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GQT At Home: Episode Eighteen

Kathy Clugston presents the horticultural panel show with gardening experts.

Kathy Clugston presents the horticultural panel show with gardening experts. Anne Swithinbank, James Wong and Matthew Wilson are on hand to answer questions sent in via email and social media.

This week, the panel discusses adding colour to your flowerbed, taking care of an orchid and gardening gloves suitable for heavy duty work.

Away from the questions, Peter Gibbs visits the exotic garden at RHS Wisley to chat to Matthew Pottage and Dr Helen Hoyle, and Pippa Greenwood has tips for inviting bees and butterflies to your garden.

Producer - Laurence Bassett
Assistant Producer - Rosie Merotra

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Available now

42 minutes

Plant List

During the programme Pippa Greenwood talks about how you can get involved with this year’s Big Butterfly Count. To find out more please follow this link

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

Q – Can you recommend a suitable variety of peas to sow, with tips for success? It has to be container grown.

(1 minute 25 seconds)

Anne – Onward Pea

Matthew – Mangetout

James – Chickpeas

Edamame

Garden Pea

Chickpea ‘Principe’

Q – Can the panel advise on my Christmas Tree. It is not experiencing even growth in terms of pine needles and some of the shoots appear dead.

(4 minutes 20 seconds)

Matthew – Yew Taxus baccata

Picea Albertiana ‘Conica’

James – Araucaria Heterophylla

Q – I have an unknown pot plant that I keep on my kitchen windowsill. It used to belong to my Nan, and she kept it alive for many years. It now appears to be suffering. Any help in how I can care for it better?

(7 minutes 18 seconds)

Anne – Kalanchoe blossfeldiana

Q – I wish to add colour to a raised flowerbed however the soil quality is poor and there is limited space. Any suggestions please for perennials and bushes to fill the gaps?

(10 minutes 19 seconds)

Matthew – Calamagrostis Brachytricha

Foxglove ‘Bright Illumination’

Agastache ‘Blackadder’

Delphinium ‘Black Knight’

Anne – Escallonia ‘Pink Elle’

Feature –The Exotic Garden at RHS Wisley – Peter Gibbs with Matthew Pottage and Dr Helen Hoyle

(13 minutes 14 seconds)

Delphiniums

Nepeta

Roses

Bananas

Ginger Lilies

Palm Trees

Hollyhocks

Cat Mints

Phlox

Lavender

Q – Can you help get my orchids to flower again? I’ve tried different approaches but to no success.

(19 minutes 58 seconds)

James – Phalaenopsis Moth Orchid

Anne – Miltonia Orchid

Oncidium Orchid

Pansy Orchid

Cymbidium Orchid

James – Slipper Orchid Paphiopedilum

Q – We would like to grow some fruit around our curved archway (2m wide, 2m height and 1.5m deep with cross struts). Any suggestions? Is there potential for two or three trees to cross-pollinated?

(24 minutes 30 seconds)

Matthew – Cordon Fruit Trees

Pear ‘Beurre Hardy’

Anne – Crab Apple

Red Windsor Apple Tree

Red Devil Apple Tree

James – Fragola grape vine

Hardy Kiwi Plant - ‘Cocktail Kiwi’ Actinidia Issai

Q – Can you help me? Why are my carrots all short and stumpy?

(28 minutes 52 seconds)

Anne – Early Nantes Carrot

Feature – How to Entice Bees and Butterflies to your Garden with Pippa Greenwood

(31 minutes 41 seconds)

Winter box

Snowdrops

Q – We have a 4ft high liquorice plant that is thriving at the moment. How do we treat it so we can have this fabulous display of flowers and foliage every year?

(35 minutes 29 seconds)

James – Bonsai

Wisteria

Clover Flower

Aniseed

Q – Can you recommend some good gardening gloves that will last, cope with wild weeding but have some flexibility in them please?

(38 minutes 51 seconds)

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