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GQT at Ö÷²¥´óÐã: Episode Thirty

Kathy Clugston is joined by a panel of experts to answer gardening questions.

Kathy Clugston is joined by a panel of experts to answer gardening questions in front of a virtual audience. Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Pippa Greenwood are on the panel.

This week, the panellists answer questions on how to choose the right mulch, recommend palm trees for a south-easterly facing garden and compare techniques on saving an un-cheery cherry tree.

Away from the questions, Peter Gibbs is at Wakehurst, Royal Botanic Garden Kew to see their American Prairie project with Ed Ikin, and Juliet Sargent is sharing tips on preparing your garden for winter.

Producer - Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer - Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 4

Picture: Jim Holden © RBG Kew

Available now

42 minutes

Plant List

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

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Q – What is the best type of palm tree to plant in my mother’s south east facing, sunny garden?

(2 minutes 8 seconds)

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Bunny – Trachycarpus fortune

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Pippa – Tree lilies

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Bob – Torquay palm

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Q – Having enjoyed growing daffodils in containers this year, why is it that when we plant them in our borders, they don’t grow?

(5 minutes 31 seconds)

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Q – My curly kale grows profusely, but the underside of the leaves are covered in white flies and eggs. What’s the best way to clean them to eat, or to get rid of them?

(8 minutes 43 seconds)

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Q – As a rookie gardener, I planted a pear and a cherry tree in the garden a few years ago, without staking or clearing the grass from the base. As a consequence, neither has really flourished – what can I do? Is it too late to stake them?

(11 minutes 34 seconds)

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Bunny – Colney cherry tree

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Feature – American Prairie project at Wakehurst Royal Botanic Garden Kew with Peter Gibbs

(15 minutes 20 seconds)

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Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Silphium

Limnanthes douglasii (Poached egg plant)

Clarkia

Ranunculus

Lupine

Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus)

Rough blazing star (Liatris)

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Q – How do you prepare beds to grow carrots and parsnips?

(22 minutes 12 seconds)

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Q – I want to use weed control fabric over my allotment during winter – when should I put it on?

(27 minutes 10 seconds)

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Feature – Protecting your plants for winter with Juliet Sargent

(30 minutes 52 seconds)

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Q – I would like to mulch my garden but there’s so much choice! Please could the panel recommend which mulches they would use as an all-round improver?

(34 minutes 38 seconds)

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Q – My husband isn’t a gardener but enjoys using his chainsaw. How do I quell his penchant to annihilate everything in our garden with his chainsaw, without losing my willing helper?

(38 minutes 10 seconds)

Broadcasts

  • Fri 6 Nov 2020 15:00
  • Sun 8 Nov 2020 14:00

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