Gardening with the RHS

Latest Episodes:

Second Chances Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

As gardeners, we all have plants we love to hate – think aucubas or heathers. And in winter, especially, it seems that these common but unpopular plants play a really important role in our gardens, adding structure, berries, or cheery variegated leaves when we need it most. So today, we’re addressing the overlooked. We’re giving mahonias a well-deserved second chance. We’re revisiting houseplants, which may or may be looking worse for wear after the chaotic holiday season. And finally, we’re taking a look at the work The Glasshouse, a nursery in Kent, does to give women in prison a fresh start.

Presenter: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Jack Aldridge, Tony Le-Britton, The Glasshouse Team

Links:

Mahonia

Not Another Jungle: Comprehensive Care for Extraordinary Houseplants

Growing hope and houseplants in prison

The Glasshouse

Winter-Flowering Camellias, Cold Weather Inspiration, and Gardening Questions Answered Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

We’re past the solstice, so it’s time to both revel in the present and prepare for what's to come as the days get longer and warmer. So, in this week’s show, we’re doing exactly that, taking note of winter wins – like winter-flowering camellias and snowdrops– and addressing RHS members’ questions as we look ahead to the growing season to come.

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Jack Aldridge, Naomi Slade, James Lawrence, Becky Mealey, Michaela Freed

Links:

Autumn and winter-flowering camellias

RHS The Winter Garden

Wisteria: pruning

Snowdrops

A Sustainability Health Check for the Garden Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

To start off the new year right, we decided to begin with a practical and sustainable guide on what you can get up to outdoors this year – it’s what we’re calling a sustainability health check for the garden. We’ll be chatting about the state of play on peat-free growing, hearing from a range of RHS experts for some top garden sustainability tips, and exploring the future of grow-your-own in our ever-changing climate.

Links:

Peat-free gardening

Peat- free nurseries

10 ways to be more sustainable in your garden

Edible: 70 Sustainable Plants That Are Changing How We Eat

2023 Highlights and Trends Dec 28, 2023

Show notes

For our final episode of 2023, we’re taking a look back at some of our favourite moments on the podcast and across the RHS from the year, exploring emerging trends, new beginnings, and time-honoured advice. Stay tuned for highlights from Director General Clare Matterson, Head of Editorial Tom Howard, Head of Libraries and Exhibitions Fiona Davison, and more.

Presenters: Gareth Richards & Guy Barter

Contributors: Clare Matterson, Tom Howard, Fiona Davison, Jenny Laville, and Jenny Bowden

Links:

Rewilding Small Spaces

The Winter Garden

Maximising Minimal Space

A Gardener’s Recipe for Christmas Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

As we approach the most festive time of year, we’ve decided to share a recipe for a plant-filled Christmas. In this episode, we’ll be returning to Bristol with Naomi Slade to hear how she decks her halls with things from the garden. We’ll then be making our way to the Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm to get a feel for life at the busiest point in their calendar. And finally, we’re exploring the curious world of parasitic plants, including a festive favourite: mistletoe.

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Naomi Slade, Simon Maughan, Alex Summers

Links:

RHS The Winter Garden

Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm

How to grow your own mistletoe

Christmas with the RHS

For the Love of Birds Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

This week, we’re wrapping up warm and heading out into our gardens to take a moment to really appreciate our garden birds. Wildlife sound recordist Gary Moore gives us a masterclass on recognising the calls of common birds at this time of year. Writer and wildlife gardening guru Kate Bradbury shares her top tips for making a bird-friendly garden. And finally, we delve into the story behind the remarkable number of American songbirds that made it across the Atlantic this autumn.

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Gary Moore, Kate Bradbury, and Rob Jaques

Links:

Birds in your garden

Plants for birds

RHS Wildlife Gardening for everyone and everything,

RHS How to Create a Wildlife Pond

Garden BirdWatch

BTO’s BirdTrack Migration Blog

What's That Weed? Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

Weeds have many faces. They feed birds, butterflies, bees, and the like. They spread like wildfire, but are resilient. They compete with crops, yet can add colour and beauty at times when our gardens feel lacklustre. They’re complicated – and the way we regard them, even more so. So, in today's show, we’re taking a holistic look at the weeds in our gardens – discussing what constitutes a weed, how to deal with them safely, and how we can see them as more than the enemy. Chief horticulturist Guy Barter chats about this upcoming book What’s That Weed?, the students who brought together Wisley’s ‘What is a Weed?’exhibition share their perspectives on these rapid spreaders, and finally, author Ann Treneman gives her advice on creating weed containers.

Presenter: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Guy Barter, Ann Treneman, Students from St John the Baptist School

Links:

RHS Weeds: The beauty and uses of 50 vagabond plants

Identify common weeds

Controlling Weeds

Exhibition: What is a weed?

The Winter Garden Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

With the first cold snap hitting the UK this past week, it’s really starting to feel like winter. It’s a time of structural beauty, of evergreen supremacy, of frosty seedheads, and of low but magical light. So this week, we’re focusing in on all the mystery and enchantment of a winter garden. We’re chatting with author Naomi Slade about designing and revamping gardens in the colder months, leaning into year-round grow-your-own with garden manager Sheila Das, and exploring how to bring a bit of the winter charm inside with what’s available now to pick.

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Naomi Slade, Sheila Das, Gareth Richards, Hazel Gardiner, and Shane Connolly

Links:

RHS The Winter Garden

Vegetables: growing for winter

Winter Flowers Week

The Best Gardening Books of 2023! Nov 23, 2023

Show notes

It’s that time of year again… Our annual book special is here! Today, Helen Griffin, RHS Book Publishing Manager, chats with Fiona Davidson, Guy Barter, and Arthur Parkinson about their top gardening book picks of 2023. Tune in for a discussion on the future of GYO and resilient planting, the relevance of gardening history, and wildcard topics like cut flowers, winter gardening, and yes, even murder.

Presenter: Helen Griffin

Contributors: Fiona Davidson, Guy Barter, Arthur Parkinson, and Matt Pottage

Books Discussed:

Botany of the Kitchen Garden by Helena Dove
Rekha’s Kitchen Garden: Seasonal Produce and Home-Grown Wisdom from One Gardener’s Allotment Year by Rekha Mistry
RHS The Winter Garden by Naomi Slade
England’s Gardens: A Modern History by Stephen Parker
Gardening can be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels, and Grim gardens Have Inspired Mystery Writers by Marta McDowell
Not Another Jungle: Comprehensive Care for Extraordinary Houseplants by Tony Le Britton
Chatsworth: The gardens and the people who made them by Alan Titchmarsh
A Year Full of Veg: A Harvest for All Seasons by Sarah Raven
The Cut Flower Sourcebookby Rachel Siegfried

Crazy About Houseplants: Top picks & tips and the stories behind our obsession Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

As the surrounding world starts looking a little bleaker, we’ve decided to explore how to best turn our homes into verdant oases. RHS Digital Editor Jenny Laville chats with Gareth Richards about the best low-maintenance houseplants, fun climbers for indoors, and underrated care tips and tricks. Social historian Catherine Horwood regales us with the history of ever-changing houseplant trends. And finally, author and podcaster Alice Vincent reveals the role houseplants played in her own gardening journey.

Presenters: Gareth Richards and Jenny Laville

Contributors: Catherine Horwood and Alice Vincent

Links:

Picking the right houseplant

Houseplants for different locations

Houseplants for students

Potted History: How Houseplants Took Over Our Homes

Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival

Rootbound: Rewilding a Life