Gardeners' World - Season 58 Episode 1
Gardeners' World - Season 58 Episode 1
Gardeners' World - Season 58 Episode 1
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00:00Hello, welcome to a beautiful day here at Longmeadow and a brand new series of Gardener's
00:21World. The sun is shining and of course everything is responding. The birds are singing, the
00:26flowers are growing at last and looking fantastic and a real feeling of hope of what's to come.
00:35And also a feeling that we need to crack on with those winter jobs and finish them up.
00:40And that includes pruning. Pruning any kind of deciduous tree or shrub is something you
00:46do need to get on with now because of course you don't want to disturb nesting birds. These
00:52are lime trees, not the limes that you eat, but tilia, tilia cordata, small leaf lime.
00:57And they're pleat and what that means essentially is we've got bare trunks and then a kind of
01:03hedge with this mass of growth. And by pruning it back every spring we can enjoy the colours
01:10of the bare stems in winter and then you get a new flush of growth with extra big foliage
01:15in summer. But it is a job that I need to do and do now. And it's not just pruning of
01:21course. Masses to be getting on with at this time of year.
01:27Coming up on today's programme, Francis meets a couple who've used their passion for salvaged
01:33material to help create their unique and beautiful garden.
01:38What you can't avoid is these amazing structures. Is this one of your creations Sandy?
01:44Yes, it was an old cow feeder so we've ended up with lots of bits of junk.
01:51We travel to London to visit a gardener who's created a full sanctuary on his balcony.
01:57In terms of the colour scheme, I would love to have a really tasteful garden where a lot
02:03of thought had gone into it, but it's more of a tutti frutti vibe where we just put as
02:08much in as possible. Adam visits the Isle of Wight to discover
02:13how the team at Ventnor Botanic Garden are adjusting their gardening practices in the
02:18face of our changing climate. It's interesting, isn't it? Because you're
02:22the hottest garden in the UK, so you're in litmus test for what we might be growing on
02:28the mainland in 10, 15 years time. And I'm going to share with you all the big
02:38changes that we've made this winter. I said we've had big changes here, but actually
03:02here in the spring garden we've done pretty well nothing at all because this performs
03:08year in, year out. It starts in January with the snow drops and now you can see the hellebores
03:13and the daffodils are coming through and there'll be muscaria and pulmonaria and then we'll
03:18get the tulips and finally there's a big flourish with all the cow parsley that just makes this
03:25wonderful white haze running through it and by the end of May it's all over. But while
03:30it lasts, it's fabulous. Now it may not seem like a big thing, but we have increased the
03:50width of these paths. It took a lot of work. It was quite a big project, but it's brilliant.
03:57It means we can bring wider wheelbarrows down, but also we've dug up the strips of
04:02soil either side of them and so the borders are bigger and that means more planting and
04:06of course I'll share that with you in the coming weeks. However, more dramatic, much
04:10more dramatic is that we have cut down apple trees. Now that may seem pretty radical or
04:17even very destructive, but there is good thinking behind it. When I planted the orchard, which
04:23was back in 1996-97, I had this idea of great big trees covered with blossom and then fruit
04:32and I thought it would be like a sort of fruity wood and the idea was really good, but the
04:37reality wasn't so practical because great big trees carry a huge amount of apples, really
04:44high up so we couldn't reach them to pick them. Also, the shade from these big trees
04:48meant that these borders were really suffering. So what we've done is we've taken down the
04:53seven apple trees that were working least well for us and all the others we've dramatically
04:59pruned, half of them. So we're going to get half the amount of apples as a result and
05:03also they'll be lowered down so we can reach them and of course it means that the beds
05:08below the trees get much more light. However, even that isn't the biggest thing that's happened
05:15in the garden this winter.
05:23It's here, in the jewel garden, that the biggest changes have been made. At its best,
05:36it can be, I know, really magnificent, but it was fading. It was losing its sparkle.
05:44So I decided that we need to start over again. This winter, we've taken out as many plants
05:51as we possibly can. The next thing we've done is put in more structure. These fantastic
05:57hornbeam balls. We've made obelisks to take a rambling rose there and then there's another
06:03one on this side. And we'll bring the planting back, reusing as much as possible and today
06:10I'm going to be planting a rose to go up this obelisk.
06:36I've got this rose to match the one on the other side called Chevy Chase. Got a mass
06:42of red flowers and it flowers for a long time, which is unusual because that is a rambling
06:47rose. A rambling rose tends to only flower once with lots of small flowers produced on
06:55the previous year's wood. Whereas climbing roses tend to have bigger flowers, all produced
07:02on the current season's wood. Now it doesn't matter if you've got a climbing or a rambling
07:07rose, the way of planting them is the same. You dig a hole and you put them in it. Job
07:12done. Well, almost. I'm digging quite a deep hole because the roots are quite substantial.
07:28This is a bare root rose, which is why I've got it in a bucket of water. Now, roses should
07:35always be planted deeper than they come in the pot. This is the graft and this is the
07:42root stock. This tells you how it grows. This tells you how it flowers. I like to plant
07:47it so that that is about an inch below the soil and that will stop root rock and also
07:52reduce suckers. That's about right. Almost perfect. So hold that in position and then
08:01get the soil around it. You don't need to add any extra goodness to the soil because
08:10if you do, you're just encouraging the roots to stay in the planting hole. Roses are tough,
08:16particularly rambling roses. They will cope with all kinds of conditions. The bare root
08:22season is roughly November to the end of February, so we're right at the edge of it. You may
08:27find it easier at this time of year to plant containerized roses. Give it a good soak.
08:34Always water any plant when you put it in, but particularly a woody plant like this. Now,
08:44remember this is a rambler, so all the new growth this year will have not a single flower on it.
08:50That doesn't matter. We're just establishing it, train it to work it around the obelisk,
08:55and then next year it will start to flower, and in year three it should be magnificent.
09:00We're going to Wiltshire now to Melcham, where a couple have combined their knowledge and
09:08experience of horticulture and agriculture to create rather a wonderful garden.
09:22As a gardener and a huge fan of recycling, I get a tremendous thrill from going through the
09:28garden shed, finding an old shrug or something like that, and turning it into a planter. But
09:34imagine if not only did you have a garden shed, but you also had a huge
09:40farmyard full of goodies to upcycle. Lorraine McFarlane and her husband Sandy moved into
09:54their tied cottage 45 years ago. She is the gardener and Sandy is a retired farm manager.
10:01They've made a glorious and diverse garden with lots of recycling.
10:08It's quite a big project. How did you approach that from the beginning?
10:13We couldn't afford to go out and buy masses and masses of plants and stuff,
10:19so I just started. First of all, I'd have little borders around the house,
10:23but we've never ever spent loads and loads of money, and it's only just bit by bit,
10:29year by year, and you add something. What you can't avoid is these amazing structures.
10:34Is this one of your creations, Sandy? Yes, it was an old cow feeder which got bent and damaged
10:41and was just going to be put in the skip, and I thought, oh, I'll use that, I'll bring it home,
10:45and that's how it happened. So we've ended up with lots of bits of junk. It's lovely,
10:51and I love how this is open, and you can see through, and this would be open,
10:56but you've got the fennel that actually becomes the wall. It's lovely.
11:00Fairly recently, it's just down there, what we call the potting shed. There's a window in it,
11:06which is actually somebody's shower door, and that was on the side of the road in the gateway.
11:14Oh, wow. Now it's a window. I did have to knock a hole in the wall first to make it open.
11:20In this garden, it's not just the hard landscaping ideas that have come from the farm.
11:29So tell me about this meadow. Probably 20-odd years ago now, we converted the farm to organic,
11:36and we ended up planting quite a lot of wildflower meadows, and then when I retired,
11:42I sort of had the idea. I thought, well, I'll do the same here. It's beautiful. It's got such a
11:46range, because normally just one thing takes over, doesn't it? This has got a lovely balance.
11:50If there's too many of one thing, she'll perhaps go around and pull a few of them out,
11:56so you don't get overcome with all one thing. You do get one or two little nasties that you
11:59don't want, but it's just keeping an eye on it, really. I just think the look of it is so gorgeous.
12:05Lorraine is incredibly humble about her planting, and her creative eye.
12:22This garden feels so gentle and artful.
12:29The lovely thing in this garden is that these recycled elements have lost their original purpose
12:34and been turned instead into sculpture. So here we have a fence panel that's got no
12:40additional fence. There's a pergola that, rather than housing seats, houses a birch tree and
12:45under-planting, and an archway that is not leading you anywhere, but actually is just within the bed
12:50and having climbers sprawling over it. And it's so beautifully creative. I really love it.
12:57It's helped by the structural topiary and the backdrop of the woodland that Lorraine planted.
13:09That foliage really brings this forward and allows you to see this area at its absolute best.
13:15In the woodland garden are some of Sandy's recycled seating areas.
13:21And they're incredible things. There are straight uprights holding this up, but there are also
13:27so many beautifully arranged branches, gnarled bits of tree. There's a lot of
13:33beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,
13:40branches, gnarled bits of tree. There's a log pile just by the side here and a huge wildlife
13:47pond down there. So clearly nature and all its creatures are as much a part of this garden
13:53as Lorraine and Sandy themselves. I have to say, I love this building.
13:58Next to it is the most handsome deadhead I have ever seen.
14:06And then a very different feel near the cottage. Lorraine said that when they first moved into
14:13the house, this was tarmac right up to the front door. And it meant that Sandy would drive his
14:17truck and park it right outside the window. And it's just so beautiful. And it's just so
14:23right up to the front door. And it meant that Sandy would drive his truck and park it right
14:28outside the window, which she didn't like. So her solution was to remove the tarmac and instead
14:33plant up this gravel garden. It looks beautiful on its own, but it also really puts the house in
14:38this amazing setting. The planting is so lovely as well. This Spanish broom is just a glorious tree,
14:49but also the scent coming off it is incredible. I want one quite honestly. It's beautiful.
14:55And then giant oak grass, Stipa gigantea. This is one of my favourite grasses, but you need
15:00quite a lot of space to grow them well. They need to sit on their own and not be encroached
15:04on by too many other plants. So here they're perfect. And actually that's the key to any
15:09gravel garden is to give the plants room. So there's alpines here, there's thymes,
15:14there's lavenders, and everything has space to breathe.
15:26And then tucked at the side of the house is an exquisite farmyard patio.
15:35These have got to be some of the most magnificent containers I've ever seen.
15:39They're actually the bottoms of the cattle feeders that Sander used to make the pergola.
15:44They're enormous and they're filled with plants. And the plant choices of Lorraine's have really
15:49set them off. So silver-leafed formium with silver-leafed echeverias and sempervivums,
15:55and then the same form but a different colour in the Aeonium schwarzkopf. But what's really nice
16:01is that things that you wouldn't expect, like this cyperus, which is a bog plant,
16:05and then this lady's bed straw, which is a wildflower, have been left to grow and they
16:09really soften that hard metal structure. It looks beautiful with these little tables
16:14with succulents in higgledy-piggledy pots. It just looks so tasteful and yet
16:21all probably cost very, very little.
16:23There's thought and artistry in every crevice of this garden.
16:31Here, as a result of teamwork.
16:43When Sandy and Lorraine first got here, the garden was a bit of a mess.
16:47When Sandy and Lorraine first got here, the garden was very much Lorraine's and the farm
16:52was Sandy's. And it's lovely to see that now this garden is shared. They both do it. And Lorraine
16:59said to me that Sandy didn't even know how creative he was until he started doing all of this stuff.
17:03And isn't it lovely to learn that about yourself and about each other after all of those years?
17:17Mmm.
17:39What I especially love about Lorraine and Sandy's garden is not just that they've been so innovative
17:45in the way that they've used the bits and pieces of farm kit, but they've done it with such style.
17:52Now I've got a couple of pots here on the mound that I didn't plant up with bulbs and I want
17:57some colour in here to see me through while the rest of the bulbs come through and then I can
18:02replace it in summer. And what I've chosen for that are very simple plants starting with primulas.
18:08Now I love the native primulas, Primula vulgaris, but I think it looks best in a natural setting.
18:15Not necessarily when potted up. And this is where all the bread varieties come in and primulas are
18:20incredibly promiscuous. You get every shade of colour. And here in the mound we've got a colour
18:26theme of pale yellow and blue. Now this has been bred, it's a variety called Heritage, and it's
18:32perfect because it's a little bit bigger than the native primrose, a little bit stronger which will
18:37work well in a pot, but also it's got that lovely straight primrose yellow and then the egg yolk
18:44middle. And I'm going to match that up with a blue. Now this is Viola Pickety Blue and the softness
18:51of it is absolutely ideal. If I hold these two together you can see they've got the same tone.
18:58You've got the pale blue and the pale yellow, the pastel colours, and yet on a lovely clear day like
19:05this they sing out. I'm also going to use this. This is a Viola called Boughton Blue. The Pickety
19:14Blue will carry us through the next month or so, then these will kick in and will keep the display
19:18going until summer. When you've got a pot that you've been growing in for the previous year it's
19:24tempting to use the same compost but a lot of the goodness will be gone. So I'm going to empty out
19:29about a third of that and then add in some garden compost just to freshen it up. So this is good
19:44long meadow compost. Add that in.
19:52Mix it up. Primulas do well in fairly rich soil. Okay that's perfect for planting. Now that
20:02can go in the middle. I'm going to place these first and these which are in plugs
20:09I can pop around the outside like this.
20:17Now I've only got two of these but what I think I will do
20:23is I'm going to split this. I just put my thumbs in and divide it.
20:29There we go. Two plants for the price of one. Just pop that in there like that. Perfect.
20:36Now we've got that lovely blue and yellow singing together.
20:43And then these plants there's almost nothing there it's just a little bit of green shoots
20:49appearing but then let me reveal the roots. It's a really substantial plant so don't be put off by
20:56the lack of growth on top and when you go to a garden centre don't be shy about taking plants
21:01out of a pot. Have a look at the roots. That's what you're buying. I can go in there. You're
21:08all right Ned. You're okay chap. I'm cramming these in because I do want a really strong display
21:19and also they're not going to stay here permanently. I will take these out
21:23round about Chelsea time and replace them and then all these will go into the garden elsewhere. So
21:27they've got a future life but not in this pot. Now just fill in around there with a bit of compost.
21:38Right I'm going to give that a good soak but I'm going to do the other part first
21:41and then walk them together. And we're off to London, North London, to join a puppeteer we
21:47don't see many of them about but he has a glorious garden even though he's living a few floors above
21:55ground.
22:11Welcome to my balcony.
22:18I'm Oliver Hymans and I'm an amateur gardener.
22:22We're in North East London in Dalston in a very typical council block on the second floor.
22:31We moved in and it was completely bare the balcony. There was a bit of junk lying down that
22:36end and there was absolutely no planting. We started by adding in some pots hanging on the
22:41wall behind me and slowly over the years we've added more and more and more until as you can
22:48see things have got a little bit out of hand. In my day job I'm a puppetry director and designer
23:01and my puppets have been seen in circus, theatre, on film and in dance and I'm part of a new
23:07movement of artists trying to get that heritage craft back up and running again.
23:12My biggest critic within the gardening might be my partner Marcus.
23:17Come and look at this. He sometimes does like to question some of my choices of putting things in
23:22particular positions or choices of plants. This fox clover is going to come out in a few days
23:27isn't it? I know but I want to keep it for the seeds, to self-seed yeah. Maybe we can just move
23:32it into a less prominent place. Okay and then these probably need deadheading as well unless
23:39do you like them? I quite like the dead flowers, it's not so colourful but it's better than not
23:45having anything isn't it? Okay if you say so. I kind of like the fact that he has his own style
23:52and taste and I have my own and this balcony is an amalgamation of both of those things.
23:57So we've gone for a bit of a Mediterranean vibe, we get blasted by the sun all summer with
24:03south-facing and in terms of the colour scheme I would love to have a really tasteful garden where
24:09a lot of thought had gone into it but it's more of a tutti-frutti
24:12vibe where we just put as much in as possible.
24:16This area we call it the plant theatre, we have the lovely red geraniums hanging on the wall but
24:22then we've got this wall of plants that just sort of organically look like they're growing up
24:27into the top of the balcony. It's quite a fun area because every year I sort of try different things
24:34and I've got a bit of a passion for it and I've got a bit of a passion for it and I've got a
24:39passion for it and I've got a passion for it and I've got a passion for it and I've got a passion
24:44every year I sort of try different things. The great thing is it's all pot so you can just move
24:48stuff around to change up the look of it. Really love this red dahlia here, it's got such a lovely
24:55colour and although it does take up probably I would say about a sixth of our balcony,
25:02it does give you that one area that feels like you have a sort of border effect.
25:08The grapevine started from a very small plant, it loves the sun but one of the challenges here
25:13we've got we have an overhang so depending on how hot and how sunny the summer's been
25:18it will grow at different rates. A few years ago we got a massive fruit bowl filled with
25:24delicious grapes, last year not so good unfortunately. We do have a couple of
25:29bunches already growing here, I think they're going to be quite a good crop this year.
25:34So when we started out I didn't know much about gardening and there was actually something
25:39exciting about the challenge of growing something from scratch. We've got some teasels scattered
25:47all the way down right at the end, planted them quite a few years ago now and they've self-seeded
25:53which is really exciting and I think it's going to be quite a good crop this year.
26:04As small as this that you can create that sense that the garden has a life of its own.
26:13Our three top tips for balcony garden, number one try and get as big as pots as you can manage,
26:19just to limit the amount of times you have to water. Number two, grow things that you love,
26:24don't limit yourself just to things that are supposedly good for balconies because chances
26:28are they may be great and finally try and grow things from seed and even better take
26:35cuttings from friends so you can grow it all at home and save a bit of money. Cheers.
26:42Even though the space is small at the end of a long day, the opportunity to sit here,
26:48enjoy this theatre of plants that we've been able to create but also just take in the views of
26:52London. I would encourage anybody with a small space to just try it out, you're going to learn
26:59and you're going to find the things that you love the most about creating a small garden like this.
27:23I think that bit of advice about using bigger pots, even on a balcony or a small terrace,
27:31is really good because there's a temptation to try and cram lots and lots of small things into
27:36a small space but a bigger pot will give you better effect, you need less watering
27:41which is really important and also as Oliver said is give it a go. Of course before adding any pots
27:49do make sure that your balcony can take the extra weight. Now I started pruning the roses in
27:56February, I'd given them a once over in September with a pair of shears, we just cut them back so
28:00they don't get wind rock in winter and then from February onwards I go through them all and just
28:05take stock, taking them back by about a third or a quarter and opening them up, getting rid of
28:11anything that's crossing or old or damaged, setting it up so the new growth will grow well and strongly
28:17and of course that will carry this year's flowers and the prunings need not be wasted.
28:22I put them over the top of all our pots that contain tulips and that deters birds, squirrels,
28:30rats and mice from digging away and trying to get the bulbs and then as the bulbs appear we take
28:36away all those pruned pieces, burn them, put the ash on the compost heap so everything is used and
28:42recycled. Now still to come on today's program, Adam visits Ventnor Botanic Garden and sees what
28:52adaptations they've had to make to their gardening as a result of climate change. If you look a
28:58little bit deeper in there there's actually a tender banana, they leave it, don't cover it up
29:04and it comes back every year. In 10, 15 years time this could be my garden. And we meet a gardener
29:13who has turned a concrete slab into a dream garden. I've got an Edwardian terraced house
29:20with a garden that is completely made from pots and containers in what I call a sort of urban
29:26cottage garden style.
29:41One of the things that I love about this time of year is that it's really intensive seed sowing
29:46time. Almost anything that you can grow from seed can be sown now, whether it's tender annuals,
29:52vegetables, even cabbages ready for next winter. If you sow them now they'll be really good. Now I'm
29:58sowing tomatoes today. I tend to grow my tomatoes in the greenhouse but I also like to have some
30:04outside too. So I've got three varieties here. We've got a beefsteak variety which is Costoluto
30:10Filantino. They're absolutely delicious but they do need a bit more heat so I'm going to grow these
30:14in the greenhouse. I've got Gardener's Delight which is a really good variety if you've not
30:19grown tomatoes before and this I will grow outside and inside. They're a really good all-round tomato
30:26and finally Tigerella which is an earlier one. It doesn't matter what variety you have
30:31they're grown in exactly the same way. You need a seed tray, some compost,
30:41a peat-free compost and let's start with Tigerella.
30:49Now I'm going to use this but a pencil does the job just as well and just lick the end
30:56and that means that you can pick up a seed, here we go, and then you can place it where you want.
31:04The more space, the more light, the more nutrition they have the better they'll grow.
31:19It's a good idea to press these down gently so you get really good contact with the compost
31:29and then cover them over. Now you can sprinkle compost on them but I like to use the Micula
31:34because it's a very good way of stopping too much light getting through but letting
31:40the moisture get in and also it doesn't form a crust.
31:43Label them. Now they will need watering and then you put that in a hot place and the combination
31:49of the dampness and the heat the seeds will germinate. One way to water it is with a watering
31:54can from above. The slight disadvantage with that is there's a risk that the top layer will get
31:59water but the bottom will remain dry and then as the roots grow they'll go into dry compost.
32:05Another way of watering which works very well is simply place them in a tray of water and
32:10let them soak it up for about 10 or 15 minutes and then you can just top it up with a sprinkle
32:16of water maybe once every other day. Now it will need heat to germinate so a minimum of 18 degrees
32:23so above a radiator is fine on a windowsill. Obviously you've got a greenhouse so much the
32:28better and they should start to germinate in about a week or so. Now I grow these in a greenhouse
32:36Now I grow these in a greenhouse because Long Meadow is not the warmest of places but more
32:42and more people can grow tomatoes outside and we're all adapting to the way that the climate
32:48is affecting us and Adam is taking a look at the way that gardeners are reacting and coping
32:55and he starts off by going to one of our most southerly gardens in the UK.
33:06Early spring is an exciting time for gardeners as bulbs begin to break and vibrant colours
33:14return to borders. But if you think back all that colour used to arrive with a reliability
33:23whereas now spring bulbs can flower in winter. I've even picked roses put them on the table
33:30on Christmas day. Our plants don't know whether they're coming or going.
33:41There's estimated to be 30 million gardens in the UK and they're all being affected by a changing
33:49climate but I want to learn more about the impact that is having on the way we're gardening.
33:56So I've come to the Isle of Wight to visit Ventnor Botanic Garden. Located on the island's
34:03south coast it's one of Britain's warmest gardens and has been documenting significant change.
34:13Wayne Williams is head gardener.
34:17Wayne I'm smiling away you've got some job there haven't you?
34:20Just a bit yeah.
34:22It's a beautiful garden though.
34:23Oh it's a fantastic place to work.
34:28What's your main problems you're dealing with here?
34:30So the main issues here in this garden is heat and drought. In the last few years the summers
34:35are getting obviously hotter and some plants are starting to suffer.
34:38Yeah anything in particular you think's doing really well or things that are starting to
34:42struggle?
34:43Well obviously this is doing too well of course.
34:45Yeah well yeah literally mullein buck is swallowing other plants as it's going up through.
34:49I mean it's normally a pot plant growing inside as a house plant
34:53but here it is becoming quite invasive really.
34:56But there's equally some other plants here such as hebes and pittosporum
35:00which in the summertime it gets too hot now and so the leaves can go black.
35:08But actually this is in its happy place isn't it?
35:11Because this is what it would be doing in its own environment.
35:14Exactly it grows like this in New Zealand.
35:16So I suppose in a sense the behaviour patterns of plants is changing that's what you're noticing?
35:21It definitely is yeah.
35:22What about flowering plants you know have you got things performing at odd times?
35:26Well we have things in flower from the summertime flowering all the way into the winter now.
35:31Yeah.
35:32And then we also have spring flowering plants flowering early.
35:35Every year on New Year's Day the curator does a flower count.
35:39This year it was 216 in flower on New Year's Day.
35:42Wow 216 flowers on New Year's Day.
35:45How many of those do you think were meant to be there?
35:48Well about 10% or so something like that yeah.
35:52That's amazing but scary at the same time.
35:54Oh it is it really is.
35:56But it means that we've got all these fantastic plants to look at during the winter months of course.
36:00Yeah.
36:12So Wayne French Lavender did it make the list?
36:15It certainly did.
36:16So that was flowering just after Christmas?
36:18Yeah and as you can see it's covered in flowers now and also flower buds I mean it's just non-stop.
36:22Yeah it's got some amazing stuff.
36:24So for you then that is flowering 12 months of the year?
36:27Yeah.
36:28Flowering it's performing it's taking nutrients and moisture out of the ground.
36:32So you know does it get extra food?
36:34Yeah we do have to feed plants extra obviously if they keep
36:37continuously flowering because it does almost exhaust them really over time.
36:40It's interesting isn't it because you're the hottest garden
36:44in the UK not that it feels like that today.
36:46No not today.
36:46So you're a litmus test for what we might be growing on the mainland in 10-15 years time.
36:53Are you constantly experimenting?
36:54We certainly are.
36:55So we've actually got an aloe arborescens a tree aloe which is tender.
37:00Yeah.
37:00Normally grown under glass on the mainland and that's in full bloom outside.
37:04So that's flowering now?
37:05It is yeah it's absolutely stunning.
37:07Wow.
37:08We more or less learned to garden with a rule book.
37:11Yes.
37:11What have you done with yours?
37:13Threw out the window.
37:13Yeah the iDev.
37:15Yeah.
37:15And you know now we're active.
37:17Definitely yeah.
37:18So we're watching the plants constantly making notes and adjusting to that.
37:23Yeah.
37:25I've just passed flomas in flower, fuchsias in flower, daylilies just coming in.
37:43I've even seen agapanthus about but also the salvias holding on.
37:49But the one big thing that jumps out it's not all about that temperature.
37:55If I get in the car about three hours north of here on the east of the country
38:02is my garden which is dry.
38:04Very much like this.
38:05So if I look at these plants and I'm thinking 10, 15, 20 years time.
38:10Yes this is what might be happening in my garden.
38:13But at the same time if I'm on the west of the country and it's wet but warmer
38:19then that's a completely different group of plants.
38:22So these cannas, we do leave cannas out in dry parts of the country, southeast.
38:29But they do tend to want a bit of mulching.
38:32Whereas these are fine and have been left here for absolutely years.
38:36Me at home, I couldn't do that at the moment.
38:40And if you look a little bit deeper in there there's actually a tender banana.
38:44That's an insetti and they leave it.
38:47Don't cover it up and it comes back.
38:49In 10, 15 years time this could be my garden.
39:07Look at this.
39:08That bark is incredible and the fall is just great.
39:12It's called Largestromia, known as a green banana.
39:15When I first saw this it was in the Mediterranean
39:18and definitely it would have been classed as a tender tree.
39:2320 years ago in my garden I could not have even thought about putting one in the ground.
39:29But a couple of years ago I bought one and took a gamble.
39:34Then it has absolutely flown.
39:36Dealt with one really cold winter.
39:38Admittedly I've got those dry parts of the country.
39:40But I've got a lot of them.
39:42Dealt with one really cold winter.
39:44Admittedly I've got those drier conditions.
39:47But I think that is going to be part of what we do going forward.
39:52It's just take a few more risks.
39:55Add that diversity to our gardens.
39:58Especially when it comes to our trees.
40:04Our gardens are evolving.
40:06Whether we like it or not.
40:08All of us are going to have to adapt to different ways of gardening.
40:12But this can also mean a host of new planting and design opportunities.
40:19Following the success of the olive grove planted 24 years ago,
40:25this year a new citrus grove is on the horizon.
40:29Wayne, that is not something I ever thought I would see in the UK.
40:35Yeah, it's pretty amazing isn't it?
40:36I know.
40:37So we're going to plant many more in this area and the bank beside us.
40:40And we're going to be planting what we believe is the UK's first citrus grove.
40:45So are we dropping this straight in?
40:47We are, yes.
40:50You've not really put any fertiliser or any manure or anything like that in?
40:55No, because they do grow in quite poor soils really anyway.
40:58And they're originally from China.
41:00But of course people see them growing in the Mediterranean on the holidays.
41:04Yeah.
41:05And the poor soils are there as well.
41:08But drainage is the key.
41:11These are great places just for gardeners to come to.
41:15And you guys are taking the risks.
41:18You're doing the experiments.
41:20If they work, they make a little note, go home and can start to do that in their own garden.
41:25Yeah, we hope to inspire many people across the UK.
41:28And I'm sure you will.
41:29We better get the rest of these in.
41:34As
41:54I watched that, I increasingly thought,
41:57that garden is about as different to here at Longmeadow as you could possibly conceive.
42:02It's only about 120 miles away from here.
42:05But it could be a thousand miles.
42:07Because the weather has generally got much wetter here.
42:10We're now flooding four or five times a year.
42:13So it's changing and affecting us in different ways.
42:16And this is what Adam's going to be looking at.
42:17Do you know how to make the best of it?
42:19Not just how to survive.
42:21Now I've got a clematis here that I'm going to give a big change to.
42:26Because I want to dig it out, move it and put something else in its place.
42:31Now I would point out, this is a group 3 clematis.
42:34That means it doesn't start to flower till June at the earliest.
42:38And produces a mass of small flowers in late summer and sometimes into autumn.
42:44Group 1 clematis are those that flower now.
42:48And group 2 in between.
42:50Only group 3 can be moved now.
42:53And if you're not sure which they are, don't do it.
42:56Now to move it, I need to cut it back.
42:58But now is a really good time to prune late flowering clematis anyway.
43:02Because they produce all their flowers on new growth.
43:08Be brave and go right back down to a low bud.
43:21If I haven't got the clematis here, I don't need the supports.
43:29I've got a number of different pots.
43:31I'm not quite sure how big the root system will be.
43:33So I've got pots of different sizes ready for that.
43:36I've got some potting compost.
43:39Which I've added extra garden compost to, to make it feel at home.
43:46If you know where it wants to go, just take it straight across.
43:49Otherwise pot it up and look after it.
43:54Clematis roots are quite substantial.
43:56So I need to take out obviously as much root as possible.
43:59Because that will do least damage to the plant.
44:07Right.
44:10I'm going to need the biggest pot I've got.
44:12I'm going to put some soil in the bottom.
44:19Right, let's see if I can lift this.
44:22Okay, this is heavy.
44:24Okay, this is heavy.
44:25And there's a lot of root in there.
44:28In it goes.
44:32Compost around it.
44:37And this would be perfectly okay in this pot for another year or two.
44:42But if I want to keep it in a container for more than a year, I will need to pot it on.
44:47A good rule of thumb is if you have a plant that doesn't show any signs of growth,
44:52it almost invariably means that its roots are too constrained and it needs a bigger pot.
44:56But sometimes you have to grow things in pots.
44:59And that was certainly the case when we went up to Lincolnshire to visit a gardener there.
45:10I didn't know that I could make a lovely garden.
45:13When I step in, the novelty never wears off.
45:16Lots of colour, plants which brushed my arms and legs.
45:20I'm really, really thrilled with how it's turned out.
45:29My name's Fiona Cumberfat.
45:30I live in a small town in Lincolnshire and I've got an Edwardian terraced house
45:35with a garden that is completely made from pots and containers
45:39in what I call a sort of urban cottage garden style.
45:43When we moved into the house, we wanted to create a kitchen extension with bifold doors.
45:51I thought, yes, that will be great.
45:53We'll be overlooking the garden.
45:55It is only 12 by 5 metres.
45:57They'll make big flower beds and it will be just lovely to sit in there winter or summer.
46:02Then we were delivered a bit of a bombshell from the builder,
46:06which was that there was no soil.
46:08There was a clay pit underneath.
46:10So even if you did bore through, he said, it's just rubbish.
46:14I was really gutted, devastated,
46:17because I thought we've created these huge doors with a view,
46:22but we're looking out on concrete.
46:26I didn't know what I was going to be able to do and it has surpassed my expectations
46:30and in a much shorter time than I thought as well.
46:32So I'm really, really pleased with how it's turned out.
46:35My favourite part of the garden has got to be the brick path.
46:38I'd always loved seeing them in cottage gardens.
46:41So I thought, well, we can't just have a straight path down the middle of the garden.
46:45That would look really boring.
46:46So let's curve it so we look like we're going somewhere.
46:51My husband and I spent almost a week in the garden.
46:54We had a lot of fun.
46:55We had a lot of fun.
46:56We had a lot of fun.
46:57We had a lot of fun.
46:58We had a lot of fun.
46:59We had a lot of fun.
47:00We had a lot of fun.
47:01We had a lot of fun.
47:02We had a lot of fun.
47:03We had a lot of fun.
47:04Almost a week with a length of hose moving it here and there with three bends, four bends.
47:11We built it with bricks from an old outhouse,
47:13which had been pulled down during our kitchen extension.
47:16And they also tie in with the rest of the house.
47:18So they have a lovely mellow tone.
47:21Even in a small garden, I wanted to create different areas.
47:25And I knew that should be possible using the path and then plants to screen off different areas.
47:31For example, we've got some bamboo that screened off part of the garden.
47:34And I also wanted a second sitting spot apart from the patio.
47:38And that's by the little greenhouse in the back.
47:41So we've got a little greenhouse in the back.
47:43And we've got a little greenhouse in the front.
47:45And we've got a little greenhouse in the back.
47:47And we've got a little greenhouse in the front.
47:49And that's by the little greenhouse.
47:50And again, I've surrounded that with plants just so that you feel immersed.
47:58I'm always looking for ways to garden on a budget.
48:00And there were lots of ways I've done that.
48:04This is my car boot corner.
48:06It's full of finds that I've gathered together over the years.
48:09I absolutely love car boot sales.
48:12So I've got a lovely old catering sieve, which I've filled with sedums.
48:16I've got a galvanised dustbin, which I've used for dahlias.
48:20And this grading panel from agricultural machinery, I think.
48:24I've got a climbing hydrangea going over there.
48:27My family are very used to me rolling up with a boot full of rubbish.
48:40I've saved money on plants too.
48:42And one way of doing that is to use perennials in pots,
48:45rather than having to spend on annuals and bedding plants every year.
48:49I've had great success with salvias.
48:51I like this caridona with lovely purpley blue stems.
48:55Also, geums are brilliant in pots.
48:58And dapita.
48:59So it's a really good way of just making my money go that bit further.
49:07We don't have a garage, so we needed a big shed.
49:10But I've painted it black to help it recede into the background.
49:15And then I went very small.
49:16I really wanted a greenhouse in my garden, but I was limited on size.
49:20I couldn't have a walk-in one, so I settled on this.
49:23And inside, I grow peppers, cucumbers, herbs.
49:27But they're all miniature ones, so they just all fit in really nicely.
49:31And this way, I can have fresh crops that fit the size of the garden.
49:35I wanted to find a way to soften these rather unattractive brick walls that we inherited.
49:40So I've chosen plants that will form a screen.
49:43I've got grasses, miscanthus.
49:45I've got cupid's darts and trees.
49:48They create texture, just basically to blur the boundary and keep your eye on the garden.
49:53I've used gravel over the top of the concrete.
49:56We drilled some drainage holes into it and put about an inch of gravel over the top,
50:00just to soften the look.
50:01And I was amazed, and it was completely unexpected, about the selcedas,
50:06which have popped up.
50:07Particularly my favorite is mimulus, which I'd had as a little poppy seed.
50:11And I thought, wow, this is going to be a really nice little poppy seed.
50:14So I've got a little poppy seed, and I've got a little poppy seed.
50:17And I've got a little poppy seed, and I've got a little poppy seed.
50:20My favorite is mimulus, which I'd had as a little pot of bedding plants.
50:24And obviously, the seeds had scattered.
50:26And I've got these little pockets of color in just an inch of gravel.
50:30They've been flowering for weeks and completely out of the blue, just appeared.
50:43While I've been making this garden,
50:45we've uncovered some old cine footage of my great-grandfather.
50:50He lived in a small terraced house with a yard, with his wife and eight children.
50:54He was a champion chrysanthemum grower.
50:57People came from stately homes to buy his chrysanthemums.
51:00And his backyard was just filled with the most giant greenhouse.
51:04And he would spend hours out there with his pipe and his dog, Jip,
51:08just growing these incredible plants.
51:11So I think it's really lovely that my great-grandfather and I
51:15both had modest spaces, terraced houses with a yard.
51:19And he created this greenhouse full of color.
51:22And I've done the same thing.
51:23I've created my own haven.
51:25So it's a nice link across the generations.
51:29So
51:49well, certainly a beautiful garden is a result of growing everything in containers.
51:54But I don't know, some people will be thinking, well, it's an awful lot of watering.
51:58But watering needn't be a problem.
52:00I remember visiting a man who had a wonderful roof garden.
52:04And he had no irrigation system.
52:06And I asked him why.
52:07And he said, because watering is my main interaction with the garden.
52:12I come home from work.
52:13I water for half an hour.
52:15I relax.
52:16I wind down.
52:17And I enjoy my plants.
52:19And I've always remembered that.
52:20And actually, I realize that I like watering, too.
52:29Now, this is the reason that I've moved the clematis.
52:33To make room for this yew ball, which is the last in a sequence
52:37that I've added over the last year to the cottage garden.
52:41And what it's doing is giving me winter structure.
52:45I actually haven't bought this specially.
52:48I did have it planted over in the corner where it's been for the last couple of years.
52:53But I want to move it so I can complete the symmetrical layout.
52:58Horticulturally, what I have to think about is that
53:01what the clematis really thrives on is plenty of moisture.
53:05But what yew thrives on is really good drainage.
53:09It hates being waterlogged.
53:12So I am going to add some grit to the bottom.
53:15You cannot overdo the drainage for yew.
53:18I'm going to tip all of this in.
53:20This is horticultural grit.
53:22So that goes in there like that.
53:28Mix it in.
53:31That guarantees that the roots won't sit in water.
53:37OK, out you come.
53:44Now, what I need to do is just line it up.
53:47OK, let's move it over a little.
53:51I think that's good.
53:52So the next thing to do is to check the level.
53:56I want to make sure that the top of the roots of the plant
54:01is above the soil level of the ground.
54:03Again, that's to do with drainage.
54:07Yeah, that's fine.
54:10This is a very good time to move any evergreen.
54:14Really, between now and the end of April is the perfect moment
54:17because the soil is warming up.
54:19It hasn't started to grow.
54:20So it's not making demands on the roots.
54:22And like everything that you move,
54:24it'll grow very slowly in the first year.
54:26So don't worry about that.
54:28But then once it gets established, it'll take off.
54:38Firmish in.
54:40The next step is to give it a good drink.
54:51I'm really pleased about that because that completes a job
54:55that I've been wanting to get on with for ages.
54:57And now here are your jobs for the weekend.
55:10I think one of the most important jobs you can do at this time of year
55:13is to mulch any bare soil.
55:16Use an organic material and put it on at least an inch thick
55:21and preferably twice that.
55:23Because the purpose of mulching is to have a thick enough layer
55:26to block light, suppress weed growth,
55:29to keep in moisture, to stop evaporation,
55:32and to enrich the soil's fertility and structure
55:35and to keep the soil moist.
55:36To enrich the soil's fertility and structure
55:39as it slowly is worked into the ground.
55:48This is not one of the most glamorous gardening jobs,
55:51but now is a really good time to tackle perennial weeds,
55:55especially those in your borders.
55:57Dig them out with a fork, getting as much root as possible.
56:00And then when you've gathered them up,
56:03if you've got a good composting system, they will compost.
56:06But if you're in doubt, bag them up
56:09and then take them to your local green waste.
56:18Although it's a bit early to be planting seed potatoes,
56:21because the ground is a bit cold,
56:23it's a good time to chit them.
56:24Now chitting simply means exposing them to light
56:29so that the sprouts can get really knobbly and firm
56:33and then they will grow quicker once they're in the ground.
56:37Check them over, find a good sprout,
56:40put that in a seed tray or an egg box works perfectly well
56:43and then put the container on a windowsill in full light
56:46but make sure it's frost free.
56:48So when the ground does warm up,
56:50you can plant them and you'll get an even earlier harvest.
57:07One of the seasonal jobs for this time of year
57:10is cutting back all the grasses.
57:12This is something you can do anytime for the middle of February
57:14but it does want to be done before the new growth comes through
57:17or at least as soon as you see new growth.
57:20So all the lovely old tawny coloured stems
57:24that have looked so good over the winter,
57:26cut them back and then they can be taken away
57:30and added to the compost heap
57:31or you can chop them up and put them in a bag
57:33and then you can put them in a bag
57:35or you can chop them up and just leave them on the ground as mulch.
57:39However, that's only for deciduous grasses.
57:42Where you have evergreen grasses and we've got a steeper here,
57:47just take out any loose material,
57:49any dead material like that to freshen it up.
57:52I find using the fingers works perfectly well
57:55but don't at this stage divide grasses or add new ones.
57:59The ground's too cold
58:00and they really don't like sitting in cold ground.
58:03Wait until the ground warms up
58:05which I think will be at least till mid-April and maybe even mid-May.
58:08So be patient on that front.
58:10And of course the great thing about grasses are
58:12when the new growth comes through in May and June,
58:15it looks fantastically fresh and vibrant.
58:18In high summer they're noble and in autumn they are majestic.
58:25They do an awful lot of work for the garden
58:28but no longer today I'm afraid because that's it.
58:31I will see you back here at Longmeadow
58:34next week at eight o'clock.
58:36So until then, bye-bye.
59:03Bye-bye.