Gardening with the RHS

Latest Episodes:

Grow Your Own in 2025 Jan 02, 2025

Show notes

Let’s make 2025 the year we all embrace growing our own fruit and vegetables—whether you’ve got a sprawling garden, a small balcony, or just a windowsill! No matter how much space or time you have, we’ve got plenty of inspiration to get you started and keep you going all year round.

First, we’ll hear from Shelia Das and Liz Mooney from RHS Wisley’s talented edibles team, who will share their expert advice on growing delicious produce across every season. Then, we’ll check in with Lucy Chamberlain, author of Grow Food Anywhere, as she reveals how to make the most of your space—whatever its size, shape, or location.

And what about all that fantastic homegrown produce? Don’t worry! We’ll revisit our fascinating chat with Canadian chef and photographer David Zilber, a fermentation expert who’s worked in some of the world’s top kitchens, including the renowned Fermentation Lab at Restaurant Noma. He’ll inspire you with creative ways to preserve and enjoy your harvest.

Host: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Shelia Das, Liz Mooney, Lucy Chamberlain, David Zilber

Links:

RHS Grow Your Own Veg Through the Year: 365 Days of Homegrown Vegetables & Herbs

Grow Food Anywhere

Gardening highlights from 2024 Dec 26, 2024

Show notes

Today Guy, Gareth, and Jenny reflect on the past twelve months of beautiful blooms and bountiful harvests, but also wet weather and guzzling gastropods! Join us as we revisit some of our favourite stories from 2024, and share what garden tips and seasonal advice we’re taking with us into the new year.

Hosts: Gareth Richards, Guy Barter, Jenny Laville

Episodes mentioned:

Dr Hayley Jones discussing slugs from episode ‘Critter camaraderie: Slugs, Snails, and Guerilla Gardening Tales’

Gareth Richards and James Armitage take a walk through Chelsea from episode ‘Notes on hardiness’

James Lawrence and the sustainable planting combinations from episode ‘Sustainable plant combos, GYO tips (for tomatoes, beetroot, squash), flowering shrubs’

Jassy Drakulic on encouraging mycorrhizal relationships in your soil, from episode ‘Compost, fungi, and giant vegetables’

Anya Lautenbach’s money saving advice from episode ‘Growing on a budget’

Additional Links:

Become an RHS member

Welcoming wreaths and mistletoe tales Dec 19, 2024

Show notes

This week we’re bringing the garden indoors and welcoming in the Christmas cheer. RHS Horticultural Advisor Jenny Bowden will be sharing her love letter to the tradition of the Christmas wreath, and Freddie Garland – founder of Freddie’s Flowers – will be sharing his tips on how to make your own (among many other seasonal crafts to get stuck into). And finally, we’ll be learning all about our favourite festive parasite, mistletoe, with Oxford PhD student and mistletoe expert Oliver Spacey.

Host: Guy Barter

Contributors: Jenny Bowden, Freddie Garland, Oliver Spacey

Links:

Christmas with the RHS

Freddie ’s Flowers

MistleGo!

RHS plant profile: mistletoe

Hippeastrum

Amaryllis belladonna

Festive foliage and natural decorations Dec 12, 2024

Show notes

This week we’re decking the halls with seasonal foliage, as RHS Garden Hyde Hall’s Sarah Wilson-Frost shares her ideas for natural decorations foraged from your own garden. Gareth Richards is here to inspire you to try a different type of Christmas tree this year and consider bringing a potted plant indoors for the festive season. And we’ve got the perfect gift idea to brighten up a dreary January day, as Chris Lane of Witch Hazel Nursery explains why he fell in love with these winter gems.

Host: Jenny Laville

Contributors: Sarah Wilson-Frost, Gareth Richards, Chris Lane

Links:

Grow your own Christmas

Witch hazels

Chris Lane - Witch Hazel Nursery

Become a member of the RHS

Great garden reads and botanical books Dec 05, 2024

Show notes

With the festive gift giving season just around the corner, this week we’ve turned our attention to the botanical wonders awaiting us on the bookshelf. We’ve invited journalist, author, and gardening enthusiast Ann Treneman and horticultural hero and authority on all things plants, Guy Barter to join our host - head of Libraries and Exhibitions at the RHS, Fiona Davison, to chat about some of their favourite garden reads from the past 12 months.

Host: Fiona Davison

Contributors: Ann Treneman, Guy Barter

Visit the RHS Bookshelf

Books mentioned:

Horti Curious: A Gardener's Miscellany of Fascinating Facts & Remarkable Plants by Ann Treneman

RHS Garden Almanac 2025 by Guy Barter and Zia Allaway

The Accidental Garden: Gardens, Wilderness and the Space In Between by Richard Mabey

Good Nature: The New Science of How Nature Improves Our Health by Kathy Willis

Brutalist Plants by Olivia Broome

Small Space Revolution by Tayshan Hayden Smith

A Year Full of Pots by Sarah Raven

A Garden A Day by Ruth Chivers

How Plants Can Save Your Life: 50 Inspirational Ideas for Planting and Growing by Ross Cameron

100 Herbs to Grow by Jekka McVicar

The Crevice Garden: How to Make the Perfect Home for Plants from Rocky Places by Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs

Indoor passionflowers, Begonias, and miniature Christmas cactus Nov 28, 2024

Show notes

This week, we're teaming up with The Plant Review magazine for a houseplant special. Jenny Laville talks to Rebecca Hilgenhof of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to learn about the exciting prospect of growing passionflowers on the windowsill. James Armitage is in conversation with former RHS Director of Horticulture Jim Gardiner to chat all about his favourite houseplant, Begonia masoniana, and the famous plantsman who it is named for. Plus, Kevin Mann shares his love of the miniature Christmas cactus.

Passionflowers mentioned: Passiflora citrina, Passiflora murucuja and Passiflora boenderi.

Host: Gareth Richards and James Armitage

Contributors: Rebecca Hilgenhof, Jim Gardiner, Kevin Mann, Jenny Laville

Other Links:

The Plant Review

The Orchid Review

RHS Plant Finder 2025

Passion Flower Cultivation

Become a member of the RHS

National Tree Week Nov 21, 2024

Show notes

We’re marking National Tree Week, an annual celebration at the start of the tree planting season, and an opportunity for us to wax lyrical about the wonderful world of trees. We’ll be hearing some fascinating stories about the art of tree collecting and the human connection to our woodlands from author and artist Amy Stewart. We’ll be catching up on the latest news from RHS Garden Rosemoor as they set out on a conservation project to protect one of our most rare but little known native trees. And if you’re feeling inspired to get outside and start digging, Bob Askew will be bringing us his thoughts on the best trees for small spaces.

Host: Guy Barter

Contributors: Bob Askew, Amy Stewart, Jonathan Webster

Other Links:

National Tree Week

How to plant a tree

Trees for small gardens

Amy Stewart - The Tree Collectors

Devon Whitebeam

RHS Garden Rosemoor

Medlars, Ornamental Grasses, and Elizabeth Blackwell Nov 14, 2024

Show notes

This week we explore the fascinating stories and brilliant work of three exceptional plantswomen. Only recently has pioneering 18th-century herbalist Elizabeth Blackwell received proper recognition for her work A Curious Herbal – a beautifully illustrated botanical text that was, for centuries, mistakenly attributed to her scandal-prone husband! Fiona Davison, Head of RHS Libraries & Exhibitions, shares insights into Blackwell’s life and her groundbreaking work, which was created at a time of rapid botanical discovery in Europe as exotic plants flooded into the Western world. We also hear from passionate plantswoman Jane Steward, a dedicated advocate for the medlar, a rare fruit that was once beloved across the UK – even by King Henry VIII. And finally horticulturist Sarah Wilson-Frost from RHS Garden Hyde Hall will be sharing some excellent advice on growing ornamental grasses to add year-round interest to your garden.

Host: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Jane Steward, Fiona Davison, Sarah Wilson-Frost, Jenny Laville

Other Links:

A Curious Herbal

RHS Hyde Hall

How to grow medlars

RHS advice on growing ornamental grasses

When is a grass not a grass?

Hedgehogs, Houseplants and Homegrown veg Nov 07, 2024

Show notes

This week we find out how to help our beloved prickly friends, as RHS Senior Wildlife Specialist Helen Bostock explains the threats to hedgehogs, and what we can do as gardeners to support them. Next we head indoors to find out how tailoring your potting mix can give your houseplants a new lease of life, with the lovely folks at Soil Ninja. Finally, if you’re looking for an autumn project, why not build some raised beds? We glean some expert advice on how to go about this, with RHS horticulturist Peter Adams.

Host: Jenny Laville

Contributors: Helen Bostock, Amy Loosley, Levent Latif-Maeer, Peter Adams

Other Links:

National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy

Hedgehog-friendly gardening

Hedgehog street

Wild about gardens - Get creative for hedgehogs

Wild about gardens - Make friends with molluscs

Soil Ninja

Grow Your Own Veg Through The Year

Become a member of the RHS

Edible forests, honey fungus, and black aeoniums Oct 31, 2024

Show notes

This All Hallow's Eve, we’re venturing into the woods to see what treasures we can find… First up, one of the gardeners' most feared garden inhabitants is stirring. We’ll be chatting with RHS Senior Plant Pathologist Jassy Drakulic to find out about the notorious honey fungus, and how you can protect your beloved plants against infection. Next we’re stopping off at RHS Garden Rosemoor’s edible forest garden, which is based on one of the oldest forms of land use in the world. We’ll be catching up with horticulturist Peter Adams to hear more about this ancient method of permaculture. Finally, if you’re looking for a new addition to your spooky plant collection, look no further than the Aeonium 'Zwartkop.' With its dramatic magenta-black foliage, this striking rosette-shaped succulent is just one example of the remarkable diversity in colour and form within the aeonium genus. We’ll be finding out more, with the help of National Plant Collection holder Mellie Lewis.

Host: Guy Barter

Contributors: Jassy Drakulic, Mellie Lewis, Peter Adams

Other Links:

More information on honey fungus

RHS Garden Rosemoor

Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’