Colin Stafford-Johnson

Colin Stafford-Johnson

Colin Stafford-Johnson is a Wildlife Cameraman, Television Presenter, Film maker and now a TV Gardener on his series The Wild Gardener.

He was born in 1964 in Cabinteely near Dublin in Ireland to parents Barney and Dorothy Johnson and had 5 brothers and sisters.

His father was the first Television Gardener Barney Johnson presenter of RTE Television's (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) gardening programme The Garden.

It was first broadcast in 1977 in The Republic of Ireland.

The family owned a Garden Centre so he was brought up surrounded by plants and the outdoors but his real passion was for wildlife.

At the age of 4 Colin was fascinated by birds and catching butterflies and this early fascination has lead to a life time of wildlife watching.

His father sadly died when he was just 15 years old.

Branching out

Colin left Ireland and travelled before doing a degree in biological imaging in Derby, England.

It was a biology degree mixed with training to be a cameraman and wildlife film producer.

A career for this Emmy award winning Cameraman started in India filming Tigers, and Tigers have been a passion ever since.

He won his Emmy in 2006 for cinematography on the film Mississippi — Tales of the Last River Rat.

Countless awards have followed like the Grand Teton award and the WWF Golden Panda award with filming taken place in the UK as well as all over the world.

Colin Wildlife programmes spanning 30 years are too many to mention with many in his native Ireland from the Secret Life of the Shannon; Wild Ireland, Edge of the World; Living the Wildlife, Wild Ireland, Wild Cuba: A Caribbean Journey and Animal Babies: First Year on Earth.

In 2021 Colin's outstanding programme The Wild Gardener saw him take to the screen as a 'TV Gardener' as well as including his amazing footage of wildlife.

Colin returned to his childhood home to turn some land into a wildlife haven, as we follow him over 2 years and the ups and downs of creating this.

Colin visits other wildlife enthusiasts all across Ireland and Great Britain to see what they are doing to preserve and encourage wildlife into their gardens.

He also visits the historic former home of the original wild gardener William Robinson at Gravetye Manor in Sussex to see the garden he created in 1885.

Whether you have a whole garden or just a patch of wilderness Colin inspires us all to help attract as much wildlife as we can to our gardens with this beautifully filmed series and a touching insight into the story behind the camera.

Colin Stafford-Johnson now has a section on his Website dedicated to his garden called My Garden.

He has also ran workshops to visit his Garden which includes a walk through the woods near to the garden, followed by a walk around the garden and then refreshments in his garden at home.

Colin Stafford-Johnson also runs wildlife tours to such places as Botswana, India, Guyana and Brazil to spot the very wildlife he is famous for filming.

Colin Stafford-Johnson has 4 children.


Colin Stafford-Johnson TV Programmes

2021

The Wild Gardener

Colin Stafford-Johnson Instagram | Facebook

Love Your Garden Series 10 Episode 8 A Yoga Retreat

Love Your Garden Series 10 Episode 8 A Yoga Retreat

Alan Titchmarsh is back for the last episode of Love Your Garden Series 10, this series was shown in 2 parts because of the Covid-19 lockdowns. 

He starts the programme by saying 'this year Britain has fallen head over heels for gardening'.

So Alan is back and shocking our unsung heroes on their doorsteps and transforming their gardens.


Alan is in Waltham Abbey in Essex to surprise 53 year old Venessa who has battled through Leukaemia and now helps other people with the same disease.

Love Your Garden Series 11 Episode 1 A Stately Garden

Love Your Garden Series 11 Episode 1 A Stately Garden

Alan Titchmarsh is back for this episode which is the first of Love Your GardenSeries 11 although they were not shown in number order. 

He starts the programme by saying 'this year Britain has fallen head over heels for gardening'.

So Alan is back and shocking our unsung heroes on their doorsteps and transforming their gardens as well as sharing tips and tricks for your own garden.

But series 11 is different they are transforming not one but two gardens with the help of new Love Your Garden Team member Danny Clarke


Alan is in a village near Taunton in Somerset to surprise Mel who works as a Manager at a Royal British Legion Care Home.

The Wild Gardener

The Wild Gardener

The Wild Gardener was first shown on 19 November 2021 on BBC 2 and on BBC NI on 24 November 2021.

It is being shown as 2 x 1 hour long programmes on BBC2 but on BBC NI it is 4 x 30 minutes programmes.

The series has been repeated multiple times and is just as popular as when it was first shown.

The programme sees Colin Stafford-Johnson return to his childhood home in County Wicklow, Ireland to create his own Wildlife paradise.

Colin is an award-winning cameraman, director and broadcaster .

Colin is the son of the first Television Gardener Barney Johnson presenter of RTE Television's (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) gardening programme The Garden.

The show was first broadcast in 1977 in The Republic of Ireland

Growing up the family ran their own Garden Centre.

Colin Stafford-Johnson

In the first episode (Or episode 1 and 2 on BBC NI) that takes us through his first year.

Colin starts the hard landscaping, clearing the garden as well as digging a pond.

The programme not only features the ups and downs of creating his own wildlife haven but we are also shown the wildlife that is attracted to the garden along the way.

Colin visits other wildlife enthusiasts all across Ireland and Great Britain to see what they are doing to preserve and encourage wildlife into their gardens.

He also visits the historic former home of the original wild gardener William Robinsonat Gravetye Manor in Sussex to see the garden he created in 1885.

In the second episode (or episode 3 and 4 on BBC NI) we follow Colin through his second year and a hard Winter of work in the garden before an abundant Spring and Summer of wildlife.

Some of the wildlife he attracts are not so welcome and have to be discouraged like a herd of deer!

He meets with Bumblebee expert Professor Dave Goulson at his own wild patch in East Sussex.

Whether you want to make your whole garden into a wildlife habitat or just make some small changes to areas of the garden this programme shows you how to do this as well as showing you just what you can attract to your garden.

Presenter

Special Guests

Mark Bryson - EcoSeeds Wildflowers

Mark Smyth

Mammy Johnson

Katy Bell - Ulster Wildlife Trust

Dan Donoher - Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland

Stuart Dunlop - Hedgehog Ambassador

John Ross - Mac Mathuna

Donna Rainey


Episodes of The Wild Gardener

On BBC2 it was shown over 2 episodes lasting 1 hour but on BBC NI over 4 episodes of 30 minutes each.

All photographs are copyright of BBC.com

Love Your Garden Series 11 Episode 5

Love Your Garden Series 11 Episode 5

Alan Titchmarsh is back for this episode of Love Your GardenSeries 11

He starts the programme by saying 'this year Britain has fallen head over heels for gardening'.

So Alan is back and shocking our unsung heroes on their doorsteps and transforming their gardens as well as sharing tips and tricks for your own garden.

But series 11 is different they are transforming not one but two gardens with the help of new Love Your Garden Team member Danny Clarke

Penny Lamb

Penny Lamb

Penny Lamb is a Scottish Garden Designer,  Bespoke Furniture Designer and the new Presenter of Filthy Garden SOS.

She comes from Glasgow and from a family of keen gardeners where she gained a love for the outdoors.


Penny has her own Landscape Design, Gardening and Bespoke Furniture business called 

She tries to use natural resources where possible and puts a percentage of her profits towards planting wildlife friendly plants and trees.

Filthy Garden SOS

Filthy Garden SOS

Filthy Garden SOS is a new and unique garden makeover programme that was first shown on 5Star on 11 November 2021.

The programme is scheduled to be repeated on Channel 5 in the Spring of 2022.

This 6 part series features gardens that are shockingly overgrown, out of control or just dumpsites and the owners have no idea what to do with them.

The difference with this show is  the homeowners do not go away and come back for the big reveal but have to do the hard work themselves before revealing to their family the new garden.

The homeowners will not only help create their own garden learning along the way, as well as how to look after the garden in the future, so it will never again become a Filthy Garden!