Two Good Gardeners

In this episode, Dan & Julia change their usual format to focus on Christmas gifting. They chat to Lucy Hutchings, co-founder of She Grows Veg, about her take on the traditional advent calendar and ask what she'd like to find in her stocking on Christmas morning. Later in the show, your hosts receive festive voice memos from some of their horticultural friends and heroes, discovering what's on their wish lists.

Our guests in this episode:

1. Lucy Hutchings, Co-Founder She Grows Veg - https://shegrowsveg.com/
2. Thordis Fridriksson, BBC Presenter and Podcaster - https://www.thordis.co.uk/, https://www.getgardeningnow.co.uk/talking-dirty
3. Alexandra Campbell, The Middle-Sized Garden - https://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/
4. Pat Marsh, Presenter, BBC Radio Kent, Sussex and Surrey - http://www.patmarsh.com/
5. Steve Newland, Gardener and Allotment Holder - https://www.instagram.com/snewland97/
6. Nelly Hall, Creative Director at Alitex! - https://www.instagram.com/nellyatalitex/
7. Steve Edney, Gardener and co-owner of The No Name Nursery - https://www.thenonamenursery.co.uk/
8. Alex Mitchell, aka The Edible Gardener, Writer and Flower Farmer - https://alex-mitchell.co.uk/
9. Jamie Marsh, Allotmenteer, Writer and Podcaster - https://www.instagram.com/jamies_little_allotment/
10. Michael Perry, aka Mr PlantGeek, Presenter and Horticulturalist - https://mrplantgeek.com/
11. Phillipa Lepley - Couture Wedding Dress Designer - https://www.phillipalepley.com/
12. Barbara Segall, Editor, Garden Writer and Horticulturalist - https://thegardenpost.com/about-barbara-segall/
13. Charles Dowding - The God of No-Dig - https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/
14. Jimi Blake - Plant nerd, Gardener and Custodian of Hunting Brook Gardens.https://www.huntingbrookgardens.com/

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Gold Leaf Gloves
• Scilly Flowers
• Milli | Proust

Produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan & Julia dispel the myth that winter gardens must be devoid of colour. Your hosts choose their favourite flowering and foliage plants to display in pots during the colder months, from shrubs to tiny bulbs. Dan reveals why the Japanese 'leisure knife' we call a Hori Hori has taken the gardening world by storm, and Julia explains how and when to plant onion sets - be quick, as time is running out! Your hosts round off with a list of jobs you can do in your garden over the next fortnight:

1. Mulch around plants and over empty beds and borders. Over winter, worms will busily pull the organic matter into the soil, improving its structure. 
2. Collect leaves and add them to your compost heap, or pack them into jute sacks. They'll slowly decompose to make leaf mould, one of the most precious ingredients in good compost. Shredding them will make them break down faster.
3. Brush paths with coarse sand or use a jet washer to remove moss and algae, which can become slippery when wet or icy.
4. In exposed gardens, reduce the height of tall shrubs such as roses, buddleia, and lavatera to prevent them from rocking in high winds. For the same reason, newly planted trees should be staked low down.
5. Turn off the water supply to outdoor taps and drain hosepipes before storing them. Install a water butt if you need a ready supply of water over winter.
6. If you've experienced blight, black spot, rust, or mildew this season, removing and destroying any infected plant matter is essential. 
7. Cutting off this year's hellebore leaves is a good idea, allowing an uncluttered view of the nodding blooms in spring.
8. Take a walk around the garden and inspect large shrubs and trees, noting any branches that appear as if they might fall. Remove them yourself using loppers or a pruning saw if you feel able. Call an arborist for a second opinion and to carry out the work if in doubt. Do the same exercise for fences, garden buildings and ornamental structures, such as pergolas. 
9. Give the lawn one last cut, avoiding emerging bulbs - some early-flowering varieties can appear above ground well before Christmas.
10. Order and plant bare-rooted plants. This is one of the cheapest and most environmentally friendly ways to create a hedge, rose garden, orchard or woodland area. 

Dan's Products of the Episode—Niwaki's Japanese Hori Horis—are available to buy at most of his events. Click here for details.

Dan & Julia's Favourite Plants for Winter Containers:

1. Iris reticulata 'George', 'Spot On', 'Katherine Hodgkin', 'Blue Note'
2. Narcissus'  Rijnveld's Early Sensation'
3. Aconites
4. Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop)
5. Helleborus niger and Helleborus x sahinii 'Winterbells'
6. Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' (dogwood_
7. Sarcococca confusa (winter box)
8. Skimmia japonica
9. Edgeworthia chrysantha (paper bush)
10. Carex oshimensis 'Evergold'

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Gold Leaf Gloves

Produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan and Julia talk to Charlotte Molesworth at Balmoral Cottage, the garden she and her husband, Donald, have been creating for 42 years. Charlotte describes the art of making a garden from scratch and on a shoestring, rarely buying plants. Most of the trees and shrubs she has trained into birds, crowns, pyramids, mounds and spirals have been grown from cuttings or seedlings grubbed up or given by friends.

Charlotte also explains the legacy of 'Cherry' Ingram, the English country gentleman who found and reintroduced the Great White Cherry, Prunus 'Tai Haku', to Japan. Ingram once lived next door and led a particularly long and interesting life.

'Cherry' Ingram - The Englishman Who Saved Japan’s Blossoms - Naoko Abe

Listen carefully as Charlotte shares her wisdom and challenges Dan & Julia not to give up on beleaguered box.

Jobs to do in your garden this fortnight

1. Cut back the old stems of summer fruiting raspberries and tie in the new green stems.
2. Apply grease bands to the trunks of apple trees to deter winter moths.
3. Apply a winter wash to other fruit tree trunks.
4. Use a fork or spiked shoes to aerate the lawn to avoid water logging.
5. Reuse the compost from spent grow bags to grow some winter salad leaves.
6. Now is an excellent time to move plants, shrubs and trees,
7. Harvest pumpkins in time for Halloween.
8. Prune rambling and climbing roses now, removing old, tangled branches.
9. Apply a final biological spray to box, to eradicate box moth caterpillars.
10. Continue planting spring-flowering bulbs, and prepare to plant tulips from early November.

Dan's Products of the Episode:

• Niwaki Mini Shears
• Jakoti Hand Shears

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Gold Leaf Gloves
• European Boxwood & Topiary Society

Produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan & Julia consider the gardening chores we could do less to free up time for new projects or relaxation. Dan explains why anvil secateurs are better for some pruning jobs and Julia shares how to sustain your crop of annual herbs into the late autumn and early winter. Your hosts round off with a list of jobs to do in your garden this fortnight and reveal what will keep them out of mischief until the next episode.

A few of Dan & Julia's time-saving measures:

• Not washing or sterilising pots.
• Not using crocks at the bottom of pots and containers.
• Not sowing seeds too early in the season.
• Using a mulch of bark, compost or grit to reduce watering time.
• Choosing shrubs that grow slowly and neatly and require little pruning.
• Selecting tried and tested plants that aren’t too fussy - an RHS Award of Garden Merit is a good sign that a plant won’t be too diva-ish!

Jobs to do in your garden this fortnight

1. Clear out greenhouses and clean the glass to let more light in.
2. Sow wildflower seeds.
3. Lift and divide dahlias after the first frost unless left in the ground, in which case cover them with mulch.
4. Compost or mulch empty beds - or still time to sow green manure.
5. Cut back asparagus fern when turning yellow.
6. Make a final cut to topiary and hedges before winter sets in - but it’s too late for most conifers now.
7. Clean and sterilise bird feeders before refilling with high-energy seeds.
8. Sow sweet peas and broad beans.
9. Stake sunflowers if they’re still blooming.
10. Reduce the height of any roses or perennials that might rock about in the wind.

Dan's Products of the Episode:

• Original LÖWE anvil secateurs

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Gold Leaf Gloves

Produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Two Good Gardeners return for a new series with an episode devoted to autumn seed sowing. Dan and Julia reveal which varieties you can plant right now for fabulous flowers and delicious edibles next year before sharing a list of jobs you can do in your garden during the second half of September. Your hosts announce a new sponsor—Gold Leaf Gloves—and celebrate with a giveaway: visit their Instagram account @twogoodgardeners for details. Closing date: Friday, 27th September 2024.

Julia's recommended crops for autumn sowing:

1. Carrots 'Nantes', 'Autumn King' and 'Parabel'
2. Broadbeans, 'Aquadulce' and 'The Sutton'
3. Lettuce 'Oak Leaf', 'All Year Round', Winter Density'
4. Parsley
5. Pea 'Meteor'
6. Radish 'Wintella', 'Sparkler'
7. Spring Onion 'White Lisbon'
8. Spinach 'Perpetual'
9. Pak Choi 'Red Choi', 'Glacier', 'Cholo F1'
10. Onion 'Red Baron', 'Electric', 'Snowball', 'Radar', 'Autumn Champion'
11. Shallot 'Jermor'

Dan's recommended flowers for autumn sowing:

1. Ammi majus
2. Cornflower
3. Corncockle
4. Calendula
5. Chrysanthemum carinatum
6. Linaria
7. Nigella
8. Poppy (corn and opium)
9. Phacelia
10. Antirrhinum
11. Anaethium
12. Eschscholzia
13. Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens'
14. Clarkia
15. Godetia

Requiring a cold spell - Rudbeckia, Monarda (bergamot), Orlaya, Echinacea, Eryngium (sea holly), Persicaria, Larkspur, Centaurea (Batchelors’ buttons)

Jobs to do in your garden this fortnight

1. Protect Brussels sprouts, kale and broccoli from birds, bugs & butterflies

2. Add compost to any beds you are clearing to improve soil structure and boost nutrients

3. Order tulips, but don’t be tempted to plant them until November

4. Plant narcissi, daffodils and alliums

5. Order indoor bulbs for forcing

6. Bring exotic/tender plants back into the greenhouse, conservatory or house when nighttime temperatures drop below 10ºC

7. Switch summer feed to winter feed for all citrus trees

8. Collect seeds from perennials

9. Lift, divide and replant large clumps of herbaceous perennials

Dan's Products of the Episode:

• Gold Leaf Gloves

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Gold Leaf Gloves

Produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, the last in series three, Dan & Julia explain how to transform your garden into a tropical paradise using bold foliage, bright flowers and exciting edibles. They share tips on creating the perfect environment for exotics and some of their favourite plants to grow. You'll discover that anything is possible! As always, your hosts round off with a list of jobs you can do in your garden over the next fortnight and share what they’re up to over the coming weeks.

Two Good Gardeners will return for a fourth series in early autumn 2024.

Tender Plants for Exotic Effect:

• Banana (Musa and Ensete)
• Canna
• Ornamental ginger (Hedychium)
• Castor oil plant (Ricinus)
• Lantana
• AngelAngels'pets (Brugmansia)
• Tree ferns (Dicksonia and Cyathea)
• Taro (Colocasia and Alocasia)
• Gloriosa lily
• Papyrus (Cyperus)
• Begonia
• Coleus (Solenostemon)
• Persian shield (Strobilanthes)
• Caladium
• Chinese rice paper plant (Tetrapanax)

Hardier Plants with Exotic Looks:

• Alstroemeria
• Agapanthus
• Bistort (Persicaria)
• Fatsia
• Hosta
• Indian bean tree (Catalpa)
• Foxglove tree (Paulownia)
• Large-flowered clematis
• Reeds and grasses (Arundo and Miscanthus)
• Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)
• Rodgersia
• Ornamental rhubarb (Rheum)
• Waterlily
• Tuberous and bulbous plants such as Amaryllis, Amarine, Dahlia, oriental and trumpet lilies, Gladiolus and Nerine

Dan's Product of the Episode:

• Romney Marsh Wools Garden Kneeler Cushion

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Jungle Seeds

Produced by Scott Kennet at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan and Julia share tips for keeping your garden in top condition while you take a well-deserved summer break. Your hosts advise on preparing lawns, vegetable plots, containers, greenhouses, and houseplants before your holiday. Dan chooses his favourite tools for trimming hedges and cutting back early-flowering perennials, and, inspired by Wimbledon, Julia shares a money-saving trick for propagating new strawberry plants.

Dan & Julia's Pre-Holiday Checklist:

1. Check your home weather forecast before departure and plan accordingly.
2. Water everything thoroughly, especially container plants, camellias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and houseplants.
3. Install a drip irrigation system or seeper hose - use a timer to save water and hassle.
4. Cut and edge lawns - but not too short if hot weather is predicted.
5. Weed everywhere.
6. Guard against pest damage by laying traps, using nets and maintaining good ventilation.
7. Support tall and heavily laden plants with canes or stakes.
8. Pick open flowers, ripening fruit and vegetables - give them away or preserve them for later.
9. Move outdoor pots into the shade and houseplants out of the full sun
10. Top-up ponds and birdbaths and provide water for pollinating insects
11. Secure valuables in sheds or move them into a locked garage

And remember, if your garden looks a little shaggy when you return, it will be superficial and can quickly be fixed.

Dan's Product Picks:

• Niwaki Shears
• Niwaki Mini Shears
• Jakoti Hand Shears
• Grow Bag Trays for keeping houseplants moist while away.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Produced by Scott Kennet at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan & Julia celebrate the rose, Britain's most popular flowering plant. With so many species and varieties available to buy, there's a rose for every garden, but the choice can be bewildering - your hosts share their favourites for containers, walls, banks, wild areas and coastal gardens. Dan highlights his favourite tools and gloves for maintaining roses, and Julia explains how and why you should condition cut roses and other flowers before displaying them indoors. As always, your hosts supply a list of jobs you can do in your garden over the next fortnight.

Dan & Julia's Rose Picks

Climbers and Ramblers - 'Albertine', 'Masquerade', 'Bobby James', 'New Dawn', 'Buff Beauty', 'American Pillar Rose', 'Paul's Himalayan Musk', banksia 'Lutea', laevigata 'Cooperii'

Hybrid Teas - 'Peace', 'Fragrant Cloud', 'Just Joey'.

For Wild Areas - 'Canary Bird', x odorata 'Mutabilis', x odorata 'Bengal Crimson'.

For Coastal Gardens - rugosa 'Hansa', pimpinellifolia 'Dunwich Rose'.

For Ground Cover - 'The Fairy', 'Grouse 2000', 'Partridge', 'Magic Carpet'.

For Pots - 'Boscobel', 'Blue for You', 'Pearl Drift', 'Gabriel Oak'.

For Borders - 'Queen of Sweden'.

Dan's Product Picks:

1. Mainichi Snips - perfect for picking and pruning roses
2. Opinel No.12 Pruning Saw - ideal for tackling rampant ramblers
3. Gold Leaf Tough Touch Gloves - to protect your hands and wrists from thorns and prickles

Gardening Jobs for the Fortnight Ahead:

1. Mist houseplants with rainwater to keep the humidity up and ward off red spider mites.
2. If you're going on holiday, arrange for a friend or neighbour to take care of the watering.
3. Water and feed tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines regularly. Irregular watering can cause the fruits to split.
4. Watch out for vine weevils in potted plants. The telltale signs are little notches in the leaf edges.
5. Keep deadheading all flowering plants and feed with a high potash fertiliser to keep the blooms coming.
6. Divide bearded irises and replant so the rhizome is exposed on the soil surface.
7. Trim vigorous climbers such as vines, jasmine, honeysuckle and wisteria if they get unruly. Prune rambling roses after flowering, removing about a third of the flowered stems.
8. Harvest courgettes and beans regularly - daily if possible so they aren't watery or tough.
9. Harvest garlic as soon as the leaves turn yellow and start to wither.
10. Keep birdbaths and ponds topped up with water - rainwater if you can, but small amounts of tap water are better than no water.
11. Thin out parsnips and carrots. You can't replant the thinnings, so eat them lightly steamed. They are delicious.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Produced by Scott Kennet at Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dan and Julia delve into the subtle, little-understood subject of companion planting, revealing which plants get along well and which really don’t! Dan describes three fantastic new tools that have just joined his Signature range, and Julia explains the Three Sisters method of growing beans, squash, and sweetcorn together.

Dan & Julia's Favourite Plant Companions:

1. Plant basil near or at the base of tomatoes to ward off white fly
2. Grow nasturtiums as sacrificial plants to attract black fly
3. Position French marigolds attract aphids from cucumbers and runner beans
4. Tansy deters ants due to its spreading nature underground and planted under fruit trees; it helps deter flies. (It is, however, toxic to pets.)
5. Plant strong-smelling herbs such as sage and parsley to keep aphids away
6. Black mint or Hucatay, Tagetes minuta is part of the marigold family. It is an excellent companion plant for greenhouse veggies such as cucumbers, chillies, tomatoes, peppers and aubergines. The pungent smell helps repel and confuse insect pests through the flowers and leaves and releases anti-nematode compounds into the soil. 
7. Grow strawberries beneath grape vines as they succumb to vine weevils first, giving you a fighting chance to save your grapes. Strawberries also indicate if scale insects are a problem on vines by getting covered in sooty mould first.
8. Grow chamomile amongst other plants to keep fungus, mildew, mould and blight away.
9. Plant onions or garlic between carrot rows to deter carrot root flies.
10. Grow lavender alongside carrots and/or leeks. The scent attracts many pollinators and keeps pests at bay.
11. Plant borage and strawberries together - borage attracts pollinators and has a mild cucumber scent; this will help keep predators off the strawberries and improve their flavour.
12. Plant calendula with courgettes as the calendula protects the courgettes from slugs and snails, in theory!

Dan's Product Picks:

1. Signature T-handle Spade - perfect for border work, planting roses and perennials
2. Signature T-handle Fork - great for working on your hands and knees in beds.
3. Signature Japanese Weeding Hoe - great for weeding raised beds.

Gardening Jobs for the Fortnight Ahead:

• Make a final sowing of summer annuals like cosmos and zinnias.
• Sow biennials, including sweet williams, foxgloves, hesperis, honesty, stocks and wallflowers.
• Sow broccoli, kale, spinach, and a final batch of runner and French beans.
• Don’t let containers dry out - bright and breezy weather dehydrates plants very quickly.
• Deadhead roses to keep them neat and tidy and encourage further flushes of flowers.
• Pinch out dahlias, fuchsias and coleus to encourage bushy growth.
• Give wisteria its summer prune, cutting all the long side shoots back to 20cm.
• Prune late-spring or early-summer shrubs after flowering, thinning out the flowered stems.
• Install a water butt if you don’t already have one.
• Harvest salads regularly.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Produced by Red Lighthouse Local

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan & Julia reflect on this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, sharing features that impressed them and those that left them wanting more. Dan highlights two ways to keep bugs at bay, which are chemical and plastic-free, while Julia shares family-friendly tips for growing vegetables in recycled containers. As always, your hosts offer their suggestions of jobs to do in your garden over the next fortnight and reveal where they’re popping up next!

Dan's products of the week:

Bugnet - Bug Killer Spray Concentrate

Insectonet - Plastic-Free Insect Net

Buy Julia's book, 'The Little Grower's Cookbook' at Lettuce Publishing.

Garden Jobs for the Week

1. Support herbaceous plants in borders. 
2. Harvest early potatoes, usually when they are in flower.
3. Start making your own plant food using nettles, comfrey or seaweed soaked in a bucket.
4. Pinch outside shoots on cordon tomatoes and tie into canes.
5. Plant out sweet corn and continue to successionally sow salad crops.
6. Net strawberries and other soft fruit crops to keep birds off.
7. Sow runner beans.
8. Be on guard for slugs and snails and treat accordingly.
9. Spray box moth caterpillars every few weeks on a dry day; they are highly prevalent at present.
10. Evict exotic plants from house and greenhouse.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch

This podcast was produced by the brilliant Scott Kennett of Red Lighthouse Local https://linktr.ee/redlocallighthouse

The episode was sponsored by Dan Cooper Garden, where garden lovers go to find outstanding garden products, sage advice, and abundant inspiration. You can shop online at dancoopergarden.com or plant fairs and garden events across the south and east of England.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.