Episode 166: Historic Roses
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
This week, I’m speaking to Michael Marriott about historic roses. Micheal is an expert rosarian, Chairman of the Historic Roses Group and author of the recently published book RHS ‘Roses’. We talk about what historic roses are, some of the myths surrounding them and why they’re an excellent choice for your garden, particularly if you’re looking for something a little different. I began by asking Michael about his background and how he became interested in historic roses. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Harebell Carpenters What we cover The Historic Roses Group and Michael’s...
info_outline
Episode 165: Gardening for Wildlife
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outline
Episode 164: Growing Under Protection
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outline
Episode 163: Garden Roots
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
This week I’m speaking to gardener and writer Lulah Ellender about her book Grounding: Finding Home in a Garden. Lulah’s book is about tuning into the unceasing rhythms of nature in order to live with uncertainty and how they can help us become more connected to the places in which we live. We talk about how gardens can root us in time and place, even when those roots seem tenuous and liable to break. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Sentient bugs What we cover The premise behind the book and the circumstances in which Lulah came to write it How Lulah gardened differently when she...
info_outline
Episode 161: Connecting with Plants
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
Hello and welcome to this week’s episode where I’m speaking to Marion Whitehead from the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in New South Wales, Australia, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. I talk with Marion about one of her areas of speciality; the intersection of plants and human feelings, particularly in the context of 3 books as recommended by Marion; Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘The Overstory’ by Richard Powers. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Venom What we cover Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway...
info_outline
Podcast 161 - Show Gardens
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outline
Episode 160: Crevice Gardens
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
This week’s guests are Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs, co-authors of a book that’s just been released called ‘The Crevice Garden: How to Make the Perfect Home for Plants from Rocky Places.’ This book is immensely detailed and if you’ve ever had an interest in crevice aka rock gardens, or indeed have not but are curious, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the types of plants suited to growing in this style of garden (there are many), the different looks you can create, how to build and maintain them, famous and successful examples and why they are good from an environmental...
info_outline
Episode 159: Huw Richards on Veg Growing
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
This week’s guest is veg growing expert Huw Richards. Huw grows a vast range of plants in his garden in mid-West Wales and is always trialling and experimenting with new ways of growing. He has an enormously popular YouTube channel and has authored a number of books, the latest of which is ‘The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook’ which draws on his experience as very much a thoughtful and philosophical gardener. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Flower Crab Spiders What we cover Gardening with a mission statement Being organised in the garden; keeping checklists, batching jobs, planning...
info_outline
Episode158: Irises with Clare Keller
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
This week’s guest is Clare Keller, a fashion designer and stylist who’s previously work at Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Pringle, Chloe and Givenchy. Clare is currently a Trustee and spokesperson for the British Iris Society, a society dedicated to promoting and preserving UK irises and providing resources to iris growers. We talk about these picturesque, perpetually popular flowers. Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Organic recyclers What we cover How Clare became involved with the British Iris Society and interested in irises Species of iris Ideal iris growing conditions Iris hardiness...
info_outline
Episode 157: Climate Cuisine with Clarissa Wei
Roots and All - Gardening Podcast
info_outlineThis week I’m chatting with New England-based horticultural therapist and master gardener, Erik Keller, who is also the author of the book A Therapist’s Garden: Using Plants to Revitalise Your Spirit.
Over 20 years, Erik has worked with thousands of people of all ages and types, using horticulture and therapeutic techniques to help them deal with physical, emotional and mental challenges. Erik talks about using an outdoor space as a place for therapy and learning and about the downs and ups of bringing horticulture into peoples’ lives as a way to heal.
Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Home grown bugs
What we cover
Erik’s background in therapeutic gardening
The most therapeutic and stimulating plant scents for people to work with
How plants spark memories
Establishing a connection between growing and eating plants
Techniques to stop attention wandering whilst completing a task
Techniques you use if people are exhibiting undesirable behaviour
Lesson planning and being flexible during gardening sessions
Using your garden year round
How seasonal changes can help garden users deal with their personal issues and relate to the garden
About A Therapist’s Garden: Using Plants to Revitalise Your Spirit
The Zen of mixing mud with seniors; crafting surprising salads out of weeds; and a hidden rabbit bringing joy to girls in a juvenile detention center. These are a few of the nearly 100 stories that Erik Keller takes readers on through a journey of how interacting with plants and nature can help heal mental, emotional, and physical trauma. Through the lens of January to December in a New England landscape, discover how horticultural therapy improves the lives of those in pain including special-needs children, cancer patients, and disabled seniors.
A Therapist’s Garden is unique in portraying how gardening, nature-based arts, plants and horticulture can revitalize the spirit of people. It encompasses over 20 years of experiences seeing the healing power of horticultural therapy. Its themes and subject material are universal in interest as different portions of this book apply to nearly anyone who likes plants or to garden, both booming activities today, as well as therapists who will find the approach interesting and of use to their client bases.
About Erik Keller
Over the last 20 years, Erik Keller has worked with thousands of people of all ages and types using horticulture and therapeutic techniques to help them deal with physical, cognitive, social and emotional challenges. Venues have ranged from special-needs schools, to prisons, to nursing facilities to private homes. Certifications from the University of Connecticut as a Master Gardener in 2000 and the New York Botanical Garden in Horticultural Therapy in 2009 has given Keller a strong base of knowledge from which he has been able to help his clients. He is a member of the American Horticultural Therapy Association, the Northeast Horticultural Therapy Network as well as the Connecticut Master Gardeners Association. He writes extensively about the healing power of horticultural therapy on a variety of social media platforms and on his website www.grohappy.com.
For over a decade, Keller has been running a twice-monthly horticultural therapy (HT) program at Ann’s Place, a not-for-profit facility helping those with cancer located in Danbury, CT. Since the emergence of COVID-19, Keller has developed a wide variety of virtual and hybrid HT sessions for clients. He also manages and maintains the grounds at Ann’s Place, which he designed over a decade ago to accommodate therapeutic needs of the client base.
Keller is also a commissioner for the Ridgefield Conservation Commission, which manages and maintains over 5,800 acres of open space in Ridgefield, CT. In the past, he has run horticultural therapy programs at senior living and nursing facilities as well as run programs at Green Chimneys, a school for special-needs children in Brewster, NY.
Earlier in Keller’s career, he spent a decade as a journalist and editor for a variety of technology- focused trade publications, a decade as a Research Fellow at Gartner, Stamford, CT (the leading technology advisory firm in the world), and another decade as a management consultant with his own firm. During that time he received many awards for editorial, writing and analytical excellence. He also wrote a well-received book for the technology community called Technology Paradise Lost (Manning Publications) in 2004.
Keller graduated from State University of New York at Stony Brook with a Bachelor’s of Engineering degree as well as minored in English and Journalism. While at Stony Brook, he won the University’s Martin Buskin Memorial Scholarship for Journalism.
Links
Black Rose Publishing - A Therapist’s Garden: Using Plants to Revitalise Your Spirit