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Postbag: Trebah Garden

Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural experts visit the sub-tropical paradise of Trebah Gardens. James Wong, Anne Swithinbank and Darren Dickey answer the questions.

Will my cuttings expire at the same time as the parent plant? How do I attract more wildlife to my pond? If the panel had £100 to spend on their garden per year, what would they buy?

Kathy Clugston and her team of horticultural experts are in the subtropical terrain of Trebah Gardens, Cornwall for this week’s episode of Gardeners' Question Time. Joining her are self-proclaimed ‘botany geek’ James Wong, gardening writer Anne Swithinbank, and Trebah’s very own Head Gardener Darren Dickey.

Entwined between the postbag questions, Darren takes the panel around the unique areas of Trebah Gardens, including a ‘bamboozling’ insight into their bamboo crops, a dip into their Water Garden, and a trip through Trebah’s famous Gunnera Passage.

Producer: Bethany Hocken

Assistant Producer: Dulcie Whadcock

Executive Producer: Hannah Newton

A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4

Available now

42 minutes

Last on

Sun 8 Oct 202314:00
BBC Radio 4

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Plant List

GQT Trebah Gardens -Postbag

Introduction to Trebah Gardens

Darren–

Gunnera 

Tree fern

Hydrangea

Pittosporum tobira

Agapanthus

Silver leaf plants

Grevillea victoriae

Q– I propagate my plants by taking cuttings. If I take a cutting from a short-lived perennial, will the cutting expire at the same time as the parent plant?

(3 minutes, 36 seconds)

Anne–

Pelargonium

Fuschia

Argyranthemum

Marguerite 

Osteospermum

James–

Eucalyptus

Hibiscus 

Trip to Hydrangea Valley

James–

Hydrangea

Q– What is eating my hydrangea?

(8 minutes, 56 seconds)

Darren–

Magnolia

Q– I’ve been growing convolvulus mauritanicus for several years. This spring it acquired a rapidly spreading disease which has covered the leaves and stems in round white spots. Are these plants salvageable?

(11 minutes, 2 seconds)

Darren–

Hydrangea

Q– I am keen to study indoor plant design and management, but it seems that I’ll have to study far more broadly than my preference of specialising in indoor plants. Do you have any advice?

(15 minutes 27 seconds)

Trip to Gunnera Passage

Darren–

Gunnera manicata 

Gunnera tinctoria 

Trip to Bamboozle

Darren–

Phyllostachys edulis

Drepanostachyum 

Fargesia

Q– I have a 15-year-old clump-forming black bamboo which I believe to be in full flower as a result of gregarious flowering. Could one of the team let me know if this is true?

(22 minutes 59 seconds)

Darren–

Metasequoia giganteum

Q–I installed a pond about 3 years ago but I’m yet to attract much wildlife. Can anyone explain why?

(26 minutes, 41 seconds)

Trip to the Water Garden

Darren–

Ginger lily

Primula candelabra

Zantedeschia ‘Calla Lily’

Q– I live on the edge of the Pennines in moist conditions. I want to grow candelabra primula. When the primulas flower they only open up one tier at a time. Why is this happening?

(33 minutes, 11 seconds)

Darren–

Hosta

Q– If the panel had £100 to spend on their garden per year, what would they buy?

(38 minutes 11 seconds)

Broadcasts

  • Fri 6 Oct 202315:00
    BBC Radio 4
  • Sun 8 Oct 202314:00
    BBC Radio 4

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