Henley-on-Thames

Gardeners' Question Time

BBC

Leisure, Home & Garden

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What’s the strangest thing wildlife has whisked away from your garden? How can I prevent codling moth from spoiling apples? And how do I make reliably nutritious compost using horse manure?

Peter Gibbs and a panel of green-fingered experts return to Henley-on-Thames, where a lively audience of passionate gardeners awaits answers to their most pressing horticultural dilemmas.

Joining Peter are pest and disease specialist Pippa Greenwood, head gardener Matthew Pottage, and the ever-enthusiastic plantswoman Christine Walkden.

Later in the programme, Bunny Guinness offers her expert advice on creating your very own dead hedge.

Senior Producer: Dan Cocker Junior producer: Rahnee Prescod Assistant Producer: Suki Glocking Assistant Producer: William Norton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Emma Barnett. For most of my career, I've been on live radio, and I love it.
0:13.3	But I've always wondered, what if we'd had more time? How much deeper does the story go?
0:19.2	I remember having this very sharp thought that what you do right now, this is it.
0:24.3	This defines your life.
0:26.0	I'm ready to talk and ready to listen.
0:28.3	I'm insulted by how little the medical community is ever bothered with this.
0:33.9	Ready to talk with me, Emma Barnard, is my new podcast.
0:37.0	Listen on BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to
0:41.1	gardeners question time with me, Peter Gibbs. Often on the programme, when we talk about beetles, it's because
0:47.4	a listener has a nasty infestation. Viburnum, lily, even potato beetle can spell devastation and disaster for home gardeners.
0:56.7	But as one beetle, most gardeners would welcome into their plots without hesitation.
1:02.1	Today we've come to Henley on Thames in Oxfordshire.
1:05.3	And the beetle in question is George Harrison, who made this town his home from 1971 until his death 30 years later.
1:13.9	George was an obsessive gardener.
1:16.7	And legend has it.
1:17.8	He used to garden by the light of the moon in his substantial plot at Friar Park,
1:22.8	a 20-odd-minute walk from today's recording location at Phyllis Court on the banks of the Thames.
1:29.1	Now, as much as this area is bursting with blooms, the locals have told us that the soil can be very
1:34.0	heavy with clay and shingle being in the Thames Valley. With all that water, maybe this place is
1:40.0	more suited to an octopus's garden.
1:49.1	But fear not, you'll get by with a little help from three friends today.
	...

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