Additional festival headliners announced!

Garden Now Open: Thurs – Sat from 10 April to 27 September

As the countdown to our first ever Garden Festival continues, we have announced a second wave of exciting speakers. Sustainable garden design champion, Tom Massey, Head of Gardens at The National Trust, Sheila Das, and ‘no-dig’ gardening pioneer, Charles Dowding will be joining previously announced headliners, Arit Anderson, Alys Fowler and Frances Tophill.

These new additions will appear alongside a strong lineup that includes, Becky Searle, Georgie Newbery, Jason Williams, Mark Diacono, John Little, Nicola Hope, Kate Bradbury, Tamsin Westhorpe, Sally Morgan and Huw Richards for a weekend of inspiring talks and lively panels aimed at encouraging gardeners of all levels to embrace sustainable and climate-resilient garden methods and practices.

Sarah Mead, Head Gardener of Yeo Valley Organic Garden, is getting her garden-glow on and sweeping the terrace in readiness:

“This festival is shaping up to be something really special. With voices like Tom, Sheila and Charles joining us, we’re offering both practical insights and genuine inspiration for anyone who wants to garden with nature in mind. Sustainability doesn’t have to mean doom, gloom and giving up your garden gnomes – it’s about making small changes that all add up to help improve the soil, promote a healthy biodiverse food chain in your garden. We guarantee you’ll have fun along the way and feel better for it!”

Award-winning garden designer, Tom Massey is celebrated for his innovative and sustainable designs that harmonise with nature and is known for his role on the BBC’s Your Garden Made Perfect. His design studio has garnered multiple accolades, including a gold medal and the BBC People’s Choice award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Yeo Valley Organic in 2021 and together with architect Je Ahn from Studio Weave he is currently reimaging the gardens around The British Museum. He will be bringing his water-wise approach to garden building and planting design to the festival, explaining how small collective steps can create large scale impact.

Tom says: “Sarah and her team at Yeo Valley bring so much joy and enthusiasm to everything they do! I absolutely loved working with Sarah on the show garden we designed for RHS Chelsea in 2021, and I’m genuinely excited to be involved in the new Organic Garden Festival. Gardening with nature is something we can all embrace: observing and celebrating seasonal changes, harvesting rainwater to reduce our reliance on mains water, and nurturing healthy soils.”

Sheila Das, Head of Gardens & Parks at the National Trust, brings a fresh and inclusive voice to the gardening world, championing horticulture as a vital and rewarding career path for the next generation. Her commitment to a soil-up approach to gardening is helping gardens across the National Trust network become more climate-resilient, and her top tips will be worth bringing a notebook for. As Sheila explains: “Great gardens are created by people with hands in the soil and hearts that connect with the past, present and future.” 

Charles Dowding, often referred to as the guru of no-dig gardening, has been a pioneer in organic gardening for over 40 years. “With no dig, your soil is mostly undisturbed and unseen. What you notice is the quality in your plants, a beautiful shine to the leaves of flowers and vegetables - they glow!”

Ahead of the festival, garden lovers can enjoy everything Yeo Valley Organic Garden has to offer when it opens for the season on 10th April 2025. Nestled in the heart of Somerset, the six-and-a-half-acre garden is an organic haven of wildflower meadows, seasonal borders and views over Blagdon Lake.