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

Winterize Your Garden, Plus: Climate-Proof Gardening & Growing Tropicals in the UK with Lucy Chamberlain & Saul Walker

·39 min·2 clips

Lucy Chamberlain says pelargonium cuttings should stay almost dry over winter or they can rot off.

1. Pots & Trowels focuses on winterizing the garden, climate-proof gardening, and growing tropicals in the UK with Lucy Chamberlain and Saul Walker. 2. Lucy Chamberlain is a practical horticulturist in Essex, and Saul Walker is the head gardener at Stoneland's House near Dawlish in Devon. 3. The episode asks how gardeners can adapt to drier summers, protect plants in winter, and choose species that cope with changing conditions. 4. Lucy says Essex is usually a dry county, and she argues that gardeners there are already used to conserving water with reservoirs, mulching, and suitable plant choices. 5. Saul says Devon is normally wet and green, but he is seeing mild conditions, dry spells, and nights around the mid teens even in November. 6. Martin describes an RHS meeting at Harlow Carr where plant collections from Wisley are being moved north because some are struggling in heat and drought. 7. Lucy says the climate shift is not all doom and gloom because plants can still thrive if gardeners choose species with the right adaptations. 8. Lucy names amaranth, tree spinach, globe artichokes, and New Zealand spinach as edible crops that are performing well in her dry garden. 9. Saul says the podcast became a place to compare weather, soil, and planting conditions from opposite sides of the country. 10. Saul explains that Talking Heads began after he took a six-week podcast course and realised he and Lucy could talk for long periods about horticulture. 11. Lucy says both presenters had a gap between their estate work and the chance to explain it, which made the podcast useful to them. 12. Lucy says their different voices make the listening experience easy to follow, and Saul adds that the show grew during the pandemic. 13. Martin and the guests discuss a listener who rooted pelargonium cuttings on a windowsill and now needs to know what to do next. 14. Lucy says the cuttings should stay in their original pot through winter, with compost kept just moist and frost free. 15. Lucy says rooted pelargoniums should be potted into individual 9 centimetre or 10 centimetre pots in February when daylight lengthens. 16. Martin answers a houseplant question from Chris in Harrogate by advising weekly moisture checks and no sitting in water. 17. Lucy says central heating makes houseplants dry out faster, so she recommends weak monthly feeding and occasional misting for humidity. 18. Saul says his home ginger collection may become a national collection, and he wants to focus on hardy plants that can stay outside all winter. 19. The conversation is relaxed, conversational, and full of specific plant examples, weather comparisons, and practical advice. 20. Gardeners coping with dry summers and tender plants would like this episode, while listeners wanting deep technical debate may skip it.

As heard by us

Seasonal, practical gardening chat that makes cold-weather jobs feel genuinely useful.

Pots and Trowels settles into late autumn gardening talk that feels useful without trying too hard. Winterizing jobs, a listener follow-up on pelargonium cuttings, and a sensible turn toward houseplants once the heating is on give it a practical shape.

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Why you'd press play

Press play for winterizing advice, rooted pelargonium cuttings, and houseplant watering when the heating comes on.

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