As Spring officially begins, David Maxwell heads to Jimi Blake’s Hunting Brook Garden in the hills of County Wicklow where he has brand new borders in mind. At the National Trust’s Mount Stewart, work begins on a tree nursery that will produce 600,000 trees a year and gardener Archie Parke retires after five decades of service in Belfast’s Botanic Gardens. In studio, Cherry Townsend will take questions and provide some spring inspiration and wildlife Katy Bell on what to look out for in your garden this spring. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Where to start in the garden this spring, Jimi Blake’s new borders and producing trees on an industrial scale

Two years to the day since the war in Ukraine began, presenter David Maxwell hears the powerful story of how a garden has helped one family close the front line survive.  Alla Olkhovska has been harvesting and selling seeds of rare clematis found in her grandmother’s garden in Kharkiv. She also wrote her first book about these beautiful climbers in the basement during the initial bombardment.  David finds out what it’s been like to look after this precious space with the sound of birds sometimes drowned out by sirens and bombing. Also on the programme, the launch of the Great Gardeners’ Corner Grow Along where listeners’ will be asked to join the team in growing some veg not available in the shops and Maurice Parkinson on last minute preparations in the flower borders for the season ahead. Ann Fitzsimmons will join David in studio to take live questions.  Contact gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Gardening in a war zone and the Great Gardeners’ Corner Grow Along

In this week’s programme, David heads to the Green Spaces Community Growing Project near Warrenpoint where the volunteers are getting the garden ready for the season ahead. He finds out what attracts people to community gardening. In County Sligo, Lissadell House and gardens occupy a breath taking location. Immortalised in a poem by Yeats, work has been going on for the last 20 years to restore the gardens and plant hundreds of trees in this windswept location. Oliver Shurmann chooses Pachyphragma macrophyllum as his perennial of month.  In studio, David is joined by Reg Maxwell and Claire McNally who will take questions live and provide some seasonal gardening inspiration.  Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Last-minute rose pruning made easy, Lissadell House, and perennial of the month

How can plants help solve serious crimes? In this week’s Gardeners’ Corner David Maxwell meets the forensic experts that use plants to give them clues.  National hedgehog day fell this week – apparently a Roman precursor to ‘Groundhog day’ and with these small mammals still on the red list, wildlife expert Debbie Nelson brings Holly the Hedgehog into studio to explain what gardeners can do for them.  Legendary plantsman Jan Ravensberg chats to David about a lifetime with plants and social media sensation ‘Anya the Garden Fairy’ (aka Anya Lautenbach) on her new book ‘The Money Saving Gardener’. David is also joined in studio by expert Anna Hudson who will answer questions and give a how-to on sowing tomato seeds. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

How plants can help solve serious crimes, helping our hedgehogs and ‘Anya the garden fairy’

After a week of storms, David heads to the gardens at Hillsborough Castle where Claire Woods is surveying the trees for damage. Claire explains that their approach is to leave as much of the wood as possible in situ as it supports all kinds of life. In the first of a new series, Oliver Shurmann reveals his perennial of the month which is Hepatica nobilis – a flower he first encountered as a child in Germany. Grace Loughrey has a small yard garden at her house off Belfast’s Ormeau Road where she also grows many houseplants. She’s in studio with a guide on how to make them thrive. Also on the programme, David chats to Seamus O’Brien (Kilmacurragh) and Alex Slazenger (Powerscourt) from the cloud forest near the Uganda/Congo border where they are part of an expedition searching for giant Lobelia and David is joined in studio by Mary Doris who will answer questions live. Contact the programme  - gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Clearing up after the storms, in search of the giant lobelia, and perennial of the month

What happens to our gardens when it snows? This week David Maxwell heads to Downhill Demesne on Antrim’s north coast to see how a blanket of white transforms how we experience the garden. He also chats to Una Quinn about her plans for the Bog Garden there in 2024.  Along the coast in an equally cold Ballyvoy, Conrad McCormick is protecting his tender plants as the mercury drops and on the shores of Strangford Lough, Amy Kelly is able to harvest veg from her allotment despite it being midwinter. Expert Claire McNally will join David in studio to take live questions including one from a listener with rusty leeks and another who is growing peppers indoors through the colder months. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

What snow does for the garden, fixing rusty leeks and what to harvest in January

With another new year stretching out ahead, David Maxwell is joined in studio by Brendan Little for the first live programme of 2024. They’ll be chatting about preparing for the year ahead and what’s looking (or smelling) good in the garden in January. Also on the programme, David heads to Rowallane Gardens in Saintfield where Claire McNally is pruning roses, Ann Fitzsimmons is considering building a fruit cage in her County Down garden this year and Philip Stewart in Magherafelt is turning what was a tropical themed border into a feast for the eyes through the coldest months. Contact the programme by email  - gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

How to prune roses, plants for winter interest and preparing the garden for 2024

In the garden we are often thinking of the seasons to come, but it can also be useful to look back and take stock at the start of a new year.  This week, David Maxwell leads us through the seasons with Gardeners’ Corner, from a huge snowdrop collection at Altamont Gardens in County Carlow to the  quiet retreat for a Limavady gardener who’s been living with cancer. From the razzmatazz of garden shows in Antrim, London and Dublin to the serenity of a poet’s garden in County Laois. Join David for Gardeners’ Corner: Season by Season. gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Gardeners’ Corner: Season by Season

Join David Maxwell and the gardening gang for a festive fireside chat at Kilcoan Gardens in Islandmagee. With home grown and handmade seasonal treats, four experts brave the winter weather for a fun filled Christmas get together.  Ann Fitzsimmons and Mary Doris use fresh garden herbs and Christmas leftovers for a fuss free holiday meal, while Brendan Little and Cherry Townsend tour the gardens picking foliage for some last minute Christmas decoration. Also on the programme; Una Quinn introduces us to a Sweet Chestnut tree on the north coast which may have found its way to Castlerock because of the Spanish Armada, Amy Kelly on gifts to buy the gardener in your life and no prizes for guessing Jekka McVicar’s herb of the month for December!

Gardeners’ Corner at Christmas

With the leaves gone it’s all about colourful stem colour on Gardeners’ Corner this week.  David meets artist Heather McDermott who loves willow more than any other plant and works with it every day. She thinks more of us should have our own ‘Salley’ gardens so we have this useful crop which can be used to make free plant supports and fences. Also on the programme, how a handful of soil has more life in it than there are people on the planet and celebrating Garvagh man Andrew McClarty who has been using gardening to raise funds for charity for 25 years.  Ann Fitzsimmons will join David live in studio to answer questions.  Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Why to grow willow, the life in our soil and the gardening fundraiser

With daylight at a premium the work goes on in two stand-out gardens visited by Gardeners’ Corner this week. At Musgrave Park Hospital in South Belfast, the charity Horatio’s Garden is creating a garden for spinal injury patients designed by Chelsea gold medal winning designer Andy Sturgeon. Helen Mark meets the new head gardener there and chats to Andy about this ‘high maintenance’ space. At Glenarm Castle the Walled Garden has recently been named Historic Houses 2023 Garden of the Year. The gardeners there are forcing daffodils for flowers at Christmas, sowing seeds and overhauling the hot border. In studio David is joined by gardener Claire McNally and wildlife expert Katy Bell who will be offering some advice on wildlife in the winter garden. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Winter wildlife, a garden for spinal injury patients and forcing daffodils

With a wintry feel in the air, David Maxwell is joined in studio by experts Anna Hudson and Reg Maxwell to offer some gardening inspiration for colder days. The team will be taking questions on among other things the challenges of Christmas Cactus, and why one listener’s winter display of cyclamen is wilting. Also on the programme, David heads to a Jurassic world in County Kerry where Australian tree ferns have naturalised. At the Greenmount campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise they are growing pink, white and orange Poinsettias alongside the traditional red ones. Anna has been harvesting some perennial veg you might not of heard of which David will be sampling on air. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

How to treat your tree ferns, caring for Christmas Cactus and orange Poinsettia?

As Autumn gives way to Winter, David Maxwell visits the Savill Garden in Windsor Great Park.  Keeper of the Gardens, John Anderson shows David the national collection of Mahonia which are lighting up the garden with their bright yellow flowers. A listener gives some tips on preventing newly planted spring bulbs becoming a tasty snack for garden wildlife. Jekka McVicar chooses Mint as her penultimate ‘Herb of the Month’ and Klaus Laitenberger takes David foraging in County Leitrim. Expert Ann Fitzsimmons joins David in studio to answer questions and provide some late Autumn garden inspiration. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

How to care for Mahonia, protecting spring bulbs and herb of the month

This week, David heads to Rowallane where Claire McNally picks some highlights including Mahonia and reveals her quest to find a ‘not so tart’ berry from the plant sometimes known as the Oregon Grape.
David joins Klaus Laitenberger at the community garden in Bundoran where he’s pruning the blackcurrants. 
Frank McCooke from Slemish market garden gives practical tips on planting garlic for spring.
Reg Maxwell gets planting for a Christmas display - yes there's still time!Contact the programme anytime on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Autumn highlights at Rowallane, pruning blackcurrants and getting those garlic bulbs planted

In this November highlights programme, David Maxwell is joined in studio by expert Brendan Little. Celebrating the season of golden colour, Brendan gives advice on planting with birds in mind and getting new saplings for free.
November is the perfect time to plant bulbs and that’s what Claire Woods is doing when David Maxwell visits her at Hillsborough Castle. Then it’s off to the RSPB’s Belfast Wow where Tim McCann has lots of tips on getting garden birds through the worst of winter.
Also on the programme, Mary Doris on her favourite plants for winter interest while Sarah Raven gives a masterclass on growing, and caring for, tulips.
Get in touch by email – gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Sarah Raven’s favourite tulips, how to take root cuttings and gardening for birds

The weekly gardening programme for keen gardeners with the latest advice, news and visits to gardens large and small around the province. Presented by David Maxwell.

21/10/2023

Helen Mark presents this week's edition of Gardeners' corner. 
She takes a trip to the Arboretum at Castlewellan Forest Park to oversee the work on the herbaceous borders.
Frank and Linda McCooke give Mary Doris a masterclass in all things gourd - from Crown Prince to Munchkins, how to grow and what to cook.
David Lindsay from Picked Organic on why he decided to give the good life a go. 
Expert Ann Fitzsimmons joins Helen in studio to answer listeners questions. Email any time gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Gorgeous gourds, Herbaceous borders at Castlewellan arboretum and organic growing

Helen Mark presents this week's edition of Gardeners' Corner. Maurice Parkinson selects some show-stopping grasses to enjoy in the Autumn sunlight from his nursery in Ballyrobert. Klaus Leitenberger introduces David Maxwell to some cute little Cucamelons and how to keep unruly grapes in check.
Jekka McVicar chooses her herb of the month and Helen is joined in studio by Brendan Little. Email the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk ‘Please note this material has been edited since transmission’

Golden grasses for the autumn garden. Getting to grips with grapes, munching on mini melons & Jekka McVicar's herb of the month

David Maxwell is joined for an episode with an early Autumn feel.  With Sweet Chestnuts, Horse Chestnuts and apples in studio there is plenty to chat about and questions from listeners’ on Buddleia, Acers and Hydrangeas. Also on the programme David meets up with organic grower Klaus Laitenberger at the Organic Centre in County Leitrim where he began the Irish chapter of his life. Klaus also tells David why Lemon Verbena is his favourite herb and the value of Florence Fennel. At Ballyrobert Maurice Parkinson still has plenty of Autumn colour and Amy Kelly picks her favourite seeds to sow in October.

What you can sow in October? The value of Lemon Verbena and Florence Fennel and September highlights at Ballyrobert

As Autumn shades being to show, David Maxwell heads to Florence Court where they are still finishing summer pruning the apple trees.  The National Trust garden has one of the best collections of Irish heritage varieties on the Island.  Volunteer David Bolton explains his work in identifying varieties and the recent rediscovery of the Wine apple which it was thought has disappeared. In Lurgan, Taghnevan Community Allotments provides a hub for locals interested in growing their own and the programme returns to Rosie Maye’s garden in County Meath for some more early Autumn highlights.  Cherry Townsend will join David in studio. Contact the programme on gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

Get Started

Download the App