BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast

Show Garden season is nearing, and BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and designer Arit Anderson takes us behind the scenes of creating a RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden that blends innovation, teamwork and deeply personal storytelling. From the early idea to the intense 18‑day build, she reveals the pressure, passion and people behind a purpose‑led garden inspired by Parkinson’s UK, and what it really takes to bring a show garden to life.

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Harden off and plant out tender seedlings, divide perennials for stronger growth (and free plants), and create show-stopping summer pots and hanging baskets.

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Discover the joy in growing, whatever space you have. With beginner‑friendly gardening advice, small‑space growing ideas, and nature‑led projects for every season, gardener and author Amy Chapman shows how gardening can boost wellbeing, reduce anxiety, and reconnect you with nature. Perfect for new gardeners, urban growers, and anyone who believes joy is a gardening skill.

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Flower farmer and florist Georgie Newbery explores the beauty and impact of growing seasonal, British-grown flowers, sharing practical advice, personal stories, and a powerful philosophy around sustainability, seed sovereignty, and gardening in harmony with nature. Whether you’re a seasoned grower or just flower-curious, enjoy an inspiring conversation about cultivating flowers that nourish both people and the planet.

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Early May in the garden tasks to set you up for a brilliant summer harvest - get ruthless with weeds, squeeze in your last maincrop potatoes, and mulch now to lock in moisture.

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Grower and author Anna Greenland explores how even the smallest spaces can produce beautiful, flavour packed food through thoughtful plant choices, healthy soil, and a deeper understanding of nature. Drawing on her experience working with chefs and gardens of all scales, she shares practical advice on growing edibles, nurturing living soil, and reconnecting with the rhythms of the seasons; reflecting on resilience, wellbeing, and how gardening can ground and nourish us in uncertain times.

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 Heavy clay, deep shade, a sun scorched patch of ground where nothing seems to flourish. It's easy to see these as problems, but sometimes the very thing you are battling is the key to a garden that feels distinctive, resilient, and entirely your own. Gardener, TV presenter and author Toby Buckland, explores how to unlock the potential of your plot by embracing its character and all its flaws. From reading your space properly, spotting opportunities where others see obstacles, and choosing plants that celebrate your conditions rather than suffering through them, discover how to create the garden that works for you.

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Practical May gardening - sow seeds at the perfect moment, get your lawn looking sharper with less fuss, and stake perennials early to stop the dreaded ‘great flop’ before summer hits.

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BBC Newsround presenter De Graft Mensah reflects on his “baptism of fire” into allotment growing, sharing honest lessons from successes, failures and the joy of community gardening. He discusses how small, imperfect spaces can reconnect us with food, nature and biodiversity, and explains why the Make a Metre Matter campaign proves that even a single square metre can make a meaningful difference for people and the planet.

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Join Dr Hayley Jones, principal entomologist at RHS Wisley, to find out more about why insects and other invertebrates are vital to ecosystems. Discover the garden-focused collection, how it is stored, how it has evolved since it was started in 1911 and the importance of tracking and reporting new or regulated pests. A UK-wide 2020 Slugs Count project created a preserved slug collection and informed advice on slug identification, non-chemical control, and the beneficial roles they play in our gardens.

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You might not think it’s possible for a vegetable to be trendy, but kale undoubtedly is, and has been for some time. It’s become the poster child of whole food-based, healthy eating, and with good reason, it’s a genuine super food.

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 Discover how a two-acre former service area in central London has been reimagined into a new, tranquil, richly planted climate-resilient garden in memory of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Through thoughtful design, royal associations and a commitment to long-term sustainability and biodiversity, Head of Horticulture and Landscape Strategies at the Royal Parks Matthew Pottage reveals the horticultural vision of the planting scheme and innovative design.

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 Whether you are starting from scratch or rethinking the gardening space you already have, what garden design principles can help you on your way to creating the garden you've always wanted, and what should you avoid? Award-winning garden designer Pollyanna Wilkinson will discuss the dos and don'ts of garden design from mistakes people make time and time again to the fundamentals of garden design that can really make a garden work.

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Colourful and nutritious, packed with vitamins and minerals, beetroot is an easy vegetable to grow. With both the round root and green leaves being edible, beetroot taste delicious and look great, and you can enjoy beetroot almost year-round.

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Discover Down House in Kent where Charles Darwin lived for 40 years and carried out world-changing research in his domestic family garden. This re-created Victorian garden includes an historic glasshouse of carnivorous plants, kitchen garden and surrounding meadows that supported Darwin’s accessible experiments connecting the site today to biodiversity, native planting, organic gardening and wildlife-friendly habitats. Visit the Down House in the BBC Gardeners' World 2-4-1 gardens scheme.

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Create year-round garden interest by thinking beyond a plant list. BBC Gardeners' World presenter, Arit Anderson, suggests focusing on the seasons, your garden size, the light and shade patterns, structure and wildlife too.

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Courgettes will thrive if you give them what they need and reward you with lots – sometimes maybe too many – delicious fruits for you to enjoy.

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Join plantsman and BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Jamie Butterworth to discover how to create inspiring, accessible plant combinations that add structure, seasonal interest, and biodiversity Using his “plant recipe” approach to keep designs straightforward with repeated plants and including trees or clipped shrubs for structure, Jamie's key advice for beginners is to get the soil right by adding organic matter and keep gardening joyful.

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Frances Tophill breaks down how beginners can start gardening anywhere by building healthy soil, choosing the right pots and compost blends, and keeping container plants well-fed. Discover best practice seed‑sowing techniques, easy bulbs, essential tools, and the best places to find trustworthy gardening guidance.

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Plant cosmos in beds, borders and containers to create a cohesive, wildflower meadow effect around the garden

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Sarah Raven shares the secrets of her success to growing cut flowers. With advice for how you can fill your home with gorgeous bouquets of cut flowers year-round, to get started in small gardening spaces and to ensure your cut flower arrangements last well and look amazing.

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Pots and containers add interest, height, colour, and even that ‘wow’ factor, no matter what size your garden or growing space. Join gardener and author Arthur Parkinson who reveals tips and advice for how to start, what to plant, and how to maintain your garden pots to create gorgeous year-round interest and encourage pollinators too.

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Squash are an easy and bountiful vegetable producing dramatic plants and handsome, delicious fruits. Each variety is a little bit different and they keep for ages and ages into the winter.

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 Tomatoes, they tempt us. Every spring we pour over seed packets, debate varieties, and picture in our minds trusses of fruit so heavy, they practically bow the stems. Author Holly Farrell reveals what really matters when it comes to tomatoes, the choices and pitfalls, and the surprising bit of know-how behind every fantastic crop of tomatoes.

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Reconnect with the natural world and the turning of the seasons this growing year with Almanac author Lia Leendertz. Discover seasonal gardening advice linked to nature’s rhythm and the myriad things we can look forward to over the coming months.

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If you want a plant that’ll give you months and months of vibrant, colourful blooms, that makes a great, long-lasting cut flower, and is easy to grow from seed, look no further than zinnias.

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Adam Frost lets you know how to keep your garden colourful year-round despite unpredictable weather. He shares why plant diversity is key and they explore: how climate change is reshaping the way we garden, why good soil matters more than predictable weather, and how leaving seed heads and untidy borders can attract wildlife and extend seasonal interest. Adam also hints at plans for his next garden — one built to last for generations.

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Step into the mystical forest of Hamnet to explore the plants chosen for the film and the powerful meanings they hold with Dr Kim Walker, medical herbalist, director of Betonica School of Herbal Medicine. As herbal consultant, Kim worked closely with director Chloe Zhao and actor Jessie Buckley, where a deep connection to land and plant lore creates a distinctive atmosphere, blending folklore, medicine, and emotional symbolism. And discover how you can grow your own Hamnet-inspired herb garden.

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If you’re after a reliable, rewarding flower to grow from seed, sunflowers are hard to beat. The seeds are big enough for even the tiniest hands to handle, so they’re perfect for getting children involved.

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Monty explains why plants that climb are so valuable for our gardens to boost the flower display and for supporting garden wildlife.

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Known to many for her love of baking, Dame Mary Berry claims in another life she ‘may have been a gardener’. From spending time in the garden as a child to enjoying gardens she’s created over the years, Mary shares her love of gardening through the seasons, and the importance of connecting to nature for wellbeing. With top gardening tips, we’ll also discover her favourite plants, the people and gardens that have influenced her and how some energetic weeding is good for the soul.

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Tall and elegant, growing on upright spikes lined with individual flowers, these delicate yet regal floral towers can bring a fairytale look to a flower border.

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From how to begin gardening, growing with the seasons, creating months of floral colour in borders and pots, and discovering successful plant combinations, we’ll also give your garden year-round interest, unlock the potential of your plot, give advice for what to grow in small spaces, plant for pollinators, nurture the land we grow on, find the joy in gardening, and more.

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Start your gardening year with growing inspiration in the Spring Conversations podcast from BBC Gardeners' World Magazine and hear from the UK’s most loved and well-respected gardening experts.From how to begin gardening, growing with the seasons, creating months of floral colour in borders and pots, and discovering successful plant combinations, we’ll also give your garden year-round interest, unlock the potential of your plot, give advice for what to grow in small spaces, plant for pollinators, nurture the land we grow on, find the joy in gardening, and more.Enjoy friendly gardening chat and informative discussion with the magazine team, perfect for everyone who loves gardening. With new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts, and never miss an episode.

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This time of year, the last thing many of us think about doing is immersing in cold water outside, but cold, open water can calm the mind, strengthen the body, and reconnect us with nature, boosting mental clarity, mood and resilience. No stranger to wild swimming is cold water swimming expert, open water coach, and wild swimming author Alice Goodridge, based in the Scottish Highlands.

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Dainty and beautiful, Daucus carota is an ornamental variety of wild carrot that produces flowing airy flower clusters. The flowers add interest to a border, vegetable patch or meadow-style area and can encourage biodiversity to your garden.

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Pioneering scheme transforms mental health care in Bradford. The NHS Trust is using projects including allotment visits, canal-side walks and VR headsets showing footage of the local moors, as part of its treatment for patients suffering from a range of mental health problems. Practionioner Cathy Schofield shares how this could become the future of NHS mental health care.

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 Connecting with nature and gardening are proven ways to benefit our health and wellbeing. Support for people to engage in nature-based interventions is also on the rise, highlighting the vital work that a burgeoning collective of community gardens and community gardeners are doing. Therapeutic gardener at RHS Bridgewater, Salford, Ozichi Brewster talks about the healing power of nature and gardening, and how a rise in social prescribing is helping a range of health and wellbeing issues.

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If you haven’t heard of Ratibida before, it’s also known as the Prairie coneflower. A plant that thrives in dry conditions, it's happy growing in many planting locations from a cottage or informal garden to a gravel garden, in prairie planting, and in flower borders and beds, as well as to grow for a cut flower.

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Creating green spaces for our cities and community gardens for residents are ways to bring pockets of nature into our urban landscapes. By strengthening social ties, they bring neighbours together, foster a sense of belonging, and create supportive, multicultural networks, transforming neighbourhoods and empowering residents to reshape the way cities think about green space. Naveep Deol, trustee of the National Park City Foundation and chair of the London National Park City, is a passionate advocate for greener cities, the community gardening movement, and how these shared green spaces can act as small sanctuaries that nurture both personal and community health.

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As we look for ways to spend more time in nature, how can we build a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the natural world? What does it mean to connect with nature, why does it matter and how have we drifted away from it? Chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper is one of the UK’s most influential environmental thinkers and campaigners. Combining scientific insight, policy expertise, and a passion for the natural world, he'll discuss how reconnecting can change not just the way we live, but the world we’re shaping for generations to come.

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If you wish to grow chillis this year, it’s important to get started early in the season and sow in the first few months of the year. Chillis need a long and warm growing season, and by starting them early - from January to March - you’ll give them the time they need to grow, flower, and ripen their fruits fully.

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Two-year study reveals the startling impact that playing in nature has on children's immune systems, and their likelihood of developing allergies and diseases such as asthma and diabetes. Researcher Marja Roslund talks about the dramatic changes they measured in children's ability to fight off illnesses and the reduction in harmful bacteria found in their gut, after they rewilded the children's daycare centres, bringing in soil, plants and even a section of forest floor. She also explains the causal link between the explosion in allergies and conditions such as asthma and diabetes, and the changes we can make to make a difference.

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 We all know deep in our bones that gardening is good for us, but increasingly this is no longer a thing we just have to have faith in. The scientific evidence is mounting up that gardening can have transformative effects for our minds and bodies, helping us to make us fitter, less stressed and happier to boot. GP, Therapeutic Horticulture Advocate and Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme Dr. Richard Claxton is at the forefront of this new scientific approach to gardening and health.

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Lettuce is the backbone of every good salad. It’s also one of the most popular crops to grow, because it’s easy and quick, and thanks to its size, can be grown pretty much anywhere – from the veg plot to pots on a balcony or windowsill.

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In this episode, we speak to Melissa Simpson, Head of Horticulture for The King’s Foundation, His Majesty’s nature and sustainability charity. She reveals how they implement His Majesty’s Harmony philosophy at his gardens at Highgrove, Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey. Melissa shares how his ideals inform how the gardens and wildlife are managed, and how it impacts the people who work at and visit the gardens. Plus, she shares clever organic tricks we can all adopt.

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 We talk a lot about healthy soil, mulching it, feeding it, protecting it, but what if the health of our soil isn't just about thriving soil organisms and thriving plants, but thriving people too? Nutritionist Sam Ratanji delves into the remarkable parallels between the soil microbiome and our own bodies.Exploring how soil life affects flavour nutrition and even elements of our own wellbeing and uncover the small changes that every gardener can make to support richer soil and richer health too.

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Large loud white and grey bird with a sharp yellow beak and the confidence of someone who owns the entire coastline. Sharp minded messy comedic and fearless.

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Menopause expert Dr Nadira Awal shares how to alleviate menopause symptoms such as brain fog, sleepless nights, joint pain and anxiety, using gardening. She also reveals why daily exposure to daylight is so crucial for menopausal women and avoiding broken bones later in life. Plus how handling soil can act as a natural antidepressant.

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Drawing on her love of growing vegetables, edibles and herbs, join Frances as she talks about some of her favourite plants for teas, tinctures and balms. Discover when and how to harvest plants for health and wellbeing as well as the joy of sharing this process with others.

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