Wait, what? There are gardening podcasts?

Of course – and like all podcasts, there are good ones and…not so good ones.

When I’m out in the garden, I like to be joined by other gardening nerds, so I listen to gardening podcasts. My preference is for Australian podcasts of course, because the hosts know our unique growing conditions and the information is seasonally relevant. However, I do listen to one or two international pods, if I think I can use the information or I like the hosts and the content.

I have tried and tested almost all the different gardening podcasts out there, and these are my top five.

1. All the Dirt

All The Dirt is an Aussie pod recorded in Western Australia, hosted by horticulturalists and garden writers Derryn Thorpe and Steve Wood. Almost every week they interview an Australian garden expert, horticulturalist, or gardening writer on a specific topic (for example, curator of the WA Seed Centre at Kings Park, or the Compostable Coach (aka Compostable Kate) about different methods of home composting). In other episodes they will just have a chat about best plants to grow in a Summer veggie patch (tbh these are my favourite episodes). I like their gentle, knowledgeable approach, that makes you feel like you are joining them for a cuppa and a scone.

2. Backyard Gardens

This is an American gardening podcast, with two very different hosts from two very different parts of the USA. Ben gardens in the South, and Batavia gardens in metro Chicago. Their banter can take some getting used to (quite different from the more laidback Aussie style of All The Dirt, for example). At first I found Ben’s approach a bit abrasive. After sticking with it, I found that Batavia is more than able to handle him, and I enjoyed their divergent communication styles and gardening approaches, which are very different due to the different conditions they garden under. To deal with the seasonal differences, I generally listen to their Summer podcasts (current now) in our Summer (so, six months behind) and am now listening to their Winter gardening podcasts from last year. Or I choose podcasts that are not seasonally specific. For example, they did a great series on food security and preserving food, and another on sustainable gardening. Everything comes from the perspective of home gardeners.

3. Roots and Shoots

Another Western Australian podcast, hosted by Amber Cunningham and well-known gardening expert Sabrina Hahn, this is one for people who don’t mind a laugh while learning about gardening. I’d say only about half of the pod is about gardening; the rest is jokes, Sab laughing at her own jokes, and general tomfoolery. Available through regular podcasting apps as well as the ABC Listen app.

4. Talkback Gardening

The podcast of the Saturday morning ABC Adelaide’s talkback gardening show, hosted by Deb Tribe and gardening expert Jon Lamb, expect a million questions about lemon trees, citrus gall wasp, and how to remove scale from various trees. Regular helpful guests including interviews with local fruit tree nursery owners, a citrus expert, a turf consultant, some rare fruit and organic gardening experts, houseplant, garlic, and herb writers, and a monthly long range weather forecaster who gives his very accurate predictions about the weather and rainfall at the start of each month. As comfortable as a well-worn gumboot. Available through regular podcasting apps as well as the ABC Listen app.

5. Avant Gardeners

A recent discovery, Avant Gardeners is a Tasmanian podcast hosted by two women, Emily and Maddie, who are a bit like me – raising families, trying to fit gardening in their busy lives, doing their best. They also interview gardening experts, in a similar vein to All The Dirt, but as the hosts don’t have the decades of industry expertise, it’s quite charming and chilled. I’d have to describe it as very ‘Tassie’? There is a distinct difference that you can feel between the WA and Tassie gardening podcasts – I reckon it’s all that lovely water and cool weather in Tasmania. They’re just not that worried about as much in the garden, whereas the WA gardeners seem just a bit stressed out all the time. I get it – trying to grow a garden on pure sand with almost no water will do that to a body.

What to do in the garden with the time you have this week

If you have an hour

Check your garden for slugs, snails, and cabbage moth larvae. The wetter weather attracts these pests, so I often take a walk around the patch to check for them and pick them off the brassicas. My chooks don’t eat them (little slackers), so I usually squish them. Although I don’t use poisons in my garden, I do sprinkle an organic iron-based pellet around the leafy greens and brassicas to deter slugs and snails (non-toxic to dogs and cats and other furry critters). A visit from these little monsters can take out your Winter veggie patch overnight!

If you have 2-3 hours

Start trimming dead growth on woody herbs. Ideally, I would have done most of this in late Autumn, but pobody’s nerfect, amiright? My herb garden is large, and trimming all the old woody growth on the mint, oregano, salvia and thyme takes a long time. I spent several hours on this extremely boring task last weekend, and only completed about 30% of the task. I have it on my list for this coming weekend as well (reluctantly). I know that future me will be very pleased with past me if I do get this task done, as future me will be rewarded with lush new growth in Spring.

If you have 5-6 hours

Mulch all your fruit trees with aged cow or sheep manure. I do this every Winter. As I have about twenty fruit trees, it takes me a long time. This is another one of those boring, once-a-year tasks that I don’t really enjoy, but I know must be done. The thick mulch of manure creates a warm blanket over the soil and rots slowly. By Springtime, the nutrients are ready for the tree to take up in time for the fruiting season.

My preference is to use aged sheep manure, but my usual supplier sold out this year, so I settled for cow manure. Either will do the job, but I do prefer aged sheep manure because it is higher in potassium. Just make sure that whichever poo you choose, it is well aged and composted, and that when spreading you do not place it right up to the tree trunk – leave a ring of 5-10 cm away from the trunk to prevent collar rot. Then let it rot down slowly over Winter and into Spring. I use three 25 litre bags per large tree (e.g. the Apricot and Mulberry trees), and one 25 litre bag per small tree (e.g. the dwarf Apples and Plums).