Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable

experts and genuinely engaging voices. What you may not know is that the BBC

makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. and borders of the Harris Garden, part of the 320 acres of green space making up the

White Knights campus of the University of Reading. Our hosts alongside the University are

the Friends of the Harris Garden. It's a charitable organisation founded in 1987 to

support the Garden's development and maintenance. The Garden's open to all and

used for research by the University and also plays an important role in local conservation initiatives.

And I'm joined here in the Garden by John Edgar, who's one of the Garden volunteers.

John, I'm really impressed both with the look

and the size of the garden here,

and it's looking really tidy as well.

Tell us a bit about the history of the garden

because this whole site is kind of the remnant of quite an old estate. Yes, it is. It was the grounds of a stately home. We can trace the gardens back over 200 years in various guises initially as a private garden and laterly as a resource

for the university as a teaching aid as you mentioned it is also a resource for the local community and the staff and students and has some very interesting plants here and

Our old year round there's an element of interest.

And some quite unusual tree species from collection from the original garden?

We believe so, both here and in the adjacent wilderness, woodland area.

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