As we approach International Dawn Chorus Day this Sunday (3rd May), we've decided to dedicate an entire episode of the podcast to our feathered friends. We meet the RSPB's Adrian Thomas, who orchestrated a top 40-charting single composed entirely of birdsong; RHS wildlife guru Helen Bostock offers advice on how to make your garden bird-friendly, and Dr John Grimshaw of The Yorkshire Arboretum shares his love of peafowl. Plus an unforgettable rook impression from RHS Chief Horticulturist Guy Barter.

Birdsong special

'Gardening with the RHS' offers seasonal advice, inspiration and practical solutions to gardening problems. Trusted gardening professionals give you the latest horticultural advice, scientific research and tried and tested techniques to bring out the best in your garden.

Topics covered include: growing your own vegetables, flowers, garden design, lawn care and gardening with children. Plus expert masterclasses in topics ranging from cottage garden plants, growing orchids, to pest control and eco-friendly gardening.

Plus we’ll have behind the scenes reports from the country’s most prestigious flower shows. There’s something in these podcasts to interest every gardener, whatever your level of expertise.

For more info see www.rhs.org.uk/podcast

A Pixiu production.

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In the stunning Colour Gardens at The Newt In Somerset, Joe Dransfield explains how a monochrome approach to flowers can deliver dazzling impact. Liz Mooney shares grow your own tips from the World Food Garden at RHS Garden Wisley, including peas, radishes and cardoons. And we hear the inspirational and unconventional story of Roka Brings Flowers – a grower and florist who started a wonderful cut flower business from a narrowboat with a floating greenhouse in tow. 

Presenter: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Liz Mooney, Joe Dransfield, Roka Brings Flowers

Contact: podcasts@rhs.org.uk 

Links: 

How to grow peas
How to grow radishes
Cynara cardunculus Cardoon
The Newt in Somerset – an RHS Partner Garden
Roka Brings Flowers
RHS Urban Show

Single-colour planting, GYO tips (for radishes, peas, cardoons), and a floating greenhouse

Desert roadcuts, abandoned pasture, heathland and marshy thickets inspire naturalistic planting ideas from Kevin Philip Williams and Michel Guidi, whose new book Shrouded in Light draws from wild shrubscapes. We also visit RHS Garden Rosemoor in North Devon, where Peter Adams gives us a tour of the extensive fruit and vegetable gardens with top tips for growing parsnips, shallots, cloching potatoes and protecting peas. Jenny Laville and James Armitage return to the podcast to debunk more plant terminology – this time talking about “hybrids” – what they are, how they occur and how they can be used to your advantage. 

Presenter: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Peter Adams, Jenny Laville, James Armitage, Michael Guidi and Kevin Philip Williams 

Contact: podcasts@rhs.org.uk 

Links: 
RHS Garden Rosemoor
How to grow parsnips
How to grow shallots 
How to grow potatoes
F1 Hybrids
Shrouded in Light

GYO tips from Rosemoor, plant hybrids, and shrubscapes

Do you ever fall in love with a plant, buy it, but then not know what to pair it with? Principal Horticultural Advisor James Lawrence introduces his guide to creating planting combinations that don’t just look good, but have a sustainability impact too. Guy Barter shares seasonal tips for establishing tomatoes, beetroot, and winter pumpkins and squash – helping you to set up for the Grow Your Own season. And Jack Aldridge, a horticulturist who looks after Oakwood at RHS Garden Wisley, will be singing an ode to his favourite flowering shrub, the Stachyurus. 
 
Presenter: Guy Barter
 
Contributors: James Lawrence, Jack Aldridge 
 
Links: 
Oakwood at RHS Garden Wisley
How to grow tomatoes
How to grow beetroot
How to grow pumpkins
Stachyurus praecox
Stachyurus chinensis
RHS Gardening advice / ChatBotanist

Sustainable plant combos, GYO tips (for tomatoes, beetroot, squash), flowering shrubs

Often referred to as “the greatest living landscape designer” and a leading figure of the New Perennial movement – Piet Oudolf joins curator Matthew Pottage to talk about his new landscape at RHS Garden Wisley. Helen Bostock also introduces the new Bumbles on Blooms project, and the plants you should choose to help support over 250 species of bees in the UK - some with rather particular tastes. Plus, Sam Gallivan, Leader of the Nursery and Propagation team at Wisley talks about propagating plants at scale. 

Presenter: Gareth Richards

Contributors: Matthew Pottage, Piet Oudolf, Helen Bostock, Sam Gallivan

Contact: podcasts@rhs.org.uk 

Links: 

Bumbles on Blooms 
iNaturalist
Oudolf Landscape
Dividing perennials

The Piet Oudolf Landscape, Bumbles on Blooms, Plant Propagation

Garden designer and writer Ann Treneman shares ideas from her new book RHS Greener Gardening: Containers, explaining how you can create sustainable ecosystems whatever size your space. Jenny Laville speaks with RHS botanist James Armitage to untangle taxonomy, and discuss why plant names keep changing. And Gareth Richards meets David Ford, the holder of the National Plant Collection of Chaenomeles in Surrey, to talk about his love affair with the plant and why they’re due a mainstream revival. 

Presenter: Guy Barter

Contributors: Ann Treneman, Jenny Laville, James Armitage, Gareth Richards, David Ford

Contact: podcasts@rhs.org.uk 

Links:

Greener Gardening Containers

RHS Plant Finder

Plant Heritage: National Plant Collections

Birdsong special

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