Two Dales

Two Dales

Author: BBC Radio 4 October 24, 2025 Duration: 41:33

Which seeds would you take to a desert island? How can I improve my success planting bulbs? Which easy-to-grow plants have you managed to kill?

Peter Gibbs and a panel of gardening experts are in Two Dales to share their top horticultural advice. Joining Peter are garden designer Bunny Guinness, RHS curator Marcus Chilton-Jones, and alpine specialist Bethan Collerton.

Later in the programme, Marcus stops to chat to Steve Porter, Head of Gardens and Landscape at Chatsworth House about the history of camellias and how best to grow them.

Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod Producer: Matt Smith

A Somethin' Else Production for BBC Radio 4

Plant List:

Q — 2 minutes, 45 seconds Which easy-to-grow plant have you managed to kill?

Marcus Chilton-Jones Swiss cheese plant Mother in law’s tongue

Bethan Collerton— Gorse

Bunny Guinness— Bacchia Pelagonium

Q — 4 minutes, 41 seconds  I've got a prickly pear cactus and  the outer surface layer appears to be getting eaten in patches. Why?

QM I want to re-plant a board backed by a 6ft wooden fence. What would the panel recommend?

Bethan Collerton— Evergreen ferns Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ Brunnera macrophylla ’Silver heart’

Bunny Guinness— Lavender Yew Allium ‘Globe master’ Hydrangea seemannii

Marcus Chilton-Jones — Physocarpus Camellia Lobelia cotinus Hydrangea seemannii

Q 15 minutes, 30 seconds Cornus kousa ‘green sleeves’ Cornus kousa ‘milky way’

Bunny Guinness — Cornus mas ‘Cornelian cherry’

Q -- 25 minutes, 37 seconds  Could the team advise how to improve my  success rate of my bull planting?

Q -- 30 minutes, 30 seconds How should I prune a Victoria plum tree?

QF 37 mins 25 Which two packets of seeds would you take to a desert island?

Bethan Collerton— Courgette Rice

Bunny Guinness— Edamame Fig

Marcus Chilton-Jones — Tomatoes Sunflower


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
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