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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World. It's that time of year when Topri Nigel needs his
00:18annual trim. He's made out of yew, but any evergreen plant is really best trimmed the
00:27end of August and in September, because that way they stay crisp throughout winter. And
00:33throughout summer, Nigel sort of almost melds into all the growth around him. But when you
00:40come to winter and all this has died back, Topri Nigel stands out. We want him looking
00:45proud and crisp and green all winter long. Don't you, Nigel? Well, sort of. On today's
01:06programme, we meet a couple whose passion for gardening has become an inspiration for
01:11art. Carol is looking at the fascinating depths of blue that you can add to your borders. And I
01:21shall be showing you how to take cuttings now so that you have lots of new plants for free to put
01:27in the garden next spring. Right, where are you? Can I have the basket, please? Thank you very
01:43much. Good girl. By this stage of the year, the propagating greenhouse hasn't got a lot of
01:52propagation going on. But by far the most important role it's playing is providing as
01:57much heat as possible for those fruits that need blazing sunshine. And of course, the first are
02:05chillies. I like green chillies. There's something about them that is very rewarding. Now we've got
02:10a range of them here and they are ripening well. And I have been harvesting them. But when you're
02:15harvesting them, it's really important to go for them when they're fully ripe. You can see this
02:20one here, which is a Hungarian hot wax. That is pretty much ripe, so I could harvest it. That one
02:27has still got some orange in it and this is still distinctly orange. And what you want to look for
02:31is full saturation of its intended colour. So if it's a red one, it wants to be fully red. I'm going to
02:39take that off. And that's good. Now, if you harvest them when they're ripe, the unripe ones will
02:50ripen quicker and the flowers will produce more fruit. So you can keep them going. Whereas if you
02:55leave them on, however decorative they are, you're slowing down production. And I should keep them
03:01producing lovely fresh chillies well into autumn, even up until Christmas. That certainly isn't
03:07going to happen with the aubergine. So this is a variety called Black Pearl. They're growing in
03:12pots, which I find is much better for production because although you get smaller plants, they're
03:19slightly stressed, so they make more flowers and more fruit. We've already harvested and eaten half
03:25a dozen good-sized ones like this so far this summer. At this stage of the year, it is important
03:32to keep nice compact plants. So where you've got a leader like that, that could be taken off because
03:40we don't want any more flowers at this time of year. We simply want to put the energy into converting
03:46the flowers that exist into fruits that will ripen before the weather gets cooler and the light goes.
03:52I water these twice a day. If it's hot, certainly give them a good soak once a day because they've
03:59exhausted all the stores of water and of nutrients. I feed these twice a week with a high potash feed.
04:07A tomato feed is perfect or liquid seaweed. A fruit that is nowhere near ready that is still
04:14really hard and heavy like a cannonball are the melons. This is a variety called Siver and it's
04:20coming along fine, but I know from experience it's one thing to grow a melon. The hard bit is to grow
04:27a melon that ripens perfectly and has that delicious sweetness. That should get about 30% bigger.
04:34I'm not going to get a huge melon from this. Melons are designed to grow flat on the ground, so they do
04:40need some support because there's a real risk that that will fall off. The best thing to do is to use
04:46a little bit of old netting or a pair of tights or whatever you've got and support it. So take the
04:52weight, wrap it round like that and this is very Heath Robinson, but it does work. And then I'm just
04:59going to put that round the top so it can't come off and the weight is being taken by the netting.
05:06So that should be ready to eat in about three weeks time. This is a new variety on me, so I will
05:12report back on the most important thing of all, which is how it tastes. Now although we cover a
05:18wide range of horticultural flowers and fruits and plants of every kind here at Longmeadow, I know
05:26that the secret of success in any garden is how it makes you feel. If you think your garden is beautiful,
05:32if it makes you happy, then it's a good garden. That's all that matters. It's always private and
05:38personal. And we went down to Wiltshire to visit a garden whose owners, I think it's fair to say,
05:44are deeply in love with their garden.
05:54I would say out of the two of us, 100% categorically I am the gardener. I do take part. And Neil's my sous chef.
06:05I'm Jonathan. And I'm Neil. And we live in North Wiltshire with our beautiful 14-year-old
06:11Cocker Spaniel, Zachy. And he loves the garden.
06:22I do have an input. I love picking the flowers and dressing our cottage really.
06:26But I don't. You just don't do the manual work. I don't like the digging. He doesn't like getting his nails dirty.
06:30I love everything about my garden. And what I like especially is the fact that it's all our own creation.
06:43We moved here, and when we did, it was a total blank canvas. And then we put our creativity to it.
06:49And this is what came. I love herbaceous perennials. And I like the natural look. I don't like formality
06:57and uniform. It's been so easy to divide or take seeds or take cuttings and move them around the garden.
07:13Canterbury Bells, they started off as just one tiny little plant,
07:17and they're interspersed throughout the garden.
07:19And this is a lovely plant. It's a Midsummer Flowering Clematis, which goes on and on and on and on.
07:25I only put this in a couple of years ago. We also like to add a rose every year. This one's called Summer Wine.
07:33And it's now nine years old, and it was bought for my 50th by my neighbour.
07:39It's just wild and beautiful.
07:41This is my favourite bed. I've got Sweet William, which are all grown from previous year's seeds.
07:48Foxgloves, also grown from previous year's seeds. Look at the bees in it, look at the insects in it,
07:53look at the colour and the vibrancy. I just love this bed. People say, why are you doing this?
07:58And I say, well, I'm just doing it because I like it. It's a lovely bed, and I love it.
08:03It's a lovely bed, and I love it. It's a lovely bed, and it's a lovely bed, and it's a lovely bed,
08:08I just love this bed. People say, why have you got so many benches?
08:12Because I just like to sit and admire my work sometimes, like today.
08:21The watering is Nils' responsibility. Thank you, Jonathan.
08:25Ten out of ten for watering, nothing else.
08:27I absolutely am so inspired by the garden. I started to dance in 1969, and in 1993, I retired,
08:37and woke up one morning and had this sudden urge to go out and buy some paintbrushes,
08:42and started to dance with paint.
08:50And I found that when I started to dance, I was so inspired by the garden,
08:55and I found that when I started to paint, I got a real buzz out of creating movement and flow.
09:04So I spend a lot of my time just watching the flowers evolve.
09:12So we've got a daisy, a photograph of a poppy, and a rose, and what I'm doing is using all the
09:20different shapes, textures, and colours from all those flowers. I like to paint what I feel,
09:28not necessarily what I see. It does come from Jonathan's fantastic green fingers.
09:41I can come into the garden in the morning, and the next minute I could be looking at my watch,
09:46six hours later, I could just lose myself. The whole world is all forgotten about.
09:51We love it, don't we?
09:52Absolutely love it, yeah. Couldn't think of anywhere else we'd prefer to be.
10:08We strimmed off all the long grass and the flowers from the bank of the mound the other day,
10:14and the idea is to strip it right back to expose soil, and then the seeds from the flowers can
10:19germinate, and it should get better and better. But what it also does is expose these holes you
10:25see on the bank, and if you find, when you cut long grass, round holes about an inch in diameter,
10:32they almost invariably belong to voles. Voles love long grass. In fact, if you sit quietly,
10:39sometimes you can see a head pop out a little bit warily, and they are really important prey
10:46for raptors like owls. So it's not just insects and butterflies that benefit from having some
10:53meadow grass. The whole food chain, including mammals, are an important beneficiary,
11:00and you can add to that with just a small patch in your back garden.
11:10The lavender hedge here on the mound has finished flowering, and I'm very proud of this hedge,
11:15not because it's particularly special as lavender goes, but because it's there at all and has been
11:20there now for three years. Lavender at Longmeadow doesn't grow well. We've lost dozens of plants,
11:26and it's always in the winter because it's the combination of wet and cold is what they
11:32absolutely hate, and they just rot and die. So we've got to get rid of that.
11:40And in fact, I've brought this along. This is French lavender, Lavandula stoicus,
11:45which is beautiful, and I've tried growing it outside, and this absolutely doesn't survive
11:50our winters. As far as I'm concerned here, it's tender. I do occasionally grow it in pots and
11:56then bring it into the greenhouse, but outside I've stuck with Angustifolia. I planted it with
12:03lots of grit, and it's come through, and it's come through well. But it's finished flowering,
12:08and now it's time to cut it back. But you should never cut back into old wood.
12:13However leggy it is, always cut back with a little stub of new growth. However,
12:18if you look down into the plant, sometimes you'll see new shoots springing up from the base,
12:24and that means you can take it right down. As long as the new shoots are already there,
12:29they will grow, especially with the extra light you put in, and you'll regenerate the plant.
12:34So I'm just cutting above the green growth.
12:41Of course, this is precious stuff, because the fragrance is great for putting in a pillow to
12:48help you sleep. And my granny always used to stitch them up in a muslin bag, put them in her clothes
12:53drawers, so that the clothes smelt fresh and sweet, and also it kept the moths away.
12:57Cutting back lavender is one of those things that you need to take stock, depending where you live.
13:03But for most of us, the best time to do it is immediately after flowering.
13:15I like the way that it's almost flowing like liquid over the edge of the brickwork, and it's
13:21flowing like liquid over the edge of the brickwork, and it's working well with the new planting that
13:28we have here. And the colour theme of pale yellows touched with blues, a little bit of white,
13:33is working out. And whilst the yellows are relatively easy, because there are a lot of plants
13:39within that pale lemony yellow range, blue is much more difficult. In fact, it is by far and away
13:47the rarest colour in nature. But that hasn't put Carol off, because she's been down to the
13:53garden house in Devon, to celebrate blue in all its many forms.
14:00Who doesn't love blue? It's a magical colour. You can mix it with soft pastels to create lovely, romantic pictures.
14:20Or you can use it as a foil for brilliant colours, oranges and reds, and many other colours.
14:27oranges and reds, and make them look even zingier than they are.
14:34But what I love about it is that whenever it's in the picture,
14:38it transforms it into something brilliant and exuberant.
14:43Although blue is just one word, it describes all sorts of different hues. Just take this as an example.
14:51You've got this almost sort of ink stain of aconite, and next to it, in complete contrast,
14:59you've got Campanula lactiflora, the milky bellflower, and the very fact that the plants have got totally different colours.
15:07The Campanula lactiflora, the milky bellflower, and the very fact that the plants have got totally different habits,
15:13also adds to that contrast. The aconite is upright, stiff, definite. The Campanula is soft, it sways around backwards and forwards.
15:25And it's this that creates the drama.
15:29This is the way I love it, in these great sort of flowing streams, with this dark aconite rising from the centre.
15:47Eryngiums have to be one of the most popular and the most fashionable blue-flowered plants, especially for this time of year.
15:55Here, Eryngium big blue is combined with this Persicaria amplexicola.
16:01It's a particularly unusual form of this, with these dark red, dumpy little flowers.
16:07Now, Eryngiums are such splendid plants, but when this Eryngium started to flower, you wouldn't have had this kind of contrast,
16:15because it would have been silver. But gradually, they become imbued with this bright blue colour.
16:23And it coincides exactly with the moment at which pollen and nectar become available to bees.
16:32The great majority of these European Eryngiums are evergreen too, and they look wonderful in the winter, when the flowers have faded away and fizzled.
16:42There's an enormous range of blue-flowered plants, but one of the most popular ones is the Geranium.
16:50There are scores of blue Geraniums, but probably the best of the lot is this one. It's Rosanne.
16:58Because it's a sterile hybrid, it has no reason to stop flowering, and will flower non-stop from May right through to June.
17:07Without the blue in this picture, the Agapanthus and the Eryngium, this plant association would be pleasant enough.
17:15This would be lovely. But putting that blue in there really takes it to a different level.
17:21That's what makes these pinks, pink flowers, so beautiful.
17:26I love the way it's combined with the pink, fluffy heads of the Sanguisoba obtusa.
17:32And then all the self-seeded plants in here. Wild carrot, white and pink.
17:38It just brings your eye into the centre of the picture.
17:42And I love the way it's combined with the pink, fluffy heads of the Sanguisoba obtusa.
17:48And then all the self-seeded plants in here. Wild carrot, white and pink.
17:54It just brings your eye into the centre of this picture, and makes you appreciate everything all the more.
18:00Whether it's the steeper Gigantea, or this lovely soft grass, Chionochloa.
18:06It really completes the picture.
18:09Whether it's the soft, misty blue of Forget-Me-Nots, or the bright, startling blue of Delphiniums.
18:27The more gardens I visit, the more convinced I am of just how important blue is.
18:34Without it, our gardens would lack sparkle.
18:37What it adds is this wonderful exuberance, and brings a whole garden to life.
18:44Blue is a completely fascinating colour, because it's so elusive.
18:49So when you do find it, obviously you want to hang on to it.
18:52But on inspection, what we think of as blue, very often isn't.
18:55Take the Delphinium, which is blue.
18:58Actually, it is blue.
19:00But it's not blue.
19:02It's not blue.
19:04It's not blue.
19:06It's not blue.
19:08It's not blue.
19:10It's not blue.
19:12It actually is touched with an awful lot of pink.
19:16There are very, very few flowers, perhaps Mechanopsis, that are true, unarguable blue.
19:24Blue is really hard to find, which, of course, is why it's so precious in the garden.
19:42I know there are some things in gardening that are particularly scary,
19:46particularly if you're not very experienced.
19:49I know pruning roses can cause a lot of anxiety, and also taking cuttings.
19:55People somehow feel that cuttings is an advanced level of horticulture, and it isn't.
20:00A cutting is a really simple way of producing new plants.
20:04So, for example, this Lacecap hydrangea.
20:07And I'd like to have some more running down along the back of the orchard bed here.
20:12And if I take cuttings, I can guarantee that the new plants will look exactly the same.
20:17So a cutting is the best way to do it, rather than buying another plant.
20:22Now, what you look for with a cutting is a nice, straight, strong growth
20:27that doesn't have a flower or a bud attached.
20:30So, for example, here we've got a nice, straight, strong growth,
20:34but there's a flower waiting to open out.
20:37So that won't make a good cutting.
20:40Whereas this next to it would.
20:43And you cut it just below a leaf node where leaves attach to the stem.
20:50Cut that off.
20:52What I've got are two leaves coming off it, two leaves more, and that is cutting material.
20:58Now, in my pocket, I have a polythene bag.
21:01And this is really important, because the quickest way it's going to die is by losing moisture.
21:05So putting it in a bag just stops that process.
21:08I'm just going to take a few more.
21:12One more there.
21:15Now, I just want to take one more type of cutting from another plant in the jaw garden,
21:19and then we'll go and pot these up.
21:23Here, I've got a salvia.
21:26Salvia amistad.
21:28It flowers all summer long with these lovely, intense purple petals
21:33with these deep, dark, almost black bracts.
21:38I'd love to have some more of it, and the easiest way would be to take cuttings now.
21:42And there's a particular type of growth that is so good for taking cuttings
21:47that is really evident in this plant.
21:50If you see, there's this main stem there, a leaf,
21:53and then in between the leaf and the stem is this side shoot.
21:58And that will make perfect cutting material.
22:01So if I carefully cut that out, and I'll take a couple more.
22:07There's another beauty there.
22:11And that looks like being a goody, too.
22:14Okay, those four will do it.
22:17Okay, those four will do it.
22:20Now, having taken the cuttings, it is important to get on with this,
22:23because the quicker I can get these into pots, into a medium,
22:28the more likely they are to strike.
22:40I'm going to start with the salvia.
22:45I'm going to reduce this down to just below the leaf node, there like that,
22:50and then take off these bottom leaves like that.
22:55The reason why you take the leaves off is because, obviously,
23:00the plant loses moisture through its leaves.
23:03So the fewer leaves it has, then the less likely it is to dry out.
23:09And the only reason you don't take them all off
23:11is because, obviously, it feeds the roots through the leaves.
23:14So as the roots grow, it needs some leaves to give it a little bit of life.
23:24You can see there, there I've cut just under the leaf node,
23:28and the roots will form from that.
23:30And once we get roots forming, new leaves will grow,
23:33and it will become a new healthy plant.
23:36And increasingly, I'm taking semi-right cuttings in perlite
23:39because they root really well.
23:41But they should be just as successful in a gritty compost mix.
23:47Right, let's just get the rest of these in.
23:55I will label that salvia amnistad.
24:02I will water the perlite, but just by misting it
24:08once, twice, or even three times a day,
24:10that will keep the leaves moist, it will stop them drying out,
24:14and that can make the difference between life and death.
24:17With the hydrangea, I'm going to use the compost mixed 50-50
24:22with horticultural grit.
24:24And what we're after from both of them is drainage.
24:27Now, you can see, even though they've been in a bag
24:29and it's just been a few minutes, they're not happy at all.
24:33So we need to be quick.
24:36That comes off, that comes off.
24:39And that, and that.
24:42But we'll pop that one in there.
24:46There we go.
24:47And with any cutting, it's a very simple race
24:50between the top part dying and the bottom part producing roots.
24:54And if the bottom part wins, then you get a new plant.
25:02Pop that one in there.
25:03Actually, got too much leaf on that.
25:06I'm going to reduce that down.
25:09There we go.
25:11As hydrangea leaves are larger,
25:13cutting them in half will help reduce further water loss.
25:17I'm now going to put these into the greenhouse,
25:19but out of the full glare of the sun.
25:22And not let the compost dry out.
25:24And I would expect them to root in between two and four weeks' time.
25:28We'll see new growth on the top, and then they can be potted on,
25:31and I'll do that with you.
25:33So if you haven't taken cuttings before, now is the time.
25:37Give it a go.
25:38And if you're an old hand and you've been taking cuttings for years,
25:41well, here are some other jobs for you to do this weekend.
25:52It's important to water azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias now.
25:58They're forming their buds for next spring,
26:01and if these are dry at the end of summer or early autumn,
26:04they often fall off in spring before they open.
26:08So give them a good weekly soak for the next six to eight weeks.
26:18If you have a pond,
26:20you'll find that blanket weed can spread very quickly at this time of year.
26:25Carefully scoop it from the surface,
26:28and then place it by the edge of the water.
26:31Leave it for 24 hours so any creature, great or small,
26:34can make their way back into the water,
26:36and then you can add it to your compost heap.
26:44Up. Lie down. Good girl.
26:48If you grow shallots, onions or garlic, and they're fully dried,
26:52they should be prepared for storage for winter.
26:55I trim off the stems, remove any loose skin and tidy the roots,
27:00and then find if they're put in a basket in a cool, dry place,
27:04they will store well right into next spring.
27:09MUSIC FADES
27:22This is a cross between a dahlia and a chocolate cosmos.
27:26It's called Mexican black.
27:28It behaves exactly as most dahlias do,
27:31and it's an absolutely fabulous plant.
27:34If you want to keep dahlias flowering constantly into autumn,
27:38one thing you have to do is keep deadheading them,
27:41otherwise they're going to set seed and then they won't flower.
27:44But I know that some people get confused
27:47between what is a bud and what is a spent flower.
27:51A bud is always rounded and plump and reasonably flat-topped,
27:58but a spent flower is always pointed and a cone,
28:03and it's always deadhead right down to the base of the stem, like that.
28:09And here's one that's closing up.
28:11So don't just cut the head off, but go right down there,
28:14and that will stimulate fresh growth.
28:19I'm afraid that's it from us today.
28:22I'll be back here at Longmeadow at the same time next week.
28:26So until then, bye-bye.
28:29MUSIC FADES
28:33MUSIC CONTINUES