In the first of a new series Pippa Greenwood explores the horticultural science behind the battles - in your backyard.

Not everything in the garden is rosy. Plants are armed to the teeth in their battle to survive, says Pippa Greenwood

Growing Science 9.00pm R4
Poised, alert, ready to pounce and destroy - gardens are a seething mass of trouble just waiting to explode with dangerous weapons, or at least red-hot pokers. That's the claim of this new series, which delves into the science behind plant life and doesn't mind doing it with as much violent imagery as it can manage. It's not quite a streetwise Gardeners' Question Time, not quite a rough-and-tumble Chelsea Flower Show, but you won't look at your herbaceous border the same way after this. Pippa Greenwood talks attack and defence in the horticultural world, explaining just why some plants are poisonous and what dangers they face. If it were only the plants in danger you could simply shrug your shoulders, but you're going to be very surprised by this opening edition, and very put off mowing the lawn.