As big as the sky

Tom Pattinson is fresh back from the Chelsea Flower Show and full of inspired ideas for small garden spaces and containers…

 Tom Cadwallender’s reflecting on a very moist May and in awe at some amazing ‘first ever’ bird observations in the county

Steve Lowe’s looking forward to a proper celebration for the opening of the Creswell Pele Tower garden… 

And… we hear from pupils from the Lowick and Holy Island First School who are taking part in an exciting national gardening initiative…

Plus some top tips for the garden from Tom P… 

Transcript

Theme tune: Princess of the Ocean by Carl Cape Band featuring Steve Deegan, Carl Cape and Jamie Robb (fiddle).

Carl: audio: Hello and welcome to the Nature Garden Podcast, with me, Carl Stiansen, and the Weekending Show Team from Lionheart Radio. 

Thanks for joining us on a canny wee wander down the garden path and country lane… with the birds and the bees, and the flowers and trees…  and it’s a chance to hear some great stories from the past and present…

In this episode… 

Tom Pattinson…is fresh back from the Chelsea Flower Show and full of inspired ideas for small garden spaces and containers…

Tom Cadwallender’s reflecting on a very moist May and in awe at some amazing ‘first ever’ bird observations in the county...

Steve Lowe’s looking forward to a proper celebration for the opening of the Creswell Pele Tower garden… 

And… we hear from some of the pupils of Lowick and Holy Island First School who are taking part in an exciting national gardening scheme…

And we’ve got some top tips for the garden from Tom P…

All coming up… on the Nature Garden Podcast….

Carl Stiansen: Containers are a way for all of us to grow plants, flowers and crops to eat and Tom Pattinson’s here, fresh back from the Chelsea Flower Show with some brilliant ideas for your garden, yard or window. 

Tom Pattinson: audio

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Carl Stiansen: For most of us in the UK, spring has been much wetter than average, soaking wet March ranks, according to the BBC, in the top 20% of wettest Marches. And the rainy theme has continued into April and May. Tom Cadwallender reports on how this has affected some of our feathered friends at nesting time.

Tom Cadwallender: audio

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 Carl Stiansen: Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes… and ages… and I was delighted to catch up with possibly the youngest gardeners we’ve had on the show… Daniel aged 5, Lily-Ella, aged 8; and Heidi aged 7, at the Lowick and Holy Island and Church of England First School.   

Lowick and Holy Island School pupils: audio

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Carl Stiansen: I love that… ‘as big as the sky’… brilliant… and thanks Mrs. Stiansen and the Holy Island gardening team! 

Now, making a garden in a limited space can be fun… and challenging and Tom P’s ‘going vertical’ and looking at ways to make restricted gardening a success and a joy.

Tom Pattinson: audio

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Carl Stiansen:  Over the last couple of years, we’ve been hearing from Steve Lowe and volunteers who’ve been restoring an amazing Northumberland landmark and this weekend is very special one… for Steve and the Cresswell Pele Tower team.

Steve Lowe: audio

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Carl Stiansen:  Birders across the North East have been getting very excited during the last couple of weeks and Tom Cad is here to tell us more about some unexpected visitors.

Tom Cadwallender: audio

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Carl Stiansen:  And…to the sound of wor blackbird… Here’s Tom with some things to be getting on with in the garden.

Tom Pattinson: audio: Jobs for the Week

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Outro: Carl Stiansen:  You’ve been listening to gardener, Tom Pattinson; birder, Tom Cadwallender from the British Trust for Ornithology… And Steve Lowe from the Northumberland Rivers Trust  Cresswell Pele Tower... And Mrs. Stiansen and the pupils of Lowick and Holy Island Church of England First School.

We’ll be back with more nature, gardening and heritage reports from Northumberland and beyond in a couple of weeks. And, don’t forget, you can listen back to all of our previous programmes via the Nature Garden Podcast.

I’m Carl Stiansen… thanks for listening and enjoy your gardening and time outdoors with nature, bye for now.