Editing Gardeners' Question Time

{{Short description|BBC radio programme}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name          = Gardeners' Question Time
| image              = File:Gardeners' Question Time Live Recording.jpg
| imagesize          =
| caption            = [[Eric Robson]] chairs a live recording of ''Gardeners' Question Time'' at the [[Wellcome Collection]] in 2017. On the panel are [[Matt Biggs]], [[Anne Swithinbank]] and [[Chris Beardshaw]].
| other_names        = ''How Does Your Garden Grow?'' (1947–1950)<br>''Down the Garden Path'' (1950–1957)
| presenter          = [[Kathy Clugston]]
| format             = Factual/[[panel show]]
| runtime            = 45 minutes
| country            = [[United Kingdom]]
| language           = [[English language|English]]
| home_station       = [[BBC Home Service]] (1947–1950, 1957–1967)<br>[[BBC Light Programme]] (1950–1957)<br>[[BBC Radio 4]] (1967–present)
| first_aired        = 9 April 1947
| audio_format       = [[Stereophonic sound|Stereo]]
| website            = [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qp2f Gardeners' Question Time at BBC Radio 4]
| podcast            =
}}

'''''Gardeners' Question Time''''' is a long running [[BBC Radio 4]] programme in which amateur [[gardening|gardeners]] can put questions to a panel of experts.

==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]].

==Format==
The programme typically comes from a village hall or other public venue somewhere in Britain, or occasionally further afield, such as in the [[Republic of Ireland]] or northern France. ''GQT'' often records at special locations throughout the UK, including on a moving train, the peak of [[Snowdon]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07v33l8|title=Gardeners' Question Time Snowdon Show, 18/09/16}}</ref> from inside the [[Tower of London]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08343jm|title=Gardeners' Question Time Tower of London, 27/11/16}}</ref> and in December 2016 from the state dining room at [[10 Downing Street]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b085bfvb|title=Gardeners' Question Time Downing Street, 25/12/16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/behind-scenes-gardeners-question-time-number-10s-back-garden/|title=Telegraph Article - GQT at Number Ten|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=21 December 2016 |last1=Robertson |first1=Debora }}</ref>

There are also regular editions in which the panel answer questions sent in by post or email, known as "postbag editions". These editions are recorded in a specially adapted potting shed at [[Sparsholt College]] near [[Sparsholt, Hampshire]]; however, in recent years postbag programmes have been recorded at various gardens around the UK, including at [[Highgrove House|Highgrove]], with [[Prince Charles]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b074zy95|title=Gardeners' Question Time Highgrove, 01/04/16}}</ref> [[Kew Gardens]], [[RHS Wisley]], [[Ness Botanic Gardens]] and [[East Ruston Old Vicarage]].

Each year the programme visits a botanic garden to stage its annual ''GQT'' Summer Garden Party. The event includes seminars and talks given by the panel, a chance to receive first hand advice from a panellist inside the ''GQT'' Potting Shed, plus two programme recordings. A highlight of the horticultural calendar, the event attracts a large audience of keen amateur gardeners. Most recently the Summer Garden Party has been hosted by [[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rbge.org.uk/assets/files/whats_on/RBGE%20GQT%20Programme.pdf|title=Summer Garden Party - 2016}}</ref> [[National Botanic Garden of Wales]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/bbc-radio-4s-gardeners-question-7204466|title=Summer Garden Party - 2015|date=2 June 2014 }}</ref> and Ness Botanic Gardens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nessgardens.org.uk/about-us/press-media/bbc-radio-4-gardeners-question-time-summer-garden-party/|title=Summer Garden Party - 2013}}</ref>

Since 2001, ''Gardeners' Question Time'' factsheets have been made available after each episode covering all questions and their given answers. The factsheets can be found by searching for a particular episode and scrolling down the page.

In 2009, the programme launched a podcast edition and a [[Twitter]] account,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/BBCGQT|title=@BBCGQT}}</ref> the latter designed to be a place where listeners can share gardening ideas and tips and comment on the radio programme's topics and panellists' answers.

The programme regularly attracts an audience in excess of two million and has answered over 35,000 questions in its long run.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/gardeners-question-time-christmas-show-03-12-14|title=Gardeners' Question Time Christmas Show, 03/12/14 - Garden Museum|access-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425010241/http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/page/gardeners-question-time-christmas-show-03-12-14|archive-date=25 April 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Panellists==
Panellists include [[Matthew Wilson (gardener)|Matthew Wilson]], [[Chris Beardshaw]], [[Matthew Biggs]], [[Bob Flowerdew]], [[Pippa Greenwood]], [[Bunny Guinness]], [[Anne Swithinbank]], [[James Wong (ethnobotanist)|James Wong]] and [[Christine Walkden]].

Past participants have included [[John Cushnie]], Dr [[Stefan Buczacki]], David Burges, Fred Downham,  Professor [[Alan Gemmell]], Walter Gilmore, Jill Hicking, [[Clay Jones (horticulturist)|Clay Jones]], [[Nigel Colborn]], [[Daphne Ledward]], Fred Loads, Bridget Moody, Martin Fish, David Jones, Sue Phillipps, [[Geoffrey Smith (gardener)|Geoffrey Smith]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7916174.stm|title=BBC NEWS - UK - BBC gardening expert Smith dies|date=28 February 2009 }}</ref> Sid Robertson, and [[Bill Sowerbutts]].

Past chairmen were Bob Stead, [[Franklin Engelmann]], [[Michael Barratt (television presenter)|Michael Barratt]], [[Steve Race]], Ken Ford, Les Cottington, [[Clay Jones (horticulturist)|Clay Jones]], and Stefan Buczacki. On 26 April 2019 [[Eric Robson]], host for 25 years, chaired his last programme. His replacement as chair was BBC radio newsreader [[Kathy Clugston]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Joe Shute |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/decision-eric-robson-leaving-gardeners-question-time-25-years/ |title='It was my decision': Eric Robson on leaving Gardeners' Question Time after 25 years |work=The Telegraph |date=23 April 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/ Gardeners' Question Time page at the BBC website]

{{BBC Radio 4}}

[[Category:BBC Radio 4 programmes]]
[[Category:Gardening in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1947 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:1940s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1950s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1960s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1970s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1980s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1990s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:2000s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:2010s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:2020s British radio programmes]]