Not Just a Garden

You may know him from Home Front, Top of The Pops, Come Dine with Me, Only Fools on Horses, Strictly Come Dancing, Gardening Together, Greatest Gardens... the list is endless, but you may also know him from his incredible and elaborate and fantastical show gardens at Chelsea. So it was an absolute pleasure that Diarmuid could find time to join us for a Chit-Chat.On this episode we take a trip down memory lane to the heady days of working with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, sipping champagne at Number 10, redesigning the Blue Peter garden with Primal Scream and living the rock n roll life alongside Brian Eno and Zandra Rhodes. We also learn about the highs and lows of showing at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the very real future of AI in garden design, and Diarmuid's surprisingly traditional dream garden, with one or two twists thrown in for good measure!Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Portmeirion Village Botanic Gardens Ireland Derreen Garden Architectural Plants Mount Usher Gardens Ewhurst Park 

Strap in for this recap as we follow Gardeners' World 2026 episode 17's flying visit of the first ever RHS Badminton Flower Show. We check out the movers & shakers, the growers & showers, and marvel at cuttings in glass bottles, despite the hot-flushes.And in our CCCUP we hear that Greg Anderton from Leafy Lytham won Best Plant Village Exhibit, and Dan Stearne from Dan's Plants won yet ANOTHER gold for his display. As if that's not enough for one week, Dan's also made it onto the front cover of The Sunday Times Home - with an article telling the story of his journey, from growing sweet peas with Grandma for teachers at the end of school term, to winning multiple RHS Gold Medals. Big congrats to both Greg and Dan!🥂🌿Farida Sober (from ep61 of Chit-Chats) is generously offering our listeners 20% discount on her newly released eBook: THE FERMENTED GRASS METHOD – Bring Your Soil Back to Life with Nature’s Own Fertility Cycle. Use the code SWEETPEA at checkout🌿🥇🥇We also remind our listeners that Dan’s still the man! With another Gold at RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Dan’s Plants is THE plant nursery to buy your plants from this season! Dan’s kindly giving a 10% discount on all his award-winning plants with our exclusive code NJAG10🥇🥇Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/recaps/More Not Just a Gardenhttps://notjustagarden.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

Renowned Australian garden designer Marylyn Abbott was on Gardeners' World 2025 Winter Special episode 1 when she and Head Gardener Dominic Rendell showed us her spectacular gardens at West Green House. We were thrilled that Marylyn could join us for a Chit-Chat and on this episode we hear about the incredible history of the house and gardens and the hidden obelisks, nymphaeums, bridges, birdcages, follies and more discovered around the grounds.We also find out about how Marylyn became Marketing Manager of The Sydney Opera House, having Nelson Rockefeller and his wife to dinner, the challenges of waterproofing a lake, operas in the green theatre, floods in outback Australia, and the beauty of the original and magnificent bush-houses.  Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Dangar IslandKennerton GreenHighgrove GardensMore Not Just a GardenWebsite: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

Disclaimer: Adam was NOT digging out 200mThis week on our recap of Gardeners' World 2026 episode 16 we finally discover the truth behind Sweetpea and the missing Hidcote White. We also have a healthy debate about what a "more perennial" plant is, relearn the health benefits of mullein, establish the difference between tulip fire and fire blight, and ask why oh why oh why are our courgettes only producing male flowers a second year in a row.On Gardeners' World this week, Adam Frost's on his knees again, before Jamie Butterworth meets with Chantal Sparrow at West Dean Gardens to talk Delphinium elatums. Rajul Shah shows us around her contemporary cottage garden at Le Strange Close in Norwich and Carol Klein gives us a catch up on progress in her place in Devon. Finally Tracey West in Birmingham shows us her garden full of roses with some tips on keeping them so beautiful.🌿Farida Sober (from ep61 of Chit-Chats) is generously offering our listeners 20% discount on her newly released eBook: THE FERMENTED GRASS METHOD – Bring Your Soil Back to Life with Nature’s Own Fertility Cycle. Use the code SWEETPEA at checkout🌿🥇🥇We also remind our listeners that Dan’s still the man! With another Gold at RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Dan’s Plants is THE plant nursery to buy your plants from this season! Dan’s kindly giving a 10% discount on all his award-winning plants with our exclusive code NJAG10🥇🥇Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/recaps/More Not Just a Gardenhttps://notjustagarden.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

Award winning garden designer Nic was on Gardeners' World 2023 episode 3 when he was visited by Joe Swift at his beautiful 1/4 acre plot in Surrey - the one with the very pink wall! In this episode we learn more about Nic's garden, some of his favourite gardens that he's designed, and also his truly spectacular garden created for The Chelsea Flower Show.We also find out about pruning tips - from Chelsea Chops to Hampton Hacks, a greenhouse the colour of a "brown shiny car", the occupational hazard of spiders, plant finding in Tenerife and Cape Town, the English gardener's suntan, and a tree that's the bee disco of the plant world.Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Little OrchardMore Not Just a GardenWebsite: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

This week on our recap of Gardeners' World 2026 episode 15, we dig deeper into the difference between cork and a sponge and learn the REALLY good news that pasta can be good for you. We also find out from a listener about Oregon exploding whales and beautiful mixed hedgerows in the USA, whilst also hearing from a couple of the designers from last week's Gardeners' World Live and learning a bit more about their beautiful show garden.On Gardeners' World, Richard Marshall in Bishops Cleeve shares his varied National Collection of penstemon, though we're flummoxed by the Hidcote White🤷🏼‍♀️, and head gardener Selina Ozanne shows Arit Anderson around the beautiful gardens at The Exchange in Erith.The very cool and inspiring Jenny Radbourne from Wensleydale Botanicals gives us a tour of her stunning garden in Wensleydale, before Rachel de Thame heads to Hanham Court - between Bristol & Bath👀 - to look at the natural beauty of self-seeders.Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/recaps/More Not Just a Gardenhttps://notjustagarden.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden