Gardeners' World - Season 58 Episode 2
Gardeners' World - Season 58 Episode 2
Gardeners' World - Season 58 Episode 2
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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World. You've caught me doing a job that I should have done
00:19about a month ago. This is an epimedium, and epimediums are wonderful, particularly if
00:25you've got a very shady, dry area. They're one of those plants that thrive in dry shade.
00:31And they have glorious flowers, but they're almost completely hidden by the foliage. So
00:38what you should do, round about the middle of February, early March at the latest, is
00:43cut the old foliage off, go right back down to the ground. And then, as the flowers slowly
00:49unfurl, and there's lots in here still to come, the light gets to them, and also more
00:53importantly, you can see them and you can enjoy them. However, it's not too late, but
00:58be very careful when you do it not to cut the flowering stems off. That's the issue.
01:03So it's the dry stems of the foliage, and just do it one by one. Whatever you do, don't
01:10get shears and just sort of cut away, thinking that will do the job. And as I say, they're
01:23a lovely plant, and they're worth a little bit of trouble, particularly if you do it
01:27at the right time. Now, coming up on today's programme.
01:32Joe visits a group of neighbours on a street in North London who are championing the front
01:37garden. I really like the way you've got this central
01:40bed right in the middle of the front garden, which I guess was paved over before. And you've
01:45got a kiwi fruit. Kiwi, this is my ideas of early days ago,
01:49let's have a little Mediterranean area. We meet the custodian of an historic garden
01:56that was originally planted by a legendary plant swarmer.
02:00This is the most famous ditch in England. It is where Margie Fish planted all her snow
02:06drops. Sue visits a garden in Carmarthenshire, getting
02:12advice from a gardener who has embraced the Welsh climate and growing produce that thrives
02:19in these conditions. These are Boltandi beetroots, I grow them
02:22every year. I've tried a variety, and I always return to the Boltandi because they don't
02:26bolt when you get some summer sun. They also produce fantastically big beetroot.
02:32And I shall be adding some shrubs to the jaw garden as part of its revamp.
02:39You may remember that I showed you last week that we've widened the paths here and dug
03:06up where the grass was. So now I've got strips of bare soil, and
03:10I want to plant them up. I've got a tray here of a geranium, geranium
03:15finum, which I have divided up. I did this last year.
03:20It's one of those geraniums that does very well in quite deep shade, and this is a fairly
03:26shady area. It's got small, really dark flowers, rich
03:31burgundy. Flowers early in the season, and then you
03:34can cut it back when it's finished flowering, and it'll regrow like all hardy geraniums.
03:41If you've got them in pots, place them all before you plant any.
03:46Set them all out, then you can move them around, and then when planting comes, you just dig
03:50a hole and stick them in. And also, I'm not going to plant them in
03:54a line along the edge. I want it to work in with the planting that
03:58we've got. So we pop that there, and maybe another one
04:04back there. Now, as well as the geraniums, I've got alchemilla
04:10mollis. We used to have this lining the long walk,
04:14and it spilled right over on the path, completely covering it.
04:19Look magnificent, but not terribly practical, so don't plant something like alchemilla too
04:23close to the edge. But it's fantastic.
04:26It will grow in dry conditions. It will grow in wet conditions.
04:29It will grow in sunshine, just as much as shade. It's a wonderful plant.
04:41This may look like a grass. In fact, it's in the asparagus family.
04:45It's Ophiopogon nigrescens. They have a small pink flower, but you don't
04:49grow it for the flower. You grow it for the dark, almost black leaves.
04:54You can see they're green underneath, and the more shade they have, the greener they'll be.
04:59Now, if I wanted to, I could break this into many smaller pieces.
05:03A clump like this would give me about 20 new plants.
05:07So buy a decent-sized clump from a garden centre.
05:10Then divide it up yourself, grow them on, and hey, Presta, you're away.
05:14We'll put that there.
05:18The beauty of the plants that I'm putting in is that they're tough.
05:22They might take a year or two to get to full size, but these will be absolutely fine.
05:27But I have got a lot more to do, and of course I want to take it on round the corner.
05:31And while I'm doing that, we're going to go and join Joe, who went up from his Dorset garden to London
05:37to visit something that is all too rare nowadays.
05:41A street full of glorious front gardens.
05:50In the UK, around 25% of front gardens have already been paved over,
05:55and they're still disappearing at an alarming rate.
05:58Now, this street, tucked away in North London, has a row of railway cottage gardens.
06:05Front gardens are extremely important, especially in our cities.
06:09And it's not just about curb appeal.
06:12Even the tiniest of spaces can bring some much-needed greenery to our neighbourhoods.
06:17They're a sanctuary for wildlife and help to reduce pollution.
06:24I'm going to show you how to make a front garden.
06:27I'm going to show you how to make a front garden.
06:30I'm going to show you how to make a front garden.
06:34I'm meeting a group of neighbours whose front gardens are flourishing,
06:39and it's all down to a great community spirit and love of gardening.
06:51Hello, Cathy.
06:53Oh, hello, Joe.
06:54This is beautiful.
06:55Oh, thank you.
06:56It's bursting at the seams, your garden. There's a lot of plants in here.
07:01I've always liked herbs and useful plants, so I began slowly sort of getting those.
07:05And then the lawns sort of just got smaller and smaller.
07:09There's lots of pollinators in this garden. I've seen bees and hoverflies all over.
07:13Absolutely.
07:14Have you planted with those in mind?
07:16Yes, absolutely.
07:17And try to get... Something's usually in flower all through the year.
07:22I think that's really, you know, really important.
07:25You've got lots of height in this garden as well.
07:28And the Arbutus at the front, that's a great tree.
07:31This is a lovely tree. I wanted a lot of edible things in the garden.
07:34So that's called Arbutus runedo, which means, I believe, you only eat it once.
07:37Is that right?
07:38That's right.
07:39But it's already got the fruit on it now that will ripen in sort of Octoberish, sometime like that.
07:44And that's so intriguing because it has the flowers and the fruit at the same time.
07:48And then you've got this beautiful bark.
07:50Yeah, well, it's a very good coastal plant. It's great for the city as well.
07:53Evergreen.
07:54Yes, exactly.
07:55I have tasted the fruit once.
07:58Once.
07:59It must give you pride in the street that you live in.
08:01I think, well, I'm very proud of it, certainly.
08:03All these gardens are beautiful.
08:05They are.
08:06There's no... Let him decide.
08:07No, well...
08:08No, no, no, no name.
08:09What I think is brilliant is just the way every single garden is different.
08:19Mike, nice to meet you. I'm Joe. How are you doing?
08:21Joe, nice to meet you.
08:22Now, this is clever.
08:23You don't see that at all from the street side.
08:25This is the bins and the recycling.
08:27All the rubbish in there, yeah.
08:29Trying to cover it up and make it a little bit neater.
08:31It's a bit wild at the moment, but what I'm trying to do is just slowly arrange the passionflower.
08:38It's enough cover. You get a few of the flowers on view.
08:42I really like the way you've got this central bed right in the middle of the front garden,
08:46which I guess was paved over before.
08:48So you've got a route all the way round it, which is fantastic.
08:51Nice big fig tree.
08:52Yeah, it's got a few on there.
08:54But it gives you a bit of screening from the house, doesn't it? It does the job.
08:57Yeah.
08:58Ah, now, you've got a trumpet vine on the house.
09:01We have.
09:02That's quite unusual.
09:03But it shows what a microclimate it is.
09:06And this is...
09:07Southwest.
09:08Southwest facing, and it soaks up the heat.
09:10Yeah.
09:11So even if it gets knocked back really hard, it'll still regenerate.
09:14Comes back, yeah.
09:15And you've got a kiwi fruit.
09:16A kiwi. This is a bit...
09:17This is my ideas of early days of garden.
09:20Let's have a little Mediterranean area.
09:23But, yeah, so this kiwi, it just goes mad.
09:27I mean, it runs everywhere.
09:35There are a few things to consider when designing your front garden,
09:38or just planting it up.
09:40For a start, think about how it's going to sit into the streetscape.
09:44Now, by that, I mean how they're all going to work together.
09:47And what I love about these is that there's not just a single hedge,
09:51or a variety of hedges just blocking the views into the garden.
09:55Some have got hedges, yeah,
09:57and some have got tall, wispy plants that create that veiled view.
10:01So there's enough privacy from the house to the street,
10:04but also you can see in as well.
10:06And that works really nicely.
10:08Another thing to consider is the volume of planting.
10:11Not putting lots of small things into a front garden.
10:14So small trees, large shrubs, climbers against the house,
10:19so that they envelop these gardens,
10:21but also soften the houses and help them sit into the street itself.
10:26And the last thing, most of these have dug up the central area,
10:30planted them up, and we're getting more volume, more plants,
10:33more seasonal interest, more bugs,
10:36and just more, well, enjoyment for everybody who lives here
10:40and walks past.
10:49Well, Jane, you've got the largest front garden in the street,
10:52haven't you? You've got the corner plot.
10:54So do you have a different approach to your front garden?
10:57I think so, because I don't put very delicate things in,
11:00because if I have to keep watering it every day,
11:03that would be very, you know, onerous.
11:05So it tends to be tough things, and the grasses are ideal for this.
11:09The framing of your window, the clipping around the window, is great.
11:14Yes. When I arrived in 1981,
11:17there was two columns each side of the window,
11:20and I decided I wanted to join it,
11:22so I put a stick and trained it over and then cut it.
11:27What about the abutilon? That's beautiful.
11:29Oh, that's, yes, and that's in a pot, a nice big pot too.
11:32Yes, I'm very fond of that.
11:35I love the fact that I've actually made friends over the fence
11:39with people who have asked me about the plants,
11:42and it's just so nice.
11:44I think I'm known by a lot of people in the neighbourhood
11:47as the garden woman.
11:49That's a lovely thing, the garden woman.
11:52I have noticed, though,
11:55that every person in the street
11:58has actually improved their gardens,
12:01and I'm sure that's a knock-on effect.
12:04It's infectious, somehow.
12:13Oh, Janine!
12:15Look at you, deadheading your lavender.
12:18Perfect time of year for it.
12:20Keeps it nice and compact. Yes.
12:22So how does it feel to live in this street of lovely gardens?
12:26Oh, it's absolutely wonderful.
12:28It's just a little oasis in the heart of London, really.
12:31It just gives you your own little space.
12:33It separates you from the busy London traffic.
12:36It's just really important to connect with your community.
12:39Yeah, you feel very connected, which is lovely.
12:42Is there ever a case of feeling like you need to keep up with the Joneses,
12:46cos there's some quite serious gardeners here?
12:49Only in the nicest possible way.
12:52You spur each other on? Yes.
12:59Eddie, your garden is beautiful.
13:01It sits so well in front of your house.
13:03It just looks great. Yes.
13:05You're obviously into your edibles, and your tomatoes are doing well.
13:09You have got a few flowers, though.
13:11Things like this verbena are beautiful.
13:13I didn't actually plant these.
13:15They blew in on the wind from next door.
13:17Everyone's got them dotted all the way down.
13:19I've just left them.
13:21Sweet peas over there. Sweet peas, yeah.
13:23And you've got lovely runner beans as well.
13:26Beautiful.
13:28I'm just about to produce, so I'll be eating those next week.
13:32It is inspiring, because if someone walks past here
13:34and they've got just a bit of grass or something in their front garden,
13:37or I've never grown vegetables,
13:39you're showing it can be done in the middle of London in a front garden.
13:42That's right.
13:47I've got to say, I really admire this group of neighbours.
13:51And what I like is that they've all got their own personalities
13:54stamped onto their plot.
13:56Here we've got edibles and vegetables.
13:58Down there there's purple flowers.
14:00There's pollinators everywhere.
14:02But the combined effort is just staggering.
14:06And it's not just this street and these residents that benefit.
14:10It's the whole community.
14:12And that's what I love about it.
14:27I'm old enough to remember when front gardens were the norm.
14:33Most houses had a front garden, and many were fascinating.
14:37And to see a street like that brings it all back.
14:41And, of course, it's not just the individuals.
14:43It's everybody that benefits.
14:45Now, we've largely emptied the jaw garden,
14:48and at this stage what I'm really thinking about doing
14:52is getting in structure.
14:54If I can get in the woody structure, trees, shrubs,
14:58then I can work round that.
15:00And this is a buddleia, which I've left in,
15:03but like all buddleias, it needs pruning back now.
15:06Buddleias flower on new wood, so the harder you prune it,
15:10the more new wood there will be,
15:12and therefore the more flowers there will be.
15:14I'm going to plant another buddleia in the jaw garden.
15:17This is called Buddleia weyeriana, sun gold.
15:23And instead of having the conventional purple flowers,
15:27this has round, globular, yellowy-orange flowers.
15:32And I'm putting it over here
15:35because I am now looking absolutely due south.
15:40This, therefore, is the sunniest spot in the jaw garden.
15:45This, therefore, is the sunniest spot,
15:47and that's what buddleia is like.
15:49I've chosen to put it back here,
15:51not in the middle of a border, but near a hedge.
15:54And the reason for that is because the hedge
15:56is sucking moisture out of the ground.
15:59And buddleias flower best in poor soil,
16:03good drainage, and actually quite dry conditions.
16:08And when a shrub is as small as this, planting it is easy.
16:12The only thing to remember is,
16:14dig a hole that is not much deeper than the pot,
16:19but it does need to be wider.
16:26Do not add goodness underneath the shrub,
16:30because if you do it,
16:32you're going to create the most perfect environment for the roots,
16:35and they won't want to leave.
16:37The roots need to get out into the soil.
16:40That should be enough. Let's take this out the pot.
16:47And if we plant that like that, I don't want it to go any deeper.
16:50In fact, I'm going to lift that up a little bit
16:52so it's slightly proud of the soil,
16:54and even a little bit more.
16:59There we go. That's perfect.
17:03I pull the soil round it like that.
17:06Now, it's really important to heel it in.
17:09Put your heel and go round so that most of the pressure
17:13is in a kind of circle around the edge of the roots,
17:17almost creating a cone up to the middle of the plant.
17:21So it's firmly in the ground, but it's proud,
17:25and that means that it's much less likely to be damaged by being too wet.
17:29Now, I've got a couple more shrubs that will cope with some shade.
17:40These are a pair of hydrangeas.
17:44Hydrangea paniculata, Whims Red.
17:47This starts out very pale, then goes pink,
17:51but then goes a dark red.
17:54And hydrangeas couldn't be more different to buddleias
17:58in the conditions they like.
18:00They're very happy in a bit of shade.
18:02They don't mind rich soil.
18:04They actively like being moist as long as they're sitting,
18:07boggy ground.
18:08They do need some drainage.
18:10I've got a pair, so I'm going to have one,
18:13which I'll put over here on this side.
18:16I'll find a place for that.
18:18And I do know exactly where I want to put this.
18:24There was an awful lot in here, but having cleared it,
18:27we've got space now, and this is perfect for this hydrangea.
18:31So I'll plant this just like I planted the buddleia,
18:34not worrying about digging up alliums.
18:37Paniculata grow quite strong.
18:39If you don't prune them too hard,
18:41they can grow 6 to 10 foot tall, or you can prune them down.
18:45They're very flexible and very easy to grow.
18:48Pop that in like that, plenty of room around it.
18:52Backfill it like that.
18:56And if you want to prune hydrangea, paniculata,
19:00the time to do it is in spring.
19:03Now I will water that in.
19:10What I would say, unlike the buddleia,
19:12if it is very dry, certainly in the first year,
19:16give it a good soak once a week.
19:18If it's not dry enough,
19:21Certainly in the first year, give it a good soak once a week
19:25because hydrangeas do not like to dry out.
19:31Now, next week, I intend to share with you
19:34just how you set about redesigning,
19:37or even designing from the first place,
19:39a border or a garden from scratch.
19:41Just the nuts and bolts of how to make it work
19:45so that it looks its very best.
19:47However, now we're off to Somerset
19:50to visit the garden of Marjorie Fish.
19:53Now, in the 50s and 60s,
19:55her writing was incredibly influential
19:58and her garden is still being looked after and loved.
20:15Even on a grey day, it's a heartwarming sight
20:18when you see the snowdrops beginning to appear
20:21and the crocuses coming under the Acer.
20:25It's lovely.
20:27My name is Mike Workmeister
20:29and I am the current owner of East Lambrook Manor Gardens.
20:33We moved here in 2008.
20:36I saw an article in a Sunday newspaper
20:40about the garden being for sale, so we drove up here.
20:43There was an honesty box on the drive.
20:45We walked around, the garden looked magical,
20:48and we kind of fell in love with the place.
20:51East Lambrook is the only Grade 1 listed cottage garden
20:55in the country.
21:02It was created by the celebrated plantswoman
21:05and gardening writer Marjorie Fish.
21:08Marjorie Fish worked for various Fleet Street editors,
21:11latterly for a man called Walter Fish,
21:14whom she married.
21:16They bought the property in 1937.
21:19It was a time after the war when labour was scarce.
21:22You had to do it all yourself.
21:24I mean, she was very much creating a garden for the masses,
21:27in a way.
21:29Marjorie Fish knew from the beginning
21:31she wanted to create a cottage garden.
21:34She came to gardening late in life.
21:36She was in her mid-40s before she ever picked up a trowel.
21:40The story goes that she built all the dry stone walls
21:45around the garden.
21:47She started writing about gardening for magazines.
21:51She had a very easy-to-read style,
21:53and she wasn't afraid to write about her mistakes
21:56as well as her successes.
21:58She created a garden on a human scale,
22:01and so many people come here and say they really love the garden.
22:11I actually think it's amazing that a garden
22:14as famous or well-known as East Ambroke
22:18can attract new owners who've kind of nurtured it
22:22and looked after it, but kept it very much as it always was.
22:29It's one of the things I've done here,
22:31is to plant bulbs in grass.
22:33Late winter is when the Grochus thomasianus
22:36come out under the Acer.
22:38I've let them spread into the lawn,
22:40and I like the way they just seed naturally.
22:43It's a great source of early nectar for the bees.
22:47We have clay here, but they seem to like it.
22:50And I think the tree roots dry out the soil
22:52so that they take the water up.
22:54It's a good place for Grochus.
22:59We tried a little experiment this year
23:02because the pigeons always bite off the Grochus flowers.
23:06We don't know why,
23:08but we thought we'd buy a few birds of prey
23:11and stick them in the garden.
23:13There are no birds at night, but every time I walk past it,
23:16it gives me a fright.
23:18But Grochus around the trees haven't been pecked off.
23:21But up there where we haven't put them,
23:24they have been pecked off.
23:28The area known as the Woodland Garden
23:30is one of my favourite bits of the garden
23:33because it's where a lot of the snowdrops are planted
23:36and it's full of ferns and other woodlanders.
23:44Margie Fish was very keen on hellebores.
23:47The ones we mainly plant are hellebore hybridus.
23:51I like the whites with pink in the flower
23:54because it's not the petals you're seeing, it's the calyx,
23:57which actually on a hellebore appears to be the petals.
24:01And there's some lovely Betula utilis jackmontii there,
24:05which look great against the beech hedging.
24:10So it has a very friendly feel.
24:12I mean, it's a smallish, intimate bit of garden
24:15with nice sort of woodland paths between it.
24:20Running Historic Garden is, yes, it's been an adventure,
24:23it's been a challenge.
24:25Essentially, it's fun.
24:28Walter Fish always said that a garden needs a good structure
24:32in the winter of evergreen shrubs.
24:35And one of the things that Margie Fish did plant
24:38was these Chamois cypress Lawsoniana fletcheri,
24:41which she called her pudding trees because of the shape they made.
24:45And, of course, Lawson cypress is very quick-growing,
24:48but eventually these have had to be replaced in the past
24:52because they get too big and you can't get down the path here.
24:55Because although we clip them every year
24:57and clip them as hard back as we can,
25:00we can't clip into the old wood because it won't regrow.
25:04So a more sensible plant to put in might have been yew,
25:08because obviously if a yew gets too big,
25:10you can cut it right back and it'll regrow.
25:13But these are kind of iconic plants for the garden.
25:21This is the most famous ditch in England.
25:25It is where Margie Fish planted all her snowdrops.
25:29Nowadays, of course, they've all hybridised with one another,
25:32but there have been one or two snowdrops found in the ditch
25:35which are interesting and they've been named.
25:38Most notably, the first one that was found was named Galanthus Margie Fish.
25:42The snowdrop itself is quite a delicate snowdrop
25:45with a long pedestal which comes up and hangs down at an angle.
25:50Lovely little snowdrop.
25:56I acquired a collection here which I have added to quite a lot.
26:04For my own amusement, I found seedlings which I've grown on.
26:08I mean, in order to get one which looks fun, I've grown on hundreds.
26:12This one here has rather interesting green markings on its outer petals.
26:17This one has a more bulbous flower with stripes.
26:21And this one's very simple, really.
26:24The green markings on the inner petals look like a rabbit's ears,
26:29and we call it Bunny, but I haven't officially named or anything.
26:33It's just a bit of fun.
26:39We've been here 17 years.
26:42I didn't think we'd stay here that long, but it's quite a wrench to leave it.
26:47When we came here, I felt the garden had slightly lost the ethos of Margie Fish,
26:54and I wanted it to feel like a private garden,
26:57and I feel that's possibly my legacy.
27:02It needs younger, new people with fresh ideas.
27:07I'm moving to North Devon, and at the moment it is just a square of grass,
27:12and I'm going, hopefully, to create a new, smaller cottage garden.
27:30Well, I've never been to East Lambrook, but when I'm down near Taunton,
27:34I think I may try and make time for a visit.
27:37And clearly, Mike has looked after it wonderfully well,
27:41so I hope that the new owners continue that tradition.
27:44Now, a tradition that sort of emerged here at Longmeadow
27:48is to pack this table outside the potting shed with as many bowls and pots as possible.
27:54And this year has been really difficult.
27:57It's been the hardest year to get a good display that I can remember.
28:00Everything's been very late, very slow to come through.
28:03We've still got hardly any muscari or scyllas,
28:07an awful lot of the daffodils are not yet budding.
28:10However, there is a display.
28:13There are glorious daffodils.
28:15We've got the arctic bells, we've got tete-a-tete,
28:17we've got the irises, pixie and george.
28:20So even when it's not at its best, it's still good,
28:24and it's good because somehow you're condensing and distilling
28:29not just colour, but hope for spring.
28:34Now, still to come on today's programme.
28:37Sue is in Carmarthenshire, exchanging tips and ideas
28:42with a gardener who is growing produce that thrives in the local Welsh climate.
28:47The more we can save our own seed and then grow those same varieties year on year,
28:51the better it is as well for success in the garden,
28:54because plants are like people, we get happy in places that we're used to.
28:58And we visit a back garden in Edinburgh
29:00that's been lovingly developed in a relatively short time
29:04with an ingenious design.
29:06The next thing I did was add in the arch,
29:09and as soon as I put it over the path, I could see what an incredible effect it had,
29:13just helping with that whole illusion of creating space and intrigue
29:17and not being able to see the whole space in one go.
29:25Boy.
29:33The vegetable garden here is pretty empty now.
29:37Spring is the lean time.
29:39This is when you've used up all your winter veg
29:41and you haven't really got much going for spring.
29:43We have got some spring cabbage, which I planted out last October,
29:46not ready to harvest yet, but they should be in about a month's time.
29:49And we've had a good crop of Arctic king lettuce.
29:53Now, I sowed those last August, planted them out in early October,
29:57and we didn't harvest them at all
29:59until I think it was the end of January, beginning of February.
30:02So they sat all winter, under cloches, and they're fantastic.
30:06So I highly recommend that.
30:08Now, I sowed these lettuce in January.
30:12So if you sow now, they won't be ready to plant out
30:15for another six weeks to two months.
30:18And I wouldn't sow direct yet.
30:20If the soil feels cold to the touch, then they will not germinate.
30:24But what I am going to do is plant these out into a raised bed.
30:27They drain better, so therefore it warms up better,
30:30and also a bed on this side of the garden
30:33because it just gets a little bit more sun.
30:36Now, I've got two types here.
30:38I've got Arctic king, which is the same as those there,
30:41and then little gem.
30:43Now, little gem is a cos lettuce, grows quite quickly,
30:46will tend to bolt in hot weather,
30:48and they make a small lettuce, so it's one per person.
30:51So great for sowing now, or if you've sown before, planting out now,
30:55harvesting through till about June.
30:57And we sow them in a seed tray
30:59and then prick them out into individual plugs,
31:02which is more work, but it is worth it
31:04because you get really nice, strong roots.
31:06And because of that, they're healthier
31:08and much less likely to be attacked by slugs or snow.
31:12But you'll know when they're ready when you take them out of the plug,
31:15which you can do gently just by pushing underneath,
31:17lifting it out.
31:19If it holds together like that, it's perfect.
31:23And then to plant it,
31:25all you have to do is just make a hole and pop this in.
31:28Easy.
31:35A little bit of space. These are small,
31:37so they don't need to be too far apart.
31:40If you're not used to growing in raised beds,
31:44they're very easy to make.
31:46It doesn't matter what you make them out of,
31:48and you want to be able to reach the middle from both sides.
31:52And not only do they heat up quicker, so they give you earlier crops,
31:56but also they're a much more efficient way of using your space.
32:02Right, it doesn't matter what time of year it is,
32:05water them as soon as possible.
32:07It doesn't matter what time of year it is, water them in.
32:13And not only does that give them water,
32:16but it also firms the roots in.
32:26I'm going to cloche them.
32:28And although I leave them open at the ends,
32:32it is extraordinary how they're heated up
32:35enough to make a difference.
32:40One thing to remember, though, of course,
32:42is if you have cloches on for more than a week or two,
32:45you are going to have to water because, of course, the rain can't get in.
32:49I've been growing vegetables all my life,
32:51but I do know that there is always more to learn.
32:54You can always discover things,
32:56particularly by visiting other people and seeing how they do things.
32:59And that's exactly what Sue has done in search of vegetable perfection.
33:06MUSIC
33:13I've been growing fruit and vegetables in my garden for many years
33:17and more recently in my allotment.
33:19It's a fun and continuous learning experience.
33:22I've got the basics covered,
33:24but I feel there's more to consider
33:26to get the best out of the growing conditions.
33:30So I'm excited to spend the day with local gardener Adam Jones.
33:35He's an hour from me in Swansea
33:37and has a wealth of experience on how to get the most from his growing space.
33:43Adam, thank you so much for having me to your garden.
33:46I'm right by the sea. I've got salty, windy conditions,
33:49but it can be quite mild.
33:51What are the conditions like here with you?
33:54Well, Christo, welcome to the garden.
33:56It's a cool, typical Welsh wet garden, let's say that.
34:00We're 200 metres above sea level, OK?
34:02So what tends to happen is we get a condensed growing season,
34:05so we can have late frosts going into June
34:07and we get early frosts then October, end of September,
34:10so we have a lot of humidity,
34:12especially when we get a bit of summer heat as well.
34:14So it can be a challenging environment to be growing vegetables in.
34:17I've really struggled with my courgettes.
34:19I've had to sow them three times
34:21and they're only now beginning to fruit,
34:23which is really late in the season.
34:25And I wish I could help you, but if you saw my non-existing courgettes,
34:28I completely sympathise.
34:30We've had difficulty with the peas, a lot of mildew on the peas
34:33from being initially dry and then overly humid.
34:35But then things like my beans,
34:37I, you know, initially thought I'd have a poor harvest,
34:40but they've cordoned back on fantastically well and they're doing great.
34:43So it's not all bad, you know, despite the challenging conditions.
34:46My soil's alkaline. What's your soil like?
34:48Well, we initially started landscaping the garden.
34:51In some areas it was 4.7 on the pH,
34:53so that's a very acidic soil.
34:55We had to bring in a lot of topsoil,
34:57a lot of manure to try and raise the alkalinity of the soil,
35:00and we've done that successfully.
35:02In terms of the beds, you want a neutral, slightly alkaline soil.
35:05Yeah. So you don't really worry if things don't always go to plan.
35:09My philosophy's always been, give it a go, try everything,
35:12try every variety, every cultivar that you can,
35:14and then try and evaluate, OK, well, if that didn't work this year,
35:17maybe I'll try it in a different area in the garden and see if it works there
35:20before giving up completely on it.
35:22But I think we do have to persevere, don't we?
35:24If it was all that easy, it wouldn't be fun.
35:26I've probably killed just the amount of plants that I've grown,
35:29and I've done it proudly, because that's how you learn, isn't it?
35:33I can see flowers all around me, but I'm dying to see the veg.
35:36Well, let's go see the magic. Yeah, let's do it.
35:38I love a bit of veg.
35:44Adam's not fazed by a little wind and rain,
35:47and he's adapted what he grows to his local conditions.
35:50Pests and all.
35:52Wow, this is a real smorgasbord of plants.
35:56It's not just one monoculture that attracts aphids.
35:59There's no big sign to a fast-food outlet saying,
36:01come here and prey on my plants.
36:03You know, it's about having a hodgepodge of everything.
36:06No, and it's absolutely beautiful.
36:12This is a lovely bed of beetroot.
36:15Yeah, these are Boltandi beetroots.
36:17These are my all-favourite. I grow them every year.
36:19I've tried other varieties, like Moulin Rouge and Detroit,
36:22and I always return to the Boltandi,
36:24because they don't bolt when you get some summer sun.
36:26They also produce fantastically big beetroots that you can preserve,
36:31you can eat them, you can do so many different things with them.
36:34I agree. I've tried the others, and these, I think, are the best.
36:38How do you eat them?
36:39Yeah, well, I'm a bit old-fashioned, in a way.
36:41I like to pickle them, I like to roast them,
36:43I like to boil them and then eat them with red onions,
36:46you know, and vinegar.
36:47Oh, lovely.
36:48Beautiful in a salad.
36:49I like them pickled, and then I put them in mashed potatoes,
36:52spring onions and mayonnaise.
36:53Oh, that's heaven on a plate, that is.
37:07So, here, I've recently harvested my turnips, as you can see.
37:10Not a bad crop, quite happy with these.
37:13But I'm ready to replant it again.
37:15I'm going to plant it with some cabbages.
37:17I notice this, your turnips look lovely,
37:19but planting again with a brassica, that's unusual.
37:22Yeah, you know, people stress a lot about crop rotation,
37:25and they need to plant plants in separate locations
37:27because of disease and problems,
37:29but this is the fifth year of me growing brassicas in this bed.
37:32Now, what I've found is, by annually mulching the garden,
37:35I reduce the fungal spores that are available on the soil surface,
37:38which reduces disease, and I haven't had any problems in that time.
37:42So, I don't stress too much about crop rotation, that's what I'll say,
37:45because many of us don't have the luxury, of course.
37:47Small gardens, you've only got two raised beds.
37:49If crop rotation's going to stop you growing what you need to grow,
37:52then you shouldn't worry about it.
37:57Right, what are we doing next, Adam?
37:59So, you're going to be planting the chicory in the centre of the cabbages.
38:02I'm going to be planting radish as a quick crop
38:05between the cabbages as well.
38:08It's inspiring how Adam makes the most of every bit of space.
38:13There we go. That looks good, Adam.
38:15Well, the to-do list is getting ticked off soon.
38:19And this includes some rather special beans.
38:23These are lovely, long runner beans. What variety are they, Adam?
38:26Well, I don't really know what variety they are.
38:28I call them my Tadkey bean, or my grandfather bean,
38:30because I've been growing the same seed from my grandfather
38:33since 2006 in the garden.
38:35He was my gardening hero, and I've continued to save the seed
38:38year on year on year, and I keep growing them.
38:41So, I couldn't tell you what cultivar they are,
38:43but they do fantastically well. They're prolific cropping.
38:46Heritage, obviously, is very important to you.
38:48Oh, absolutely, and when it comes to heritage varieties of vegetables,
38:51they grow much better in our climate, and they're locally adapted,
38:54so the more we can save our own seed
38:56and then grow those same varieties year on year,
38:58the better it is as well for success in the garden,
39:01because plants are like people.
39:03We get happy in places that we're used to, you know,
39:06so Welsh seeds, or Gymru from Wales, do really well in my garden.
39:09I hope they're going to do well in my garden too.
39:12Do you know, I don't see myself as the head gardener here.
39:15I'm just one of the gardeners, and nature is my head gardener,
39:18and I just go with the flow and hope for the best.
39:28I've had a wonderful time here today, Adam,
39:31and I want to thank you because you've really shown me
39:34a different way of growing vegetables,
39:36because when you're a vegetable nerd like me,
39:39the more information you can get, the better.
39:42I'm going to take all those lovely thoughts with me.
39:45Diolch, Adam.
39:48Collecting your own seed
39:50not only preserves old varieties difficult to get hold of,
39:54but also these are seeds that are adapted to your garden,
39:58your plot, wherever it might be.
40:00Now, I love rhubarb.
40:03I've got two varieties here.
40:05One is called Tymperley Early,
40:07and as the name suggests, it's a type of rhubarb
40:10that's grown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
40:13One is called Tymperley Early,
40:15and as the name suggests, it's one of the very earliest rhubarbs.
40:19And I've got another variety called Victoria, which is very late.
40:23It doesn't really start providing anything meaningful
40:28until well into April and sometimes early May,
40:31but it has really big stems and will go on into July.
40:36Now, you shouldn't pick rhubarb after July.
40:39Leave it to replenish its stores,
40:42and it will go on for ages.
40:44These Tymperley Early plants I've had now for 36 years.
40:50And whatever type of rhubarb you have, never cut it.
40:54You always pull rhubarb.
40:56So you've got a stem like that, put your hand down at the base
41:00and just gently pull and it will come away.
41:04And when you pull it away, there will be a little piece of the crown,
41:08and the reason you do that is because infection and disease
41:11and viruses can get in through cut stems,
41:13whereas they won't through the crown.
41:17And, of course, you don't eat the leaves.
41:19And, in fact, rhubarb leaves are poisonous for dogs.
41:21Not that I've ever known a dog want to eat a rhubarb leaf,
41:24but if you find your dog eating it, stop it.
41:27Rhubarb need a lot of feeding and quite a lot of water.
41:31It's a rich ground.
41:32You can see I've mulched these heavily with compost,
41:35and that should be done every year.
41:37And if it's dry, give them a really good soak.
41:41By the way, these are forcing pots for putting over rhubarb
41:46before it starts to grow.
41:48They grow in the dark, and they grow paler and taller and thinner
41:54and with much, much more release, and they're much sweeter.
41:58So you get an earlier, sweeter harvest.
42:02Now, we're going to see one of the first films of the year
42:06that you sent to us, and this is not of a private garden.
42:10But a garden for children,
42:12where that element of fun is there from the very beginning.
42:22Hi, I'm Saxon, and welcome to HDS Kids Gardening Club.
42:30This used to be just a lawn,
42:32but we kind of transformed it into a whole garden,
42:36thanks to everyone coming here every week.
42:47This is Reverend M, who is also my mum,
42:50and she is absolutely in charge of this church.
42:53She's very organised with getting snacks for the crew and everyone around.
43:01Theo, what's your favourite thing about gardening?
43:04What's your favourite thing?
43:06Potatoes.
43:07Potatoes?
43:08Planting potatoes?
43:09Yeah.
43:10Yes, potatoes.
43:11Planting potatoes.
43:15Plants and stuff are making the world better in the environment,
43:19because plants make other ones that give us air.
43:26My favourite thing about this club is that I get to meet new people.
43:31Gardening Club is just great,
43:33because it brings us all closer to nature and also closer together.
43:39It's like one big happy community here at Gardening Club.
43:43Bye!
43:56Well, there's no doubt about it,
43:58that if you want to get children interested in gardens and gardening, make it fun!
44:02Now, we do love getting films from you,
44:05so please do send them in,
44:07particularly if you think your garden is unusual,
44:10or you've got an aspect of it that is particularly fascinating,
44:13or some tips or ideas that you'd like to share with the rest of us.
44:17And if you go to our website,
44:19you'll get all the details of where and how to send them.
44:23Come on, then. Come on.
44:29Come on, Edward.
44:31Come on.
44:39When you're planning a new garden or a new border,
44:42the best way to produce lots of plants,
44:45whether they're annuals or long-lasting perennials, is from seed.
44:49I've just got a few here,
44:51to just give a hint of the kind of range we can use.
44:55There are some of the old favourites that I've always used in a jaw garden,
44:58like sunflowers.
45:00And I've got here carrot, which has got a wonderful rich colour,
45:03and I love those marmalade colours.
45:05Sunflowers, you can sow now,
45:07and if you've got somewhere to keep them warm, plant them out in June.
45:10But you can also sow them direct.
45:12In fact, sometimes it's a lot better to do that.
45:14Wait until May, and they normally grow just as well
45:17as if you grow them earlier indoors.
45:21Tithonias are not difficult to germinate,
45:24but can be very temperamental as a seedling.
45:27But once they reach a big enough size to go outside, they're fine.
45:31Cosmos, I love.
45:33Always going to have cosmos.
45:35They're not difficult to grow, but they are tender.
45:37So I've sowed them now, ready to plant out after the last frost,
45:40so mid-May.
45:42I've got verbena benariensis here.
45:44I love it. It's a perennial, but I treat it almost as an annual.
45:47It's very short-lived.
45:49It grows quite easily, but I've never grown it in a jaw garden.
45:52Well, I'm definitely going to do that this year.
45:54And I've also got a perennial that I've not grown before.
45:58This is agastache or agastache, Navajo sunset.
46:03A really beautiful sort of orange hyssop.
46:06But it can take up to three months to germinate.
46:09So if I sow this today,
46:11it's going to be the end of June, potentially, before I see anything.
46:15It also means that this won't be ready to plant out until next spring.
46:19But at the same time, a couple of packets could give me 100 plants.
46:24So from relatively easy annuals to relatively complex perennials,
46:30tri-seeds.
46:32Well, let's start with the agastache.
46:36Fill that up like that.
46:39There we go.
46:43Right, now, I don't want to waste a single one.
46:50Each one of those minute seeds are potentially a beautiful plant
46:55that will last for five to ten years.
46:58So it's worth really being careful at every stage from now on in.
47:03Now, I won't be able to sow those individually.
47:06They're too small.
47:08So what I do is just take a little pinch and sprinkle.
47:15Now, even though they're minute,
47:17very gently I'm going to push down
47:19just to make sure there's really good contact with the soil.
47:22These need a bit of light to germinate,
47:25so I'm going to cover them with a thin layer of vermiculite,
47:28which will let in some light.
47:30Whereas if I covered them with compost, that would keep the light out.
47:34And at the same time, it keeps the moisture in.
47:44And again, just firm it gently down.
47:50Because these are a very small seed,
47:52I will actually put them in a basin of water
47:55so it soaks up moisture.
47:57I will actually put them in a basin of water
47:59so it soaks up moisture for about 15 minutes.
48:02And then I will put them onto a heated mat in the greenhouse
48:06and not let them dry out and wait.
48:09And maybe I have to wait for three months.
48:12But hopefully my patients will be rewarded next summer
48:16with a brilliant set of plants that have cost me a fraction
48:20of what buying them as mature plants would be.
48:24We're going to Scotland now
48:27to visit a small garden that had a big dream.
48:37We moved to the house 17 years ago
48:39and it was basically the garden was just laid to lawn.
48:42There was some slim borders round the sides,
48:45you know, with a few shrubs and herbaceous plants,
48:47and there was a cordyline australis tree down the end,
48:50which is kind of the only original plant that I've still got.
48:54It's got these gorgeous old stone walls,
48:56but they're quite tall, a little bit oppressive,
48:59and the whole thing did feel a bit boxed in.
49:02So it was about three years ago
49:03that I decided I was going to redevelop it.
49:09My name is Libby Webb, I work as a doctor,
49:12and this is my garden in Edinburgh City Centre.
49:17The garden's only 7 metres across by 14 metres long,
49:21so it's not a huge space.
49:23We were really keen to do all the work ourselves,
49:26I guess, you know, to have a sense of ownership,
49:28but also to keep the budget down.
49:30The first thing I knew I wanted to do
49:32was to break up the kind of rectangular effect of the garden,
49:35and I knew that the best way of doing this
49:38was to introduce a curved path down the garden
49:42to give the illusion of a sense of journey
49:45so that the eye would follow that
49:47rather than take in the boundary walls.
49:49The next thing I wanted to do was introduce some height,
49:52and I bought three small winter-flowering cherry trees,
49:56Autumnalis rosea, on a whim, actually.
49:59And they were pretty small,
50:00all three of them fit in the boot of my car,
50:02and I brought them home,
50:03and I planted these three trees all offset down the garden.
50:10So why a winter-flowering cherry tree?
50:12I think it's probably the best tree for a small garden
50:15in terms of the interest,
50:16and you can see it's got this beautiful open canopy,
50:19and I thinned the laterals
50:20just to make sure that there's enough light
50:22coming onto the bed below.
50:23And it's just a gorgeous structure, beautiful leaf,
50:27lovely height, and in the autumn time
50:29you get this fiery, fiery orange.
50:31And in the winter, the blossom,
50:32it's not like a spring-flowering cherry tree,
50:35it's not the same show,
50:36but it goes on for month after month after month,
50:38and it's beautiful.
50:43I suppose when I first planted those trees,
50:45I probably didn't realize how important they would become,
50:48but they very much are the backbone of the garden,
50:51and everything sort of subsequently
50:53has been built around them,
50:54and it's just completely transformed the space.
50:57Planting them was the best decision that I made.
51:04That was the first year,
51:05the trees and the cobble path.
51:07So I guess I had the bit between my teeth at that point,
51:10because I could see what a transformation
51:12just these small changes had made.
51:14And so in the second year, looking at the lawn,
51:17I kind of realized it wasn't being used,
51:20and we just lifted the entire lawn otherwise
51:23to create four new flower beds.
51:25And the next thing I did was add in the arch
51:29over the original path.
51:30And as soon as I put it over the path,
51:32I could see what an incredible effect it had,
51:34just helping with that whole illusion of,
51:37you know, creating space and intrigue
51:39and not being able to see the whole space in one go.
51:44So another brilliant thing about arches
51:46is the surface area and the amount of planting
51:48that you can get on them.
51:49I've got this beautiful solanum crispum here,
51:51which is a really fast grower,
51:53and tracheal sperm and jasminoides,
51:55which will be in flower,
51:56and the scent just gets trapped in the arch
51:58when you're walking through it.
51:59Absolute joy.
52:05I guess a lot of people have been quite shocked
52:08that the garden's only 7 by 14 meters.
52:10But actually, I've learned through this process
52:13that there are just so many different things
52:15that you can consider doing
52:16to create the illusion of a sense of space
52:20and it being much, much bigger than it actually is.
52:24What I would encourage people to do
52:26is to think about your boundary wall or fence
52:29as your boundary, not a planting guide,
52:32and actually bringing everything in from the edges
52:35so that it can properly illuminate
52:37and so that the sun can shine through them
52:40just turns a kind of good flower or good plant
52:44into something just next level.
52:49This is the center of the garden
52:50that used to just be covered in lawn,
52:52and this is now the kind of showpiece.
52:55And the alliums here, I think,
52:57demonstrate really beautifully
52:59what planting away from the edges can do,
53:02because when the sun filters through these,
53:04they just glow like lanterns and just create magic.
53:14In a small space, light's really important,
53:16and in this shady border,
53:17I've lifted the base of this camellia
53:19and lifted its skirts so that I can under-plant it,
53:21and I've got this Fatsia japonica,
53:23spider's web variety, which is a very gated leaf
53:26which has just got this white
53:27which totally pops in the low light.
53:29And combining that with the Estrantia shaggy here,
53:32which is also white,
53:33and also the Hydrangea patialaris behind,
53:36you get the same effect,
53:38just lifting the whole space.
53:44So I spent the last 30 years
53:46studying and working in medicine as a doctor,
53:49considering kind of individual but also population health.
53:52So I'm really fascinated with the kind of research,
53:54some of which is still in its infancy,
53:56but kind of pointing us in the direction
53:58that gardening and looking onto green space
54:01and working in nature can reduce our stress hormones,
54:05regulate our blood pressure, boost our immune function,
54:09and also it's well-documented that it can lift mood,
54:13reduce anxiety, help with sleep.
54:15And the act of gardening itself, you know,
54:17it's functional movement.
54:18It's good for us, it's what we should be doing,
54:20and it helps strengthen our bones and our muscles
54:23and helps a balance,
54:24which is particularly important as we get older.
54:28So one of my favorite sayings is that you should sit in nature
54:32for 20 minutes every day unless you're busy,
54:35and then you should sit for an hour.
54:37And I just love the sentiment behind that,
54:40and whilst I don't do it or pretend to do it,
54:43I think we can all take the message that that's giving us.
54:47And there's another saying,
54:48which is an apple a day keeps the doctor away,
54:51but I just wonder if it might be really good
54:54for us to be growing the apple tree as well.
54:56MUSIC
55:12Of course, Libby's absolutely right.
55:15It's obviously good for us
55:17to spend some time just sitting quietly in our gardens.
55:21But if I'm honest, I always say I'm going to do it,
55:25and I encourage other people to do it,
55:27but I always see things I need to do,
55:30and I think any form of gardening is good to do.
55:33And if that's just sitting, looking at your flowers, great.
55:36And if that's digging and hard work, equally great.
55:40And talking of hard work, here are your jobs for the weekend.
55:44MUSIC
55:55Snow drops spread by seed,
55:57but you can speed up that process
55:59by lifting and dividing them, and now is the time to do it.
56:03Choose a good-sized clump, dig it up, cut it in half,
56:07put half back in the original hole
56:09and the other half in a new location.
56:12And by doing this every year,
56:14you can quickly increase the display.
56:17MUSIC
56:24To get the best colour from the bark of dogwood,
56:27it's important to prune them regularly,
56:29at least every three years, or even every season,
56:32because it's the new shoots that are the brightest.
56:35Cut back to an existing framework,
56:38and then you can use the cuttings to make new plants.
56:41Simply cut them to length, stick them in the ground,
56:44and 90 times out of 100, they'll root.
56:47MUSIC
56:54If you haven't done so already,
56:56it's important to get on and sow sweet peas soon.
56:59They have a deep root system, so use a pot rather than a seed tray,
57:03and I like to put three seeds per three-inch pot.
57:06And then the whole pot can be planted out as one unit.
57:11Cover them over and put them somewhere warm to germinate,
57:14but they don't need a lot of heat.
57:16And then when the seedlings have emerged,
57:18they can be put outside to harden off
57:20and they should be ready to plant out in about six to eight weeks' time.
57:33Last year, I added, oh, nearly 30 new roses here to the cottage garden.
57:39And it included about half a dozen climbing roses,
57:43which I've got growing up these supports.
57:45And they didn't really need tying in last year
57:48because they didn't grow enough to need that support, but they do now.
57:54Now, because these are climbing roses,
57:57they produce their flowers on new growth.
58:00You can see these new shoots just beginning,
58:03and these are the ones, as they grow, that will have the flowers.
58:07But we do need a framework upon which to carry those new shoots.
58:12And it's very important to try and get it going early
58:15to be the skeleton around which we can clothe it
58:18with glorious flowers later on.
58:22Right, I will continue to do this,
58:25but it is the end of today's programme.
58:28However, I'll see you back here at Longmeadow next Friday at 8 o'clock.
58:34So until then, bye-bye.
58:37.
58:38.