0:01

BBC Sounds, music, radio,

0:03

podcasts. Hello,

0:06

I'm Cathy Clugston, and this is Gardiners

0:08

Question Time from BBC Radio 4. So

0:11

grab those secateurs or sit back and

0:13

relax however you like to listen and

0:16

enjoy the next 45 minutes of

0:18

great tips, advice and dubious

0:20

horticultural humour. Hello

0:24

and welcome to the final GQT of

0:26

2023. We're

0:28

in the village of Sarat in Hertfordshire, just

0:30

two miles from junction 18 of

0:32

the boisterous M25, but

0:35

rural, green and extremely well

0:37

tended, thanks to the thriving

0:39

Sarat Horticultural Society, our host

0:41

today. They've been celebrating local

0:43

growers since 1888 and

0:46

hold not one, but two gardening shows

0:49

every year. Well, our

0:51

GQT panel aren't the first world class

0:53

VIPs to visit this picturesque village. We're

0:56

recording in the village hall, which is

0:58

featured in lots of TV shows, including

1:01

Jonathan Creek in Midsomer Murders and blockbuster

1:03

films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Four

1:05

Weddings and a Funeral and Who Could

1:08

Forget? Pudsey the Dog, the Movie. We're

1:11

ready for their close ups are today's

1:13

matinee idols. Better than George Smiley at

1:15

Finding Moles, it's Bob Flourdew. We've Hampshire's

1:17

answer to Andy McDowell, pest and disease

1:20

expert Pippa Greenwood and the local boy

1:22

with the puppy dog eyes. No

1:24

one can resist its plantsman Matt Biggs,

1:26

your star stuttered gardeners question time

1:28

panel. Later,

1:36

in keeping with our glamorous theme, Answith

1:38

and Bank meet someone with a passion

1:40

for well rotted organic matter. Compost

1:43

is our stardust on this program. That's

1:45

coming later. But now here in Sarat, who

1:47

has our first question, please. Kate

1:50

Sootil, my son's Venus fly trap

1:52

has outgrown the house and I

1:54

would like to transplant it outside.

1:57

What conditions would suit it best?

2:00

How long has he had it? Kit? A

2:03

couple of years? OK. It's an interesting

2:05

question because following a quite successful Christmas

2:07

campaign by a well-known supermarket, you probably

2:10

heard that sales of these Venus flight

2:12

went up something like 2,000%. So,

2:16

how should we be looking after them? Bob? Well,

2:18

I wouldn't put them outside. I mean, I think

2:21

technically they're probably on the edge of Hardy. They

2:23

probably could, but it's horrible out there. They

2:25

won't like it. There isn't any insects for

2:28

them in the winter, or very few. Light,

2:30

light windowsill in a cold room, I think, would

2:32

suit it most of all. Don't forget, they get

2:34

much of the nutrients from the insects they trap,

2:37

so the size of the pot isn't quite the

2:39

crucial for them. And of course, rainwater only, they

2:41

don't like tap water. But no, I don't think

2:44

I'd move it out. I'd find a cool room

2:46

with a nice, light windowsill. So for people,

2:48

Pippa, who've bought one, you know, following the

2:50

Christmas ad, how do they go about keeping...

2:52

how do they feed them if they're inside the house? Well,

2:54

I think Bob there was implying very politely

2:57

that you've got flies in your house. In

3:01

reality, most of us have got a

3:03

certain level of nature in the house.

3:06

And that protection of your house

3:09

gives insects the ability to

3:11

survive longer, or

3:13

to even breed sometimes in your house.

3:15

So you don't want... I don't think

3:18

you're going to need to think about

3:20

supplementary feeding, but I cannot overemphasise what

3:22

Bob said. Do not put

3:24

it outside. So definitely not outside. Any

3:26

other tips, Matt? Yeah, they

3:28

are absolutely fascinating. It's a great way to

3:30

get children, young people, or anyone in fact,

3:33

into gardening, because of the way something

3:35

like that appeals. You know, anything that is

3:37

carnivorous and a bit nasty

3:39

sort of appeals. So what you

3:41

learn about these things is that there are usually

3:44

three hairs on each side of

3:46

the trap, and the insect

3:49

has to trigger two out of

3:51

the three hairs, or one hair

3:53

twice, within 20 seconds. So the

3:55

plant can actually count. It's counting

3:57

before it shuts. it

4:00

makes two moves. So one is,

4:02

and if you look at it and imagine putting your

4:04

hands together and these sort of eyelashes

4:06

are like fingers, it means that it can frat.

4:09

Thank you. I'm being a fly.

4:11

The end of the pen is a fly. And then your

4:14

fingers shut.

4:17

It means that you've increased the surface area

4:20

so you can get as big a prey

4:22

as possible, but not increase the weight because

4:24

obviously they are like fingers or eyelashes rather

4:27

than solid. Then it makes another

4:29

move around the insect or the

4:31

prey and seals it in and then

4:34

releases enzymes which are similar to those

4:36

found in the human gut to actually

4:38

digest it. So one of the things

4:40

you shouldn't do is actually go around

4:42

feeding it or flicking

4:44

it to make it shut because

4:46

obviously it's taking energy. You should just

4:49

let them behave naturally, but

4:51

they are absolutely fascinating and they're endangered

4:53

species in the wild. In fact, because

4:56

of loss of habitat, so anybody who's

4:58

growing one of these plants as

5:01

a house plant, as a novelty plant, is

5:03

actually growing something that's in its native habitat is

5:06

really rare. And how long do they last if

5:08

they will care for them? If you

5:10

care for them well enough and they

5:13

aren't the easiest thing. I've known people

5:15

have them for years and years and

5:17

they will increase in size, in volume

5:19

as well. So they're not a short-lived

5:21

plant if you get it right, but

5:24

doing all those things about not interfering

5:26

with them, not feeding them, all

5:28

those things are really important just like you and I.

5:30

If you treat as well, we're going to have a

5:32

better life. Yeah, it's been a slight

5:35

tough not just for Christmas folks. Thank you, Kate. Thank

5:37

you. Let's move along. Hello. Hi,

5:39

yeah, my name is Brendan Fowles and

5:42

I'd like to ask the panel for

5:44

a few tips on how to prepare

5:46

a lawn for the dormant winter months

5:48

so that the spring comes

5:50

back luxurious. Okay, Pippa, at this

5:53

time of year, right at the end of the year,

5:55

what should we be doing? Well, do you know, right

5:57

now, I wouldn't be doing anything much because the chances

5:59

are the... This is pretty definitely going

6:01

to be fairly wet. I mean, have you got a

6:03

heavy soil or a light soil? Is it sandy or?

6:05

I'm not kind of sure, but I think

6:08

underneath it might be a bit of debris.

6:10

And the fact that moss was growing, I

6:12

think water's retained, which is why I'm trying

6:14

to drain it out. So I would definitely

6:17

do less rather than more. In fact, I'd avoid walking

6:19

on it if at all possible. Obviously sometimes you want

6:21

to go and put food out for the birds, hang

6:23

the washing out if there's a decent day. All

6:26

those other things you need to do,

6:28

but don't do it unless you have

6:30

to. And then I'd concentrate on spring

6:32

maintenance this year. Maybe do some autumn

6:34

maintenance early in the autumn next year,

6:37

but I would wait now until the

6:39

spring. And as for last cutting date,

6:41

it totally depends on the weather and

6:44

the local weather in your garden as

6:46

well, because some years, if you've read a book

6:48

and it says, oh, last time

6:50

to do the last cut on your

6:52

lawn. And that's the back end

6:54

of October. Other years, it gets

6:57

colder earlier, but more likely now in

6:59

particular, it's taking a lot longer. So

7:02

suck it and see, see whether there's any

7:04

significant growth, but don't mow it if

7:07

the surface is going to get really compacted by

7:09

you mowing it at this time of year. Okay,

7:11

so leave well alone for pepper, Bob. I

7:14

recommend that you don't go for what

7:16

you've got already, which is probably a

7:18

fine grass, because the fine grasses aren't

7:20

very competitive. So the other things

7:22

creep in. What I'd do is I'd get

7:24

a large box of recreation grasses and they're

7:26

called, they're tougher grasses and I'd overthrow with

7:29

that. And you can do it in the

7:31

winter, rake it in, when

7:33

the spring comes, the birds will steal a

7:35

lot, but the seed will get down into

7:37

the grass and it will start growing in

7:39

the spring. Now the beauty of the recreational

7:41

type grasses, they're tougher, but they also don't

7:44

dislike lime, whereas the fine

7:46

grasses dislike lime. Most

7:48

doesn't like lime. Veronica speed wells don't

7:51

like lime. So if you lime grass,

7:54

you get rid of a lot of those problems or

7:56

you don't get rid of them, you just make the

7:58

conditions more favorable for the grass. than it is

8:00

for the mosses and the veronicas. And

8:02

so they grow better. And I've actually had

8:04

clover as well. People don't like clover because

8:06

it gives you those patches of green when

8:08

it browns out in summer. Well,

8:10

if it's all clover, it won't brown out. Right?

8:13

And the two together, yes,

8:16

it's not the perfect pure grass

8:18

lawn, but clover provides nitrogen for the

8:20

grass. It feeds it. The two do

8:22

better together. And of course the bees

8:24

do come to the clover. So that's

8:26

kind of nice to see. So

8:28

I would encourage a really good

8:31

lawn, but not the conventional fine

8:33

grass purity one. That's good. Matt?

8:36

Yeah, absolutely right though. I totally agree with you,

8:38

Bob. There's a change of, there's a sea change

8:40

and we tend to think of, you

8:43

know, the wildflowers and just cutting a little

8:45

bit higher, about two inches. So you get

8:47

a lot of the clovers as Bob has

8:50

mentioned, the low growing lotus. These will all,

8:53

and the speed wells will all attract insects.

8:55

And then there is an argument, isn't there,

8:58

because I was looking at my lawn and

9:01

I scarified it twice in the

9:03

autumn, according to the textbook,

9:06

we're on clay, clay with flints, not

9:08

very great. And it's full

9:10

of moss already. And I tell you what, it looks

9:12

nice and green. And there

9:14

is a green surface. I

9:17

can live with that. Yeah, we have our moss

9:19

lovers definitely. Lots to think about there, Brendan.

9:21

Absolutely, thank you very much. Thank you.

9:23

Who has our next question? Steven Booth.

9:26

My leaks have turned pink inside. What

9:28

is the cause and how can I prevent it? Bob,

9:31

you'll have some questions. When you say

9:33

they're pink, is this a

9:35

pink flush to the leaf or is it

9:37

the pink staining inside? Pink staining inside the

9:39

white part of the leaf. Oh, that's not

9:41

so good. Have you noticed,

9:43

are there any little brown maggots anywhere

9:46

in the outside leaves? I think

9:48

I have seen those. Yeah. Look

9:50

how delicious at this. These little chrysalises, yes.

9:52

It's tiny. Same things, yeah, tiny little brown

9:54

things. And some of the leaves are a

9:56

bit nasty. Yeah. Yes.

9:59

I think you've got... It comes in

10:01

in June, July. You don't notice it, but it often

10:03

eats its way down the middle of the leek, and

10:06

so it can do a lot of damage. There's

10:09

two things you can do. One is you can

10:11

grow your leeks from the start under fleece or

10:13

fine, very fine netting, thus

10:15

keeping them away. That works

10:18

extremely well. The other thing

10:20

is that you actually have to start your

10:22

leeks off a little earlier, and

10:24

then about the end of June you cut them back

10:26

hard. It's surprising, but if

10:28

they're growing well, they will then regrow and

10:30

put on some bulk, but because you cut

10:32

them back, they're not there the end of

10:34

June through July when the leek moth is

10:36

doing all its laying. So

10:39

they look at this little stump, that's not worth laying

10:41

on, because somewhere else. I've also done

10:43

the same thing by having last year's leeks,

10:46

which you allow, if you leave them in to

10:48

go to flower for the insects, I noticed that

10:50

they made bulbils at the bottom, just like a

10:52

garlic or other onions do. And

10:54

I found that if you dig your

10:57

last year's leeks up, you'll

10:59

be doing it in about May-June, you then

11:01

put them aside, they will dry down and

11:03

make bulbils, and you can plant those at

11:05

the end of July. They

11:08

will then, in a good soil, make reasonable

11:10

leeks by Christmas, but again, the leek moth

11:12

can't touch them, because they weren't there when

11:14

they were about at the end of June,

11:16

beginning of July. But would you

11:18

add anything? I'm absolutely convinced,

11:21

Bob, that it probably is leek

11:23

moth. It makes a sort of

11:25

streaking of discoloration, often, and

11:27

as I said, it'll be tiny chrysalises,

11:29

rather than the actual caterpillars, they look

11:31

like little bullet-shaped pale brown things, which

11:34

if you haven't got your glasses on,

11:36

you may not notice. I hope you

11:38

enjoyed your leek soup. And

11:40

personally, I grow them under really fine

11:43

mesh, something like micromesh, which is much

11:45

more long-lasting than most fleeces,

11:48

and if you don't want to

11:50

constantly put the mesh or the

11:52

fleece over it, then you can

11:54

always make yourself a very simple frame, a

11:56

bit like I've often talked about making for

11:58

to stop carrot flies. So you get a

12:01

bit of timber, make a sort of box

12:03

shape, cover the sides with, I

12:05

would say, the micromash or something to staple

12:07

it on, and then make a lid. You

12:09

do need a lid if you're talking leek

12:12

moth because they will fly much higher than

12:14

carrot fly. And it just makes all the

12:16

difference. Maybe give that a try next

12:18

time, Stephen. Yeah, thank you very much.

12:21

Let's move along. Hello, I'm David Stanley.

12:23

I've got a row of Espalia apple

12:25

trees, and one of them

12:28

gets black-brown blotches on

12:30

the leaves and on the fruit.

12:33

Is it a fungus? I tried last

12:35

year to remove all the old leaves

12:38

in the autumn, and then

12:40

I mulched the surface. How

12:42

can I prevent it from occurring? Flipper

12:45

Greenwood. I'm sure it's a

12:47

fungus or a fungus-like organism, we call it

12:49

now. So something called apple

12:51

scab. And you can

12:53

get something very similar on pears, and

12:56

actually something not totally dissimilar. You may have seen

12:58

on pyrocanther, and it is a sort of black

13:01

to khaki-colored to gray, depending on

13:03

all sorts of things. Slightly

13:05

rough-looking growth on the surface, and as

13:07

you say, on the leaves. And with

13:09

apples, you often get a slight blistering

13:11

of the leaf as well. So

13:14

it looks a bit oddly bumpy and weirdly

13:17

different, and it'll make the leaves drop early.

13:19

And it often affects the leaf petals, the

13:21

leaf stalk, which again will make the leaves

13:23

drop early. And you might think, well, so

13:26

what? But of course that weakens the plant

13:28

and makes it more susceptible to all sorts

13:30

of other things. So it

13:32

is difficult because it loves damp

13:34

conditions. Particularly if you

13:36

happen to have damp weather in the spring, you

13:38

then often get really bad scab. And

13:41

I'm a great believer if you've got a little bit of

13:43

something not very nice on the outside, you get what's called

13:45

a knife and you cut it off and you eat

13:48

the rest of it. But with something like apple scab,

13:50

it makes quite a sort of little bit of armored

13:52

placing. So as the fruit

13:54

expands, it can't expand evenly. And

13:56

where the fungus is, it can't

13:58

expand really at all. So then

14:00

it cracks or it splits. And then

14:02

of course once your apples have got a crack or a

14:05

split, you get wasps coming in to enlarge the problem. And

14:07

most importantly and worst of all, you get

14:09

something like brown rot coming in, which will

14:12

then, that's the thing that makes the fruit

14:14

go brown and squishy and you get the

14:16

little concentric rings of creamy pastules. And in

14:18

no time at all, you've got something even

14:20

I wouldn't suggest you eat. So

14:22

it is a bigger

14:24

problem than it might look. So I think

14:27

one of the most important things to do,

14:29

you've done, you've cleared up the stems, I

14:31

would also say it's worth really

14:33

looking hard at the stems because it

14:35

will actually overwinter on the stems as

14:37

well. So when you're doing pruning, particularly

14:40

on the green stems or the younger

14:42

stems, you may well see that

14:44

slight scabbing again and try and prune that

14:46

out wherever you can. Try and prune the

14:49

crown of the tree so that air circulation is

14:51

better because that will make the air a bit

14:53

drier as well. Also you

14:55

need to look out for any of the little mummified apples.

14:58

Any things that didn't ever become apples, only

15:00

almost the size of a pencil tip, not

15:02

much bigger than that. And certainly any rotten

15:04

apples that are still up on the tree

15:06

because they're showering them down.

15:09

It really helps give the tree regular sprays

15:11

of dilute seaweed solution because this gives it

15:13

all the elements it needs to be healthy

15:15

and a good dose of wood ashes. Especially

15:18

if you've got any cookers there because cooking apples

15:21

need wood ashes more than the others. Okay. Thank

15:24

you. Thanks for that panel. We'll be talking

15:26

to our audience of gardeners here in Sarat in Hertfordshire

15:28

very soon. Now a few weeks

15:30

ago we featured a conversation with the horticulturist

15:33

and author Charles Dowding, pioneer of the

15:35

no dig method where gardeners disturb the

15:37

soil as little as possible and just

15:39

add organic matter on top. But

15:42

how do you create that organic matter in

15:44

the first place? Antwerpen Bank

15:46

gained a few tips from Charles and

15:48

found that composting is the new rotten

15:50

roll. Oh, I thought

15:52

that might get a groan. Thanks

15:55

everyone. beating

16:00

heart of their garden should be the compost

16:02

heap, shouldn't it? And Charles,

16:04

Dowding, we're standing beside yours that actually

16:06

services your garden at homemakers. So this

16:09

is a lot more than most people

16:11

would even contemplate. Please tell

16:13

us what's going on here. Well, we

16:15

have a current heap and I concentrate on

16:17

making one heap at a time and the

16:20

size to fit what you've got so that we

16:22

can fill a heap within two months, ideally. That

16:25

means that we're going to have a bit of heat in there. That

16:27

means we will kill the weeds. But also it goes

16:29

more quickly. So like that heap there, we only started

16:31

10 days ago and you can

16:33

see it's looking half full and

16:36

we're doing alternating layers. We keep it level.

16:39

Really important, I feel, to keep the surface

16:41

level. That means that when you add different

16:43

quality of content, you can portion it

16:45

out more easily. So we do roughly

16:47

three quarters green like this big cabbage

16:49

leaf or grass that we've mown or

16:51

weed leaves, kitchen, vegetable, scraps, that's what

16:53

I call green. And then you've

16:56

got what I call brown, which is old cardboard sieve

16:58

wood chip. We actually sieve the wood chip a

17:01

bit and just a 45 degree sieve makes it

17:03

a lot easier. And then we put the finer

17:05

wood chip, the old, maybe 10 months old already

17:07

onto as a brown. So quarter

17:09

brown, three quarter green. Yeah. And that's how

17:11

to keep the air in and... Yeah, the brown

17:14

keeps the air in. Stop it from going... Yeah. If

17:16

you notice the size is solid, you know, that's a bit of a myth that

17:19

you need slatter size. You actually don't.

17:21

And a solid size actually helped to keep the warmth

17:23

and the moisture in. So we found

17:25

that you can see this swamps is actually reading 65

17:27

centigrade. That's quite warm enough. And

17:29

that happens if you've got enough volume and if you

17:32

had a decent amount of green, roughly the three quarters.

17:35

And this will fill up with another three to four weeks,

17:37

it'll be at the top and then we'll start another heat.

17:40

Composting is a beautiful thing to do. And I get a

17:42

lot of lovely feedback from people who've been here and

17:44

they say, wow, I'm actually keener now and

17:46

making compost on my garden. It's

17:48

a thing, isn't it? Yeah, it is. It's positively

17:51

good to tend your composting. And one guy

17:53

said, you know, oh, no, my composting is like

17:55

feeding the beast. It's like a pet.

17:57

They have to look after the texture is

17:59

so. We get so many questions

18:02

from people who have slime. OK,

18:04

paper, scrambled paper is really good for taking out moisture

18:06

and helping to keep a bit of air in there.

18:09

I think people are scared to put anything chipped in

18:11

there because they've been told that it's going to rob

18:13

nitrogen from their soil out. Fair point. Well,

18:15

that's why normally this was made before we were sieving it so

18:18

much and a big wood chip like that, it's

18:20

about half an inch round, I would say. I wouldn't

18:22

want that. Yeah, but I've got a half an inch

18:24

sieve actually that takes most of that out and there's

18:26

some small woody pieces that

18:28

are half decomposed already. If you can get that, it

18:30

really works well. That's for a

18:33

small garden. Let's look at medium sized gardens. It's

18:35

a bit like golden They

18:47

don't kill the weed seeds. So we're standing

18:49

by three quite

18:51

sizable sort of constructions

18:54

side by side made of pallets and

18:57

lined with cardboard. I need

18:59

to, I've got pallets, I've got cardboard, I could be

19:01

doing this. Okay. Well, I tell

19:03

you, it's really simple because we did actually knock the bottoms

19:05

off the pallets. That makes it easier to get in here

19:08

and two wires on each corner. That's all I

19:10

got. And that's holding the frame together. So four

19:12

pallets, eight bits of wire. You've got your heap.

19:15

But this middle heap, how old is this compost

19:17

in here, did you say? It's three

19:19

to four months old only. Oh, that's usable now, isn't

19:22

it? Beautiful. I love the way you're getting your hands

19:24

in there. Yeah, a lot of people wouldn't. It's

19:27

lovely. It's really beautiful. And I love

19:29

this idea that you've got this, the

19:32

cardboard along the sides to retain the heat. Yeah,

19:34

keeps in the warmth and the moisture. So it serves

19:36

every purpose you could want. And well, you can see

19:38

the result. You know, we went, the main work we're

19:40

putting into this is to be disciplined about not putting

19:42

in any long pieces. So if we got a lot

19:44

of big, long big pieces of brown, we cut them

19:46

up with phacotos or knives, whatever it might be. I've

19:48

got a shredder so I can put a bit more

19:51

wood in. I actively want bits of wood, like that's

19:53

a bit of old bramble there, which

19:55

is, you know, rough rotted already. It's lost most

19:57

of its thorns. But it's nice and slim,

19:59

not like that. big chunk you showed earlier and it'll

20:01

be holding a bit of air in there you know as

20:03

other stuff lands on top of it. Andy's

20:06

out in the open you've not got to turn to trees.

20:08

It doesn't matter actually because I've previously

20:10

these were there actually either way

20:12

works. It doesn't matter with the heat,

20:15

it doesn't make any difference to how it heats

20:17

up. There's so many things that don't matter. People

20:19

get put off because they told me they must

20:21

do that and also you

20:23

know what you put in. For me anything

20:25

goes I put in rhubarb leaves, lemon peel,

20:27

blighted leaves, mildewed leaves, bindweed roots, it all

20:29

goes in. Because you know it will get

20:32

hot to them. Well

20:34

yeah partly that but a lot of

20:36

it is like bindweed roots actually. I've

20:38

met putting cool heaps. They be great,

20:40

they're not invincible. We've given them too

20:42

much sort of credence. Well

20:44

what I've taken from this is that we should all be

20:46

giving as much input and interest

20:48

to our compost heaps as we should to

20:50

say the greenhouse or the pond you know.

20:52

It's a feature isn't it? Yeah it is.

20:54

Something to enjoy. Something to really enjoy. And

20:59

Swiddon Bank with composting aficionado Charles Douding.

21:01

Well panel unlike most of us Charles

21:04

has the space to accommodate huge amounts

21:06

of organic matter as do you Bob.

21:09

But how if we've got a smaller compost heap,

21:11

have you got any tips for us just to keep

21:13

it going through the colder months Matt? I

21:16

cover mine with old

21:19

carpets to make sure it stays

21:21

moist rather than gets

21:23

heavily waterlogged because that's another problem and

21:25

it would take a little while to

21:27

drain away during the spring.

21:29

But no during the wintertime it's just

21:31

a matter of adding things that create

21:33

a good mix keeping it as

21:36

moist as possible and hoping the

21:39

sun will shine and there will be periods of

21:41

activity. Yeah because the microbes need more. Just

21:45

because of the size. The best thing

21:47

with a small heap and it's great because it's a

21:49

small heap is you mix it. A

21:51

big heap is too much to work but a small

21:53

one just get a plastic sheet tip the whole thing

21:55

out onto it, mix it all up, put it all

21:57

back in again. All the extra air and the mix.

22:00

We'll make it heat up again. As Matt

22:02

says, wrap it up with insulation as well.

22:04

But it's amazing. You can get them to

22:06

cook in the middle of winter and then

22:08

they steam. Oh, it's wonderful. Go out there,

22:10

see a steaming heat. Yes, and do you

22:13

ever use the hotbed technique as well? Oh

22:15

yeah. Wherever you can put a

22:17

layer of salt. You can it Bob. Well,

22:19

what about... Your story. Yeah, hotbeds is the

22:21

idea of actually making a hotbed is basically

22:23

a compost seat with a lot of clot

22:25

on top. But I made them by making

22:27

them in car tyres. Right? Which

22:29

is a nice stack. Cut the sides out of

22:31

the car tyres, stack them up. And then the

22:33

top one was a car tyre with just one

22:35

side cut out. So it was full of compost

22:37

and I could lift it off, mix

22:40

the ones up underneath, put them all back together

22:42

and put this one back on top. It worked

22:44

wonderfully. It's certainly a look, isn't it? You

22:46

know, certain types of aesthetic. Any

22:49

compost snow? I was just

22:51

remembering when you were talking about the heat

22:53

when I was on Garden's World and that

22:55

we were doing a piece about the commercial

22:57

composting. So the other extreme

22:59

in terms of size of compost heat.

23:02

And they had me climb right onto the top of the windrow.

23:04

Probably nowadays you wouldn't be allowed to do it because of health

23:06

and safety. I had

23:08

to sit there and in all these things you do more than one

23:10

take. And you can't

23:12

stand up because they wanted you crouching down to

23:15

get the full scale of it. So I was crouching

23:17

down on top of the windrow and I could feel

23:20

it. It was getting hotter and

23:22

hotter. My bottom was getting hotter

23:24

and hotter. And I was

23:26

trying really hard to look as if I wasn't

23:28

getting uncomfortable. And it was winter and then I

23:30

stood up and of course at the end of

23:32

it, the worst thing was I had a wet-skinned

23:34

bottom. And it was

23:37

cold and wet and it brought back

23:39

memories of being a very small child. And

23:42

that is why radio is better than television.

23:46

This is Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4

23:48

and BBC Signs. I'm Kathy Clugston and with

23:50

me on the panel today are Pippa

23:53

Greenwood, Bob Flowerdew and Matt

23:55

Binks. Dry bottoms all. We're

23:57

with an audience of keen gardeners and sarrats.

24:00

not far from Rupplin'sworth in Hertfordshire. Give us

24:02

a cheer audience. One

24:06

of you has our next question.

24:08

Hello, Ursula Garner. Online

24:10

news places are good for the environment but

24:13

they're not much good for the compost heap.

24:15

Apart from a few egg boxes and

24:17

the inside of some loo rolls, not

24:20

much brown goes into our compost. I

24:22

know this isn't ideal but will the

24:24

compost still be worth putting on or

24:27

can I add cardboard and paper to later

24:29

stage? Thanks, Ursula. Well that follows on very

24:31

nicely from our discussion. Not so much brine

24:34

material at the moment, Bob. Well

24:36

you can always collect it, you know. I mean there are

24:38

people who'd be glad for you to come and take things

24:40

away. Cardboard, everyone's got loads of

24:42

cardboard that be done. Especially after Christmas or

24:44

after the presents. However, I wouldn't put it

24:46

all in the compost heap. I would put

24:48

it down around plants and cover it with

24:50

mulch because it actually doubles the value of

24:52

the mulch. Stops the weeds coming up and

24:54

keeps everything rather in place. So I kind

24:56

of find cardboard rather too useful just to

24:58

put straight on the compost heap. The other

25:00

things you can look for is find some

25:03

of your neighbours whose gardens just got a

25:05

little beyond them and say, would you like me

25:07

to brush those leaves up for you? I could

25:09

trim that lawn for you. Just let me let

25:11

me just get the lawn edger out and just

25:13

put a nice neat edge on your lawn. Take

25:15

a foot off all the way around and you've

25:17

got enough material to fill your heap. You just

25:19

need to do the Bob a Job Wigger. Matt,

25:23

as Ashia says, if there isn't enough bromideal for

25:25

one reason or another, the compost isn't going to

25:27

be as good quality. There's too much green in

25:29

there. Yeah, you need a mix. You need a

25:32

balance. So you've got the fast rotting material, which

25:34

is the softer material, softer green material,

25:36

and then you balance that

25:38

out with the woody material

25:40

like prunings, for example, disease-free

25:42

prunings. Or as you were

25:44

mentioning, you can shred

25:47

cardboard. But you'll find

25:50

if you go around and ask people,

25:52

they will always have it. I have

25:54

children and children buy stuff online these

25:56

days, so it's endless amounts

25:59

of cardboard. boxes and packaging.

26:01

We get so much of the

26:03

stuff. And that can be, I

26:05

always sort of tear it up, shred it, sometimes

26:08

put it, as Bob says, as a layer.

26:10

It works really well as a mulch. But

26:12

you're probably one of the few people in

26:15

the world who hasn't got enough cardboard. Go

26:19

and rattle the front doors of next

26:22

door children, grandchildren, and you

26:24

will actually find it. And

26:26

it's really useful to have. But as

26:28

I say, I tend to tear it

26:30

up. And sometimes I will soak it first because it

26:33

makes the soaking easier. So I'll put it on the

26:35

top of the compost heap. I'll give it a little

26:37

bit of a soaking with the watering can because that

26:39

adds moisture to the compost heap. And

26:41

then it makes it easier for tearing up. I

26:43

wouldn't recommend it taking it into the

26:46

bath or the shower with you because it'll make

26:48

it. And as we were saying, Peppa, it's kind of, you know,

26:50

the heap kind of goes dormant really anyway.

26:52

So it can wear it. It slows down dramatically.

26:54

But you know what? I've never put cardboard or

26:57

paper in a compost heap. I

26:59

was brought up that you put plant material

27:01

into compost heaps. I know paper and cardboard

27:03

originate from trees. But frankly, I

27:06

don't particularly want any of the gums and glues

27:08

and printing inks and stuff in my compost.

27:10

And so I can tell you that you

27:12

do not need to be adding cardboard over

27:14

the winter because it works perfectly fine if

27:16

you don't. Thank you.

27:18

There's your answer, Angela. Thank you. Let's

27:21

move along to our next questioner. Liz

27:23

Dolan. Our pot is olive tree

27:25

lost all of its leaves after the cold winter

27:27

last year. Some of the

27:29

leaves have grown back. Should we prune

27:32

it or wait and see if it recovers next year?

27:34

So Liz has brought a picture of

27:36

her tree and you can see the problem very clearly. Could

27:38

you describe it, Matt, for us? Just what you're looking at?

27:41

Well, I'm

27:43

just... Lost for words. When you

27:45

said that it's lost about a

27:47

third of its leaves, I think

27:50

what it's retained about a tenth. So we have

27:52

an olive tree in a pot, in

27:57

a terracotta pot. There is a clear

27:59

stem probably of a... out of a couple of feet.

28:02

The shoots have broken from about

28:04

eight or nine inches down the

28:06

stem, so it's not even there

28:08

at the top. And then just

28:11

making a little bit of effort and

28:13

pushing its way to the top. Oh,

28:16

whoa! Twenty-four, maybe, by the way.

28:19

Yeah, twenty-four, twenty-four, please. But

28:22

that's how Pope springs a turn on that. Well,

28:25

yeah. Just some

28:27

more general evidence of things. One

28:30

thing that I would say to you is

28:32

that if you could have moved your olive

28:35

beforehand into a sheltered spot, even against the

28:37

protection of a wall or even in a

28:39

greenhouse, something like that, would give it that

28:41

added protection. Last winter was particularly bad with

28:44

the damp and the cold.

28:47

If you get your thumbnail and scratch

28:49

the bark and see whether there is

28:51

green underneath, you'll see whether there is

28:53

anything alive. If it's brown and dry,

28:55

then you cut back, cut back. By

28:58

the looks of that, there's not

29:00

much left alive.

29:03

But as you're a gardener

29:05

and an eternal optimist, what

29:07

I would do for this

29:09

winter is just wrap it

29:11

in fleece. If you can move it, as I

29:13

say, into a sheltered spot or a cold greenhouse,

29:15

somewhere where it gets a little bit of protection,

29:18

you may find that it regrows. But the thing to

29:20

do is to go around the branches, scratching

29:23

it with your thumbnail to see if there's any green, anything

29:25

that doesn't show any green, then we'll need

29:27

cutting off. And by a process of, I

29:29

think, probably elimination, you'll be able to make

29:31

that decision whether it's okay or not. The

29:33

other thing to do, I guess, is to

29:36

go back to the main trunk and do

29:38

it on the main trunk. Because if there

29:40

are signs of green on the main trunk,

29:42

then you might find, indeed, that it breaks

29:44

again. But if it's

29:46

brown anywhere around the main trunk,

29:49

then it's probably dead. It's a real shame

29:51

because it's a beautiful shape

29:54

specimen. It was really good. I

29:56

think it's slightly underpotted

29:58

as well. and they need

30:00

to go into something like John and his number

30:02

two or three with about 20%

30:05

added grit. But they do like the

30:07

shelter and the sunshine, they love the

30:09

Mediterranean, I know this is Surratt but

30:11

it's not quite Mediterranean yet. Pippa,

30:14

you're the face of someone who was about to

30:16

deliver very bad news and didn't want to. I've

30:18

also noticed that there appears to be a

30:20

split in the trunk which doesn't bode well,

30:22

and obviously I can't stick my finger in

30:24

it and have a good look here now,

30:27

but it doesn't look good. But I think

30:29

the important thing to think when you're checking

30:32

for life, as Matt said, is if, just

30:34

borrow your hand a minute Matt, Matt's your

30:36

olive tree, I've grabbed him by the elbow,

30:38

I'm now grabbing him by the hand, so

30:41

I'm looking at those extremities and that's where

30:43

his fingertips is where you want to start

30:45

peeling the bark away and just gradually sort

30:47

of 15 centimetres at

30:50

a time work your way in

30:52

towards the trunks, but

30:54

don't start on the middle bit because

30:57

you don't want to make a point of

30:59

entry for disease if it is okay. So

31:01

start on the extremities and the other thing

31:03

I would say is for heaven's sake please

31:05

make sure that drainage is good, whether

31:08

it's for your next olive or for this one

31:10

over winter because one of the biggest killers over

31:13

winter is winter wet rather than cold

31:15

and last year because of the cycle

31:17

of temperatures running up to the cold

31:20

period a lot of plants hadn't got

31:22

into an adequately dormant state to survive

31:24

what was a cold winter but it

31:26

wasn't that cold it was more that

31:28

they just simply weren't ready for it,

31:30

so don't forget that

31:32

winter wet is bad and if drainage

31:34

is at all poor from that container

31:37

you're going to run into trouble anyway, so with

31:39

anything like that I would stick it on pot

31:41

feeder if you don't want to buy those stick

31:43

it on a couple of bricks over winter so

31:45

that the drainage hole and the base is clear

31:48

as well as doing as Matt suggested moving it

31:50

close to the house and getting the fleece out.

31:53

Okay a few things there Liz, fingers crossed for you,

31:55

thank you. Who's next?

31:57

I'm Janice Alder. My neighbours

31:59

have recently... cut down a very

32:01

poorly looking eucalyptus tree. And

32:03

since then I've noticed that the top half of

32:05

my lawn, which is parallel to the

32:08

tree, is much wetter than

32:10

the rest of my lawn. And

32:12

I imagine that that is the result

32:14

of the tree being cut down. Am

32:17

I right in thinking that that

32:20

might eventually return to normal or do I

32:22

need to be doing some rectification

32:24

of the lawn? That's

32:26

an interesting one, isn't it? Could this be the reason,

32:28

Bob, for the wet patch? Yeah,

32:31

but it's a big tree. We'll take a

32:33

lot of rain, it hits the tree, falls

32:35

and doesn't reach a garden. It didn't reach

32:37

over the garden. Okay. But they're very dirty,

32:39

aren't they? Next I was gonna say they

32:41

are very thirsty, so it would have been

32:43

taking a lot of water all the time.

32:45

However, when you say it's been cut down,

32:48

has it been grubbed out or has it just

32:50

been cut back? It's been cut down and ground

32:52

out. So there

32:54

shouldn't be any roots left. Okay, so it's not

32:57

going to recover, so therefore it won't be sucking

32:59

water again. So it could be that you've now

33:01

got more water there. Most of

33:03

the year, it was shorter water, so I

33:05

wouldn't worry too much about it there. It's

33:08

not a major problem except when I walk down the

33:10

garden, I get the back of my legs get so

33:12

dirty. You get that way. Putting

33:14

in drainage could be expensive and hard

33:16

work. I think I'll just leave it

33:19

for a while and see what happens because it may be

33:21

that it'll just settle down. It

33:23

could be something else has happened entirely. While they

33:25

were grubbing out, they could have gone through water

33:27

mains and you've actually got water leaking into the...

33:30

I mean, there's all sorts of things that could have

33:32

happened. That was

33:34

my first thought and my husband said, absolutely

33:36

not, there's no drainage running down the garden.

33:39

But that was my thought. But it's maybe

33:41

worth just waiting and seeing. Yes, I

33:43

think it probably will gradually even itself

33:45

out because I'm convinced it was the

33:48

eucalyptus. I mean, any tree can have

33:50

that effect, but particularly something that's well

33:52

known for being thirsty. I mean, you

33:54

think about it, you get sometimes a

33:56

problem with the building, the opposite of

33:59

subsiding. you get what's called heave when

34:02

somebody removes a tree that's quite close

34:04

to a building. And then

34:06

the soil level literally, because

34:09

it's wetter, starts to rise and you

34:11

can actually get building movements. So I'm

34:13

not saying that's what's happening now, but

34:15

trees are immensely powerful things in a

34:18

situation like this. So I'm

34:20

sure that's what it was, but I

34:22

can't see why, given a little bit

34:24

of time, everything won't start to even

34:26

out because water doesn't stay in one

34:29

place if it's on a similar level and

34:31

not somewhere else forever. It tends to

34:33

even itself out. So a little bit

34:35

of patience and meanwhile, wear your wellies.

34:38

And then the other thing, the other thing,

34:40

Pippa, along the similar lines is that it

34:43

was extremely wet last year as well. So

34:45

when the tree was removed, the weather was

34:47

extreme. So any water

34:49

that it was taking away would have a real impact.

34:51

And of course, because so much was coming down, it

34:53

was going to quite quickly and

34:55

easily fill the space. So I think you're

34:58

absolutely right on that one. Thank you.

35:00

Thank you. Who's next, please?

35:04

My name is David Turner, Raspberry

35:06

Kains. When and

35:08

how do you prune summer

35:10

and autumn Raspberry Kains? And

35:13

what is the productive life of the

35:15

Kains? Well,

35:17

David, there are theoretically summer and

35:20

autumn fruities, but basically they're

35:22

very similar. And the method of pruning

35:24

determines when they fruit. Right now, you

35:26

cut everything down to the ground just

35:28

the stubs, the new Kains that come

35:30

up will fruit in the autumn. If

35:33

you leave them, they will fruit the

35:35

following summer. So it's actually the

35:37

same plant almost. Some are more prone to

35:39

autumn fruiting and some are more prone to

35:41

summer fruiting. That's why they are sold as

35:43

that. But really, it's the pruning method. So

35:46

if you want autumn fruits, cut everything to

35:48

the ground right now, middle

35:50

of winter. If you want summer fruits,

35:52

then you need to leave the Kains

35:54

that grew over the previous year. You

35:57

need to thin them, so that at least

35:59

a hand... and width

36:01

apart even more because a bit

36:03

more space is better. Leave

36:05

the canes that grew last year and didn't fruit,

36:09

cut out all the ones that fruited. The ones

36:11

that you've left will fruit this summer. But

36:13

really it doesn't make much difference which ones

36:15

you do, just when they will actually come.

36:18

And what about longevity, which David was wondering about

36:20

how long, how much life do we

36:22

get over these canes? I think a lot depends on the

36:24

growing conditions. So if you've got,

36:26

let's say, I have a heavy

36:28

very alkaline soil, so not raspberries

36:30

favourite. I only therefore can grow

36:32

water raspberries which do much better

36:35

in those conditions than summer

36:37

fruities do. But even then they're up

36:39

against it. Then you add the occasional invasion of

36:41

the deer, which cut them down when

36:43

they didn't want to be cut down. And

36:45

mine are up against it. So I

36:48

probably don't get as much life out of them as some

36:50

people might. But usually what

36:52

finishes them off is when you get a

36:54

virus infection. And there's no

36:56

knowing when that's going to arise. But

36:59

generally speaking, younger canes seem better able

37:01

to put up with a bit of

37:03

virus and still carry on

37:05

fruiting. It's when they get a little bit older.

37:08

And I'd say most people probably replace them

37:10

in theory every sort of eight or ten

37:12

years. But so much depends

37:14

on things that are totally beyond your

37:17

control. As it always is. Exactly,

37:19

it's gardening. The joy of gardening. Thank

37:21

you so much David. Let's put in

37:23

one last question. Hello, my

37:25

name is Paula Hamilton. I'm an

37:28

artist as well as a very

37:30

keen gardener. And I love the

37:32

colours and shapes of plants and

37:34

flowers. Consequently much of the

37:36

work that I do as an artist

37:38

involves these things. Do any

37:40

of the panel paint? And if they

37:42

do, what subjects most interest them? Mmm,

37:45

an interesting question. Have we only painted among

37:48

us? Bob Flourgy. I don't paint

37:50

anymore. I used to do more

37:52

pastels in painting. And I love

37:54

pastel evening scenes. Norfolk of

37:56

course, a lot of sky, a lot

37:58

of horizon. Very similar. and

40:01

during my three months treatment that I'm

40:03

due to have, I'm

40:05

actually going to keep a color diary.

40:07

So I'm creating, I'm taking

40:10

three canvases, so it's going to be a trick

40:12

tick, one section for each

40:14

month. I'm going to divide those into

40:16

30 sections. I've got five

40:18

different colors of paint that

40:20

will reflect my likely moods,

40:23

and I'm going to go through and paint

40:25

that. Lovely idea. Each day. You

40:27

don't have to draw the most

40:30

beautiful in the exquisite flower or

40:32

paint like Cedric Morris used to,

40:34

the Irish is, but

40:37

you can express color schemes and

40:39

you can express yourself through art.

40:41

And I've just thought, blow it, I am

40:43

going to do this. And I think it's

40:46

the same with your garden. You know, your

40:48

garden is your piece of self-expression, the colors

40:50

you want to put together, the textures you

40:52

want to put together, and the garden is

40:54

your piece of art. So I've suddenly discovered

40:56

that in actual fact, every

40:58

single gardener who creates a garden

41:01

is creating a wonderful piece of

41:03

art that will inspire not just

41:06

themselves, but those around them. Here,

41:08

here. Ooh. Thank

41:17

you so much. Thank you panel for

41:19

always inspiring us in creative ways every

41:21

single week. That is all we

41:23

have time for on this visit to Sarratt

41:25

in Hertfordshire. Thanks so much to everyone at

41:27

Sarratt Horticultural Society and the Village Hall for

41:30

looking after us. Next week, Peter

41:32

Gibbs will be in the chair for the first GQT

41:34

of 2024 from

41:36

Sheffield Botanical Gardens. In

41:38

the meantime, if you have any questions

41:41

or comments, do email gqt at bbc.co.uk.

41:44

And don't forget there's always a list of the plants

41:46

mentioned today on the GQT pages

41:48

of the Radio 4 website. For

41:51

me, Kathy Clugston and the panel, Matt Biggs,

41:53

Pippa Greenwood and Bob Flaardew, and all the

41:55

team, it's goodbye and happy new year. Bye.