Pots & Trowels The Gardening Podcast · Martin Fish, Jill Fish, Sean Riley

Forsythia Pruning, Path Planting Q, Apple Cordon Q & Aussie Horti Legend Sophie Thompson Joins Us!

·37 min·2 clips

At 46.8 degrees, Sophie Thompson says the only way to establish the planting is to water for years.

1. Pots & Trowels The Gardening Podcast moves from the Barossa region in South Australia to listener questions about gardens in Oldham and Prince Edward Island. 2. Jill joins the hosts as they speak with Sophie Thompson, a South Australian presenter on Gardening Australia and a talk-back radio host. 3. The episode asks how to garden across very different climates, from Australia’s heat to Canada’s wind chill and British spring pruning. 4. Sophie Thompson says she grew up in a plant nursery, with a father who was a nurseryman and a mother who was a florist. 5. She says her father’s nursery carried over 2,000 varieties of rare and distinctive plants. 6. She describes being taken to gardens and Chelsea Flower Show as a child, then returning to horticulture at 21. 7. Sophie Thompson outlines her work on Gardening Australia, South Australian radio, newspapers, magazines, books, and public speaking. 8. The hosts note that Australia is huge, and they say South Australia is four times bigger than the United Kingdom. 9. They also say Australia as a whole is 31 times bigger than the UK, with a population of 27 million. 10. Sophie Thompson describes an 18-acre property in Sedan, with 15 acres set aside for rewilding and the rest around the homestead. 11. She says the project is restoring mallee vegetation with 50 different local native plant types. 12. She lists baseline surveys for birds, bees, insects, reptiles, and micro bats as part of the work. 13. She says Sedan can reach 46.8 degrees in summer and gets very little rainfall. 14. She explains that water is harvested through tanks, including underground storage, and that the property is not connected to power. 15. She describes wicking beds as giant self-watering pots built from recycled IBC containers. 16. She says wicking beds reduce watering from twice a day to once or twice a week for vegetables in the heat. 17. The hosts say the episode also covers forsythia pruning, with advice to leave flowers for now and cut back after flowering. 18. They answer a blackberry propagation question by recommending tip layering instead of hardwood cuttings. 19. The tone is practical and conversational, with climate comparisons, gardening advice, and a long interview at Sophie Thompson’s new garden. 20. Listeners who want climate-aware planting advice and water-saving ideas will get the most from it.

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