Grow your own Hamnet-inspired herb garden

BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast

Immediate Media

Science, Leisure, Nature, Home & Garden

4.4 • 647 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Step into the mystical forest of Hamnet to explore the plants chosen for the film and the powerful meanings they hold with Dr Kim Walker, medical herbalist, director of Betonica School of Herbal Medicine. As herbal consultant, Kim worked closely with director Chloe Zhao and actor Jessie Buckley, where a deep connection to land and plant lore creates a distinctive atmosphere, blending folklore, medicine, and emotional symbolism. And discover how you can grow your own Hamnet-inspired herb garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:15.2	Hello and welcome to the award-winning BBC Gardner's World magazine podcast, brought to you by the team here at the magazine.
1:23.6	Join us as we chat all things gardening with the nation's favourite experts.
1:32.0	The award-winning film Hamlet portrays the natural landscape and its herbs as an integral
1:37.3	emotional and narrative force. Shakespeare's wife, Anyas Hathaway, gathers plants in the
1:43.1	forest and uses her inherited herbal knowledge to heal and care for her family, which in turn influences the future of her husband Shakespeare's work.
1:51.1	This deep connection to the land and plant law gives the film its distinctive atmosphere, blending folklore, medicine and emotional symbolism.
1:59.1	Hello, I'm Claire Vennis from BBC Gardner's World magazine,
2:02.1	and I'm joined by Dr Kim Walker, a medical herbalist, biocultural historian and researcher,
	...

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