Editing Gardeners' Question Time (section)

==History==
The first programme was broadcast in the North and Northern Ireland [[BBC Home Service|Home Service]] of the [[BBC]] at 22:15 on 9 April 1947 and came from the "singing room" at the Broadoak Hotel, [[Ashton-under-Lyne]]. Originally entitled ''How Does Your Garden Grow?'', it was inspired by the wartime [[Victory garden|Dig for Victory]] campaign. On the first panel were [[Bill Sowerbutts]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tameside.gov.uk/corpgen2/billsower.htm |title=Blue Plaque - Bill Sowerbutts<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=10 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829133236/http://www.tameside.gov.uk/corpgen2/billsower.htm |archive-date=29 August 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Fred Loads, Tom Clark and Dr E.W. Sansome.

Professor [[Alan Gemmell (botanist)|Alan Gemmell]] joined Loads and Sowerbutts in 1950 when their contrasting styles (Professor, Traditional Head gardener and Commercial Grower) added an entertainment element. The success of the format led to the programme's being broadcast nationally on Saturday mornings at 11:00 from 27 April to 13 July 1957 on the [[BBC Light Programme]] (under the title ''Down the Garden Path''). In September 1957 the programme was transferred to the Home Service and gained its present title of ''Gardeners' Question Time'' as well as the time slot of 14:00 on Sundays which it has retained to this day.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/genome/entries/88718102-5602-4d70-92ac-383f41451f1f From little acorns: the origins of gardening programmes on the BBC]</ref> The programme marked its 1,000th edition in 1972, though the occasion was overshadowed by the death of long-serving chairman [[Franklin Engelmann]] just days earlier.

The format and panel remained largely unchanged for many years. In 1994, production moved to outside company Taylor Made Broadcast; the complete panel was discarded by the BBC and moved to the new [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]] station on a short-term contract to present ''Classic Gardening Forum'', sponsored by the [[Cheltenham and Gloucester]] [[Building Society]]. In 2009, the production of the show was taken over by the UK's largest independent radio production company [[Somethin' Else Sound Directions Ltd.|Somethin' Else]]. The programme's audience figures continue to perform strongly as confirmed by the official audience measurement body, [[RAJAR]].