Steve Bradley is a freelance garden writer and broadcaster who studied horticulture at Writtle, Cannington and Pershore Colleges, achieving the RHS Master of Horticulture Diploma. He has worked for BBC and independent television stations as a presenter and was researcher / presenter on three official Chelsea Flower Show videos.

As an author, he has over 30 titles to his name, including Propagation Basics, winner of the Garden Writers’ Guild Award for Best Practical Book of 2002. In October 2002, he joined Peter Seabrook as gardening correspondent for the Sun newspaper. As a magazine contributor he is behind the ‘Masterclass’ series in Gardens Monthly, and writes specialist articles for the RHS journal and BBC Gardeners World Magazine.

More info about Steve Bradley is available at:
On the BBC website

Val Bradley is married to broadcaster and author Steve Bradley and has been both editor and researcher for much of his work. Following her horticultural training she worked in garden centres and nurseries including RHS Wisley. She has taught at horticultural college covering topics such as propagation; pruning; plant nomenclature; house plants; basic garden design ; fruit and vegetable gardening. She has also written or co-written 10 books on various aspects of gardening including The Complete Guide to Houseplants (Collins and Brown) and Step by Step Town Gardens (Lorenz Books). She has written numerous magazine articles and was the resident expert on Gardens Monthly website forum for twoyears. For the last seven years she has joined Steve and Peter Seabrook as gardening correspondents for The Sun newspaper (the largest - selling English language newspaper in the world with a readership every week of about 10.5 million.)

Kim Lovelace has been teaching Shiatsu and Qigong for over fifteen years, running regular group classes in Chichester and individual sessions from The Medicine Garden in Emsworth.   He also teaches Shiatsu and Qigong at branches of The Shiatsu College throughout the UK.   Visit the Wellbeing Marquee to speak with him.

Qigong for Gardeners - Free Taster Classes at 12.30 and 2.30 each day
Gardeners bend and stretch and sometimes strain.   Much work in the garden is repetitive and carried out from extremely contorted body positions.   The term Qigong covers a vast range of oriental exercises, all of which have the common thread of intention and mindfulness.   Movements are designed to "stretch, straighten and strengthen", yet keep the mind clearly focussed on the task. Ten minutes of qigong will prepare one's body for the rigours of a day's gardening and ten minutes at the end of the day will release tense and knotted muscles, helping your whole body sigh with satisfaction at the results of your labours.

More info about Kim Lovelace, Shiatsu and Qigong is available at:
www.kim.lovelace.shiatsusociety.org

Steve became interested in herbal medicine after travelling widely in South America and Africa. He realised that there was a need to find a sustainable approach to using nature's resources before the exploitation of the natural world caused the irreversible decline of eco-systems. Witnessing the cure of his wife's severe bout of dysentery using plant remedies he realised it would be possible to have a positive impact on people's lives and challenge the assumption that nature can only benefit us through the exploitation of resources rather than by respecting the gifts of the environment.

Steve then studied herbal medicine for four years, graduating in 1994 with a Diploma in Herbal Medicine and joining the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. He now runs a clinic called the Medicine Garden in Emsworth, Hants and has a passionate interest in using native plants and rediscovering their folk medicine applications, providing cures for many modern-day ailments.

Today our relationship with the garden and countryside is very different to that of our grandparents. In the past the garden was primarily an indispensable resource for the provision of foods, medicines, fuels and raw materials. We now value this same space as an opportunity to appreciate the sights, sounds and smells of the natural world rather than as a provider of the essentials of life. The rose is a good example of this transition: still considered to be one of the most common and beautiful garden plants today it was originally cultivated for its medicinal properties and has only latterly been grown for its aesthetic qualities.

The best way to renew and heal our relationship with the natural world around us is to regain the forgotten knowledge of how to use the gifts of nature provided in the garden and hedgerow. This can be through growing wholesome fresh foods, enjoying the pleasures of a beautiful natural space, or providing ourselves and our families with simple and safe home remedies which have always been part of the kitchen and garden store of wisdom. Steve will be running regular demonstrations throughout the show. He will be teaching us the skills we need to turn what grows in our gardens into the natural household remedies our great grandparents and their families took for granted.

Wendy Budd Bsc (Hons) is a medical herbalist and trained at both Middlesex and Lancashire Universities , giving her a unique breadth of knowledge in medical herbalism. Herbal medicine is the oldest form of medicine known to man. Even today it is estimated 80% of the world's population rely on herbs as their first line of defence against disease. In the Western world approximately 20% of all drugs are derived from plant sources. Modern western herbal practitioners combine traditional herbal knowledge with modern research, resulting in a balanced approach to the treatment of disease.

Wendy will be working with Steve throughout the Show and  now has her own shop, Budd’s Herbal Apothercary in Southsea:  78 Albert Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hants, PO5 SN. Tel: 02392 369561. Mob:07878306621. www.buddsherbalmedicine.co.uk

Lucy Summers is an approachable, hands-on, RHS qualified horticulturalist and landscape designer and has been awarded hard-won Gold and Silver medals at the Chelsea Flower Show.   She has her own successful landscape design practice, The Open Garden Company (www.theopengardencompany.co.uk) and has presented gardening TV programmes such as 'Homegrown' (Anglia) 'Britain’s Best Back Gardens' (ITV)

She has been a gardening correspondent for Ideal Home Magazine and is an editorial contributor for numerous national newspapers. She is author of the no-nonsense Greenfingers Guides, available at all the usual suspects, (Amazon, Waterstones etc) and of Climbers and Wall Shrubs, Drought Tolerant Plants, Border Plants and Fruit and Vegetables, Evergreen Plants and Fragrant Plants..

Lucy’s talk 'Drought Busting Gardening' which will take place at 2pm daily is will tell exactly what and how to plant in these difficult and arid times.

Come and find Lucy in the Garden and Home Marquee to find out more.
www.theopengardencompany.co.uk

Nigel Philips trained at Merrist Wood College and has been practicing garden design professionally since 1981. He has carried out a wide range of commissions from modern town gardens and corporate courtyards to the more traditional landscaping of large country estates and an award winning Chelsea garden. His experience has afforded him a Fellowship with the Society of Garden Designers, an organisation set up to verify professional design service to clients. He is also a member of the Institute of Horticulture.

His broad knowledge and enthusiasm for garden design and garden history is apparent in his designs and has led him naturally to teaching which he has been doing for the last 10 years. He currently runs several courses at Plumpton College and has lectured in related subjects for the Royal Horticultural Society and other educational establishments.

Nigel's Landscape & Garden Design company provides a highly experienced service for anybody requiring a professional garden designer, providing a range of services from initial garden design through to project management of the build process.

Garden Studio, 38 Prince Edward's Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1BE. Tel/Fax: 01273 477746 post@nigelphilips.co.uk

www.nigelphilips.co.uk

Nigel will be sharing his thoughts about 'Good Garden Design' at 12 noon daily.