Braintree: Indoor Gardening, Rich Compost and Propagating

Gardeners' Question Time

BBC

Leisure, Home & Garden

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What would be your top tips for creating compost? What's the best way to propagate Lamine raspberries? What could I grow in very dry soil?

Kathy Clugston and a panel of plant and gardening experts return to Ridgewell, Essex and offer advice to an audience of keen gardeners. Joining Kathy are grow-your-own guru Bob Flowerdew, garden designer Bunny Guinness, and gardener Matthew Pottage.

Later in the programme, avid urban gardener Martha Swales offers advice on how to grow edibles indoors. Continuing our 'Edible Essential Series'.

Producer: Matthew Smith Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod

Plant List Questions and timecodes are below. Where applicable, plant names have been provided.

Q - What can I plant in my hanging baskets that would give a bright full display and will also attract bees? (01'31")

Bunny Guinness - Verbena officinalis 'Bampton', vervain 'Bampton'

Matthew Pottage - Delosperma Lameranthus

Q- My climbing rose refuse to flower consistently, should I dig it up and cut my losses or feed the ground? (04'59")

Q- Will my two large Cycas revoluta plants recover from frost damage? (09'41")

Q - What would be your top tips for creating compost? (13'36")

Q- What's the best way to propagate raspberry 'Tulameen'? (22'48")

Q - When should I cut back my Honeysuckles? And how hard should I cut them back? (24'48")

Bunny Guinness - Lonicera japonica 'Halliana', hall's Japanese honeysuckle

Q- What could I grow in very dry soil? (26'45")

Matthew Pottage – Ascanthus, bear's breeches Ruscus aculeatus, butcher’s broom Hydrangea petiolaris, climbing hydrangeas Euonymus fortunei 'Kewensis', spindle 'Kewensis'

Bob Flowerdew – Ficus carica (F), fig Vitis vinifera, grape vine

Bunny Guinness – Lavandula, lavender

Q - We’ve removed a Conifer hedge and replaced it with a fence. What can I plant against it? (31'26")

Matthew Pottage – Pileostegia viburnoides, climbing hydrangea

Bob Flowerdew – Ribes rubrum, common redcurrant Ribes rubrum 'White Grape', white currents Ribes uva-crispa, gooseberry Lathyrus odoratus, sweet pea

Bunny Guinness – Ficus carica Little Miss Figgy ('Lmf01') (F), fig [Little Miss Figgy] Clematis armandi, armand clematis

Q - As a legendarily useless gardener, I've always believed that gardening is a dark art into which I have not been initiated. What's the best way in? (36'14")

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.8	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.5	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all
0:28.1	put together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your
0:34.1	life, check out BBC Sounds.
0:42.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:48.4	Hello, I'm Cathy Clugston, and this is Gardner's Question Time from BBC Radio 4.
0:53.3	So grab those secateurs or sit back and relax, however you like to listen,
0:56.3	and enjoy the next 45 minutes of great tips advice and dubious horticultural humour.
1:00.5	Hello and welcome to GQT. We are back in the village of Ridgewell in the Braintree
1:05.9	District of Essex, the driest county in the UK. It's hard for me to compute coming from Northern Ireland,
1:12.5	but this part of Britain receives the same amount of rainfall as Malta, Cyprus and Turkey.
1:18.3	Regular listeners will have heard us mention Essex's parched plots before, and anyone who's
1:23.6	visited nearby RHS Garden Hyde Hall or Beth Chato's Garden will be aware of the work
1:29.3	needed to grow plants that not only cope but thrive in low rainfall. Right plant, right place is the
1:35.7	perennial motto. Well, Braintree's district coat of arms also has a motto by wisdom and foresight.
1:42.6	I can't think of a better way to describe
1:44.3	our horticultural experts today.
1:46.5	From Yorkshire, via London,
1:48.1	it's Royal Parks Head of Horticulture, Matthew Potich.
	...

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