Join James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift every week where they tackle a garden topic, from the sensible to the completely ridiculous, armed with sharp opinions, 40 years’ worth of stories and a habit of wandering wildly off-topic.
Listeners can also send in their weird and wonderful garden questions for the chance to win our treasured mascot - The Garden Collective gnome, Jekyll. Our only two rules? No dead plants and no dull questions.
Got a burning garden question, or a bizarre problem you just need to share? Email us at gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com
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Is there anything more satisfying than a freshly mulched bed? James Alexander-Sinclair thinks not, and would happily burrow into one. Naked. Cue a deep sigh.
This week James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift take on mulch: why you should do it, when you should do it, and why you should stop fretting over which sort to use and just chuck it on. Joe mulches in autumn, James holds out for January, and both agree that carting everything off to the compost heap and back again is, frankly, a complete waste of time.
Along the way: the snow shovel trick that should have won them a Garden Media Guild award (they weren’t shortlisted, they’re fine about it), Frank shovelling eight cubic metres in the rain while James supervises from the kitchen, hessian vs landscape fabric, the great wood chip nitrogen myth, planting straight into eight inches of sand, Cumbrian bracken mixed with wool, the noble portmanteau (strulch, meet spork) and four kilos of live worms arriving through the letterbox at breakfast.
Plus gulch, bulch and yelch. All will become clear... ish.
Timestamps 00:00 Intro, hi-fi and hunkering down 05:32 Gulch, bulch and yelch: guess the topic 08:25 Where does the word mulch come from? 11:37 Why should you mulch? 12:56 Mulch in autumn or January? 13:26 Chop and drop explained 17:53 Bulk bags vs a loose load of mulch 19:44 Snow shovel tip for spreading mulch 22:02 What is strulch? 25:33 Is wood chip a good mulch? 26:24 Hessian vs landscape fabric 28:17 Does wood chip rob soil of nitrogen? 30:53 Sand mulch: planting into sand 34:32 Should you dig mulch in? 36:12 Buying worms for your garden
Next week it’s Question Time, so send us your weird and wonderful garden questions for the chance to win the most coveted prize in horticulture: the garden gnome.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective. Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
About our hosts James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV’s Gardeners’ World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
Remember the two rules: no dead plants and no dull questions.
Question Time: Winter Gardening, Frankenstein Plants & Sandwiches in the Bath
Season 4 · Episode 14
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 • Duration 49:47
Can you be a good gardener when it’s cold, wet and utterly miserable? And would anyone in their right mind eat a marmalade sandwich in the bath? Cue a deep sigh.
It’s Question Time, and James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift are back with your weird and wonderful garden questions. First, a listener has written them a theme tune. There’s just one problem: she wants them to sing it.
Then it’s winter kit (agricultural waterproofs held up with baler twine, technical trousers you can hear from the other end of the garden, and James’s dream of owning a pair of combinations), a mad scientist’s laboratory in Bridport where Joe breeds the terrifying Quercus horribilis, why a fresh bag of farmyard manure might be the best smell in the garden, exactly what percentage of their lives they spend thinking about their gardens, and which garden designer has had the most influence on gardening. James also has a theory about the indoor toilet that may change how you look at your back garden forever.
This week’s questions: Hannah: Winter is coming. How can I be a good gardener in the cold and wet? Hallie Mae: Which two plants would you combine to make an even better plant? For the Record 1983: Why is a new bag of farmyard manure the best smell in the garden? Gillian Moorhead: What percentage of time do you think about your garden? Stephen Farr: Which famous garden designer has had the most influence on gardening, for better or worse?
Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:40 A listener writes us a theme tune 05:11 How to garden in the cold and wet 08:18 The best waterproof trousers for gardening 11:52 Long johns, combinations and layering up 15:54 Biscuits and sandwiches in the bath 16:58 Which two plants would you combine? 20:59 Could you breed an evergreen rose? 24:17 Why does farmyard manure smell so good? 30:43 The voiceover line Joe couldn’t say 31:43 How much do gardeners think about their garden? 36:58 Most influential garden designer ever 42:06 How the indoor toilet changed garden design44:19 Central Park, Birkenhead and Frederick Law Olmsted47:04 Is everyone a garden designer now?
Is Sitting Down the Most Important Thing in Garden Design?
Season 4 · Episode 13
Tuesday, October 20, 2026 • Duration 48:30
Is the most important thing in garden design... a chair? James thinks so. Joe, alarmingly, agrees. Cue a deep sigh from the plants.
This week James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift sit down (eventually) to argue that every good garden starts with where you put your bottom. Where should a seat go? Sun or shade? How many friends do you need before you're allowed a terrace? And is a garden bench really just a sculpture you occasionally sit on?
Along the way: a fish that grows a few centimetres every time it's mentioned, James's garden building with a pretentious Spanish name, a reclaimed teak table flattened by a falling tree the day after it arrived, Joe's claim to have invented the plastic rattan sofa, a deck chair stand-off over a Ritz biscuit, and a radical proposal for trousers with the cushion built in.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:25 Joe's big fish in Ireland
04:26 James's West Coast tour of Canada
06:20 Is sitting the key to garden design?
07:32 Where to put a seat in your garden
08:37 How big should your terrace be?
12:39 Why a garden bench is a sculpture
17:04 Designing a bespoke garden bench
20:02 Sun or shade: where to sit now
23:16 How comfortable should garden seating be?
27:13 Why garden chairs need arms
30:54 Built-in seating for small gardens
37:05 Wood, metal or plastic rattan?
41:23 Bring back the deck chair
Question Time: Pants, Poetry, and Plants to Ruin Your Nemesis
Season 4 · Episode 12
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 • Duration 40:24
What underwear should a professional gardener wear? Nobody at Gardeners' Question Time is going to touch that one. Luckily, you have us.
James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift hand the podcast over to you, and this week's postbag is long. Very long. One listener has had enough of pants that fall apart, fall down or cut off the circulation, which leads to a full design brief for the James and Joe gardening undergarment: rib cage to knee, built-in knee pads, a hori hori holder and a warm pocket for toffees.
Also in the bag: a lavender hedge crisis delivered as a tragic ballad in rhyming couplets (it wins a gnome), what to wear when judging a horticultural competition in North Carolina, and the plants you'd choose for a garden designed for your absolute nemesis... the ones that look like thoughtful luxury and turn into an endless maintenance hellhole. Bamboo, Japanese knotweed, mind-your-own-business and a walnut tree that poisons its neighbours all get a mention. Somewhere in there is an actual fact about allelopathy.
Plus: the correct way to pronounce scarifying, why Dr Seuss was never a doctor, and what Joe would do if he were ever sold to Tottenham.
TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome to The James & Joe Garden Show 01:40 James sings the intro 02:47 How to send us a question 04:32 What underwear should gardeners wear? 10:18 Designing the perfect gardening pants 13:39 The Lavender Conundrum: a poem 16:31 When to rip out a lavender hedge 17:00 How to prune lavender 19:50 What to wear to judge a flower show 24:50 A uniform for flower show judges 27:32 Designing a garden for your nemesis 31:11 Invasive plants: knotweed, balsam and bamboo 32:21 Allelopathy: plants that poison their neighbours 35:52 Why is Dr Seuss a doctor?
Should You Put a Swimming Pool in a British Garden?
Season 4 · Episode 11
Tuesday, October 6, 2026 • Duration 44:39
Is a swimming pool in a British garden a brilliant idea or a very expensive mosquito pit? With summers getting hotter, the phone is ringing with people who suddenly want one. Cue a deep sigh.James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift wade in on pools versus natural swimming ponds: what they cost, why water is always trouble, and why the Florida blue rectangle with a cover on it has no business sitting outside your kitchen window. There is, for once, some actual information... how deep to dig, how much of a swimming pond should be planting, and what happens to it all in a hosepipe ban.Also this week: a listener complains that he learned nothing from the last episode, Joe confesses to a pool in France and a strict nine-stroke length, James goes into a 1975 pool party in a velvet jacket, a pair of pants turns up in a Chelsea show garden, and a body double does Joe's swimming for him on the telly. Plus the launch of a bold new business venture: the adult paddling pool.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The James & Joe Garden Show01:14 A Hammer Horror intro02:06 A listener says he learned nothing05:46 Cold water swimming and ice baths08:33 Is a swimming pool worth it in the UK?09:19 What colour should a swimming pool be?10:59 Kidney shaped and guitar shaped pools14:02 Natural swimming ponds explained15:20 How deep should a swimming pond be?17:20 How to keep a swimming pond clean20:55 Swimming ponds at Chelsea Flower Show27:54 James, a pool party and a velvet jacket30:44 Swimming pool running costs and maintenance33:52 Where to put a pool in the garden40:26 The adult paddling poolTo ask us a question email gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.comFor ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective.Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.About our hostsJames Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.Follow James & Joe on Instagram: @jamesandjoegardenFollow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_Contact us: gnome@jamesandjoegarden.comwww.jamesandjoegarden.comNext week it's questions, with a chance to win the most coveted prize in horticulture. The rules have not changed: no dead plants and no dull questions.
Question Time: Dying Birches, Dying Magazines, and James's Retirement Plan
Season 4 · Episode 10
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 • Duration 39:58
Where would you go to see great landscape architecture, and is there any difference between that and a good garden? James thinks there is, and his definition is not going to win him friends.
James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift are back on mailbag duty. Hannah in Dorset is starting a Masters in Landscape Architecture and wants to know where to go and look. Corinne in Dublin asks which single gardening problem they would magically abolish forever. Sarah in Manchester wants to know whether garden magazines are still worth buying, or whether we are all just addicted. And Bruce and Felicity Summers need a golden tree for their golden wedding, after the silver birch they were given for their silver one gave up in the drought.
Also in this one: five unbroken minutes on the cornet, an etymology lesson nobody asked for, three wishes from a genie who lives in a brass instrument, a full costing of the James and Joe house band, and Joe's appearance on the cover of Sea Angler, which he is thinking of turning into wallpaper.
James's phone dies with one question to go. Joe carries on regardless.
TIMESTAMPS 00:00 The two rules 01:39 James invents a theme tune 04:18 Should James learn the cornet? 05:03 Where the word Cornetto comes from 07:55 Three wishes from a genie 09:48 Where to see great landscape architecture 10:55 King's Cross and Coal Drops Yard 12:30 Garden designer or landscape architect? 16:52 Why the High Line works 19:19 One gardening problem solved forever 24:53 Gardening on TV is always wrong 26:13 Are garden magazines worth buying? 33:06 Getting a job from a magazine photo 36:51 A golden tree for a golden anniversary 38:45 James's phone gives up
What's the Point of WASPS? (And Ticks, Midges and Chicken Mites)
Season 4 · Episode 9
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 • Duration 48:01
What's the point of a wasp? Or a midge, a horse fly, a tick, or a chicken mite the size of a full stop that gets into your ear while you're cleaning out the hens? Cue a deep sigh.
James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift agree that biodiversity is a good thing. They are less sure about the bits of it that bite. So this week they go looking for the point of the creatures nobody puts on a tote bag, and find out whether "it's food for something else" really is the answer to everything.
Along the way: the strip of village green James is quietly annexing, a hedgehog spotted at four in the morning under circumstances Joe would rather not detail, five wasp stings at a French bottle bank, the spider lobbed out of a bedroom window at midnight, why Robert the Bruce means James has not killed a spider since, a squirrel with a mohican on Hampstead Heath, deer being repelled by motion-sensored water pistols, parakeets that may or may not be Jimi Hendrix's fault, and a piranha that bit back after it was already dead.
No conclusions were reached. Several were nearly reached.
TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Cold open 01:41 Summer's over, back to proper gardening 03:19 Letting a patch of village green go wild 05:32 What is biodiversity, actually? 08:24 What's the point of wasps? 11:47 Stung five times at the bottle bank 16:08 The spider in the bedroom 17:48 Robert the Bruce and his spider 20:55 Bitten by a squirrel 25:27 Chicken mites, the worst thing in the garden 30:00 Ticks, long grass and Lyme disease 33:46 Deer numbers and eaten roses 37:56 Parakeets and invasive species 44:47 Bitten by a piranha
ABOUT OUR HOSTS James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Question Time: Spiky Plants, Lazy Car Park Gardens & a Gnome on the Razzle
Season 4 · Episode 8
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • Duration 45:12
Is jungle planting a bloke thing? And more importantly, does a man who wants a garden that requires no gardening actually deserve one?
James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift throw the horticultural handbook out of the window again, this time for a full mailbag. What starts as a reasonable question about exotic planting ends up somewhere near cacti societies, edible hostas, whether Walter Raleigh really brought back the potato, and a gnome doing something regrettable in a nightclub.
Along the way: why James's curves are superior to your wiggles, the wall he wants built in the shape of his own signature, a listener who drove from New York to Florida listening exclusively to this podcast until her sat nav gave up in protest, and the one garden ornament James never wants to see again (it involves a Jack Russell, and it is not the end you are expecting).
This week's questions come from Mrs Lang Shani on jungle planting and gender, Colin in Cardiff and his paved yard that looks like a car park, Gillian on curves versus straight lines, Nina in Melbourne on what gnomes get up to after dark, and Carmilla on the one garden trend that should never come back.
Fair warning: one listener gets told, live on air, that he does not deserve a garden. We stand by it.
TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro06:17 Is jungle and exotic planting a bloke thing?14:47 Exotic planting in small city gardens18:10 Why aren't there more women designing at Chelsea?19:52 Low maintenance planting for a paved yard26:31 Curves or straight lines in garden design?38:54 Garden trends that should never come back
ASK US A QUESTION To ask us a question email gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.com. Answer well and you are in with a chance of winning the most coveted prize in horticulture, our gnome, Jekyll.
THE GARDEN COLLECTIVE For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective.Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
How Private Does Your Garden Really Need to Be?
Season 4 · Episode 7
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 • Duration 46:13
How much of your garden is actually yours? And how much of it belongs to whoever's peering over the fence?
James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift take on garden privacy, and immediately disagree about whether it's a problem worth solving. James has just come from a client who cut his hedge DOWN so he could ambush passers-by from his wheelchair. Joe once lived next door to a flat that held naked Sunday afternoon parties, and has never fully recovered.
Along the way: why retirement flats facing the road always sell first (people want to see a bit of a mugging), the fortress garden problem and why building one leaves you with an expensive shady box, the one screening trick that actually works (move the plant closer to you, not closer to them), and why sitting down is the cheapest privacy money can't buy.
Then there's sound, which turns out to be the harder half. Acoustic fencing at Horatio's Garden in Scotland, the futility of arguing with a flight path, and a doomed attempt to coin a name for a quiet garden. Pianissimo gardens, anyone?
Plus: Ken. Ken is retired, bored, owns a small yappy dog and a stepladder, and has seen Joe on the telly. Ken's wife Meg cooks anchovies with alphabet spaghetti and plays Slade at volume. Joe is not allowed to move house. Good luck, Joe.
With a nod to Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, and the tale of the cattle that ate every single tree James had planted the day before.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Welcome
01:15 Remembering Dolly Parton and Tim Curry
03:24 Southport Flower Show, Mr Motivator and Anton Du Beke
Question Time: Feeding an RHS Judge, Time Travel & the Lords of Landscape
Season 4 · Episode 6
Tuesday, September 1, 2026 • Duration 38:11
An RHS judge is coming to lunch on Saturday. You have one afternoon. Do you tidy the garden, or cook something delicious? Cue a deep sigh — the answer turns out to have almost nothing to do with gardening.
James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift are back in the mailbag, answering the questions that scare the wits out of the other garden podcasts. This week yours send them from a medieval drawbridge to a Babylonian palace by way of a French ski slope. Somewhere in the middle of it they settle the burrata question, acquire a new job title, and Joe decides — live, with no warning whatsoever — precisely which plant represents Arsenal Football Club.
Also featuring: why a lawn burnt to a crisp is now the most sustainable thing you own, the correct number of concealed hori horis to carry into a castle, the deluxe half-day tour of the Garden of Eden (compost heap included), a signed fig leaf, James's genuine career ambition to be a professional washer-upper, and a two-dishwasher system that he is convinced cannot mathematically work.
This week's questions: Jane — an RHS judge and his wife are coming for lunch. Tidy the garden, or cook? Jackie in Ontario — as an Arsenal fan, which flower would Joe choose to represent his team? Buffy in Maine — one afternoon in any garden in human history. Where are you going? Rocco — if you weren't in garden design and broadcasting, what would you have been?
Chapters:
00:00 The two rules
02:12 James attempts the theme tune
04:26 Gnomes, and where to catch us live
06:56 Jane: an RHS judge is coming to lunch
14:13 Jackie in Ontario: which flower is Arsenal?
19:25 Dear Lords of Landscape
21:39 Buffy in Maine: one afternoon, any garden in history
28:05 Rocco: what would you be, if not this?
31:23 The two-dishwasher problem
Got a question? Send it in for the chance to win the most coveted prize in horticulture (no, not a Chelsea gold medal). To ask us a question email gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.com
About our hosts James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV’s Gardeners’ World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective. Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
Remember: no dead plants and no dull questions. See you back in the garden.
44:42 The cushion: the most important part
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective.
Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
To ask us a question email gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.com
Every question is in with a chance to win Jekyll, our garden gnome and the most coveted prize in horticulture.
Follow James & Joe on Instagram: @jamesandjoegarden
Follow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_
Contact us: gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com
www.jamesandjoegarden.com
About our hosts
James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
Our only two rules? No dead plants and no dull questions.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective. Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
About our hosts James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
Send us a question for the chance to win the most coveted prize in horticulture. Poems welcome. Only two rules: no dead plants and no dull questions.
ABOUT OUR HOSTS James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective. Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
No dead plants. No dull questions. Jekyll the gnome is still up for grabs.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective. Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
No dead plants. No dull questions. And no spiders out of the window, apparently.
ABOUT OUR HOSTS James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
SEE US LIVE Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival, Holt Farm, Blagdon, Somerset. 17 September 2026. The Garden Museum, London. 10 November 2026, city gardens versus country gardens, with an audience vote.
FOLLOW Instagram: @jamesandjoegarden The Garden Collective: garden_collective_ www.jamesandjoegarden.com
Only two rules apply. No dead plants and no dull questions.
06:10 How private should a garden be?
08:18 Why fortress gardens don't work
09:10 The screening you can never clip
10:54 Joe's naked neighbours in Hackney
13:28 A prisoner in your own garden
16:28 The screening trick that actually works
16:55 Sit down: the cheapest privacy there is
18:58 Cutting noise with an acoustic fence
23:00 Aircraft noise and why you stop hearing it
25:22 Meet Ken and Meg, the neighbours from hell
38:59 Is a leylandii hedge ever a good idea?
42:46 The cattle that ate every tree
Catch us live at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival, Holt Farm, Blagdon, Somerset on 17 September 2026.
To ask us a question email gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.com
ABOUT OUR HOSTS
James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective.
Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
Follow James & Joe on Instagram: @jamesandjoegarden
Follow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_
Contact us: gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com
www.jamesandjoegarden.com
No dead plants and no dull questions.
34:51 James becomes an Olympic downhill skier
36:06 Goodnight from Joseph
See James and Joe live: Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival, Somerset — 17 September. Advice for young and old gardeners, mostly in the form of mistakes they have already made on your behalf. The Garden Museum, London — 10 November. City gardens versus country gardens, with a proper audience vote.
Send us a question and you could win the most coveted prize in horticulture. Not a Chelsea gold medal — the gnome. To ask us a question email gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.com
About our hosts
James Alexander-Sinclair is a garden designer, writer and broadcaster. He is an RHS Vice-President and was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal for outstanding contribution to horticulture in 2022.
Joe Swift is a familiar face on television as a presenter of BBC TV's Gardeners' World and other gardening programmes. He is a garden designer, broadcaster, writer and design director of Modular.
For ad free listening and bonus content then join us at the Garden Collective. Not only will you get us but new articles every week from some of the best garden writers around and access to a bulging archive from (without wishing to drop names) the likes of Alan Titchmarsh, Ann-Marie Powell, Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith, Advolly Richmond, Jan Etherington and many others. Come and join the Collective for essays, seasonal notes, reflections and stories.
Follow James & Joe on Instagram: @jamesandjoegarden
Follow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_
Contact us: gnome@jamesandjoegarden.com
www.jamesandjoegarden.com
No dead plants and no dull questions. See you back in the garden.
Details about The James & Joe Garden Show, a podcast by James Alexander-Sinclair & Joe Swift
