Gardening with the RHS

It’s dark outside, but rather than simply dreaming of brighter days, why not embrace the gloom and use it as inspiration in the garden? A shady corner needn’t be dull or colourless, and RHS Garden Wisley’s James McConnell has five perfect plants to bring life and interest to the most melancholic of spots: the dreaded north-facing border. And if a little melancholy has crept into the house as well as the garden, we have just the remedy. Ann Treneman, writer, journalist and gardener, joins us to explore her new RHS book, The Garden Cure: 100 Remarkable Remedies for the Curious Gardener, and the remarkable plants that promise to soothe, stimulate and cure all manner of ills. Staying with the theme of brightening up the winter months, RHS Garden Hyde Hall’s Sam Everiss shares some creative ideas for containers to keep your garden looking good over the months ahead. And, as always, we’ll round off the episode with your questions, answered by Gareth and Melissa Mabbitt.

Host: Gareth Richards

Producer: Dan Cocker

Contributors: James McConnell, Ann Treneman, Sam Everiss, Melissa Mabbitt

Links:

Award-winning shade-loving plants

The Garden Cure

Winter container gardening

Plants mentioned:

Ajuga reptans | bugle

Mahonia oiwakensis subsp. lomariifolia | lomaria-leaved mahonia

Brunnera macrophylla 'Looking Glass' | Siberian bugloss 'Looking Glass'

Pyracantha [Saphyr Rouge] ('Cadrou') | firethorn [Saphyr Rouge]

Nandina domestica 'Seika' | heavenly bamboo 'Seika'

Cornus alba 'Sibirica' | Siberian dogwood

Rhus typhina | stag's horn sumach

Cotinus coggygria | smoke tree

Hydrangea petiolaris | climbing hydrangea

Send your questions to podcast@rhs.org.uk

It’s turned. The big coats are on, stew is on the menu, and we’re seriously thinking about putting the heating on. And just as we’re feeling the chill, so are our plants, some of which need a helping hand to get through the big freeze ahead. RHS advisor Nick Turrell joins us with advice on getting our leafy friends winter ready. But there’s still plenty you can grow, even when the temperature plummets. RHS Garden Wisley’s Liz Mooney shows us how to sow broad beans, whatever the weather. And finally, what could be more autumnal than gathering fallen leaves to make that precious brown gold, leafmould? It’s the perfect excuse to get outside, get moving and warm up, while doing your garden a world of good. RHS Hyde Hall’s Andy Tebbutt tells us how to make it and why it’s worth the effort. We’ll round off the episode with your questions, answered by Gareth and Melissa Mabbitt.

Host: Gareth Richards

Producer: Dan Cocker

Contributors: Nick Turrell, Liz Mooney, Andy Tebbutt

Links:

Winter protection

Broad beans

Leafmould



Send your questions to podcast@rhs.org.uk

It’s spooky season, and what better time to investigate three garden topics that are indelibly linked to Halloween. Pumpkins are everywhere, carved into grizzly expressions and displayed outside homes and workplaces. If you’d rather eat your home-grown pumpkin than scare people with it, RHS grow-your-own guru Liz Mooney offers a perfect pumpkin masterclass. We love all wildlife in our gardens but as it’s a spooky special, let’s talk bats and how to encourage them into our plots. Bat expert John Pearse reveals all. It’s Liz Mooney’s second growing guide of the episode, this time it’s a seasonal vampiric bulb, garlic of course. And we’ll round off the episode with listener questions answered with Gareth and Jenny Laville.

Host: Gareth Richards https://www.instagram.com/thegrrdener/

Producer: Dan Cocker

Contributors: Liz Mooney, John Pearse, Jenny Laville

Links:

How to grow pumpkins

Gardening for bats

Bat Conservation Trust

How to grow garlic

Send your questions to podcast@rhs.org.uk

As the weather cools and birds flock back to gardens, many of us enjoy putting more food out for them. But have we been feeding birds all wrong? How can we help our feathered friends without inadvertently endangering them? RHS Senior Wildlife Specialist Helen Bostock tells us how to feed birds properly this winter. After an incredibly tough summer for turf, many domestic lawns are still feeling the effects of months without rain. It might be time for a reboot, so RHS turf and lawn care specialist Jim Millward talks us through how to turf properly and tells us about his team’s progress on returfing alongside Wisley’s famous Jellicoe Canal. It’s off to RHS Garden Hyde Hall to talk with Sarah Wilson Frost about mulch; what is it, why is it important, and what does it do? And we’ll round-off the episode with listener questions answered with Gareth and Melissa.

Host: Gareth Richards

Producer: Dan Cocker

Contributors: Helen Bostock, Jim Millward, Sarah Wilson-Frost, Melissa Mabbitt

Links:

Bird statistics

Bird feeding

Returfing and laying turf

Guide to mulch

Chop and drop

Meet one of our most loved and hated native plants. You might think of ivy as a destroyer of buildings or a nuisance weed, but it’s actually just been crowned the most popular flower with pollinating insects in an 8 year study by the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. It’s also the RHS Wildlife Wonder plant for October, so our Science and Horticulture editor Olivia Drake is here to explain what makes it so valuable, and worth including in your garden. Staying with plant wonders, did you know if you dream of cucumbers, it means you might speedily fall in love? RHS Head of Libraries and Exhibitions Fiona Davison offers fascinating tales of vegetable folklore for an upcoming online seminar. Hyde Hall’s Andy Tebbutt tells us why autumn is the best time of year for planting, but what’s happening to that plant when you put it in the ground? And Gareth Richards and Melissa Mabbitt answer your gardening questions.

Host: Gareth Richards

Producer: Dan Cocker

Contributors: Olivia Drake, Fiona Davison, Andy Tebbutt, Melissa Mabbitt

Send your questions to podcast@rhs.org.uk

Links:

Ivy

Butterfly Conservation pollinator survey

Vegetables, dreams and folklore

RHS Libraries

Why autumn is the best time for planting