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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World.
00:13This is Cavallonella, the black Tuscan kale.
00:18It's probably at its very best now, although it is one of the few brassicas that you can
00:24keep harvesting right through winter into spring.
00:27We will still be picking this next May, when all the other cabbages have long since finished.
00:34And when you cook it, just take the leaves off the stem, pull them off like that, and
00:40they are soft and tender.
00:42And in fact, all the brassica this year, so far, have been fine.
00:48The cavallonera, the savoies, the broccoli, the sprouts, are looking good and coming on well.
00:58Coming up on today's programme, we discover the heavenly joys of Brugmansia, angels' trumpets.
01:05Such a variety of colours and shape, there is no other flower like them.
01:13Elaine reveals the secrets of designing the perfect formal garden.
01:18They can be one of the most satisfying and striking of all outdoor spaces.
01:25And I shall be making a topiary companion for Nigel.
01:29Antonelli, come on.
01:44These are a selection of plants that I've bought out from the house because we do have
01:55quite a few houseplants, and, of course, houseplants have become dead trendy, and I think the key
02:03thing is to understand that they are plants and they need looking after in much the same
02:08way as plants outside.
02:11So, find out about the plant, see what it likes and give it the right conditions.
02:16And there's a huge range.
02:17You can have houseplants in the most unlikely of situations.
02:20Certainly for my generation, the most famous of the lot is this one, asperdistra.
02:27And these became popular in Victorian times.
02:31The reason why asperdistras were so common in Victorian houses and in the 20s and the
02:3730s was because of the way that it grows.
02:42This is a plant that is happiest in cool, drafty, dark places.
02:49And the Victorian hallway, with its tiles, its front door that was opening and closing
02:54the whole time, was perfect for it.
02:56A centrally heated, bright, modern house, absolutely hopeless.
03:02They don't like it.
03:03So, find the coolest, darkest part of your house, pop this in it, water it once a week
03:09at most, it'll be completely happy.
03:12And that's the key about houseplants, that it really goes back to the old thing.
03:16Right plant, right place.
03:18So, for example, the maidenhair fern here.
03:21And I've got a couple of examples.
03:23And you can see that, at its best, it's got these fabulous sort of chocolate black stems
03:29and these delicate fern heads balancing from it.
03:33But this one, you can see, is browning off and yellowing.
03:39And the reason for that is it's getting too dry.
03:42Maidenhair ferns love being wet.
03:45Just moist air all around them.
03:47So, in the house, where this is happiest is a bathroom.
03:51So, keep it nice and moist, whereas if you have a pelargonium, this comes from South
03:56Africa, from the famebrusher, and it likes to be dry.
03:59That would hate being in a bathroom.
04:01That only needs watering about once every two weeks, and in winter, hardly at all.
04:05And it will be completely happy.
04:08There's a fern that I absolutely love called phlebodium.
04:12It's a real beauty.
04:15Very happy to be dry.
04:17And perfect for a darker side of the room.
04:24Phlebodium tends to be the biggest problem.
04:26Spider plants, probably the best known of all house plants, and I water that when I
04:31remember, which is about once every three weeks.
04:33And if the plant starts to shrivel and brown, the instinctive answer is, oh, my goodness,
04:39I need to give it more water.
04:41But very often, that is the response to being overwatered.
04:45So go steady with the water.
04:47And the best weapon for ensuring house plants are healthy is a mist sprayer.
04:54Use rainwater if you possibly can.
04:57Better to use tap water than no water at all.
04:59And just mist.
05:01And things like the maidenhair fern, I mist every time I walk past it, which I do about
05:05six times a day.
05:07The only plant that actually probably doesn't need misting at all is the pelargonium.
05:14So use the conditions you've got, even if it's one small room.
05:18Find out a little bit about the plants, and then it's easy.
05:22Give it a go.
05:24There's no reason where you can't have all the pleasures of a garden in one small room.
05:29Now, I'll take all these back indoors and put them where they want to be.
05:34And I am getting increasing pleasure from them.
05:36But that doesn't mean to say that at heart I'm not instinctively an outdoors person.
05:42I like getting my hands in the soil, whatever the season, whatever the weather.
05:47And it's always good to hear the experiences of someone else who has spent their life gardening.
05:55And we went to meet Luigi Balducci, and hear of his experiences and passion of growing
06:03a wide range of plants from his allotment in Shropshire.
06:12I've been here for over 45 years.
06:16I love this so much.
06:18My wife, she says to her friends that she is the allotment widow, because I spend more
06:27time here than at home.
06:32When I first came here, it was a mess.
06:36So I start growing things, progressively.
06:41I build up like that, and eventually.
06:44I ended with three and a half allotments.
06:47I was young then and strong.
06:50I'm still pretty strong even now.
06:54I grow many different things, like chicories.
06:57I grow 14 varieties of chicories.
07:02I grow giant tomatoes.
07:04Magyar giant, I call them.
07:06They grow over a kilo.
07:08I know some are a kilo and a half, like melon.
07:12This is a dieta, which is, we call it Swiss chard here.
07:20Nice.
07:24My love is the Brugmansia.
07:29Practically for love at first sight, really.
07:33People call it wrongly, datura.
07:36Angel trumpet.
07:38I saw in my sister-in-law's garden this extraordinary flower.
07:46Such a variety of colors and shape, and unusual.
07:50There is no other flower like it.
07:57Mainly there are three types of flower.
08:00The trumpet-like, the funnel type, and the tubal type.
08:09I fell in love with these plants, and I started buying them from everywhere.
08:14And eventually I grow so many varieties, about 80, it became a national collection.
08:24Often people think that the Brugmansia are poisonous.
08:28They're not deadly.
08:30They're not poisonous, unless you eat them.
08:36But you need to treat them as a little child.
08:40In the winter, put them in bed.
08:43They don't like zero degree temperature and below, they die.
08:47Every year you must repot them.
08:49Feed them well, and give them plenty to drink.
08:52That's it.
08:55They come from Central America and Southern America, which is warm.
09:01If I tell you there are about 8,000 varieties, well, this is so, it's crazy.
09:11Here one very pretty, and one of my favorite.
09:15As you can see, it's a small flower, tubular type, and this is called amethyst.
09:21And this is it, I love it.
09:26This is a variegated variety, because the leaves are all variegated, you can see.
09:31It's called sunset.
09:36And this is, which is very pretty, is the true variety, wild variety, which is arborea.
09:48It reminds me, it's a woody, it's a tree, in fact.
09:53They can grow up to eight meters.
09:56You can prune them heavily, look at that.
10:00I pruned them to that last year.
10:03All this is this year's growth, so there you are.
10:15If you are a beginner, they're very easy, don't worry.
10:20You take cutting from the woody part, drop it in a pot, in a glass of water, and after
10:29a week or so, they start forming some little roots, then you pot them, and that's it.
10:37With all this fantastic collection, so people say, I decided one day to present them at
10:46the flower show in Shrewsbury.
10:50And we won silver, that encouraged us.
10:53I said, well, next year what shall we do, shall we create a garden?
10:57And we won gold and a cup.
11:01It was the start of something that really stimulated me, really, my imagination and
11:08everything.
11:09And we won seven gold medals, seven years in a row, and one in Tatton, which I was very,
11:17very proud.
11:18But you see, the great advantage is that nobody had Brugmangia.
11:23I only had Brugmangia, so see, the secret is that, to be the only one.
11:30If you want to be happy for life, create a garden.
11:36You see, this is my gym, working, digging.
11:44And when I go on my knee to weed, then it's my church, you see.
11:52The Brugmangia, to me, they are everything, because without them I wouldn't have done
11:58all this, because it attracted many people, many enthusiasts, and I like to share my enthusiasm
12:07about things.
12:21What a lovely man.
12:24And it does explain something which I had wondered for ages.
12:28I love the expression that Brugmangia are like children, they need changing often.
12:33I used to grow Brugmangia, and we had them, and they were big, and they flowered well,
12:38and it was one of those things I took for granted, and then they stopped flowering.
12:41And, of course, poor things were hungry.
12:43I should have potted them on, given them more food.
12:46So I'm definitely, definitely going to grow Brugmangias again.
12:51Thank you.
13:13Now, you may know that I'm in the process of making a Topri Nigel, made out of you,
13:19and it is beginning to look dog-like, although I have to say at the moment
13:23it is, just like Nigel himself, extremely shaggy and needs a haircut,
13:27and now is a really good time to trim you or box Topri.
13:32And it's also a really good time to plant you or box to make Topri,
13:38and the time has come to make a Topri now.
13:41Are you aware of that, my dear?
13:44I'm using you.
13:45Now, these are cuttings that I took a couple of years ago.
13:49People always say that you is really slow growing, but look how vigorous this is.
13:55These are very healthy young plants, but I do need to prepare the ground.
13:59The first thing to do is to dig it over and break it up,
14:02and then I'm just going to sprinkle some grit on it.
14:07You is very adaptable.
14:09It'll grow in sun, it'll grow in shade, and it'll grow in most soils,
14:12but it will not grow in waterlogged soil. It hates that.
14:20So we'll sprinkle the grit over the surface and then fork it in.
14:30When you're adding grit, don't add it to the planting hole
14:34and then just sit the plant on top of it, because that will create a sump,
14:37and actually the roots will sit in water. It'll make it wetter.
14:42So what I thought we'd do is plant a cutting for each of the legs
14:47and then another one sort of in the chest body area,
14:50because that's where we're going to have most bulk.
14:53And when you're choosing material, you need to think about the ultimate shape.
14:58So if you're making a topiary cone, for example, you need a nice straight leader.
15:03Well, in this case, we don't need a tall leader,
15:06but we do need to be able to bend plants.
15:09So if we put this one in here like that,
15:18because I've got lots of flexible growth, I could train that up.
15:21I could train it up. I could even train it to grow like that if I wanted to.
15:26The one thing to remember when you're training any plant,
15:29but particularly something like topiary, which is long-term,
15:32is that the inclination of the plant is always to grow vertical.
15:36It's maximum growth upwards.
15:38So if you train it sideways, the horizontal growth will be very slow indeed,
15:42and then you'll get lots of shoots coming up.
15:45So we'll put that into place. I like this one here.
15:51Come on. How about that for a root system?
15:54I'm so pleased with these cuttings.
15:57If I pop this in here...
16:02There we go.
16:04And that's your other leg, and that will come up there.
16:08Now the back legs.
16:15When you start at this stage of any piece of topiary, it is a leap of faith.
16:20No one else is going to remotely see what it's going to look like.
16:24So the important thing is just to get healthy plants growing in the right place
16:30so they have the potential for what you want.
16:33So, two back legs, two front legs,
16:36and I'm going to plant one more, what I've learnt from Nigel,
16:39one more in here to give myself a little bit more body.
16:43This one here is a nice one.
16:45There we are.
16:49It's going to be smaller than life-size,
16:52and it is going to take a few years before it resembles anything like an animal,
16:57let alone a very particular dog with her particular look.
17:01But we'll get there.
17:03Now, with topiary, you can make whatever you want.
17:06Imagination is the only limitation,
17:08and it can be as weird and as wonderful as you like.
17:11But the truth is, you, as a plant,
17:13is absolutely integral to formal gardens of any kind,
17:17and has been for hundreds of years.
17:19And Mark Lane has been looking at different garden styles
17:22and extracting the elements of them
17:24so that we can all use them in our own gardens at home,
17:27and this week he is down in Hampshire visiting a formal garden.
17:38For me, formal gardens bring all the elements of a garden design together,
17:43such as balance, rhythm, line and focal points.
17:51I've come to a garden in Hampshire
17:53where garden designer Adam Vettere has created a stunning formal space.
18:00Adam, here we are in this beautiful, stunning pottery shop
18:03at the heart of your garden.
18:05Obviously, a pottery shop is a very formal way of growing vegetables.
18:08Absolutely.
18:09Why do you love a formal garden, Adam?
18:11I love the structure of a formal garden. I love the balance.
18:14My father is Italian.
18:16We travelled to Italy on holidays.
18:18Yeah.
18:19Spent a lot of time in Italian gardens.
18:21The functionality, the control, really.
18:24Yes.
18:25I really like that.
18:28A formal garden, to me, it has to have symmetry.
18:31It can be straight lines, as we've got here, but it also can be flowing.
18:35You can have a very formal garden that can be very curvy.
18:39It depends how you want to use the planting in that design.
18:44And if there was one plant that sums up a formal garden, what would it be?
18:49For me, it's the filarea latifolia.
18:51And why is that?
18:52It's a wonderful plant. Dark green leaves.
18:54If you look at the leaves, they've got very serrated edges as well.
18:57The structure that you can create with a filarea,
19:00the wonderful gnarled trunk, nice shiny leaves, just wonderful.
19:05MUSIC CONTINUES
19:15To get ideas and inspiration on how to get the formal look,
19:19where best to go than the Tudor period,
19:22where they wanted to create the perfect knot garden.
19:26They wanted strong, geometric patterns,
19:30straight lines, balance, structure,
19:33and they really wanted to show man's dominance over nature
19:37as a reaction to the landscape.
19:39Inside, they would originally have had coloured gravel,
19:43but now we can fill them with abundant plants.
19:55The contemporary architecture of the building here
19:58really lends itself to the formal design.
20:01There's a really strong central line
20:04that comes all the way down this lovely slate staircase.
20:08And then, repeated, are these pots of pelargoniums,
20:11mirroring each other.
20:13And then that line is continued as we come down onto the lawn.
20:19Then, on a completely different axis,
20:22we get these two wonderful focal points at the far end.
20:26Perfect symmetry.
20:31Any plant can be used to create a tainted look.
20:34Even plants associated with naturalistic prairie planting,
20:38like rebecchia and echinacea,
20:40when planted in blocks or mirrored,
20:42can evoke the formal feel and add a dash of colour.
20:47The classic plant for any formal garden is the box.
20:51It is easy to grow and can be toporised into any shape.
20:55The only trick is to keep on top of the clipping.
20:59For a bit of a twist, how about elliagnus?
21:04Or cloud pruning as an alternative technique.
21:09For a small space, plant up some pots with similar plants.
21:13Remember to keep it simple
21:15and arrange them geometrically to create a sharp look.
21:20A classic clean look can be achieved for your fruit
21:23by using espalier or fan-trained trees.
21:29By keeping your lines simple, clean and straight,
21:32when your paths intersect like it does here,
21:35it's really good to have some accents.
21:38And here we have these four box balls.
21:41They're perfect because they lead you round the corner
21:45to another part of the garden.
21:47What's also really lovely is this hornbeam hedge.
21:51It actually acts like a framework around this part of the garden
21:55and it's been clipped really well.
21:58It's got a great height to it, but what it also does
22:01is that it makes this garden a separate space,
22:04so it actually makes the whole garden feel a lot bigger.
22:12Formal gardens can be a challenge to get right
22:15with meticulous care and maintenance.
22:18Yet with confidence, they can be one of the most satisfying
22:22and striking of all outdoor spaces.
22:29CLICKING
22:34I do think the key to any formal garden
22:38is a good symmetrical formal structure.
22:41Now, I've got more topiary and this is the original Ewe Nigel,
22:47which we planted exactly five years ago.
22:50And you can see it's got very shaggy this summer,
22:52just like Nigel himself.
22:54So what I need to do is just trim this back,
22:57not too hard at this stage.
22:59I can always cut more off.
23:01So that's his back there.
23:08And the sides here we want to curve round a little bit.
23:12Getting slightly portly in his old age,
23:14but we'll give him a little bit more of a nipped-in waist
23:18than perhaps he has in real life.
23:21I could give you a punk haircut, Nigel.
23:37There's still a bit of finessing to do,
23:39but at least Nigel is beginning to appear
23:43through the fuzz of excess growth.
23:47Now, still to come, Adam returns to Leicestershire
23:52to finish off the garden that he's been creating
23:55and designing from scratch for Amit and Vibhuti.
23:59But first, Frances has been to Somerset
24:02to meet somebody growing a range of truly exotic vegetables.
24:13I think you'll agree that not every summer here in the UK
24:16is as scorching as the one we just had.
24:19But here in Somerset is a woman who manages to grow plants
24:23whatever the weather, that would be more at home
24:26in the heat of Southeast Asia.
24:30Oh, and I'm told they're rather delicious.
24:35Originally from North Thailand, near Chiang Mai,
24:38Nithil moved here 26 years ago.
24:41Her garden has two polytunnels, a greenhouse
24:45and lots of containers full with exotic vegetables and herbs.
24:51What made you decide to grow these kinds of plants
24:54in this kind of climate?
24:55When I came here first time,
24:57we can't buy Thai ingredients around where we live.
24:59I have to go to London to do it.
25:01And then I thought, you know, summer here,
25:04just like winter in Thailand,
25:06because we grow vegetables in Thailand in the winter.
25:08OK.
25:09So I started from there and to try to grow lemongrass
25:13and they work very well,
25:15so that make me, you know, want to do more and more.
25:18And I love it as well.
25:19Yeah.
25:20The challenge, you know, when you start this, start that,
25:22and they work well.
25:23It sounds like you have a natural ability.
25:25If you can grow those kinds of things here in a tough climate,
25:27I would love to see some of them.
25:29Could you show me?
25:30OK, yeah, yeah, I will show you around.
25:43So tell me what you have growing here.
25:45Do you know that kaffir lime leaf?
25:47Yes, I've tried to get hold of this.
25:49You can only get it dry, really, can't you?
25:51Yeah, you can buy kaffir lime fruit sometime in the shop.
25:55Yes.
25:56And then you're correcting the seed to grow from there.
25:58Oh, straight from the fruit?
26:00Yeah, the seed, correcting the seed.
26:02And then if you want to grow again, you just cut the stem
26:05and you just put in a pot of compost and they're growing again.
26:08So they take well from cuttings quite easily.
26:10Yeah.
26:11Now, we can't ignore this.
26:13What is this?
26:14Snake gourd, long snake gourd.
26:16And what do they taste like?
26:18Taste close to gourd.
26:21OK.
26:22But it's not the same.
26:23It feels quite soft, doesn't it?
26:24So it's not like a lot of gourd.
26:25Yeah.
26:26When you cook it, quite a lot of water.
26:27OK, OK.
26:28A lot of water.
26:29You've got seed inside now.
26:30And quite a big meal.
26:32Yeah.
26:33That one snake for what, for four people?
26:36Yeah, she thinks four hungry people.
26:40That is amazing, isn't it?
26:42And this one is...
26:44Luffa.
26:45A luffa.
26:46I thought so, OK.
26:47Smoked luffa.
26:48Yeah, smoked luffa.
26:49So you're not cooking with this.
26:50You're using it...
26:51You are cooking with it.
26:52We're eating.
26:53You're eating the luffa?
26:54Yeah.
26:55Because I only know it as something that you grow and you dry
26:57and then you use it to wash with.
26:59We like to cook in stir-fry.
27:01OK.
27:02Curries or, you know, boil and dip with chilli sauce.
27:06Nice.
27:07That's amazing, isn't it?
27:08Yeah, yeah.
27:13Outside, nestled under a verdant banana tree,
27:16is a healthy clump of peppery Vietnamese coriander.
27:21There are rainbow-coloured chillies and long green aubergines.
27:27Your lemongrass is incredible.
27:30How many years has that taken to get so big?
27:33No, this is from last year.
27:35Really?
27:36Yeah, I grow them every year.
27:37So you start with one blade, stem of grass.
27:41Yeah.
27:42Propagate from that with...?
27:44Soak in a glass of water and keep on windowsill in kitchen, yeah.
27:49OK.
27:50And when the weather is warm, we just put in the pot with compost
27:54and keep in greenhouse or conservatory.
27:57And let's say in June, July, so I move them out to the garden.
28:02I just leave it there until maybe September, November.
28:06And is there a reason why everything is in pots?
28:09Easy to look after, like, very cold weather coming,
28:12you just, oh, right, move in.
28:14Yeah, so you can move around.
28:16You're talking about taking care.
28:18It's intensive care, isn't it?
28:20My baby.
28:33Wow.
28:35This is a jungle.
28:36This is amazing.
28:38Thai jungle.
28:39Yeah.
28:40Look at your aubergines.
28:41They are incredible.
28:42I know, many different aubergines.
28:44How do you grow them so that they're so perfect?
28:47Right, we start from a seed, of course, we need to look after
28:51and you need to keep the space, like, a little bit wider for them.
28:55Yeah.
28:56For the plant have the room, the air growing.
28:58Yes, I mean, I think people are often tempted,
29:00especially in a small space, to cram it.
29:02Yeah.
29:03But actually, you have so many fruits on each one
29:06and you haven't crammed it, it's very neat.
29:08Yeah.
29:14Of course, Nid's success at growing all this wonderful Thai veg
29:18means she has all the ingredients needed to create all her favourite meals.
29:24Today she's cooking with her homegrown snake gourd,
29:26along with Thai sweet basil and some chilli.
29:30I can't wait to taste it.
29:34Try this.
29:38That's lovely.
29:40Very refreshing.
29:41And quite healthy to eat as well.
29:43And very simple to cook.
29:45I will definitely be growing snake gourds next year.
29:47But isn't it amazing to think that all this vegetable
29:49was just here in your garden, in Somerset,
29:52and now we're having an amazing Thai dish.
29:54And you can do it.
29:55Absolutely.
29:56Thank you so much for teaching me how to cook and grow them.
29:59You're welcome.
30:00Thank you.
30:02One more and more and more.
30:03Yeah, me too.
30:09Here in this greenhouse, I confess I've got nothing exotic growing,
30:13but I'm very happy.
30:14In fact, more than that.
30:15I'm really delighted with the way that these grapes are growing.
30:18Look, this is the grape vine.
30:20Black Hamburg grape.
30:22And I've made a real point this year of pruning hard.
30:26And so far, that is a complete success story.
30:29I can't say the same about my tomatoes,
30:31but I know I'm not alone in this.
30:33I've talked to a lot of people who've had problems with tomatoes.
30:36And that might seem counterintuitive on a year like this.
30:39You'd think tomatoes would love it.
30:41But there have been really three problems
30:43that people have mentioned again and again.
30:45The first is blossom-end rot.
30:47This is a perfect example.
30:48If I pick this and show you what looks like a perfectly good tomato,
30:53then when you look at the bottom, it's collapsed and turned brown.
30:57It's like a sort of callus.
30:59And this year, when we've had extreme heat,
31:01the poor plant has not really had a consistent water supply.
31:04And the one thing that tomatoes like is consistency.
31:07Regular temperature, regular water, and that is a very common reaction.
31:12The good news is there's nothing wrong with a plant.
31:14There's nothing wrong, actually, with a tomato.
31:16It's perfectly edible. Just don't eat that bit.
31:18The second problem that a lot of people have mentioned to me is splitting.
31:22We have fruits that seem to be fine, but the skins are split.
31:24And that's because they're over-watered.
31:26It's as simple as that. They've just swollen and burst.
31:29And the third problem, which I've got here very markedly,
31:33is an awful lot of green fruit that are not ripening,
31:37or at least are ripening very slowly.
31:39And that is a result of the heat.
31:42Tomatoes actually ripen best at between about 24 to 30 degrees centigrade.
31:49And we've had day after day, if not week after week, above 30,
31:53particularly in a greenhouse.
31:55And that inhibits ripening.
31:57Having said that, the tomatoes that have ripened, I think,
32:00have been particularly tasty.
32:03So it swings in roundabouts.
32:14I've got two lots of cuttings here.
32:16There's the penstemon that I took just a week or so ago,
32:19which is showing no real signs of growth, but is still alive, which is great.
32:22And the rosemary, which I took about a month ago, which are growing well.
32:26And I was thinking that we do talk a lot about cuttings on Gardener's World,
32:30and we show you how to do them,
32:32but they tend to be geared towards individual plants.
32:34So I thought I'd give you just a little rundown,
32:38if you've never taken cuttings before, about why they're a good idea,
32:42and to encourage everybody to have a go.
32:45There are two really good reasons for taking cuttings.
32:50One is because you can get a lot of new plants for nothing.
32:54And the second thing is that they are clones.
32:58Every cutting is identical to its parent.
33:01So if you have a favourite shrub,
33:03you can guarantee that you'll get more exactly like it.
33:07And you can't always do that from seed.
33:10Now, the first thing to understand is that if I take a piece of rosemary like this,
33:15and if I cut a piece off,
33:18if I stuck that in the ground,
33:20in theory, it would grow roots and become a new rosemary plant.
33:24That is a cutting.
33:26But there are fundamentally three different types of cutting.
33:30The first is a softwood cutting.
33:32You can see the top is soft, whereas down the bottom, it's not.
33:36And it's very recent growth.
33:39It only stays soft for a matter of weeks.
33:43And if we cut that off...
33:46..so we've got just the soft part,
33:49that will make a little cutting.
33:51Now, the advantage of that is that it does form roots really quickly.
33:56And particularly in spring and early summer,
33:59there is masses of material for this.
34:01But, and this is the big but for most of us,
34:04you have to be quick.
34:06The newer and the softer the growth, the quicker it will die,
34:10because the leaves transpire.
34:13And they don't stop transpiring
34:15just because they're not taking up new moisture.
34:18That can only happen with roots.
34:20So it's an absolute race between producing those roots and dropping dead.
34:25And that's why we strip off leaves from cuttings,
34:29to reduce the surface area which can let moisture out.
34:34So that would be a typical softwood cutting,
34:36and we put that into a growing medium.
34:38And the next type of cutting is semi-ripe,
34:41and that's more or less what we're taking at this time of year.
34:44Now, if I strip that off like that,
34:46you can see we've got some soft material,
34:50which is fairly recent,
34:52and then a plug of brown material, which is older.
34:55And that will die much slower.
34:58It'll produce its roots a bit slower too, but it buys you more time.
35:03If I take a hardwood cutting, which is all brown,
35:07then you've got loads of time.
35:09I've got a rose here, a nice rose stem.
35:12And you can do this, by the way, any time from now through to Christmas.
35:16Hardwood cuttings take perfectly well in winter.
35:19And I've cut a length of rose, and if I then divide that up,
35:22I'm just going to cut it like that, and like that.
35:26I've got myself three strong cuttings.
35:31Now, a tip is just to cut the top at an angle.
35:36It's simply so that you know that that is the top,
35:38because what we're going to do next is strip off most of the leaves.
35:44And so you have a woody stem, the thickness of a pencil, quite long.
35:48And with this one, you need a deep pot,
35:50and then we bury it right down in like that, as deep as it will go.
35:56Now, that won't die for months,
35:59but it's very slow to produce roots.
36:02However, it's a really good way
36:05to make new plants from roses, from soft fruit, trees and shrubs.
36:11And it doesn't need any kind of protection.
36:14Softwood cuttings need molly coddling.
36:16Semi-ripe cuttings need a bit of attention.
36:19Keep spraying, a bit of bottom heat if you've got it.
36:21These guys can go outside in the trench, and you can forget about them.
36:25And this here is a rose cutting I took last year.
36:30And you can see I've got a brand-new rose.
36:32And I will plant that out of the garden next spring.
36:38Having taken your cuttings, they will be more likely to strike
36:42if you can protect them from direct blazing sun,
36:46if you can keep the air around them moist,
36:49hence really good to give them a puff with one of these,
36:53and also if you can apply a little bit of heat to the bottom.
36:56But don't put them on a windowsill with a radiator blasting underneath,
37:00because they'll just dry out.
37:02Now, this is all about making new plants from scratch.
37:07But Adam has gone one better than that.
37:09Over the last few months, he's been making a new garden from scratch
37:12with a couple from Leicestershire.
37:15And he went back to pay his final visit.
37:22It's been four months since I first started designing a new-build garden.
37:27Since then, Amit and I have landscaped the garden,
37:30built a retaining wall and two terraces.
37:34Today is finally time to bring the garden to life.
37:39Amit, nice to see you, mate.
37:40How are you?
37:41You've been really busy. Back fence is all painted.
37:43All painted, done, yes.
37:44But it looks really good.
37:45It does.
37:46I think it tones in nicely, picks up on the grey paving.
37:49But straight away, I think it looks softer as well.
37:51Mm-hm.
37:52Budget-wise, I know you've spent a little bit more, haven't you?
37:55Yeah, we have.
37:56But we've also used what we had here previously.
37:58We've used the oak sleepers that we had previously and added two.
38:01The paving we've used again.
38:03We've lifted it up, had it cleaned.
38:05Nice to use what you've got there.
38:08You ready?
38:09I'm ready. Let's do it.
38:10Let's go.
38:11After months of planning and hard work to get the landscaping right,
38:15today is the big day.
38:17Finally, we can start planting.
38:19Last time, we looked at some plant choices.
38:22And the first thing I want to tackle is the fence.
38:25Vibrutti and Abbott wanted to mask the impact of the wall
38:28at the back of the garden.
38:30So we have three climbers to clamber across it.
38:33So I think the Clematis montana, which gives you good early flower,
38:37goes over on that wall there.
38:39And the wisteria that you've got, though it loses its leaves,
38:42I think structurally, when it gets going, they look fantastic.
38:45And then what I'll do is put the jasmine over there,
38:48because that's a summer flower, so June through to, say, September.
38:51So when you're out there in that space, you're in that beautiful set.
38:55So get them in.
39:07I think when it comes to Clematis,
39:09it's a plant that a lot of people worry about.
39:11But this montana's quite easy.
39:14As you're planting them,
39:16I always make sure that I dig a really sort of deep hole,
39:19a good sort of 50mm, a couple of inches lower than the top of the pot.
39:25So really bury the root down.
39:27It loves to be roots in the cool and heads in the sun.
39:32Next thing here is the muccorising fungi,
39:35which to me, especially on a new site, is important.
39:39Sprinkle that over the roots, and then that falls into the hole.
39:45This Clematis montana may look a little bit lost at the moment,
39:48but left to its own devices,
39:50it will soon rampage up over the fence
39:53and give a wonderful display all through the spring.
39:58We have talked an awful lot about the trees for this garden
40:00and what they're going to do to help start to screen that back wall.
40:03But we've got a really good array.
40:05We've got good bark with our Pruna serruna.
40:07That'll be a fantastic multi-stemmed tree right through the winter.
40:10But it's got a little flower on it as well.
40:13Comes with a malus.
40:14This I love, because you get that really early, good flower from it.
40:17But the fruits that are on here now can hold right into the winter months.
40:21And then last but not least is Amelanchia,
40:24which is probably my favourite small garden tree,
40:27because you get early flower, then you've got a berry,
40:30and then after that, you've got fantastic autumn colour.
40:33So, we best get them in.
40:48When it comes to staking,
40:50the most important thing really to know is
40:52the difference in the winter, when we've got bare root trees
40:55and you have an open hole and you can work the stake down between the roots,
40:58that's fine.
40:59But something like this that's container grown,
41:01I don't want to just smash it straight through the roots.
41:03So, I've gone across more or less 45 degrees,
41:06and then we just get the tyre.
41:08Like that.
41:09We can just trim that off with a pair of secateurs.
41:12But what you've got to do is make sure
41:13that that block sits between the tree and the stake,
41:16because you do not want these two rubbing together.
41:19All we've got to do is just trim the stake off.
41:24So, there you go.
41:27And now to the shrubs,
41:28which will provide the next layer of structure.
41:32The Pitosporum works well against the fence.
41:35The Viburnum has wonderful flexibility.
41:38And the Rosa Glorca not only has lovely flowers,
41:41but gorgeous hips too.
41:44And now we can sort of add the herbaceous plants,
41:46which your perennial is going to give you a nice bit of flower
41:48right through here.
41:49So, with the anemones, work those round
41:52just between the rosemary and the rose.
41:56Just take a couple round there,
41:57and then I'll work one over here as well.
42:00So, instead of just putting the whole lot in one block,
42:02it's just a little bit of sort of rhythm and movement through.
42:04So, a couple up there and then one down here
42:06just gives a lovely sort of sense of movement
42:08through the garden.
42:14The wonderful thing about herbaceous perennials,
42:16not only do they bring colour and interest to the garden,
42:19but you've got a lot of variety.
42:23So, you've got a lot of variety.
42:24You've got a lot of variety.
42:25You've got a lot of variety.
42:26You've got a lot of variety.
42:27They bring colour and interest to the garden,
42:29but you can divide them and split them up.
42:33Realistically, as long as you've got a good root system
42:35in when you buy them,
42:36you can do that to them any time of the year.
42:38I probably in reality would wait
42:40to the back end of the summer,
42:42but as long as you're there to look after it and water it,
42:45especially something like adjuga,
42:47which is as tough as old boots,
42:50you end up with a couple of plants,
42:53Not that I'm tight, but that puts a smile on my face.
42:59The garden is nearly there, just the lawn to go.
43:03When you lay turf,
43:04make sure you have an evenly raked surface.
43:07Then start by laying the turfs around the edges.
43:10It's crucial to have tight joints
43:12to ensure the grass knits together well.
43:17There you go, one lawn.
43:19All we need to do is now get some water on it.
43:22It will root this time of year quite quickly,
43:24so a couple of weeks,
43:25and then stay off it as long as you can.
43:31It may be a new garden,
43:33but over the years, the trees will grow and mature,
43:36not only creating a great canopy,
43:38but providing blossom and bark for year-round interest.
43:41They will also help attract wildlife into the garden,
43:45which is something that Amit is really keen to do.
43:48The shrubs will fill out and provide the borders
43:51with structure and shape.
43:53We've planted perennials,
43:54which will add punches of colour year after year.
43:59And the centrepiece, a perfect patch of lawn
44:01for baby Yash to play on safely.
44:05What do we think?
44:07Fantastic.
44:08Pleased?
44:09Oh, definitely, yeah.
44:11What a difference a few months make.
44:14For Bhuti and Amit,
44:15now have a large patio complete with dining area
44:18to entertain friends and family.
44:21Barbecue, barbecue.
44:23We've never had a barbecue.
44:24Not here.
44:24Not here.
44:25It's about time, I think.
44:26It is.
44:27We've not had a garden until now.
44:30There's a small patio at the back of the garden,
44:32a perfect place to catch the last rays of the evening sun.
44:37I think you guys, small table,
44:39just enjoying tea would be-
44:40Definitely.
44:41Lovely, wouldn't it?
44:42He can come out here and make his mess here
44:43instead of inside the house.
44:45This is the beginning of their gardening adventure.
44:48The rest will be up to them,
44:51but I'm really pleased with how it's turned out.
44:53Enjoy it.
44:54Thank you very much.
44:55Thank you.
45:10Let's take that out.
45:12Put that there for the moment.
45:14I do think that after all the busyness
45:19of the landscaping and getting in dramatic,
45:22permanent planting, the next stage of the garden,
45:26where you start to infill and people give you plants,
45:29or maybe you divide plants after a year or two,
45:32that's the real pleasure of gardening.
45:35It becomes personal.
45:36The whole process is organic and takes on its own life,
45:40and I envy them for the next few years.
45:44Now, this is crocosmia, crocosmia lucifer,
45:48and it's got a mass of foliage, very healthy,
45:51nothing wrong with it at all,
45:53but the flowers, and you can see here
45:55the spent flower heads, the seed heads,
45:57are a little sparse in relationship to the foliage.
46:00It's not flowering as vigorously as it certainly was
46:05and as it could do if I divide it,
46:07and September is the perfect time
46:10to lift and divide crocosmia when they finish flowering,
46:14and then you can replant them
46:15in order to have a much better display next year.
46:18Now, I could lift the whole thing, I suppose,
46:20but it's a large plant, so what I'm going to do
46:22is just try and chop out a section at this stage.
46:25What I'm looking to do is leave in about half of it
46:30and take out the rest,
46:31which I can divide up into suitable chunks.
46:42There we go.
46:44Right.
46:45Now, what you'll see, I hope,
46:49is that the crocosmia is made up of corms,
46:54and they build up on top of each other in layers,
46:57and you can just tease these apart.
46:59There we are.
47:01So you've got...
47:03It looks like those stones you see on the beach
47:06stacked on top of each other,
47:08a little tiny piece of corm,
47:10and those little stones you see on the beach
47:12stacked on top of each other, a little tower of corms.
47:15You've got an older corm, which is big,
47:17and another one that's developed right on top of it,
47:19and then a little one, and another one,
47:21and a little baby one, which I've sliced through,
47:23and if I plant both of those,
47:27they will make me a new, decent, healthy plant.
47:31And I could divide this up, because if you see...
47:34If I take that out, you can see that there we have
47:37a single corm with a stem.
47:39Now, if I plant that on its own,
47:42that will make a perfectly good new crocosmia plant.
47:45And when you do plant it, whether it's in a big clump
47:48or it's a stack of corms,
47:50crocosmia do best if they're planted nice and deep.
47:53Don't just put them beneath the surface.
47:55Dig a full hole the depth of your spade
47:57and put the corms down the bottom,
47:59because they like to be fairly damp.
48:01They don't like to dry out too much.
48:03And you can either plant them individually,
48:05sort of seven or eight in an area, or a big clump.
48:08And if you've got any really old bits, chuck them away.
48:12Now, all this is part of the planning
48:15for next summer's display,
48:17so it can be as vibrant and as dramatic as possible.
48:20It's looking a year ahead.
48:23But Carol has been to RHS Rosemore in Devon,
48:28where the garden is flowering gloriously right now.
48:36As summer draws to its conclusion,
48:40there's a whole range of plants that are just raring to go.
48:44Plants that will provide brilliant colour for months on end.
48:49But probably the brightest star in the garden is the rubeccia.
48:59Rubeccia hail from North America,
49:02where they're native to prairies and open woodlands.
49:05They're named in honour of a Swedish botanist, Olaf Rubeck Jr.
49:12Commonly, they're known as black-eyed Susans.
49:16Rubeccias are daisies,
49:19part of the biggest flowering plant family in the world, Asteraceae.
49:24Some are annuals.
49:26Most are perennials, including this one,
49:30which is probably the most popular of the lot.
49:33It's called rubeccia goldstern, storm of gold.
49:37And it's certainly that.
49:40At the base, they have this big rosette of plain, simple leaves,
49:45often rough-edged and rough in texture too.
49:49Both the leaves and the stems are really rough,
49:53which means that they seldom get attacked by slugs.
49:57The stems are branching, and at the end of each branch is a flower.
50:02These petals, which are correctly called ray florets,
50:05surround the place where the real business goes on.
50:09First of all, these just look like black blobs,
50:12but when you look more closely,
50:14they're composed of lots and lots of tiny, tiny flowers, or disc florets.
50:20Each of those flowers opens in turn,
50:23in a spiral from the outside right into the middle.
50:26And it provides pollen and nectar for weeks on end.
50:30Once they're pollinated and the petals begin to fall,
50:34they'll leave behind them beautiful seed heads,
50:37which are attractive to birds.
50:39They can feed on them, and you can leave them right the way through the winter.
50:43They look terrific.
50:48This is rubeccia fulgida variety daemyi.
50:53It's a perennial rubeccia, and it's my all-time favourite.
50:57It's a true perennial,
50:59and it demonstrates what perennial rubeccias do.
51:03It'll gradually colonise a piece of ground
51:06by spreading out its stoloniferous roots
51:09just below the surface of the soil,
51:11and then forming a new rosette.
51:14You can detach these and make new plants from them too.
51:18Although it likes sun, it doesn't like poor, dry soil.
51:22They really thrive on organic matter,
51:25so put plenty in when you're planting them.
51:27Now, with most daisies,
51:29you'd want to deadhead them to keep the flowers going.
51:32But not so with rubeccias,
51:34because one of their charms is that the seed heads are so beautiful too.
51:38And each stem will produce lots and lots of branches,
51:41so there are flowers at different stages.
51:44But with annual rubeccias, it's a really good idea.
51:47Once that initial flower has gone,
51:50it'll continue to deadhead right down to the next buds.
51:53That means they'll produce loads more flowers
51:56and keep going for much, much longer.
52:00Once you've grown rubeccias, you'll want more.
52:03And they're very easy plants to propagate.
52:06As far as perennial rubeccias go,
52:09the best way is by division.
52:12You can also grow perennial rubeccias from seed.
52:16In the spring, take a seed tray full of good seed compost.
52:20Firm it down.
52:22Sprinkle the seed very sparingly on the surface.
52:26Put grit over the top of it
52:28and stand the whole thing in shallow water.
52:31When you see that the surface grit is damp,
52:33take out the tray, let it drain,
52:36and this will pull the seeds down
52:38into intimate contact with the compost.
52:41Keep it in a nice, warm, bright place,
52:44but not in full sun.
52:46After a couple of weeks, your seed should germinate.
52:54There are about 25 species of rubeccia
52:57and numerous cultivars.
52:59Here are some that'll look great
53:02and do well in our gardens.
53:08For the price of a packet of seeds,
53:10you can fill your beds and borders with annual rubeccias.
53:14Like this one, it's Rubeccia hereta,
53:17prairie sun, very aptly named,
53:20with these two-tone yellow petals.
53:23And it provides brilliant splashes of colour
53:26amongst perennials and other annuals
53:29that are beginning to die down.
53:33Rubeccia lacinata, herb sonner,
53:36meaning autumn sun,
53:38is one of the tallest of all rubeccias.
53:41It can stand up to two metres high.
53:44And although it stands up for itself in a windy position,
53:47it may need a bit of help.
53:50It differs from most rubeccias in other respects.
53:54Although its daisies open flat,
53:56eventually the petals become elongated
53:59and hang down,
54:01giving it the most elegant deportment.
54:04Also, rather than the black eyes
54:06of most black-eyed Susans,
54:08it has a green central cone,
54:11which stands proud of the flower.
54:17Rubeccias are brilliant.
54:19They're simple, yet very distinctive.
54:22They're easy to grow, incredibly accommodating.
54:26And their colour.
54:28Yellow, they say, is the colour of the positive.
54:31And these are such optimistic flowers,
54:34leaning us forward into the new season with joy and gaiety.
54:48Although I love the exuberance of really tall rubeccias
54:53and the brilliance of that yellow,
54:55I've never really understood why people get sniffy about yellow.
54:58It's wonderful to have in the Borders.
55:00I also like some of the other colours that they do.
55:03Rubeccias don't just come in yellow.
55:05I've got one here called Summerina Brown.
55:08Now, although the name is a little bit like a Hollywood starlet,
55:12it's actually filled with all those lovely colours of the season
55:17that are so particular to this time of year.
55:20And I've made space because I've cleared quite a lot of crocosmia.
55:25Now, if I put a clump in like this,
55:28they'll re-colour for another three or four weeks
55:33and they're herbaceous perennials, so they'll die back
55:36but come back next year and I can plant around them.
55:40And, actually, I've still got room for a few more bits and pieces.
55:48OK, that's my rubeccias planted
55:50and I have some jobs for you for this weekend.
55:59MUSIC
56:04Right across the country, grass took a battering from the hot, dry summer.
56:09It will recover, but there will be the odd bare patch.
56:12Now is the time to repair it.
56:14Give it a good hard rake to disturb the soil and remove any loose material.
56:19If the ground's very dry, water it first
56:21and then sprinkle seed onto the damp ground.
56:25Water it again and it will germinate very quickly and fill the gap.
56:36Now is a good time to sow hardy annuals like these nigella.
56:41You can sow them direct, whether to grow or in a seedbed,
56:44but I'm using recycled plugs.
56:48Sprinkle a few seed into compost in each plug,
56:52put them somewhere protected but without any extra heat where they can germinate
56:56and then you can plant them out in autumn or even next spring.
57:04When your agapanthus have finished flowering, cut the seed heads off.
57:09Do this by cutting the flower stalks right at the base.
57:14This will mean that the plant will put all its energy into the roots
57:19for next year's flowers rather than into the developing seeds.
57:36I've got a gap here, right down the other end of the jewel garden
57:39from where I took out the chrycosmia that I can put in a good clump.
57:44And I'm thinking now, not of it working in with the palette that is here right now,
57:50even though I love it, I love the nephophia and that David Howard dahlia
57:55and then the cannas, which have been so good, despite being so hot,
57:58the cannas have loved it this year.
58:00I'm thinking of next July, when the chrycosmia will be at its most dramatic.
58:06And, of course, this cardoon, poor old thing, which is a raggedy skeleton of itself.
58:12Next July, the leaves will be strong with a lovely, glaucus colour
58:17and then the chrycosmia will work with that.
58:20And I really enjoy the way that at this stage of the year,
58:24you're planning and dreaming of next summer.
58:29But I'm afraid there's no more planning and dreaming to be done today
58:32because that's it, we've run out of time.
58:34But I'll see you back here, same time, next Friday, at a long minute.
58:38Until then, bye-bye.
58:42Bye-bye.