackeray
The author is the Head of Operations with Trellis, Scotland’s therapeutic gardening charity. The book includes tips and techniques on how to reduce or eradicate plastics and provides up-to-date information on which plastics can and can’t be recycled.

See inside the book: https://trellisscotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/web_extract_plastic-free-gardening.pdf

The Climate Change Garden by Sally Morgan and Kim Stoddart
Sally Morgan and Kim Stoddart’s new book is a gardener’s guide to climate change. It’s shows you how to adapt and cope with the volatile weather extremes that lie ahead – storms, torrential rain, flooding and drought for example. Ten per cent  of the net profits from the sale of the book will be donated to Garden Organic.

https://www.climatechangegarden.uk/

Woodland Gardening by Kenneth Cox
The book examines design and planning in the woodland garden, including colour, contrasts, foliage effects, construction and the borrowed landscape. Gardeners and plant hunters featured include William Robinson, Gertrude Jekyll, George Forest, Frank Kingdon Ward, J.C. Williams, Lionel de Rothschild, Lanning Roper, Eric Savill, The Puddle family, Graham Smith, Charles Sargent, Steve Hootman, Euan & Peter Cox, Dan Hinckley, Arabella Lennox Boyd, Dan Pearson and many more.

https://www.glendoick.com/book-Woodland-Gardening-id258

Retrosuburbia by David Holmgren
An online version of a bestselling book by one of the fathers of a permaculture movement.

This nearly 600 full-colour pages, beautifully illustrated book shows how residential areas can become productive and resilient in a world of economic instability and energy-descent. It focuses on what can be done right now by an individual at the household level and empowers people to make positive changes in their lives. Creative solutions for people of different ages,interests and needs.

See inside the book (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=hDgYlTbXfzc&feature=emb_logo

How Does My Garden Grow by Gerda Muller
This is a wonderful book for children to learn where our food comes from. A warm story of Sophie who learns about allotment and basic gardening techniques at her grandparents' farm. Accurately illustrated, shows the garden and its plants through spring, summer, autumn and winter. The author, Gerda Muller has illustrated over 120 books for children and her books have been translated into many languages.

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