Podcast Summary: Homing In / How My Garden Grows

Episode: How My Garden Grows: A pint-sized coastal plot thickly cloaked in climbers
Host: Francine Raymond (with guest Phil, creative consultant, and frequent references to Phil's husband, "Tall Paul")
Date: September 4, 2025

Overview

In this special crossover episode of The Modern House’s "Homing In" podcast, listeners are introduced to a new series, "How My Garden Grows," hosted by lifelong gardener and journalist Francine Raymond. The episode explores the charms and challenges of a small, wind-blasted seaside garden in Whitstable, densely planted with climbers, exotics, and foliage. Phil and his husband Tall Paul share how they've made the most of their compact outdoor space using creative, resilient planting and a balance of practicality, atmosphere, and personal expression.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Challenge of the Coastal Plot

• Location and Atmosphere

  • The house is an end-of-terrace with a "tiny little front garden" characterized by constant wind, salt, and exposure.
  • Francine describes the approach as “absolutely beautiful,” with mostly evergreen, tough plants (01:13–02:30).

• Selecting Resilient Plants

  • Phil details their pragmatic plant choices: “We have olives, we have pittosporums, bay trees and elaeagnus. And they all...can cope with pretty severe wind conditions. We’re also south facing, so things get cooked and they get blasted by the wind here.” (02:39–03:10)
  • They tried “showier things” but those were destroyed by the elements.

2. Garden Management for Small Spaces

• Using Vertical Space & Dense Planting

  • The garden is described as “packed with pots, climbers, colour and foliage” and utilizes a vertical axis to make the most of the narrow, sun-challenged plot (05:30–06:52).
  • Phil: “In a small garden, if you can have climbers, you’ve got to get used to that thing that you are going to have to beat it back.” (06:05)

• Embracing Height and Layering

  • Tall Paul ("known as Tall Paul," 08:52) is matched by tall planting: “Here everything is tall, isn’t it?” (08:57–09:02)
  • Francine advocates, “It’s important, I think, not to cut things back the minute they flowered, which would be a temptation in a small garden.” (06:52)

• Ensuring Year-Round Interest

  • Phil emphasizes long-lasting plants: “If you’ve got a small garden, I think what you’re looking for are plants that have a long period of interest...otherwise you’ve got this kind of sad experience of bulbs extinguishing quickly and then you’re just left looking at nothing.” (07:06–07:50)

3. Expressing Personality and Partnership through Planting

• Twin Aesthetics: “Hot end” and “Cold end”

  • The garden is divided by climate: a cold, shaded end near the kitchen and a hot, sunny end.
  • Paul favors vivid exotics and aeoniums, while Phil prefers subtle foliage and texture.
  • Phil: “Paul has always loved aeoniums…And the thing with Paul, I think, is his mum is from St. Vincent, and so there’s a little part of him I know that has a hankering for hotter, stronger tropical colors…” (09:27–11:23)
  • “So there's those two things. We've got a sort of, like a cold end and we've got a hot.” (11:23)

• Using Foliage as a Theme

  • Phil: “With leaves, you get this…texture. You do…And I think people are often...waiting for flowers. Like a plant is only doing its thing when it’s in flower. But I think a plant that’s doing its thing because its leaves are gorgeous or because it’s producing these other effects...” (11:36–12:09)
  • Francine: “No, I love foliage. I think green is a fabulous colour and it’s the perfect backdrop for all the other colors.” (12:12)

4. Wildlife, Pests, and Garden Dynamics

• Dealing with Snails and Creating Balance

  • The garden hosts a thriving snail population, which is managed mainly by selective planting, not pesticides.
  • Phil: “If you’re going to plant close and packed like we do, you are setting yourself up for sadness and tragedy if you…choose plants that snails love.” (13:36)
  • They’ve learned to avoid hostas and plant “grasses, aruncus...geraniums” instead (14:25).

• Neighbourhood and Wildlife

  • Hopes for local hedgehogs to help with snail control.
  • "Our plan is to do a little sort of get a jigsaw...and just cut a little serving hatch and so let the hedgehogs come in here." (15:30)

5. Microclimate and Practical Details

• Managing Sun and Shade

  • The plot faces northeast; the “end near the kitchen is very cold,” whereas the top end gets quick sun (09:27).
  • Seasonal tidying: Seed heads are left up for wildlife and winter interest and only cut back in February (07:56–08:02).

• Traffic, Privacy, and Sound

  • Dense planting provides sanctuary: “Having built this sort of plush, high, enclosed garden…even though you’ve got the real world out there…sometimes you can hear the [traffic], but it deadens the sounds. It makes it feel like you’ve got a secret that you’re keeping.” (16:43–17:07)

6. Practical Strategies for Small Gardens

• Pots and Versatility

  • “Some of those plants are better in pots because you can control what’s happening...you can just introduce things into your garden that perhaps wouldn’t normally prosper…” (18:48–19:10)

• Greenhouse Utilization

  • Paul’s domain is the greenhouse, used for propagating vegetables and growing lemons, oranges, and the challenging Charente melons. (21:26–22:25)
  • Overwintering exotics necessitates creative storage: “Use this old step ladder to push all of the succulents as high up into the sunshine as possible to prolong that season.” (23:19)

7. Atmosphere, Use, and Relaxation

• Garden as Immersive Environment

  • “Some people would find it quite claustrophobic…but there’s something about creating an environment, right? I think you’ve always said about this garden that it has an atmosphere.” (19:27–20:19)
  • Francine: “It’s charming and also enveloping and makes you feel secure.” (20:19)

• Relaxation vs. Constant Tinkering

  • Despite the busyness, Phil admits to enjoying “deadheading and…moving things around. I think it produces permission to procrastinate, and I think that is in of itself relaxing because you’re able to come out, you’re doing a productive thing…but it’s very…low maintenance [mentally].” (25:46–26:32)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Wind-Blasted Plot:
  Francine: "The planting is mostly evergreen, not a lot of flowers, but it’s a very windy corner, so obviously things don’t survive here." (01:47)
  Phil: "We tried many different things. We tried sort of showier things and they were kind of ripped to shreds and it was a very depressing experience." (02:43)

• On Small Garden Philosophy:
  Phil: "If you’ve got a small garden, what you’re looking for are plants that have a long period of interest because otherwise you’ve got this kind of sad experience of bulbs extinguishing quickly and then you’re just left looking at nothing." (07:06)

• On Foliage vs. Flowers:
  Phil: “With leaves, you get this...texture. And I think people are often waiting for flowers. Like a plant is only doing its thing when it’s in flower. But I think a plant that’s doing its thing because its leaves are gorgeous or because it’s producing these other effects...” (11:36–12:09)
  Francine: “Foliage in the garden is very important because it’s the predominant thing.” (12:12)

• On Snails:
  Phil: “People think, wow, you must be really good gardeners. I think the answer is that we just choose plants that snails don’t eat. That would be a truthful answer.” (14:25)

• On Relaxation in the Garden:
  Phil: “The truthful answer is yes. But I also think in terms of relaxation, this garden has a lot of...deadheading and...moving things around. And I think it produces permission to procrastinate, and I think that is in of itself relaxing...” (25:46–26:32)

• On Garden Atmosphere:
  Francine: “It’s charming and also enveloping and makes you feel secure.” (20:19)
  Phil: “...I like here, where you are in it. There are layers as opposed to getting it all at once.” (20:27)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:13 – Francine introduces Phil, the garden, and setting the scene.
• 02:39 – Phil details plant selection for survival against wind and salt.
• 05:23 – Discussion about climbers and maximizing small spaces.
• 07:06 – The importance of long-season interest in small gardens.
• 09:27 – Dividing the garden into “hot” and “cold” ends; personality in planting.
• 13:36 – Snails, pest strategy, and ecological planting.
• 16:43 – Using dense planting to create privacy and muffle urban noise.
• 18:48 – The benefits and creativity of gardening with pots.
• 21:26 – Inside the greenhouse: overwintering exotics and growing fruit.
• 25:46 – Reflection on the nature of relaxation for active gardeners.

Conclusion

The inaugural episode of "How My Garden Grows" beautifully illustrates how a small, windswept coastal garden—through careful plant selection and expressive design—becomes much more than humble square footage. Francine and Phil’s relaxed, witty conversation underlines themes of resilience, experimentation, and atmosphere, reminding aspiring and seasoned gardeners alike that limitations can be a fertile ground for creativity and personal fulfillment.

Next episode preview: Francine welcomes listeners into her own garden as autumn approaches, with tips on preserving fruits and saving seed heads.