Master My Garden Podcast

John Jones
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Home & Garden
  • Updated Weekly

Master My Garden podcast with John Jones. The gardening podcast that helps you master your own garden. With new episodes weekly packed full of gardening tips, how to garden guides, interviews with gardening experts on many gardening topics and just about anything that will help you in your garden whether you are a new or a seasoned gardener. I hope you enjoy.John

  1. 5d ago

    EP351- How To Build An Autumn Garden That Adds Interest For Years! Build A Layered Autumn Garden

    This weeks sponsors: Better Plants  See special offer here  https://betterplants.ie/product/seaweed-soil-conditioner-2-x-10kg-buckets-special-offer/ Autumn colour can be breathtaking, but it can also disappear in a flash. One week your garden is glowing red and gold, the next it feels flat and bare because the weather shifts and the best leaf colour drops fast. We want a better plan than hoping a single tree carries the whole season, so we take a practical look at how to build an autumn garden that holds its nerve from September right through to Christmas.  We walk through a layered approach that works in large gardens, small gardens, and even in pots. We start with late flowering perennials that still look “alive” when everything else is winding down, then move into reliable foliage performers like amelanchier, cotinus, acers, liquidambar and the ever-impressive red oak. From there we add the colour that keeps going after flowers fade: berries on viburnum opulus, sorbus, hawthorn, aronia and crab apples, all with a real biodiversity bonus for birds.  Then we lean into the plants that truly shine when the first frost hits. Ornamental grasses such as miscanthus and Stipa gigantea bring structure and sparkle on bright mornings, while bark and stems take over for winter with white birch trunks, peeling paperbark maple, and dogwoods in red or yellow. We finish with simple autumn bedding and container ideas plus a quick garden audit you can do today to spot what your space is missing. Subscribe, share with a gardening friend, and leave a review if the layered approach helps you plan your best autumn yet. If you want to join in the perennial grow along join here: https://master-my-garden-perennial-grow-along.subscribepage.io/ Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  2. Sep 16

    - EP350 Perennial Grow Along September 2026. What You Will Need To Grow Your Own Perennial Border.

    Join The Perennial Grow Along here  https://master-my-garden-perennial-grow-along.subscribepage.io/ A full perennial border can look like something only open gardens and big budgets can pull off, until you do the maths and realise you can grow the bulk of it yourself. We’re outlining the 2026 perennial grow along plan and showing how a few packets of seed, a handful of trays, and a bit of organisation can turn into a serious number of plants for next summer’s planting. We talk through the whole timeline from autumn sowing to pricking out in October, keeping seedlings healthy through winter, and then topping up with spring sowing (including options like dahlias from seed). Along the way we share the essentials: choosing a colour scheme, picking perennial seeds that actually suit your border design, using any container with proper drainage as a seed tray, and labelling so you do not lose track of varieties and dates when things start to germinate at different speeds. You’ll also hear the honest bit: not every seed tray will be a winner. Some perennials are brilliantly straightforward, while others are finicky or sporadic. We cover what to expect from tricky germinators like echinacea, why lavender often needs cold stratification, and how a cold polytunnel or greenhouse can help you grow on without babying everything. If you want a high-colour, pollinator-friendly perennial border that you can genuinely say you grew yourself, join the grow along, then subscribe, share this with a gardening mate, and leave us a review so more people can find it. Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  3. Sep 11

    - EP349- Spring-Flowering Bulbs For Maximum Colour With Minimum Effort

    The fastest way to make next spring feel brighter starts right now with a bag of bulbs and a spade. We walk through spring flowering bulbs from the ground up: what to buy in September, where they shine in borders, pots, lawns and under trees, and how to get a display that comes back year after year with almost no fuss.  We cover the classics and the standouts: tulips for bold April colour themes (plus the types that actually return), daffodils and miniature narcissus for a long flowering run from winter into spring, and early heroes like crocus and snowdrops for that first lift when the garden still looks grey. We also talk pollinator-friendly choices, including native bluebells, and a few underused favourites like snakeshead fritillaria, anemones and muscari for naturalising and texture. If you want one crowd-pleaser, we explain why alliums are so hard to beat for impact and bees.  You’ll leave with practical, confidence-building rules: avoid waterlogged soil, build free drainage in containers, plant bulbs at roughly three times their depth, and always set the pointy end upwards. We also share two container strategies for small spaces: staging pots for a tidy, swap-in display, and lasagne planting for layered flowering over weeks. Plus, we preview our upcoming perennial grow along and how to sign up. Subscribe, share this with a gardening friend, and leave a review if you want more simple wins like this. Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  4. Sep 4

    EP348 What To Sow In September & Other Gardening Jobs: September Seed Sowing Essentials

    This weeks sponsors:  Seeds Ireland High Quality Seeds: See link below for listener offer.  https://seedsireland.ie/master September is the month where a small, well-timed sowing list can make your whole winter feel easier. We’re looking at what to sow right now for steady, dependable harvests, especially if summer heat, holidays, or a brief pause in sowing has left gaps in your beds or polytunnel. If you want salad leaves on the plate when growth outside slows to a crawl, this is the reset button. We walk through a clear, practical seed sowing guide for September, focusing on crops that earn their keep: loose-leaf lettuce for repeat picking, chard as a reliable staple, and kale sown now for spring harvests. We also cover winter salad favourites like winter purslane, mizuna, mustard and spinach, plus herbs such as coriander and chervil. For anyone who likes to experiment under cover, we talk about late sowings of beetroot and carrots in the polytunnel, what to expect, and why it can still be worth a try if you are short on supplies. There’s a bigger lesson running underneath the list: the garden may feel warm, but the light is slipping away fast. We dig into the sharp drop in daylight hours through September, why sunlight intensity matters for seedlings, and a simple action that makes a real difference: cleaning greenhouse glass or polytunnel covers so every bit of light reaches your trays. We also touch on flowers you can still sow now, from perennials to sweet peas and biennials, and the wider idea of autumn planning for a more resilient garden. A quick thanks as well to Seeds Ireland for sponsoring, with seed, spring-flowering bulbs, and autumn onion and garlic sets worth having on your radar. If this guide helps, please subscribe, share the episode with a gardening friend, and leave a review. What are you sowing first this September? Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  5. Aug 28

    EP347 - Now We Know The Weather Is Changing What Can we Do About It To Garden Better? Eight Practical Ways To Make Your Garden Resilient

    Grow Your Own Herb Workshop Looking Forward To Seeing You here:  https://subscribepage.io/growyourownherbalgarden The weather doesn’t just “turn” anymore, it swings. One season can feel like weeks of soaked ground and flooding risk, followed by a fast flip into heat, drought and stressed plants. We’ve felt it in everything from delayed sowing to polytunnels that need watering at dawn, and crops that simply never size up without consistent moisture. So we’re stepping back and asking a more useful question: how do we build gardens that keep going when conditions get extreme?  We share eight practical ways to make your garden more resilient, starting with a return to seasonal timing. Autumn planting gives shrubs, trees and hedging the rooting window they need to handle next year’s dry spells. We talk shelter too: protecting borders from wind, creating shade where it helps, and reducing bare soil so beds don’t lose water to evaporation. “Right plant, right place” becomes non-negotiable when a patch that was only mildly damp can now sit saturated for months.  From there we get hands-on with water and soil. We discuss simple irrigation systems with timers for polytunnels and vegetable beds, why watering at night can be more effective, and how rainwater harvesting needs to scale beyond a single butt if you want real security during hosepipe bans. We also dig into mulching, organic matter, wood chip, grass clippings, and alternative growing systems like hugelkultur beds and food forest style planting that can store moisture and buffer extremes.  If you enjoy practical gardening advice that matches the reality outside your back door, subscribe, share the episode with a gardening friend, and leave us a review. What weather shift is changing the way you garden this year? Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  6. Aug 21

    EP346- Is Ireland’s Weather Really Changing ? Ireland Is Not Simply Wetter Or Drier, It Is More Extreme

    Grow Your Own Herb Workshop Looking Forward To Seeing You here:  https://subscribepage.io/growyourownherbalgarden Hosepipe bans, cracked soil, and then a day of rain so heavy it vanishes into runoff: if your garden has felt like it’s lurching between extremes, you’re not imagining it. We step back from the week-to-week frustration and look at what the data actually says about Irish weather, using Met Éireann observations to ground the conversation in facts rather than doom or wishful thinking.  We talk through the big questions gardeners keep asking: is Ireland becoming drier, wetter, or just harder to predict? The answer is messy in a useful way. Recent years sit among the warmest on record since 1900, while rainfall totals can look “normal” even as individual months and 24-hour events become more intense.  The most practical takeaway is about gardening strategy. When dry spells lengthen and downpours intensify, timing matters more than ever: autumn planting can help trees and shrubs establish before summer drought, while rushing bedding plants out in cold, wet spring conditions still backfires. We also tee up what comes next: smarter water storage, better soil structure, more organic matter, mulching, and borrowing lessons from woodland systems that hold moisture through heat. If you want a calmer, evidence-based way to plan your Irish garden around climate and weather extremes, hit play, then subscribe, share it with a gardening friend, and leave a review. If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John   Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  7. Aug 14

    EP345 - September Herb Workshop & How To Revive Your August Garden.

    Grow Your Own Herb Workshop Looking For To Seeing You here:  https://subscribepage.io/growyourownherbalgarden Your garden can look “fine” in August while quietly running on empty. With weeks of heat and very little rain, plants lose that fresh, lush look, new plantings stall, and even reliable beds start to struggle. We talk honestly about what prolonged drought looks like on the ground, from yellowed lawns and thirsty borders to the knock-on effects you can see across the countryside. We also dig into the surprising stuff, like why blackbirds and crows start stripping apples and other fruit when everything turns dry. From there, we get practical: how to think about rainwater harvesting, why water butts feel essential the moment a hosepipe ban arrives, and why the best time to set up storage is long before the next heatwave. I share what I’m changing with my own polytunnel setup, and how early-morning watering becomes the only workable option in extreme temperatures. Then we move to recovery mode: choosing plants that genuinely cope, using mulch to cut evaporation and keep the root zone cooler, and bringing in liquid seaweed as a simple way to boost resilience once moisture returns. We also touch on why seed sowing can fail in high heat, and how to adapt plans for carrots and other crops. To wrap up, I share details of our autumn herbal grow-your-own workshop with Laura Darcy, focused on building immunity with herbs, teas, and tinctures. If this helped, please subscribe, share it with a fellow gardener, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

  8. Aug 7

    EP344- 10 Essential Fruits For Your Kitchen Garden: Fruit Truly Worth Growing.

    You can grow a lot of things in a kitchen garden, but fruit is where the difference hits hardest. A homegrown apple or strawberry can make supermarket fruit taste flat, and that’s why we pull together our 10 essential fruits for a kitchen garden, with a focus on what actually works in Ireland and what still works when space is tight. We start with the reality of gardening life: coming back from holidays, dealing with dry weather casualties, and the constant battle to keep plants watered without burning out. Then we get practical about the fruit that gives the biggest return, beginning with apples. We talk rootstocks for manageable trees, growing apples in pots, the basics of pruning and feeding, and why pollination partners matter. There’s also a very real warning about birds, including blackbirds stripping fruit when conditions are dry and water is scarce. From there we move through strawberries for true seasonal flavour, raspberries for unbeatable freshness, and reliable choices like Victoria plum and Conference pear. We also cover currants as heavy-cropping, low-fuss bushes, grapes as a brilliant greenhouse or polytunnel project, and a few curveballs like gooseberries and blueberries, including the key detail that blueberries need acidic, ericaceous compost. We finish with rhubarb, the crop that gives and gives with remarkably little effort once established. If you enjoy growing your own food, subscribe, share the episode with a gardening friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s on your personal list of 10 essential fruits? This weeks sponsor:  Crann From  Probio Carbon  https://www.probiocarbon.ie Support the show If there is any topic you would like covered in future episodes, please let me know. Email:  info@mastermygarden.com    Check out Master My Garden on the following channels    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mastermygarden/  Instagram @Mastermygarden https://www.instagram.com/mastermygarden/     Until next week   Happy gardening   John

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About

Master My Garden podcast with John Jones. The gardening podcast that helps you master your own garden. With new episodes weekly packed full of gardening tips, how to garden guides, interviews with gardening experts on many gardening topics and just about anything that will help you in your garden whether you are a new or a seasoned gardener. I hope you enjoy.John

Information

  • Creator
    John Jones
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    351
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Master My Garden Podcast
  • Show Website
    Master My Garden Podcast