Question Time: Olive Trees, Butterfly Haters & Exploding Ketchup

Is it okay to hate butterflies? Susan in London would like to know. Cue a deep sigh.It’s Question Time, and James Alexander-Sinclair and Joe Swift are back with your weird and wonderful garden questions. But first, Joe’s ketchup bottle has exploded. It hit both walls, his ear, his shirt and the sofa cushions, and now the great fridge or cupboard debate has to be settled once and for all.Then there’s an operatic welcome that owes a great deal to Pavarotti, and James’s day out at the Britain in Bloom finals in Rochdale (gilets bleus and all). An Austrian listener gets her letter read back to her in an accent she specifically asked them not to do. There’s the case for butterfly houses as a form of imprisonment, the interior designer whose big idea was to paint the whole house white, and the architect who looked at James’s finished garden and decided it had to go. Plus a winter build where the mud nearly came over the top of James’s wellies, Joe’s favourite funk soul album, and why you should only grow the veg you can’t buy.This week’s questions:Christina in Bisamberg, Austria: Should I move my olive and fig trees out of their pots and into the ground?Susan in London: Is it okay to hate butterflies?Paolo: It’s the 18th century. Do you hire William Kent or Capability Brown?Hannah: Do you work in all weathers?Maxwell: Is grow your own actually cheaper than buying food?Timestamps00:00 Intro01:40 A Pavarotti welcome02:50 Joe’s exploding ketchup bottle03:54 Should you keep ketchup in the fridge?07:26 Britain in Bloom finals in Rochdale10:46 Should olive and fig trees go in the ground?16:38 Is it okay to hate butterflies?19:32 Are butterfly houses cruel?21:55 William Kent or Capability Brown?22:46 Why architects shouldn’t design gardens25:00 The designer who painted everything white26:01 The architect who wanted the garden gone29:37 Why the garden should come before the house32:05 Do garden designers work in all weathers?39:06 Is grow your own cheaper than buying food?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 [email protected] 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: [email protected] the two rules: no dead plants and no dull questions.

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.Timestamps00:00 Intro, hi-fi and hunkering down05:32 Gulch, bulch and yelch: guess the topic08:25 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 explained17:53 Bulk bags vs a loose load of mulch19:44 Snow shovel tip for spreading mulch22:02 What is strulch?25:33 Is wood chip a good mulch?26:24 Hessian vs landscape fabric28:17 Does wood chip rob soil of nitrogen?30:53 Sand mulch: planting into sand34:32 Should you dig mulch in?36:12 Buying worms for your gardenNext 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.To ask us a question email [email protected] 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: [email protected] the two rules: no dead plants and no dull questions.

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?Timestamps00:00 Intro01:40 A listener writes us a theme tune05:11 How to garden in the cold and wet08:18 The best waterproof trousers for gardening11:52 Long johns, combinations and layering up15:54 Biscuits and sandwiches in the bath16:58 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 say31:43 How much do gardeners think about their garden?36:58 Most influential garden designer ever42:06 How the indoor toilet changed garden design44:19 Central Park, Birkenhead and Frederick Law Olmsted47:04 Is everyone a garden designer now?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 [email protected] or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.comAbout 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.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: @jamesandjoegardenFollow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_Contact us: [email protected]: no dead plants and no dull questions. See you back in the garden.

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.Timestamps00:00 Intro03:25 Joe's big fish in Ireland04:26 James's West Coast tour of Canada06:20 Is sitting the key to garden design?07:32 Where to put a seat in your garden08:37 How big should your terrace be?12:39 Why a garden bench is a sculpture17:04 Designing a bespoke garden bench20:02 Sun or shade: where to sit now23:16 How comfortable should garden seating be?27:13 Why garden chairs need arms30:54 Built-in seating for small gardens37:05 Wood, metal or plastic rattan?41:23 Bring back the deck chair44:42 The cushion: the most important partFor 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 [email protected] or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.comEvery question is in with a chance to win Jekyll, our garden gnome and the most coveted prize in horticulture.Follow James & Joe on Instagram: @jamesandjoegardenFollow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_Contact us: [email protected] 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.Our only two rules? No dead plants and no dull questions.

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.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome to The James & Joe Garden Show01:40 James sings the intro02:47 How to send us a question04:32 What underwear should gardeners wear?10:18 Designing the perfect gardening pants13:39 The Lavender Conundrum: a poem16:31 When to rip out a lavender hedge17:00 How to prune lavender19:50 What to wear to judge a flower show24:50 A uniform for flower show judges27:32 Designing a garden for your nemesis31:11 Invasive plants: knotweed, balsam and bamboo32:21 Allelopathy: plants that poison their neighbours35:52 Why is Dr Seuss a doctor?To ask us a question email [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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.

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 [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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.

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.TIMESTAMPS00:00 The two rules01:39 James invents a theme tune04:18 Should James learn the cornet?05:03 Where the word Cornetto comes from07:55 Three wishes from a genie09:48 Where to see great landscape architecture10:55 King's Cross and Coal Drops Yard12:30 Garden designer or landscape architect?16:52 Why the High Line works19:19 One gardening problem solved forever24:53 Gardening on TV is always wrong26:13 Are garden magazines worth buying?33:06 Getting a job from a magazine photo36:51 A golden tree for a golden anniversary38:45 James's phone gives upTo ask us a question email [email protected] or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.comABOUT 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.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: @jamesandjoegardenFollow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_Contact us: [email protected] dead plants. No dull questions. Jekyll the gnome is still up for grabs.

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.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Cold open01:41 Summer's over, back to proper gardening03:19 Letting a patch of village green go wild05:32 What is biodiversity, actually?08:24 What's the point of wasps?11:47 Stung five times at the bottle bank16:08 The spider in the bedroom17:48 Robert the Bruce and his spider20:55 Bitten by a squirrel25:27 Chicken mites, the worst thing in the garden30:00 Ticks, long grass and Lyme disease33:46 Deer numbers and eaten roses37:56 Parakeets and invasive species44:47 Bitten by a piranhaTo ask us a question email [email protected] or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.comABOUT 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.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: @jamesandjoegardenFollow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_Contact us: [email protected] dead plants. No dull questions. And no spiders out of the window, apparently.

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.TIMESTAMPS00:00 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 backASK US A QUESTIONTo ask us a question email [email protected] 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 COLLECTIVEFor 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.SEE US LIVEYeo 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.FOLLOWInstagram: @jamesandjoegardenThe Garden Collective: garden_collective_www.jamesandjoegarden.comOnly two rules apply. No dead plants and no dull questions.

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.TIMESTAMPS00:00 Welcome01:15 Remembering Dolly Parton and Tim Curry03:24 Southport Flower Show, Mr Motivator and Anton Du Beke06:10 How private should a garden be?08:18 Why fortress gardens don't work09:10 The screening you can never clip10:54 Joe's naked neighbours in Hackney13:28 A prisoner in your own garden16:28 The screening trick that actually works16:55 Sit down: the cheapest privacy there is18:58 Cutting noise with an acoustic fence23:00 Aircraft noise and why you stop hearing it25:22 Meet Ken and Meg, the neighbours from hell38:59 Is a leylandii hedge ever a good idea?42:46 The cattle that ate every treeCatch us live at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival, Holt Farm, Blagdon, Somerset on 17 September 2026.To ask us a question email [email protected] or go to our website www.jamesandjoegarden.comABOUT 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.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: @jamesandjoegardenFollow The Garden Collective on Instagram: garden_collective_Contact us: [email protected] dead plants and no dull questions.