Ep 19: I live in Jumanji

The lads are back for a Christmas special episode, with talk of Christmas trees (and the debate over tasteful vs exciting decorations), Christmas movies and traditions, the decline of tinsel, and of course plenty of nonsense.

Diarmuid and Paul predict what the gardens of the future will look like. It's likely fewer people will own cars so perhaps driveways will be reclaimed as green spaces. Will VR and the metaverse mean we can travel back in time to see the likes of Hadrian's gardens at Tivoli? Diarmuid also tells the story of his balcony bath. Yes, he actually is bathing outside even though it's winter. And as a follow up to last week's episode, we hear how Diarmuid interpreted the story of Mary Eleanor Bowes in garden form. This is the series finale of DIRT. We'll be back next month for a Christmas special with more episodes in the New Year.

Diarmuid and Paul are urging you not to be overzealous with your raking of leaves. If you want to get rid of them from outside your home you can collect them in a refuse sack, punch holes in the bag, leave it for a year and you'll have brilliant compost for potting plants. Diarmuid tells the amazing tale of Mary Eleanor Bowes who was the original (unintended) feminist hero and who's story he has interpreted for a National Trust garden in England.

Diarmuid has failed to get out of doing a landscaping job for his scary agent. So he's bringing Paul over to London to help him. The lads are also discussing the move to a peat-free garden industry. "Our bogs are our rainforests" and we need to do what we can to save what's left of them. As consumers we can opt for peat free products wherever we can, while the industry can use alternative compost made out of things like coconut husks.

Do you want a riot of autumn colour in your own garden? Diarmuid and Paul explain which trees, plants and shrubs will produce the most glorious displays of gold, orange, red and rust. You can shop for them right now and plant them without even having to wait until next year for the results. The lads also recommend the best places in Ireland to go 'leaf peeping' i.e. the best displays of autumn colour.