Not Just a Garden

Horticulturist and horticultural therapist Ashley needs little introduction as one of the presenters on Gardeners' World. But not just that, he’s also a member of the DIY SOS team, appears on ITV’s Love your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, is a regular on the BBC Gardeners' Question Time panel, is one of the Ask the Experts team in Gardeners' World Magazine, and is head gardener at Crocus at Dorney Court. *draws breath😮‍💨Not surprisingly, Ashley's been called the busiest man in horticulture and so we were really grateful he could find a moment to join us. In fact Ashley had to fly off for some filming straight after so we do fairly steam through his dream garden, but we still found time for A Good Ol’ Chit-Chat!On this final episode of Chit-Chats for Series 4, Ashley tells us about his varied and exciting route into horticulture and how it took him from the UK to abroad - from US Pennsylvania where summers were so humid, the dahlias would produce aerial roots, to Sicily where he could pluck and eat sweet blood oranges straight from the tree.We also find out about tackling imposter syndrome, manifesting a place in St Lucia, the significance of Japan's cherry blossom festivals, green furry monsters, sunflower borders, mossy mounds, air-frying kale, dance floors in the greenhouse, and Sweetpea and Ashley's shared love for Missy Elliott and Mary J Blige🕺And if you want to get some time with Ashley, then he’s taking tours and having a chat at Crocus at Dorney Court on 28th March (there will be cake), or you can meet and natter with him at both Gardeners' World Spring Fair on 3rd May and Gardeners' World Live on 18th June.Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Crocus at Dorney CourtHoratio's GardenLongwood GardensAnna Tasca Lanza Cooking SchoolSyon ParkMore 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

Gardeners' World is back - hurrah - and so are a sleep-deprived Sweetpea and a bemused Bear with an Episode 1 Recap.In this episode we look at the continued success of seed snails, the chicken or egg of Sonic the Hedgehog and protein, gruesome bird-killing trees, beautiful brain healing cock's combs, and the goodest boy ever.On Gardeners' World we kick off with a title shake-up and Monty back at Longmeadow. We get to see a bit of Adam Frost's new garden before meeting alpine legends Bob and Rannveig Wallis in Carmarthenshire. Arit Anderson takes us to Kew to meet plant saviours Carlos Magdalena and Paul Rees before we have a look at the tropical garden of Cathy Smythe, Gary Cattermole, Bowie (as in oh not ow - sorry😔), Dota, Mel & Mojo.Lastly, we've had many animated conversations on a fair few of the pod episodes about wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn's fantastic and award-winning film, My Garden of a Thousand Bees. Martin was on Gardeners' World 2025 episode 11 and joined us for episode 39 of Chit-Chats last year where he shared a bit about the intricacies of filming his minuscule subjects. He also talked about the struggles of bringing the film to UK screens given that it was readily available in many other countries around the world but not in the motherland. The good news is Martin's lengthy battle has paid off and it will finally be available on BBC Four at 8pm on 25th March and BBC iPlayer thereafter! We couldn't recommend the film more - spoiler, you will need tissues!And as if that wasn't enough good news, Martin's latest award-winner The Birds, which he also talked about on our Chit-Chat is going to be available on UK screens on Wednesday 18th March on BBC Four at 8pm. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer after🕺🎬🥂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

Chris was on Gardeners' World 2025 Winter Special Episode 2 when Adam Frost joined him at John Massey's stunning gardens at Ashwood Nurseries near Kingswinford in the West Midlands.On this episode of Chit-Chats, Chris shares his passion for the winter garden and the important part scented witch-hazels play, and we learn about the enormous numbers in John's Garden as well as some of Chris' favourites.We also find out about mosaicing your meadows, using aspirin on the tomatoes, walking trees, what to look out for when buying Wollemi pine seeds, The fantastic Adam Greathead Award, grandma's elderflower champagne, and Chris' penchant for half-mooning.Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Ashwood NurseriesBirmingham Botanical GardensWinterbourne GardenGreat DixterJardin Le VasterivalWitch Hazel NurseryPan Global PlantsWest Dean GardensBluebell ArboretumMore Not Just a GardenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/homeWebsite: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

Tom Cranham from Tom's Terraria Design was on Gardeners' World 2025, Winter Special episode 3 showing his stunning (and huge!) terraria as well as his exquisite collection of iridescent begonias.On this episode of Chit-Chats, we get an idea of what it must feel like to be walking through the world of Avatar, thanks to the incredible variety and beauty of begonias, and we learn some handy tips on where to start with terraria, from those as small as Sweetpea's teapot terrarium, to glass cabinets to fill a wall.We also hear about the unusual animals Tom has started introducing into the bedroom, the plants he donates to botanical gardens around the country, the advantages and disadvantages of horses, the once in a lifetime trip to Nosy Mangabe, and we find out which jam is the king of jams, especially if you have grandma’s old jam-pan.Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Lyon Botanic garden Masoala National Park Trebah Garden Glasgow Botanic Garden  Saihoji Moss Temple ChatsworthMore Not Just a GardenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/homeWebsite: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

On the final Not Just a Garden Bonus Episode 10 for this series, we are looking at spring in the garden in the form of hyacinths, crocuses, daffs, hummingbird hawkmoths and newts.We also take a look at sonic hedgehog proteins, dogs licking cane toads, a beautiful antidote to AI images, whether AI can be used to help with grief, beaver reintroduction to the UK, the perils of Atropa belladonna in the beauty industry, the tragic catastrophe at Lake Nyos in Cameroon, and some incredible new research on whale sharks.In our final Quazy Quiz, Sweetpea releases Hate, Date or Room-mate on Bear, and on the last Who Am I? we find out which Gardeners' World presenter was bass player in The Tumbling Dice🎸🎲🎲Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/bonus-episodes/More Not Just a Gardenhttps://notjustagarden.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

Eleanor Cochrane was on Gardeners' World 2025, ep28 when she showed us her beautiful late summer jewel borders at The Copper House Garden on the Kent/Sussex border.On this episode of Chit-Chats, not only do we set the record straight on Eleanor's feelings towards yellow flowers, but we also find out about her incredible experiences volunteering at Great Dixter, how she manages her sizeable garden without a greenhouse in sight, how to create a perennial meadow, the fortuitous discovery of their beautiful woodland ponds, and the importance of succession planting.We also hear about Eleanor's hidden stash behind the sofas, her husband's similarities to Aiden Turner, a grave warning if importing topsoil, hoeing in a good way, and what to do if you have bad legs. Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/Great Dixter Sissinghurst Beth Chatto The Bumblebee Trust Sarah Raven Dahlias Halls of Heddon Parkers CatalogueMore Not Just a GardenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/homeWebsite: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

On Not Just a Garden Bonus Episode 9, now that spring is approaching, we consider our seed-snails, Jetfire daffs, Yin Yang beans, and Hobbes' favourite stick.We also explore the variable world of licking toads, active-volcano-dwelling sharks, Portuguese urine toothpaste, bioluminescent honey fungus, and the pitfalls of chewing tobacco leaves, even for cowboys.In our Quazy Quiz, Sweetpea flummoxes Bear once again with her Quazy Quareer but we learn a lot about animal faeces in the process, and we're getting through the last of the Gardeners' World Presenters with another Who Am I?Relevant links can be found on our website here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/bonus-episodes/To help make this podcast happen, please visit our Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/notjustagardenMore Not Just a Gardenhttps://notjustagarden.co.uk/https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden

Sharon Darlington was on Gardeners’ World 2025 episode 19 when Sue Kent visited her magical millpool. In this Good Ol’ Chit-Chat we learn how Sharon first came across Millpool-by-The-Sea and how she developed it to become the stunning space it is today. We also find out what took Sharon all the way to Anglesey, her natural ability to grow meconopsis with minimal effort, the big plans for her Darlings Buds floristry, and Sharon’s very handy husband who can build anything from planters to jetties, but will always be “The Sower of Cosmos”.Some mentions from our guest, links can be found here: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/gardens/The Laundry GardenJoseph MassieBodnant GardenHimalayan GardensMore Not Just a GardenPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/NotJustaGarden/homeWebsite: https://notjustagarden.co.uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notjusta_garden/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notjustagarden/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NotJustaGarden