Gardeners World S51e14 29-06-18
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World.
00:12At this time of year, it's always a trade-off between letting plants be free and loose and
00:20have that lovely sort of careless abandon, and yet trying to stop it looking chaotic.
00:27Lifting things up so that they hold their own, whatever the weather.
00:33And the beauty of these wire supports is that you don't really see them.
00:38They blend in very well, and you can use them for single plants or great clumps.
00:48Coming up on today's show, Frances returns to her shared allotment plot in Bristol.
00:55The allotment is really progressing, but the lovely thing about it is there's always that
00:59bit of escapism when you come up here.
01:02And we go to Kent to discover one man's passion for wild orchids.
01:08When I saw my first orchid, it felt like an emotional punch to the chest, and I still
01:13get that when I find a new orchid, even to this day.
01:16And I shall be sorting out my cottage garden borders, as well as harvesting my garlic.
01:25I've been having something of a salvia crisis, well, in particular, a salvia garinetica problem.
01:44Which is, not that I can't grow them, they grow perfectly well, I take cuttings, but
01:48they've stopped flowering for me, and that's over the last two or three years, whereas
01:53for a long time, their blue to slightly mauve-ish flowers were a mainstay of the late summer
01:59jaw garden.
02:00Now, a few weeks ago, I went to see Jimmy Blake in Ireland at his garden at Huntingbrook,
02:07and I asked him about salvias, because he's a salvia expert, and he said the key to get
02:12them flowering really well and reliably is treat them rough.
02:16Don't feed them, give them poor soil, good drainage, lots of sunshine, make them struggle,
02:22and then they will flower.
02:23So I thought I would plant a couple here in the dry garden, which has got the poorest
02:27soil at Longmeadow, it's got full sun, and see how they perform.
02:33So if I try and get in doing as little damage as possible, I've got a space in here for
02:40this plant.
02:43But you can see that this soil, if I get a handful of it here, that is not standard
02:52Longmeadow soil.
02:53It looks quite nice, but it's very gritty, it's stony.
02:57So it should be perfect for the salvias.
03:01So if I dig a hole in here as best I can, you can see it is bone-dry under there, and
03:10I've breached the stone, so this will have a tough time.
03:19It has a very strong smell, slightly pineappley, but very, very distinctive.
03:28So that goes in there like that, and backfill around it.
03:41Now, it doesn't matter how harshly you intend to treat a plant, you must water it in when
03:53you plant it, particularly at this time of year.
03:56Give it a really good soak, even if you never water it again.
04:05The dry garden at this time of year becomes slightly anarchic, which I like.
04:10Things like the steeper and the teasels and the cardoons are soaring up, but underneath
04:16we have lots of self-sown annuals and perennials.
04:19So by and large, it makes a very easy, happy mix.
04:25However, some gardens have to be made in the face of extreme circumstances and conditions.
04:33And Joe has been down to North Devon to visit one garden that exactly fits that bill.
04:44Welcome to Foamley, a stunning coastal garden packed with exotic plants, offering breathtaking
04:50views over the coastline of North Devon.
04:53It's fantastic to see so many plants from around the world thriving here on this challenging
04:59and exposed sloping site.
05:02Foamley is the home of Beth Smith, a keen gardener and plantswoman who's been cleverly
05:07curating this very special garden for 17 years.
05:12Beth, this is a stunning garden, absolutely beautiful, I have to say, an incredible view.
05:17But it's a tricky site, it's incredibly exposed, it's on a slope, it must be quite difficult
05:23to garden here.
05:24I started with very little knowledge of coastal gardening, and of course when you start a
05:28coastal garden, you have to ensure wind breaks.
05:31There were the Tamarisk hedges and the Fuchsia hedges, but I introduced more hedges.
05:36But the Tamarisk hedge is beautiful, has that been there a long time?
05:39I'm almost sure that it was planted when the house was built in 1902.
05:44I had a friend cut it with a chainsaw right to the base, right to the ground, and within
05:48a month it was shooting again.
05:50Well I love the red stems, imagine the new growth, it's going to be so beautiful.
05:55It is very beautiful, it waves in the breeze, it's very beautiful, and it's very important
05:59to the plants behind it.
06:01And the hard landscaping, and these paths and walling, and you've used slate throughout,
06:06so you've used the vernacular, and you've put that middle wall in there.
06:09Yes, that's an extra wall for soil retention, because over 30 years the soil had slipped
06:14down the slope, so we had to drag it back.
06:18We had a local craftsman, builder, come and add a dry stone wall.
06:23I had 50 tonnes of slate delivered on an empty garden, it took nearly three months to do.
06:29And then the paths and more slate, I mean everything's slate here.
06:32Yes, the shillet that you see on the paths is the leftover from all the work, but there
06:37were some big slabs which were used for steps so that we could actually come and go from
06:41top to bottom.
06:42And then at one point the craftsman said, would you like a rockery?
06:47So I said, well yes, I'd love a rockery.
06:50And it's become my favourite part of the garden.
06:54And you have a huge range of plants from all over the world.
06:57Yes, from all over the world.
06:58You're a plant collector really, aren't you?
07:00You're a plant fiend.
07:01Yes.
07:02But you hold a national collection of Flomis, you must be really passionate about Flomis.
07:08I'm not sure I'd use the word passionate, but I have come to love them very much.
07:12You've got a national collection.
07:14I know.
07:15You must love them.
07:16I love the fact that they're part of a conservation scheme.
07:19I'm keen on conservation in all its aspects.
07:22So to have some of it right here with plants, which are so vital to all of us.
07:26So yes, that does fill me with some joy.
07:29Beth, the view is just stunning, but you have to respect a view like that, and you have
07:35done with your garden.
07:36Your garden's a collection of plants, but you've still thought about how it connects
07:40to that extended landscape.
07:41Yes, it's a borrowed view.
07:43And it is our water feature.
07:46So we have to major on the water feature.
07:48I'd love to have a water feature like that, I have to say.
07:50That is some water feature.
07:53It's fabulous.
07:54Yes.
08:07This Agave Americana is just such a fantastic architectural specimen.
08:12Beth bought it for one pound in a small little pot, and look at it now.
08:16It's absolutely huge, and it looks brilliant next to this Aloe Striatula, which she says
08:21is pretty hardy as long as you've got really good drainage.
08:24A very exotic combination in the rockery part in the garden, right at the top here.
08:31And these plants have responded to the microclimate really well.
08:35That's the way Beth designed the garden.
08:37She didn't come up with a plan.
08:38She's had to respond to what she's got.
08:47Now, this plant is Phlomis rassiliana, and it's commonly available, a lot of us grow
08:52it.
08:53It's just one of Beth's national collection, and I love the way she's integrated these
08:57plants into the garden, rather than growing them separately in a botanical border.
09:02And here we've got a great composition.
09:04We've got the Frothy Alchemilla mollis next to the Cape Daisy, the lovely Osteospermum,
09:10and they lead the eye up to this wonderful Phlomis, which is in fact the most beautiful
09:14wonderful Phlomis, which is in full bloom at the moment.
09:17The bees are absolutely loving it.
09:20And in the winter, it'll keep its nice structural form, silhouetted against the low winter sun.
09:25It looks absolutely beautiful.
09:27And then cut it back in spring, it's a herbaceous form, and it'll just spring up again.
09:31I think that those three plants look just great together.
09:36Now, this is a shrubby Phlomis, so it develops a nice woody framework, reaches about a metre
09:44tall, and has these lovely soft pink whirls of flower against these soft sage green leaves.
09:51So next to it, we've got Eryngium planum, which is green now, but it'll turn a sort
09:56of silvery metallic colour when it flowers.
09:58And then beyond it, the graceful arching Oakgrass of Stipa gigantea, and then the eyes drawn
10:05up to the spine of that Echium at the back there.
10:09And really, this composition is about the different forms of the plants combining nicely
10:14together.
10:22One of the key hard landscaping elements that Beth put in when she took charge of this garden
10:26was this absolutely gorgeous retaining wall made out of slate.
10:31And when you look at the details of the wall, you see these lovely little ferns growing
10:35out of it, and it's been backfilled with soil with excellent drainage, plenty of grit added.
10:41Also, plants like succulents and alpines are growing happily alongside each other.
10:47And I love this combination of the sedum, the fleshy leaves, and the bright reds and
10:52greens coming through.
10:53And next to it, we've got this lovely little Artemisia, feathery, silvery foliage, and
10:59the combination is just beautiful.
11:02And then you remember where you are, because you can hear the crashing waves.
11:06And you turn around, and of course, there's that amazing view.
11:10And you've gone from the micro to the macro.
11:13It's astonishing.
11:30I do envy gardens with a view like that, and on a slope, to give you all the different
11:36levels.
11:37It really, really is such a beautiful setting.
11:51This is my garlic bed.
11:53Now, as you can see, it's looking a little orange, and that is because it has been afflicted
11:59by leek rust.
12:02And you can see that the leaves are covered with what the books will cheerfully call orange
12:08pustules.
12:09Now, it looks pretty bad.
12:13In fact, it's not a disaster.
12:14It's really common on leeks, hence the name, and on garlic, and you can get it on any of
12:20the Allium family.
12:21And the reason why they've got it is because about three weeks ago, we had a period of
12:26very humid, rather warm weather.
12:32The implications for this garlic is that the green leafy growth will die back, and
12:41that means that the bulb will also stop growing.
12:45Therefore, now is the time to harvest it.
12:48One of the reasons you don't worry about rust too much is that it doesn't affect the bulb.
12:57It may look a bit manky above ground, but below ground, it's perfectly edible and perfectly
13:02nice.
13:03That will be beautiful in the kitchen.
13:12These went into the ground in September.
13:15It's a very early variety called Sprint.
13:18Sprint are fairly small, and when you harvest garlic, always, always use a fork.
13:27Never yank them out of the ground, because what you don't want to break is the junction
13:33between the roots and the bulb itself, because that will stop it storing.
13:40In order to store, you need all that to be left on, and then when it's dried off completely,
13:45you can just cut it off with a knife.
13:53Just gently tease the soil off the roots.
13:57Don't be rough with those roots.
14:04The vast majority of these are going to be stored and eaten across the next 12 months.
14:09So the next thing to do is to dry them.
14:11The easiest way is to leave them on the ground if it's not going to rain, and they can stay
14:14outside unharmed for days if it remains dry.
14:18But as soon as it rains, or if you think it's going to rain, bring them in.
14:21Store them where there's lots of ventilation.
14:25In the past, I've made a rack with chicken wire and laid them on that, but recently,
14:32I tend to keep them in the greenhouse, and they will take at least two and sometimes
14:37three or even four weeks to properly dry.
14:39Now, I've had a vegetable plot all my adult life.
14:43I've grown vegetables since I was a small boy, and I just take it for granted.
14:48But increasingly, young people in their 20s and early 30s just don't have access to any
14:54land, and Frances has been in that position.
14:58And it's not until this year that she's been able to find an allotment, which she is sharing
15:03down in Bristol, and that's where we find her.
15:13With Luke away on holiday, I'm holding the fort, and there's plenty to be getting on
15:18with.
15:20Luke has allowed me to share part of this allotment, but it's still quite a big responsibility
15:24being here on my own.
15:27The allotment is really progressing, and it is incredible how quickly time flies when
15:32you're here working away.
15:33But the lovely thing about it is there's always that bit of escapism when you come up here.
15:39The big bit of news is that finally, these raised beds are all finished.
15:43I have the top four, and Luke has the bottom two, so he has some sweet peas and things
15:46growing down there.
15:47And I'm turning this, my last bed, into a Brassica bed, so I'm planting the kale sprouts
15:52that I had growing in the polytunnel.
15:54I think we've spent so much time building stuff and improving the dreadful soil that
15:58actually the plants have taken a little bit of a back seat, which is slightly a shame,
16:02but I think what I'm going to do is plant some flowering plants and a bit more lush
16:05growth just to make it look a little bit nicer.
16:08But the chard is looking really good, and there are two courgettes forming on those
16:13plants, which is very exciting, but there's plenty more to show you.
16:19When you plant any Brassicas, it's essential that you net them to protect them from cabbage
16:23white butterflies and from birds.
16:26This is the seating area that Luke's been building, and it's really lovely because it's
16:33surrounded by fruit trees, so eventually, in years to come, it'll be a very private
16:37and secluded area.
16:41These two beds are coming on nicely, but it's a bit of a mixed bag, so here the blackfly
16:46have attacked my broad beans.
16:48I'm not too worried because there are loads of ladybirds eating them, which is nice, it's
16:52a whole ecosystem, and also my chickpeas, which are the ones I'm really interested in
16:56growing because I've never grown them before, are doing well, so if the broad beans are
17:00a decoy, that's fine by me.
17:01And the flowers all around are coming up really nicely, so hopefully that'll be looking very
17:05lovely soon.
17:08My sweetcorn are doing quite well, but the rocket that's planted in between them has
17:12begun to flower, so I'm just going to cut those flowers off and encourage it to regenerate
17:17a little bit.
17:19And I can see that the slug problem, if you remember from last time, although it's still
17:25here, the sheep's wool's doing all right.
17:28The eggshells maybe aren't doing quite as well, and I can see that Luke's put some beer
17:31traps down as well on his side, so I think it's fair to say I won that little experiment.
17:39That job done, on to the next one.
17:43With Luke away, he's left me in charge of finishing the herb garden at the top of the
17:48plot.
17:50But before I start planting, there's a group nearby who really know a thing or two about
17:54herbs.
17:55They even have their own medicine garden.
17:58This I have to see.
18:01Vex Griffiths, along with a group of trained herbalists, set up the garden six years ago
18:06in the hope of growing plants for medicinal purposes.
18:09One community project supported by this is Herbalists Without Borders, which is now making
18:15a real difference.
18:18Herbalists Without Borders is a project to provide free herbal medicine for migrants
18:24who have trouble accessing healthcare.
18:27We make the herbal medicines by either growing the herbs or harvesting wild herbs.
18:33To practice as you do, you do actually need a lot of training and kind of qualifications
18:38to do that.
18:40I am a medical herbalist, that's four years training, and I see people in a clinic.
18:44So we've got about 60, 70 different varieties of herbs, and we've divided them into body
18:50systems.
18:51We're standing by the lung bed, so these are all herbs that can help with chest infection,
18:57they can help with inflammation or help get phlegm off the chest.
19:01Behind you is the wellbeing bed, and that's like a lot of the herbs to do with calming
19:06people, supporting with depression, melancholy, anxiety.
19:11We have valerian, it's a very good sedative sleep herb, it can really help with a deep
19:16restful sleep.
19:17I've got marshmallow here, it's very soothing, very cooling, so we use it for any inflammation
19:23of the stomach, the chest.
19:25Amazing.
19:26So marshmallows are good for you?
19:27Marshmallows?
19:28Well, not the marshmallows you buy in the shop.
19:31We're setting up a herb garden on our allotment, do you have any advice about how to get things
19:36to thrive here?
19:38I would say first know your varieties, because a lot of herbs have cultivars as well, so
19:43we like to get the original herb, the wild herb, so it's good to know the botanical name.
19:49And then don't feed the herbs, because if you feed them, they don't have enough challenge,
19:56so they don't produce the secondary metabolites, which are these chemicals that plants produce
20:01to fend off an insect attack or they will heal a wound, and these secondary metabolites
20:06are actually the medicine, the medicine for them and the medicine for us.
20:11Never underestimate the power of plants, and always seek advice from a trained expert or
20:15health professional if you want to use them medicinally.
20:26To prepare this bed for the herbs, it took a lot of weeding and breaking up of the clay
20:33soil.
20:34I put cardboard in, compost and some grip, because a lot of Mediterranean herbs need
20:38very good drainage.
20:39And when I'm placing these out, I'm trying to be aware of containing things like mint
20:44and lemon balm in smaller sections so they don't go too mad or else they can spread a
20:49little bit far.
20:50A herb I absolutely love is lemon verbena.
20:54It makes a great tea, but it also has an incredible smell.
20:58It gets quite big, but as long as you cut it back fairly regularly, which we will be
21:02because we'll be using it, it will be alright in this space here.
21:09People always rave about lavender, but I think, with very good reason, it looks fantastic,
21:13it smells fantastic, and the flowers are amazing for pollinators, bees, absolutely cover them
21:19in the summer.
21:20It flowers all summer and all autumn, and it has amazing culinary uses, as well as being
21:25really good for relaxing, so I think it's a bit of an all-rounder, really.
21:43It's amazing the difference it makes finally actually tasting something that you've planted
21:47on your allotment.
21:48I can't wait for Luke to come back and see all the work that I've done, and share a nice
21:51cup of tea with him in this very spot.
21:53Job well done, I think.
22:05I wish just everybody had access to an allotment of some sort, but even if you have got access
22:11to space, it doesn't guarantee success.
22:13I've got good garlic, these spuds are looking good, I've even got reasonable parsnips this
22:19year.
22:20But this area here has been sown with carrots, and they should be up here by now, thick and
22:28carrot-y.
22:29As it is, I've got about seven.
22:31Total failure.
22:33In fact, this has happened to me before, and I suspect it's happened to you too, if you've
22:37grown carrots over any time.
22:39They are surprisingly erratic to germinate.
22:43Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, your techniques, or the soil.
22:46It's just what carrots do sometimes.
22:48And it's not too late to have another sowing now, which you can start to harvest at the
22:52end of summer, and will sit in the ground all winter for you to draw upon whenever you
22:57need them.
22:58And what I do is simply, on the same spot, just rake it over, loosen the soil a bit,
23:05and re-sow it.
23:07Now the last lot I grew in rows, but I'm going to broadcast these, and the technique I use
23:13for broadcasting is in rows created by boards.
23:19So we'll put a board there like that, and then this other board, something like that.
23:27So where the boards are will be clean lines, where I can distinguish the difference between
23:31little weeds growing and the carrots.
23:34Now I'm going to sow a variety that not only have I never grown before, but I've never
23:38heard of before.
23:40It is called Nigel.
23:44This is Nigel the carrot.
23:46So just a light sprinkle, and I'm going to make this packet cover the whole of this area.
23:57And they should germinate in about two weeks.
24:20It has been very dry here.
24:22So by soaking the soil, that will stimulate germination, and I really don't need to water
24:27them again unless we have a real drought, in which case we won't be wanting to waste
24:31water on the garden.
24:32So that's it.
24:33If they don't germinate, I've missed the boat this year.
24:37But I think they will.
24:38I think we'll have Nigel carrots by September.
24:46Now still to come, Nick goes to see the newly refurbished temperate house at Kew, and Adam
24:53visits a community garden right in the heart of Birmingham.
25:04At this point of summer, you sometimes have to make some tough decisions because the garden
25:10is performing wonderfully well.
25:11The cottage garden here is just overflowing with roses, there's colour everywhere.
25:16But you have to see the big picture, and a lot of plants have gone over.
25:23We have the remnants of the forget-me-nots, dead, dry, and these are biannuals that will
25:29die back now, set their seed, and new plants will grow next year.
25:32There are dead leaves from the daffodils that were in here.
25:36They've completely died back now.
25:38So the job is to clear all the early flowering stuff out the way, see what gaps we've got,
25:46and then introduce new plants to extend the flowering season.
25:49So I'm going to start making a mess.
25:53The art of keeping a garden looking really good all the year round is one of constant
26:00tinkering.
26:01And in order to keep succession coming through, you have to keep adding plants, taking away,
26:06cutting back, encouraging, teasing, trying things out, and that's what I love about gardening.
26:13It's the art of gardening, not just the jobs that can be ticked off.
26:22Plenty of bare soil.
26:23So I'm going to start to fill that up again.
26:25I've got some nice new dahlias that I picked up at Gardeners World Live.
26:30Have a look at these.
26:31Now, this is a dahlia with the slightly unfortunate name of Honka Fragile, but don't be put off
26:44by that because there are a number of things I really like about it.
26:47One is the unusual star-shaped flowers, and this manages to combine strength and a degree
26:54of delicacy.
26:56And what I was particularly looking for, and increasingly am with dahlias, are tall, upright
27:01plants that will hold their own, that won't need a huge amount of staking, and you can
27:05put at the back or the middle of a border to give it vertical structure as well as horizontal.
27:10And I think this will do the job really well.
27:13So let's put it in position at the back and see if that's going to work.
27:19Like that.
27:22The great thing to remember when you put in dahlias or any tenderish plants at this time
27:28of year is that they are not permanent.
27:31The dahlia will be lifted and put into storage in November.
27:35So it's just got to perform for the second half of summer and into autumn.
27:41Dahlias will grow in light shade.
27:43They like sunshine, and you should give it to them when you can, but if you've got dappled
27:47shade, they will flower perfectly well.
27:50OK, moving on.
27:55I am going to introduce this foxglove.
27:59I'm really keen on foxgloves at the moment.
28:02This is called polka dot pippa.
28:03It's got a pink touch with apricot and then this yellowy back.
28:08And I think that will work really well when you think of it with the achillea, with the
28:12lutea, with the rose.
28:14This is picking up those colours with a touch of pink.
28:18And it is sterile.
28:20So it will not set seed, but it's perennial.
28:24I'm going to plant these in a group, I think, in this space here.
28:33These plants will last three, four, even five years, and they will flower long after other
28:39foxgloves have set seed and got ready for the next year.
28:43Yeah, I think they look great.
28:45And of course, the forget-me-nots and the daffodils and everything else will grow up
28:49through and around them before they flower the next spring.
28:52Now, the secret of this is very tight control.
28:55It may look natural, but it's fine-tuning in great detail.
29:00But you can enjoy plants without any control whatsoever.
29:04To walk through the countryside at this time of year, enjoying wildflowers is just as much
29:09of a treat as visiting a garden.
29:12And we now go to Kent to join an enthusiast who gets his thrills from one particular group
29:20of wildflowers.
29:27My name's John Dunn.
29:28I'm a nature writer from Shetland.
29:30My passion has been natural history for many years, but I have a particular fascination
29:35with orchids.
29:42When I saw my first orchid, it was like falling in love.
29:45I was only nine years old.
29:47I didn't know that at the time, but it felt like an emotional punch to the chest.
29:53And I still get that when I find a new orchid, even to this day.
29:58The orchid in question, it was an early purple orchid, so it's one of the first ones to flower
30:02in Britain.
30:04And it's a slender orchid, which is an absolutely staggeringly beautiful plant, at least as
30:10exotic as its tropical counterparts.
30:18I'm not a ticker.
30:19I don't just want to see these things once and tick them off a list.
30:23That's not what does it for me.
30:24There's always a sense of appreciation of the beauty of each individual flower.
30:34When I saw my first lady orchid, it was a revelation, because they're not like some
30:40orchids, which are quite small and unassuming, but a lady orchid is a magnificent thing.
30:46They're tall, they're architectural, they've got beautiful structure.
30:51With the white frilly dress and the purple bonnet, but of course they vary wildly.
30:59You get pure white ones with apple green bonnets, and then you go right through to very dark,
31:04siffused, burgundy all over ones as well.
31:14There's 23,000 species worldwide, I think, possibly more.
31:18They vary in form.
31:20That's one of the particular charms about them.
31:22They come in all shapes and sizes and colours, but they all have one thing in common.
31:27They all have three petals, three sepals, and one of the petals is marvelously developed
31:33over and above its counterparts, and that's to act as a lure for pollinators.
31:41Here we've got one of the classic orchids of the woodland margin.
31:47This is a greater butterfly orchid, and they've got a really long spur at the back of each
31:52flower, which contains a small quantity of nectar at the very tip, and so only a pollinator
31:58with a really long tongue can reach that.
32:01They rest their forelegs on the wings of the flower and insert their proboscis down
32:06to drink from the nectar, and in so doing, their foreheads come into contact with the
32:11pollen on the orchid, and when they fly away and go back to another butterfly orchid, pollination
32:17ensues.
32:24People might assume that you can't grow native orchids, terrestrial orchids, in their garden,
32:30but for the most part, that's right.
32:31The ones which grow in the wild in Britain don't transplant into gardens.
32:35They invariably will die, but sometimes wild orchids will choose us and will actually turn
32:40up in our gardens under their own steam.
32:46Orchid seed is dust fine, and sometimes will just blow from a nearby wild population into
32:51a garden.
32:52Sometimes it's as simple as people going away on holiday for a few weeks and not mowing
32:56the lawn, and suddenly they'll come back and find they've got a beautiful stand of
33:00autumn ladies' tresses there in the lawn, which they never knew were there.
33:07But having said that, you can get some from specialist nurseries, which will do really
33:11well in the garden, as long as they're in conditions which are similar to those they've
33:15found in the wild.
33:17There's one particular family, the dactyloriza marsh orchids, which will do really well in
33:21the garden.
33:22They have these pink, white and purple spires of orchids, and quite prolifically too.
33:32One of my absolute favourites are monkey orchids, which are one of the rarest orchids in Britain.
33:37They're only found at three sites in the whole of the country.
33:42This reserve that the monkey orchids are flourishing on is really special because it's an ancient,
33:48undisturbed meadow.
33:49It's probably not been ploughed for decades.
33:53It's enclosed in a wooded valley, so it's really sheltered.
33:57One of those three reserves, they're at the brink of extinction, so realistically this
34:01is one of only two places in Britain where one could expect to see monkey orchids.
34:06Each individual flower looks like a tiny capering monkey, complete with little arms and legs
34:12and even a tiny monkey tail.
34:15They are absolutely one of my favourites.
34:24There are still hundreds, thousands of orchids I'd like to see, and every year I go back
34:31and see the same species I've seen before, and it's just as good.
34:37I think I'm always looking for orchids, I'm always on alert for them, I think I'm tuned
34:41into them now, it's become a lifelong obsession.
35:04It is thrilling to come across an orchid or a group of orchids when you are out for
35:11a walk, but it is worth stressing, under no circumstances ever pick one, let alone dig
35:19it up.
35:21Something I just noticed yesterday, it's still there, is a swarm of bees up in the tree.
35:27Now they come from my hives, in the last few days we've had a lot of activity, clusters
35:32of them clinging to the outside of the hive, lots of noise, and they were clearly getting
35:36ready to swarm, and what happens when they swarm is a queen leaves the hive, taking her
35:43workers with her.
35:44Which is why they've gathered like a sort of living cone, and there are thousands up
35:49there.
35:50And those that are left in the hive will rapidly start breeding, and so the process goes.
36:05I made this soft fruit area last year, and most of it was planted up with young plants
36:13that quite frankly did very little last year, they just got their roots established, didn't
36:17bear any fruits, and that was fine.
36:18But this year they're starting to bear fruit.
36:22This is a Tayberry, it's a cross between a Raspberry and a Blackberry, and I've got some
36:28fruit growing on last year's stems.
36:31It flowers and fruits on the previous year's growth.
36:36They're just beginning to show signs of ripening, and these will be ready in a few weeks' time.
36:43Last year's growth was modest by Tayberry standards, but this year's growth is twice
36:48as big.
36:49And so if I tie it in as it goes, the new stems will be in place tied and fan-shaped
36:54ready for picking next year.
36:57Now I've got a glove here because Tayberries are absolutely delicious, but they are prickly.
37:04And not just the stems, the leaves, all of it is prickly.
37:11I'll just tie this gently in place, but gloves make it ten times worse, not least because
37:17I'm clumsy enough as it is.
37:19I need another hand.
37:21Nigel, why can't you tie ties?
37:24Nell, do you want to take my glove?
37:27Lily?
37:28Here, do you want that?
37:29Come here.
37:30Good girl.
37:41Now, Tayberries are really prickly, but worth it because they're delicious.
37:50Here is a plant that has no prickles at all.
37:55This is a Blackberry.
37:56This is a variety called Apache, and it's completely thornless, absolutely smooth.
38:02You can see really vigorous, so it's a brilliant one to grow at home.
38:05They're really easy to grow.
38:07They'll take a bit of shade, they'll take sunshine, and they're truly delicious.
38:13And as long as you've got a wall of some kind, that's all you need.
38:17Now, if you think I'm sounding a little bit smug about the soft fruit, then don't think
38:21it's gone all to plan.
38:23I've had one or two problems.
38:24Come and have a look at this.
38:28I've got some Cordon gooseberries, which are fine except for the fact, look at this little
38:34blighter here.
38:36These here are gooseberry sawfly.
38:39Now, gooseberry sawfly is a little fly that lays its eggs at the heart of the plant on
38:44the underside of leaves.
38:46The eggs then hatch out and the larvae slowly eat their way through the foliage of the plant.
38:53And there are only really two ways of getting rid of them.
38:56The most practical and easiest way is to knock them off, and you can do that either by hand
39:01or with a jet of water.
39:03Just wash the bush down and that removes them.
39:05There is also a nematode that you can get, which if you apply at the right time, and
39:10like all nematodes, timing is essential, that will work as a natural kind of insecticide.
39:18But don't think about spraying them with a chemical because it's such a blunt instrument
39:22and will kill other insects, and also you don't want chemicals around fruit that you're
39:27going to eat.
39:28Now, going from everyday gardening problems to horticultural glory, because Nick has been
39:36to Kew to pay a visit to the recently refurbished Temperate House.
39:48Every time I come to Kew, I make a beeline for this building, the Temperate House.
39:54It's home to some of the rarest and most endangered plants in the world.
39:58Now it's been closed for the last five years for a £41 million restoration project, but
40:03thankfully it's finally reopened.
40:07The Kew Temperate House opened in 1863, and it's the largest Victorian glass house on
40:12the planet, covering a jaw-dropping 4,880 square metres.
40:19During its meticulous restoration, 69,000 elements of its complicated structure were
40:24removed, cleaned and repaired.
40:2615,000 new panes of glass were carefully replaced, and the plants had to be specially
40:31housed in a temporary nursery.
40:33Altogether it took 400 staff and contractors to complete this mammoth restoration project,
40:39taking nearly 2,000 days to complete.
40:44To find out more about how this incredible project was managed, I'm meeting Head of Glass
40:48Houses Greg Redwood.
40:50Greg, the restoration of a Victorian glass house on this scale must have been a really
40:56meticulous process.
40:57Yes, there was different corrosion and different problems in different parts of the house.
41:02Large bits of timber were rotting.
41:03We had scaffolding holding up bits of the house in one of the octagons.
41:06If you notice, there's lots of acanthus leaves, flowers and other decorative material.
41:11They were all screwed on, but the screws that were fixing them had started to fall off,
41:15so we had bits of falling ironwork and wood.
41:17I mean, there are thousands of plants in here.
41:19It must have been quite a process to remove everything beforehand.
41:23Yes, it's better for us to completely clear the house and replant, because then all the
41:26plants grow up together and you haven't got to try and establish a young plant under a
41:29thick canopy of evergreens.
41:32We repropagated thousands of other plants just to grow new, fresh ones.
41:36So we didn't save everything, but we repropagated everything, if you like.
41:40What specific improvements have you been able to make to the building in terms of enhancing
41:44the environment for the plants?
41:46In the 1970s, when they restored the building then, they sealed shut a number of the side
41:50ventilators both at the bottom walls and up in the roof.
41:54We reactivated all those so they all worked, so you get a crosswind through the house,
41:57which is much better for the plants.
41:59We replaced all 15,000 panes of glass, and they're letting in a massive amount more light
42:03than was happening previously.
42:06The other thing we did was put a heating trench up the centre of the house, because that had
42:09been taken away.
42:10So that's all helped to improve the environmental growing conditions for the plants.
42:14Some of them have literally grown more in the first three months than they were growing
42:16a whole year before, because the soil was tired, the air was quite stagnant, the light
42:21levels were low, so it's made a massive difference to it.
42:24And as the seasons go on, I think we'll get far better flowering and fruiting than we've
42:27ever had.
42:29The South African collection here has always been a favourite of mine, and there's one
42:33rare plant that I'm really excited to see.
42:37Your cycads and encephalitis here are superb specimens, but I understand in South Africa
42:42there's a real problem with them in the wild.
42:44They're being stolen, so they're having to be microchipped to protect them.
42:48But this chap, this encephalitis, has got a bit more of a challenge on his hands, right?
42:52Yes, this is what's referred to as the loneliest plant in the world.
42:55It's Encephalitis woodii.
42:57It was discovered in about 1895.
43:00The original clump of which this is an offset was male.
43:03No female plants have ever been found, so its future is somewhat bleak.
43:09I mean, I guess one of the reasons that cycads and encephalitis have been around for millions
43:13of years is just how tough they are.
43:15I mean, the cuticle on the outside of this leaf, it's really, really, really solid.
43:20And the cones they produce are really quite different to a conifer, aren't they?
43:24Yes, but interestingly, the whole plant is full of nasty toxins which would kill you
43:28or I if we ate any of them, but they've outlived all their predators apart from glasshouse
43:32mealybugs which they occasionally get, but we can deal with that fairly easily.
43:35So this living legend really needs a girlfriend, right?
43:39Absolutely.
43:40One day, there's one hiding away somewhere.
43:45There are so many rare and valuable plants in the temperate house that have been historically
43:49used to soothe, heal and medicate.
43:54Greg, the plant you've got lurking in the wheelbarrow there is a real favourite of mine,
43:58Catheranthus rosea or the Madagascan periwinkle.
44:01I guess a lot of people will have seen it on holidays in the Mediterranean where it's
44:04often used as a bedding plant.
44:07Yes, Nick.
44:08It contains two compounds that are extracted from it called vincristine and vimblastine
44:12and they're used to treat childhood leukaemia.
44:15Prior to the discovery of those two chemicals, the prognosis for survival was one in ten.
44:20After the use of these chemicals, it's about nine in ten, so it's made a huge difference.
44:25So that's why it's important to save any plant because we don't know what chemicals most
44:29plants contain yet and what diseases they could potentially cure in the future.
44:34The thing that also always surprises me about medicinal plants is, nearly without exception,
44:39they're all extremely poisonous, aren't they?
44:42Yes.
44:43And so the key message really is it's all about taking the right dose rate as prescribed
44:47to you by a doctor and never self-medicating.
44:49Absolutely.
44:50And I would never advise people to self-medicate with any plants because they could potentially
44:53kill themselves.
44:55So useful and incredibly beautiful.
44:58Yes.
45:01The main ethos of the temperate house is planting for the future.
45:04A staggering 10,000 new plants have been installed here.
45:10Looks like a pretty healthy leucodendron you've got.
45:13So many fibrous roots down the edge here.
45:18Turn it a little bit that way so that branch goes into the gap.
45:20Okay.
45:21That's perfect.
45:22Now, I notice that the soil, the medium that you're using is really quite kind of coarse,
45:28quite sharply drained.
45:29Yes.
45:30This is a special mix that we have made for the South African plants.
45:33So it's got composted bark, coir, loam, and coarse horticultural grit.
45:38And it's also very low in phosphorus because these plants, or the proteaceae family, have
45:42all evolved in areas where it's low in phosphorus.
45:44All of the trees and shrubs in here will be in here for a long time, so we're planting
45:47for future generations as well as ourselves.
45:49Fantastic.
45:50I mean, I always admire so much the work of Botanic Gardens.
45:53Of course, it's all about conservation, preservation, and education.
45:57It's happening actively here in this newly restored house.
46:00It's brilliant to see it.
46:01So keep up the good work, and thank you very much.
46:04Thank you.
46:14I love Kew, and I first visited the temperate house 40 years ago, so I can't wait to go
46:22back and see it restored to its full glory.
46:27It's tempting at this time of year just to let things carry on a little bit more.
46:41Take the early flowering geraniums like geranium farm here.
46:45It's still flowering, and will go on flowering for much of the summer, but less and less
46:50until there's just the odd little flower showing.
46:54But by cutting it back hard now, you do two things.
46:57One, it'll grow back and will flower with re-infused energy and vigor, and also you
47:03create space around it which you can plant into, and that will boost the performance
47:08later on in the summer.
47:10And next to it, I've got an oriental poppy looking very bedraggled now, but if I cut
47:16that back, again, right to the ground, that will regrow and may well re-flower in late
47:22August and September.
47:23So we'll cut that back.
47:27So at this critical point in the year, now's the time to cut back, accept that the garden
47:32will look a little bit raggedy for a week or two, and then it will pick up again and
47:37last you into autumn.
47:44This can be a sort of process of being honest with your garden, because when you cut away
47:52things like this geranium farm, it does expose a lot of empty space within the border.
47:56It means that it's been dominant.
47:58But that's no bad thing.
47:59It's a chance to reassess, to add plants, maybe take some of that geranium out.
48:03Now, this kind of work is very individual.
48:07You're making decisions as you go along.
48:09But working with other people and sharing work is not just fun.
48:14It's been proven to be really therapeutic, good for our physical, mental and social well-being.
48:22And Adam has been along to see an inner-city community project at its best.
48:32Squeezed in between high-rise and residential streets in Edgbaston, Birmingham, is a totally
48:38unexpected space, a six-acre oasis of calm in the heart of this city.
48:46This is Martinoo Gardens, a community garden which has become a beacon for relaxation and
48:53education.
48:54Caroline Hutton is the glue here.
49:00She came in 17 years ago when this area was under threat of closure and helped regenerate
49:07it.
49:09When you came in, I suppose, what was the ambition?
49:13Just to be able to be open for another year.
49:15Yeah, so it literally was that, just step by step.
49:18Yes, yes.
49:19It was to keep the place open for the people of Birmingham.
49:22Yeah.
49:23And in that sense, what do you think it brings to the community?
49:27A place which feels like you can get lost in.
49:31Yeah.
49:32And a place where people can meet one another.
49:36Our gardens are looked after by people with mental health issues and learning disabilities.
49:41Those are people who are usually excluded.
49:44And here, they are doing something which is socially acceptable.
49:50They're volunteering in a garden.
49:52This place is very much about people, isn't it?
49:55Yes.
49:56And we like to say that plants and people both need the right environment to grow.
50:06I love that.
50:12And that sense of empowerment is what it's all about.
50:15OK, guys, what you want to do is dig yourself a hole a little bit bigger than the pot.
50:21Project Leader Stuart runs a programme of horticultural therapy for 40 volunteers who
50:26have a range of health and learning difficulties.
50:31What do you think that people will get out of it?
50:34You could make mistakes with plants.
50:36Plants will grow again, you know what I mean?
50:38They're forgiving.
50:39No, they're not going to talk back at you.
50:41So what do you think that gives them?
50:42Do you think that, what, is it confidence?
50:44Do they feel relaxed when they come in?
50:46It's their space.
50:47They've created all this.
50:49So it gives them ownership as well.
50:51And it's that nature nurture thing.
50:53So once you start to look after something, you then start to look after yourself as well,
50:57especially with mental health.
50:59It's really engaging, isn't it?
51:01I think once you've got your hands in the soil and you've got the light trickling off
51:04the rill here and the smells, you're distracted.
51:08You're not focusing on your illness.
51:11And you've got a new area, mate, that you're working on.
51:14What was the thinking behind it?
51:16We just wanted to improve the therapeutic quality of the garden.
51:19And what better way to do it with new shrubs, new plants that give off perfumes and scents,
51:24which the volunteers designed.
51:26Without them, this wouldn't be here.
51:28No.
51:29It really wouldn't be here.
51:30So you guys haven't finished this quite yet?
51:32Not yet.
51:33I'm here to help, aren't I, if that's all right?
51:35Lead the way.
51:47Come on then, mate.
51:49See if it's deep enough, mate, shall we?
51:52It's not bad, is it?
51:53Not bad?
51:55How has it worked with you since the first time you came to the way you feel now?
52:00Well, it made a huge difference for me.
52:03Because of the kind of isolation I was coming through my illness,
52:08as soon as I walked through them gates,
52:12it's a completely different world to me.
52:15And it was so tranquil and, you know, it's that nature part of me.
52:21And it just makes me forget about the problems I have.
52:26And it's given me a self-esteem back.
52:31Brian and Andrew are the mothmen
52:33and have been recording the moths
52:35that have come through the garden for over ten years.
52:39Oh, oh, oh, oh!
52:40Another hawk moth.
52:41Oh, look!
52:42It's well-behaved.
52:44How often would you get something like that?
52:46You'd get a few at a year.
52:49How many species would you get coming to the garden?
52:52On our moth list, we've got 350.
52:55Have you really?
52:56Yes, yes.
52:57But it proves, though, doesn't it,
52:58you know, you've, in a sense,
52:59this is a green oasis in the middle of a city.
53:02Yes.
53:03And what that attracts is unbelievable, really, isn't it?
53:06Well, that's right.
53:07So even in a city you can find that many.
53:09Yeah.
53:10Right, let's see what else we've got.
53:12Ooh, another one.
53:13Another one?
53:14Yes.
53:15Oh, look!
53:16Another hawk moth.
53:17Really?
53:19Look at that.
53:21They really are stunning, aren't they?
53:23Ooh, another one.
53:25Really?
53:26Yeah.
53:27Really?
53:28Yeah.
53:29God.
53:30Andrew, your knowledge, mate, is fantastic.
53:32What do you think this place gives to the community?
53:35What we're seeing is that the wildlife is thriving...
53:38Yeah.
53:39..as a result of the way that we manage the site.
53:42How many have we got today?
53:44One little count-up, just give us a rough idea.
53:46Right, I'll make it 17.
53:4817.
53:49Yeah, see, look, there we go.
53:50One session.
53:51I can be your lucky mascot.
53:53Or lucky moth-scot.
53:55There you go.
53:57The moths will be released
53:59once Brian and Andrew have finished identifying them.
54:05Caroline is in the process of passing on the baton,
54:08but she's left quite a legacy.
54:12What Caroline's done here is fantastic,
54:15and she really is a gardening hero.
54:18But the stand-out bit for me is that
54:20she's created a whole team of heroes,
54:23and that's what makes this a really special place.
54:40We occasionally get hawk moths here,
54:43but I've certainly never seen more than one at a time.
54:48Now, these are a couple of rows of wallflowers
54:51that I sowed about a month ago,
54:53and they've germinated well.
54:55The idea with wallflowers, or any biennium,
54:58is to grow a really good, strong plant
55:01between now and autumn.
55:03Towards that end, I need to thin them out.
55:05So to start with, I'm just going to thin out the smaller ones,
55:09like that, and look to leave a gap
55:12of about an inch between each plant.
55:16I will then, in about another month's time,
55:19lift them and space them out about six inches apart.
55:30If you haven't sown wallflowers, it's not too late to do so,
55:33and I will sow another couple of batches.
55:36And if you don't want to sow wallflowers,
55:39here are some other jobs you can do this weekend.
55:50In order to keep roses flowering for as long as possible,
55:54it is important to deadhead regularly, daily, if you can.
55:59And don't just pull off the spent petals,
56:02but using a sharp pair of secateurs,
56:05prune right back to the next side shoot,
56:08be it a leaf or a bud.
56:11If you're growing cordon tomatoes,
56:14you want to maximize the amount of fruit per plant.
56:18So pinch out the side shoots
56:21that grow between the main stem and the leaf,
56:24as they take a lot of the energy away from the cordon.
56:28And as you do so, make sure that it is tied in securely.
56:32As soft fruit ripens, be it raspberries, currants, or cherries,
56:37it is important to protect them from birds.
56:40Just drape a temporary netting over it,
56:43fixing it firmly at the top or the bottom,
56:46and also making sure it's taut so the birds can't get tangled.
56:49And leave it on for as long as it takes,
56:52until the flowers are ready to bloom.
56:55Fixing it firmly at the top or the bottom,
56:57and also making sure it's taut so the birds can't get tangled.
57:00And leave it on for as long as it takes,
57:03for the fruit to fully ripen and be harvested.
57:18I planted ramblers and climbers
57:21at the base of many of the apple trees here in the orchard
57:25about three years ago.
57:27And it took a year or two for them to get established,
57:29but they are there now.
57:31This is a rose called Albertine,
57:33and it has the most fabulous fragrance.
57:36And it is starting to climb up the tree.
57:39And obviously you have to help it a bit and tie it in,
57:42but the idea is to make it look as artless as possible.
57:46So it's a continuing job,
57:49but I'm afraid we are not continuing
57:52because we've run out of time.
57:54And I shan't be back here at Longmeadow next week
57:57because it's Hampton Court and the team will all be there.
58:01And I will be returning here with you, I hope,
58:05on Thursday 12th July
58:08at a slightly later time of nine o'clock.
58:11So I'll see you then. Bye-bye.
58:19¶¶