Australian landscape architect and garden designer Timothy Mitchell joins Cass Dowding on The Sentimental Gardener podcast to talk about his early memories of plants, transforming tennis courts into a meadow of flowers and designing gardens en plein air.

They also dive into finding beauty in Australian native plants, building a dry climate garden that actually works, letting a garden evolve naturally over seasons, and why the most alive gardens are always being edited, observed and mulled over.

They recorded this episode in Tim and his partner Lucy's backyard, surrounded by the antiquing of plants moving from summer to autumn and a view of Mt. William/ Wil-im-ee Moor-ring as the backdrop.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
01:35 Early memories of gardens and plants
05:00 Choosing a life in landscape design
09:00 Gardeners and landscape architects
13:45 Designing public places
16:00 Transforming a tennis court into a garden
18:30 Starting a garden from scratch
19:00 Finding beauty in Australian plants
22:40 Building a dry climate garden
27:45 Letting a garden grow naturally
32:00 Trees, time and looking after nature
38:30 What makes a garden feel alive
45:30 Learning by watching plants
49:45 Quick-fire garden questions
56:45 The gardens that stay with us
59:35 Final thoughts and outro

Show notes:
Follow Timothy Mitchell on Instagram or visit website

Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Facebook

Visit The Sentimental Gardener website

Get Sentimental Gardener emails in your inbox

Get bonus content + episodes on Sentimental Friends

Original music: Hayden Schueler of Vereya Gardening

Audio mix: Tom Dowding

Producer and editor: Cass Dowding

Are you an Australian native plant fanatic? Well you're going to love this episode!
Cass Dowding chats with Ben Clark, co-owner of Kuranga Native Nursery, about growing up surrounded by the bush in Warrandyte, followed by an early obsession with plants, to building a family business around Australian native plants.

Ben shares how he first came to Kuranga as an apprentice, what happens behind the scenes in the nursery he now owns, and why the nursery has become such a loved destination for native plant buffs.

They also talk about Kuranga's expansion to a second site at Warrandyte, running the business with his wife Alexa, raising kids around the nursery, and the joy of dispersing native plants into gardens across the state, and maybe Australia!

Show notes:
Follow Kuranga Native Nursery on Instagram and Facebook
Follow The Sentimental Gardener on Instagram and Facebook
Get Sentimental Gardener emails
Get bonus episodes on Sentimental Friends

Theme music: Hayden Schueler of Vereya Gardening
Audio mix: Tom Dowding
Producer and editor: Cass Dowding

Hannah Moloney was born for this! 'This' is creating what she calls "a good life for everybody": people, animals, ecosystems and communities alike.

From climate-justice cabaret to gardening, activism, writing and community projects, Hannah's work is all about connection, resilience and finding better ways to live together. She's also a presenter on ABC TV's Gardening Australia and the bestselling author of the newly released Why We Garden — Even When We Don't Have To.

In this episode, Cass and Hannah talk about early memories, sentimental plant stories, permaculture, activism and what Hannah discovered after interviewing thousands of gardeners about why we still feel drawn to plonk things in the ground and help them grow.

Host: Cass Dowding
Guest: Hannah Moloney

Episode show notes at The Sentimental Gardener

Original Music: Hayden Schueler from Vereya Gardening
Audio Mixing: Tom Dowding
Editing and Producer: Cass Dowding