Gardeners' Corner

• How to look after your Christmas tree, Adam Frost's shrub for December, and picking plants for the office

  Need help picking your Christmas tree? Gardeners’ Corner can help! Tony Johnston from Peartree Hill Christmas Tree Farm shares excellent advice on keeping yours looking its best. David visits Bob Hamilton at Dunsany Estate, Co Meath to see how they’ve rewilded 750 acres of the estate. Ruth Bramley talks about keeping indoor plants at the office and makes suggestions for gifting houseplants for Christmas. Adam Frost picks his final shrub of the month for 2025. Rosie Maye joins David in studio to answer listeners’ questions and bring some seasonal gardening inspiration. Email the programme at [email protected]

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• Must-have heathers, Brendan’s back yard and coming up trumps with stumps

  In this week’s programme, David Maxwell travels to Kerrykeel in Donegal where Brendan Little is preparing his backyard garden for winter. In Spa, County Down, Thomas McCaw and Thomas Raju sing the praises of heather for late autumn and winter colour. At Ballyrobert Cottage Garden, Maurice Parkinson reveals some of the grasses that stand well over the colder months and dazzle in frost and low sun. A caller asks if tree stumps should be removed from the garden or if it’s okay to plant around them. John wants rid of his hairy bittercress weed – is the answer to eat it? And expert Claire McNally joins David in studio with seasonal inspiration on what we can be doing in the garden during the precious hours of daylight. Email the programme at [email protected]

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• Mary Keen, children who are keen and everything in between

  This week, David visits Rosie Maye’s garden near Slane and hears about her love of Inter-planting and underplanting. Prolific Irish garden designer Mary Keen chats about new autobiography, Diary of a Keen Gardener, and why even with her long career and expertise, she’s always learning and experimenting as a gardener. Pupils from Hezlett Primary School and National Trust volunteers help plant ferns and unveil a new water bowl at Downhill Demesne, Castlerock. Gardening expert Neil Porteous joins David in studio to help caller John, who’s worried about cutting his holly tree and Pearl, who’s wondering how best to overwinter potted gladioli. Email the programme at [email protected]

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• Sunken gardens, city sanctuaries and sodden shoes

  On a very wet week, David visits Mount Stewart to see how storm-felled trees are given a new lease of life in the sunken garden. Urban spaces are reimagined with innovative native meadow cubes and Maurice Parkinson explains why now is a good time to sharpen tools. Gardening expert Colin Agnew is in studio to answer caller’s questions. Contact the programme on [email protected]

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• Must have maples, tulip time and making gardeners’ gold

  Autumn is far from over, as David Maxwell discovers with Maurice Parkinson at Ballyrobert Cottage Garden. A fine collection of maples—perfect for a cold climate and heavy soil—thrives there, putting on quite the autumn spectacle. In Hillsborough, head gardener Claire Woods is preparing pots for tulip bulbs. She explains how to extend the display by choosing varieties timed to follow one another. With its many mature trees, Hillsborough is also the perfect place to learn about making leaf mould—sometimes known as gardeners’ gold. In Dromore, Julietta Watson uses summer strawflowers to craft baubles for Christmas and pots up colourful containers for her windowsills. Also on the programme, Anna Hudson joins David in the studio with seasonal inspiration and answers to listeners’ questions. Email the programme at [email protected]

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