Gardening with the RHS

If you’re going away this summer and are worried about your garden RHS Chief Horticulturist Guy Barter shares some top hacks for ensuring your plants survive the heatwaves while you’re away. But if you’re staying at home and feel inspired to give your garden a revamp for all those summer BBQs, RHS Horticultural Advisor Nick Turrell explains what you can still plant in high summer for maximum impact. If you’re entertaining children this summer – or you’re still full of wonder for the natural world – David Wembridge from The People's Trust for Endangered Species’ talks about a nationwide search for the gentle giants - stag beetles. And finally, the jobs – we’ll share key things you can do in the next week in the garden.

Host: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Guy Barter, Nick Turrell, David Wembridge

Producers: Dan Cocker, Poppy Waring

Links:

PTES the Great Stag Beetle Hunt

Info on powdery mildew

Drought resistant gardening

The team head to North Norfolk to fill their boots with inspiration from the show gardens, floral exhibits, specialist growers, and innovative designs on display at RHS Sandringham Flower Show. Gareth Richards speaks with Catherine MacDonald, who designed The RHS Royal Legacy Garden in collaboration with King Charles III, with a special focus on climate resilient trees. Jenny Laville catches up with designers Joe and Laura Carey in their playful Pollywiggle Garden, designed for amphibians. And producers Poppy and Dan glean some top tips from the growers and nurseries in the Floral Marquee.

Hosts: Gareth Richards, Jenny Laville

Contributors: Catherine MacDonald, Laura Carey, Joe Carey, John Cullen, Louise Batchelor, David Reynolds, Paul Dibley, Dan Cocker, Poppy Waring

Links:

RHS Sandringham Flower Show

Plants:

Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Rubylace' Gleditsia triacanthos 'Rubylace' | thorny locust 'Rubylace'

Aeonium ‘Pink Witch’ Aeonium 'Pink Witch' (v)

Rosemary-leaf willow - Salix rosmarinifolia Salix rosmarinifolia L. | rosemary-leaved willow

Achillea ptarmica ‘Peter Cottontail’ Achillea ptarmica 'Peter Cottontail'PBR | sneezewort 'Peter Cottontail'

It’s time to recuperate and relish one of the best times in the gardening calendar. Taking inspiration from some of the Pocket Planting gardens at RHS Badminton Flower Show, we’re celebrating plants for pollinators as part of Bees’ Needs Week. Ahead of an elm-themed exhibit at the Sandringham Flower Show next week Jenny Laville meets David Shreeve MBE, who in the late 1970s arranged for the first disease resistant elm cultivars to be brought to the UK. And RHS Wisley’s Liz Mooney spills the beans on edimentals - what are they and how do they benefit us?

Host: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Liz Mooney, Jenny Laville, David Shreeve MBE, Alison Johnston, Darren Gillingham, Natalya Scott, Lucie Dannemann-Scott, Michael Leech, Gavin Moth

Links:

RHS Sandringham Flower Show

Explore the RHS Badminton pocket planting gardens

If you have a question you’d like answered on the podcast, write in to us at podcasts@rhs.org.uk

Join us at the inaugural RHS Flower Show at Badminton in Gloucestershire! It’s a brand-new addition to the gardening calendar, the next in a massive year of RHS events that celebrate the greatest shows in earth, and Gardening with the RHS is here to take listeners on a journey through some of the show’s highlights. Size matters, and we speak with renowned designer Tom Stuart-Smith about one of his most ambitious undertakings ever: designing and building the biggest show garden in the history of the RHS. We learn about another RHS first, the introduction of the Young Designer Gardens, giving early-career designers a major national platform. Plus, we meet the world’s leading growers and nursery experts exhibiting at Badminton, for some take-home tips and vegetal inspiration.

Host: Gareth Richards & Melissa Mabbitt

Contributors: Tom Stuart-Smith, RHS Young Designers Abigail Stoyle, Sophie Sturgeon, Sophie Leo,

And from the Floral Marquee: Rachel from The Tetbury Flower Company, Lee from sedum specialist Plants Let's Grow, Colin from Roualeyn Fuchsias, Luke from D'Arcy & Everest

This week we’re recovering from extreme heat to get back to what we love best: celebrating the joy of plants, how to grow them, and some tips for doing more in our gardens. Guy Barter emerges from the heat dome with some lessons learned from inside the furnace, and our science editor Olivia Drake shares an RHS Wildlife Wonder Plant for July that’s a hit with pollinators and people - bronze fennel. Horticulturist Oliver Ongley looks after the rose garden at RHS Garden Wisley, and he offers on successfully growing roses at home, with a nod to RHS Garden Rosemoor’s current Festival of Roses.

Host: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Guy Barter, Olivia Drake, Oliver Ongley