This week, the boys are diving deep into the listener mailbag to rescue a frustrated subscriber from a bureaucratic nightmare, investigate a neighbour utilising military-grade precision on a front lawn, and honour a beloved friend of the show.In this episode:
The Planning Inspectorate Stand-Off: Will from Oxfordshire is being formally mandated by the government to rip up his healthy Prunus serrula and mature hedge to lay down a pristine, unsustainable lawn. James and Joe immediately advocate for direct action—specifically, gluing oneself to the beautifully polished mahogany bark.
The Desert Island Luxury Pivot: Joe calls out James' historical choice of taking "a large quantity of York stone paving" to a desert island, leading to a new strategy involving Fred Astaire’s tap dancing catalog and a highly practical (but potentially illegal) fishing rod.
The Laser-Levelled Lawn: A neighbour is spotted using a spirit level and a laser line to mow their front yard. Joe breaks down why a flat lawn is completely useless for a putting green, while James remembers his father's bizarre habit of signing the family name "Liversedge" into household dust.
The Death of the Pure Nursery: Toby from Aberdeen vents about the corporate takeover of garden centers by John Lewis lifestyle aesthetics. Joe reveals the actual margin on a £3 cup of coffee and calculates food costs strictly "by the mouthful."
Housing Association Turf Wars: Sarah from Manchester is judging a local garden competition. Co-Chair of Assessors James shares a cautionary tale of judging an anonymous flower show that nearly required a security detail, before providing a bulletproof breakdown of how a clipboard and a rigorous point system can save you from neighborhood politics.
Remembering Matthew Biggs: James and Joe take a heartfelt, reflective moment to pay tribute to the late, great Matthew Biggs—the warmest, funniest plant hunter to ever grace the stage at Malvern.
This episode is sponsored by Kress, leaders in robotic lawnmowing and battery landscaping tools. Learn more here: https://www.kress.com/en-gb/
About our hosts
James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022. He is the RHS Ambassador for Garden Design and a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV’s Gardeners’ World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
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