Gardeners World S58E07
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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World. We've had a little bit of an accident and a big gust of wind
00:23has brought down this climbing rose from the apple tree and in the process has broken it.
00:32This is a climbing rose, a very vigorous one, called Souvenir de Malmaison, and it's very prone to black spot.
00:41It's a lovely rose, beautiful, but it's not at all healthy compared to the other roses here.
00:45And I'm not sure it's going to survive the kind of twisting and tying in need.
00:51So, what I've decided to do is cut it right back and the new growth, with more light around it, more air will be healthier.
01:01So, this has given me an opportunity to do a bit of radical pruning.
01:05Let's take that off.
01:07Right, I'm going to reduce this down.
01:09There you go.
01:11What's extraordinary is how roses develop these incredibly strong stems.
01:16I mean, that's a walking stick.
01:17Now, can you see here, we've got a good new chute, so that's where I'm going to take it to.
01:32Okay.
01:33I think that will be fine now.
01:34I can re-establish the rose and actually tie it in to the reduced framework that I've got now of the tree.
01:40But we must push on, because we've got lots on, on today's programme.
01:48We catch up with Sue in her garden, as she gets stuck into some seasonal experiments.
01:55I'm taking a different approach to growing my tomatoes this year.
01:58Normally, I grow cordons, so I've decided to try some bush varieties.
02:02We meet a gardener who has become completely immersed in the fascinating world of compost.
02:12At least 59% of the life on earth is actually in our soils.
02:17It's the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet.
02:22Francis celebrates the glory of wisteria in all its forms.
02:27One writer said, they need no nicety of management, and are impatient of the knife.
02:34Which is a nice way of saying, they're tough as old boots, and they grow like mad.
02:38And we visit a garden that is packed with colourful combinations.
02:43There's one where a plant has fallen over, and it's a Hesperus, and I think the purple and the red are fantastic.
02:49So I didn't stand it up, because I think it looks so beautiful.
02:57Last week, I was saying that here on the mound, the yellow was looking fantastic, but there was an absence of blue.
03:20And the colour scheme on the mound is soft yellow and soft blue.
03:26So the Daffodil Avalon, absolutely ideal.
03:30The Forget-Me-Nots, which have come out in the last week, perfect, but I need more of them.
03:35The tulips I've got here in pots, I've got Ivory Floridale, and this year I've grown the first time a double tulip called Verona.
03:44It's a very, very pale yellow, but when you look into it, there are depths of yellow.
03:49However, you can see, you can't help but see, this, which I think is request, has somehow got into the mix, but that will be removed.
04:01But what I want to do is add some blue.
04:05This is a vinca.
04:07It's vinca minor, a periwinkle, and this is a variety called Hawaii.
04:12And vinca is a classic ground cover plant.
04:17It'll grow well in shade, it doesn't mind dry conditions, and this can get quite shady.
04:22So I'm going to put it high up on the bank, so it will spill down and other plants can grow through it.
04:30That's perfect.
04:31I put two on that side, so I want to make sure I've got two on this side.
04:41Ned, of course, is adding to the yellow and blue colour theme, because he's brought out today a perfectly colour-coordinated toy.
04:51I'd like to think that he has different coloured toys for different parts of the garden.
04:55Not true, is it?
04:57Now, what I've got here is Brunner macrophylla.
05:01And the difference between the forget-me-nots that we've got running along the bottom here,
05:05and so many in the cottage garden, is that they are biennials.
05:09So you sow the seed in late spring, early summer, the plants germinate and develop,
05:16and then flower the following spring, and then die having set seed.
05:19Brunnera is a perennial, best planted in small groups,
05:22and these long stems, these tiny flowers, work wonderfully well when intermingled around daffodils.
05:31And if you want more plants with Brunnera, it's very simple, you just divide them.
05:35The one thing these don't want is to be in fulsome, so they must have at least half the day in shade.
05:46Right, all I've got to do now is just make a hole, stick them in the ground.
05:56I've deliberately put this vincar in amongst a patch of weed.
06:01Now, the real problem at the moment is lesser cellendine.
06:03The flowers are lovely, the little bright yellow flowers,
06:08and the foliage dies back to nothing by about the end of May.
06:12So they're not that intrusive, but they spread, and they can carpet a whole area like this.
06:20So cellendine has little tubers, and they're very brittle,
06:25and whenever you dig or anything disturbs the soil, they break,
06:29and each one will produce a new plant.
06:32So the more you try and dig them out, the more likely you are to actually spread it,
06:36unless you can get rid of all of it in an area.
06:42Right, the vincar.
06:45Nice plant.
06:47Good roots.
06:47You can see that these borders are very much work in progress,
06:58but then the whole of Longmeadow is work in progress,
07:01and that means changing and adding and assessing.
07:03And I think all of us at this time of year
07:04are making the most of the lovely blossom and the flowers that are emerging,
07:09but also planning and buying plants
07:12and setting ourselves up for the year to come.
07:15And down in Sue's garden, that is no different.
07:18Last month, we went along to pay her a visit.
07:20It's a lovely day, and the garden is greening up at a ferocious pace,
07:39and it's made me feel it's time for a bit of spring cleaning of my seeds.
07:43I don't know whether you're the same,
07:44but I've kept a lot of old seed that's out of date,
07:47and it's cluttering up my seed store.
07:50So I've got poppies, I've got cosmos, I've got zinnia,
07:53and I've got this one here, which is five and a half feet,
07:57which means it can't be any younger than 1984.
08:00It probably won't come up, but that's half the fun of experimentation.
08:05I'm going to mix them all up.
08:06I'm not going to sow them in rows.
08:08I'm going to broadcast them.
08:10I've kept a list of what they are
08:12so I can see what's a success and what's a failure.
08:15And this is a really exciting thing to do,
08:19and, you know, who knows if I will be lucky with my 1984 status,
08:24and it'll be a miracle.
08:26But nothing ventured, nothing gained.
08:28So, a spoonful at a time,
08:43and then I'm putting them into a mixture of soil and garden compost,
08:49and I'm just going to sort of thinly scatter them over.
08:52However, this box will act like a nursery bed,
08:56so instead of having to sow them in lots of individual containers,
08:59I've got them here.
09:00But it doesn't mean to say they've got to stay here.
09:02I can move them on, once I've identified them,
09:05and plant them in different places in the garden
09:07where I've got spaces during the summer.
09:10And ideally, some of the seeds would need
09:12slightly different growing conditions from others,
09:14but they've got to take their chances.
09:17And I'm sprinkling all the seeds,
09:20and I'm going to just pressure them in a bit with my foot,
09:24just to make sure they've got good contact with the soil,
09:26and then I'm going to water them in.
09:28So, who knows what's going to happen?
09:31Bets are on.
09:33Will it be the 40-year-old status,
09:35or will it be the brand-new cosmos that germinates?
09:38I'm taking a different approach to growing my tomatoes this year.
09:50Normally, I grow cordons, which you train up,
09:53and they can grow up to about six foot,
09:55and you've got to tie them in,
09:56and you've got to pinch out the side shoots.
09:58And that's, to be honest, is a bit of a faff.
10:00So I've decided to try some bush varieties.
10:03These are tumbling tom.
10:04I decided to go to the most form-proof cherry tomato I could find.
10:10As a bush variety, tumbling tom don't need pinching out,
10:13and they're only going to grow to 30 centimetres,
10:16so that's an ideal table height,
10:18so I can reach really easily and harvest really easily.
10:21But when I sowed them, only four came up,
10:23so I planted some more seedlings,
10:25but I was a bit lazy,
10:26and I just chucked them in with the spare spaces with the sweet peas.
10:29And now they've got two true leaves.
10:31It means they're ready for potting on.
10:33And I want to just separate them without really touching roots.
10:38I'm going to do that,
10:39because that's what people say to do,
10:40to break them up,
10:42but I think they also need a little bit of a pull.
10:44So pull them by the tops if you can.
10:48If you've got lots of lovely fingers,
10:49you hold it by the leaves,
10:50but I do it like this, and they always survive.
10:53So I'm going to pot on this plant,
10:55so using a big dibber,
10:57getting right to the bottom of the pot,
11:00and popping it in as low as it can go,
11:03but I don't want to cover the top two leaves.
11:06With bush tomatoes,
11:08they crop almost all together.
11:10You can get a glut,
11:12or if they haven't ripened enough,
11:14you'll get all your tomatoes green at the end of the season.
11:17But I love green tomatoes,
11:18and to me, you can never have a glut of tomatoes,
11:20because you can never have enough tomatoes.
11:32This is my play area,
11:35and at the moment,
11:37I'm playing with the colour pink,
11:39and I've got the pit of spore and bano bay,
11:43I've got a sambucus nigra black lace,
11:47and I've got the heucheras black pearl,
11:51and also these absolutely beautiful hellebores.
11:54And what I want to bring in here
11:56is a different sort of flower head form.
11:59And last year, I started growing grasses,
12:02and I don't know what's taken me so long.
12:04They're great.
12:05And I grew penicetum redhead,
12:07and it wasn't quite the colour that I expected.
12:10And this year, I bought penicetum carly rose,
12:12which is supposed to be a silver pink.
12:15But I don't trust it,
12:16so I'm putting it in the pot to see how it develops.
12:19If it looks good here,
12:21I will keep it here.
12:23And if it doesn't look quite the colour that I expected,
12:26I will move it elsewhere in the garden.
12:28And that's the joy of having an area just to play with.
12:31You can get it wrong if it's in pots.
12:33You haven't invested all that digging time.
12:40I'm growing some more trained apple trees,
12:43and this one is George Cave.
12:45Now, George Cave came from a small town, Dovercourt,
12:49which is in Essex,
12:50which is also where my great-grandfather came from,
12:53and he was a market grower.
12:54Now, I've had many happy holidays down at the beach there,
12:58and I wanted to bring a bit of Dovercourt back into the garden,
13:00so when I saw it, I snapped it up.
13:02But unfortunately, talking of snapping,
13:04the top of it has snapped,
13:06and there's now some damage and disease getting down the main stem,
13:10so I'm going to have to take some quite drastic action
13:12to try and halt it spreading.
13:14I'm going to have to make a cut here,
13:16which is not ideal.
13:17The beauty of training fruit is you can have it exactly the height you want,
13:24whether it's step-over waist height,
13:26or for me, at my hand height,
13:28so it makes harvesting and pruning easier.
13:30And also, I want to be able to see the view behind.
13:33Now, pruning this isn't ideal because it's too low,
13:37but with a little bit more judicious pruning later on in the season,
13:41I should get it to the height that I want.
13:44Last year, I grew agistash alabaster,
13:57and I grew it in this border,
13:58and it got completely bullied out by the hydrangea Annabelle.
14:01So I dug it up and I overwintered it in the greenhouse,
14:05and I'm going to put it in my wild white border on this side,
14:08which is a bit more sunny.
14:10Agistash likes full sun,
14:11and it can grow up to 90 centimetres,
14:13and the seed heads look really good all winter,
14:16so it's a real good all-year-round plant.
14:19In order not to disturb the daffodils and the breeze of grasses,
14:23I was pre-prepared,
14:25and I made the hole,
14:26and I marked it with a similar-sized pot,
14:28so I shouldn't have to dig any more.
14:30I'm going to put a tiny bit of soil in the bottom
14:32just to give it a little bit of a boost.
14:35Sprinkle that in the bottom,
14:36and then I'm going to pop it in.
14:39There's a lovely root system.
14:41I'll just pop it in the hole.
14:43It worked, which is great.
14:46I found that putting a pot in where you want something definite
14:50is a really easy way of planting later on.
14:53Everything stays happy around it.
14:56Agistash aren't fully hardy,
14:58and normally I can't be bothered with plants
15:00that need digging up and putting in the greenhouse,
15:02but it's so beautiful, it's worth it.
15:05But next year, I'm not going to dig it up.
15:07It hopefully will survive if I really mulch it well
15:11and protect it from the winter frosts,
15:13and if it does, it's going to self-seed,
15:16and hopefully I'm going to have the plants
15:17all the way along this border,
15:19and it's going to look beautiful.
15:20Good boy.
15:41Come on, then.
15:42Woo!
15:43Woo!
15:43Woo!
15:44Woo!
15:44Woo!
15:44Woo!
15:45Woo!
15:46Woo!
15:47Woo!
15:48Woo!
15:49Woo!
15:50Woo!
15:51I love Sue's optimism
15:52with her 40-year-old seed packet.
15:565 1⁄2p, too fantastic.
15:59Now, here in the cottage garden,
16:00we've undergone big changes in the last few years,
16:03and now the tulips and the blue froth of the forget-me-nots
16:07are coming into their own.
16:10And the colour scheme here is pastels.
16:13Pale, soft, and obviously that means a lot of pinks,
16:17and all the shades of pinks.
16:19And I experiment with tulips a lot.
16:21I'm also always after the perfect apricot tulip,
16:26and they're really difficult to find.
16:28But pinks are in abundance,
16:31whether it be the frilliness of the parrot cabana,
16:35or one of my favourites, which is tulip mistress,
16:38which is just coming into flower now.
16:40Obviously, I want to keep the pastel colours going
16:43long after the tulips have finished,
16:45which will be about another two or three weeks' time.
16:48And I'm planting out now some sweet peas.
16:50And this is a new one on me.
16:51This is a variety called Senator.
16:55The colours of Senator are a white background,
16:58flushed with a sort of pink, just touched with chocolate.
17:02And it's an old variety from the 1890s, a grandiflora.
17:06Now, what I do, I plant the whole thing out as a group,
17:09so one pot to each support.
17:11So I need four pots for supports like this.
17:15And I always put them on the inside of the support,
17:23which means I can water into the middle
17:25and all the roots can have access.
17:27Now, what sweet peas absolutely hate is being too dry.
17:31So you can see there's lots of mulch.
17:34These beds are very rich.
17:35They were vegetable borders for 20 years,
17:38and I've put in masses of goodness.
17:40So when you're planting, just make a hole
17:44and take the whole pot out as one.
17:47Don't try and break the plants up.
17:49And just pop them in.
17:52Like that.
17:54If you haven't grown sweet peas before, these are climbers,
17:57so they need some support to attach themselves to.
18:01I use these wigwams, but I've used chicken wire before now.
18:05That works perfectly well.
18:07Just something that you can initially tie them to
18:10and then once they get to June,
18:14the tendrils will support themselves,
18:16but you do need to tie them in maybe weekly
18:18for the first four weeks.
18:24There we go.
18:25That's one more.
18:31Right, all I need to do now, and this is really important,
18:33is to water them in.
18:34Now, this area of the garden
19:02may not be as glamorous or as pretty as the cottage garden,
19:06but it's every bit as important
19:08because this is where we make our compost.
19:10And it's a very simple system.
19:11We have a bay where we just chuck everything
19:14that can be composted,
19:15and when it's full, we mow it.
19:18We spread it out on the ground here.
19:19You can see there's no grass.
19:20We've got an old mower, and we just run it through the mower.
19:22And then it goes into here.
19:23When this is full, it gets turned into this bay.
19:26When this is full, it gets turned into here.
19:28And by now, you can see it's beginning to get compost-like.
19:31If when you take a shovelful or a handful of compost
19:34and there are these little red worms that are called brandlings,
19:37then you know that the compost is being made well.
19:40You're doing the right thing.
19:42And then this is its final resting place.
19:44And we only use compost from this last bay.
19:47We use it for two things.
19:49One is on anything edible,
19:51and two as part of our potting mix.
19:54And for those two purposes, it's absolutely essential.
19:58But not everybody has the space,
20:02and not everybody has the time to do this.
20:05However, there are other ways of going about it,
20:08and we went to Sussex to learn about some of them.
20:14Soil is the coolest thing that exists on the planet for me.
20:21We owe ultimately our existence
20:22to the fact that there is six inches of soil.
20:25And often when we think of biodiversity,
20:26we think of birds, bees, and butterflies.
20:28But actually, it's the microscopic stuff.
20:30At least 59% of the life on Earth is actually in our soils.
20:35It's the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet.
20:41So I took a deep dive into soil science
20:43and became a soil nerd and compost enthusiast
20:46to the point where composting is all I do now.
20:50Compost Michael is something I'm often called
20:52or stopped in the street and told,
20:54you're the composting guy, aren't you?
20:57So I'm Michael Kennard.
20:59I run a social enterprise called Compost Club.
21:00So I go about collecting food waste
21:02from mostly residents and businesses.
21:05And what I do is take all that food waste
21:06with tree surgeons' waste wood chips
21:08and turn it into what I call a living compost.
21:11I came into this as a grower,
21:13and what I realised was that the healthier your soil is,
21:17the healthier your plants are going to be,
21:18and ultimately the healthier we're going to be
21:20as people for eating that food.
21:22We come out for domestic households every three weeks.
21:29We take away the full bucket, leaving them a clean one.
21:32Every spring, members get some compost back,
21:35which is a really lovely exchange,
21:36so there's that whole kind of another closed loop, essentially.
21:39The first stage of making compost for us
21:45is using Bokashi bran.
21:47It originates in Japan.
21:48It means to ferment organic matter,
21:50and it works anaerobically,
21:52so it's an outlier in terms of compost.
21:53You normally need oxygen.
21:55And we give it to our members,
21:56so they layer that into their food waste bucket
21:58with the food waste in a lasagna style.
22:00So it's all the way through the bucket,
22:02pre-digesting it and adding like a kind of...
22:05It's like adding rocket fuel into the system.
22:07So the next stage in our composting
22:09is to utilise what we call in-vessel hot composting.
22:12So we're using a compost tumbler,
22:14and it's the kind that's small enough
22:15that you could have at home in your back garden.
22:18It works really efficiently
22:19by creating the right conditions for compost to happen
22:21sort of three to four weeks.
22:23You could be emptying these.
22:24So we're taking a 50-50 mix of wood chips
22:27and our fermented food waste,
22:29and that goes into the tumbler like this.
22:37What you're left with at the end of a good maturation phase
22:56of at least around 12 weeks
22:58is a compost that's really abundant,
23:00really diverse in life.
23:01There'll be things, indications it's really good
23:04without a microscope, like a really sweet smell,
23:06and also visible fungi, which is a really good sign.
23:11So it's just got everything that plants need.
23:14So you have this super amazing,
23:15super natural nutrient cycling plant fertiliser.
23:18So the best way to look at your soil
23:24would be to get a microscope
23:25and actually look at the life in there,
23:27and you can see, you know, who's here and in what quantities.
23:31And you'll see a clear difference in any compost
23:33that you're making to anything commercially that you buy.
23:37A well-made living compost,
23:39you'll have a whole plethora of microorganisms
23:41dancing across the slide.
23:43There's a microbe here called a protozoa,
23:45which is eating things like bacteria and fungi,
23:48pooping out plant-available nutrients,
23:50and there's loads of that going on.
23:52So there's all these rich colours, humus, basically.
23:55So it's just all manner of life,
23:57which is going to lead to all manner of life.
24:04Through most of my life,
24:05I'd suffered with quite extreme social anxiety.
24:08I was very, very shy.
24:10And actually through doing this work,
24:13people often say,
24:13you can't shut me up now.
24:15I'm speaking for the microbes,
24:18and I've got a lot to say for them
24:20because they can't say it themselves.
24:23One of my main focuses now
24:24is actually on empowering and enabling other people
24:27to make really good compost.
24:28So one of the things I've done
24:30is come here to the Brighton Grub Hub
24:31where they're producing organic food for local food banks,
24:34and we've set up some composting bays
24:36and a hot composting tumbler as well
24:38for them to use
24:39and produce their own compost
24:40to enrich the soil here.
24:44Hey, Becca, how's it going?
24:46Hey, Michael.
24:46This one's looking really good.
24:48Yeah, we've just turned this one last week
24:50and it's ready to mature.
24:52It's looking fantastic.
24:54That initial breakdown's really, really good.
24:56From this point onwards,
24:58you don't need to turn it too much now
24:59if you can introduce these compost chimneys.
25:02So just use a good solid stick,
25:05create this little pathway
25:06all the way down to the bottom
25:07with a bit of force,
25:09wiggle it around, open it up,
25:10and you create this little,
25:11as I say, a little chimney,
25:12a little pathway for air,
25:14so you're allowing your aerobic microbes to flourish.
25:17You don't need to turn it so much.
25:18You can increase your fungal biomass as well.
25:21So just creating a much more efficient
25:22and better quality compost
25:24for you guys to use here.
25:25Brilliant.
25:26Thanks for your advice.
25:27No worries.
25:27Living compost is really important for plants
25:34because it introduces all the life
25:36that they've evolved alongside.
25:39So plants will start to interact
25:40with all of this life
25:41from the moment the seed germinates
25:43and, in fact, before if you coat it onto the seed.
25:46And all this interaction
25:47is what I call plant intelligence.
25:50Here I've got a little growing trial
25:52that I've been doing.
25:53So we're using a premium peat-free organic compost
25:55and we're using some of our living compost
25:57I put three radish seeds in each one
26:00and what we saw was pretty rapid germination in this one.
26:04This one was a little bit slower
26:05and all three have germinated successfully here
26:08and sadly in this one we've only got one.
26:10So when we were potting on our vegetables
26:13the ones that had the biology grew so much quicker
26:17and more so below ground in their root zone
26:20than they did above.
26:21If you can see yourself as a microbe farmer
26:25growing soil
26:27you'll have naturally abundant and healthy plants.
26:32A really effective way of using your compost
26:38and actually make it go quite far
26:40in terms of biology
26:41would be to create a soil drench.
26:43You can use a compost tea bag
26:45you can use an old pair of tights.
26:47Basically you want to put a handful of compost into water
26:50it releases a lot of the microbes into a water solution
26:54which you can just water onto the soil
26:56you're just adding these microbes in.
26:58It also works as a foliar spray
27:00so if that goes onto the plants
27:01it's actually really beneficial as well.
27:05Soil regeneration just makes me feel great.
27:08A friend of mine says that I've found joyful service.
27:11You know we're not apart from nature
27:13we're a part of it
27:14and so it's mine to do
27:16it's my joyful service.
27:28Well Michael is spot on
27:42in the importance of compost in the soil
27:46but it's interesting
27:47because the system that we've got here
27:50is very labour intensive
27:51it's undoubtedly hard work
27:53and there is a way
27:54to make good compost
27:56which takes almost no work at all
27:59and that's to make a slow heap
28:01and essentially a slow heap
28:03is just a pile of organic matter
28:05that you leave
28:06to slowly make itself into compost.
28:10So if you've got room
28:11where you can just pile things up out the way
28:14it's really useful
28:15but it does take at least 18 months.
28:19The second thing about a slow heap
28:21is that all those things
28:22that will break down more slowly
28:24can go on the slow heap.
28:26I'm thinking of hellebore leaves for example.
28:28We've put a lot of Lysimachia in here.
28:31The one thing we don't really bad weeds
28:33like bindweed
28:35couch grass or ground elder
28:37and we burn those on the bonfire
28:39and then we put the ash on the compost heap.
28:42Now the interior of this
28:43hasn't been touched for a couple of years
28:45so I should find nice compost
28:49down in the middle
28:50underneath the bits and pieces
28:53that are going to take a while to rot down.
28:56So let's have a look.
28:57It would be embarrassing if I don't.
29:08Now what I'm going to do
29:10is put this sieve over the barrow
29:13so that anything that hasn't rotted
29:15can be sieved out.
29:16This is a homemade sieve.
29:18Nothing fancy about this at all.
29:20Simply a very broad mesh
29:23and then some chicken wire
29:25over the top of that
29:26which is much finer.
29:26And so by sieving it now
29:47it will all be
29:48consistent size and shake.
29:50all right we're now in the heart of it
29:55this
29:57has just been left to pile up
29:59but you can see that
30:01that
30:03is beautiful stuff.
30:08And this will be as full of life
30:10if you looked under the microscope
30:12as any other way of making compost.
30:16It has all the same qualities.
30:24Now with a slow heat
30:25you don't have to worry
30:26about the mixture of carbon
30:27to nitrogen
30:29brown and green
30:30you just chuck a whole thing on.
30:35Right.
30:40There we are.
30:42Very nice compost.
30:44It's just beautiful.
30:46And I'll add this
30:47to our potting compost
30:48so that the young seedlings
30:50get a good start
30:51and it's going to add life to it.
30:53That's the key.
30:53It's not so much nutrition
30:54it's life
30:56and that incredibly complex
30:58relationship
30:58between a plant
31:00and its roots
31:01and the soil
31:02and increasingly we're discovering
31:03us as human beings too
31:05particularly when it comes
31:06to consuming vegetables.
31:08Right.
31:09I will take this
31:10to the potting shed
31:11and we are now
31:13going to visit
31:13one of your gardens
31:14or in fact
31:14more particularly
31:15one of your front gardens.
31:21Hi I'm Molly
31:23I'm from south east London
31:24and this is our front garden.
31:26I'm just about to move
31:27out of my family home
31:28of 24 years
31:29but before I move
31:30I wanted to highlight
31:31my mum's amazing
31:32front garden transformation
31:33and some of the inspiration
31:35behind it.
31:36In my family
31:37there are many generations
31:38of gardeners
31:39beginning with my
31:40great great grandfather
31:41who opened a nursery
31:43in 1906.
31:47So the space here
31:48used to look
31:48completely different.
31:49We had the flower beds
31:50around the wall
31:51and just grass in the middle
31:53and then back in May
31:55we decided to
31:56get rid of the grass
31:56and build two
31:58flower beds
31:58in the middle.
32:00One of the main reasons
32:01behind this decision
32:02is that in our back garden
32:03we have lots of
32:04large oak trees
32:04which means it's very shady
32:06whereas our front garden
32:07gets full sun
32:08throughout the day
32:09providing the perfect
32:10conditions to grow
32:11a wide range of flowers
32:12and attract more pollinators.
32:17The other reason
32:18is that about a year ago
32:20I started creating artwork
32:21from imprinting flowers
32:22into clay
32:23and casting them
32:24to create a spoke
32:25plaster artwork.
32:27My mum's love of gardening
32:28and my parents' supportiveness
32:29has provided me
32:30with lots of material
32:31to work with.
32:34We have grown most of it
32:36from seeds
32:36like the status
32:37scabias
32:38zinnias
32:39cosmos
32:40which make great cuttings
32:42for imprinting.
32:43It just shows
32:44what you can do
32:45in small space.
33:03Well thank you Molly.
33:05It's always good
33:06to see a front garden
33:07that is growing things.
33:10And by the way
33:10if you've got a garden
33:12front or back
33:13that you think
33:15is especially interesting
33:16or has got a story to tell
33:18then please do contact us.
33:19We'd love to hear from you
33:21as ever.
33:22So go to our website
33:22and you get all the details
33:23on how to do that.
33:25Now I've added in
33:26the sieved compost
33:27from the slow heap
33:28to the potting mix
33:30and you can see
33:31I've probably added
33:32only a fifth
33:34in total volume.
33:37Now although we call
33:37this potting compost
33:38actually today
33:39I'm going to use it
33:39as seed compost
33:40because I'm going to
33:41sow some cucurbits
33:43which is a fancy name
33:45really for the family
33:46of pumpkins
33:48squashes
33:49cucumbers
33:50courgettes
33:51and gourds.
33:52Now I've got
33:53three types
33:54we've got wolf
33:55and butternut
33:55we've got
33:57crown prince
33:58which I grew last year
33:59it's a really delicious squash
34:01and we ate
34:02our last crown prince
34:03just a few weeks ago
34:04so that's stored
34:05through the winter
34:05very well.
34:06I've also got
34:07another one here
34:07rouge d'etampes
34:09conventional
34:09big orange pumpkin
34:12which I know
34:13will delight
34:14my grandchildren
34:15it may not be
34:15the best to eat
34:16but it's a joy
34:17to look at.
34:19Now for pumpkins
34:20I use a big pot
34:21and I keep them
34:22in that
34:23my nice compost
34:25mix there
34:25I'm going to
34:28start with this
34:28so this is
34:29rouge d'etampes
34:30now you always
34:33sow them
34:34on edge
34:35just slide them
34:37like a blade
34:38into the compost
34:40and the bigger
34:41the seed
34:41the deeper
34:42you need to plant it
34:43don't plant it
34:44on the surface
34:45and the reason
34:46why you put it
34:46on edge
34:47is so that
34:48if it's wet
34:50and cold
34:50it doesn't rot
34:52now I'm going to
34:53put two in there
34:53but I'm only going
34:54to grow one plant
34:55so whichever
34:57is the strongest
34:57of the two
34:58I'll leave
34:59and the other one
34:59I will take out
35:00and I may discard it
35:02I may pot it on
35:03we'll see
35:03but it is always
35:05worth putting two
35:05I will cover that
35:08over lightly
35:09and then this
35:12is the critical bit
35:13this must have
35:15warmth to germinate
35:16it needs
35:1820 degrees
35:19so either put it
35:20on a heated mat
35:21or on a windowsill
35:22above a radiator
35:24now if you've got
35:26courgettes
35:27and I've got two
35:29types here
35:29I've got Romanesco
35:31and I've got
35:32black beauty
35:32but the procedure
35:34of sowing them
35:34is exactly the same
35:35courgette seeds
35:37look very similar
35:37to pumpkins
35:39sow them in the
35:41same way
35:41two per pot
35:42put that back
35:46in there
35:46because courgettes
35:49have a running
35:50harvest
35:51from the first
35:52one you harvest
35:53which could be
35:53as early as June
35:54to the last
35:55which could be
35:56as late as
35:57well October
35:58if you manage it
35:59well
35:59now I reckon
36:01two plants
36:02is absolutely
36:03plenty
36:04for a normal
36:05household
36:05and like the
36:07squashes
36:07they need heat
36:08in order to
36:09germinate
36:10so
36:11at this time of
36:13year
36:13some kind of
36:14extra heat
36:15is necessary
36:15moving away
36:19from food
36:20I guess
36:21one of the
36:21highlights
36:22of many people's
36:23gardens
36:23at this time of
36:24year
36:24is the
36:24wisteria
36:25is starting
36:25to flower
36:26and last
36:27May
36:27Frances
36:28went down
36:29to Surrey
36:29to a garden
36:31that had
36:31a fabulous
36:32collection
36:33of
36:34wisteria
36:34in full blue
36:36once spring
36:42starts to
36:43spring
36:43some plants
36:44go big
36:45in a whirl
36:46of colour
36:47like
36:48rhodes
36:48and azaleas
36:50but some
36:53unfurl
36:54with a gentle
36:55grace
36:55one flower
36:56at a time
36:57and then
36:58create a
36:58bang
36:59like
37:01wisteria
37:01wisteria
37:08can flower
37:08from May
37:09to July
37:09depending
37:10on species
37:11with colours
37:13from white
37:13to pink
37:15to deep
37:17purple
37:17and they're
37:19set on
37:20strings
37:20of racemes
37:21these make
37:24incredible
37:25features
37:25in the garden
37:26and because
37:27they live
37:27for 20
37:2850
37:29or even
37:30for hundreds
37:31of years
37:32they can be
37:32real companions
37:33for life
37:34not just
37:35for one
37:35season
37:35wisterias
37:38are strong
37:39woody
37:40climbers
37:41originally
37:42found
37:43twining up
37:44trees
37:44across Asia
37:45and the
37:46Americas
37:46they arrived
37:48in Europe
37:49in the late
37:491700s
37:50and horticulturists
37:52soon realised
37:53these plants
37:54didn't need
37:55cosseting
37:55one writer
37:58said
37:58they need
37:59no nicety
38:00of management
38:00and are
38:01impatient
38:02of the
38:02knife
38:02which is
38:03a nice
38:03way of
38:04saying
38:04they're
38:04tough as
38:05old boots
38:05and they
38:05grow like
38:06mad
38:06the
38:09wisterias
38:09here
38:09are rather
38:10special
38:11some
38:13are over
38:14a hundred
38:14years old
38:15and they're
38:15part of
38:16the national
38:16collection
38:17for plant
38:18heritage
38:18in Surrey
38:19there's
38:2128 different
38:22cultivars
38:23showing their
38:24range
38:24and breadth
38:25there are
38:29four main
38:30species of
38:30wisteria
38:31there's the
38:31brachybotrys
38:32like this
38:32and the
38:33sinensis
38:34and they
38:34both flower
38:35fairly early
38:36then there
38:36are the
38:37later flowering
38:37ones
38:37which are
38:38frutescens
38:38and floribunda
38:40it's so rare
38:41to see them
38:42together
38:42and it really
38:43allows you
38:43to appreciate
38:44how different
38:46and varied
38:46they are
38:47this beauty
38:55here
38:55is
38:56wisteria
38:57brachybotrys
38:57okaiama
38:58and it was
38:59only planted
39:00nine years
39:00ago
39:00so you can
39:01see how
39:02vigorous
39:02and how
39:03quickly
39:03it will
39:04take
39:04a wall
39:05over
39:06but it's
39:06so gorgeous
39:07now the
39:08brachybotrys
39:09wisteria
39:09have shorter
39:10racemes
39:11of flowers
39:11but slightly
39:12larger
39:12flowers
39:13individually
39:14than other
39:15wisteria
39:15and they're
39:16very scented
39:17so standing
39:17here there's
39:18a really
39:18rich and
39:19complex aroma
39:20coming off
39:20these
39:20which is
39:21bringing in
39:22all of
39:22these bees
39:22this is
39:23covered
39:24in bees
39:25but it's
39:26the combination
39:27of the leaves
39:28and the flowers
39:29that set
39:29wisteria apart
39:30and it's
39:30what makes
39:31them unique
39:32leaves can
39:35range from
39:36rusty red
39:37to almost
39:38silver
39:39setting off
39:40the flower
39:41colours
39:41and
39:42floribunda
39:43wisteria
39:44can have
39:44racemes
39:45that reach
39:45a metre
39:46long
39:47and though
39:48all wisteria
39:49twine up
39:49trees
39:50or pergolas
39:51different species
39:53do it slightly
39:54differently
39:54this is a
39:57wisteria
39:57sinensis
39:58and it's a
39:58lovely white
39:59one called
39:59the bride
40:00now the
40:01sinensis
40:02from china
40:02twist
40:03anti-clockwise
40:04as they grow up
40:06so you can
40:06see that
40:07twining
40:08happening
40:08whereas the
40:09floribundas
40:10and the
40:10hybrids
40:11over there
40:11twist
40:12clockwise
40:13instead
40:14wisteria
40:17are part
40:18of the
40:18pea
40:19family
40:19and their
40:20flowers
40:21also have
40:22a clever
40:22twist
40:23these
40:27inflorescences
40:27have a
40:28really
40:28beautiful
40:28way
40:29of letting
40:29all the
40:30pollinating
40:30insects
40:31know
40:31when the
40:32flower has
40:32been
40:32pollinated
40:33so you
40:34can see
40:34these
40:35are
40:35unpollinated
40:36flowers
40:36they're
40:36facing
40:37the right
40:37way
40:37whereas
40:38these
40:39two
40:39have
40:40been
40:40pollinated
40:40and they
40:41are
40:41beginning
40:41to turn
40:42now
40:43eventually
40:43they'll
40:43turn
40:44about
40:44180
40:45degrees
40:45so
40:46essentially
40:46their
40:47back
40:47is to
40:47the
40:47approaching
40:48bee
40:48and it's
40:49just a way
40:49of saying
40:50no
40:50we've
40:50shut up
40:51shop
40:51we're
40:52all done
40:52go and
40:53find another
40:53flower
40:54as tough
40:56woody
40:57climbers
40:57wisteria
40:58really can
41:00go big
41:01look at that
41:03now we're
41:03used to seeing
41:04them on
41:04trellises
41:04and walls
41:05but that
41:05is a
41:06floribunda
41:06climbing right
41:07up a
41:08huge
41:09conifer
41:09which of course
41:10is exactly
41:11what it would
41:11do in the
41:11wild
41:12but I bet
41:13that one's
41:13been there
41:14for quite
41:14a long
41:14time
41:15but keeping
41:19wisteria
41:20and those
41:20lovely
41:21flowers
41:21closer to
41:22eye level
41:22is just
41:24about
41:24pruning
41:25basically
41:27in the
41:28summer
41:28it's about
41:29cutting back
41:29this long
41:30whippy growth
41:31and in the
41:31winter
41:31it's about
41:32cutting the
41:33spurs back
41:33to just
41:34a couple
41:34of buds
41:35from the
41:36main stems
41:36and that way
41:38everything stays
41:38neat
41:39because look
41:39how old
41:40this is
41:40this is a
41:40really old
41:41wisteria
41:42and yet
41:42it doesn't
41:43need to get
41:43sprawling
41:44and huge
41:45if you prune
41:45it right
41:45and wisteria
41:48don't even need
41:48a pergola
41:49or a wall
41:50to bring
41:51a fountain
41:51of colour
41:52these really
41:54are so tough
41:55that you can
41:55prune them
41:56as hard
41:56as you like
41:57so this one
41:58has been turned
41:59into a standard
41:59form
42:00all you need
42:00is a very
42:01very chunky
42:01stake
42:02to hold
42:02the weight
42:02of it
42:03and then
42:03a hard
42:04prune
42:04will turn
42:05this into
42:05a tree
42:06like structure
42:06that would
42:07fit even
42:07in a really
42:08modest sized garden
42:09this is a hybrid
42:13called wisteria
42:14cross valderai
42:15burford
42:16and flowers
42:17early
42:18with these
42:19delicate blooms
42:20wisteria will be
42:23happier as a standard
42:24than squashed
42:25into a pot
42:26and they can take
42:27a while to flower
42:28but pruning
42:29encourages them
42:30to bloom
42:31for me
42:33having a wisteria
42:35is simply
42:36a must
42:37as plants go
42:40I don't think
42:40they come much
42:41better than this
42:42this is a resilient
42:44plant
42:44it's a beautiful
42:46plant
42:46and it's a plant
42:47that you can grow
42:48old with
42:48the question
43:07that I'm most
43:08often asked
43:08about wisteria
43:09is
43:09people will
43:11buy a wisteria
43:11and it doesn't
43:12flower
43:12why isn't
43:13my wisteria
43:13flowering
43:14well
43:15the chances
43:16are it's not
43:16flowering
43:17because it's
43:17been growing
43:17from seed
43:18and they take
43:19at least
43:19seven years
43:20and sometimes
43:20twice that time
43:21before they
43:22start to flower
43:23so you can buy
43:23a perfectly
43:24healthy plant
43:25but it's just
43:25not ready to
43:26flower yet
43:26whereas if
43:27they're grafted
43:28they will
43:28flower much
43:29sooner
43:29so if you're
43:31not sure
43:31you're going
43:32to buy a wisteria
43:33buy it in
43:34flower
43:35and then you
43:36know that it's
43:36going to flower
43:37next year
43:37but this
43:39is what I've
43:39come in for
43:40this is a
43:41delia
43:41now
43:46the reason
43:48it's been
43:48in the
43:48greenhouse
43:49is because
43:50I have
43:51forced it
43:52and made it
43:53grow quicker
43:54to provide
43:54material for
43:55cuttings
43:56because dahlia
43:56cuttings work
43:57really well
43:58this is a
43:59dahlia called
44:00honker black
44:00very nice
44:01dahlia indeed
44:02now I've prepared
44:05the material for
44:06it which is
44:06you can see
44:0750% perlite
44:08and 50% compost
44:10because it is
44:11important that you
44:12have really sharp
44:13drainage
44:13and if in doubt
44:15just go heavy
44:16on the perlite
44:16and lighter
44:17on the compost
44:18now in order
44:19to take
44:19dahlia cuttings
44:20you want to
44:21go right down
44:22to where the
44:23shoot grows
44:23from the tuber
44:24so you need a
44:25knife not
44:26secateurs
44:26and if need be
44:29go below
44:30the soil level
44:31so I'm going to
44:32get in there
44:32and I'm going
44:34to cut
44:34like that
44:36and what I'm
44:37taking is a
44:38basal cutting
44:38I want
44:39that base
44:41where it
44:42connected to
44:42the tuber
44:43because that's
44:44where the roots
44:44will come from
44:45that's one
44:46and
44:49one more
44:51and we're in
44:52business
44:53right
44:55having taken
44:56your cuttings
44:57and you need
44:59to work fairly
45:00quickly
45:01because they're
45:02effectively dying
45:02cut off any
45:04excess foliage
45:06and I will
45:10use a
45:10dibber
45:10but a pencil
45:11does perfectly
45:12well
45:12into the
45:14corner
45:14like that
45:16put that
45:19in there
45:19so we're
45:20going right
45:20down in
45:21water the
45:27compost
45:27spray it
45:28and then
45:29make sure
45:30it stays
45:31moist
45:31a polythene
45:32bag over the
45:32top
45:33having watered
45:34it will do
45:34the trick
45:34and normally
45:36they will all
45:37come good
45:37that makes
45:38four new
45:38plants
45:39which we
45:39can pot
45:39on
45:39grow on
45:40and will
45:41go out
45:42into the
45:42garden
45:42and flower
45:43round about
45:43September
45:44time
45:44the whole
45:46point of
45:47growing any
45:47of these
45:48plants
45:48is not as
45:49individual
45:50specimens
45:50at least
45:51not here
45:51at Longer
45:51it's their
45:52role within
45:53the bigger
45:54picture
45:54whether it's
45:55on the
45:55mound
45:55or in
45:55the cottage
45:56garden
45:56or the
45:56jaw
45:56garden
45:57or wherever
45:58and putting
45:59together
45:59plants
46:00I think
46:01is one
46:01of the most
46:02satisfying
46:02parts of
46:03gardening
46:03and we went
46:04down to
46:05Bristol
46:05to visit
46:05a gardener
46:06who has
46:07learned to
46:08love all
46:08kinds of
46:09combinations
46:10of plants
46:11inspired by
46:13a holiday
46:13in Kent
46:14I start
46:23off every
46:24morning
46:25even
46:25raining
46:25or whatever
46:26with a walk
46:27round the
46:27garden
46:27and a
46:27cup
46:28of tea
46:28the light
46:30and the
46:30noise
46:30is just
46:30fantastic
46:31early in
46:31the morning
46:32but I
46:32just want
46:33to see
46:33what's
46:33popped
46:34up
46:34overnight
46:34it's
46:35just
46:36a wonderful
46:37way
46:37to start
46:37the day
46:38I'm
46:39Carl
46:39Suki
46:40and I
46:40am
46:41an
46:41obsessed
46:41gardener
46:42although
46:43Sally
46:43and my
46:43wife
46:43says
46:44she's
46:44very
46:44lucky
46:44that
46:45at least
46:45my
46:45obsession
46:46is
46:46something
46:48that other
46:48people could
46:49enjoy as
46:49well
46:49this is
46:55Beth's poppy
46:56and it's
46:56important you
46:56come and look
46:57at her in
46:57the morning
46:58because she's
46:59very delicate
47:00as you can
47:00see
47:01and if we
47:02get a
47:02strong wind
47:03or rain
47:04by lunchtime
47:05all the
47:05petals can
47:06be gone
47:06and it is
47:07this ethereal
47:09air that she
47:11gives up
47:12they almost
47:13float in the
47:14sky because
47:14the stems
47:15are so tall
47:15and slender
47:16you almost
47:17don't see
47:17them
47:17I just
47:18find it
47:19a very
47:19beautiful
47:20thing
47:20I've always
47:25dabbled in
47:26gardening
47:26various degrees
47:27of success
47:27but it was
47:28the visit
47:29to Great
47:30Dixter
47:30in 2019
47:32that really
47:33changed my
47:34gardening life
47:35and possibly
47:36my life
47:36as well
47:37we went to
47:39Kent on
47:40holiday
47:40and I
47:41fell in
47:42love with
47:42Great
47:42Dixter
47:43and I
47:43remember
47:43there was
47:43a little
47:44poster in
47:44one of the
47:45sheds
47:45that said
47:45you could
47:47go for a
47:47week there
47:48and work
47:49with Fergus
47:50the head
47:50gardener
47:51which was
47:51just fantastic
47:52I talk
47:59about organized
48:00chaos
48:00and it's
48:01almost
48:01well I
48:02find when
48:02I garden
48:03like he's
48:04done
48:04you're sort
48:05of barely
48:05in control
48:06and it's a bit
48:08like skiing
48:08the faster you
48:09go and the
48:09nearer the edge
48:10the more
48:11exhilarating it
48:12is
48:12and I quite
48:13like that
48:14obviously the
48:15colour which
48:16everybody gets
48:17excited about
48:17he puts
48:18oranges next
48:19to pinks
48:19and various
48:20other things
48:20but also
48:21he grows
48:22loads of
48:23cow parsley
48:23which I know
48:24some people
48:25think is a
48:25weed
48:25and using
48:27stuff that
48:27you're not
48:28supposed to
48:28use in
48:29gardens
48:29and it's
48:30a little
48:30anarchic
48:31which
48:31I'm quite
48:33fond of a
48:34bit of
48:34anarchy
48:34in a
48:35small way
48:35one of the
48:41first things
48:41I did
48:42was widen
48:43the border
48:44I don't know
48:45how wide
48:45that border
48:46is
48:463-4 metres
48:47but if
48:48the border
48:49isn't wide
48:50enough
48:50then you
48:51can't
48:52put in
48:52enough
48:52plants
48:53to get
48:53this
48:53layering
48:54effect
48:54and it's
48:55that that I
48:55love
48:56because
48:56it allows
48:58you to
48:58try
48:58combinations
48:59not only
49:00the colour
49:01but it's
49:01all the
49:01different
49:02textures
49:02of the
49:03leaves
49:03and the
49:03actual
49:04shape
49:04of the
49:04plants
49:05and
49:07that's
49:08what really
49:08gives me
49:09a buzz
49:09I almost
49:13like
49:13to be
49:15just
49:15one step
49:16away
49:16from
49:16nature
49:16if that's
49:17possible
49:18and a way
49:18I want
49:18to replicate
49:19that
49:19on steroids
49:21within my
49:21own garden
49:22if you
49:24look
49:24I've got
49:25lots of
49:25nigella
49:26all over
49:26the garden
49:27that's
49:27a self
49:28setter
49:28and that
49:28pops up
49:29just there
49:30next to the
49:31poppy
49:31it looks
49:31absolutely
49:32beautiful
49:32but self
49:33setters
49:34are really
49:34exciting
49:34because you
49:35never know
49:35what you're
49:36going to
49:36get
49:36it's
49:37like
49:37Christmas
49:38morning
49:39every day
49:39when you
49:39go out
49:40you just
49:40don't know
49:41what you're
49:41going to
49:41get
49:41and I
49:42love
49:42it
49:42when I
49:47look at
49:47plants
49:47I tend
49:48to not
49:49look at
49:49them
49:50as
49:50individuals
49:50I
49:51try
49:52to think
49:52of them
49:53as
49:53combinations
49:53and if
49:54I see
49:54something
49:54I think
49:55what will
49:55that look
49:56good
49:56with
49:56and it
49:57is the
49:57combinations
49:58that excite
49:59me
49:59and the
49:59best ones
50:00are the
50:00ones that
50:01just happen
50:02by chance
50:02by complete
50:03serendipity
50:04I think
50:04sheepers
50:05that looks
50:05fantastic
50:06and there's
50:07one where
50:07a plant
50:08has fallen
50:08over
50:08and it's
50:09a Hesperus
50:10and I think
50:11the purple
50:11and the red
50:12are fantastic
50:12so I didn't
50:13stand it up
50:13because I
50:14think it
50:14looks so
50:14beautiful
50:15I'm really
50:25pleased with
50:25this on
50:26two counts
50:27A because
50:28it just
50:29looks beautiful
50:29and the
50:30structure it
50:31adds to
50:31the garden
50:31is fantastic
50:32although if
50:33we're honest
50:33it's supposed
50:34to be a
50:34giant fennel
50:35it's a
50:36rather short
50:37giant fennel
50:38you would
50:38expect another
50:39three four feet
50:40in a really
50:41good specimen
50:42but I'm also
50:43pleased because
50:44I've waited
50:44five years
50:45for it to
50:46flower
50:46I was given
50:47the seeds
50:47in 2019
50:48and while
50:49it's still
50:49a wonderful
50:50plant and
50:50it merits
50:51being in the
50:52garden without
50:52the flowers
50:53because you
50:53get all
50:54this wonderful
50:54froth
50:55and early
50:56in the year
50:56it'll come
50:57out
50:57it starts
50:57frothing in
50:58February
50:58March
50:59when there's
50:59nothing else
51:00and you
51:00combine this
51:01with tulips
51:01and it
51:02looks stunning
51:02also I'm
51:03going to be
51:04really happy
51:04because I'll
51:05have my own
51:05seed bank
51:05now I can
51:06collect my
51:06own
51:06and whether
51:07I have to
51:08wait five
51:08years for the
51:09next one to
51:09flower I don't
51:11know
51:11one of the
51:17things I wanted
51:18to try and
51:18achieve was
51:19succession
51:20gardening
51:20this is where
51:22the garden
51:23looks good
51:23for ten
51:24months of
51:25the year
51:25I think
51:25you're allowed
51:26two months
51:26off
51:26you have
51:29your main
51:30framework
51:30of your
51:30border
51:31there are
51:31shrubs
51:32and various
51:33long
51:33lip
51:34perennials
51:34that are
51:35hard working
51:36give you
51:36your framework
51:36and within
51:37that there
51:38are little
51:38areas called
51:38planting
51:39pockets
51:39at the
51:40moment
51:40they've
51:41got the
51:41ladybird
51:41poppies
51:42in but
51:42they will
51:43stop flowering
51:45by I don't
51:46know
51:46middle of
51:47July it
51:48depends
51:48and then I
51:49rip them
51:49all out
51:50and then
51:51they'll be
51:51replaced with
51:52dahlias
51:53cosmos
51:54zinnia
51:55cannas
51:56because I
51:58try lots of
51:58stuff and
51:59some stuff
51:59doesn't come
52:00through so I
52:00don't actually
52:01know exactly
52:02what it's
52:03going to look
52:03like
52:03the garden
52:08is constantly
52:09evolving all
52:10the time
52:11and to do
52:13that I
52:14need more
52:14beds
52:15so I
52:16do
52:16when
52:17Sally Ann
52:18goes to
52:18see her
52:18mother
52:19I do
52:19nick a bit
52:20of lawn
52:20when she's
52:21not looking
52:21and turn
52:21into a
52:22bed
52:22like this
52:23bed
52:23there I
52:23think
52:24has been
52:24enlarged
52:25three times
52:26on visits
52:26to her
52:27mum
52:27although I
52:28have done
52:30a small
52:30cutting
52:30garden
52:31for her
52:31and one
52:32of Sally Ann's
52:32friends did
52:33describe me
52:33as the
52:34perfect
52:34husband
52:34because I
52:35made this
52:36cutting
52:36garden
52:36for my
52:37wife
52:37so I'll
52:38take that
52:38one
52:38come on
52:55these beds
53:12here
53:13were made
53:14last year
53:14specifically
53:15for cut
53:16flowers
53:16I sowed
53:18wallflowers
53:19in this bed
53:20last week
53:20and they're just
53:22beginning to
53:22germinate
53:23so that's good
53:23news
53:23the hardy
53:24annuals
53:25I sowed
53:25last autumn
53:26they'll be
53:26in flower
53:26very soon
53:27and there's
53:27a first
53:28peak
53:29of the
53:30dahlias
53:30that I
53:31left out
53:31over winter
53:32in this bed
53:33so unless we
53:34get a hard
53:34frost
53:35they should
53:35be fine
53:36and this
53:37bed
53:37I put bulbs
53:39in
53:39these are bulbs
53:40I hadn't grown
53:41before
53:41and it's a
53:42very good way
53:43of trialing
53:44plants
53:44grow them
53:45in the bed
53:45you can use
53:46them for cut
53:46flowers
53:46and then if
53:47you like
53:47them
53:48next year
53:48you can order
53:49more
53:49and put them
53:50in your
53:50borders
53:50or in pots
53:51the daffodil
53:53avalanche
53:54they were
53:55really good
53:56you've got a
53:56tall stem
53:57there's really
53:58good fragrance
53:58this tulip
53:59which is called
54:00spring break
54:01I'm not mad
54:02about the colours
54:03although I'm
54:03quite liking
54:04pretty princess
54:05it's a little bit
54:06short for cut
54:07flowers
54:07but I like
54:08the colours
54:09and then I've
54:10got strong gold
54:11which I thought
54:12might work on
54:12the mound
54:13but that yellow
54:14is too bright
54:14so I've learned
54:15something
54:15and the
54:16important thing
54:17now is to
54:17make sure
54:18I don't
54:18waste them
54:18and cut
54:19them
54:19when you're
54:22cutting cut
54:22flowers
54:22just give
54:23yourself
54:23as much
54:25stem
54:25as possible
54:26a good
54:27tulip
54:28for cut
54:28flowers
54:28wants to
54:29have a
54:29nice
54:30strong
54:30straight
54:31stem
54:31which this
54:32does have
54:32I just
54:33think the
54:33colours
54:33are a
54:35little bit
54:35too
54:37lipsticky
54:38for me
54:39a little
54:40bit too
54:40bright
54:40but each
54:41to their
54:41own
54:41I'm going
54:45to cut
54:45all these
54:46tulips
54:46while they're
54:47still looking
54:47good
54:47and while
54:49I'm doing
54:49this
54:50here are
54:50your jobs
54:51for the
54:52weekend
54:52it's a
55:02little early
55:03to sow
55:04any
55:04runner
55:05or french
55:05beans
55:05direct
55:06into the
55:06soil
55:07but if you
55:08sow them
55:08into pots
55:09now
55:09they will
55:10develop
55:10into
55:11plants
55:11that you
55:12can put
55:12into
55:12the
55:13ground
55:13when the
55:14weather
55:14warms
55:14up
55:14I sow
55:15two
55:16beans
55:16to a
55:16pot
55:16water
55:17them
55:18well
55:18and keep
55:19them
55:19somewhere
55:20warm
55:20where they
55:20can
55:21germinate
55:21and grow
55:22on
55:22most
55:30daffodils
55:31are finished
55:31flowering
55:32by now
55:32so snap
55:33off the
55:34seed heads
55:34so that
55:35all the
55:35energy
55:36goes into
55:36the bulb
55:37for next
55:37year's
55:38flowering
55:38but don't
55:39cut them
55:40back
55:40any more
55:40than that
55:41and certainly
55:41no need
55:42to tie
55:42them up
55:43or tidy
55:43them
55:44in any
55:44way
55:45but allow
55:45them
55:46to die
55:46back
55:47gradually
55:47if you
55:55have been
55:55sheltering
55:56tender plants
55:57like these
55:58canners
55:58and gingers
55:59it's time
56:00to bring
56:00them outside
56:01and harden
56:02them off
56:02put them
56:03somewhere
56:04sheltered
56:04but exposed
56:06to the
56:06sun
56:07and rain
56:07go through
56:08them
56:09and remove
56:09any dead
56:10material
56:10and check
56:11that they're
56:11okay
56:12give them
56:13a drink
56:13and then
56:14in at least
56:15a week's time
56:16and maybe
56:17two
56:17you can plant
56:18them wherever
56:18you want
56:19and bring
56:36out the
56:37citrus
56:38which has
56:40spent all
56:40winter
56:41in the big
56:42greenhouse
56:42and there
56:44hasn't been
56:44heated
56:44but they
56:46have been
56:46fleeced
56:47when it
56:47got really
56:47cold
56:48and they've
56:49come through
56:49not too
56:49bad
56:50but always
56:51when you
56:51keep citrus
56:52indoors
56:52by spring
56:54they are
56:56the worst
56:56for wear
56:56they don't
56:57like it
56:58so if you've
56:59got citrus
57:00that are
57:00indoors
57:00if the risk
57:01of frost
57:02is diminishing
57:03then bring
57:03them out
57:04but if
57:05you're used
57:05to having
57:06frost
57:06right up
57:07to the
57:07middle
57:07of May
57:07wait
57:08now when
57:10you bring
57:11them outside
57:11water them
57:12give them
57:12a really
57:13good soak
57:14and you
57:14can give
57:14them a feed
57:15and either
57:16give them
57:16a liquid
57:16seaweed
57:17you could
57:17take off
57:18the top
57:18inch or
57:19so of
57:19the compost
57:20and replace
57:20it with
57:21garden compost
57:22but don't
57:22prune them
57:23yet
57:23of course
57:24the paradise
57:24garden
57:25should have
57:27fruit in it
57:27we've got
57:28the crab
57:28apples
57:29which at
57:29the moment
57:29are absolutely
57:30glorious
57:31with their
57:32blossom
57:32this is a
57:33variety
57:33called
57:34Everest
57:34quite early
57:35this year
57:36too
57:36normally
57:37this blossoms
57:38in May
57:39at the same
57:39time
57:40as the tulips
57:41are at their
57:41best
57:42but as you
57:42can see
57:42the tulips
57:43are just
57:44beginning
57:44so it's a
57:45funny year
57:46but that's
57:46always the way
57:48and part of
57:48the fun of
57:48gardening
57:49you can never
57:50predict exactly
57:51what's going to
57:52happen
57:52and that's it
57:54for this week
57:55and the next few
57:55weeks are going to
57:56be a little bit
57:56different because
57:57Joe and Rachel
57:58will be with you
57:59in a private
58:00garden in
58:01Hampshire
58:01Joe and I
58:03have come to
58:03the edge of the
58:04North Wessex
58:05Downs to visit
58:06a garden called
58:07Mulverley's
58:08in just 14
58:09years this
58:10garden has
58:10been transformed
58:11from a hodgepodge
58:12of fields
58:13and football
58:14pitches
58:14into one of
58:15the UK's
58:15most exciting
58:16and beautiful
58:17gardens
58:18and I've been
58:19lucky enough to
58:20go there
58:20and I can tell
58:21you it's an
58:21absolutely wonderful
58:23garden
58:23the week after
58:24that we shall
58:26be at the
58:27RHS
58:28Malvern Spring
58:29Festival
58:30and then in
58:31three weeks time
58:32I'll see you
58:32back here
58:33at Long Nellow
58:34and the garden
58:35will have
58:35completely changed
58:36by then
58:37so see you
58:38in three weeks
58:39time
58:39bye bye
58:53bye