Braintree: Indoor Gardening, Rich Compost and Propagating

Braintree: Indoor Gardening, Rich Compost and Propagating

Author: BBC Radio 4 April 25, 2025 Duration: 43:05

What would be your top tips for creating compost? What's the best way to propagate Lamine raspberries? What could I grow in very dry soil?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of plant and gardening experts return to Ridgewell, Essex and offer advice to an audience of keen gardeners. Joining Kathy are grow-your-own guru Bob Flowerdew, garden designer Bunny Guinness, and gardener Matthew Pottage.

Later in the programme, avid urban gardener Martha Swales offers advice on how to grow edibles indoors. Continuing our 'Edible Essential Series'.

Producer: Matthew Smith Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Plant List Questions and timecodes are below. Where applicable, plant names have been provided.

Q - What can I plant in my hanging baskets that would give a bright full display and will also attract bees? (01'31")

Bunny Guinness - Verbena officinalis 'Bampton', vervain 'Bampton'

Matthew Pottage - Delosperma Lameranthus

Q- My climbing rose refuse to flower consistently, should I dig it up and cut my losses or feed the ground? (04'59")

Q- Will my two large Cycas revoluta plants recover from frost damage? (09'41")

Q - What would be your top tips for creating compost? (13'36")

Q- What's the best way to propagate raspberry 'Tulameen'? (22'48")

Q - When should I cut back my Honeysuckles? And how hard should I cut them back? (24'48")

Bunny Guinness - Lonicera japonica 'Halliana', hall's Japanese honeysuckle

Q- What could I grow in very dry soil? (26'45")

Matthew Pottage – Ascanthus, bear's breeches Ruscus aculeatus, butcher’s broom Hydrangea petiolaris, climbing hydrangeas Euonymus fortunei 'Kewensis', spindle 'Kewensis'

Bob Flowerdew – Ficus carica (F), fig Vitis vinifera, grape vine

Bunny Guinness – Lavandula, lavender

Q - We’ve removed a Conifer hedge and replaced it with a fence. What can I plant against it? (31'26")

Matthew Pottage – Pileostegia viburnoides, climbing hydrangea

Bob Flowerdew – Ribes rubrum, common redcurrant Ribes rubrum 'White Grape', white currents Ribes uva-crispa, gooseberry Lathyrus odoratus, sweet pea

Bunny Guinness – Ficus carica Little Miss Figgy ('Lmf01') (F), fig [Little Miss Figgy] Clematis armandi, armand clematis

Q - As a legendarily useless gardener, I've always believed that gardening is a dark art into which I have not been initiated. What's the best way in? (36'14")


For decades, Gardeners' Question Time has been a trusted companion for anyone with a patch of earth, a windowsill pot, or simply a curiosity about the natural world. Produced by BBC Radio 4, this enduring podcast brings together a rotating panel of seasoned horticulturalists, each with their own specialties and practical wisdom. The format is beautifully simple yet endlessly varied: a live audience, gathered in a different village hall, community garden, or nursery somewhere across the country each week, poses their real-life gardening dilemmas. What you’ll hear are unscripted, thoughtful, and often wonderfully anecdotal answers that tackle everything from stubborn lawn weeds and pruning perplexities to coaxing a better tomato harvest. The changing location means the advice is grounded in specific climates and conditions, offering relatable insights whether you're dealing with coastal winds, heavy clay, or a tiny urban balcony. It’s the conversational tone and the collective knowledge of the experts that makes this podcast feel like a friendly, invaluable chat with a knowledgeable neighbor. You get the sense of a shared gardening community, with all its trials, successes, and seasonal rhythms. Listening feels less like receiving a lecture and more like eavesdropping on a fascinating, problem-solving conversation that has been honed over seventy years on the air. The questions from the audience are always genuine, often urgent, and the answers are delivered with a blend of science, hands-on experience, and good humor. It is a direct line to practical help and inspiration for your own garden, whatever its size or style.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 74

Gardeners' Question Time
Podcast Episodes
Edgworth & District [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Kathy Clugston and the Gardeners' Question Time panel visit the picturesque Lancashire village of Edgworth, nestled on the edge of the West Pennine Moors.This week, the team are being hosted by the Edgworth and District…
Postbag Edition: Mary Berry's House [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Peter Gibbs and the GQT panel have traded parks and community gardens for a visit to the Oxfordshire home of Dame Mary Berry. On this week's panel are Matthew Pottage, Christine Walkden and Bunny Guinness.Among today’s q…
Vale of Glamorgan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:32
Kathy Clugston is joined in the Vale of Glamorgan by Bethan Collerton, Anne Swithinbank and Chris Beardshaw, where they tackle horticultural conundrums from a live audience. inspired by the region’s famously fertile land…
From the Archives: Water [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:31
Kathy Clugston steers the ship through the deep waters of the GQT archive where a variety of panellists, old and new, discuss solutions to a variety of water related gardening challenges.They debate the question of rainw…
Sully & District: Blooming Cacti, Shallow Depth and Signs of Spring [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:17
What climbing plants thrive in shallow soil? How can you coax your Christmas cacti into a dazzling display? What’s your favourite first sign of spring? Kathy Clugston brings a hand‑picked panel of horticultural experts t…
Hertfordshire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:44
This week, the GQT team are in North Hertfordshire, where Peter Gibbs is joined by Bunny Guinness, Juliet Sargeant and Bob Flowerdew to tackle a fresh crop of horticultural conundrums. The panellists delve into the chall…
Postbag Edition: Ninewells Community Garden [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:07
Kathy Clugston and GQT team have packed their wellies for a trip to the Ninewells Community Garden in Dundee.Kathy is joined by Matthew Pottage, Neil Porteous and Kirsty Wilson to explore the grounds whilst delving into…
Chaldon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:07
Peter Gibbs and the GQT team are in Chaldon.Peter's joined by Anne Swithinbank, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Pottage.This week the panel take on a wide range of gardening dilemmas, from how to reach into borders without t…
Tyne Valley [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:14
Kathy Clugston and the GQT team are in Tyne Valley, Newcastle.Kathy's joined by Dr Chris Thorogood, Bethan Collerton and Matthew Wilson, who tackle a variety of questions from troubled Aspidistra, yellowing Choisya and p…
Kimpton [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:45
Peter Gibbs and the GQT team are in Kimpton, Hertfordshire.He's joined by Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Juliet Sargeant.With questions submitted from the local audience in Kimpton Memorial Hall, the panel take on a w…