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HortWeek Podcast
Welcome to the HortWeek Podcast where we bring you news and views on the most important topics of the day for UK horticulture professionals. For more visit https://www.hortweek.co.uk/podcasts.
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34. 'Not your usual garden' - a Chelsea 'finale' and showcasing the unexpected with The Newt's Katie Lewis and Harry Baldwin
43:45||Season 5, Ep. 34Joining Rachael Forsyth the week's HortWeek Podcast are Harry Baldwin head gardener at the Somerset garden and estate, The Newt, alongside Katie Lewis, estate architect.After four years as a headline sponsor at the Chelsea Flower Show, it is The Newt's 'finale' year and it is set to showcase tropical plants sourced from nurseries in the UK, South Africa, and from its own collection in its Karoo Succulent show garden, a collaboration with The Newt's South African sister farm, Babylonstoren.As Katie says: "There will be plants in the garden that probably many will not have seen before, as well as some quite recognizable plants that people might have as houseplants. But they'll be able to see them set in what we're trying to evoke as their natural setting, so we're hoping that that's going to be quite inspiring and exciting for people."But The Newt's relationship with the RHS will not end completely, Katie explains: "So we'll continue to be a partner garden and we'll continue to support the RHS."Harry talks though some of the attractions and features on The Newt Estate, aka the Hadspen Garden. He explains the way the 40-strong specialist staff work - which includes dedicated garden and woodland teams.New to the team is entomologist Tom Oliver who is instrumental to work The Newt is undertaking to understand, audit and improve its biodiversity. Tom's data will also be used to help The Newt experiment with new cutting regimes for the wildflower meadows to try and maximise the invertebrate life throughout the year.Harry says: "We have a really rich biodiversity across the estate. I guess we're also quite lucky here because we've got different types of landscapes...we've got the woodlands, we've got pasture, we've got our formal gardens, and we've got quite a big range, which no doubt helps with the biodiversity."The Newt is set to host a Head Gardeners Conference in October 2025 which will gather 100 head gardeners to discuss trees for the future.Like all gardens The Newt faces challenges with pests and diseases and climate change and trees are central to these topics.Harry explains: "native plants are important because our invertebrates have adapted ... to our native plants and our native landscapes. But it's obviously important that we do start to bring in some non-natives. For example, we've got one area ... where we've had to sadly remove a number of large ash trees because of ash dieback...So there I'm hoping to planting native trees but also looking slightly out the box where we can planting, for example, we can plant a Caucasian hornbeam ...which is still going to service our woodland but it might have the added diversity of being able to be slightly more drought tolerant perhaps."In keeping with it's lightly unorthodox approach, The Newt allows visitors to pick vegetables and fruit from its kitchen garden:"The ethos of the kitchen garden is that for people to try - everything in there is completely edible and there is almost no boundaries... We want people to be immersed into our landscape, into our fruit and sort vegetable heritage."And with her design hat on, Katie is keen to extend the spirit of experimentation and innovation at The Newt:"I think there's ways that we can champion plants more, champion seasonality more, offer more to our guest experience in various ways. "I want to really showcase plants that aren't necessarily purchased from your local garden center...I've had the opportunity to work with some really great, wonderful and unusual plants from various temperate regions of the world. And I really want to bring that to The Newt."
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33. How horticulture can weather the future with Stuart Priest of Batsford Arboretum
25:53||Season 5, Ep. 33Director of operations at The Batsford Foundation Stuart Priest has led a rich life in horticulture, starting with an apprenticeship with Blakedown Nurseries followed by a National Diploma in Hardy Nursery Stock at Pershore College. He joined Batsford Arboretum in 1986 after an opportunity came up to open a nursery at the Cotswolds attraction.After developing a successful hardy fern production line, he decided to pivot away from the stresses of growing plants towards garden retail, installed a garden centre within the nursery site and built a garden visitors centre. Two years ago Batsford added a restaurant.The arboretum houses collections of birch, maple, oak, ash, lime, magnolia, mountain ash, pine, fir, spruce and many other rare trees.Priest discusses the origins of the arboretum through to current challenges including dealing with extreme weather events as well as strategies to attract visitors throughout the year.A series of droughts prompted a decision to build a three million litre lake, which has also become an "absolute magnet" for wildlife.He says extreme weather events have become more common but his reaction to losses is now more philosophical - as there are also gains.In high winds "some of the veteran trees are dropping boughs, going over and it used to be really upsetting...now we've just assured ourselves that one big tree goes, it opens up a massive planting place."We're able to grow a vast amount of plants, different sorts of species now that 20-odd years ago we wouldn't dreamt of trying". Batsford has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in an extensive solar panel network in which generated £10,000 "in a dull year" to help offset Batsford's £60,000 electric bill. And he hopes to generate more when further solar panels set to adorn a new workshop facility and tractor shed are added to the network.A passionate horticulturist, Priest ends the podcast with a heartfelt plea: "The comradeship is brilliant in horticulture and we've got to encourage the youngsters to come into it."
32. HortWeek Podcast with Colegrave Seabrook Foundation: unsung hero - arborist James Gadd
24:08||Season 5, Ep. 32Neville Stein's guest on this episode of the podcast works in one of horticulture’s most hands-on areas, arboriculture.James Gadd is a director of Gadd Brothers Trees and Landscape and as an arboricultural professional he works with amenity trees – those found in private gardens, public parks and open spaces, schools, churchyards, playgrounds, urban woodlands and nature reserves and alongside roads, railway lines and routes for utilities like electricity pylons. It is a role which sees him mix heavy machinery, heights, problem solving and things that sound like they could be from a Mission Impossible movie, as well as conservation and planting of trees. As someone running a business, James tells us a little about what he is looking for when he hires staff, how to get started in the industry, and reveals some of the things that some people do not realise are part of the job.For more information about Gadd Brothers Trees and Landscapes visit https://gaddbrothers.co.uk/ and to find out how the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation can support your career in horticulture visit https://colegrave seabrook foundation.org.uk/
31. How public-private partnerships are the key to making BNG a success - with Hampshire Wildlife Trusts and Kingwell
40:50||Season 5, Ep. 31Joining Rachael Forsyth on this week's HortWeek Podcast is John Durnell from the Hampshire Wildlife Trust and Alistair Emery, founder of Land and property investment and consultancy, Kingwell.John and Alistair are collaborators on significant natural capital scheme at Keyhaven near Milford-on-Sea converting degraded arable farming land into a "high value wildlife site".Kingwell bought the farm in 2020 and is working with Hampshire Wildlife Trusts to create meadows and grassland, enriching the biodiversity as large-scale BNG habitat.The land will be transformed in five or six phases which will be offered to developers as BNG credits - "we thought was probably what the market would absorb" Alistair says.Working alongside local authorities and the Environment Agency in a form of public-private partnership HWT will provide technical support on habitat creation and ongoing management of the land over the next 20 or 30 years. As John says, "frankly if we're going to turn around the sort of fate of wildlife in the UK I think every single sector is really going to have to do its bit."Alistair talks about the benefits from a land owner's point of view and how it can benefit rural business and community as well as the environment: "Farmers are under a lot of pressure to look at how they can diversify and commercialize their farms, particularly with BPS falling away. It's looking at what are the opportunities that can keep farms going. Environmental schemes such as this are going to play a part in enabling farmers to continue."They outline the carbon sequestration benefits of soil restoration and way the "nascent" BNG credits market will interact with local construction schemes and planning departments.Alistair says: "Our planning system is broken. And it's not broken because of things like BNG. It's it's other factors that are driving that."Also in the planning system, developers are finding ways to get around BNG, finding exemptions so that they don't have to deliver it onsite or even offsite."I think things will change. It's a very new thing. It was only February last year that it became statutory and small developments in April. It takes a long time to get these schemes approved and over the line and supply."John says: "What I always find frustrating is when the Government infer that lack of supply or BNG or protection for the environment is the thing that's stopping house building. And frankly, that's risible when... if you speak to most developers, they'll admit that it's high interest rates, lack of planning officers, lack of capacity... [and] things like lack of labour. They discuss the teething troubles with BNG, issues with planning and posit options on how system might be adapted to allow the various agencies to work together more effectively, which means, John insists, public and private partnerships.They also make the case for larger schemes. Alistair says: "If you have on-site mitigation where you've got fragmented patches of areas within developments that are completely unconnected and going back to the resource problem of the local authorities, then being able to monitor and enforce to ensure that the biodiversity is actually being delivered in those areas, it just doesn't work. It will only work properly if we can do it strategically on large areas of land like what we've got in Keyhaven.John adds: "Small areas suffer from this thing called edge effect where the edges, problems come in from the edge and the edges tend to be degraded to a certain extent....mitigating at scale strategically is a really, really good model. "
30. HortWeek Podcast with Colegrave Seabrook Foundation: unsung hero - turfcare specialist David Smith
22:35||Season 5, Ep. 30HortWeek is delighted to present the Cultivate Your Future podcast, in partnership with the Colegrave Seabrook Foundation and sponsor Westland Horticulture.At a time when horticulture needs to encourage a new wave of young people to come into the industry, this podcast is designed to highlight the multiple and varied career opportunities available.Hear from people who have found their way into their chosen career through different paths, what their job involves and what it means to them.In this episode Neville Stein catches up with students from Sparsholt College to discuss their recent experience of exhibiting at RHS Chelsea Flower Show and how they felt about it.As the Colegave Seabrook Foundation supports students studying horticulture, we were very proud to be sponsors of their exhibit and are thrilled at their success.
29. Sustainable growth in a turbulent landscape market, with Blakedown Landscapes
39:13||Season 5, Ep. 29This week's guests are Chris Wellbelove (recently appointed managing director) and Steve Buckingham, CEO of Blakedown Landscapes.Blakedown just won the contract for the Queen Elizabeth garden scheme for The Royal Parks as part of their landscape construction framework. Chris outlines work being done using "environmentally sensitive construction methods" and Steve discusses some of the highlights of their work with The Royal Parks which goes back some 35 years, including the Greenwich Park Revealed scheme which won them a National BALI Award. The Outdolf Landscape project at RHS Garden Wisley won the firm another BALI Award that year and Chris talks about the pleasure of a free-flowing collaboration made possible by working with the hands-on and knowledgeable Wisley team.The pair also discuss some of the challenges faced in the landscape sector, including increased and unpredictable lead-in times for materials and plants.Chris says: "By the time we get to see it it's got a specification it's got planning permission based on a certain set of materials so for us to have much input is difficult", adding "where we are involved at earlier points we do have these discussions about 'where are you purchasing from, is it ethical, is it sustainable, is there a UK alternative?'. On plans for growth, Chris talks about how contractor design work is now part of every contract they undertake, so the firm took on Ruth Miller as a design manager to manage those design elements efficiently without disrupting the progress of the project. Andy Harris also joined as an operations manager to bolster the management team. Steve adds they are aiming for "organic growth" while looking expand activities outside their traditional territories in the South of England. Nigel Payne has also come on board to help develop Blakedown's grounds maintenance offering.Among the varied and numerous challenges thrown up in 2024, Steve says the "continually wet period" from autumn 2023 to spring 2024 was one of the hardest.And a new challenge faced by all landscape contractors is in the planning department. On the one hand, a change in pre-commencement conditions means Blakedown is being involved in signing those off after starting the contract causing delays of several weeks to commencement of works. This is exacerbated by a lack of and high turnover of overstretched planning officers, all adding to delays. "[A project] we were due to start last September, we are only getting on board now [early March]... it has a real effect on your sales forecast and your planning."Another area of growth is public realm and infrastructure improvements set in motion by the last Government's 'Levelling Up" agenda and Blakedown is embarking on a major project in to transform Canterbury's open spaces including a 'green link' to provide a safe way for pedestrians to walk around the city. Chris is inspired by how it is finding ways to "improve accessiblity but not a the cost of nature"."For the next five years it is about organic growth...We're not looking to grow hugely; we want to do what we do really well, and keep doing that."
28. ICL's Andrew Wilson on Water Soluble Fertilisers
12:08||Season 5, Ep. 28ICL Professional Horticulture Technical Manager Andrew Wilson explains what water soluble fertilisers are and how they can be applied directly to the plant through drip irrigation and foliar application. He explains how to apply them through a diluter, overhead irrigation or drip irrigation. WSF’s are usually applied as a supplementary feed in combination with a Controlled Release Fertiliser such as Osmocote 5. They are typically used to give a growth boost to outdoor crops after a prolonged high rainfall period during the growing season.Wilson talks about different types of water soluble fertilisers to suit your water type and ratios of NPK in the product, as well as conductivity (EC) of the fertiliser.He explains how AngelaWeb 3.0 software takes many nursery specific factors into account such as water quality, growing media and Osmocote levels and says how WSF’s can be used in peat-free growing with care and tells us about frequency of feeding Lots of advice can be found on the ICL website and many practical videos on our Youtube channel ICL UK/Ire Professional Horticulture.