Gardeners World S51e08 11-05-18
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hold still, Nigel. Just... No, it's a good boy.
00:06Hello. Welcome to Gardner's World.
00:08Just giving Topry Nigel a little trim.
00:11Although the really important thing at this time of year
00:15is not Topry Nigel, however great that might be,
00:18but to celebrate what is happening all around.
00:22After a long and cold winter and well into spring,
00:26all that's been rolled back,
00:28and in its place has come that magical combination
00:32of the power of new growth,
00:35the prettiness of the blossom and the tulips
00:39and that special fragile light that you get at this time of year.
00:43And this is why we garden.
00:45This is what carries us through those cold days.
00:49So the most important job at this time of year
00:52is to stop and drink deep.
00:56Coming up on today's show,
00:58Jo, Carol and Adam share the very best exhibits
01:02at the RHS Morvan Spring Festival.
01:06We meet the third finalist in our Every Space Counts competition
01:10as we search for the nation's most innovative
01:13and creative small gardens.
01:15It's only three years old, but when you look at how it was
01:18at the beginning and how it is now, it's such a transformation.
01:22And I shall be giving my carnivorous plants
01:25an overdue spring overhaul and working in the vegetable garden.
01:47I think that this will not only look good in here,
01:53but will grow very happily.
01:56This is a thistle called Circium rivulare.
01:59It's one of my favourites and it tends to grow well
02:02anywhere in the garden.
02:04It likes our rich, rather damp soil.
02:07I'm bringing in three herbaceous perennials
02:10that will grow to a really decent size
02:12and all share the same colour,
02:15which is this gamut of pinks through to purple.
02:20And the idea in these borders is to add some heft,
02:24a bit of mid- and late-season colour and volume,
02:28because they're young and they just need a little bit more substance.
02:32As for planting it, as long as you've got nice, rich soil
02:36that doesn't dry out, this is going to be happy.
02:39This is small.
02:41It'll grow up to about three, four foot tall
02:45and it's going to grow quite a number of flowers
02:48right through to mid-summer.
02:51But I've got two different plants,
02:53both trying to achieve the same sort of effect
02:55with the same sort of colouring,
02:57but they behave in very different ways.
02:59Now, at the moment, this little plant
03:02seems much less imposing than the Circium.
03:05It's an Astilbe, Astilbe chinensis purpulensi.
03:09But this will grow about a metre and a half tall
03:13with a plume of pinky purple flower.
03:19Astilbe is a plant that really likes damp shade.
03:25The dappled shade from the apple trees is perfect.
03:28So I'll put that little thing in there now,
03:31knowing that in a few months' time,
03:34that is going to stand tall with this lovely plume of flower.
03:43This is an exception to this group of damp-loving plants.
03:47It's Echinaceae.
03:49Echinaceae come in colours from pale pink
03:53right through to mauve and all stations in between,
03:57including wonderful oranges.
03:59But this is one called Magnus.
04:02It's quite an old variety that's tried and tested.
04:06It is happiest in full sun with good drainage.
04:10So I will sprinkle some grit in the bottom.
04:16Like that.
04:18And then just work it in a bit.
04:25And this will grow about a metre and a half tall
04:29and start flowering in July and go on into late summer.
04:34They're not plants that last terribly long
04:38and they can be a little bit temperamental if you try and move them.
04:42So choose your planting place well and stick to it.
04:45Leave it there.
04:47Echinaceae are loved by butterflies and bees.
04:51They're a really good plant to attract insects into the garden,
04:55as, in fact, are the cerseum.
04:57Both of these plants will do a lot to enrich the option
05:02for both the bees that I've got here
05:04and also all the insects that come into the garden.
05:07All right, I promise not to move you.
05:13Now, we've got used to seeing Frances up to her knees in dirt
05:16and the allotment in Bristol making that come into being
05:19and we shall be visiting her there often before the end of the series.
05:23But this week she's gone to the big city
05:26in search of the latest fashion.
05:30They were really popular in the 60s and 70s.
05:33In the 80s and 90s, their light faded.
05:36But now they're more popular than ever.
05:43No, it's not flares, manperms or pampas grass.
05:47It's houseplants.
05:50Houseplants are now more trendy than ever
05:53and people like Ian Drummond are thrilled to see them.
05:57So, Ian, tell me about the houseplant revolution.
06:00Well, it's massive.
06:02It's gone in a really big way over the last couple of years
06:05and I think it's way overdue.
06:08I loved them as a kid in the 70s
06:10and that's when they were last really, really popular.
06:13But they're back now.
06:15And why do you think it's happened now?
06:17I think a lot of it is many of us live in apartments in cities,
06:20don't have outside space,
06:22so having plants to look at, I think, is really important.
06:25Having plants to look at, I think they just make you feel good.
06:31Ian gives his plants a new dimension
06:33by choosing beautiful pots
06:35and thinking carefully about where to place them around his home.
06:39There's plants that suit every room in the house.
06:42There is superstition and old wives tell us
06:44that you couldn't have plants in the bedroom whilst you're sleeping,
06:47which is not true.
06:49There are some plants that are actually great for you.
06:51Things like the sansevierias, mother-in-law's tongue, are perfect.
06:54They release oxygen during the night, so are perfect to have whilst you're sleeping.
06:57Because where they evolved, I guess it had been so hot
07:00that they would close their stomatopause in the daytime
07:02and open them at night time and do all of that stuff,
07:04which I guess cacti and succulents would do the exact same thing,
07:07so any of those could do the same job in the bedroom.
07:10Would all work really well, actually, and all look great in the bedroom.
07:13I mean, that's quite a classic, though, isn't it, in terms of a houseplant?
07:16There are some much more kind of modern twists on the classics, aren't there?
07:20Yeah, I've got things like sansevieria riccardo and cylindrico,
07:23which are kind of quite architectural.
07:25It's part of the interior design.
07:27Plants can really embrace the rest of the design of the house or the room.
07:30Plants that you can grow inside that you'd never be able to grow outside,
07:33so you have a whole new kind of palette of plants to work with.
07:36Completely, yeah. Even if you've got a garden, you still should have houseplants.
07:39They're great. You can learn so much more about more varieties of plants
07:42than you would normally work with.
07:46Houseplants haven't changed that much.
07:48In fact, they've been with us for decades.
07:50What is changing is the way we're using them.
07:54It might sound an obvious question, Ian, but what actually is a houseplant?
07:59Houseplants are really tender ornamentals,
08:02which can be anything from succulents to tropical plants,
08:06plants that you really would struggle to have outside in this climate in the UK.
08:10I mean, in the bathroom here, I've got sort of a display of van der Rohe kids
08:14hanging on the shower, which is the perfect position for them.
08:17It's good light, and they really love humidity.
08:20They need to be sprayed, so just bring them into the shower, mist the roots.
08:24It's an easy way of doing it. Shower your orchids.
08:27They get all their nutrients from the air around them anyway.
08:30They don't need any soil or anything like that around the roots.
08:33Fantastic. They look incredible.
08:35And presumably in the bathroom as well, you more often than not
08:38will have kind of obscured glass, which makes the light levels quite low,
08:41which is obviously potentially another good thing for tropical plants.
08:44Yeah, absolutely. Here, the light coming through is quite muted,
08:47so it's perfect for things like the amphibians and for the orchids,
08:50because they don't want direct sunlight.
08:52So you're basically recreating a kind of tropical forest floor,
08:56but in your bathroom? Yeah, you are in effect, absolutely.
08:59These plants are so versatile, there's one for almost any room in the home.
09:06Ficus lorata is a big architectural and dramatic fig.
09:10It loves to be bathed in light,
09:12so should be kept in a bright window and never allowed to completely dry out.
09:17As with all houseplants, the best way of keeping the leaves glossy
09:21is using a damp cloth.
09:24Aloes. Don't be fooled by their desert-like appearance.
09:28In the home, they prefer to be out of direct sunlight.
09:31Just make sure they have really good drainage.
09:36Terrariums are actually a really traditional way of displaying houseplants, aren't they?
09:41But have recently become a really popular trend, would you say?
09:46Absolutely, incredibly popular.
09:48A big part of the whole revival, actually, of houseplants.
09:51So now the whole open terrarium, what we're doing, has really been the big trend.
09:56And so anything really that's glass, you could pretty much plant up.
10:00And this compost that we're using is just a really sandy, free-draining compost?
10:05Yeah, so with what we're using here with cacti,
10:08you literally don't need to put any drainage in the base.
10:11Just put them straight into the soil.
10:13What would you say the most common problems that people come across are?
10:16People tend to overlove.
10:18So most people overwater their houseplants.
10:21And in terms of pests and diseases, because I always find with my succulents,
10:25they get mealybug. Yeah.
10:27What do you do about them when you get them?
10:29The best way to get rid of it is by cleaning it off,
10:32literally just wiping it off. With water?
10:35With water, using something like a cotton bud is a really good way.
10:38You can really get into it to get the last bits out.
10:40With this, I would check it every couple of weeks.
10:42Just move the gravel over, put your finger into the soil.
10:44If you feel any moisture, leave it.
10:46If it's feeling quite dry, just a small amount of water.
10:48OK, great. Where will we put it?
10:51I think it should go on the shelfy.
10:54That sounds intriguing.
10:57OK, to the shelfy.
11:00There we go.
11:02Instead of taking a selfie, take a photo of your favourite things,
11:06a collection of your favourite things, put it on social media
11:09and share it with the world.
11:11Ah, I quite like that. Yeah.
11:13Mine's just filled with houseplants.
11:15Well, I can see why. I might make one myself.
11:19There's no question that houseplants have become
11:23hugely more popular than they were 10, 20 or 30 years ago.
11:27And my children's generation have taken to them enthusiastically
11:31and, of course, it is their entry into gardening.
11:35And here in the greenhouse, I've got what you might call
11:38a greenhouse garden.
11:40I've got a greenhouse garden.
11:42I've got a greenhouse garden.
11:44I've got a greenhouse garden.
11:46And here in the greenhouse,
11:48I've got what you might call some halfway houseplants.
11:51These are carnivorous plants.
11:53They serve a function, they catch insects.
11:55They're looking a bit dog-eaten and it's time they had a tidy-up.
11:59I've had them for four years now and I've never touched them.
12:02It's long overdue.
12:11One of the reasons that this is quite awkward to carry
12:15is that it is sitting in a basin of water,
12:18because these are plants that grow in acidic bogs.
12:22They like to be permanently waterlogged
12:25and have very, very low nutrients and a very low pH.
12:31These poor things haven't been repotted for so long.
12:34Look at that.
12:36That is almost climbing out of the pot.
12:41That needs taking out, breaking up, repotting, cutting back
12:46and we can give it a new life.
12:48And the way to do that is simply to break it with your hands.
12:52So get your hands in and just pull them apart.
12:56It's quite easy.
13:02There we go. That's one decent bunch.
13:07Gently tease that apart.
13:09One...
13:11and even two.
13:13So we've got ourselves, in the matter of a minute or so,
13:18half a dozen to a dozen brand-new plants that will very quickly grow.
13:23Now, the first thing to do to each one is to cut back all the old growth.
13:28This is the foliage that mimics flowers
13:32in order to attract flies into them.
13:36So the fly comes in, lands on the rim,
13:39and once it's down in, it can't get away.
13:42If I get my knife and slice this open...
13:48..like that...
13:51..do you see? Look at that.
13:54That is where all the nutrients from the plants are coming from.
13:58So the soil wants to be very, very low in nutrients.
14:02For years, it was assumed that they would only grow in peat,
14:07and that's because they naturally grow in peat bogs.
14:11I'm going to try my own potting mix.
14:14I've got lots of bracken compost,
14:18leaf mould, coir and perlite,
14:21and I think a combination of those should work.
14:26Just as you need very low nutrients in the potting compost,
14:30so you do in the water.
14:34Do not use tap water on carnivorous plants.
14:37Only use rainwater.
14:39In summer, they need to be moist all the time.
14:42In winter, they can be a little bit drier, but never dry out.
14:46Now, in amongst these is a drossera,
14:49and this operates by having these sticky hairs.
14:54The fly flies in, is drawn in, gets caught,
14:57thrashes around, the leaves fold around it, and then it's digested.
15:03And perhaps the most famous carnivorous plant of them all
15:07is the Venus flytrap.
15:09So the fly comes in, lands in here,
15:13and as it lands in the middle, it closes around it.
15:17Bang.
15:18And it's caught, and then again slowly digested.
15:24Now, that is either disgusting or fascinating,
15:26according to your cast of mind,
15:28but the truth remains they are beautiful, interesting plants
15:33that you can grow on a very sunny windowsill or a balcony,
15:37or if you've got it, a porch, a conservatory or a greenhouse.
15:42It's going to take me a while to repot all of these,
15:45and I've got a number of other things I want to get on with today,
15:48but first it's time to go to Malvern,
15:50where the RHS Spring Festival is taking place.
15:54I actually bought all these carnivorous plants
15:56from more than four years ago.
15:58It's a great place to go and get inspiration and plants
16:02at this time of year.
16:04And this year, Carol, Adam and Joe are there
16:08to celebrate and share the highlights.
16:21Malvern is one of the earliest flower shows of the year
16:24and certainly one of the most impressive,
16:26with the fabulous and majestic Malvern Hills as a backdrop.
16:30Now, this year there are loads of gardens,
16:32and I'm going to be seeking out the very best designs.
16:43If you're looking for a plant for a special place,
16:47there's something new and exciting,
16:49and Malvern's floral marquee is the place to head for.
16:54It's 28,000 square feet, brimming with blooming beauty.
17:00I'll be talking to a Malvern first-timer
17:03and sharing with you some of my really special new spring plants.
17:10And I'll be looking at a brand-new category
17:13called Green Living Spaces,
17:15which is all about making the most of every inch of your garden.
17:19So I'll be checking out big ideas for small spaces.
17:34Malvern's a place to see both new and established gardens,
17:37and Peter Dow comes into the latter category
17:40because he's already got three gold medals here
17:43and two best-in-shows.
17:45And for me, he's a garden designer at the top of his game.
17:48It's a garden designed for art lovers,
17:50so there's four sculptures dotted around,
17:53but they draw you in,
17:55they reveal themselves as you turn the corner.
17:57Like this sculpture, I can't quite see it
17:59because this box plant is slightly obscuring it.
18:02But then as you turn the corner,
18:04there it is.
18:06And it's only a confident garden designer
18:08who can flood at least half the site with water
18:11because he knows it's going to bring
18:13a wonderful, calming, cooling presence to the garden.
18:17And then he's really utilised the view of the Malvern hills behind
18:22as if there's a seamless transition.
18:25Some of the sculpture placing is very subtle,
18:29whilst others are dramatic and beautiful.
18:32Whilst others are dramatic,
18:34like this huge head here placed under these rocks,
18:37and it can be seen right from the other side of the water,
18:40so it draws the eye through the entire length of the garden.
18:46Now, there's no surprise that this garden has got a gold medal
18:50and it's just added another one to Peter's collection.
18:54This garden's called Urban Oasis
18:56and it's designed by Mark Draper,
18:58and it's an interesting combination
19:00of ultra-slick, modern, hard landscaping
19:04and then mass-colourful planting.
19:07Now, the deck and the boundaries are both black
19:10and people are scared of using black in the garden,
19:13and I can see why.
19:14But actually, it can be incredibly effective.
19:17On the boundaries,
19:18it has a lot of colour,
19:20so it can be incredibly effective.
19:22On the boundaries, it helps it disappear into the background,
19:25just recede off into the distance nicely.
19:28But most importantly, it sets off the planting,
19:31and this planting is seriously colourful.
19:33That's what it's all about.
19:35It's a bit like a perennial meadow on steroids we've got here.
19:39There are 3,500 plants packed into this garden,
19:43and one is the zingy euphorbia,
19:46that is epithymoides,
19:48and it really is wonderful.
19:50It ties in with the yellow
19:52throughout the hard landscaping here,
19:54but just sets off those plants beautifully.
19:58Now, the zigzag deck leads you through to the back,
20:02and you can imagine coming back from work,
20:04walking through your garden,
20:06taking it all in,
20:07and just relaxing at the end of the day.
20:10Personally, I would like to see a little bit more height
20:13in the planting to break the eye up a little bit,
20:15but I think what Mark's done here
20:17is a fabulous, colourful addition to the show.
20:29Well, we've seen Peter Dow's garden,
20:31but they're a talented family,
20:32because this is his brother Christian's,
20:35and it's called the dew pond.
20:37This garden's all about sustainability
20:39and recycling materials,
20:41and the idea is that the water
20:43will hit the roof of this little structure,
20:46get it fed down into the pond,
20:48keep it topped up,
20:49but in effect, this works as what we call
20:51a rain garden these days,
20:53so the planting around the outside
20:55can cope with really boggy soil
20:57and periods of dry, too,
20:59so we've got things like the ragged robin,
21:02which is just gorgeous,
21:04dotted through that wild bank over there,
21:06and the lovely angelica over there, too.
21:11And from in here, you do feel like
21:12you're right on the edge of a woodland,
21:14and from looking on that bank of planting,
21:16which leads my eye up really nicely
21:19to the Malvern Hills beyond,
21:21I think Christian's done a fabulous job.
21:34This year, there are more than 70 exhibits
21:37packed into the floral marquee.
21:40The place is full of spring stars,
21:43and I want to show you some of my favourites.
21:58This stand is absolutely packed with colour
22:01from these gorgeous Asiatic primulas.
22:04There's pulviolenta with these mealy stems.
22:07Sometimes you can get as many as 8 to 10 of these,
22:11so they'll go on flowering for ages and ages.
22:14You get months of colour from them.
22:16What's over here is the real star.
22:18This dainty little primula, Maximo Itziai,
22:22comes from the mountains of northern and central China.
22:26I have never seen it before,
22:28and I think it's just such a delicate, gorgeous little plant.
22:32You really need to get right down
22:35to admire these individual flowers
22:38hanging on slender stems.
22:40I think it's an absolute delight.
22:43It likes damp, but it likes decent drainage too,
22:47and I'm just dying to grow it. It's exquisite.
23:04This stand is bursting with colour,
23:07because it's very soft, very pastel-like,
23:10absolutely frothy and gorgeous.
23:13First of all, there's a polymonium,
23:15very easy and straightforward to grow,
23:18great in a bed or border or even in a shady spot.
23:22And next to it, in a perfect partnership,
23:26is a little spring-flowering sweet pea, Latherus furnus.
23:30And this one is Albo roseus,
23:33which simply means white and pink,
23:35and that's exactly the colour of its flowers.
23:38It'll only flower for a few short weeks in the springtime.
23:42And then the third beautiful plant
23:46is this Murice odorata,
23:48commonly known as sweet sicily.
23:51It's called that because you can add the stems
23:54to rhubarb or other fruit,
23:56and it makes them less tart.
23:58It's a real good way of using less sugar.
24:01Who wouldn't want it in their garden
24:03for this froth of white flowers?
24:05Beautiful markings on the leaves too,
24:08and as easy as wink to grow.
24:10It's delightful, it's lovely and it's delicious.
24:24Immediately you're drawn to this stand by something you can't see,
24:28because it's a scent.
24:30It's this beautiful honeysuckle.
24:32It's called Sensation,
24:34and it's a form of our own Lonicera periclaminum,
24:38the native honeysuckle,
24:40and it was found in the Herefordshire hedgerow.
24:43It's supposed to be a superb garden plant.
24:47Keeps many of its leaves over winter
24:50and is loaded with highly perfumed flowers all summer long.
24:54I love the way that its colour is reflected in this heuchera.
24:59Absolutely delightful.
25:01But most of the colour on this stand is really zingy
25:05with this big orange gem.
25:07It's called Scarlet Tempest,
25:10and that orange is actually picked up by the leaves of the Hypericum
25:14and these big splodges of Euphorbia flowers.
25:17Each of them has a little red eye.
25:20The Malvern Spring Festival is the freshest show of the year,
25:25and whatever your taste in colour,
25:27you're bound to be able to find something to inspire you here.
25:40I'm here with Jamie Butterworth, who's an RHS ambassador.
25:43He's here with a new concept called Green Living Spaces,
25:46and you're going to tell me what it's all about, mate.
25:48Exactly. So this is a brand-new category to RHS Malvern,
25:51and I am so excited about it.
25:53In fact, it's new to any RHS show,
25:55whether it be Chelsea or Hampton or Tatton,
25:57so I'm dead proud that it's here at Malvern.
26:00The brief for the design is to design a garden of 5m x 3m space.
26:04We've got two balconies and two patios, and it's for a young couple,
26:07and ideally we're looking at generation rent.
26:10So actually 37% of the British population live in rental accommodation,
26:13so this is to showcase that even if you've only got
26:16a tiny little balcony at home or a tiny little patio,
26:18or even you've just got a windowsill,
26:20you can still bring plants, greenery into your life.
26:23Absolutely fantastic. And am I right in thinking
26:25these four spaces are designed by different people?
26:28They are indeed. We've got four fantastic designers
26:30that are new to RHS shows, which is brilliant.
26:32So this is their first show garden.
26:34Absolutely brilliant. Well, if it's all right with you, pal,
26:36I'm going to go and have a nosey about.
26:38Of course. Feel free.
26:43This garden's designed by Anne Keane,
26:45and when you walk in, it's a lovely little space,
26:48but what I think works well is the details start to reveal itself.
26:52I look at the floor and the tiles there have got a relationship with the table.
26:56I also think the use of art's great.
26:59Collection of succulents.
27:01Even there's beads in the deck.
27:04This is a water tank, just cladded with cedar,
27:07which makes it sort of quite beautiful to look at.
27:09But if you look, there's a link back again with the table.
27:13But look at this. It's a dipstick.
27:16So you know how much water's in there. Fantastic.
27:23This one's designed by Annie Bending.
27:25Straight away, there's a connection from the timber on the inside to the outside.
27:29And the deck here, that's made of old scaffold boards.
27:31Cheap, cheerful, but effective.
27:34Would you necessarily think about putting an arch in a small space?
27:37Probably not, but what it does is it frames the apple tree at the end of the garden.
27:41But the use of levels is clever as well,
27:43because I feel now I'm moving down into a completely different space.
27:47And for me, what stands out in here is this edible wall.
27:51We've got chives, we've got strawberries, we've got lettuce.
27:54In fact, we've got a whole meal.
28:00I think designer Sebastian Conrad's been really brave with this.
28:03He's used these big, high planters that not only divide the space,
28:07but what I like is they engage me with the plants in a completely different way.
28:12I can enjoy the scent and the flowers really closely.
28:15And then I've got this beam above me, which feels room-like.
28:19The atmosphere really changes.
28:21And you can imagine sitting here on a Sunday afternoon,
28:24having a drink and enjoying watching the sun go down.
28:32This one's designed by Elaine Porch, and it is a cracker.
28:36It's layers of detail.
28:38You sit here and it's just stuff full of interest.
28:40But it's an eclectic mix of sort of upcycled objects.
28:44I've got old light fittings, I've got culanders.
28:46That's a seat.
28:47It's an old tin bath I reckon my nan used to bath me in.
28:50But it's planted in a way that's really easy to maintain.
28:53There's an awful lot of succulents.
28:55But then there's edibles.
28:57There's even a bug hotel.
28:59I think what's great about it is that if you move,
29:02you can put this all in the back of a van and take it with you.
29:06So I think this garden's proved that even with the smallest of space,
29:10you can do something wonderful.
29:18And there you go.
29:19It just proves you can create a fabulous little garden
29:22even in the tiniest of spaces.
29:25Now, 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the RAF,
29:30and one ex-serviceman turned garden designer, Martin Wilson,
29:34wanted to mark this occasion
29:36by creating here at Malvern a very special garden.
29:48For the generations of my family who have served in the RAF,
29:52starting with my grandfather,
29:55my father and my brother and my sister-in-law
29:59who are both serving now.
30:02I joined in October 1988.
30:04I was just over 17 years old, so quite young and fresh-faced.
30:09I think gardening was always in my blood.
30:12I remember when I was very young,
30:14back in the sort of 70s and the good life sort of period
30:17and my dad trying to grow vegetables in the garden
30:20and actually succeeding quite well,
30:22and my grandfather being really into his roses.
30:27Went to university at the age of 32.
30:29I then undertook a professional course in garden design
30:33and I've been practising now for just over 5 years.
30:38It's the 100th anniversary of the RAF.
30:42The 100th anniversary of the formation of the Air Force.
30:45It's a massive occasion
30:47and I'm really proud to be creating this garden
30:50for my friends and colleagues and all those servicemen and women
30:53and their families who support them as a lasting memory.
30:59How do you explore 100 years of the Royal Air Force?
31:03That history of aviation, engineering, ingenuity and dedication.
31:12We're here at the former RAF Little Risington in the Cotswolds.
31:16I served at RAF Rise and Autumn,
31:18which is about 20 minutes up the road from here
31:21and I used to drive past here virtually every week
31:24and saw the changes the Air Force Base went through as it shut down.
31:30Saw the grasses at a decent height in full flower,
31:35almost like a flower meadow,
31:37so that started my journey towards this garden.
31:43What does the Air Force Base look like?
31:46Every airfield has a boundary, as does every garden.
31:50This hedgerow has actually self-seeded.
31:53We'll have a hedgerow around the garden to enclose it
31:56and give a feeling of intimacy and privacy.
32:00Looking at the species here,
32:02we can see how earlier in the year this would have had flower on here
32:06and be a lot taller.
32:08Typically plants are about four weeks behind
32:10where we would expect them to be at this time of year,
32:13but by the time the garden is created,
32:15then we'll have that height and the movement and swaying of grasses
32:18like you would see on the middle of an airfield.
32:21Coming through here is cow parsley starting to come into leaf
32:25and we hope to have that foliage and that texture on the garden as well.
32:41This board, it's Memories of Service,
32:44which is the title of the show garden,
32:46and these are pictures of my family,
32:48and if we notice the insignia on my father's arm,
32:52it's three propellers,
32:54and then when we look at the garden itself
32:57and the four propellers on the garden,
32:59again, that's where the inspiration starts to come from.
33:02The Spitfire is perhaps the most evocative aircraft
33:05of the Royal Air Force.
33:07It's this that stirs the emotions for a lot of people.
33:10When we look at the colours on the aircraft here,
33:13the yellow around the round door
33:15and the reds and the whites and the blues
33:17will be picked up through the planting on the garden.
33:23In my own garden, I have a number of plants
33:26that I have used on show gardens in the past,
33:29around about this time of year.
33:31Those plants are informing the colour palette and vice versa.
33:35Here we have Anthriscus Silvestris Ravenswing.
33:39If we look at the colours of the RAF tie,
33:42and you see these dark claret tones here,
33:44and I want to try and pick that up
33:46through foliage and through flower on the garden.
33:49This is Pitosporon Tumthum,
33:52and we'll have this clipped into ball shapes
33:55to resemble radar and the domes of radars.
33:58I have quite a straight lines in my own garden.
34:01I think it might be from my children.
34:03I prefer to design in straight lines.
34:06I particularly like Hornbeam
34:08because it gives us year-round interest and structure,
34:11and it's an exposed site at Malvern,
34:13so this will envelope the garden
34:15and create that sense of enclosure.
34:17On the garden, we'll have Silver Birch.
34:20This is Bechilla jacamonti.
34:22I chose this tree because it reminds me of living in Germany,
34:26in the borders of Holland and Germany,
34:28and the woodlands there.
34:30Also, this white bark is a symbol of peace,
34:34and early airframes were actually made of birch ply,
34:38the very early period aircraft,
34:40so again, it's a nod back to that heritage.
34:46I really do hope I can build something
34:49that everybody will enjoy
34:51and will serve a lasting memory.
35:01So, Martin, here we are on the finished garden.
35:03Are you pleased with it?
35:05I'm extremely pleased and extremely proud.
35:08To encapsulate 100 years of history into this space is not easy,
35:13but I hopefully think we've achieved that.
35:17The planting of the camassias and the adjuga under there,
35:21the colours are great, aren't they?
35:23Yeah, I wanted to capture the essence of the Royal Air Force.
35:27Have you had any feedback from veterans who have seen the garden?
35:31We've had wonderful reaction, even brought to tea as some of them.
35:34I can imagine. There are emotions involved in this garden.
35:37And, of course, it's a permanent garden too.
35:39That's it. It's a lasting celebration and tribute to the RAF.
35:43And I love the propeller layout as well.
35:45I think it works so well, doesn't it?
35:47I wanted it to be an enclosed space so it felt intimate.
35:51Yeah, and the sculpture, it's a sort of fulcrum to the whole design.
35:54What actually is it?
35:56It's an LP3 stage from an RAF Tornado jet engine.
36:00It works beautifully as a garden sculpture.
36:02Now, you've got a gold medal. No surprises to me.
36:05But how does that make you feel?
36:07It's wonderful, wonderful news to give so much back to the Royal Air Force
36:11and to veterans and servicemen. Yeah, I'm really proud.
36:14I'll say you should be. You've done a great job. Well done.
36:16Thank you very much.
36:19One of the very best things about Malvern
36:23is catching up with old friends and making new ones too.
36:35This exquisite exhibit is the work of Paul Naveen and his partner Gary.
36:40And they're here for the very first time.
36:43Not only that, but they won a shiny gold medal.
36:47Hello, Paul. Hello, Carol.
36:49Congratulations. Thank you.
36:51I think it's just such a beautiful exhibit.
36:54It's hard to believe it's your very first time at Malvern.
36:57Yes, it's our first year. It's the first time we decided to do it.
37:00Well, I'm glad you did, because the whole stand not only looks lovely
37:04but every single plant on here is just so interesting and so beautiful.
37:08What's this? It's a semi-aquilegia.
37:11It's a semi-aquilegia, which is named in Australia.
37:14You usually see the normal one, Granny's Bonnet.
37:17I'm used to seeing that little dark clarity one. Yes.
37:20But this is so light and airy. It's so pretty. It is.
37:24And you've got the Chatham Island Forget-Me-Not.
37:27Yes, that's it. It's a Forget-Me-Not from Chatham Island,
37:30which is away from New Zealand, and it's endangered in the wild
37:34because of excessive cattle and feeding by the farmers.
37:38So we decided we'd give it another chance of life to do it again.
37:41It's supposed to be quite difficult to grow, but you've done it beautifully.
37:44It's not as bad as people think, really.
37:46It's been through two degrees just last week when we had really bad cold nights.
37:51On the other hand, that exquisite little lily.
37:54This little lily is an alpine lily from the woodlands of mountains of Japan.
37:58This is very easy to grow. All it needs is a really good cold winter.
38:02When it snowed, they were all out covered in snow for a while,
38:05and that really helped them to come on. They felt at home.
38:08So we've got some things to thank the weather for.
38:10Yes, it's not always bad.
38:12Otherwise she might not be looking so gorgeous.
38:14Anyway, it's positively poetic. Thank you.
38:18Thank you, Carol.
38:24The floral marquee is jam-packed full of passionate people
38:28that want to share their love for plants,
38:31but if you're limited for space and time,
38:34there's two fellas that might have just what you're looking for.
38:41I'm Daniel. I'm Mark. And we are Surreal Succulents.
38:45I've known Mark for 30 years.
38:47We used to hang out as little kids.
38:49We both grew up in the same town in Penzance in Cornwall.
38:52Mark went one way, I went another.
38:55I got a job teaching on product design and contemporary crafts.
39:00I started at a nursery. I also got my apprenticeship there.
39:05I got a lovely job on St. Michael's Mount,
39:08and I started my collection then.
39:10I started buying in from around the world,
39:12and I just thought these are fascinating plants.
39:15And when I found succulents and how architectural and sculptural
39:18these plants can be year-round,
39:20I was just obsessed with Dan's collection.
39:22And then we've ended up together.
39:25A succulent is a plant that stores its water in its leaves and its stems,
39:30and it can survive extreme temperatures
39:33and live in types of environments that other plants can't survive in.
39:37Look at that one, Mark. Oh!
39:40Oh, no way.
39:45We've got about 2,000 varieties in total at the nursery.
39:49In this particular glasshouse, we've got about 800 varieties.
39:53During the season, you get different colours, different textures.
39:56The varieties come from all across the world, really.
39:59We've got stuff from Mexico, South America, South Africa.
40:05This is Echeveria agavoides ebony,
40:08and it's a particularly sought-after plant.
40:11It's from Mexico, and it was originally found as a hybrid in nature.
40:16It's got lovely dark edges to the outer leaves,
40:19which is particularly quite nice and ornamental.
40:23My favourite succulent is Aeonium tabliforme.
40:28It's a great plant. It's got a fibulatory spiral.
40:32It's amazing to take it to shows.
40:35People can't believe how it naturally grows.
40:38I love the Aloe polyphylla. Yeah, it's my personal favourite.
40:41It spirals just like yours, but it's hardly down to minus 15.
40:46It's just the oracle of all succulents.
40:49We're trying to show succulents off in their full splendour.
40:53They're so easy to look after, but if they're in the wrong conditions,
40:57they can go downhill quite quickly.
40:59Yeah, so it's my job to try and produce that new specimen that's hardy.
41:03It's not the biggest challenge, isn't it?
41:06To produce the plants for the shows, we use traditional techniques,
41:09which is cross-pollinating and just hybridising our own cultivars.
41:14We choose our plants to begin with for features, flowers, texture.
41:19Mainly we're looking at the texture of a rosette form
41:23because we want these plants to look good all year round,
41:26not just when they're flowering.
41:28Try and take the pollen from one and we'll put it onto the other,
41:31and then we can propagate the seed to produce new hybrids
41:34and cultivars that we have at the nursery.
41:37Here we've got Echeveria mexicana.
41:41We've crossed that with Echeveria affinis,
41:44and it's produced this beautiful, crazy little plant.
41:47We've named it Echeveria moonshadow.
41:50It's got the characteristics of the affinis on the underside of the leaf,
41:54and on the outside you've got the bloom of the Mexican giant,
41:58which is pretty special.
42:01To get the colours, the natural colours within the plant,
42:04we try and grow these plants quite hard,
42:07so in hard we mean that we grow them in higher light levels,
42:11we grow them with less food and less water,
42:14so that way it produces a much better, tighter rosette
42:17and a much more colourful plant.
42:19It's neglect, really, and that's what they get in nature.
42:25We're really excited about showing our succulents.
42:28We're probably different than the general floral marquee exhibition.
42:31We've not just got 10 specimen plants,
42:34we're actually doing a kind of small installation.
42:43I'm hoping everyone's going to really enjoy our garden at the Malvern show.
42:47We want to showcase how fantastic succulents are.
42:50When people come to our nursery,
42:52they just can't believe how colourful and vibrant they can be.
42:55They're just beautiful plants, and they're very easy to grow,
42:58and we're just trying to get the confidence in people
43:01so they can enjoy themselves.
43:13Guys, you're here. First time at Malvern, yeah?
43:16Yeah. How did you get on?
43:18We got a silver gilt. Yeah? Yeah.
43:20Pleased? Oh, incredibly pleased.
43:22You should be. That's absolutely fantastic, isn't it?
43:24I think the stand looks absolutely brilliant.
43:26I mean, it takes me back to being a kid.
43:28They were the first plants that I really grew, you know,
43:31so it got me semi sort of addicted.
43:33But have you got a favourite plant?
43:35I really like Aeonium sunburst.
43:37It's a good indoor plant. It's kind of yellow and green.
43:40It's a really nice, good-looking plant.
43:42For me, it's got to be Aeonium pomegranate.
43:45And it's in flower.
43:47But the show thing, in a way, you know,
43:49it got under your skin, this one, a little bit?
43:51Yeah, definitely. We really enjoy it,
43:53and the feedback from the public's amazing.
43:56Yeah, cos these plants have had a real sort of lift again, haven't they?
43:59They have, yeah, yeah.
44:00Which proves probably how old I am,
44:02because it's starting to come round again, isn't it, you know?
44:05So, lads, the dream? What's the dream?
44:07We're looking at going for Chelsea, eventually.
44:10It's going to take a few years, but I'm sure we'll get that somewhere.
44:13Yeah, we've got kind of fresh ideas dreamed up for that, so...
44:16You know, just keep going, and I wish you the best of luck.
44:19Oh, thank you. Thanks very much.
44:27MUSIC CONTINUES
44:47Fabulous show this year, isn't it? Definitely.
44:49Out of this world, but more than always, it is.
44:52But when the weather's like this, there's no better place to be.
44:55We've found out the perfumers' garden,
44:57designed by Ruth Quinn and Alan Williams,
44:59not only got a gold, but it also won best in show as well.
45:02It's so beautifully scented, everything in there,
45:05and it's got a great little copper water feature in the middle as well.
45:08I haven't even seen it, let alone smelt it.
45:11And the garden we're on now, Billy's Cave, is full of goats.
45:14I've never seen goats. It's a first for me at Malvern.
45:18Have you seen goats before? I love it.
45:20I love this garden, seriously. It's got a gold medal.
45:23I've got a retirement plan. Oh, is it?
45:25So we've got an olive grove, we've got goats, me.
45:28And what do you want? Happy.
45:30And have you seen something you haven't seen before, Carol?
45:32A knitted garden, and it's so beautifully done.
45:35It really is. So creative.
45:37And they're realistic, you know.
45:39You've got daffodils with trumpets and big globe-shaped tulips,
45:43and even a clematis with a bit of trellis.
45:45I'm full of admiration, because if I tried to knit,
45:48I can't even manage a scarf.
45:50It's a first for you, then.
45:51Have you ever seen a mechanical egg
45:54that opens and exposes a beautiful garden?
45:58You're making it up. No, I'm not, seriously.
46:00You're not joking, are you?
46:02Oh, that's bad, isn't it?
46:03One thing I've never seen before is Adam's wallet,
46:05and it's about time he bought us an ice cream, don't you think?
46:08Yeah. Well, look, the sun's shining. Come on, Adam.
46:11Come on! Adam, let's pick one up.
46:13I will. I will buy you both an ice cream. There we go.
46:21BIRDS CHIRP
46:35Malvern is open until Sunday evening, so get along if you can.
46:39It's my local show, and I shall certainly try
46:42and get there in the next day or two.
46:44And, of course, it's the beginning of show season.
46:47There will be flower shows of all kinds,
46:49from the very local to the grandest of all, Chelsea,
46:53across the land and across the summer.
46:56So try and get along to at least one if you can,
46:59because it's a fantastic source of inspiration,
47:02as well as shopping.
47:04Now, it's time to plant climbing beans.
47:08These are tender plants,
47:10so there's no virtue in getting them into the ground too early.
47:14This is quite early enough,
47:15but it's something you can do at any stage over the next month.
47:19Now, this bed has artichokes growing round the outside,
47:23and there's space in the middle which I can put up a wigwam
47:26and grow a climbing bean.
47:28I'm using conventional hazel bean sticks.
47:31They're so much more robust
47:33and able to take a bigger crop than bamboos.
47:37Climbing beans, that's French beans, runner beans.
47:41Rich soil with plenty of organic matter,
47:44as much as anything else to hold the moisture.
47:46They really do not like dry conditions.
47:58One of the reasons they grow so well in this country
48:01is that a mild, damp summer suits them down to the ground.
48:07Right.
48:09That's a really good, steady support.
48:14I'm going to sow a variety called Blauhilde,
48:17and these have two really good virtues.
48:20The first is they are delicious,
48:22and that's essential for any vegetable that you grow.
48:25And the second is that they are really decorative,
48:28because the pods are a rich purple.
48:32I'm going to sow two beans at the base of every bean pole.
48:38But I'm not going to let both grow.
48:40I will weed out the weaker of the two,
48:43assuming they both germinate, and just let one,
48:46because you won't get any more beans with two there.
48:48You want one nice, strong plant to each support.
48:52And I would expect to start harvesting these
48:55round about the end of July.
48:58Now, talking about harvesting,
49:00I've got a harvest to make now that is absolutely of the season.
49:10Three years ago, I made this asparagus bed.
49:14And to be quite honest, it's been extremely disappointing.
49:18And actually, this was its last chance.
49:21If we didn't get a decent crop of asparagus this year,
49:24I was going to convert it into a seed bed.
49:28Well, look, it's started to grow.
49:31So this now is the first harvest.
49:34It's been a long wait, but it'll be worth it,
49:37because the great thing about asparagus at this time of year
49:40is it is such a seasonal treat.
49:43Asparagus is one of those crops you really should only eat
49:47from mid-April to July.
49:50And if you grow it yourself, it's going to be sweeter
49:53than any asparagus you could ever buy.
49:56And when you cut it, just hold going under the ground
50:00and then gently saw away at it and take it like that.
50:23Last one.
50:25Well, that is a modest first harvest.
50:30But it's exciting, because there will be more to come.
50:34What?
50:36What?!
50:38You can't have asparagus.
50:41It's one of those seasonal treats
50:44that I think really makes gardening matter.
50:48But however you garden and wherever you garden,
50:51you do make choices.
50:53Your garden is going to be how you want,
50:55and it can't cover everything.
50:57And even if you've got a tiny garden,
50:59you can still make it really special.
51:02And that's why we've been running a competition
51:05called Every Space Counts.
51:07What we're looking for are small gardens
51:10that make the most of the space they have
51:13and which are magnificent.
51:15We've asked you to send in pictures of your garden,
51:18the only rule being is it can't be any bigger
51:21than six metres by six.
51:23Hundreds of you did so,
51:25and we've whittled those down to a short list of just five.
51:29We've shown you two, so now let's see the third.
51:37My name's Sarah and I live in North London,
51:39and we moved to this flat about seven years ago.
51:42But it wasn't until about three years ago
51:44that we decided to make a go of the garden.
51:47When we first moved in, it was completely decked from front to back.
51:50It was very dark, quite depressing, not a planting site.
51:53So we decided to rip everything up
51:55and see if we could make a garden out of it.
51:58We created the garden because we wanted somewhere
52:01nice and peaceful and relaxing.
52:03It was never going to be a big enough space
52:05for the kids to run around and play football in,
52:08so we wanted somewhere where we could come out,
52:10learn how to grow things, somewhere pretty,
52:12somewhere enjoyable to be.
52:14And sometimes it's just actually quite nice to come out here
52:17on my own and just have a little peace and quiet.
52:23The garden's quite long and thin,
52:25so we wanted to make it look as wide as possible.
52:28So with the curving path, it kind of makes you walk
52:30from one side to the other,
52:32walking past all the plants until you get to the end.
52:34And then with the bamboo at either end of the garden,
52:37it sort of stops the eye from going directly to the end,
52:40so you're not quite sure how big the garden is.
52:43Because we live on the first floor,
52:45everything that comes in and out of the garden
52:47has to go up the stairs, through the flat, down the stairs.
52:50So when we were ripping out all the decking
52:53and bringing in all the bricks and all the compost,
52:56bags and bags and bags of compost,
52:58it all had to go through, so it got us fit.
53:01Another challenge for us was trying to find plants
53:04that suited the conditions of the garden.
53:07It's a north-facing garden,
53:09so the first half of the garden is in shade
53:11and the top half of the garden gets quite a lot of sun.
53:14So it's quite difficult finding plants
53:16that would suit those two conditions,
53:18but trying to get a continuity throughout the garden.
53:21I really like the shady end of the garden
53:24because it's got all the ferns and it's got the grasses
53:27and it reminds me of a really nice shady woodland walk.
53:31And down the sunny end of the garden,
53:33I've got some colour, I've got pinks and purples,
53:36and I've just introduced some orange last year,
53:38so I'm really enjoying these new tulips that are coming out.
53:41I think they look really lovely against the green.
53:44I also chose the plants
53:46because I wanted them to be wildlife-friendly,
53:48so I've gone for plants with open flowers
53:51to attract all the insects and pollinating bugs and things.
53:55I've got lots of plants that I only planted last summer,
53:58so they've still got room to grow,
54:00so I'm looking forward to seeing how those get on.
54:03And I think the next step for me would be
54:05maybe to try my own cuttings and growing plants from seed.
54:10I feel really proud of this garden
54:12because it's only 3 years old
54:14and it's definitely still a work in progress.
54:17There are still lots of gaps I need to fill
54:19and I'll probably do a bit of moving around.
54:21But when you look at how it was at the beginning and how it is now,
54:25I think it's such a transformation and we really enjoy it.
54:28And I'm just really delighted that things are actually growing.
54:40We'll be showing the final two of the five gardens
54:43over the next couple of weeks.
54:45And then when you've seen all five, you get a chance to vote
54:48on which one you think should be selected as the winner.
54:52And I'll be telling you how you can do that
54:54when we've seen the last one.
54:56And that winner will be announced at Gardeners' World Live in June.
55:00I'm just cutting back the lavender.
55:04This is a job that if you live in a warm area
55:06or you've got really good drainage,
55:08you can do in the summer when it's finished flowering.
55:10But I like to leave the growth on over winter as protection.
55:15It forms just a little microclimate around it.
55:19And now that the worst of the weather is over, I hope,
55:22I can safely cut this back, give it a trim,
55:25so it is in really good shape before flowering begins.
55:30Now, you may not grow lavender,
55:32but here are some jobs you can do this weekend.
55:39If, like me, you sow beetroot into plugs or blocks,
55:44now is the time to plant them out.
55:46I planted mine in groups, so I'm leaving plenty of space
55:50for the roots to expand and they can be dug up as a batch.
55:54If you haven't sown any already,
55:56it's not too late to sow the seed direct into the ground,
56:00leaving an inch or two between each seed
56:03and room between the rows to weed.
56:08If you've been raising plants or indeed even storing them
56:11under protection in a greenhouse or on a windowsill,
56:14it is important to harden them off properly
56:16before planting them out.
56:18A cold frame is ideal, but anywhere that is protected
56:21from the wind and the full glare of the sun will do the job.
56:25But it is important to leave them there for at least a week
56:29before planting them into their final position.
56:34Summer bulbs make great late-season cut flowers
56:37and now is the perfect time to plant gladioli.
56:42Because the stems are tall and they can be top-heavy,
56:45make sure they're planted good and deep.
56:48And if your ground is at all heavy,
56:50add some extra drainage like grit.
56:53You can plant them quite close together in rows,
56:55about four to six inches apart, then cover them over well
56:59and they should start to appear in about a month's time.
57:08The topsy-turvy weather we had at the end of winter and into spring
57:12hasn't been all bad.
57:14There have been some really happy results.
57:16And one of them are these pots.
57:19Now, I planted these in layers of tulips, a lasagna of tulips,
57:23and the idea was that first of all would flower Abu Hassan,
57:26then there would be Princess Irene,
57:29and finally, well into May, would come Queen of Night.
57:33And the wallflowers would accompany all three
57:36as they sequentially flowed through their colours.
57:39Well, none of that's happened.
57:41It's all come through in one rich burst of intense colour.
57:45And that's one of the things I love about tulips,
57:48the way that the gentleness of spring, its softness,
57:52and the blossoms and these delicate flowers
57:55is suddenly burst apart by tulips arriving with a fanfare.
58:01From now on, it's all rich colours
58:04and the road to summer is well and truly paved in front of us.
58:09But it is the beginning of the show season.
58:11And, of course, the biggest show of them all,
58:13Chelsea, is coming up very soon.
58:15We've got a brand-new programme to celebrate that,
58:17which is going out this Sunday on BBC One
58:20with Adam Frost and Jennifer Saunders,
58:23called The A to Z of Chelsea.
58:26And I'll be back here at Longmeadow at the same time next Friday.
58:30So until then, bye-bye.
58:34MUSIC PLAYS
58:42A leap into the dark next tonight
58:44as award-winning Scandi thriller The Bridge is crossing over to BBC Two.
58:49Then another epic tale we've loved.
58:52It's farewell to these three with a final episode not to be missed at ten.
58:56MUSIC PLAYS
59:04MUSIC FADES