Loving Your Garden - Better Gardening Podcast

Dahlias are bold, flamboyant, sometimes slightly outrageous - and one of the great stars of the late summer garden. But they can also feel a little intimidating. When do you plant them? Which varieties are easiest to grow? Do you have to lift the tubers every winter? How do you support them, feed them, protect them from pests, and keep them flowering into autumn? In this episode, Rod Whiting is joined by Dahlia expert Kim O’Brien - Head Gardener at an RHS-funded garden in Cambridgeshire, flow...

...Be sure to listen to this relaxed conversation with two fabulous gardeners: my co-host, John Stirland — Boom Radio’s gardening expert — and horticulturist, broadcaster and RHS judge, Martin Fish. It was a real pleasure to reunite this former BBC TV gardening double-act and spend half an hour chatting about Spring gardening in Martin’s Lincolnshire spread, with the birds providing the background soundtrack. We begin with the problem many gardeners are facing after a wet winter — moss in the...

Struggling to get wildflowers growing in your garden? You’re not alone! 🌿 Gardeners are often surprised at how challenging it can be to grow wildflowers successfully, so we've been chatting to Dr Ana Attlee, co-founder of Seedball, to find a simpler solution to creating a haven for wildlife. In this podcast, horticulturist and broadcaster John Stirland joins Loving Your Garden Founder Rod Whiting, along with Ana, to share a simple, proven method for growing wildflowers - perfect for beginners...

As the sun turns up the heat, so do the challenges in our gardens. In this summer edition of the Loving Your Garden podcast, I’m joined by our resident horticulturist John Stirland and award-winning garden designer David Stevens for a lively and practical chat about gardening through the warmer months. We explore clever ways to keep your plants happy during hot, dry spells, how to water wisely, and what to plant right now for colour and resilience. Whether you’re battling parched borders or...

With UK gardens bursting into colour, this is a beautiful time of year — but it’s also a busy time, preparing the garden for the seasons ahead. In the second half of our conversation with Gardener and Broadcaster Martin Fish and our own John Stirland, we cover: Pest control, notably slugs and snailsGrowing your own foodContainer gardeningGetting the best from rosesEffective wateringPeat-free compostPlus, an important Health and safety tip for keen gardenersThanks to Martin Fish for his time. ...

If you've resolved to growing more cut flowers in '25 then you'll find Roz Chandler from Field Gate Flowers an interesting guest. Roz talks about starting her cut flower farm 15 years ago almost by mistake and now runs a successful business growing, displaying and teaching floral horticulture. She has some useful tips for starting a cut flower garden and we also get around to discussing peat-free compost including the two brands Roz swears by and how climate change will have a major impact on...

11 Times RHS Chelsea Gold Medallist (and LYG member), David Stevens, has designed a few gardens in his long career (understatement). Enough to earn him 26 RHS medals and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Garden Designers. In this short video (link below), David outlines 8 key steps to consider before embarking on a garden makeover that will save you time, effort, and tears. He finishes by outlining a postal design service* that makes his knowledge and expertise surprisingly ac...

Firstly, apologies for our silence over the past few weeks, we've been busy creating a brand new YouTube channel and subscription newsletter (links below) as well as overhauling our Facebook group to accommodate the massive new growth of 'Loving Your Garden' - now 378 thousand members. Now that we're back into the routine we've re-commenced series 4 with a gardening clinic - hosted by myself and our resident horticulturist John Stirland with the added pleasure of the company of Barbara Stalk...

It’s always a pleasure to welcome our favourite Nature Watcher Mary Porter onto LYG. Spring in the UK is a great time for an update from Mary whose knowledge and experience of the natural world is much appreciated by all of us at LYG and to listeners of her regular spot on my Boom Radio show. This is a lovely chat about the current state of our wildlife and how we can encourage more creatures into our gardens, both for the good of the environment and our mental-wellbeing. In association with ...

There is nothing so satisfying than adding food to your dinner plate that you've grown from seed. While many gardeners are well-equipped to sow and propagate both vegetables and ornamentals, most others prefer the convenience of potted and plug plants. However, with the costs of plants and food now a significant factor, growing from seed is an attractive option. Tom Sharples has devoted almost half a century to the seed industry and recently retired as Senior Horticultural M...

Our resident horticulturist John Stirland kicks off season 4 of Loving Your Garden - Better Gardening Podcast with a masterclass in seed sowing. John is in full flow here with oodles of great advice on growing plants from seed as a new gardening year gets underway. John also takes questions from our LYG site members. It's best to sit back and enjoy the full episode but if you're tight for time, our chapter guide may be helpful. If you've not yet visited our LYG Facebook site, her...

We borrowed our guest's phrase 'happy, healthy house plants' this week as it aptly describes a nirvana that many of us struggle with. Jane Perrone is a gardening writer and podcaster whose articles many will have read in the Guardian, Financial Times, and The RHS Garden Magazine among many publications. Jane's passion for houseplants shines through in our chat this week, dealing with the essentials of light, watering, and feeding as you might expect. But, also with sound advice on...

There's been a noticeable increase in discussions on the LYG Facebook site about the forthcoming ban on the use of peat products in UK gardens, due to be enforced from the end of next year. To help us make sense of it all, our guests this week are Jonathan Whittemore from Johnsons of Whixley, a Yorkshire-based plant wholesaler, and Ruth Goudy, garden writer and owner of Kiln Farm Nursery and Garden Centre in Suffolk. Jonathan also chairs the Ornamental Management Committee of the ...