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Dan Pearson

Kirsty Young talks to garden designer Dan Pearson.

Kirsty Young's guest this week is the garden designer, Dan Pearson.

His style is governed by a desire to create a sense of place and he is drawn to wild plants and gardens. Aged just five he discovered this passion, while building roof gardens for his collection of trolls and spent the summer watching the plant and animal life in a pond created by his father.

He gave up A' levels in favour of apprenticeships at RHS Wisley and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and then spent several years working abroad, studying plants in their natural environment. His first large-scale project was creating a garden for Frances Mossman, a colleague of his mother's, who asked him to design the garden at her Northamptonshire plot. He won more clients through word of mouth and set up his own garden design company in the late 1980s. His work has since taken him all over the world and he has designed five award-winning gardens for the Chelsea Flower Show. Amongst his current projects he is creating a design for London's proposed Garden Bridge.

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 13 Feb 2015 09:00
±«Óãtv Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Marvin Gaye

    Got to Give it Up

    • Best of Marvin Gaye.
    • Motown.

  • Fela Kuti

    Water No Get Enemy

    • He Miss Road.
    • Barclay.

  • Kate Bush

    Under The Ivy

    • This WomanÂ’s Work (volume 1).
    • EMI.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Corpus Christi Carol

    Performer: Jeff Buckley.
    • Grace.
    • Columbia.

  • David Bowie

    Wild Is The Wind

    • Station to Station.
    • EMI.

  • Nick Drake

    River Man

    • Five Leaves left.
    • Island.

  • CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE

    • Claudio Monteverdi

      Vespro Della Beata Vergine – Gloria Patri

      Performer: Antica Di Padova. Performer: Livio Picotti. Performer: Jordi Savall. Performer: Coro del Centro Musica.
      • Monteverdi: Vespro Della Beata Vergine.
      • Astree.

  • Grace Jones

    Walking in the Rain

    • Nightclubbing.
    • Island.

  • BOOK CHOICE

    An encyclopaedia of the local plants

  • LUXURY ITEM

    The contents of his potting shed

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Dan Pearson
Producer Cathy Drysdale

Broadcasts

  • Sun 8 Feb 2015 11:15
    ±«Óãtv Radio 4
  • Fri 13 Feb 2015 09:00
    ±«Óãtv Radio 4

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