The Sodshow, Garden Podcast - Sod Show

With much thanks to CED Natural Stone, we bring you the last in the series on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019 episodes and today Peter Donegan chats with the great British artist and sculptor John O'Connor. From day dreams and counting snowflakes, to how John left landscaping, his first attempt at sculpting and art school to becoming one of the most talented sculptors that I have ever had the honour to sit and chat with. The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Peter Donegan returns to chats with Con Traas' Apple Farm in Tipperary. It is an apple farm. But it's also a lot more than just an apple farm. It's worth noting maybe that Peter was on working whist camping, again; surrounded by all that the fruit farm has to offer. The old buddies chat practices that were then acceptable, what is done now, changes in presentation over the eons and just what the supermarket will want to see and what is logic in growing and being responsible. Subscribe to The Sodshow in iTunes, all good podcast stores and via www.sodshow.com Show Links: www.theapplefarm.com@theapplefarmerThe Apple Farm Further information: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

With thanks to CED Natural Stone, on this episode Peter Donegan speaks with Jilayne Rickards, designer of the CAMFED Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019. To quote CED Stone: The CAMFED garden was just one of the gardens that we were lucky enough to work on. The charity is fantastic and works to help women obtain the education they need in order to prosper. Thank you so much to CAMFED, Jilayne Rickards and Cormac from Conway Landscapes for letting us join in on this fantastic garden! Garden Details: The CAMFED Garden: Giving Girls in Africa A Space To Grow Designer: Jilayne Rickards Contractor: Conway Landscapes Materials: Red Sandstone Rockery & Sandstone Boulders Awards: Gold Medal Find out more about CAMFED and their amazing work here: https://camfed.org/ Visit our website: https://cedstone.co.uk/ The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Peter Donegan returns to chats with Con Traas' Apple Farm in Tipperary. It is an apple farm. But it's also a lot more than just an apple farm. It's worth noting maybe that Peter was on working whist camping, again; surrounded by all that the fruit farm has to offer. The old buddies chat practices that were then acceptable, what is done now, changes in presentation over the eons and just what the supermarket will want to see and what is logic in growing and being responsible. Subscribe to The Sodshow in iTunes, all good podcast stores and via www.sodshow.com Show Links: www.theapplefarm.com@theapplefarmerThe Apple Farm Further information: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Jamie Bigham is the person in charge of Dereen Gardens based in Kenmare and speaks with Peter Donegan. Derreen Garden covers more than 60 acres of garden and has over 12 km of paths which wind through mature and varied woodland full of rare and exotic plants. The garden is also a haven for wildlife and a habitat for Sika deer, Irish hares and red squirrel. Seals can often be seen from the shore and there have been sightings of otters and Kerry’s rarest mammal, the pine marten. By the shore there is an abundance of bird life, including cormorants, oyster catchers, gulls, great northern divers, guillemots, and sea eagles. Website: www.derreengarden.com West Cork Garden Trail: www.westcorkgardentrail.com The Sodshow: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow

With thanks to CED Natural Stone, on this episode Peter Donegan speaks with Helen Boem, Floral Marquee Manager for The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). From volunteering for RHS shows to her actual job now, her career before as a garden designer and meeting her Mammy at RHS Chelsea to just how much it takes to fill a floral marquee at Chelsea Flower Show, the work that goes in behind the scenes for the growers and nurseries and of course everything else that manages to run through Peters brain. The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Peter Donegan chats with Neil Grant. When Neil Grant asked his careers master about horticulture as a career during his O levels he was told not to waste his time. Being stubborn he applied to RHS wisely gardens to train he was also advised to go back to school and take his A levels and go to college. Destiny took him to Writtle College where he met his future (and still) wife Linda. This romance led to the eventual title of Managing Director at Ferndale Garden Centre just south of Sheffield (or north Derbyshire if your allergic to northerners). Neil plays and active role in industry bodies such as the HTA, is BBC Radio Sheffields garden phone In expert every Sunday morning. Neil is the founder of National Children’s Gardening Week. Neil’s long involvement in the Ornamental horticulture industry gives him a broad view of current issues and he’s quite happy to tell anyone who will listen. He’s known in the industry as ‘the one who always wears flowery shirts’ The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Peter Donegan chats with Taina Suonio, designer of The Roots in Finland garden at RHS Chelsea 2019. Whilst Taina's garden was sponsored by the Kyrö Distillery Company, this episode could not have happened without the support of Tim Howell (pictured above) who has for ever been unwavering in his support of this thing I do and, CED Natural Stone who have made this and the entire series of 2019 RHS Chelsea episodes possible and supported Taina's garden. Thank you ! Built by Conquest Creative Spaces, Taina and Peter together chat living away from home, whilst show garden building, that process, the amount of sponsors involved in this case including the Embassy of Finland, London, Roslings Manor Gardens, Finnish-British Chmabers of Commerce, UPM WISA Plywood, Loimann Kivi Ltd, Taimisto Huutokoski Ltd, Ru Runeberg Artist, Creepers Nursery, Sursum Ltd, Kekkitā BVB, Tapio Anttila and Artek. The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Peter Donegan chats with Neil Grant. When Neil Grant asked his careers master about horticulture as a career during his O levels he was told not to waste his time. Being stubborn he applied to RHS wisely gardens to train he was also advised to go back to school and take his A levels and go to college. Destiny took him to Writtle College where he met his future (and still) wife Linda. This romance led to the eventual title of Managing Director at Ferndale Garden Centre just south of Sheffield (or north Derbyshire if your allergic to northerners). Neil plays and active role in industry bodies such as the HTA, is BBC Radio Sheffields garden phone In expert every Sunday morning. Neil is the founder of National Children’s Gardening Week. Neil’s long involvement in the Ornamental horticulture industry gives him a broad view of current issues and he’s quite happy to tell anyone who will listen. He’s known in the industry as ‘the one who always wears flowery shirts’ The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Peter Donegan chats with good friend, all round legend and repected maestro of the horticulture world Rocky Coles. Rocky is a hands on professional horticulturist, maintaining and developing private gardens in Northamptonshire under the guise of Well Planted. A skilled gardener who loves wielding a sharp pair of secateurs, transforming shrubby blobs and wild wisterias allowing them to shine. Known to some as the dancing gardener, he is a firm believer of bringing joy and fun to the garden and making gardening accessible for all. Rocky is the brainchild behind the Northampton shoeplants project. Originally set up in 2017 as a street entry in Northampton in Bloom, the campaign has gone from strength to strength. Supported the last two years by the council and Northampton BID, a small team has created around a hundred pairs of Planted shoes which decorate railings to high street shop fronts across the town centre. Celebrating the history of the town and supporting the high street, this horticultural project has brought curiosity, inspiration and smiles to many. The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Further info: www.rockycoles.com The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

With thanks to CED Natural Stone, on this episode Peter Donegan speaks with Designer Kate Gould and Keith Chapman who made the Greenfingers Charity Gardenat RHS Chelsea 2019. According to The RHS: Even experienced Chelsea designers face unexpected challenges, and for Kate Gould, it was creating a completely accessible garden. “I didn’t think it would, but it’s definitely changed the way I think about garden design,” said Kate, ahead of her appearance at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. “It’s made me appreciate accessibility more – you can’t put a price on being able to go outside and feel the wind on your face and look up at the trees.” Sponsored by Greenfingers, a charity dedicated to supporting children in hospices through the creation of gardens, the Show Garden will be split on two levels, with a lift for access to the top floor. “This is a garden for times you come together as a family,” said Kate, “making memories in a beautiful, outdoor space.” The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

With thanks to CED Natural Stone today Peter Donegan chats with Alistair Bayford. Alistair is a Chartered Landscape Architect and designer of The Family Monsters Garden at RHS Chelsea 2019. Alistair studied at Writtle College achieving a 1st Class Honours degree in Landscape and Garden Design in 2004; later completing his post graduate diploma at the University of Greenwich in 2006; becoming a Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute in 2008. His professional career started at Liz Lake Associates in 2004, progressing on to a Project Management role at Lee Valley Regional Park Authority in 2009 overseeing a number of Olympic related projects within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the Olympic Fringe. Alistair joined idverde in 2012 as Park Manager for Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park responsible for the mobilisation of the 10 year maintenance contract achieving a prestigious BALI Principal Award in 2015. His current role sees him leading professional services and landscape construction throughout London and the South East, specialising in park improvement and public realm projects winning nine BALI Awards in the past six years. Alistair is a current Director of The Parks Alliance, the voice of UK Parks, acting as Vice Chair from 2016-2018. The Family Monsters Garden celebrates 150 years of Family Action supporting families across the country and idverde's 100 years of creating and maintaining landscapes for the benefit of local communities. The garden shows the pressures faced by every family and the journey families take to face these challenges. From financial problems to health and wellbeing issues, and from lack of time together to problems with communication and resolving disputes, the garden represents the range of pressures faced by families in Britain today. The journey to bringing these hidden issues out of the dark and into the open, so that they don’t become overwhelming, can be one of secrecy, shame and isolation, with pressures and progress obscured and hard to resolve. Ultimately their journey in this garden leads to a family space, where all come together to reflect, get their pressures out in the open and gather strength to face them together. The pool of clear water offers reflection and perspective. Through exhibiting this garden Alistair has discussed his own monster, how it impacted him and his young family, and how through sharing his troubles he found ways to overcome them and deal with them. Idverde is Europe’s largest provider of grounds maintenance services and landscape construction projects, with staff operating throughout the UK and France. We offer a holistic range of services to support the creation, maintenance and management of landscapes throughout the UK, working with both public and private sector clients to deliver bespoke solutions for each project’s unique challenges. Family Action is a national charity marking its 150th anniversary in 2019 and is committed to building stronger families by delivering innovative and effective services and support that reaches out to many of the UK’s most vulnerable people. We seek to empower people and communities to address their issues and challenges through practical, financial and emotional help. Contact: The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

This episode references the following: The Landscape Show 2019RHSI Garden ShowAgents of FieldThe Gardens of Peace The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, sotify and all good podcast stores. For garden talks, speaking and MC duties contact Peter Donegan at www.DoneganLandscaping.com

With thanks to CED Natural Stone today Peter Donegan chats with sculptor David Harber. Designed by Andrew Duff, The Savills and David Harber Garden was created on Main Avenue at RHS Chelsea 2019. I had been standing at the Oxford Planters stand chatting with head don Sarah Pierce when all round lovely lady Gillian Goodson walked past. We got chatting about who I was due to and had spoken with, when round the corner walks David. I was more than aware of who he was and his work over the years at Chelsea and though we may have spoken, never had we chatted recorded. If I do submit an entry for the Garden Media Guild awards, this will most probably be it. I'll leave the description there for now. Take a listen and enjoy. And thanks ever so much for listening. www.davidharber.co.ukdavidharberdavidharbergardens The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify ! The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

On this weeks episode Peter Donegan chats with Lee Burkhill, alias The Garden Ninja. Lee is the designer of The BBC North West Tonight Sunshine Garden at RHS Tatton 2019, in memory of Dianne Oxberry, a local weather presenter who sadly passed away from Ovarian cancer earlier in the year. The Garden brief is to pay tribute to Dianne's love of gardening, Tatton flower show and to bring bright garden positivity to visitors. Lee's design features take-home design ideas for an urban space. Along with community involvement in both the build and the pollen-rich summer planting scheme. The entire garden is being rehomed at Wirral St Johns Hospice afterwards so the Sunshine can continue. A Chelsea award-winning garden designer, vlogger and garden troubleshooter from the North West of England. Lee's approach is to encourage new gardeners by providing how-to guides has earnt him a place in both the top 10 Garden Blogger and Vlogger lists in the UK. Further info: Youtube - Garden Ninja Ltd Twitter - @Garden_Ninja The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. The Sodshow: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow

Rosiebie Morton is a sustainable English flower farmer and founder of The Real Flower Company Rosebie Morton. On todays episode of The SodShow she speaks with Peter Donegan. Rosebie started growing traditional cut roses in a corner of her mother-in-law's walled garden out of frustration as she couldn't understand why most of the flowers sold by florists didn't have the scent she remembered so fondly from her childhood. She was told by industry experts that she'd fail but The Real Flower Company is now in its 20th year and celebrating with an exhibit showing the journey from our flowers from field to vase in the main hall at the Chelsea Flower Show. The sustainable flower farm is based in the South Down's national park in Hampshire. “Allow us to restore your faith in the beauty of real flowers. The average shop-bought bouquet, scentless and bland, is a long way from what nature intended – the magical array of colours and fragrances you might remember from your grandmother’s garden. We want to enchant you with our flowers and give you an uplifting and memorable experience.” Rosebie Morton, flower farmer and company founder Rosebie started growing scented roses in the walled garden of her family farm in the South Downs National Park, Hampshire, almost 25 years ago. Since then, The Real Flower Company has stayed true to her mission to make exquisitely scented garden roses and British seasonal flowers, herbs and foliage available to everyone. More information: web: www.realflowers.co.uk twitter: therealflowerco FB: therealflowercompany The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. The Sodshow: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow

Beth Lynch grew up in rural East Sussex. She read English at Cambridge and went on to complete a doctorate in seventeenth-century literature. For the next decade she worked as a lecturer, creating gardens in her spare time and ultimately training as a garden designer. She then moved unexpectedly to Switzerland, where she lived and gardened for seven years. She has recently returned to the UK. WHERE THE HORNBEAM GROWS is her first book. The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, sotify and all good podcast stores. The Sodshow: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow The book tells the story of how, when she unexpectedly had to move to Switzerland because of her husband’s job, Beth quickly realised that the sheer will to connect with people would not guarantee a happy relocation. Out of place and lonely, Beth knew that she would need to get her hands dirty to enable her to put down roots. And so she set about making herself at home in the way she knew best - by tending a garden, growing things. The search for a garden would take her across the country, through meadows and on mountain paths where familiar garden plants run wild, to the rugged hills of the Swiss Jura. In this remote and unfamiliar place of glow worms and dormice and singing toads she would learn to garden in a new way, taking her cue from the natural world. As she planted her paradise with hellebores and aquilegias, cornflowers and Japanese anemones, these cherished species forged green and deepening connections: to her new soil, to her old life in England, and to her deceased parents, whose Sussex garden continues to flourish in her heart. WHERE THE HORNBEAM GROWS is about carrying a garden inwardly through loss, dislocation and relocation, about finding a sense of wellbeing in a green place of your own, and about the limits of paradise in a peopled world. It is a powerful exploration by a dazzling new literary voice of how, in nurturing a corner of the natural world, we ourselves are nurtured.

Cherry Carmen part 2. With thanks CED Natural Stone. Cherry Carmen was a guest on The Sodshow garden podcast way back in 2016. On todays episode she's back, over 2 episodes, to chat with Peter Donegan about her return to RHS Hampton, designing for The APL and a garden that this year will be judged. Garden Designer Cherry Carmen returns to RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show with UK Landscape Association’s first show garden. Taking place 2nd - 7th July 2019, it will be the second consecutive year the UK based designer has been selected to work alongside and design on behalf of The Association of Professional Landscapers. Cherry Carmen began studying horticulture in 2009 achieving RHS horticulture levels 2 &3. In 2012 she established Cherry Carmen Garden Designs, specialising in large private gardens, the redesign and realisation of. Carmen won Silver at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2016 with her first show garden, won Gold at BBC Gardeners World Live 50th Anniversary Show 2017 and designed The APL feature garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2018. Sharing the same name as last year's feature garden, ‘A Place To Meet’ the garden sees Cherry’s third appearance at the prestigious location since winning Silver with her first ever show garden in 2016. At the 2018 Show, the APL Garden showcased just what is achievable when the finest Designers, Landscape Contractors and suppliers within the industry collaborate – for the 2019 Show the returning duo will step it up just a little into show garden category, allowing for the first-time ever an APL garden to be judged and awarded. Though Carmen maybe better known for the design of larger private estates and gardens, her show garden designs constantly elaborate on a graceful gifted talent that seamlessly and consistently evolves yet unravels evocatively subtle differences. Where the silver medal garden at Hampton 2016 had the deepest depth ever dug at the 10 hectare showground, 2018's planting remained the only elements sunken and 2019's design is set to have multiple levels of planting, a raised seating area, water feature, pond and private plunge pool. Further info: www.cherrycarmen.co.uk The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

With thanks to CED Natural Stone today Peter Donegan chats with garden designer Joe Perkins. Joe designed Beyond the Screen, the Facebook garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019. Joe began as a landscape gardener in 1996 and has lived and studied garden design at the Oxford College of Garden Design, graduating with distinction in 2002. As a garden designer and landscaper Joe has worked for some of the best-known landscape companies. In 2007 he was an integral part of the team who produced the RHS Chelsea Gold and Best in Show garden ‘600 Days with Bradstone’, designed by Sarah Eberle, as well as winning the BALI Grand Award garden in the same year for Hillier Landscapes. In 2009 he joined landscape consultancy and construction firm The Outdoor Room, where he was a director and company manager. During his time at The Outdoor Room, Joe was involved with 15 medal-winning RHS show gardens and 5 national BALI awards and in 2012 he graduated from Greenwich University with an MA in Landscape Architecture. He is a Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers (MSGD). www.joeperkinsdesign.comjoeslandscapesjoeperkinsdesignjoeperkinsdesign The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, sotify and all good podcast stores. The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow

Cherry Carmen was a guest on The Sodshow garden podcast way back in 2016. On todays episode she's back, over 2 episodes, to chat with Peter Donegan about her return to RHS Hampton, designing for The APL and a garden that this year will be judged. Garden Designer Cherry Carmen returns to RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show with UK Landscape Association’s first show garden. Taking place 2nd - 7th July 2019, it will be the second consecutive year the UK based designer has been selected to work alongside and design on behalf of The Association of Professional Landscapers. Cherry Carmen began studying horticulture in 2009 achieving RHS horticulture levels 2 &3. In 2012 she established Cherry Carmen Garden Designs, specialising in large private gardens, the redesign and realisation of. Carmen won Silver at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2016 with her first show garden, won Gold at BBC Gardeners World Live 50th Anniversary Show 2017 and designed The APL feature garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2018. Sharing the same name as last year's feature garden, ‘A Place To Meet’ the garden sees Cherry’s third appearance at the prestigious location since winning Silver with her first ever show garden in 2016. At the 2018 Show, the APL Garden showcased just what is achievable when the finest Designers, Landscape Contractors and suppliers within the industry collaborate – for the 2019 Show the returning duo will step it up just a little into show garden category, allowing for the first-time ever an APL garden to be judged and awarded. Though Carmen maybe better known for the design of larger private estates and gardens, her show garden designs constantly elaborate on a graceful gifted talent that seamlessly and consistently evolves yet unravels evocatively subtle differences. Where the silver medal garden at Hampton 2016 had the deepest depth ever dug at the 10 hectare showground, 2018's planting remained the only elements sunken and 2019's design is set to have multiple levels of planting, a raised seating area, water feature, pond and private plunge pool. Further info: www.cherrycarmen.co.uk The Sodshow: @sodshowThe Sodshowsodshow