Spalding: Ant Infestation, Pot-Bound Olive Tree and Watering Seedlings

Spalding: Ant Infestation, Pot-Bound Olive Tree and Watering Seedlings

Author: BBC Radio 4 July 10, 2026 Duration: 42:24

Gardeners’ Question Time visits the stunning Springfields Festival Gardens in Spalding, 15 acres of beautifully designed and diverse planting, created for visitors of all ages to explore and enjoy.

Peter Gibbs is joined by a panel of horticultural experts - Matthew Wilson, Christine Walkden and Bunny Guinness - to answer questions from an enthusiastic audience of local gardeners. Together, they tackle a wide range of gardening dilemmas, from reviving a pot-bound olive tree to dealing with ants that have taken up residence in an exotic potted palm.

The panel also offers practical advice on watering seedlings effectively, encouraging a mature philadelphus to flower, and successfully overwintering hollyhocks.

Also, Grow Your Own expert Julia Parker shares her top tips for successional planting, helping gardeners enjoy a continuous harvest throughout the growing season.

Producer: Dominic Tyerman Producer: Matthew Smith Producer: Rahnee Prescod Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.


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: 50

Gardeners' Question Time
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