S04 Episode 1: Le jardin merveilleux. With Margot Reverdy
Host Andrew Timothy O'Brien interviews French illustrator Margot Reverdy about her healing journey through gardening and art, offering insights into creative sanctuary.
15 Apr 2025
S03.5 Episode 4: What your garden wants from you
Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S03.5 E04 show notes
A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
These notes may contain affiliate links.
Garden soundtrack
00:40 spring settling in, and it’s been a warm, dry start
02:34 what your garden wants from you, the last in my series of readings on how to find yourself in a state of harmony with your garden
reading
08:00 ‘Cow Parsley’ from Jack Wallington’s Wild About Weeds, read by Milli Proust (https://www.milliproust.com)
interview
10:52 Jack joins us to talk about the impact of his book five (now six!) years on, how practical it really is to incorporate weeds purposefully into our gardens, and whether a gentler, more natural approach to planting has any cut through beyond the garden media.
12:08 Did Jack’s pro-weed stance feel like a lonely position to be adopting back in 2019?
13:28 The effect on Jack’s garden design practice
13:54 The manifesto approach to writing your first book
14:42 Has there been a noticeable change in the attitude of gardeners towards weeds since the publication of the book?
17:50 Has there been any trickle down to the general public from a wilder look embraced by top garden designers at shows like Chelsea?
22:54 A plant in the wrong place? Weren’t they here first? But gardening is largely about declaring what we want to grow and where. How does Jack find a middle ground?
25:25 Managing a weedy population – regular culling
26:22 Jack’s wildflower meadow and help with weeding
27:15 Practical steps with embracing weeds – where do you start with becoming wild about weeds?
29:22 A weedy through-line – how weeds flow through all of Jack’s work
***
Thank you to Milli Proust (https://www.milliproust.com) for her delightful reading from Jack’s book, Wild About Weeds (https://amzn.to/3Qd33oa), published by Lawrence King in 2019.
My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing (https://geni.us/Qs2d), is published by DK Life, and is available here
I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees.
substack: Bramble & Briar
website: www.andrewtimothyobrien.com
email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
13 Feb 2025
S03.5 Episode 3: the picture perfect garden
Gardens, weeds and words podcast, S03.5 E03 show notes
A blend of slow radio, gardening advice and conversation, and readings from the best garden and wildlife writing.
These notes may contain affiliate links.
Garden soundtrack
Winter conditions in the garden.
01:17 A weed for every situation
reading
02:18 from Jack Wallington’s Wild About Weeds, read by Andy Wain
04:15 When to start sowing seeds – a flurry of mild debate
05:28 What instinctively feels right for us in the garden?
06:09 How do you want your garden to look and feel? The third instalment of my series on easing into harmony with your garden.
Q1. How do you want to feel when you’re in your garden?
Q2. ...and what’s getting in the way of this right now?
Q3. What do you like about you garden?
Q4. What do you dislike about your garden?
Q5. What aspects of gardens and gardening do you find visually appealing?
Q6. ...and how do you think you might incorporate these into your garden?
Q7. What stories do you want your garden to tell?
***
Thank you to Andy Wain for his spirited reading from Jack’s book, Wild About Weeds (https://amzn.to/3Qd33oa), published by Lawrence King in 2019.
My own book, To Stand and Stare; how to garden by doing next to nothing (https://geni.us/Qs2d), is published by DK Life, and is available here
I’m ever appreciative of all my listeners for your continued support and reviews, I really do appreciate them. You can support the podcast by buying its producer a virtual cup of coffee for three quid, at https://ko-fi.com/andrewtimothyOB. Proceeds will go towards equipment, software and the monthly podcast hosting fees.
substack: Bramble & Briar
website: www.andrewtimothyobrien.com
email: gardensweedsandwords@gmail.com
instagram: instagram.com/AndrewTimothyOB
Inside a recent episode
S04 Episode 1: Le jardin merveilleux. With Margot Reverdy
Published 17 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Beauty, function. Yeah, exactly. And obviously so much inspiration from the natural world. I wanted to ask you if you could share with us your earliest memories of a plant or plants and explain what resonance those memories have for you today in your work. Yeah, sure. But I think it's going to be like the same answers as everyone. It comes from my grandmother. She had an amazing garden. It was full of roses and irises and clematis. And she used to make enrichment for her church. Oh, right. So she always... Yeah, she always needs some fresh and seasonal materials to work with. So I inherited from her the love of flowers, I think. […]
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