the happy garden podcast

The fabulous Tony Hadley joins Mollie for a pre Christmas chat. Find out about his Christmas tree, his favourite flower and how much he loves his garden lights! What do you think about Tesco removing the work Christmas from some of their trees? Darren gives us his view. Darren also has his gardener's gift guide, which this week will leave you speechless...

Back in the summer, lovely listener Coral won "An experience with Darren Rudge" on the podcast! Join us as Darren takes Coral, Leslie and Mollie on a guided tour of the fabulous Winterbourne gardens in Birmingham.Originally designed as a small country estate with rustic outbuildings and large gardens, Winterbourne followed the style of the Arts and Crafts movement with examples of local craftsmanship throughout the house. Margaret Nettlefold designed the garden, inspired by the books and garden designs of Gertrude Jekyll. After a period of restoration, the garden was Grade II listed by English Heritage in 2008.Come and join us for a fascinating walk through the beautiful gardens.

James May joins Mollie for a chat about his new TV series 'James May's shed load of ideas'. Darren explains the world of elecroculture and why some people interestingly think it's nonsense. Also, it's that time of year! We have the first instalment of Darrens crap Christmas present gift guide...

An all sorted bag of topics on today's podcast! Are cyclamen indoor or outdoor? Can you use human ashes in the garden? Why did Darren get in from the Collegiate social club gardening evening at 2.30am? So many things to discuss!

Lovely Fergus the forager joins Mollie for a cosy Autumn chat. Who would have thought acorn ASMR was a thing?! Paul from Buglife gives us our final chat of the year, looking at a bit of entomological news. Lots of advice from Darren about planning for spring and getting the garden ready for a winter nap. Oh, and of course, a ridiculous amount of laughter...

Join us for a cosy Autumn podcast. If you have leaves everywhere, Darren gives us his composting guide as well as talking us through saving seed for next year. Mollie meets Eco Crops, an award winning company that offer a range of woodland management and perennial SRC Willow wood crop services & products throughout the UK.Laughing and singing is a given...

We speak to the fabulous Kevin McCloud as Grand Designs Live came to Birmingham and this year there was a giant garden hub. Kevin himself loves his garden and he's a dab hand at jam making!Mollie went to both the National Hedge laying and the National Ploughing Championships, showcasing the best in vital country skills. Hear about both this week. As always there's a few giggles and a sing song along the way...

So much to cover this week! Darren reviews Genus gardening wear and Mollie talks to Sue O'Neil, founder of the company. Sue couldn't find decent gardening wear but instead of moaning, she started her own business! Buglife Paul joins us to talk about the insects we'll see in October both in the house and out in the garden. Darren looks at the pros and cons of robot lawn mowers and we have a jolly good giggle along the way. Come and join us...