West Horsley

West Horsley

Author: BBC Radio 4 June 20, 2025 Duration: 42:53

What causes onions to bolt? What do the team think about using crocs at the bottom of pots? How should I go about pruning my lilac tree?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of esteemed gardening experts visit West Horsley, Surrey, to tackle common horticultural challenges and share practical solutions. Joining her are pest and disease specialist Pippa Greenwood, botanist James Wong, and award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant.

Later in the programme, Bob Flowerdew wraps up our Edible Essentials series with a fool proof guide to feeding and watering your crops - ensuring a rich and rewarding harvest.

Producer: Matthew Smith Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod Executive Producer: Carly Maile

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

Q – My Ficus Ginseng has lost most of its leaves, what am I doing wrong? (01’35”)

Q – What do the team think about using crocs at the bottom of pots? (06’41”)

Q – Can the panel suggest shrubs that will flower late spring, early summer and thrive in chalky soil? (10’57”)

Juliet Sargeant – Philadelphus, mock orange Philadelphus 'Manteau d'Hermine' (d), mock orange 'Manteau d'Hermine' Weigela All Summer Red ('Slingco 1'PBR) (All Summer Series), weigela [All Summer Red] Weigela All Summer Peach ('Slingpink'PBR) (All Summer Series), weigela [All Summer Peach] Ceanothus, californian lilac

Pippa Greenwood – Magnolia stellata, star magnolia Mahonia, oregon grape Syringa pubescens subsp. patula 'Miss Kim', lilac 'Miss Kim' Deutzia × rosea 'Carminea', deutzia 'Carminea'

James Wong – Pittosporum tobira, japanese pittosporum Wisteria

Feature – Bob Flowerdew’s Edible Essential guide to watering and feeding crops (16’56)

Q – What causes onions to bolt? (21’19”)

Q – Can the panel advise on what I can plant on a north facing one-and-a-half-meter border adjacent my mixed hedge? (25’37”)

Juliet Sargeant – Euphorbia robbiae, mrs Robb's bonnet Anemone hupehensis, japanese anemones

James Wong – Digitalis, foxglove Primula vulgaris (Pr/Prim), primrose Hyacinthoides non-scripta, bluebell Hakonechloa, japanese forest grass Ferns Lillies

Pippa Greenwood – Hardy geraniums Epimedium Helleborus, hellebore

Q – How should I go about pruning my lilac tree? (31’48”)

Q – What plants would the panel take from your current gardens if you were moving to a much smaller garden with very poor soil and lots of builder’s rubble in it? (35’23”)

James Wong – Tree ferns

Juliet Sargeant – Iris germanica, bearded iris Ficus carica (F), fig Salvia 'Royal Bumble', sage 'Royal Bumble' Salvia 'Hot Lips', sage 'Hot Lips' Salvia, sage Salvia 'Amistad'PBR, sage 'Amistad' Erigeron karvinskianus, mexican fleabane

Pippa Greenwood – Aubrieta Eryngium, sea holly


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
East Horsley: Potato Beetle, Indoor edibles and Fallow Year [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:16
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Perton Staffs: Used Compost, Angry Peonies and Ant-tics [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:47
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Crowthorne: Caterpillars, Rusty Spots and Up-Cycled Objects [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:58
Why do my ferns have rusty spots? Any tips for stopping caterpillars eating my cabbages? Have you upcycled any objects in the garden?Peter Gibbs and a panel of plant and gardening experts are in Crowthorne, Berkshire and…
RHS Chelsea Bandstand Show [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:55
How do I take care of a kokedama? How do you take care of a sedum living roof? Why won't my trollius flower? For the first time ever, GQT sets up shop at the heart of the iconic RHS Chelsea Flower Show, broadcasting from…
Postbag Edition: RHS Chelsea Flower Show [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:26
Kathy Clugston and a panel of green-fingered gurus, Kirsty Wilson, Pippa Greenwood, and Dr Chris Thorogood, explore the spectacular Chelsea Flower Show!Meanwhile on the vibrant main avenue, roving reporter Peter Gibbs ex…
From the Archives: Foliage Frenzy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:56
Kathy Clugston prunes through the extensive GQT archive, which includes some much needed advice on all things Foliage.With 77 years of experience in providing ample advice, our various GQT panellists are more than equipp…
Bangor: Second Chance, Shopping Lists and Hedgehog Gardens [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:52
How can you get a second season out of tulips grown in pots? What is the most natural and cost-effective way to add nutrients to my soil? How do you garden with hedgehogs in mind?Kathy Clugston and her team of gardening…
Braintree: Indoor Gardening, Rich Compost and Propagating [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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, Es…
Postbag Edition: Belfast Botanic Garden [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:00
Why are my potatoes so floury? How do you banish lace bugs for good? And what mysterious plant has the panel stumped?Kathy Clugston and a team of gardening experts explore the various locations of Belfast Botanic Garden.…