Spalding

Available for over a year

Eric Robson chairs a gardening Q&A with Springfields Horticultural Society. Matthew Wilson, Bunny Guinness and Christine Walkden join him on the panel. Bunny Guinness looks into some different peas and beans to try next season, making some encouraging revelations about growing Edamame beans. How to deal with blown sprouts and is it worth trying to grow a banana plant? Question answered in the programme: Why do my Brussels sprouts blow? Should I give up trying to grow grapes in these windy, clay conditions in Peterborough? After 30 years, our Judas tree have produced pods. Will the seeds be viable? Do the panel recommend trying the lime-tolerant rhododendrons? When is the right time to prune a 'Ruby Glow' Hibiscus bush? I plan to dig up my Salix contorta willow tree and replace it with an apple tree. Will the willow roots leave antagonistic chemicals in the soil? Can the panel recommend fast-growing trees for summer and autumn colour? Suggestions included: Amelanchier Canadensis, Crabapples. Sorbus Prunus Avium and Crataegus Prunifolia. What can I plant in the shade of a great tree canopy, to provide summer colour? Suggestions include: Deschampsia goldtau, Millium effusum, Sweet rocket, Lunaria annua 'Honesty', Astelias. My stored potatoes have sprouted whilst in dark storage. Why is this? What are our chances of growing banana plants? Produced by Lucy Dichmont A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.