Gardeners' Question Time

Kathy Clugston  dusts the cobwebs off the Gardeners’ Question Time archives for a spooky selection of supernatural gardening advice from the past 79 years of the program. This Halloween special is packed with ghostly gardening tales, monstrous pumpkins, and poisonous plants. The panel share advice on encouraging bats into the garden, managing an invasion of spiders and revisit a compost bin so ove...

Which plants can I plant now that will survive the winter? Can you recommend a low-maintenance shrub for the garden? What should I grow to get my gardening mojo back? Kathy Clugston and the GQT team are in the New Forest sharing their tips and tricks for the garden. Joining Kathy are  head gardener at Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Bethan Collerton, pest and disease expert, Pippa Greenwood, and gar...

Kathy Clugston presents a special Potting Shed edition of Gardeners’ Question Time, recorded at the Summer Garden Party at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. Away from the main stage, visitors drop into the famous GQT potting shed for one-to-one advice from the panel. Dr Chris Thorogood, Marcus Chilton-Jones, Frances Tophill, Matthew Wilson, Matthew Pottage and James Wong help tackle a wide range of gar...

Peter Gibbs hosts Gardeners’ Question Time from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Joining Peter are Ashley Edwards, James Wong and Christine Walkden - a panel with strong Kew connections. They answer questions on when is the latest time you to take cuttings, how to identify male and female ginkgo trees, and how to make the most of winter containers. The panellists also explore the growing appeal of...

Is there a place for sawdust in the veg patch? How best should I trim a mimosa?  Can you share a remedy for my husband’s plant obsession? Peter Gibbs and the GQT team are in Sidmouth answering questions from an audience of keen gardeners. Joining Peter to share their tips, tricks and tales are  plantswoman Anne Swithinbank, pest and disease expert, Pippa Greenwood, and Head of Horticulture at the...

As a new series of DIY SOS begins this September, the show joins forces with Gardeners’ Question Time for a collaboration that has more in common than you might think. From Bristol’s Redcatch Community Garden, Kathy Clugston and Nick Knowles are joined by Ashley Edwards, Bethan Collerton and Bunny Guinness. Among the hubbub of the thriving community garden, the panel tackles questions on growing v...

Kathy Clugston hosts the second of the Gardeners’ Question Time Summer Garden Party specials from RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. Joining Kathy are Pippa Greenwood, Matthew Wilson, Marcus Chilton-Jones and Dr Chris Thorogood, taking questions from an audience of keen gardeners gathered beneath the marquee at the Wisley Flower Show. The panel share the gardening lessons they wish they’d learned sooner...

Kathy Clugston hosts the first of two Gardeners’ Question Time Summer Garden Party specials from RHS Garden Wisley. Joined by James Wong, Matthew Pottage, Pippa Greenwood and Frances Tophill, Kathy takes questions from a packed marquee audience at the RHS’s flagship garden. Surrounded by the horticultural hubub amongst the garden's flower show, the panel discusses how to encourage flowers lower do...

Kathy Clugston chairs Gardeners’ Question Time from Minstead Village Hall in the heart of the New Forest. Joining Kathy are  plant pathologist Pippa Greenwood, head gardener at Birmingham Botanical Gardens Bethan Collerton, and garden writer and designer Matthew Wilson. As well as being surrounded by roaming wild ponies, the panellists answer questions on drought-tolerant planting, climbing roses...

Peter Gibbs hosts GQT from The Donkey Sanctuary near Sidmouth in Devon. Joining Peter are plantswoman Anne Swithinbank, pest and disease expert Pippa Greenwood and the Royal Parks’ Head of Horticulture Matthew Pottage. Soundtracked by the braying of the sanctuary's donkey residents, the panel tackles questions on greening up a concreted-over garden, starting a new allotment during challenging drou...

Kathy Clugston delves into the GQT archive to explore one of Britain’s most intriguing gardening phenomena: microclimates. Travelling across the British Isles, the programme uncovers how local conditions shape what gardeners can grow. We’ll hear stories from the subtropical gardens of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, to the urban heat islands of London and the dry conditions of East Anglia before...

Kathy Clugston and the panel visit Clarkston Halls near Glasgow. Joining Kathy are botanist James Wong, Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ Head Gardener Bethan Collerton, and Balmoral’s Head of Gardens Kirsty Wilson. The panel answers questions on overwintering anemone corms, revitalising a gloomy shaded corner beneath mature lime trees, and whether an unheated Scottish greenhouse is suitable for growi...

Kathy Clugston hosts another Gardeners’ Question Time Postbag episode from The Hidden Gardens in Glasgow, a remarkable community green space created on a former industrial site in the heart of the city. Joining Kathy to delve into your questions are Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ head gardener Bethan Collerton, Balmoral’s head of gardens Kirsty Wilson, and botanist James Wong. As they explore this...

Peter Gibbs and the Gardeners’ Question Time panel visit the Lincolnshire village of Pinchbeck, a fenland landscape shaped by waterways and a long history of horticulture. On the panel are plantswoman Christine Walkden and garden designers Matthew Wilson and Bunny Guinness. The team tackles questions on choosing pond plants to support dragonflies, finding colourful plants for exposed, windy garden...

Kathy Clugston chairs this week’s Gardeners’ Question Time from Clarkston Halls in East Renfrewshire, home to one of Scotland’s oldest horticultural societies. Joining Kathy are Balmoral’s Head of Gardens Kirsty Wilson, ethnobotanist James Wong, and Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ Head Gardener Bethan Collerton. The panel tackles questions on reluctant camellias, fragrant planting for a windswept ba...

Recorded at the University of Birmingham’s magnificent Elgar Concert Hall, Kathy Clugston is joined by Bethan Collerton of Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Marcus Chilton-Jones of RHS Garden Bridgewater, and Dr Chris Thorogood from Oxford Botanic Garden. The panel tackles a wide range of audience gardening dilemmas, from reluctant peonies and coppiced hazel, to a struggling juniper bonsai and an over...

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 ta...

Kathy Clugston and the panel are in Edgbaston at the University of Birmingham’s beautiful Winterbourne House and Garden, an Arts and Crafts era gem packed with horticultural interest. Joining Kathy to answer questions from a keen audience of local gardeners are Bethan Collerton, Marcus Chilton‑Jones and Dr Chris Thorogood. The team tackle everything from leggy tomatoes, to the challenge of designi...

In this special episode, Kathy Clugston and Peter Gibbs dip into the archives to celebrate the life and work of Matthew Biggs. Matt spent four decades doing what he loved most - sharing his extraordinary knowledge of the natural world with anyone who would listen. And through the power of radio, listen they did! In this episode you'll hear Matt in his own words - from his very first appearance on...

Peter Gibbs and the GQT panel visit the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Regent’s Park, London, tackling gardening challenges in tough conditions. Pippa Greenwood, Matthew Pottage, Bunny Guinness and Head Gardener of Regents Park Fiona Packe answer questions on creating a sensory hedge in rubble, choosing resilient perennials, and finding long-flowering wildflowers for shade. They also offer advice on...

Peter Gibbs and the GQT panel visit the charming village of Harmondsworth, just moments from the bustle of Heathrow. Peter is joined by James Wong, Frances Tophill and Bunny Guinness as they tackle horticultural conundrums, submitted by an audience of local gardeners. From growing citrus trees from supermarket fruit pips to distinguishing wild geums from their cultivated cousins, the panel share p...

Peter Gibbs and the Gardeners’ Question Time panel visit Diss, on the Norfolk–Suffolk border, where heavy clay soils meet some of the driest conditions in the country; a combination that keeps gardeners firmly on their toes. Peter is joined by Bob Flowerdew on his home turf, alongside Christine Walkden and Bunny Guinness as they answer questions from a live audience. They advise on improving your...

Gardeners’ Question Time returns to the iconic RHS Chelsea Flower Show Bandstand. Recorded in the dappled shade of plane trees and surrounded by colour and spectacle, Kathy Clugston is joined by Bunny Guinness, Matthew Pottage and Dr Chris Thorogood to tackle questions taken live from the audience, as well as a few familiar voices spotted among the Chelsea crowds. Topics include how to recreate th...

Kathy Clugston and Peter Gibbs are at the Chelsea Flower Show for a special postbag episode of Gardeners' Question Time. From the showground of the world’s most celebrated horticultural event, they're joined by a stellar panel - former Chelsea exhibitor and medal-winning designer Matthew Wilson, one of the world's leading authorities on plant pests and diseases, Pippa Greenwood, and making her pre...

In a special Gardeners’ Question Time episode to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, the programme is at the Serge Hill Project, an inspirational garden that promotes working with nature to radically transform people's health and well-being. Renowned landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, and Tom’s partner, psychiatrist, and psychotherapist Sue Stuart-Smith, join regular panellists Pippa Greenwood,...