(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
(28:00) Creating structural habitat with dry stone walls, cob buildings, and dead wood
(33:00) Redesigning horticulture education
(37:00) Valuing bare ground and the importance of entomologists in design
(40:00) Balancing ecology with aesthetics while making it beautiful for humans and wildlife
(44:00) Working in poorest communities and why green space investment matters most there
(49:00) Practical advice for home gardeners on working with subsoil and alternative substrates
(54:00) Managing lawns, dead trees, and organic debris for habitat
(58:00) Bee hotels and using gabions as multifunctional habitat structures
(64:00) Thoughts on bringing materials onto a site
(68:00) Recommended reading of Rebirding and Cornerstones Benedict Macdonald and understanding natural European habitats
(69:00) Thinking about climate change and succession in design
(71:00) How to propagate more gardeners by making them celebrities and funding good jobs
(73:00) You can connect with John on Instagram at @grassroofco and @carenotcapital.