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Gardeners' Question Time

Gardeners' Question Time

BBC Radio 4 82 episodes Nov 6, 2026

A panel of horticultural experts answer gardening questions from a live audience. Recorded in a different location each week.

Episodes

Postbag Edition: Burrow Farm Gardens
Postbag Edition: Burrow Farm Gardens Nov 6, 2026 42:38 Peter Gibbs visits the award-winning Burrow Farm Gardens in East Devon, where founder Mary Benger shares the story of transforming what was once a farm into one of Britain’s favourite public gardens.Joining Peter are Anne Swithinbank, Matthew Pottage and Pippa Greenwood. They answer listeners’ questions on creating year-round privacy with hedging, choosing resilient plants for woodland-edge garden
From the Archive: Halloween Special
From the Archive: Halloween Special Oct 30, 2026 42:54 Kathy Clugston  dusts the cobwebs off the Gardeners’ Question Time archives for a spooky selection of supernatural gardening advice from the past 79 years of the program. This Halloween special is packed with ghostly gardening tales, monstrous pumpkins, and poisonous plants.The panel share advice on encouraging bats into the garden, managing an invasion of spiders and revisit a compost bin so over
New Forest
New Forest Oct 23, 2026 42:25 Which plants can I plant now that will survive the winter? Can you recommend a low-maintenance shrub for the garden? What should I grow to get my gardening mojo back?Kathy Clugston and the GQT team are in the New Forest sharing their tips and tricks for the garden. Joining Kathy are  head gardener at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Bethan Collerton, pest and disease expert, Pippa Greenwood, and gard
The Potting Shed at the GQT Summer Garden Party
The Potting Shed at the GQT Summer Garden Party Oct 16, 2026 42:55 Kathy Clugston presents a special Potting Shed edition of Gardeners’ Question Time, recorded at the Summer Garden Party at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey.Away from the main stage, visitors drop into the famous GQT potting shed for one-to-one advice from the panel. Dr Chris Thorogood, Marcus Chilton-Jones, Frances Tophill, Matthew Wilson, Matthew Pottage and James Wong help tackle a wide range of gard
Kew Gardens: Winter Containers, Late Cuttings and Indicator Plants
Kew Gardens: Winter Containers, Late Cuttings and Indicator Plants Oct 9, 2026 42:55 Peter Gibbs hosts Gardeners’ Question Time from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Joining Peter are Ashley Edwards, James Wong and Christine Walkden - a panel with strong Kew connections. They answer questions on when is the latest time you to take cuttings, how to identify male and female ginkgo trees, and how to make the most of winter containers.The panellists also explore the growing appeal of p
Sidmouth
Sidmouth Oct 2, 2026 42:19 Is there a place for sawdust in the veg patch? How best should I trim a mimosa?  Can you share a remedy for my husband’s plant obsession?Peter Gibbs and the GQT team are in Sidmouth answering questions from an audience of keen gardeners. Joining Peter to share their tips, tricks and tales are  plantswoman Anne Swithinbank, pest and disease expert, Pippa Greenwood, and Head of Horticulture at the R
Gardeners Question Time Meets DIY SOS: Redcatch Community Garden Special
Gardeners Question Time Meets DIY SOS: Redcatch Community Garden Special Sep 25, 2026 42:54 As a new series of DIY SOS begins this September, the show joins forces with Gardeners’ Question Time for a collaboration that has more in common than you might think. From Bristol’s Redcatch Community Garden, Kathy Clugston and Nick Knowles are joined by Ashley Edwards, Bethan Collerton and Bunny Guinness.Among the hubbub of the thriving community garden, the panel tackles questions on growing ve
Summer Garden Party RHS Wisley: Show 2
Summer Garden Party RHS Wisley: Show 2 Sep 18, 2026 41:20 Kathy Clugston hosts the second of the Gardeners’ Question Time Summer Garden Party specials from RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey.Joining Kathy are Pippa Greenwood, Matthew Wilson, Marcus Chilton-Jones and Dr Chris Thorogood, taking questions from an audience of keen gardeners gathered beneath the marquee at the Wisley Flower Show.The panel share the gardening lessons they wish they’d learned sooner,
Summer Garden Party RHS Wisley: Show 1
Summer Garden Party RHS Wisley: Show 1 Sep 11, 2026 42:23 Kathy Clugston hosts the first of two Gardeners’ Question Time Summer Garden Party specials from RHS Garden Wisley.Joined by James Wong, Matthew Pottage, Pippa Greenwood and Frances Tophill, Kathy takes questions from a packed marquee audience at the RHS’s flagship garden.Surrounded by the horticultural hubub amongst the garden's flower show, the panel discusses how to encourage flowers lower down
Minstead: Colourful Borders, Resilient Brambles and Parched Plants
Minstead: Colourful Borders, Resilient Brambles and Parched Plants Sep 4, 2026 42:18 Kathy Clugston chairs Gardeners’ Question Time from Minstead Village Hall in the heart of the New Forest. Joining Kathy are  plant pathologist Pippa Greenwood, head gardener at Birmingham Botanical Gardens Bethan Collerton, and garden writer and designer Matthew Wilson. As well as being surrounded by roaming wild ponies, the panellists answer questions on drought-tolerant planting, climbing ros
The Donkey Sanctuary: Drought, Biodiversity and Resilient Planting
The Donkey Sanctuary: Drought, Biodiversity and Resilient Planting Aug 28, 2026 42:17 Peter Gibbs hosts GQT from The Donkey Sanctuary near Sidmouth in Devon.Joining Peter are plantswoman Anne Swithinbank, pest and disease expert Pippa Greenwood and the Royal Parks’ Head of Horticulture Matthew Pottage.Soundtracked by the braying of the sanctuary's donkey residents, the panel tackles questions on greening up a concreted-over garden, starting a new allotment during challenging drough
From the Archive: Microclimate
From the Archive: Microclimate Aug 21, 2026 42:04 Kathy Clugston delves into the GQT archive to explore one of Britain’s most intriguing gardening phenomena: microclimates.Travelling across the British Isles, the programme uncovers how local conditions shape what gardeners can grow. We’ll hear stories from the subtropical gardens of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, to the urban heat islands of London and the dry conditions of East Anglia befor

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