HortWeek Podcast

Hosted by HortWeek

Business News Science

Website RSS feed LinkedIn

Episodes

286

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

About the show

Welcome to the HortWeek Podcast where we bring you news and views on the most important topics of the day for UK horticulture professionals. For more visit https://www.hortweek.co.uk/podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 1, 202616 min

Building the UK's largest urban farm at Northern Roots with Anna da Silva of Northern Roots Oldham

This September, Northern Roots launched the first phase of what will become the UK's largest urban farm and eco-park, transforming 160 acres of underused land in Oldham into a visitor destination, community resource and living testbed for tackling some of the country's biggest social and environmental challenges. Anna Da Silva, chief executive of Northern Roots, outlines how the project is transforming an abandoned post-industrial site into a community-centric green asset delivering ecological, health, educational, and economic benefits. She talks about the transformation of the land, the goals they have for it, and explains how many years of "banging the drum" for green prescribing has led to the project: "I was the programme director at RHS Garden Bridgewater in the set-up phase of that project. So I very much pioneered the RHS's initial work on being social prescribing, gardening for well-being on that site as well." Vegetables for the cafe are grown "200 yards away" by celebrated local chef, Mary-Ellen McTague, with an offering designed and priced to cater for all comers. Da Silva explains how the project overcame initial challenges including vandalism by liaising with community organisations and encouraging people to feel ownership of the project and "help create" Northern Roots. And, pending funds being raised, she outlines her hopes and plans for the project in coming years including creating various biking and sports areas and a habitat bank which she hopes will leverage biodiversity net gain funding. "Critically, what we want it to be is a living, vibrant place where all sorts of different people come and come together and can ...grow their lives and help us grow. And I would hope, something that other places are coming to visit and seeing 'how could we have a thing like this in our place?'". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 24, 202631 min

Going 100% peat-free, with Form Plants' Jamie Butterworth

Jamie Butterworth has gained a higher media profile in recent years with stints on TV presenting for RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Gardeners' World. Despite his growing TV presence, Butterworth considers himself a gardener first and foremost, and by trade, a specialist grower of peat-free plants. The UK horticulture sector's transition to peat-free growing has been underway for decades. However, a persistent challenge has remained: many operations claiming to be "100% peat-free" have still been forced to import young plants and plugs grown in peat from overseas. Recent breakthroughs in the UK’s domestic peat-free plug sector have altered the landscape, sparking a movement demanding that peat-free should truly mean peat-free, from propagation to sale. Butterworth has fully embraced this shift. On this week's podcast, he opens up about the logistical and technical challenges of achieving 'true' peat-free status for his nursery, Form Plants - a commitment he has pledged to fulfill starting 1 September this year, as well as the hurdles facing the wider industry. Central to his strategy is bringing all propagation in-house. By doing so, Butterworth aims to: Gain total control over every stage of plant production. Reduce long-term costs by minimizing external dependencies. Break free from reliance on European supply chains, a goal he believes the broader UK horticultural industry should actively pursue. Looking back on what was supposed to be a "quiet" year, Butterworth reflects on navigating record-breaking summer heat and drought. Yet despite the environmental challenges, it has been a landmark year: his nursery, Form Plants, supplied greening projects for the UK Commonwealth Games, alongside personal milestones including a move to Cumbria and a new baby on the way. Podcast presenter: HortWeek editor Matthew Appleby Podcast producer: HortWeek digital content manager Christina Taylor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 17, 202626 min

Labour MP Ben Goldsborough on his policy ideas for horticulture

As party conference season gets underway, and a new PM starts his tenure in earnest, HortWeek takes stock of where UK politicians stand on horticulture policy. MP Ben Goldsborough, has been vocal on horticulture issues since winning the Parliamentary seat for South Norfolk for the Labour Party in 2024 and was recently elected to the EFRA Parliamentary committee. He has a horticulture pedigree, having worked on policy for the RHS, helping save RHS Wisley from being shut during lockdown but, because of that lockdown, missing out on perks like going to Chelsea Flower Show. After writing an opinion piece for HortWeek ( Modern horticulture deserves a bigger place in Britain's food future: Labour MP says Government policy must back the UK fresh produce production ), we asked him on to the HortWeek Podcast to find out where he stands on issues affecting the wider horticulture sector. Goldsborough tells HortWeek editor Matt Appleby how he thinks the UK can balance between protecting domestic plants from pests and disease with the need to reduce trade friction for commercial growers. He give his views on how to address seasonal labour shortages and on ways to ensure green space, green infrastructure and private gardens are prioritised as Labour looks to meet its target to build 1.5 million new homes. As an MP in East Anglia, one of the driest regions in the UK, Goldsborough talks about the shortcomings of the Environment Agency and his belief that Water Boards are best placed to manage issues around water abstraction and long-term supply. For the retail and fresh produce sectors, Goldsborough raises the need for fair supply-chain terms when selling to big retailers and the need to eliminate 'flag washing'. And on peat-free , Goldsborough outlines his ideas on a way forward that can work for horticulture and the environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 10, 202618 min

Prizes, products and pilfering at Four Oaks 2026 and HortWeek's new plant ID game Hortle goes viral

This week HortWeek editor Matt Appleby and technical editor Sally Drury tackle the following topics: Four Oaks Trade Show : winning plants and products Peat-free panel update And HortWeek's plant-identification game which launched at Four Oaks and is taking the YPHA by storm, Hortle.life - how many can you score? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 4, 202617 min

Could EV charging be a golden opportunity for garden centres? With Richard Seppings of ElectRoad

Diversification and multiple income streams is the name of the game for garden centres looking to future proof their businesses. One such income stream could be electric car charging and this week's guest on the HortWeek Podcast believes tapping this rapidly expanding market is the perfect way to "make existing space work harder commercially. ElectRoad is an independent electric vehicle charging network and infrastructure specialist and founder Richard Seppings believes “Ggrden centres already have the ingredients that make EV charging work: accessible car parks, customers who naturally spend time on site. He explains how their business model differs from "traditional" Charge Point Operators by working "in partnership with retailers", enabling them to retain ownership of their charging infrastructure and customer relationship. Meanwhile ElectRoad manages installation, monitoring, maintenance, payment administration and 24-hour support. Seppings added that retailers should stop thinking about EV charging as a piece of infrastructure and start treating it as part of the wider retail proposition so that the car park "can become an income-generating asset in its own right." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 27, 202616 min

ICL's Brendan Howell on the horticulture market in Ireland

Brendan Howell, ICL's sales development manager for professional horticulture Ireland, speaks about the local horticulture market. its challenges, and what ICL offers to solve them. Howell is based in ICL’s expanding growing media factory in Portlaoise, County Laois, Ireland. He brings 18 years of experience in the professional horticulture market, having previously worked at Bord na Móna and offers key insights into the sector's recent hurdles. Howell highlights the widespread challenges Irish growers and manufacturers have navigated in recent years, including: Global and supply chain disruptions: Overcoming pandemic-related constraints, raw material shortages, and maintaining adequate factory inventories. Cost and operational pressures: Managing rising material and logistics expenses alongside ongoing labor shortages. Environmental and market Shifts: Addressing climate change impacts and alleviating growers' anxieties over supply reliability. ICL entered the Irish growing media market in 2021 following Bord na Móna’s exit. Since then, the company has introduced key product lines including Levington Advance, Solutions & Sustain, and Fibagro Advance, resulting in plant quality and consistency that Howell notes is now higher than ever. As climate volatility continues, Howell stresses the growing importance of advanced crop management solutions like H2Gro Liquid & Granular water management products, Osmoform, Osmocote, and Lalguard. To feature these innovations and demonstrate custom mix production, ICL is opening a new showroom at the Portlaoise facility to showcase its full range. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 20, 202630 min

Memories and reflections from 185 years of HortWeek - with Matthew Appleby and Sally Drury

This week HortWeek (Horticulture Week, Horticultural Trade Journal, GC & HTJ and Gardener's Chronicle) is celebrating its 185th birthday. HortWeek editor Matt Appleby (with the title since 2003) and technical editor Sally Drury (who joined in 1982) reflect on this long history, the landmark changes in the publication, but also the huge shifts in the horticulture industry that have happened since the periodical was founded in 1841, by gardener, Sir Joseph Paxton, botanist John Lindley, politician Charles Wentworth Dilke, and printer William Bradbury. Find tributes by some of the biggest names in horticulture, a timeline of key events from 1841 to today, and more reflections on horticulture and its history at https://www.hortweek.com/hortweek185 . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 13, 202623 min

Groesn CEO Matt Jarrett on market consolidation, tech Investment, and labour challenges in the UK's horticulture production sector

Our guest on this week's HortWeek Podcast is CEO of one of the biggest players across both ornamentals and fruit production in the UK. Matt Jarrett, the group CEO at Greosn unpacks the group's rapid expansion, from his roots in the ornamental sector (Newey) and ethical labour (Proforce) to running a £400m powerhouse in the UK fruit and ornamental markets. Jarrett details Greosn’s recent acquisitions, including the Mansfield's group and Emery Fruit Farms which expanded its fruit portfolio to £95m and yielding around 10,000 tonnes of berries and 27,000 tonnes of apples annually. Diversification has given the firm year-round revenue streams, from hand-picking 800 million daffodil stems in Cornwall in the spring, to top fruit harvesting in autumn. Jarrett discusses the state of the UK's Seasonal Worker Scheme (SWS) where Government reductions in visa quotas threaten to hamper growth: "I worry slightly around the growth of the category... we're only as good as the labor that we can put on these businesses at this time." Of course, automation and other technologies offer opportunities for efficiencies. Jarrett discusses Greosn's £15 million CAPEX spend this year featuring AI flower forecasting, precision agronomy, UV robotics to combat mildew, and a new 15-line packhouse facility in Kent. Growth will also come from acquisitions, and Jarrett hints at upcoming acquisitions to take the business to a new financial landmark: "We've got a very clear strategy to really push the business and get to a sort of a billion by 2029." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 7, 202622 min

Help for horticulturists in need with Perennial trustees, Richard Lawton and Neville Stein

Richard Lawton and Neville Stein are celebrating a combined 100 years in horticulture this year and both are trustees of horticulture charity Perennial. They talk about changes in horticulture, challenges facing horticulturists now and the services Perennial offers horticulture in this moving podcast. Lawton, ex-Hillier, speaks about the challenges of seasonal work, physical injury, isolation and risk of financial hardship for those working in horticulture, and the support Perennial offers those in need and their families. HortWeek writer and industry consultant Stein tells a moving story of a horticulturist who did not know about Perennial and how it could have saved his llfe. The speak about industry partnerships and how fundraisers such as Plants for Perennial from Allensmore, Wyevale, Bransford and New Leaf have helped fund the charity's work. In 2025, Perennial undertook 19,753 preventative activities and programmes and helped 2,445 people with one-to-one services. They claimed 380,645 of benefits they were entitled to and £235,335 of debts were written off, which Perennial support. Perennial will be at Four Oaks trade show in Cheshire on 2 September , with Perennial director of services Helen Waddington, Garden Centre Association CEO Peter Burks, Grass Gains' Steve Harper (who is a new Perennial ambassador), David Salisbury (Farplants) and Nikki Burton (MD of Melcourt) lin a panel discussion sharing their insights into the impact partnering with Perennial has for their employees, businesses and the wider industry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 30, 202619 min

Andy Mills on Blenheim Palace Garden's Restoration - climate shifts, lost landscapes and long grass

In the latest HortWeek podcast, editor Matt Appleby speaks with Andy Mills, head gardener at Blenheim Palace. Since August 2022, Mills has led a 10-year restoration of Blenheim’s 90-acre gardens. He reveals how his team is balancing 300 years of horticultural heritage with the realities of a changing climate. The renovation has also thrown up unexpected surprises and discoveries. Partly due to a surprising lack of historical records, Andy has unearthed whole new garden areas by exploring neglected corners. One foray through the undergrowth revealed an ornate bridge and the long-forgotten Cascade Garden: "I came across a bowl... imagine like half the size of a tennis court, a beautiful ornate stone bowl. And then there was a couple of little grottoes like druid cells and a subterranean cave with a spring in it." Historical accuracy must now balance with climate resilience. Mills is actively adapting Blenheim’s planting for hotter, drier conditions replacing "thirsty fuchsias" with exotics like Agave , Astelia , and Hedychium . Similarly with trees, Mills is shifting to smaller, highly ornamental species like Paulownia and Catalpa. Perhaps the most controversial change has been Mills's decision to leaves 60 acres of grassland to grow long, which while reviving dormant wildflowers and boosting pollinators, has drawn questions from some visitors. "I love those conversations with people... they say, 'We're not used to this.' Well, you should be. This is what we gave to the world." Conversely, Mills is reversing years of unmanaged laurel growth that blocked key vistas, restoring the intended "English Versailles". Ultimately, Mills hopes this restoration shifts public perception. "We're known as Blenheim Palace and Gardens, not just Blenheim Palace," he states. "At the end of 10 years, that's where I'd like to be." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.