Gardeners World S52e15 21-06-19
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World. Now here we are, the longest day, the peak of the year,
00:20bright sunshine, but also we've been having quite a lot of rain, and that combination
00:25of summer sun and rain here at Longmeadow means lushness, and that means it tends to
00:32flop. The rain bashes it and the paths get covered, everything is falling over, you walk
00:38past and you get a soaking as the leaves are like sponges. So I try and hold them up and
00:43hold them back, but of course the real skill is to make it look as natural as possible.
00:49I'm using these hurdles that I actually made a few years ago out of chestnut, and sometimes
00:55we use wire supports. So the idea is not to put them into a rigid line, but just to prop
01:03them up and get them growing in the right direction. At this time of year you want to
01:09embrace the exuberance of summer, but maybe just stop everything falling apart too much.
01:20On today's programme, Frances visits an allotment in Oxfordshire to join a gardener who values
01:26the welfare of wildlife above all else. Your ecosystem makes allowances for there being
01:35some pests on your produce. Yes, you need the pests to get the vegetables.
01:41Rachel reveals how to create a dramatic summer display by using containers.
01:49I love the way that these little daisies, the centre of them just picks up on the leaf
01:55of the heuchera, so there's a lot of real loveliness going on in here.
02:01And Joe goes to Cornwall, where he's given an exclusive tour around a family garden,
02:07the singer Will Young. Gardening's really become a very beneficial
02:12thing for my well-being, and something that I actually deliberately put into my daily,
02:17weekly, monthly routine. And I shall be checking up on my bees and
02:23hopefully harvesting some honey, as well as planning ahead in the jaw garden, clearing
02:29and planting to keep it looking really good right throughout the summer months.
02:37Come on, good girl. Thank you very much indeed, thank you.
02:51Now is a good time to plant sweetcorn, because as the weather gets warmer and warmer, they
02:57will grow quickly. I've been growing these in pots, you can
03:01see they've got a nice root system, and I'll plant them out in a grid.
03:09And the reason you do that is for pollination. They pollinate by the wind.
03:19Now obviously if the wind is coming from the west and you've got north-south rows, it's
03:23just going to blow them sideways away from the other plants, and they won't pollinate
03:28and you won't get seed, therefore no corn on the cob.
03:31But if you've got them in a grid, it doesn't matter which direction the wind is coming
03:35from, they will get pollinated. And they don't want to be any closer than
03:44that, because these should grow to quite decent-sized plants, sort of five, six foot tall, and they
03:52need room to grow. The whole point of growing sweetcorn is in
03:59the name, to be sweet. And these are one of those plants whose sugars
04:05convert to starch very quickly. What they always say with it is you should
04:09put the water on and only go and harvest the cobs when the water is boiling.
04:15Take them straight back to the kitchen, plunge them in the water, they take about ten minutes
04:20or so to cook, and eat them straight away. And you get an incredible sweetness that you
04:26really truly can't buy.
04:39Now I am going to put in some lettuce in amongst it.
04:46This is a variety of coz called Maureen, which will grow quickly at this time of year
04:52and be ready to harvest in a matter of weeks, before the sweetcorn gets too big and would
04:57shade it out.
05:02And I can just pop this in, in the gaps.
05:07I like coz at this time of year because they have a crispness that is fresh and really
05:21tasty and it's a great summer lettuce. However, if they dry out, they can all bolt
05:27and I've gone away for a couple of days and come back to find a whole set of one planting
05:33all bolted. So you do need to keep them well watered.
05:40Last one in.
05:44Right, now that little coz lettuce will be ready to eat in about four weeks' time.
05:49I've got a whole bed of coz that is absolutely at its best right now.
05:54These, and this is a variety called Cosmic, were sown at the beginning of March so they
05:59grow much more slowly and it is important that when you're trying to get your rotation
06:03and your constant supply right, you take into account the different times of year.
06:08Anything sown now or in the last month will grow much quicker than anything grown at the
06:13beginning of spring.
06:15And if I cut one, and I've got plenty so I can afford to dissect it, so to speak,
06:20if you take off the outer leaves, inside is a lovely fresh upright heart and they're
06:26really beautiful. And although inevitably you get a little bit of a glut, you give them
06:31away, you eat as many as you can and if the worst comes to the worst, they make very good compost.
06:41These beans were sown even earlier. These were sown last October and I have to say that
06:47even though I'm very surprised at how well they've done, I don't think I've ever had better
06:52overwintering broad beans.
06:55I love broad beans when they are so small that you can eat them raw and...
07:03But that's good. That's really good.
07:13Apparently bees love broad bean flowers. It gives them an almost perfect balanced diet.
07:19So not only when you grow broad beans is it great for you, it's also doing a bit for wildlife.
07:24And you can combine quite intensive vegetable growing with good wildlife.
07:29And Frances, who is making an allotment in Kent, has been to Oxfordshire to visit another
07:35allotment site where wildlife is treasured as highly as vegetables.
07:42Having an allotment is an amazing privilege. Obviously it's an opportunity to grow some
07:47lovely produce and plants, but it's also a chance to do something of huge importance.
07:56By encouraging all creatures, great and small, to our growing plots, you can make a real
08:01difference in the world.
08:05By encouraging all creatures, great and small, to our growing plots, you can make a real
08:10difference to our native wildlife.
08:14There's a real tide of change when it comes to environmental issues at the moment, and
08:18I'm keen to do my bit on my plot back in Kent. So I've come to this allotment in Oxfordshire
08:23to get some advice about being wildlife friendly.
08:28These two and a half plots were transformed in 2010 from a fairly ordinary overgrown site
08:34to this extraordinary wildlife haven.
08:38This gorgeous space is down to the passion and planting power of one woman, Nadine Matunas.
08:45Hi Nadine.
08:46Hi Frances.
08:47This isn't normal allotmenting.
08:49When I have a bit of time, I'm taking pictures.
08:53This is no ordinary allotment. Nadine is an ecologist who's fascinated by the wildlife
08:58on her plot and spends hours recording it.
09:03And that's not an Oxfordshire accent I'm detecting.
09:06No, it's not. I'm originally from Germany. I came here 11 years ago.
09:11And how many years have you been doing this?
09:13So this is actually, this allotment you're standing on, I have this for nine years now.
09:18And have you seen lots of different things?
09:20So actually I have quite a lot of things. I have foxes, little wood mice.
09:25They're actually quite cute. And then sometimes I even see like a fox hopping.
09:29Amazing!
09:31At least one hedgehog. And I have a camera trap where I can get the footage in the night.
09:38Sometimes I come here myself. So in the middle of the night.
09:42So quite exciting because there's nobody else here. It's just me and the wildlife.
09:47And it was magical.
09:48Yeah.
09:49And of course I've seen other things like big spiders moving, moths.
09:53Because it's a whole other world, isn't it? The night time on the allotment,
09:56which is just as important but we never see it.
09:58Yeah. So I just want to create a space where I am happy and the pollinators
10:03and all the other wildlife are happy as well.
10:06The planting is obviously so important with bringing in wildlife.
10:09So talk me through how you do that.
10:11So normally you would try to cover the ground with something.
10:14You don't want lots of open ground.
10:17That's why the poached eggplant is actually a really good plant.
10:20Because it keeps the ground covered. It attracts the pollinators.
10:24The ground is quite soft. So you don't need to cover it with anything.
10:27You don't need to cover it with anything.
10:30So if you want to get rid of slugs, cover your ground and you attract the ground beetle.
10:35People think that having that ground cover, the slugs would live in amongst that.
10:38But their predators also live there as well.
10:40Yes, especially like the ground beetles.
10:42And I can see you've got some, is it aphid damage?
10:45That is aphid damage, blister aphid, which goes to the undercurrents.
10:48And this here is aphid damage.
10:50And this here is aphid damage, which goes to the undercurrents.
10:53And this here is aphid damage, which goes to the undercurrents.
10:56And this here is aphid damage, blister aphid, which goes to the undercurrents.
10:59And this here is quite bad. But it's really just cosmetic damage.
11:03It doesn't look nice. It doesn't affect the food.
11:06And something will come and eat the aphids.
11:09So your ecosystem makes allowances for there being some pests on your produce.
11:16Yes, you need the pests to get the predators.
11:19I mean, if the predators have nothing to eat, they will not be here really.
11:23So you need the whole circle of life really.
11:30Nadine's plot is a wildlife wonderland.
11:35But creating an allotment like this doesn't mean you have to compromise on your capacity to grow great produce.
11:43Nadine still manages to grow a hearty crop of fruit and veg among the wildlife-friendly plants.
11:49So how are you growing produce amongst all these flowers?
11:53Yeah, it's actually helpful putting them in between, so hiding them.
11:57This is quite open because this is a new allotment.
12:00But eventually it will all be surrounded by flowers.
12:03It looks much prettier. And then second, also it hides some from pest species like pigeons.
12:09Really?
12:10Yeah, because pigeons normally they go for things which are easily visible,
12:15like edges and on flat, open ground.
12:17They just fly to somewhere else where it's all nice and open so they see it.
12:21And they just ignore my things.
12:23And what are you growing?
12:25Like I have pumpkins like these, sweet corn and tomatoes, asparagus and lettuce.
12:33So all the normal produce, we get several hundred kilograms.
12:37Really?
12:38Yes.
12:39That's amazing.
12:40It doesn't look like it, but they're actually there.
12:42It's all here.
12:43It's all here.
12:44Just that you're in a really lovely setting as well.
12:46Yeah.
12:49One of the best ways to encourage a wealth of wildlife to your plot is to install a pond.
12:55And Nadine has taken this to the next level with not one, not two, but three ponds dotted around her allotment.
13:06Oh, wow.
13:08Oh, look.
13:09Look, there is...
13:11There's so much.
13:13It's amazing.
13:14Look, there.
13:15Look at the newts.
13:16There, this is a back swimmer.
13:19And some tadpoles.
13:20And what are these tiny ones?
13:21There are all the water fleas.
13:24That is incredible.
13:25And the newts will eat the water fleas.
13:27Yes.
13:28There's a little snail and a tadpole.
13:32So what made you want a pond like this on your allotment?
13:34Because it's huge.
13:35Yes, it is.
13:36But I always, I always loved ponds.
13:38And as a child, I loved pond dipping.
13:41Because it's such a different world in there.
13:44It's not just the insects and the animals inside the water.
13:48It's everything else.
13:49Like birds come here, and they clean their feathers in here.
13:54And it looks actually quite funny.
13:57You've got some lovely plants around here.
13:58I mean, the marsh marigold has already flowered, which is a really good wildlife plant.
14:03You have the water mint down there.
14:06There are actually quite nice flowering plants as well in a pond.
14:09So it looks lovely, but it has a really big function.
14:12And actually, a pond in itself is really important for any wildlife garden, isn't it?
14:17It's getting more and more important now.
14:19Because in the countryside, there are not many ponds anymore.
14:22The only ones left are in our gardens and on our allotments.
14:25So that's the last refuge for many of these insects and these wildlife.
14:31They would completely go extinct without ponds.
14:34And it would be such a tragedy if these were lost.
14:36So this is the only kind of place they can survive in, as far as I can tell.
14:39Yes, we really need more ponds.
14:41Exactly.
14:46During the last decade, Nadine has recorded at least ten different species of bumblebee on her plot.
14:51Not to mention all the other insects, mammals and birds that have become frequent visitors.
14:57But the biggest impact has really come from her planting.
15:07Well, even in the rain today, we've seen so many pollinators and wildlife.
15:12It's incredible.
15:13But if I'm going to just pick a few of these plants, because I want to plant them all.
15:17I just had to pick a few to take back to Kent.
15:19Which ones would you recommend?
15:21This time of year, really.
15:22It's, for example, the ragdolphin, which you can just see there.
15:26So it likes moist ground, but bumblebees really like it.
15:30And then the herbel, which is actually a British and native white flower here.
15:36So the nocea mezzadonica, which is a really easy plant, good for dry soil.
15:41It self-seeds a bit, but never in a big way.
15:44And it's beautiful as well.
15:45It's beautiful.
15:46And the last one I would recommend at this time of year is the hawthorn.
15:50It likes dry soil.
15:51This is a good plant to have and it's loved by bumblebees.
16:01I'm so inspired by what Nadine has done here.
16:03She's created a plot that's beautiful and relaxing,
16:06but also one that works so hard for wildlife and for her own harvest.
16:11This is obviously in a league of its own when it comes to allotments,
16:14but there are so many ideas here that I can take back to Kent with me.
16:18And it's just got me thinking, with around 330,000 allotment plots across the country,
16:24just imagine if every one of us did a little bit to help the wildlife.
16:29Just think what a difference that could make.
16:42I do think that it's wonderful that so many people are getting interested in wildlife
16:46and stopping seeing everything as a potential threat or a pest in the garden.
16:52And, as Francis says, if we all do something, it will make a big difference.
16:57And the place to start, I think, is always with insects.
16:59They're not the most glamorous wildlife, but they are probably the most important
17:03because everything is based upon that.
17:06And I suppose that the most attractive insect has to be the honeybee.
17:11And I've been keeping bees here at Longmeadow for the last three years now.
17:15Under the watchful eye of my mentor, Gareth.
17:19And he's come to help me check on the state of both my hives.
17:32I'm very happy that we've got bees in here now because it was empty.
17:37Yes.
17:38For a while. OK, if I take the lid off, is that OK?
17:40Yeah, that'd be great.
17:41OK, there we go.
17:42Let's see what we find.
17:46There they are, look.
17:48We've got all this fresh nectar.
17:51That's all full of eggs. Right.
17:53And newly hatched larvae.
17:55This is sealed larvae that's going to be hatching in the next few days.
18:00And looking at the colour and the attitude of the larvae, it's all nice, it's healthy.
18:05That might be 1,000 bees that we're going to add to the population within a week.
18:10And we've got probably four or five other frames.
18:141,000 bees in a week. Yeah.
18:16This is making a serious contribution to the bee population.
18:20It is.
18:21We need every colony of bees that we can get.
18:24I mean, this colony is progressing really well.
18:27This style of top bar hive does seem to be much easier to manage.
18:34What I like about this is, as we've been going through here,
18:38I think the main colony is over here. Yes.
18:41But they actually don't know we're here.
18:43The frame hives, as soon as I've got the roof off, everybody knows I'm there.
18:49You would expect there to be quite a lot of honey in here, because we haven't taken any out.
18:53Last time we looked, everything was progressing.
18:55Good. Let's have a look now.
18:59Looking at a frame of honey like this,
19:02it gives you an idea of how much variety the bees have been foraging on.
19:07So what variety do you see in that?
19:09So we've got some slightly darker honey here. Yes.
19:12It's got a bit of colour to it. Yeah.
19:14We've got some very light white honey.
19:17This is probably a rape-dandelion mix.
19:21And so that reflects the different plant sources
19:25that they've got their nectar and their pollen from to make honey.
19:28So a garden is important that it has a good variety of plants.
19:34It is. They need a completely balanced diet.
19:37They wouldn't be shopping for a whole myriad of different pollens
19:41if they didn't need them.
19:43We're always told that bees like a glut.
19:46In this orchard, for example, when there's blossom,
19:48they'll just go to the blossom and nothing else. Yeah.
19:50Is that generally true?
19:52Do they just go to the nearest source and gorge on it?
19:55What usually happens is foraging depends on age.
20:00Young bees will forage closer in, older bees will forage further out.
20:03So I know that they will forage three miles.
20:06They may well go further.
20:08It's like from here to London on a pushbike for me.
20:11Well, I...
20:13We're looking at your fine figure.
20:15It's a long, long way.
20:19Let's take a little bit of honey out. Yeah.
20:22As much as a sort of... as a matter of respect for their work,
20:26but leave the vast majority for them. Yeah.
20:30They're protected. We'll leave you alone now, guys.
20:37Excellent.
20:53We all come to gardening from different roots,
20:56but very often it's from a family connection,
20:59somebody who inspires us.
21:01But we went to visit a gardener in Shrewsbury
21:04who has made her own private and much-loved garden,
21:08inspired by her discovery of a passion for garden history.
21:22My name's Adelaide Richmond
21:24and I would describe myself as a garden, landscape and social historian.
21:30I was born in Zimbabwe
21:32and I came here when I was about eight years old.
21:35I have always had a fondness for plants.
21:39My aunt had the most enormous garden
21:43and she had incredibly green fingers,
21:46so I think I've probably inherited a little bit of the interest
21:50from her to do gardening.
21:53Geraniums, I love.
21:55So in this area, you've got at least four or five different types.
21:59You've got the geranium fumes over there,
22:02which flowered quite early in the season.
22:04You've got geranium ibericum here, which the bees absolutely love.
22:12On a summer's day, there is a constant buzz.
22:15And the fact that I'm allergic to geraniums,
22:18On a summer's day, there is a constant buzz.
22:20And the fact that I'm allergic to stings
22:23is a bit of a tightrope that I walk every day.
22:32You've got undressii here.
22:34I tend to let things self-seed
22:37and it makes it look a lot more natural to me.
22:41This is more of a romantic border.
22:45It is supposed to be a lush border
22:48with lots of colour, lots of variety.
23:01I was working as a buyer in the automotive industry
23:05and I sort of realised that this really wasn't for me
23:10and I just decided that I wanted to be a gardener.
23:16I went on to do my MA, Garden History,
23:20which was an absolute revelation.
23:23It really was.
23:29We were in Florence and one particular garden
23:32that I really fell in love with was the Villa Costello.
23:37I just loved the whole contrast of the greenery
23:42and the white statues.
23:45I absolutely adored Italian Renaissance gardens.
23:49What I loved was the whole iconography.
23:52Each element of the story
23:54was centred around a statue of some kind.
23:57It's just really, really sexy.
23:59It's just, you know, it's all a bit saucy,
24:04the Italian Renaissance.
24:06The marble of the statue sort of mirrors and complements
24:10the marbling that has been used around the reflecting pond.
24:14This is supposed to be Apollo
24:17and on the other side you've got Diana the Huntress
24:21and they both of them have bows and arrows.
24:24And I chose these particular statues
24:27because they fit in with one of my other passions,
24:30which is the history of the elite sport of archery.
24:34which was very, very fashionable
24:37in the Georgian and early 19th century.
24:40And here Apollo can be seen with his hunting dog
24:43who's just about to disappear behind the undergrowth.
24:47And above Apollo you've got Rosa Wilschenblau
24:52which when it's in full flower frames the statue
24:57and it looks absolutely glorious.
25:04The beauty of the whole area is that
25:07when it rains or is over full
25:10it has a small gradient and it just waters the flower beds
25:15which is very, very helpful.
25:20I've tried to create various sitting areas
25:24which again is another element of garden history,
25:27this idea of views and vistas, you know,
25:31constantly looking out to a different viewpoint.
25:40This is one of the seating areas
25:42which gives you a nice view of the Auricular Theatre
25:46and also this cotinous does give some shade.
25:50It is the snake bush
25:53and I find it's absolutely at its best
25:57at the end of a sunny day.
25:59The light filtering through from this side
26:02picks up this gorgeous colour.
26:06What I've tried to do here
26:08is constantly creating a sense of what's around the corner
26:11so you have to keep moving through the garden.
26:19I do like the whole cottage garden sort of feel
26:23that people like Gertrude Jekyll
26:27sort of brought to their design
26:30and basically I have a lot of roses.
26:34I think some people might say that I have a bit of a rose habit.
26:46This is one of my favourite parts of the garden.
26:49There are about 14 different roses
26:53and so you have roses such as this gorgeous, gorgeous
26:57Gentle Hermione which has got the most gorgeous scent.
27:00They do reflect that whole Edwardian era,
27:03the scent and the sound of the bees.
27:06What I've tried to do is create the separate rooms
27:10so you can't see the rest of the garden from this area
27:14because of the way that the path curves
27:17round each of the main plants.
27:24It's all rather unruly
27:27but it does create that sort of belly pock,
27:32sort of garden of a golden age.
27:35As soon as the sun comes out, you have the scent of the roses,
27:39you've got the bees, you've got, you know, it is...
27:43Yes, you could be in a small Edwardian garden
27:47but it's mine.
27:49LAUGHTER
28:06Well, I do completely agree with Adelaide
28:09that what matters in a garden, isn't it yours?
28:14It's your special precious space
28:18and one of the things that is very personal to me in the garden
28:21at this time of year, precisely at this moment,
28:24is this rose behind.
28:26This is Rosa moisei geranium
28:29and it has these blood-red flowers, single flowers that bees love
28:34that are dotted around the shrub like red stars in the sky.
28:39They don't overlap at all
28:41and you get that curious speckled effect, really dramatic.
28:46Now, only flowers for a week.
28:48So for 51 weeks of the year, it may not have flowers
28:53but for quite a long time, it carries fabulous hips
28:58which, in their own way, are just as beautiful as that brief floor display.
29:04Obviously, to get a display as dramatic as that, you need space
29:09and most people live in towns and cities
29:12and therefore have smaller gardens
29:14and to get the best out of a small garden,
29:16inevitably, you need to use containers of some kind
29:20and Rachel gives us a masterclass
29:23in how to make the very best of our summer containers.
29:38I think this doorway and that lovely warm Cotswold stone
29:43is just crying out for an injection of colour
29:46so that this area, either side of the door,
29:49becomes a real statement in the garden.
29:52And there's nothing nicer, I think, than just using pots to create that colour.
29:57So I've rounded up pretty much every pot I've got.
30:00I've given them, most of them, a good clean up
30:03and now, really, it's a matter of placing the plants.
30:07I love using pots in the garden.
30:10They're so versatile.
30:12Either planted up with annuals or more permanent plants,
30:16they can brighten up and add interest to any part or corner of the garden.
30:28So I've just started here with a rose
30:31and this one's a beautiful English shrub rose
30:34called Gentle Hermione
30:36and it really is that lovely kind of shell pink colouring
30:40and that is a wonderful fragrance, a myrrh fragrance,
30:44really sweet and delicious.
30:46And then I just want to build up a nice recipe of plants to complement it
30:52and I've chosen just for a bit of real contrast
30:55with the colouring of the foliage this heuchera.
30:58This is Obsidian, which I think is my favourite dark-leaved variety.
31:04And of course, at the moment, it's also got these very pretty,
31:08rather airy stems of flowers.
31:13Then I think on this side, I'm going to put another heuchera, the same one.
31:17So keeping it fairly simple.
31:20I don't want to put too many things together
31:23because there's already going to be a lot going on in this area.
31:28I'm just firming the compost right the way round all the gaps there at the back.
31:32I don't want any air pockets.
31:34And this is just a good multi-purpose compost.
31:37This is peat-free and it's also got some added John Innes.
31:41And then the last bit of this recipe is this lovely Rhodanthalum.
31:50And just look at that.
31:51You see, I love the way that these little daisies,
31:54the centre of them just picks up on the leaf of the heuchera.
31:58I think that's a really lovely combination.
32:00And then you've got the contrast of that silvery, rather ferny foliage as well.
32:04So there's a lot of real loveliness going on in here.
32:15I've added some foxgloves on the other side of the door
32:18to bring balance to the rose just so that we've got some more height
32:22and under-planted them with Calibrachoa to bring an extra bit of zing.
32:31So we've got the large pots in position now.
32:35And I've got all those lovely soft pinks, that really dark foliage,
32:39and I'm going to pick up on that with this beautiful foxglove.
32:43It's called Firebird and it's a new one.
32:47And in its parentage, it's got the Canary Island foxglove,
32:50which is going to give it these really gorgeous, almost orangey flowers.
32:55And you've got this lovely dark stem.
32:57And this one's perennial as well.
32:59I'm going to try and get two more things in.
33:02Where there's a will, there's a way.
33:04So there's this beautiful little geum, Savannah Sunset.
33:07Lovely, small flowers, quite a lot of gold in the centres there,
33:11but the little petals, they are just the most beautiful pale apricot
33:15and that same slightly rusty tint down through the stems.
33:21And I think I might use an old trick with this lovely Steeper Tenuissima,
33:25which is just to take some of the compost away from this root ball.
33:30It's still sort of fairly loose in there.
33:34And this is because really in containers,
33:36I think you do want things fairly close planted.
33:39It's not a long-term planting like in the garden.
33:42So very often these things are only going to be in here for a short while.
33:47Important thing, of course, is to remember that you are responsible
33:51entirely for watering and for feeding.
33:53So a liquid feed for greedy plants once a week isn't a miss.
33:58And watering daily in hot weather, at least once a day.
34:02There we go. It does fit.
34:04I knew it would.
34:06The beauty of using pots is that you can move plants around
34:10and change the look and feel of any display with ease.
34:15I can never resist a clematis or a dahlia,
34:18so they are going to be part of my mid-layer.
34:26I'm going to plant this one.
34:28I'm going to plant this one.
34:30I'm going to plant this one.
34:32I'm going to plant this one.
34:34I'm going to plant this one.
34:46So now I've got the large pots and that mid-storey.
34:49It's time for all those pretty little pots that you can just dot in amongst.
34:54I just want to put individual plants into those.
34:57The great thing about growing in pots is that you can have
35:00that the individual plants require. So for example these thyme like really
35:06sharp drainage so we've got a little bit of multi-purpose compost with some
35:09horticultural grit just to make sure the roots don't sit in moisture and this is
35:15going to be so popular with the bees while it's in flower and equally popular
35:21with me because I'm going to pick the stems and use them in cooking. Another
35:25good reason to have it right by the door.
35:30These smaller pots give me a chance to grow some of my favorite little plants
35:37things like the dianthus, the saxifraga and succulents all of which actually
35:45like sharp drainage so I can give them the conditions they need. It's a bit like
35:52painting a picture you need to know when to stop and I think I'm just about there
35:57just can't resist though this lovely little tulbagia it's called purple eye
36:02lovely little flowers not completely hardy so it's going to need a bit of
36:06protection over the winter but that really is the beauty of pots it means
36:10that you can ring the changes with the seasons you can move things around as
36:16and when you feel you want to and also give the plants the right conditions
36:19that they need so I think that's a jolly good day's work
36:38As Rachel shows a pot is both an arrangement and also something that has
36:46the dimension of time it's going to change and you need to manage that
36:50change I'm under planting this Kabir with a Bidens. This is one that glories
36:58in the name of Bidens bee dance orange splash and I grew it first a few years
37:03ago and loved the way that it holds this intense orange slightly caramel color
37:10for months this will go on looking good well into September if not October as
37:17long as it's watered and fed regularly and that's the key to good pots at this
37:21time of year is planning their future so that they look as good at the end of
37:26summer as they do now well the Kabir has got a few weeks before that looks really
37:32good but I think a little bit of color at its base will make all the difference
37:40Now coming up on the rest of today's program
37:44Joe is in Cornwall with a singer Will Young who reveals his deep-rooted love
37:50of gardening. This one has changed its name recently that's another thing about
37:54plants they change their name. It's like Prince! The grass formerly known as...
37:59Exactly! But first I want to divide and move some geraniums and also add a
38:08splash of new color here into these borders
38:20Now we've reached the longest day the jaw garden actually goes into a process
38:24of transition we're going from all the energy of spring into this velvety
38:31luscious color of full summer and it takes a few weeks for that to happen but
38:37you can speed the process along and it's now time to cut back the hardy
38:41geraniums which were so important in May. Now there's one geranium in particular
38:46which is dominant in the early part of the year here in the jaw garden that's
38:50geranium fire and you can see that it it's got this deep color now it's
38:55not just one color it can go from almost black rich purple right through to
39:01burgundy and a fairly pale mauve and at this time of year what you get is
39:05increasing amount of seed heads and fewer and fewer flowers so it's a law of
39:11diminishing returns. Cut it back hard at very least you'll get a regrowth of
39:16foliage and if we have a nice hot summer we'll get some flowering too and really
39:20importantly plenty of room in which I can add annuals and dahlias and cannas
39:26and all the plants that make the late season so rich. So it's just a question
39:31of getting in there and cutting to the ground and then you can see what you've
39:36got. When you cut it back cut right back to the knuckle of the plant and that
39:48way you get lots of light in there and it will regrow. Now that's that side I
39:53can now cut this one back
40:03and I will leave some uncut so I'm not going to deprive the bees completely of
40:08their meal. You can see here on this geranium farm you've got a horseshoe of
40:21growth and practically nothing in the center at all and that's a classic
40:26herbaceous plant growth pattern. So the thing to do is to dig it up chop those
40:32outer bits up and replant them and if there is anything in the center a sort
40:36of woody core that goes on the compost heap. So what I'm gonna do here is to dig
40:42up some of it there so that's a nice good chunk and I can plant that in my
40:49new beds like that and that will grow strongly and it might flower this year
40:55but it certainly will next year. It'll be near the beehives and they will love it.
41:04I've got two geraniums here which have the same color flower but very different
41:11growth habit. This is Anne Foucault. It's an absolute favorite. Magenta flowers and
41:19the whole point about it is it rambles through other plants and these bright
41:24magenta flowers which will keep on being produced into early autumn. And this is a
41:31geranium that I've not grown here in the jewel garden before. It's geranium
41:35Psilostemon. It's similar to Anne Foucault in the color of its flower this
41:41very blue pink magenta but this really rockets and sprawls around it's almost a
41:47climber. And so if you put it next to a shrub it will work its way up into the
41:52branches you could even train it if you liked upper support. And so unlike
41:57geranium farm which forms a sort of clump that takes space this doesn't
42:03dominate the planting around but works with it. So these two are ideal if you're
42:09growing them in a border to accompany other plants. Right now I've got quite a
42:17lot to do before I get to the point of planting those because I want to clear
42:20all the geranium farm first and cut it back and then work out the best place to
42:25position them. But now let's go to Cornwall with Joe because he went down there a few
42:30weeks ago to visit the garden and family home of Will Young.
42:36I've come to visit a musician and actor who I've heard is a pretty keen gardener
42:48himself.
42:59Hello. Hi Will. Welcome. How you doing? There are dogs. There are dogs. There are dogs.
43:05There are dogs everywhere. What a stunning part of the world. It's absolutely beautiful here isn't it?
43:10It's great isn't it? So what's your connection to Cornwall? Well I've been living in
43:14Cornwall actually from about 14 years ago. So I started coming down this way
43:18because I was I was doing politics at Exeter. And then when I went into pop I
43:22wanted to find a place you know just for some seclusion and found this
43:26wonderful house and then my parents came down six years ago and created this
43:30amazing garden. And they're keen gardeners? Yeah my mum's garden designer
43:34and she's very keen gardener as is my dad. My sister's a gardener and I was a
43:40gardener throughout A-levels and university. I used to listen to music
43:45while I mowed and before I entered Pop Idol and I listened to my audition songs
43:50that I had to do and earned the money to get up to London to do the audition.
43:55Fantastic. Through gardening. Wow so gardening. Without gardening you wouldn't be where you are today then Will?
43:59Essentially what I'm saying is without gardening where would I be? And I just
44:04love it. It's so good for the soul and it's just a pleasure to be in this space
44:08you know. Yeah. Would you like to see more of the garden? Love to. Come with me.
44:13Yeah love to.
44:23This is a lovely little garden within a garden. My mum wanted to create a
44:30gravel garden. All this bed here, apart from the olive tree and maybe a couple
44:36other plants, it's all from cuttings that my parents have made. Okay. Cuttings or
44:40split plants. Okay so some proper serious gardening going on here then. Yeah proper serious gardening. And this is gorgeous isn't it? I mean and the level of it. There's space between them as well.
44:49And I know some of them. So this is a clematis. The trellis was my mum's cot when
44:55she was a baby. Really? Yeah. That's a cutting but we got that from Hampton Court. Yeah it's a
45:01beautiful clematis isn't it? We've got the aquile... what are they called? Aquilegias.
45:05Aquilegias. Yeah. So the yellow. Granny's bonnet is the common name. There's yellow ones. Granny's bonnet. I like that. I can see that actually. But I know this one is a Dachshund. Likes the heat.
45:18Likes full sun. Herbaceous perennial I believe. That's the one. What I love about being in gardens is not just like the plants and everything you get from that and the colours but also all the nature that comes with it. So my dad makes a lot of bird boxes. That was meant to be for a wagtail but it's become a bumblebee's nest which I love. You can see the bees going in and out. Yeah you can see them going in and out and then there's a wagtail that comes.
45:48And the cardoons I learned a trick on Gardener's World which is to prop them up and then the plant grows through the twigs. So to stake them? Stake them but with sort of these delicate twigs to prop up the leaves. You've been watching Monty? Yes I have. You know I'm one of those sort of like slightly cavalier gardeners is I just like throw them in, see how it looks, learn the name afterwards. A bit like my songs really.
46:19Beautiful steps Will. They're gorgeous. Thank you so much. They are actually gorgeous aren't they? They're very inviting. They are inviting and I think what I love about this garden is you can see the different levels of the rock there. You know it's been there for ages. It has a real solidity this local stone. Yeah and it's very Cornish and you see it everywhere.
46:42But also the way, I mean things are just self-seeded in here aren't they? Like the little ferns and this little Welsh poppy. It's gorgeous isn't it? I really like these ornamental grasses as well. I love grasses. You know I chop them down maybe October time. Clear them out occasionally. Leave them for the winter because they actually, a lot of them can hold their form and then cut them back down in the spring. Yes that makes sense. Yeah they look great through the winter.
47:07Stipa gigantea at the back. It's just come out. It gets nice and tall. This one has changed its name recently. That's another thing about plants is they change their name. Well that's unfair. That is unfair. It's like Prince. The grass formerly known as. Exactly. So what is it now? This was formerly known as Stipa arundinacea and now it's called Anamantheli lisoniana. But you'd win a game at Scrabble wouldn't you? Well I'm not sure you'd get that past Scrabble. I haven't got that many letters.
47:33We should go through and I'll show you the steps. I love these steps. They're great.
47:41Got the whole entourage with us. Well come on. Yeah we're a bit of a gang now.
47:47Come on you can do it. It's only got skinny people isn't it? Come on you're coming through. Oh well they're a good little hop.
48:03So is this one of your favourite areas here? Yes this is. I love structural gardening. You know I love literally that little kind of landscaping of garden.
48:20The process of gardening as well isn't it is very rewarding. It can engross you and take you away from things as well.
48:29Oh yeah because I mean I got very ill and I have an anxiety disorder for want of a better phrase and gardening's really helped me because it grounds me and I have to kind of feel, you know I like to feel the earth and it's sensory.
48:50So it's definitely become a really a very beneficial thing for my well-being and something that I actually deliberately put into my daily, weekly, monthly routine and I always like gardening but then I really started getting into it when I was in treatment actually because I had to go into treatment for anxiety.
49:08Did they prescribe gardening? Well they sort of did but then I sort of picked it up and created gardening in the place.
49:17I started growing dahlias and irises from you know bulbs and sweet peas and some vegetables and gardening very much gives to you you know like the process of creating something is sort of miraculous in a way from a tiny seed or a tiny cutting you can get these amazing plants but you have to be patient and you have to nurture and maybe the act of nurturing something else kind of maybe aids you to nurture yourself and
49:46it's amazing how people talk about you know pills and you know counselling things like that which all do work but actually you know gardening and nature it's like a brilliant healer isn't it? Yeah. You know it's just the best.
49:59So what would you say to someone who you know who might who was in a similar position to you who might might be have anxiety issues and is thinking about doing some gardening?
50:18Don't be afraid that's what I would say just start with one plant even you know pick a plant and and don't be deterred because it's all trial and error anyway. I mean you know things go wrong we all have failures but that's all part of life anyway and just keep going. Yeah and actually I was speaking to a friend the other day and she said she's a great gardener and she said when in doubt garden and I just thought that was lovely.
50:42Do you get to a stage where you're aware of something happening you think right I've got to go I've got to go and get in the garden I've got to spend some time out there? Yeah definitely and it has really helped kind of
50:53calm me down and and then I get to come here and feel the space of the garden and and it really relaxes me.
51:03Do you find this place inspirational for your work? I do yeah I mean there's a shepherd's hut
51:08you know up behind us and I come down and I write my songs down here I write the lyrics I wrote my
51:14latest record down here and it is lovely to have just a vista to look out on and and just it gives
51:21more space in my head you know to be able to clear it all and then I can just let the words flow. Is there
51:27one aspect of gardening that you really like doing? My favourite thing to do is to grow from seed or grow
51:34from bulk. I've just seen that one of my dailies has come up again I was more excited about that
51:39than I probably was about my first number one I mean it's you know some people would think
51:42it's tragic but for me I actually spoke to the dailier I said welcome back.
51:50I wouldn't mind a number one though. Would you? Well yeah I mean the tweenie's got one so
51:57I was gonna say we could swap jobs but I thought I can't say that while I've got a record coming out.
52:04Will it's been great thank you so much for uh for letting me into your garden and
52:08showing me around and spending time with you it's been it's been great. Oh well it's my pleasure.
52:14So
52:29this is when a greenhouse comes into its own. Now it's really good that Will was talking so
52:36freely and openly about his anxiety and hopefully even more people will now feel
52:44emboldened to share these problems and talk about them and know that there is no shame
52:51there's no shame ever in being ill and also get out into the garden because it does help.
52:59Now not hidden away at all are my chilies. Now for the last few years I've been growing chilies
53:03like this in relatively small terracotta pots and that does two things the terracotta
53:10doesn't hold water so well which means they don't get too wet and also because they're small
53:17it slightly stresses the plants and that means they're a smaller plant but the fruits tend to be
53:24very prolific and slightly more intense in taste and that's what chilies are all about they're not
53:29just hot they're fruity and tasty. Chili omelette first thing in the morning that will perk you up
53:35for the rest of the day and now you can see that this is a hot chili that is called heat wave
53:43the fruits are forming now I won't pick any of those until they're red you must let them ripen
53:48because you don't get the full flavor. Another little tip about chilies is don't water them
53:54if you can after four o'clock in the afternoon water chilies in the morning
53:58and they absorb the water and then if it cools down overnight it means that they're not
54:03surrounded by rather cool moist air because that's when you can get problems.
54:09Now in the back here I've got some melons growing these are growing in good size pot
54:15plastic because melons which are members of the cucurbit family really like masses of water
54:21masses of heat and really rich feed so there's lots of compost in there
54:26these will actually grow quite vigorously they should reach just about the top of these canes
54:34and produce lots of flowers and quite a few fruits but I'm not looking for a huge crop here
54:40if I get a couple or at most three good melons from each plant I'll be very happy
54:46but there is something about growing your own melons and having that lovely sweetness
54:55that is worth quite a lot of trouble
55:00can't hear the rain
55:05yeah that's stopped enough time to go back outside
55:16so all the rain that we've had in the last few days has flattened the alchemilla mollus that's
55:25lining this path and so now the path itself is hidden amongst a line of alchemilla flowers
55:34and what it means is that we can't use the path it means I can't get at the box
55:39to trim them which is something that I'd like to do as soon as we get some dry weather
55:43but I don't mind I'm very happy to have it out of commission for the sake of this
55:49lovely green beauty for the next few weeks it's a job I shan't be doing
55:55but here are some jobs that you can be doing this weekend
55:59so
56:10if you grow lupins you can extend their flowering season by cutting off spent flower heads
56:18follow the stem down to a side shoot and remove it there and this will put the
56:24energy into the new flowers rather than developing the seeds
56:35once the foliage of garlic becomes more yellow than green it's time to harvest them this will
56:41vary quite a lot between different parts of the country and different varieties but the technique
56:46for lifting them is the same use a fork and never just yank them out trying to keep as much of the
56:53roots on as possible then they can be taken somewhere to dry thoroughly before storing
57:05forget me knots and now no longer that lovely blue froth and have become a tangle of seed heads
57:13the thing to do is to pull up almost all of them and take them to the compost heap
57:18leave a small patch and let those seed and then you can redistribute the seedlings in the autumn
57:39I think the fox gloves give me as much pleasure as any other fur at this time of year
57:46and all these ones here are self-sewn they've just popped up and they do that all over the
57:53garden along the margins and the edges and the corners and the bumblebees love them as much as
58:00I do and for the middle of June and early July fox gloves reign supreme I think but that's it
58:10for this week we'll be back next week of course but at the earlier time of eight o'clock so join
58:17bye
58:47you