25 Gardens are open in Stony Stratford over the weekend of the 27th and 28th and there are also gardens open in Stonefield where 11 gardens will be open.

We also share the sad news of the passing of Matthew Biggs the old Gardener’s World presenter and life-long horticulturalist, and garden designer.

Bill and Peter also chat about Roses, the different types and where to use them, how to grow them and a few uses for the hips. Pruning is important as is care, keeping them tidy, feeding and looking out for pests and diseases. As with so many prickly plants we always recommend wearing gloves when working with them.

It’s also that time of year when Strawberries are very popular. Bill shares a tip on how to sweeten them and how many litres of cream Wimbledon goes through! We have a large selection available at the moment but you can propagate them from the runners or stolens they send out. The British season has been extended and extended with the use of selective breeding and sometimes the supplemental use of LED lighting. Often Strawberries are now grown off the ground making picking easier and fungal problems less likely. 

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In this episode Peter and Bill chat about Bedding, Bokashi, and fertilizer.

Bill suggests a few places to visit starting with Goring on Thames, Fritwell and Hanslope who have open garden weekends.

 We chat about bedding for flower beds and how the fashions have changed. We used to do 3 plantings a year but now we mainly do just summer bedding. Bill talks us through ways to plant, numbers to get a nice balance and some suggestions as to what will make a good display.

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In this Episode Peter Talks with Chris Hepburn, Senior Sales Manager of Hozelock.

Chris has been with Hozelock for many years and worked his way up through the company and gained a fantastic knowledge of the Horticultural Watering Marketplace. We chat about where the company first started and why, and where the first ideas for the first products came from.

Hozelock has a great reputation as a British manufacturer and we learn how this has happened and their drive to always be an attainable, reliable and ecological product in the garden watering sector. Without them we would still be putting our thumbs over the end of our hosepipe, some of our range can be found online or for the full range, come and visit the Garden Centre

Hozelock has brought to England some Market leading products and some ideas from further afield, we learn about how across the world the Male to Female ½ inch hose connector has become a standardised fitting, and also a brief history of hoses, their makeup and their fittings. We also get an insight into the amount of product testing and large number of different materials that go into their products.

We also hear about how Hozelock is evolving as a manufacturer to keep pace with the changing marketplace and how it is growing and diversifying its range to stay abreast of new ideas and additions to the watering range and also how its range now encompasses products that don’t just fit on a hose and spray water, like its range of composters.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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Chelsea Gold medals decided. We like the new Hosta red ninja, the beautiful Red Greenhouse by Malvern Garden Buildings and various phallic houseplants on the sex toy manufacturer’s sponsored garden. The ‘Lady Garden’ was designed with fantastic sculptures, manicured bushes and beautiful coloured planting and will hopefully start conversations focused on female genitalia cancers and open up discussions on the subject. Peter liked the Contain the Rain Garden as it highlights the fact that water is a limited resource and we should do more to make our gardens more ecologically friendly.

It’s that time of year to get planting hanging baskets and shortly we will have Kindergarden Pop Ins back in stock. We like their great selection of styles and colours and the simplicity of using them to create fantastic hanging baskets or planted containers, the only trouble we ever have with them is we can’t get enough and they sell out too fast!

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for creating the music.

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Peter and Bill chat about some news items. Chelsea is sold out and opened to the general public Tuesday 19th May. Our friends at Malvern Garden Buildings have a stand and are exhibiting again. It may be a controversial year as one of the designers is getting criticised for using an AI app to design gardens. Peter has found a new range of pencils from Sprout World that have seeds in the end so you can grow things from your old pencil.

Bill suggests writing labels from the top down and put a date on it so you know when you started them. It is also very important to protect your young seedlings from late frosts. Young plants still need protection.

If you fancy visiting a Garden, Aspley Guise has many houses with open gardens on 24th May. Ramsden near Witney Oxfordshire also has 15 gardens open on the 24th. On the 30th gardens are open in Moggerhanger Bedfordshire and Carterton in Oxfordshire. If these aren’t local to you have a look at the NGS website, Pumpkins Beth’s website or the Open Gardens website.

Sir David Attenborough has had his 100th birthday.

Taylors bulbs have won a Gold medal at the RHS Malvern show, next for them is the Chelsea Show, could it be another Gold Medal?

Peter learns the fact that his Tomatoes are too cold as the undersides of the leaves are going purple and the fact that he might be overwatering his Courgettes. If you have lost seedlings in the recent cold spells, you still have time to replant seeds or pop in to your local Garden Centre and buy some young seedlings.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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In this episode Bill and Peter discuss the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Bill has had personal experience of displaying hanging baskets at the show and shares his thoughts and memories of how much effort and work goes into putting the show together.

In this show we discuss some of the gardens that caught our eyes from Tech Mahindra’s Hedgerow in the Sky balcony exhibit that takes inspiration from British hedgerows and shows what can be done with a small space. We also both liked the Tokonoma Garden - a Japanese courtyard garden - full of beautiful plants, a water feature and pathway. It creates a peaceful space with beautiful colours where families can gather and spend time together.

The Children’s Society Garden is another garden that Bill likes. It is a restorative garden where hopefully todays children can find a positive space to contemplate in. Its planting is full of yellows and purples and greens which will help children feel safe, seen and supported.

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In this episode Peter chats with Bill about his recent Sweetcorn planting and why he failed and yet Bill had a totally different result.

For places to visit locally, we have 80 West Hill Aspley Guise 31st May and Latimer Park Farm, Chesham, 30th May. If you fancy something different then have a look at Pumpkin Beths What’s on page or The National Gardens Scheme.

Bill gives us some great tips on early season lawn care and there is still time to plant a few bedding plants like night scented stocks, impatiens and cosmos. It’s also time to start succession planting your vegetables and you can put your runner beans and broad beans in.

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Keukenhoff Tulip Gardens in the Netherlands is open with amazing displays of Tulips until the 10th May 2026

Pashley Manor Gardens Tulip display is an amazing display of over 4000 tulips in Essex.

The NGS Open Gardens are opening all over the uk clink on the link to find out more.

The RHS Malvern Spring Festival opens on 7th to the 10th May and then we have the great

RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 19th – 23rd May.

SBM have launched the new Thermocell Bug barrier, a new product that creates a shield of up to 20ft, helping you enjoy the outdoors without being bitten by mozquitos.

The Garden Centre is stocking a new range of Juices and Wines from Biddenden in Kent, one of the oldest vineyards in the UK, which produces a beautiful wine called Ortega. We stock a good range of grapes which should do well in the UK.

Another item for your plate is a Bacon and Chilli relish from Mr Trotter

There is a new range of Weber wood pellet smoker barbeques which we don’t have in stock as yet but hopefully we will do soon. They are very easy to use and will be demonstrated by Jamie Oliver on Channel 4 soon.

Brassicas, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kales - it’s a big family, and it’s time to think about planting. David likes the Greyhound Cabbage and Peter loves a Cavolo Nero or as he knows it Curly Kale. We also chat about Purple Sprouting Broccoli and, as with so many young vegetables, how to keep the slugs away with copper tape, Enviromesh and Slug Gone wool pellets which are are non chemical ways of deterring them. We both love how Romanesco Cauliflower grow and create such an amazing pattern.

We also learned that the Thomson and Morgan Tomtato is no longer in production, as it is around this time of year they used to hit the shops.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music

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Pumpkin Beth – Plant Fairs and seed swaps we found this page on Beth’s website that has masses of places to visit, seed swaps, open gardens. The website also has lots of interesting articles and news.

Grantham Garden Centre reopens its doors with it’s new name and having undergone lots of work.

River View at Goldings in the Clyde valley also opened its doors on Good Friday.

Oakwood Clydedales have been out working in some of London’s Parks, they are out cutting the meadows and harrowing which creates less soil compaction and is better for the environment.

Respyre is a Dutch company that has a new environmentally friendlier type of concrete Façade and Roofing product that allows moss to grow on it’s surface helping absorb moisture and lower noise levels in urban areas.

Ames group which was Apta, La Hacienda, Artivesi, Kelkay and closed as the American company that owned them put the company into administration so if you need any items from any of these companies get them soon before they disappear from the market.

Flymo have released a cordless battery powered mower.

Peter has sown some 8 Ball courgettes, David likes the fact that courgettes grow quickly and produce masses of lovely tasting produce. It is also the time of year to plant lots of other vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, gherkins, and winter squashes to name a few. Be careful of frosts as lots of vegetables will struggle to cope if they get frosted and also try and keep the slugs away as well. The Garden Centre has a great range of seeds from Mr Fothergills and Franchi. David points out that seedlings must be handled very delicately when pricking out. Rhubarb is sprouting and it’s a great time to plant strawberries.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music

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