From the Archives: Pests and Diseases
We dig into the GQT archives for a pests and diseases advice special.
Kathy Clugston dives into the GQT archives for advice on how to deal with pests and diseases.
Past panels share their knowledge on everything from how to get rid of slugs, snails and sciarid flies to whether you should keep your dog from cocking its leg on a privet hedge. In classic GQT style, there's plenty of disagreement about what a pest is or isn鈥檛.
And almost 40 years ago, John Humphrys asked if the panel could imagine a move away from using chemicals in gardening. The prophecy that organic gardening would become favourable was, in fact, very accurate.
Also on the programme, in honour of National Plant Health week in May 2022, Pippa Greenwood visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to see their 'Quarantine Unit'.
Producer: Dominic Tyerman
Assistant Producer: Rahnee Prescod
Executive Producer: Louisa Field
A Somethin' Else production for 麻豆社 Radio 4
Last on
Plant List
Questions and timecodes are below. Where applicable, plant names have been provided.
听
Q 鈥� What鈥檚 the best way to deal with sciarid flies on my houseplants?
(0 听minutes 34 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� My gardening problem is slugs. Help!
(3 minutes 57 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I want to encourage snails, slugs and aphids to my garden. What should I do?
(7 minutes 30 seconds)听
Matt Biggs 鈥�
Roses
Philadelphus
Broad Beans
Lavenders
Aromatics
听
Juliet Sargeant 鈥�
Hostas
听
Q 鈥� I have built a large vegetable growing cage and am slowly eradicating slugs, caterpillers and other bugs that are eating my efforts.听 Unfortunately, bees and other pollinators are also excluded.听 What vegetables grow best in such conditions?
(10 minutes 34 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I have a knot garden consisting of box hedging, but I鈥檝e also got box moth infestation which has killed the whole thing.听 Is it worth treating or should I pull it all out and start again?听听
(21 minutes 42 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I have a couple of unheated greenhouses which I keep well ventilated and don鈥檛 overcrowd, but I am still suffering with whitefly. What else should I be doing to reduce this?
(25 minutes 23 seconds)听
Bob Flowerdew 鈥�
French Marigolds
听
Q 鈥� As a convert from television to radio, I wondered whether the team members might ever be converted from chemically based gardening to totally organic gardening听 -听 might we have in the next 40 years a Gardeners鈥� Question Time in which no recommendation to use chemicals is ever made?
(27 minutes 42 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I have a large garden with quite a few mature deciduous trees - each year gathering up the leaves is a major task, and I prioritise the grass.听 Is the benefit to flower beds of an insulating layer of leaves over the winter outweighed by the cover given to pests and diseases, or not?
(29 minutes 43 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I wonder if you could tell me the best treatment for blackspot, please?
(33 minutes 00 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I had a rosemary which evolved into a topiary cube next to my front door.听 It got a white fungus, so I cut off the dead branches, but the fungus came back.听 Can I save it?听
(34 minutes 54 seconds)听
听
Q 鈥� I had my dog out for a walk and it cocked its leg against a privet hedge.听 An elderly chap in the garden started to shout at me 鈥淒on鈥檛 let the dog do that, it will kill the hedge鈥�.听 Is this true, or is he spinning a yarn?
(38 minutes 25 seconds)听
听
听
Broadcasts
- Fri 27 Jan 2023 15:00麻豆社 Radio 4
- Sun 29 Jan 2023 14:00麻豆社 Radio 4
Six of GQT鈥檚 naughtiest gardening innuendos
When Gardeners' Question Time got mucky.
Podcast
-
![]()
Gardeners' Question Time
Horticultural programme featuring a group of gardening experts
