Ann-Marie Powell

Ann-Marie Powell

Author: BBC Radio 4 May 25, 2024 Duration: 14:48

Ann-Marie Powell, is the exuberant and colourful, garden designer, whose' Octavia Hill 'Garden was one of the eight main gardens in competition at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.

After dropping out of college she spent six months travelling in India, Nepal and New Zealand, which inspired her to take up gardening. Attending Capel Manor horticultural college her first job was working in sales for a large nursery. But Ann-Marie's colourful personal style and outgoing personality led her employer to encourage her to apply for a job as a presenter on a TV gardening show. She soon blossomed into a popular gardening show host working with fellow gardeners like Carol Klein, Joe Swift and gardening supremo, Monty Don.

In addition to running her own successful garden design business from the home she shares with her husband and two boys, on the Hampshire borders, she feels it's important that everyone should have access to green spaces, no matter where they live. During lockdown her Instagram page 'My Real Garden' was a big hit broadcasting garden tips and advice everyday.

CONTRIBUTORS Julian Bundy, Husband Angela Halksworth, Co-owner of Tendercare Nurseries Janet Morgan, Friend Jane Owen, Garden Designer Mark Straver, Founder of Hortus Loci Cleve West, Award-winning Garden Designer Tamsin Westhorpe, Gardener and Horticulture Writer

PRODUCTION TEAM Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Julie Ball, Diane Richardson Editor: Bridget Harney Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound: David Crackles

CREDITS Gardens, Weeds and Words Podcast - Presented by Andrew O'Brien Real Gardens - Channel 4 RHS National Trust My Real Garden - Ann-Marie Powell's Instagram


Each week, Profile from BBC Radio 4 takes a single name from the global conversation and builds a detailed portrait, moving far beyond the headlines. This isn't a simple biography or a news recap. Instead, through careful documentary storytelling and personal journal excerpts where available, the podcast constructs a nuanced examination of character and motive. You’ll hear from colleagues, critics, and sometimes the subjects themselves, piecing together what drives and defines the people shaping our world. The focus rests firmly on influence, whether in politics, the arts, science, or social movements, exploring how an individual's background and choices ripple through society and culture. Listening to this podcast feels like gaining a deeper, more textured understanding of the figures you think you know, revealing the contradictions and convictions behind the public image. It’s a thoughtful half-hour that challenges first impressions, asking what truly lies behind a name in the news.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Profile
Podcast Episodes
Mark Rutte [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:19
The Secretary General of NATO has been dubbed the Trump whisperer after talks with Donald Trump at Davos appeared to help trigger a sudden U-turn on Greenland and threatened tariffs. Mark Rutte was born in The Hague in 1…
Mette Frederiksen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:15
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that US President Donald Trump’s threat to take Greenland would spell the end of Nato, the trans-Atlantic defence alliance. So who is the woman standing toe to toe with…
Sir Christian Turner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:08
The newly-appointed British ambassador to the United States, Sir Christian Turner, is a career diplomat whose experience spans almost three decades. He was about to take up the role of the UK's ambassador at the UN but a…
Zohran Mamdani [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:40
The new Mayor of New York and at just 34, the youngest since 1892, is sworn in. He is the first Muslim and Indian American to lead the nation's largest city. Zohran Mamdani was born in Uganda, Africa, to parents of India…
Karl Bushby [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:14
Karl Bushby, the British man walking around the world, is almost home. The former paratrooper set off from Chile in 1998. He walked through the Americas, crossed the frozen ocean from Alaska to Russia, and last year beca…
Mary Berry [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:05
Dame Mary Berry has been teaching Brits to cook for more than half a century. Aged 90, she remains a staple on our screens at Christmas. Born in Bath in 1935, Berry was the middle child of two brothers. She struggled in…
David Harewood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:03
David Harewood, who turned sixty this week, returns as Othello for the third time on stage. It’s a role he first took on in 1997, becoming the first black actor to play the part at London’s National Theatre. Growing up i…
Zak Brown [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:54
Stephen Smith profiles the former racing driver and marketing guru who's turned around McLaren's fortunes and led them to Formula 1 glory. Born in California in 1971, friends and colleagues paint a picture of a fiercely…
Zarah Sultana [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:09
The Coventry MP who left the Labour party and joined Jeremy Corbyn's new left-wing ‘Your Party'. Zarah Sultana's husband and friends tell us how her upbringing shaped her politics and reveal her questionable taste in mus…
Marjorie Taylor Greene [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:00
Marjorie Taylor Greene is a darling of MAGA. But this week a disagreement with Trump over the Epstein files has seen him brand her as a traitor. Born in 1974 in the suburbs of Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene had a conven…