We envision a resilient world dependent on the thoughtful cultivation of plants

Episode XXIX: On the Scruffy Wild Edge of Urban Jungle with Ben Wilson

Topics: Garden Futurist

Garden Futurist

Episode XXIX: On the Scruffy Wild Edge of Urban Jungle with Ben Wilson

00:00 / 00:38:43

Summer 2023

Read the companion article here.

This episode explores the landscape history of cities as ecosystems, not ecosystems of business but actual living systems.

New research shows that urban gardens support a greater number of species than an equivalent sized semi-wild rural habitat. As gardeners, as horticulturists, we may want to curate these gardened environments. How much urban landscape should be a “scruffy wild edge-land”? How does looking to the past help us plan the future of cities?

Sarah Beck speaks with historian Ben Wilson about his sixth book, Urban Jungle: The History and Future of Nature in the City. With special guest Saxon Holt.

This episode was sponsored by:

Order your copy of Urban Jungle: The History and Future of Nature in the City from Penguin Random House here.

GARDEN FUTURIST

A show about innovative thinkers contributing to a climate resilient future through the power of gardens.

Produced and hosted by Sarah Beck, Adriana Lopez, and Adrienne St Claire

Edited and directed by Kelsey Skonberg

Sarah Beck is the executive director of Pacific Horticulture.

Adriana López-Villalobos currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia where she works as Curatorial Coordinator for the UBC Botanical Garden. She is originally from Mexico, where she completed her BSC and MSc, studying plant ecology and mating systems evolution, before migrating to Canada to pursue a PhD focusing on the genetics of species across their geographic ranges.

Adrienne St. Clair is a botanist working with Metro, a regional government in Portland, Oregon where her work spans conservation to restoration. Adrienne managed a native plant nursery for almost a decade before pursuing a graduate degree. She received her Master’s in Plant Biology and Conservation from Northwestern University and Chicago Botanic Garden where she studied the effect of horticulture techniques on native-plant genetics.

Kelsey Skonberg is a Community-Centered Video and Podcast Editor and Science Journalist in Everett, WA.