Shoes filled with dust, salads shrivelling, and a bad case of watering can elbow - it’s certainly been one of the most challenging summers for gardeners!

In this month’s Organic Gardening Podcast, Fiona is joined by our Head of Organic Horticulture Chris Collins and Head Gardener Emma O’Neill as they look ahead to spring and share tips for weatherproofing your garden.

The takeaway messages are: embrace the imperfect, don’t be put off if things fail – and just give it a go!

Get to know your garden
Everyone’s plot is unique - and the team talk about the importance of learning about your local conditions. They suggest finding out about your garden’s climate, aspect and soil rather than relying on what it says on the seed packet.

Build resilience
Emma talks about the importance of healthy soil to build resilience from the ground up. Adding organic matter in the autumn and sowing green manures can help your garden retain moisture, nutrients and structure.

Chris suggests mixing-up your planting to improve diversity, and creating more adaptable planting schemes that can withstand different weather conditions.

Plan ahead
The heatwave has produced an early flush of seeds, and the team discusses easy flower and vegetable seeds to collect. Plus, Chris shares tips for planting spring bulbs – including his ‘bulb trifle’ method!

And to mark Organic September, you can find out why the team chose to go into organic horticulture. And learn what they wished they’d know before they started – all the while busting the myth that organic gardening takes more effort and money.

You can subscribe to the podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcast and all the other main podcast providers. Alternatively, listen here.

Thanks to the Organic Gardening Catalogue who sponsor this podcast.