To adopt a style seen nowhere else on this site:

1. Poor old Auntie! In new-look "magazine-style" Gardeners' World, presenter Toby Buckland invites viewers to chip in on its message board on "what's hot and what's not". Unfortunately, much like former co-presenter Stefan Buczacki, the viewers reckon that "what's not" is... new-look Gardeners' World. At a rough count there are about 200 messages complaining of its having dumbed down.
Clearly it's hard to strike a balance between keeping experienced gardeners interested while not going over the heads of the novices. But I do think an hour is over-long.

2. Who knows, maybe at this rate the Clarkson era of GW is not far off. My colleague Matt pointed out that DIY Week thinks it's upon us already. The news piece isn't online, but here it is in its printed, non-retractable glory:

3. Martyn Cox, formerly of this parish, points out another howler, at Amateur Gardening - he describes it as a "gaff", which, to be picky, is itself a gaffe.

4. We mentioned last month the rise of bandstand busking - here's a video of a fine example of the genre.

5. We know the tree world can be hazardous, but who'd have thought you could get a fir seedling growing in your lung?

6. And finally... check out this vaguely Homer Simpson-ish way to, um, "control" rabbits and other burrowing pests (dispatching Flopsy & Mopsy in this way is illegal here).

We hoped our Jeremy Clarkson piece yesterday was just about credible enough to be believed. But which of these horticultural stories were also April Fools?

(1) The RHS yesterday invited people to record "a poem, story or nursery rhyme, or even sing" at its Wisley garden. he recordings will then be played to plants over a month-long period to see which most promotes growth of tomato plants, the most plant-friendly voice then being named the "Voice of Wisley".

(2) A US company plans to grow flowers on the moon inside mini-greenhouses. The flowers will have to cope not only with temperatures ranging from -170 °C to over 100 °C, but also with two-week long lunar days and nights.

(3) Gardeners in Brighton, W Sussex are being sought to trial growing giant vegetables in a "wonder resin" called Orgonite. The solid resin, which is based on the notions of orgone energy, contains "aluminium shavings and a crystal", and has already been used to revive fading glasshouse plants and produce bumper root crops and tomatoes.

scroll down for answer....














ANSWER: None - they're all true! Even the bit about the "unexpected arrival of a large box of Orgonite from a friend".