The Gardener's Pilgrimage

Join me in this episode where I visit gardener, naturalist and Guardian Country Diary writer Susie White in her garden in the North Pennines. We talk about the loss of Chesters Walled Garden marked the end of one chapter and led to the creation of the garden she nurtures today - a place shaped by its surrounding landscape and seasons. She also introduces us to the mysterious world of moths, where there is always another species to discover, often with a weird or wonderful name. We explore how her deep appreciation for the natural world has influenced the way she gardens and how gardening, observation and a curiosity for the landscape have found their way into her writing.

This episode of the Pilgrimage brings us to Berrywell Garden to visit Will Tomson. Sheffield based garden designer running his own business Creative Cultivation, and cofounder of Talking Plants Sheffield. In this episode, we talk about the gardens and gardeners that have inspired him, as well as the role of the gardener and garden designer in creating spaces that function as thriving ecosystems while also fulfilling our human need for beauty and connection to nature.

In Episode 2, we're visiting The Hayloft , just outside York, to spend time respected conservationists, Professor Sir John Lawton . Sir John has dedicated a lifetime to understanding nature and how we can better protect it. His distinguished career has seen him serve as Vice President of the RSPB, former President of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and President of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union. He also chaired the landmark Making Space for Nature report in 2010, a review that fundamentally changed the way conservation is approached in the UK and continues to influence conservation policy and restoration projects today. We talk about how his conservation work has inspired him to be a citizen scientist, recording valuable data in his own garden, his love of birds and all wildlife and what his garden gives back to him. I hope you enjoy this destination on the pilgrimage as much as I did.

Episode 1 of the Gardener's Pilgrimage brings us to Park Hill Farm nestled in the North York Moors to visit garden designer, consultant, educator and author, Jan Hoyland. In this episode we delve into her approaches to gardening with the seasons and nature that she explores in her recent book, The Alchemy of Gardening. This episode includes recordings of the dawn chorus taken at Park Hill Farm. To book onto any of Jan’s courses, sign up to her newsletter or enquire about design and consultancy follow this link to her website: www.artemisiagardens.co.uk