Perton Staffs: Used Compost, Angry Peonies and Ant-tics

Gardeners' Question Time

BBC

Leisure, Home & Garden

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What's the best way to revive a dying bonsai tree? Do Peonies hate being moved? I am inundated with ants – how do I get rid of them?

Kathy Clugston hosts BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time, joined by a panel of esteemed plant and gardening experts in Perton, Staffordshire. Sharing their horticultural wisdom are the passionate plantsman Matthew Biggs, head gardener Marcus Chilton-Jones, and renowned plantswoman Christine Walkden.

Later in the programme, Matthew Biggs has a chat with David Austen Jr to explore his father’s remarkable legacy in rose breeding at their prestigious nursery. He also gets an exclusive glimpse at some of their latest, most exquisite varieties.

Senior Producer: Daniel Cocker Junior Producer: Rahnee Prescod Executive Producer: Carly Maile

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

Q – What colour would you paint a garden fence to best show off and compliment the plants in it? (01’32”)

Q – Why have my Peonies stopped blooming? Is it because I’ve moved them? (05’03”)

Q – Which plants would the panel recommend covering a roof of five feet by 10 feet with a depth of two and a half inches? (08’07”)

Matthew Biggs – Thymus vulgaris, common thyme Thymus serpyllum 'Russetings', creeping thyme 'Russetings' Campanula, bellflower Campanula portenschlagiana, wall bellflower

Christine Walkden Sempervivum, houseleek Hylotelephium, sedum Mentha requienii, corsican mint

Marcus Chilton Jones – Puschkinia Allium schoenoprasum, chives Ajuga repens, bugle

Q – What are the panel's thoughts on reusing compost that's been used in pots for summer annuals? (10’53”)

Feature – Matt Biggs speaks with David Austen Jr about his father’s legacy in breeding unique roses (15’01)

Q – I wondered what was the best way to revive a dying bonsai tree? (19’26”)

Q – How hard should I cut back our Ceanothus? (23’59”)

Q – What can the panel recommend that's low maintenance and won't prickle anyone that I could plant in a two foot wide plot? (28’10”)

Christine Walkden – Cyclamen hederifolium, ivy-leaved cyclamen Ajugas Lamiums Heucheras Thalamus Aquilegia Veronica, gentian speedwell

Matthew Biggs – Hedera (ivy)

Marcus Chilton-Jones – Lonicera, honeysuckle Dryopteris, wood fern Nettles

Q – I am inundated with ants – how do I get rid of them? (33’49”)

Q – How do I stop bugs from getting into my plums? (37’25”)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before this BBC podcast kicks off, I'd like to tell you about some others you might enjoy.
0:05.1	My name's Will Wilkin and I Commission Music Podcast for the BBC.
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0:40.2	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:44.8	Hello, I'm Cathy Clugston, and this is Gardner's Question Time from BBC Radio 4.
0:50.3	So grab those secretars or sit back and relax however you like to listen
0:54.6	and enjoy the next 45 minutes of great tips, advice and dubious horticultural humour.
1:01.6	Hello and welcome to this week's Gardner's Question Time.
1:05.5	Today we're in the village of Perton in south Staffordshire, about four miles west of Wolverhampton.
1:10.8	We're guests of Perton Parish Staffordshire, about four miles west of Wolverhampton, were guests of
1:12.0	Perton Parish Council, who last spring built and opened a new allotment site with 82 plots
1:18.3	to satisfy the growing ambitions of many lucky villagers. Well, I wonder if any of them grow pairs
1:24.1	on their plots. The name of the village, Perton, is derived from pear town,
1:29.5	in reference to a local pear that was once abundant in the area. The variety is Tetonhall Dick,
1:35.6	and there's a saying that goes, Teton Hall Dicks are as hard as bricks. Can anyone verify this?
	...

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