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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

The Sodshow, Garden Podcast - Sod Show

439: John O'Connor, Sculptor

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 holidays 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: The Apple Farm Website: www.theapplefarm.com Con Traas on Twitter: @theapplefarmer The Apple Farm on Facebook: The Apple Farm Further information: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

438: Con Traas 2019, Part 2, The Apple Farm Tipperary

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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

437: Jilayne Rickards, RHS Chelsea, 2019

436: Con Traas 2019, The Apple Farm Tipperary, Part 1

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

435: Derreen Gardens, West Cork Garden Trail

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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

434: Garden Podcast: Helen Boem, RHS, Floral Marquee Manager

 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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

433: Neil Grant, part 2

 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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

432: Taina Suonio, RHS Chelsea 2019

431: Neil Grant, BBC Radio Sheffield, part 1

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: web: www.rockycoles.com Instagram: rockycoles Twitter: @rocky_coles The Sodshow: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

430: Rocky Coles, Shoe Plants

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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow   

429: Kate Gould and Keith Chapman, RHS Chelsea 2019, Greenfingers Garden

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: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

428: Alistair Bayford, RHS Chelsea 2019

This episode references the following:  The Landscape Show 2019 at Battersea Park, London Peter Donegan speaking at RHSI Garden Show Agents of Field and the wonderful Ade and Sophie The Gardens of Peace, France  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  

427: Talking Gardens and, Garden Talks

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.  web: www.davidharber.co.uk Twitter: @davidharber FB: davidharbergardens The Sodshow is available every week in iTunes, spotify and all good podcast stores. Spotify Tim Howell. Spotify !  The Sodshow: Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow 

426: David Harber, RHS Chelsea

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

425: Lee Burkhill, BBC NWT Sunshine Garden, RHS Tatton 2019

Garden podcast. Weekly. Borne 2011. All good podcast stores and www.sodshow.com - Hosted by horticulturist Peter Donegan

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The Sodshow, Garden Podcast - Sod Show

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