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

Vital Pelargonium Advice, Gooseberry Bush & Rat Run Questions Answered plus an Aussie Theatre Garden

·32 min·1 clip

We could stop, we could go home. But they all said 'no, no, come on, let's keep going.' We all got this incredible Dunkirk spirit.

Hosts Martin and Jill answer listener questions and share an interview from their trip to Australia. The episode features vital seasonal advice for UK gardeners alongside a visit to a unique charity garden in Adelaide. A listener named Alison in South Norfolk seeks non-lethal solutions for rat runs damaging her vegetable garden and apple tree. Martin suggests humane traps, sonic deterrent devices, and using strong-smelling substances like peppermint oil or mothballs placed in the runs. Another listener, Cian, asks for guidance on pruning a neglected gooseberry bush suffering from mildew. Jill advises thinning the centre to create a wine-glass shape for better air circulation and tipping back long shoots by two-thirds. The hosts then share a conversation with their friends Dave and Rob, who created a three-quarter-acre English-style garden in Adelaide on a former tennis court. Rob designed the garden with separate 'rooms', vistas, and inspiration from Hidcote and Sissinghurst. Their garden includes a discreet lap pool, 64 trees to create a microclimate, and requires extensive watering during the hot, dry summers. Despite the Mediterranean climate, Rob grows hydrangeas and camellias and has even used bags of ice to try cultivating peonies. Dave and Rob also run a theatre company, Blue Sky Theatre, which performs outdoor plays in gardens, creating a communal experience even in unpredictable weather. Their garden opens to the public for charity every two years through a scheme similar to the UK's National Garden Scheme. Martin provides a timely task for listeners who took pelargonium cuttings in September, instructing them to pot up individual plants now to encourage spring growth. He also recommends sowing sweet peas and finishing hedge trimming before birds begin nesting in March. The interview reveals the charming compromise behind the garden's location, chosen to balance Dave's coastal preferences with Rob's need for a cooler, hillier site for planting. A community-focused touch is their lemon trees on the street verge, which neighbors are welcome to harvest. The episode has a warm, conversational tone, blending practical advice with friendly storytelling and travel anecdotes. Listeners who enjoy seasonal gardening tasks, troubleshooting plant problems, and virtual tours of international gardens will find it particularly engaging. Those seeking highly technical horticultural science or purely UK-focused content might find the Australian detour less relevant.

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