Why are Brits so obsessed with lawns?
From No Mow May to robot mowers, James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift discuss the origins and the future of the great British lawn and answer your gardening queries.
Photograph: iStockphoto.com/Sebastian Gorczowski
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From robot mowing to scything, scarifying to aeration, lawns are an integral part of the British gardening experience: and we're obsessed with them. But where do they fit into horticulture in 2025? Hosts James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift offer up a potted history of the lawn, reveal the unusual name James gave his robot mower, and discuss the pros and cons of No Mow May.
Plus - James and Joe tackle your gardening questions, including overrated garden trends and how many houseplants is too many.
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About our hosts

James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022. He is the RHS Ambassador for Garden Design and a Fellow of the Society of Garden Designers.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV’s Gardeners’ World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.