NHS special: Sow, Grow, Repeat winter

From the plants that provide vital ingredients for cancer drugs to the therapeutic gardens that help people recover from illness and injury, the NHS relies on horticulture in many different ways

In the show Jane Perrone visits the Royal College of Physicians’ Garden of Medicinal Plants in London, home to more than a thousand plant species that have been used in medicine at some point in history; she talks to award winning garden designer Cleve West about the specialist garden he designed for NHS Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury, and discusses gardening therapy and the healing power of the outdoors with medical and landscape historian Dr Clare Hickman, and Jude Allan, founder and director of Sweettree Farming For All

Get in touch

Want to tell us what you think, or suggest topics for future shows? You can email us at gardens@theguardian.comand if you like the show, please leave Sow, Grow, Repeat a review on iTunes. Finally, if you haven’t heard us before, you can listen to our past episodes. And many thanks to Georgia Locock for providing the birds that you can hear in the background

Useful links and resources

• Guardian feature on Horatio’s Garden by Naomi Slade
  
• Cleve West’s website and details of his show garden at this year’s Chelsea flower show
• Horatio’s Garden website
  
• Information on tours of the Royal College of Physicians’ Garden of Medicinal Plants
• Plant database for the Royal College of Physicians’ Garden of Medicinal Plants
• Books about the Royal College of Physicians’ Garden of Medicinal Plants
• Sweettree Farming For All website
• Dr Clare Hickman’s website
• More on the NHS from the Guardian