
← The Plantastic Podcast7 Dec 2025 · 1 h 22 min
John Little on Caring for Gardens and Gardeners (#48)
(00:00) Introduction
(01:00) Early influences and growing up with a permaculturist grandfather and in post-industrial landscapes
(03:00) From retail to professional horticulture without formal training
(04:00) The shift from native plants to wildlife and habitat creation
(05:00) Green roof experimentation and breaking free from conventional substrate wisdom
(08:00) Topography as an underplayed design tool
(10:00) Effects of putting substrate on top of soil
(13:00) The art of seeing landscapes
(17:00) The importance of ruderal vegetation and hand weeding for biodiversity
(19:00) Care Not Capital and investing in gardeners instead of infrastructure
(22:00) Lessons from social housing and listening to residents over imposing ideas
(25:00) Free training for gardeners in community engagement, ecology, and green infrastructure