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RHS Bridgewater: Postbag Edition

Peter Gibbs and the panel are at RHS Bridgewater answering your gardening questions.

Peter Gibbs and the panel are at the newly opened RHS Bridgewater answering your gardening questions. Joining him this week are regular panellists Matthew Wilson, Pippa Greenwood and Matthew Pottage, along with Curator Marcus Chilton-Jones and Sylvia Travers, Team Leader of the Inner Walled Garden. Together, they answer your questions on pruning plum trees, unhappy rhododendrons and strange additions to the compost heap.

Producer - Daniel Cocker
Assistant Producer - Jemima Rathbone

A Somethin' Else production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio 4

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42 minutes

Plant List

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

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Q – I planted Allium bulbs for the first time this year and was delighted to see some lovely bulbs developing over the last few weeks. However, to my utter dismay, I have come out to the garden today to find that all the buds have disappeared. Do you have any idea what might have done this, and what I can do to prevent it from happening next year?

(4 minute, 51 seconds)

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Q – I planted lots of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in the Autumn which flowered very nicely this Spring. Now, the leaves don’t seem to be dying back that much and I have summer bedding plants arriving and ready to be planted in the same borders soon. What’s the best way to remove the leaves if I can’t wait for them to die back?

(7 minutes, 25 seconds)

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Q – I have a west facing brick wall. I’d really love to cover it with climbing plants that will give good scent throughout the year, as well as look good.

(10 minutes, 16 seconds)

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Marcus –

Lonicera periclymenum (Honeysuckle) 'Graham Thomas'

Trachelospermum jasminoides

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Matthew Pottage –

Jasminum polyanthum

Wisteria frutescens 'Longwood purple'

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Q – My garden has over the years become overrun with mare's-tail. For the mare’s-tail in the borders, would a deep blanket, such as wood bark, help suppress the growth?

(13 minutes 38 seconds)

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Q – The leaves on my runner beans are curled up. Please could you tell me why, and suggest a remedy if one exists?

(19 minutes 20 seconds)

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Q – My fennel seeds germinate but my plants rarely grow to a size that merits eating. Imagine my surprise to see all of those plants survived the winter, and I have clumps of fennel growing and appearing to grow on quite nicely. What should I do next?Ìý

(20 minutes, 43 seconds)

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Q – It seems that Spring has never been so cold for so long. Will there be enough insects to pollinate, and will there be fewer fruits and veg?

(22 minutes, 12 seconds)

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Q – Last year, I only got five edible plums off my Victoria plum tree. The year before it was awash with fruit and I want to avoid this pattern again. Should I thin the tree now, or should I wait to see if they mature into half size?

(25 minutes, 11 seconds)

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Matthew Wilson –

Prunus domestica ‼«±è²¹±ô’

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Chinese Garden

(29 minutes, 35 seconds)

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Acers

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Q – My rhododendrons are looking really sad and neither has flowered. Is there any hope for them given the inadequate soil conditions?

(32 minutes, 37 seconds)

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Q – I have large swathes of Phlox paniculata ‘Franz Schubert’. Each Spring, when they start to shoot, the growth is stunted and deformed – eventually the plants outgrow this to some extent, but never reach their potential. What do the panel think is the problem?

(35 minutes, 20 seconds)

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Q – Will the feathers from an old pillow biodegrade in my compost heap? What’s the strangest thing you’ve put in with your compost?

(37 minutes, 57 seconds)

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