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BBC Radio 4 LW

Gardeners' Question Time

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Homes & Gardens: Gardens

Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts

A panel of horticultural experts answer gardening questions from a live audience. Recorded in a different location each week

BBC Radio 4 FM

Gardeners' Question Time: The Garden Museum

The Garden Museum

02/01/2015

BBC Radio 4 - Gardeners' Question Time, The Garden Museum

Peter Gibbs chairs the horticultural panel programme from the Garden Museum in London.

Peter Gibbs chairs the horticultural panel programme from the Garden Museum in London. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Bunny Guinness answer questions from the audience.

Peter Gibbs chairs this week's edition from The Garden Museum, London. Chris Beardshaw, Pippa Greenwood and Bunny Guinness join him to answer a range of horticultural questions.

We also hear all about the Garden Museum's archive project.

Produced by Howard Shannon
Assistant Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4


This week's questions and answers:
Q. What English plant would you recommend for a garden in China?

A. Bunny would give you ten English Roses - probably the 'Munstead Wood' variety.
Pippa suggests Primroses and Harebells and a Bramley Apple Tree.
Meanwhile, Chris recommends a lawn as a way of uniting the various areas in your garden and giving the garden some breathing space.


Q. As a reformed Foxglove lover, could the panel recommend a variety with a prolonged flowering season that would add colour to a shady garden?

A. There is the perennial Foxglove which is pink but it doesn't go to seed so they would have to be propagated. There are so many different colours to choose from, from brown through to apricot.


Q. I have two fruit trees in my garden that are fruiting well but at the centre of every fruit is a maggot. What is it and what can I do about it?

A. It's the larvae of the Coddling Moth and you can put out a pheromone trap to attract the moths to a sticky end and prevent the larvae from ruining your fruit. Hang one out in two months' time. Don't use grease bands as they are designed to catch winter moths rather than Coddling Moths. But if you had a problem with winter moths, use grease paint rather than bands.


Q. My friend has two ponds linked with a waterfall, the pond is filled with frogs and marginal plants. Should she keep the pump running through the winter months?

A. We usually recommend turning off water features as the frosts come as this gives you an opportunity do a bit of a clean up but if your friend kept it running in the winter that wouldn't be a problem. The reason we keep water features running through the summer is to ensure the water is well oxygenated when activity is high but as things in the pond slow down in the winter months it's not necessary to keep the pump running.


Q. I've just become a first time allotment holder. The allotment is currently covered in thick, dense plants and a few weeds. What's the best way to clear the plot?

A. If the grass is Couch grass, the panel recommend using glyphosate. Apply when the grass and weeds are in full growth and then plant plugs of seeds through the dead grass. Alternatively you could fork it out. Do not be tempted to use a powered cultivator as this will just split the weeds and make them multiply!


Q. Does it bother the panel that in period dramas, there is never any sight of the garden staff?

A. Chris gets very annoyed at the horticultural inaccuracies in period dramas, especially when he sees Conifers in Robin Hood!


Q. How could I build up a thriving Mycorrizal population along a long plane tree avenue? There is only a two-metre soil depth as the London Underground runs beneath!

A. You could try putting deciduous bark of a 15cm depth across the whole canopy spread of the trees. Don't worry about the soil depth. The Mycorrizal fungi will spread out and harvest the resources from the ground and feed it back into the tree. Think of it as an extension of the tree roots. Try to avoid soil compaction as this will damage the Mycorrizal organisms.


Q. I have a Pittosporum that I would like to reduce in width but not height. When should I do this and how?

A. They are very tolerant plants so you could just cut the sides but maybe wait until March to do this. To make sure it looks good you could do this over a couple of years so it doesn't look so severe. Wait until it has the first buds before pruning hard. Chris suggests sneaking up on it when it least expects it and letting light in underneath to give it a breath of fresh life!


Q. Can the panel recommend a good thug that will take on Creeping Buttercup? I have clay soil.

A. Trachystemon Orientale is a kind of Borage that is very attractive and would take on the buttercups and any other weeds. When it starts to take over a bit you can trash it down and it will give you lots of new flowers. Pippa loves Buttercups and thinks that you should learn to love them but, if you really can't, try planting Hypernicums. Periwinkles would also work.

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