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GQT at Ö÷²¥´óÐã: Insipid Leeks and Pest Control Techniques

Kathy Clugston hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts.

Kathy Clugston hosts the horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts. Chris Beardshaw, Christine Walkden and Anne Swithinbank are on hand to answer questions from the virtual audience.

This week, the panel tackles questions on a curiously dried out hot border, stubborn peony bushes and thinning out seedlings.

Away from the questions, regular GQT panellist Matt Biggs kicks off our feature series by giving a fervent tribute to his favourite tree, the Handkerchief tree.

Producer - Dan Cocker
Assistant Producer - Millie Chu

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

Available now

42 minutes

Plant List

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

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Q – I have a number of peony bushes which have been planted for a number of years but refuse to flower.

(2 minute 18 seconds)

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Q – I have a few buckets of fine sawdust. Could I use it as a slug and snail repellent around my tender vegetables on the allotment?

(5 minutes 12 seconds)

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Q – Is it possible to take cuttings or how to grow from seed pods from my Pride of India tree or my Handkerchief tree?

(8 minutes 23 seconds)

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Christine –

Davidia involucrate (pocket handkerchief tree)

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Q – Whenever we grow miniature tomatoes, the skins are always tough. Why do they have tough skins?

(13 minutes 38 seconds)

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Christine –

Sungold

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Feature – Matt Biggs pays tribute to his favourite tree, the Handkerchief tree

(17 minutes 2 seconds)

Ìý

Davidia involucrate

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Q – I bought some Alstroemeria tubers, which were pot planted in November and kept in my porch. They produced very fragile growth. I planted them out this week into a very large pot in the garden and cut off all the spindly growth – will they grow again this season?

(21 minutes 44 seconds)

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Chris –

Peruvian Lily

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Q – We have a hot border which dries out quickly. What can we do now to help the soil retain its moisture and what plants would be good for this bed?

(26 minutes 47 seconds)

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Anne –

Leonotis leonurus (Lion’s tail)

Echinacea

Achillea

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Christine –

Lavender

Rosemary

Perovskia

Senecio

Teucrium

Salvias

Verbascum

Oenothera (Evening primrose)

Argyranthemums

Osteospermums

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Q – How to repot my plant - I think it’s a Swiss Cheese plant?

(31 minutes 4 seconds)

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Anne –

Monstera deliciosa (Swiss Cheese plant)

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Q – My leeks last year were a disaster. Can leeks be grown as perennials?

(33 minutes 46 seconds)

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Q – I struggle with thinning out seedlings. Do the panel have the same problem, or have they become cold, calculating killers?

(36 minutes 36 seconds)

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