Loving Your Garden - Better Gardening Podcast

Episode

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  Making The Most of Your Autumn Garden - with John Stirland 23.09.2026 29mnt

  Autumn has arrived - and there’s plenty to be getting on with in the garden. Rod Whiting is joined by Loving Your Garden and Boom Radio’s resident horticulturist John Stirland for a practical guide to making the most of this special time of year. They look at how to help lawns recover after a long, hot summer, why now is such a good time for sowing grass seed, which spring bulbs should be planted now, and which are better left until later - plus autumn care for roses, climbers and shrubs. Joh...
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  Helping Wildlife Thrive in Your Garden - With Mary Porter 26.08.2026 24mnt

  How can gardeners make a real difference for wildlife? Rod Whiting is joined by Boom Radio’s nature expert Mary Porter and resident horticulturist John Stirland to explore simple, practical ways to turn your garden into a haven for birds, bees, butterflies, hedgehogs, and countless other creatures. Following one of the hottest, driest summers in recent years, they discuss how wildlife is adapting, the plants that provide food when it’s needed most, why ponds are such valuable habitats, and ho...
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  Adapting Your Garden for a Changing Climate - With Alison Marsden 30.07.2026 27mnt

  Hotter summers, wetter winters and increasingly unpredictable weather are changing the way we garden. So how should we adapt? Horticulturist Alison Marsden, who divides her time between Britain and a Mediterranean garden in France, joins Rod Whiting and resident expert John Stirland to explore practical ways of making our gardens more resilient. They discuss healthier soils, smarter planting, water management, Mediterranean-inspired ideas that work in Britain, and how to create gard...
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  The Productive Summer Garden: Growing More Food with Stephanie Hafferty 24.06.2026 36mnt

  Food prices may be rising, but growing your own needn’t be difficult. In this episode of the Loving Your Garden podcast, Rod Whiting and horticulturist John Stirland are joined by kitchen gardener and food writer Stephanie Hafferty, author of The Productive Garden. Stephanie shares her advice on getting started with growing your own food, the easiest crops for beginners, why mistakes are part of the learning process, and how to make the most of even the smallest growing spaces. The discussion...
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  Dahlias Made Simple: Growing, Feeding, Cutting and Storing with Kim O'Brien 23.05.2026 27mnt

  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...
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  A Journey through a Garden Designer’s Own Garden – with David Stevens 23.04.2026 28mnt

  Take a walk through the personal garden of multi-award-winning designer David Stevens. In this episode of Loving Your Garden, I’m joined by Boom Radio’s gardening expert John Stirland as we explore multi-award-winning designer David Stevens' own 100-foot suburban garden — a space full of ideas, inspiration, and practical lessons for gardeners of all levels. From clever use of space and planting for year-round interest, to working with soil, structure, and light, David shares how he brings tog...
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  Before You Plant Anything This Spring... 11.03.2026 32mnt

  ...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...
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  What Experienced Gardeners Wish They'd Known Sooner With David Stevens 25.12.2025 30mnt

  In this special seasonal edition of the Loving Your Garden podcast, John Stirland and I sit down to reflect on the gardening year just gone – and look ahead to what comes next. As is customary at Christmas, we're joined by the renowned garden designer David Stevens (22 Chelsea medals, including 11 Golds) for a relaxed, thoughtful conversation about how gardens evolve over time – through trial and error, changing seasons, and growing confidence. From drought and erratic weather to winter int...
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  Growing Wildflowers The Easy Way - With Dr Ana Attlee 09.11.2025 22mnt

  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...
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  Summer's Done - Autumn's Here Early! 22.08.2025 22mnt

  It's been an interesting Summer! It started with drought, then the rains came, and as the nights begin to draw in, it's turned unseasonably cool. Signs of Autumn are already showing, certainly in my East Midlands garden (UK). After a relatively quiet spell, the transition to Autumn is a busy time for gardeners and our resident horticulturist, John Stirland, suggests some jobs to consider, such as creating a compost pile and scarifying the lawn. Twenty minutes in John's company is always an ed...
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  Hot Tips for Cool Gardens - With Multi-Award Winning Designer David Stevens 22.06.2025 34mnt

  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...
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  Lush Lawns & Palm Trees - In Cheshire! With Steve Fives 18.05.2025 32mnt

  This might just be our best episode yet from LYG HQ! Steve Fives is officially Loving Your Garden’s most engaging member – with more views, comments, and conversations than anyone else in the group… including me, and I run the place! Steve’s garden is something you have to see to believe, so if you’d rather watch this episode, head over to our YouTube channel: Watch on YouTube But don’t go just yet – Steve’s also a brilliant speaker, and this conversation on creating lawn envy is well worth a...
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  Spring Into Action: Gardening Tips with John Stirland & Martin Fish (Pt 2) 20.04.2025 32mnt

  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. ...
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  Spring Into Action: Gardening Tips with John Stirland & Martin Fish (Pt 1) 09.04.2025 27mnt

  The new gardening year is well underway, and our Loving Your Garden Facebook group is bursting with colourful spring blooms and a real sense of excitement as our gardens awaken from their winter slumber. So, what better time to get stuck into those all-important early-season jobs? To help us on our way, we’ve called on two seasoned pros — our resident horticulturist John Stirland and his long-time friend, RHS judge and fellow horticulturist Martin Fish, who many will remember as John’s TV c...
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  Growing Cut Flowers With Roz Chandler 18.01.2025 27mnt

  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...
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  Better Gardening tips in 2025...With Two Badly Disguised Santas 01.01.2025 21mnt

  It's become a thing for multi-award-winning garden designer David Stevens to drop in over Christmas with our resident horticulturist John Stirland over a glass of sherry for a gardening chinwag. The result is always educational as these two stalwarts trade wisdom and a few laughs. The wisdom includes suggestions for Winter interest in an all-year-round garden, some garden design tips, a discussion about gifts for the gardener who has everything, and the one garden tool that neither of o...
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  Eight Steps To Your Dream Garden With David Stevens 27.08.2024 14mnt

  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...
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  Is Bamboo REALLY The Plant From Hell? 11.08.2024 28mnt

  Recent press reports would have you believe Bamboo is the devil incarnate but does it deserve its bad reputation? While it's certainly true some varieties can be highly destructive, are gardeners right to shun it at all costs? Who better to ask than Tony Churley who's been growing varieties of Bamboo for the best part of forty years? Both John Stirland and I have had bad experiences with Bamboo so we didn't give Tony a free ride. Still, he puts up some strong arguments for the plant, how to b...
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  John Stirland On Why Those New Plants May Not Be Thriving, Plus What The National Garden Scheme Can Do For You 02.07.2024 32mnt

  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...
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  The Secrets And Pleasures of Herbaceous Perennials With Rosy Hardy 18.04.2024 40mnt

  It's always a pleasure and a privilege to be in the company of one of the UK's foremost plantswomen, Rosy Hardy. With countless RHS gold medals to her name, Rosy has become a leading authority on Herbaceous Perennials and this is pure gold for any gardener that is looking for a new dimension to their garden. If you're in a rush, go to our chapter page and choose your topic of interest but to be honest, you'd be better staying for the whole conversation to catch every last morsel o...