Getting rid of horsetail, alpine addiction and the artful gardener

As wintry showers return, Gardeners’ Corner heads to the snow-dusted Sperrins where David Maxwell visits Andrew Shannon, whose country garden has a modern creative twist. Known on social media as The Artful Gardener, Andrew reveals how the plot once tended by his grandparents now inspires his seasonal animations. At Belfast’s Botanic Gardens, David meets Colin Agnew as he reflects on 45 years of gardening there ahead of his retirement next week, including the remarkable cactus he grew from seed as a young apprentice which now almost reaches the glasshouse roof. In Limavady, Gordon Toner explains his decades-long passion for alpine plants, a fascination that has earned him nearly 250 gold medals. And in studio, expert Anna Hudson brings seasonal inspiration from Ballywalter Estate and answers listeners’ questions on compost and tackling the invasive weed horsetail. Contact the programme: gardenerscorner@bbc.co.uk

You can listen to Getting rid of horsetail, alpine addiction and the artful gardener online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Getting rid of horsetail, alpine addiction and the artful gardener is an episode from Gardeners' Corner by BBC.

This episode is 56:31 long.

This episode was published on Mar 28, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Gardeners' Corner when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.