Nick Stewart Smith spent seven years as Head Gardener at Lambeth Palace. Here he tells Ben Dark about his hidden life as a link in thousand-year horticultural chain, about his unique philosophy of place-making and about how to work in dialogue with a garden.

Nick's book: https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/the-thousand-year-old-garden/9781803993041/

Wild Times in a London Park by Nick Stewart Smith: https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/wild-times-in-a-london-park/

Support Dear Gardener on Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/bendark

Episode Breakdown:

[00:00:03] Podcast intro: introducing Nick Stewart Smith, author of "The Thousand Year Old Garden"

[00:04:07] The personal nature of the book.

[00:06:23] Gardeners and garden features as links in a very long chain.

[00:09:38] Creating a dialogue with the garden.

[00:13:26] Life at Overbecks, the eccentric National Trust garden of rock face and banana.

[00:16:07] Exploring the book’s focus on the forgotten gardeners of Lambeth Palace

[00:21:50] The Glades, Nick’s signature effect with colourful perennials and nomadic annuals.

[00:27:56] Gardening, finding balance, small scale focus.

[00:29:33] Awareness of nature crisis, positive gardening, adaptation.

[00:32:36] Tolstoy, Levin and the transcendental power of scything.

[00:35:57] Van Gogh & Dürer - painters as inspiration.

[00:40:51] Farewell and thanks to guest, Nick.