Gardeners' Question Time

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 Royal Parks, Matthew Pottage. The experts discuss wedding cake trees, whether to keep or cull a rhododendron, and the reasons why houseplants may struggle to flower.
Producer: Matt Smith
Assistant Producer: Will Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

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 vegetables in a changing climate, reviving underperforming roses and creating accessible gardens for all.
The team also explores how community gardening can improve wellbeing, support local wildlife and transform neglected spaces
Producer: Matt Smith
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.

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, help a young gardener who has successfully grown a clementine from pips and work on solving the mystery of some unusually shaped cacti.
There are also recommendations for planting up a sunny pergola, making the most of an unheated greenhouse through winter, and advice on how to treat against some unknown pests leaving marshmallow like residues on a well loved Hydrangea.
And to conclude, the panel almost break into song as they are asked if there is any music that inspires them to garden.
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.

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 down a climbing rose, choosing plants for a recycled boat planter exposed to sea spray, and growing blueberries on alkaline soil.
Plus, the panel investigate an unusually shaped butternut squash and reflect on the plants, gardens and memories they have found hardest to leave behind, and the opportunities that came from moving on.
Producer: Matt Smith
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.

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 for dry shade, alternatives to traditional lawns and whether mulching still makes sense after an exceptionally dry summer.

They also suggest bedding and perennial planting combinations for a sunny farm shop border, discuss why weeds and brambles seem to thrive when other plants struggle, and reflect on the garden successes and failures that this year’s hot weather has revealed.

Also, Matthew Wilson  visits the site of one of the New Forest’s recent wildfires to meet Leanne Sargeant from Forestry England to talk about the impact the fires have had on the environment.
Producer: Alison Vernon-Smith
Assistant Producer: William Norton
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4
* If listening on BBC Sounds and you wish to view the plant list, please go to the Gardeners' Question Time website and open this week's episode page.
Tickets are available for the BBC Radio 4 Gardeners' Question Time Summer Party 2026 held at RHS Garden Wisley on Saturday 5th September.
Information and ticket details can be accessed via: https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley/whats-on/gardeners-question-time-summer-garden-party