Gardening with the RHS

Latest Episodes:

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

Travelling Back in Time Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

This week, we’re journeying back through time, taking stock of a few significant moments in botanical history. We’re unravelling their mysteries, considering their reverberations, and imagining what this all might mean for the future. We're starting with a tale on the first flowering of the giant waterlily in cultivation, then discovering how ‘Midwinter Fire’ gave Cornus sanguinea a whole new reputation, and finally, we're taking a look at the life and legacy of Arthur Bulley, founder of Ness Botanic Gardens. Each of these stories draws inspiration from articles in the December issue of The Plant Review.

The Plant Review

RHS A Plant for Every Day of the Year

Foggy Bottom: A Garden to Share

Ness Botanic Gardens

Winter Preparation & The Case for No-Dig Nov 02, 2023

Show notes

This week, we journey through RHS Garden Wisley, capturing some of its autumnal beauty while also looking ahead as winter edges ever closer. Garden Manager Sheila Das chats with us about her no-dig journey, entomologist Dr. Seirian Sumner fills us in on wasps’ winter preparation, and finally, Wisley advisors provide a seasonal Q&A.

Links:

How to grow a No-Dig Garden

How to improve your soil with the ‘No Dig’ technique

Endless Forms: Why We Should Love Wasps

Leafmould

Mulches and mulching

Preventing winter damage

Autumn-interest shrubs

Hidden Roots: Extraordinary Tales from Black Women Gardeners Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

This month – October – is UK Black History Month – and the theme for 2023 is “Saluting our Sisters,” highlighting the influence Black women have had in shaping history and inspiring change. So for today’s show, we’re exploring a few of the extraordinary stories of Black women gardeners who’ve made and continue to make a difference in the world of horticulture — all while looking ahead to what we can do to create a more equitable future. Award-winning garden designer Juliet Sargeant is sharing the stories behind her designs. We’re getting a look at the life and work of Mrs Annie Vann Reid – an American nurserywoman who built a plant empire almost 100 years ago. And, finally, we’re chatting with floral artist Hazel Gardiner about making an impact through plants.

Links:

The history of Black British gardeners is one of resistance

The Garden History Podcast

A Short History of Flowers

Juliet Sargeant: Gardens & Landscapes

Hazel Gardiner Design

Entangled Wonder: An Autumnal Survey on Trees Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

This week, with all the glorious leaf colour on display, we’re exploring the entangled wonder of the arboreal world, getting a behind the scenes look at what trees are up to now and chatting about how best to incorporate them within our gardens. Renowned nurseryman Nick Dunn is back on the podcast to talk crab apples. Silvologist and author Dr Gabriel Hemery is lifting the veil on what exactly is happening with trees at this time of year. And finally, garden designer Arit Anderson and scientist Dr Henrik Sjoman discuss what to keep in mind when choosing what to plant.

Links:

RHS guide to trees

RHS The Garden Magazine

The Tree Almanac 2024

The Essential Tree Selection Guide

Maximising Minimal Space Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

It’s no secret our living spaces are getting smaller. As more and more of us move to urban areas, we’re often having to put up with tight quarters – living in tiny flats with limited outdoor space. So in this episode, we want to explore how to maximise the space you do have – getting the best out of whatever garden, patio, porch, or windowbox you can access. Award-winning garden designer Tony Woods gives us a front garden masterclass. We’re then chatting with journalist and gardener Ann Treneman about creating fetching winter containers. And finally, Fiona Davison, our head of Libraries and Exhibitions, is back to tell the story of an early city gardener – and what we can learn from his 18th century ideas.

Links:

RHS Big Ideas, Small Spaces

Garden Club London

RHS Urban Show

Growing plants in containers

Thomas Fairchild: The first city gardener?

A Fun Guide to Fungi Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

This Saturday – 7 October – is UK Fungus Day. And so for this week’s show, we’re exploring the fascinating faces of fungi. We’re taking a tour of the Fungus Garden at RHS Wisley, journeying back in time with biologist Merlin Sheldrake to investigate our historical uses of these organisms, chatting about 3 easy ways you can grow your own edible mushrooms, and finally, we’re returning to Wisley to get an update on the science team’s honey fungus research.

The music you hear at the very beginning of the show was created by Cosmo Sheldrake. The sounds you hear -- apart from the accompanying piano -- are from recordings of oyster mushrooms devouring a copy of Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life. You can listen to the entire song here.

Links:

Saprotrophic fungi

Mycorrhizal fungi

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures

Rebel Gardening: A Beginner’s Handbook to Creating an Organic Urban Garden

Honey Fungus: identifying mushrooms

10 fun facts about fungi

Harvest Reflections and The Future of Grow-Your-Own Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

We’ve passed the autumn equinox and officially entered harvest season. It’s time to pick apples, pears, and autumn-fruiting raspberries, harvest squashes, beetroot, aubergines, leeks, and much, much more. And, of course, what we can grow and how crops perform is changing. As our climate becomes more unpredictable and more extreme, some of our go-to classics are no longer shoe-in wins. So, this week, we want to honour the harvest season, while also exploring what it means to grow food resiliently – and in a way that benefits both our gardens and our stomachs. We’re stopping by RHS Garden Wisley’s impressive pumpkin patch, discussing the connection between our soil and gut microbiome with Garden Manager Sheila Das, and exploring unusual but sustainable crops that could be staples in the years to come*.

Links:

Pumpkins and winter squashes: storing

Festival of Flavours

Vegetables: growing for winter

Edible: 70 Sustainable Plants That Are Changing How We Eat

*Please note, when foraging, never eat a plant if you aren’t 100% certain of its identification, and check before harvesting that doing so is legal where you are. Follow the Countryside Code and only pick as much as you will use.

Boosting Your Soil Health Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

Soil is the backbone of our gardens. A healthy soil means happier plants, higher crop yields, and greater biodiversity. So, this week, as we begin laying out our deliciously rich compost with fervour, we’ve decided to dive deep into what makes for top-notch, productive soil. We’re starting with a masterclass on composting in colder months. Then, we’re turning to the science of eco-acoustics – and how the sounds worms and other invertebrates make can give us insight into the state of our soil health. And finally, we’re myth-busting! Electroculture gardening is everywhere on social media these days, but is it actually worth your while?

Links:

How to care for your soil

Composting through the winter

Earthworms

Soil types

The Radical Lives of Britain's Women Gardeners Sep 14, 2023

Show notes

With the release of Fiona Davison’s new book – An Almost Impossible Thing: The Radical Lives of Britain’s Pioneering Women Gardeners – we decided to dedicate this week’s show week’s show to women in the garden. And in that vein, we’re exploring the potential for gardens to be empowering, educational, equalising, and radical spaces. Fiona shares a story from her book about two women from over 100 years ago who show that the roots of ecological gardening run further back then we may realise. Psychotherapist, writer, and gardener Marchelle Farrell reveals how her English country garden helped her get to the core of a question that had troubled her throughout her life: What is home? And finally, garden historian Twigs Way joins us again to give the inside scoop on an early and influential gardening school for women. But, If you’re looking for more advice-oriented content – fear not! Throughout the programme, we’re giving story-specific gardening tips.

An Almost Impossible Thing: The Radical Lives of Britain’s Pioneering Women Gardeners

Uprooting: From the Caribbean to the Countryside – Finding Home in an English Country Garden

Vine Weevils

Autumn-interest shrubs

Study & Learn at the RHS

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