BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast

Pots and containers add interest, height, colour, and even that ‘wow’ factor, no matter what size your garden or growing space. Join gardener and author Arthur Parkinson who reveals tips and advice for how to start, what to plant, and how to maintain your garden pots to create gorgeous year-round interest and encourage pollinators too.

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Squash are an easy and bountiful vegetable producing dramatic plants and handsome, delicious fruits. Each variety is a little bit different and they keep for ages and ages into the winter.

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 Tomatoes, they tempt us. Every spring we pour over seed packets, debate varieties, and picture in our minds trusses of fruit so heavy, they practically bow the stems. Author Holly Farrell reveals what really matters when it comes to tomatoes, the choices and pitfalls, and the surprising bit of know-how behind every fantastic crop of tomatoes.

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Reconnect with the natural world and the turning of the seasons this growing year with Almanac author Lia Leendertz. Discover seasonal gardening advice linked to nature’s rhythm and the myriad things we can look forward to over the coming months.

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If you want a plant that’ll give you months and months of vibrant, colourful blooms, that makes a great, long-lasting cut flower, and is easy to grow from seed, look no further than zinnias.

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Adam Frost lets you know how to keep your garden colourful year-round despite unpredictable weather. He shares why plant diversity is key and they explore: how climate change is reshaping the way we garden, why good soil matters more than predictable weather, and how leaving seed heads and untidy borders can attract wildlife and extend seasonal interest. Adam also hints at plans for his next garden — one built to last for generations.

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Step into the mystical forest of Hamnet to explore the plants chosen for the film and the powerful meanings they hold with Dr Kim Walker, medical herbalist, director of Betonica School of Herbal Medicine. As herbal consultant, Kim worked closely with director Chloe Zhao and actor Jessie Buckley, where a deep connection to land and plant lore creates a distinctive atmosphere, blending folklore, medicine, and emotional symbolism. And discover how you can grow your own Hamnet-inspired herb garden.

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If you’re after a reliable, rewarding flower to grow from seed, sunflowers are hard to beat. The seeds are big enough for even the tiniest hands to handle, so they’re perfect for getting children involved.

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Monty explains why plants that climb are so valuable for our gardens to boost the flower display and for supporting garden wildlife.

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Known to many for her love of baking, Dame Mary Berry claims in another life she ‘may have been a gardener’. From spending time in the garden as a child to enjoying gardens she’s created over the years, Mary shares her love of gardening through the seasons, and the importance of connecting to nature for wellbeing. With top gardening tips, we’ll also discover her favourite plants, the people and gardens that have influenced her and how some energetic weeding is good for the soul.

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Tall and elegant, growing on upright spikes lined with individual flowers, these delicate yet regal floral towers can bring a fairytale look to a flower border.

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From how to begin gardening, growing with the seasons, creating months of floral colour in borders and pots, and discovering successful plant combinations, we’ll also give your garden year-round interest, unlock the potential of your plot, give advice for what to grow in small spaces, plant for pollinators, nurture the land we grow on, find the joy in gardening, and more.

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Start your gardening year with growing inspiration in the Spring Conversations podcast from BBC Gardeners' World Magazine and hear from the UK’s most loved and well-respected gardening experts.From how to begin gardening, growing with the seasons, creating months of floral colour in borders and pots, and discovering successful plant combinations, we’ll also give your garden year-round interest, unlock the potential of your plot, give advice for what to grow in small spaces, plant for pollinators, nurture the land we grow on, find the joy in gardening, and more.Enjoy friendly gardening chat and informative discussion with the...

This time of year, the last thing many of us think about doing is immersing in cold water outside, but cold, open water can calm the mind, strengthen the body, and reconnect us with nature, boosting mental clarity, mood and resilience. No stranger to wild swimming is cold water swimming expert, open water coach, and wild swimming author Alice Goodridge, based in the Scottish Highlands.

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Dainty and beautiful, Daucus carota is an ornamental variety of wild carrot that produces flowing airy flower clusters. The flowers add interest to a border, vegetable patch or meadow-style area and can encourage biodiversity to your garden.

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Pioneering scheme transforms mental health care in Bradford. The NHS Trust is using projects including allotment visits, canal-side walks and VR headsets showing footage of the local moors, as part of its treatment for patients suffering from a range of mental health problems. Practionioner Cathy Schofield shares how this could become the future of NHS mental health care.

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 Connecting with nature and gardening are proven ways to benefit our health and wellbeing. Support for people to engage in nature-based interventions is also on the rise, highlighting the vital work that a burgeoning collective of community gardens and community gardeners are doing. Therapeutic gardener at RHS Bridgewater, Salford, Ozichi Brewster talks about the healing power of nature and gardening, and how a rise in social prescribing is helping a range of health and wellbeing issues.

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If you haven’t heard of Ratibida before, it’s also known as the Prairie coneflower. A plant that thrives in dry conditions, it's happy growing in many planting locations from a cottage or informal garden to a gravel garden, in prairie planting, and in flower borders and beds, as well as to grow for a cut flower.

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Creating green spaces for our cities and community gardens for residents are ways to bring pockets of nature into our urban landscapes. By strengthening social ties, they bring neighbours together, foster a sense of belonging, and create supportive, multicultural networks, transforming neighbourhoods and empowering residents to reshape the way cities think about green space. Naveep Deol, trustee of the National Park City Foundation and chair of the London National Park City, is a passionate advocate for greener cities, the community gardening movement, and how these shared green spaces can act as small sanctuaries that nurture both personal and community...

As we look for ways to spend more time in nature, how can we build a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the natural world? What does it mean to connect with nature, why does it matter and how have we drifted away from it? Chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper is one of the UK’s most influential environmental thinkers and campaigners. Combining scientific insight, policy expertise, and a passion for the natural world, he'll discuss how reconnecting can change not just the way we live, but the world we’re shaping for generations to come.

If you wish to grow chillis this year, it’s important to get started early in the season and sow in the first few months of the year. Chillis need a long and warm growing season, and by starting them early - from January to March - you’ll give them the time they need to grow, flower, and ripen their fruits fully.

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Two-year study reveals the startling impact that playing in nature has on children's immune systems, and their likelihood of developing allergies and diseases such as asthma and diabetes. Researcher Marja Roslund talks about the dramatic changes they measured in children's ability to fight off illnesses and the reduction in harmful bacteria found in their gut, after they rewilded the children's daycare centres, bringing in soil, plants and even a section of forest floor. She also explains the causal link between the explosion in allergies and conditions such as asthma and diabetes, and the changes we can make to make...

 We all know deep in our bones that gardening is good for us, but increasingly this is no longer a thing we just have to have faith in. The scientific evidence is mounting up that gardening can have transformative effects for our minds and bodies, helping us to make us fitter, less stressed and happier to boot. GP, Therapeutic Horticulture Advocate and Chief Executive of the National Garden Scheme Dr. Richard Claxton is at the forefront of this new scientific approach to gardening and health.

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Lettuce is the backbone of every good salad. It’s also one of the most popular crops to grow, because it’s easy and quick, and thanks to its size, can be grown pretty much anywhere – from the veg plot to pots on a balcony or windowsill.

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In this episode, we speak to Melissa Simpson, Head of Horticulture for The King’s Foundation, His Majesty’s nature and sustainability charity. She reveals how they implement His Majesty’s Harmony philosophy at his gardens at Highgrove, Dumfries House and the Castle of Mey. Melissa shares how his ideals inform how the gardens and wildlife are managed, and how it impacts the people who work at and visit the gardens. Plus, she shares clever organic tricks we can all adopt.

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 We talk a lot about healthy soil, mulching it, feeding it, protecting it, but what if the health of our soil isn't just about thriving soil organisms and thriving plants, but thriving people too? Nutritionist Sam Ratanji delves into the remarkable parallels between the soil microbiome and our own bodies.Exploring how soil life affects flavour nutrition and even elements of our own wellbeing and uncover the small changes that every gardener can make to support richer soil and richer health too.

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Large loud white and grey bird with a sharp yellow beak and the confidence of someone who owns the entire coastline. Sharp minded messy comedic and fearless.

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Menopause expert Dr Nadira Awal shares how to alleviate menopause symptoms such as brain fog, sleepless nights, joint pain and anxiety, using gardening. She also reveals why daily exposure to daylight is so crucial for menopausal women and avoiding broken bones later in life. Plus how handling soil can act as a natural antidepressant.

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Drawing on her love of growing vegetables, edibles and herbs, join Frances as she talks about some of her favourite plants for teas, tinctures and balms. Discover when and how to harvest plants for health and wellbeing as well as the joy of sharing this process with others.

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A big brown raptor with broad wings and a mewing call that echoes across entire landscapes. Powerful. Soaring. Effortlessly dominant in the air.

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The world we live in can be fast paced, high-pressured and full of deadlines. The constant hustle and stress can take its toll and if we’re not careful it can lead to exhaustion and disconnection with the life we’ve worked so hard to build. Award winning food writer and author Kathy Slack overcame burnout to embrace a slower, more intentional way of living through growing her own food.

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Green spaces, blue spaces, but what about black spaces? Discover how our night's sky can help to feel grounded and release the stresses of everyday life. Astrophysicist and mindful stargazing expert Dr Mark Westmoquette encourages us all to pause, notice and connect to our dark skies for wellbeing.

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A glossy black mastermind with an intense knowing stare. Moves slow when it wants to think and fast when it wants to act. Always scanning always learning.

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Medical herbalist Kim Walker reveals how plants can be harnessed to tackle coughs, colds and provide basic first aid. She also shares herbal remedies for anxiety and depression, which you can make at home, using plants found from your garden or foraged on walks.

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Explore the fascinating connection between our gardens, natural light, and the quality of our sleep with leading sleep scientist Dr. Christine Blume. Based at the Centre for Chronobiology at the University of Basel in Switzerland, Christine's groundbreaking research explores how the natural world around us - from daylight to ambient temperature - affects our circadian rhythms and sleep patterns.

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The classic city bird. Chest puffed. Neck shimmering like slick oil on water. Moving through streets like a long term resident who knows every shortcut and has no interest in leaving.

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Gardens and landscapes can deliver a wealth of shared benefits to wildlife and people but when was the last time you paused to consider the effect that nature-generated sound is having as part of that? Dr Natalia Zielonka has been researching just that, especially the impact of birdsong and how it can actively boost positivity and combat stress. RSPB Great British Bird Watch tie in?

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Adam discusses how the feel of a garden is as important as how it looks and the strong connection we can have to plants. How scent can aid health and wellbeing and the importance of soil health for our gut health and that creating a garden is beneficial for our health and wellbeing, as well as the health and wellbeing of our planet and wildlife. Adam shares that gardens should be about moments, taking the time to enjoy being in the garden, and finding the magic of being in that space.

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This series is a love letter to the underloved the misunderstood and the birds humans get wrong every single day. These are not the glamorous documentary species filmed on the far side of the planet. These are the birds you see on estates rooftops school playgrounds seaside towns motorway edges and scruffy riverbanks. The everyday birds people overlook complain about or call pests. But these species are the ones that tell the real story of how wildlife and people live together. Discover more in a new podcast series of Bird Watching with Nadeem Perera, every Saturday in January.

Give your mental and physical health a boost this January and February with a new Wellness podcast series from BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine.

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