Gardening with the RHS

This week we talk about all things lavender, exploring the array of varieties and sharing top tips for growing. We hear from a group of gardeners with a passion for growing and showing dahlias. Plus, we bring you a wisteria masterclass and put your mind at ease when it comes to questions about pruning. Host: Guy Barter Contributors: Tim Upson, Alessandra Sana, Vanessa Penn Other Links: RHS Wisley...

This week we explore the life and work of William Robinson and look at his enduring legacy. We take a tour of an Arts and Crafts inspired show garden at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park. Plus, we have the ultimate guide to collecting and storing seed from your own garden.  Host: Gareth Richards Contributors: Emma Raymond, Heather Cooke, Callum Bain MacKay  Other Links:  RHS Members’ Seed Scheme William...

This week we explore the history of Kiftsgate Court Gardens and catch a glimpse of their famous, gigantic, eponymous rose. We chat to self-confessed fern fanatic Julian Reed about what makes this group of plants so fascinating. Plus, we hear why thinking more about the soil microorganisms in our garden could benefit our blooms and crops. Host: Guy Barter Contributors: Anne Chambers, Julian Reed, E...

Welcome to the largest flower show in the North of England; RHS Flower Show Tatton Park! This show is all about exploring the infinite possibilities of your back garden – whether you have an acre of land, or simply a patio or windowsill – Tatton really celebrates spaces of all shapes and sizes. We visit Leon Davis’ UnPave the Way garden to find out how to transform dull paved driveways into inviti...

In this episode we delve into the profound connection between nature and well-being. Landscape Architect Adam White discusses creating dementia-friendly sensory gardens, designed to evoke early memories and nostalgia. Mandy Barber from Incredible Vegetables shares the benefits of growing perennial edibles. Plus, we visit RHS Garden Wisley to get expert answers to your pressing gardening questions....

Welcome to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2024! We’re exploring the site and transporting you right to the heart of this buzzing showground. Anya Lautenbach – best known as ‘Anya the Garden Fairy’ on Instagram, and RHS Ambassador and passionate plantsman Jamie Butterworth share some top tips on how to create a showstopping garden on a budget. Groundbreaking young garden designer Bea...

Chris Kidd, Curator of Ventnor Botanic Gardens, discusses his pioneering low-intervention approach to horticulture with a two decade long experiment which has yielded some surprising results on the Isle of Wight. New research from Butterfly Conservation reveals letting parts of your garden grow wild can increase butterfly numbers by up to 93%, we meet entomologist Dr Richard Fox to find out why mo...

After a deluge of questions relating to garden critters, RHS Principal Entomologist Hayley Jones makes the case for why you shouldn’t be too quick to eradicate slugs and snails from your garden. Artist and ‘accidental activist’ Paul Harfleet shares how he has been transforming sites of hate crime through guerilla gardening. Finally, Rosemoor's Peter Adams talks about the benefits of potager garden...

This week we’ll be dropping in with the advisory team at RHS Garden Wisley to answer some of your most asked questions this season. Plantsman Ed Cooper will be shining some light on the enigmatic delphiniums he’s been growing down at the trials field, and horticulturist Verity Battyll shares some top tips on how to keep your rose garden looking stunning all year round. Host: Guy Barter Contributor...

This week we’re diving into the enchanting world of herbs. Join us as author and horticulturist Connor Smith uncovers the rich history of these remarkable plants, celebrated in food, medicine, and mythology for millennia. The Queen of Herbs, Jekka McVicar, shares her expert advice on cultivating your own herb garden. From RHS Garden Wisley, Liz Mooney delivers a heartfelt love letter to her favour...

From butternuts to tromboncinos – on this week's show, Wisley’s Liz Mooney tells us about some of her favourite squashes with top tips on how to grow them. Roz Marshall talks us through the results of the RHS Hebe trial at Wisley and Harlow Carr, and Director General Clare Matterson reflects on the announcement of King Charles III as the new patron of the RHS. Presenter: Guy Barter Contributors: L...

Welcome to RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024! We’re diving headfirst into all of the trends and highlights this hotly anticipated show has to offer; from the growers filling the Great Pavilion with their dazzling botanical displays, to the striking RHS Plant of the Year Prunus ‘Starlight’, and of course the legendary garden designers lining main avenue with some truly spectacular show gardens.  This ye...

This week we’re celebrating the abundance of colour on offer at this time of year. RHS trials project manager Roz Marshall shares the results of the Grandiflora sweet pea trial; highlighting some beautifully scented selections to try at home. Plantsman Andrew Large chats about the astonishing range of form and colour offered by the often overlooked Buddleja. And plant hunter Kevin Hobbs describes...

In the week leading to World Topiary Day, RHS Horticultural Advisor Jenny Bowden gives us an update on growing alternatives to box (Buxus sempervirens), with insights into the ongoing threat of box blight and box tree moth from Dr Stephanie Bird. Nurseryman Ed Canon from Langthorns Plantery shares his love for lilacs, flowering plants that haven’t always been considered fashionable, but are experi...

Peter Adams from RHS Garden Rosemoor gives a masterclass in growing indoor and outdoor cucumbers with suggested varieties for growing in different situations. Esteemed plantswoman Claire Austin shares her expertise in selecting and caring for peonies – covering herbaceous, tree and intersectional types. And American plant stylist and author Hilton Carter spreads joy through the gift of houseplants...

Gareth Richards, Jenny Laville and Guy Barter bring a jam packed show of highlights from the inaugural RHS Urban Show in Manchester - a festival of ideas focussed on greening up small spaces, looking after houseplants, and opening discussion about better urban planning. Amanda Grimes talks us through her easy-to-replicate designs for small (often concrete) spaces, including a Punk Rockery! Jason W...

In the stunning Colour Gardens at The Newt In Somerset, Joe Dransfield explains how a monochrome approach to flowers can deliver dazzling impact. Liz Mooney shares grow your own tips from the World Food Garden at RHS Garden Wisley, including peas, radishes and cardoons. And we hear the inspirational and unconventional story of Roka Brings Flowers – a grower and florist who started a wonderful cut...

Desert roadcuts, abandoned pasture, heathland and marshy thickets inspire naturalistic planting ideas from Kevin Philip Williams and Michel Guidi, whose new book Shrouded in Light draws from wild shrubscapes. We also visit RHS Garden Rosemoor in North Devon, where Peter Adams gives us a tour of the extensive fruit and vegetable gardens with top tips for growing parsnips, shallots, cloching potatoe...

Do you ever fall in love with a plant, buy it, but then not know what to pair it with? Principal Horticultural Advisor James Lawrence introduces his guide to creating planting combinations that don’t just look good, but have a sustainability impact too. Guy Barter shares seasonal tips for establishing tomatoes, beetroot, and winter pumpkins and squash – helping you to set up for the Grow Your Own...

Often referred to as “the greatest living landscape designer” and a leading figure of the New Perennial movement – Piet Oudolf joins curator Matthew Pottage to talk about his new landscape at RHS Garden Wisley. Helen Bostock also introduces the new Bumbles on Blooms project, and the plants you should choose to help support over 250 species of bees in the UK - some with rather particular tastes. Pl...

Garden designer and writer Ann Treneman shares ideas from her new book RHS Greener Gardening: Containers, explaining how you can create sustainable ecosystems whatever size your space. Jenny Laville speaks with RHS botanist James Armitage to untangle taxonomy, and discuss why plant names keep changing. And Gareth Richards meets David Ford, the holder of the National Plant Collection of Chaenomeles...

This week Guy Barter and RHS Sustainability Fellow Chloe Sutcliffe react to a recent study published in the journal Nature Cities that claims that urban agriculture has a carbon footprint up to 6 times bigger than conventional agriculture – discussing what this means for allotmenteers and community gardeners, and how we should be thinking about our environmental impact. Entomologist and wasp defen...

This week, we’re trying to honour March in all its glory. We’re delving into tasty and blight-resistant tomato varieties. We’re exploring how to build and renovate harmonious and colourful borders. And finally, to celebrate International Women’s Day and the 220th anniversary of the RHS, we’re turning back the clock to honour a few of the women who’ve shaped the organisation. Presenter: Guy Barter...

This week we’re exploring small but useful nuggets of information that have the potential to change the way we interact with our surroundings this growing season. We’re getting seasonal tips on GYO – things like training and pruning apple trees and preparing allotments for the busiest time of year. And, we’re delving into plant names – and the system behind our classifications.    Presenter: Guy B...

This week, we’re investigating what exactly makes a plant hardy, how tropical plants survive British winters, and the ways in which what thrives here may be changing – especially in urban environments like London. Presenter Gareth Richards and RHS botanist James Armitage take a tour of weird and wacky tender trees that have survived here against all odds. And, Hillary Collins of Grafton Nursery gi...