Gardeners World S52e09 03-05-19
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello, and welcome to Gardener's World.
00:21A few of you might be a bit surprised,
00:23but Monty's away for a week,
00:24so I get to play in my garden for a whole hour,
00:28which feels pretty exciting, it really does.
00:32I'm just adding a little bit of detail
00:33to the woodland here.
00:34I've got the gravel path that comes down the front,
00:37and I've played with these perimolas in the path,
00:40and I'm just starting to now feed them
00:41into the front of this woodland,
00:43and they'll work really well
00:45in semi-shady conditions quite happily.
00:48And here as well, the soil is really quite moist.
00:51What I love about them is you've got these series
00:54of beautiful bells that make this near-perfect globe.
00:59Been here for about three years now.
01:01I'm honest, it's taken me that long
01:03to really get my head round the garden
01:06and start to understand it.
01:09And on top of that, I think it's only sort of now
01:11that I'm starting to add my personality to the space.
01:21On today's program, Carol celebrates
01:23a spectacular display of tulips
01:25at Dunsborough Park in Surrey.
01:28Tulips are such magical bulbs
01:30to incorporate into your garden,
01:33and so brilliant to mix with other plants.
01:36We meet a passionate elder enthusiast
01:38who's made growing these beautiful plants his life's work.
01:42This is a hybrid I did in 2011.
01:45It has very large flowers.
01:47They can get as big as a dustbin lid.
01:50And I'll be adding some hedging around a new water feature,
01:53and then something just a little bit different
01:55to the veg garden.
01:58As you can imagine, I have not sat still
02:17over the winter months.
02:19I've been busy digging up areas of the lawn,
02:22and I've now created myself another bed.
02:25But I've really prepped this soil,
02:27so I've done lots of manuring.
02:29And then started with the structural planting,
02:31which I've put in at the back there.
02:33And yeah, I have spent a few quid on the larger shrubs,
02:36but most of them were presents.
02:38My kids think I'm a little bit sad
02:39because I asked for,
02:40oh, can I have a Salix for Christmas?
02:43And then I've started to build,
02:44put this rhythm all the way through
02:46with the cardoons and the lictrums.
02:49But today, I just want to put a little bit more color
02:51through the border.
02:52So I've got this Euphorbia fireglow,
02:54which is a fantastic plant, actually.
02:56It's a hard worker,
02:56but when it first comes out on the ground,
02:58it literally does look like little flames.
03:00Put a couple in about a week ago to see how they looked,
03:03and I'm pleased.
03:04So what I do now is just start to build on that.
03:11And then I've got this Polymonium,
03:13which is Bressingham purple.
03:15Really lovely plant that just keeps flowering and flowering.
03:18And I put this Circium in down here,
03:21which has got a beautiful sort of ruby flower.
03:24When you put the blue next to that,
03:26you can see they're just going to work really well together.
03:33I'm pleased with that.
03:35And then this, Geum, totally tangerine,
03:39which for me has got to be one of the best ones.
03:41Do you know, I used to avoid orange for years,
03:44but it's interesting, you know,
03:45set alone, it can be really quite fiery,
03:47and I suppose glary, even.
03:49But the moment you start to blend it
03:52with things like the blues,
03:54it becomes a completely different creature.
03:56And these really work hard, work in most soils,
04:00but they'll keep flowering if you keep trimming them back.
04:04And then I just sort of keep building,
04:05working it along the border.
04:11So actually, if I get down,
04:13I can really start to understand that rhythm.
04:18What I've got to do now is get them in.
04:24When I'm digging holes,
04:29I always make sure the hole
04:31is about twice the size of the pot.
04:35Don't plant them too deep.
04:37Make sure that when you're filling back in around the plant,
04:41you break this soil up.
04:42You don't want any air pockets.
04:49Do you know, I think Euphorbia
04:50is maybe a slightly underrated plant.
04:54I think this time of year,
04:56they really bring life to the garden.
05:00I just work that in.
05:01And I can see now, I've got that Calumagrostis
05:03sat in the back there, that strong vertical,
05:05and Euphorbia will just clump up
05:07and sit really nice in front of it,
05:09get up to about a meter, I suppose.
05:17This Polymonium's a beautiful plant,
05:20and I've got it at the edge of the woodland as well,
05:21so it'll grow in sun,
05:23but also happily in sort of semi-shade.
05:29I'm going to show you something with this.
05:32I can actually feel that these are quite soft,
05:35which means they've probably been grown
05:37under glass or in a tunnel.
05:40What I'm going to do,
05:42you think I'm mad,
05:44I'm just going to cut those flowers off.
05:47And what'll happen now is that plant,
05:48the roots will get down into the ground,
05:51and it'll flower in a few weeks' time.
05:53Probably normally sit, again, just under a meter.
06:02This ain't really satisfying, isn't it,
06:03about adding new plants to your garden?
06:10See, wow, that does need breaking up.
06:13So that's probably last year's stock.
06:15If I don't break that up,
06:17what'll happen is very likely
06:18the roots will just keep going round in circles.
06:23It might look a bit rough,
06:24but that will stimulate the growth.
06:28We can be a little bit driven at times
06:30by color, color, color,
06:31but if you look in here,
06:34I've got some really lovely contrasting foliages.
06:37You've got the Circeum,
06:38which has got a beautiful thistle-y leaf,
06:40and then you've got your Geum here,
06:42a different foliage again.
06:43Even when that flower's gone,
06:45there's still going to be interest
06:47that carries you through the season.
06:49All right, let's get these last two in.
06:58So that will flower its little heart out,
07:00and I'll keep deadheading it,
07:02and it'll keep going probably for a couple of months.
07:04Get up to two to three foot,
07:06so nearly a meter of flower on there.
07:09Soil-wise, it just loves a sort of a reasonable garden soil.
07:14Decent amount of moisture content in there as well,
07:16and it'll be happy as Larry.
07:30So we water this in well,
07:32settle that soil in around the roots,
07:36and then the border will really kick on through the season,
07:38giving me that sort of contrast of color and foliage.
07:42But this time of year, who does not love a tulip?
07:46And Carol has gone to Dansborough Park in Surrey
07:49to enjoy their wonderful display.
07:57Tulips make you happy.
07:59They're one of our most popular bulbs,
08:01and surely the most charismatic by far.
08:05They're so diverse, and the color range is unbelievable.
08:10Look at each one individually, and it's a masterpiece,
08:14but see them en masse,
08:17and the impact is truly breathtaking.
08:22The tulip is a member of the lily family,
08:25and there are around 75 species with many more hybrids.
08:30They come in a myriad of forms
08:33and are divided into 15 different groups
08:36with names like Double Early, Darwin, and Triumph,
08:40which reflect differences in their flower size,
08:43structure, form, and habit.
08:46Now, these are highly cultivated tulips,
08:50but their wild ancestors live up in the mountains
08:54all along the Tian Shan Range,
08:56which stretches from China right through to Turkey,
09:00and winters there are freezing cold,
09:03whereas summers are hugely hot,
09:07and that's exactly what tulip bulbs need.
09:09They've evolved to live under those conditions.
09:12The more we can replicate those conditions,
09:15the happier our tulips are going to be.
09:20Tulips are such magical bulbs
09:22to incorporate into your garden,
09:24and so brilliant to mix with other plants.
09:29How about that for a vivacious combination?
09:32It's full of the joys of spring.
09:35This gorgeous, creamy white tulip is Purissima,
09:39otherwise known as White Emperor,
09:41and here it's accompanied by a classic daffodil.
09:45This is Thalia, one of the triandrous daffs,
09:48and it's just so gorgeous,
09:51and then if you look underneath,
09:52this is a really exciting part.
09:55You can see the things that are going to take over
09:57from the tulips when they're finished.
09:59There's big clumps of geraniums here,
10:03and the whole thing is overlooked
10:04by these gorgeous wisteria.
10:07It's just delightful.
10:09It makes you wish you'd done it yourself.
10:20This is a really exciting planting.
10:23The whole idea is that the color is graded
10:26from palest yellow through brilliant yellows to oranges,
10:30and ending up with almost fiery reds.
10:33It's a lovely idea.
10:36These are all Darwin tulips,
10:38most of them forms of Appledorn.
10:41If you see any tulip with Appledorn in its title,
10:44you can bet it's going to be a really grand tulip.
10:48I love the way they've used it so simply
10:50with this blue muscari.
10:53You don't even need a garden, really,
10:55just in a container,
10:56you're planting up your muscari
10:58and your tulips at the same time,
11:00and then waiting for the next spring to let them rip.
11:10You nearly need your sunglasses on to look at this border.
11:14It's just so full of vibrant color.
11:17This one's called Tompoose,
11:19and it's a triumph tulip,
11:21really strong and steadfast.
11:23But here's oranges on.
11:25This is a Darwin,
11:27and Darwins are really reliable tulips
11:29that'll come up year after year often.
11:32But what's so striking here
11:35is the way that they're combined
11:37with these emerging perennials.
11:39Look at this Rheum, Ace of Hearts,
11:41and it goes perfectly with this tulip,
11:44but equally well with oranges on here.
11:47So you can glory in the tulips now
11:49and look forward with anticipation
11:52to what's coming next.
11:57This is the tulip meadow.
11:59It's glorious.
12:01Here, tulips are planted randomly
12:04in the grass under these huge oak trees.
12:07The whole idea is that
12:09when you're growing tulips normally,
12:11you'll grow them for the first year,
12:12and they're absolutely magnificent.
12:15But in their second year,
12:17very often people will come back
12:18and they'll have to wait a year
12:20for the tulips to come back.
12:21So you've got to be careful
12:23and you've got to be careful
12:24and you've got to be careful
12:25In the second year,
12:26very often people will just discard them.
12:29The flowers aren't quite as good.
12:31The tulips aren't quite so spectacular.
12:34But here, instead of doing that,
12:36they bring them all over to the meadow
12:38and they plant them.
12:39They all blend together brilliantly,
12:42creating this sort of impressionistic effect.
12:47One other thing that I love about it
12:49is because some of these tulips are early,
12:52some of them are later,
12:53so this display will continue for weeks and weeks.
12:57And doesn't it just make you joyous looking at it?
13:13Everybody can grow tulips successfully.
13:16Just follow a few simple guidelines.
13:19First of all, choose really good bulbs.
13:22When you've got your bulbs,
13:23choose the sunniest spot you can
13:26and dig your holes nice and deep.
13:28Eight inches isn't too deep.
13:31And if your soil is on the heavy side,
13:33then line the holes with grit
13:35and incorporate some to the planting mixture as well.
13:38They need good drainage.
13:41Plant them late.
13:42Here, they plant them in December
13:44and that guarantees that you're going to get flowers
13:47of really good quality
13:49because they'll be subject to that period of cold.
13:53When they finish flowering, don't let them go to seed.
13:57Take off the flowering stem,
13:59but let the foliage dive back down into the bulbs
14:02because that will swell them
14:04and give you better flowers the next year.
14:07And if you've no garden, no worry.
14:09They love growing in pots.
14:16I love tulips.
14:18I love their colour, their diversity,
14:21and their forms.
14:22They're beautiful.
14:23And at this time of year,
14:25nothing can hold a candle to them.
14:41I love Carol's enthusiasm
14:43every time she's talking about a plant, whatever it is.
14:46But I can't help but agree with that.
14:48Tulips, they are absolutely magical.
14:52You know what I love about gardens, though,
14:53is they really carry you through the season.
14:55As one thing disappears, another arrives,
14:58and wow, look, the wisteria's doing its thing.
15:04I so wish you could smell that.
15:06It's saying to me, summer really is on the way.
15:18Meet Tom, everyone.
15:2017-year-old, slightly ancient cat.
15:25So those of you who sat at home were saying,
15:26where are those dogs?
15:28At least you've got the cat.
15:51If there's one place in this garden
15:52that is my favourite and I'm drawn to,
15:55it's got to be this, the veg garden.
15:57For me, it's the place where I come
15:58and I play and experiment.
16:01Even in year one, we were growing things like wasabi.
16:04And then last year, I took on the challenge
16:06of growing sand fire,
16:08which is ultimately a marsh plant
16:09that lives on salt waters.
16:11So you're trying to recreate that
16:13in a way that's not just a vegetable garden,
16:15but it's also a place where you can grow
16:18So you're trying to recreate that in a container.
16:21Then I'd like to say that it was a fantastic success,
16:24but it really wasn't.
16:27I'm blaming the kids.
16:28I went away for a couple of weeks
16:29and they didn't do the watering properly.
16:31But this year, I've come across a plant called agretti.
16:36It's an Italian vegetable.
16:37So it deals with those dry, hot conditions.
16:40I think the Italians call it monk's beard.
16:43We've already done some,
16:44but I've ended up with about 40% germination.
16:47So what I'm going to do now
16:49is I'm going to try and change the mix
16:51to far more open compost
16:53to see if we can make that slightly more successful.
16:57So what I've done this time
16:58is I've created a mix of peat-free compost,
17:03some horticultural sand,
17:06and a lot more perlite.
17:08So I'm trying to keep this compost really nice and open.
17:12Sometimes I'm just looking to where a plant grows in nature
17:16and think, can I create
17:17as close to those conditions as possible?
17:20Though I can't take this down to Italy
17:23in the wonderful Mediterranean,
17:25I can try and create that in the greenhouse.
17:29And then what I'm going to do now
17:30is I'm just going to pop it over there.
17:32I'm going to water it.
17:35Then I'm not watering afterwards
17:36and I'm not washing the seed anywhere.
17:39I'm just going to go across now
17:40and just make the tiny little hole
17:42that sits just shy of a centimeter into the compost.
17:51This is a wonderful plant to actually taste,
17:54but you could saute it, steam it,
17:56even use it on a salad.
17:57It's lovely with sort of lemon and olive oil.
17:59Sounding like a chef, huh?
18:01I was quite impressed anyway.
18:05And these probably realistically won't grow
18:07in the ground till about sort of end of May,
18:10first couple of weeks in June.
18:13And I think with this,
18:14even if you get a success rate of 50%,
18:17you're doing really well.
18:19And I think part of the reason
18:20that we grow these slightly more unusual vegetables
18:23is for the fun.
18:25So they're all in.
18:26And all I'm going to do now,
18:27just to make sure there's no real big lumps in the compost,
18:31is we're just going to work that across.
18:33And we'll very, very carefully just take away the worst,
18:38so I'm not moving any of the seeds.
18:43And so, far more open compost
18:45compared to what we've done before,
18:46so it'll be interesting to see how successful they are.
19:04Do you know, as designers,
19:05you're asked a lot of the time
19:06where your inspiration comes from?
19:07And sometimes it can be from the simplest place.
19:10And it was just the windows behind me,
19:12those sort of Georgian layout,
19:14and I started to draw that out.
19:16And I was left with this sort of central section,
19:18and I put bigger beds around it.
19:21But that makes you realize
19:22that you do not need a lot of space
19:24to grow a decent amount of vegetables.
19:26And I think that's a really good thing.
19:28And I think that's a really good thing.
19:29And I think that's a really good thing.
19:30And I think that's a really good thing.
19:31You do not need a lot of space
19:32to grow a decent amount of vegetables.
19:34You know, we've got so much out of here.
19:36And these beds are literally less than a meter each,
19:39but we've got strawberries,
19:40I've got the broad beans,
19:42I've got the garlic,
19:43and now I'm gonna plant some kohlrabi.
19:46This is a fantastic vegetable
19:48that I can remember growing,
19:50working with Jeff Hamilton.
19:51So we're talking 20-plus years ago,
19:54but it's beautiful.
19:55It's got a lovely sort of nutty flavor to it.
19:57And this is a lovely sort of purple variety
20:00called Auxerre Star.
20:02What I'm gonna do to start with
20:03is just create myself a little drill
20:05that's about a centimeter.
20:08And now I'm gonna water that
20:12so that when my seeds go in,
20:13they're not gonna get washed away.
20:16And then when it comes to the sowing,
20:18I'm just gonna sow these really thinly.
20:20And as they get growing, I will thin them out.
20:24I think what's lovely about this veg as well
20:25is if you struggle, you know,
20:26maybe with growing swedes or turnips,
20:29and it's a good replacement.
20:30It just amazes me that it's not caught on
20:33as much as so many other sort of so-called trendy veggies.
20:39But there you go, nice and simple.
20:41So I'll put that board back in,
20:43just work that carefully across.
20:50As far as harvesting,
20:52probably in about eight weeks' time,
20:54something like that,
20:54I could start pulling some of the smaller ones.
20:57But remember, they could stay.
20:58I could be lifting those in December time.
21:01You can even use the leaves as well, a bit like spinach.
21:03So lots of different ways to cook it.
21:07We'll label this up, kohlrabi.
21:10So you might be getting the idea
21:13that I'm a little bit keen on growing these
21:15from these slightly more unusual vegetables.
21:18Mrs. Frost and the kids keep taking the mickey out of me
21:21because I want to talk about veg.
21:22But that's one of the things I love
21:24about horticulture and gardening
21:26is that you get people
21:28that get slightly maybe obsessed with one thing
21:31and then they grow it for the rest of their lives.
21:34And last summer, we went off to Worcestershire
21:36to meet a man that's just a little bit keen
21:38about growing elders.
21:48I'm Ed Brown.
21:49I'm the National Collection holder of elderflowers.
21:54I just like them.
21:55They're easy to look after.
21:57Anyone can grow them.
21:59They're beautiful.
22:00They're overlooked by people.
22:03There's more to an elder than just that weed in a hedge.
22:13There are 126 name varieties of elderflower
22:17and I have bred another 11 new varieties.
22:22But I'm very selective.
22:23It takes a long time for me to choose.
22:26I might grow thousands and thousands of plants
22:28to produce just one good plant
22:31and that could take five years.
22:36This is my nerdy side.
22:47This is Sambucus nigra cost canadensis.
22:52It's a hybrid I did in 2011.
22:55It has particularly good, very large flowers.
22:59In a good year, they can get as big as a dustbin lid.
23:03Naming plants is a bit difficult.
23:06So I just generally look at what's around me
23:09and so I came down the lane
23:11and I walked through the gate into the field.
23:14So Sambucus gate in field.
23:22I realised one day when walking through the collection field
23:25that all of my elders look, smell and taste different.
23:31So some have a citrus scent.
23:33Some smell of burnt rubber.
23:36Some smell of oranges.
23:40What it's caused is my mind to explode
23:43into wanting to breed more new flavours
23:47for my own family.
23:52Cordial and champagne.
24:01I've been making elderflower champagne for seven years.
24:04This is the red one.
24:05I'm really pleased with the colour.
24:07It has amazing scent and amazing flavour.
24:11This is Sambucus chocolate marzipan.
24:14It has black leaves on the top
24:16and mint green leaves underneath.
24:19And it has the most amazing marzipan scented flowers.
24:23That marzipan scent comes right through into the cordial.
24:26Down here, I have Sambucus black cherries.
24:30The darkest one I've ever produced.
24:33It's got amazing flavour.
24:34It's got a really nice colour.
24:36It's got a really nice flavour.
24:38The darkest one I've ever produced.
24:40It's got amazing dark underside to the petals.
24:43This comes right through into your cordial.
24:46And amazingly, it tastes of cherries.
24:55Harvesting your elderflowers is about respect for the plant.
24:59Respect your elders.
25:01So when you're harvesting elderflowers,
25:04try and avoid cutting more than 30% off your tree in a year.
25:08If you cut all of the flowers off,
25:09it will try and re-flower again the same year.
25:13This depletes the plant
25:14and you will end up losing the plant eventually.
25:18So, remember, respect your elders.
25:21Only cut off 30% and leave the rest for the wildlife.
25:25It's an important thing to look after the plants
25:27for everyone's future.
25:28It's a living reference library.
25:30It's a scientific resource.
25:32But it wouldn't be anything without a label.
25:35These are my labels.
25:36These labels are guaranteed for 25 years.
25:39Now, labelling any collection
25:41is fundamentally very important.
25:43It's a very important part of the collection.
25:45It's a very important part of the life of the plant.
25:48It's a very important part of the life of the plant.
25:50It's a very important part of the life of the plant.
25:53It's fundamentally very important
25:54because if you don't label them,
25:56when you're dead, how are they going to work out
25:58which plant is which?
26:03Being a national collection holder,
26:04I feel that I'm a custodian of plants for the future.
26:08But while it's here, I'm going to enjoy it.
26:24I wouldn't mind sharing a glass of champagne with Ed.
26:34Do you know what stuck with me with that, though,
26:35was his sentiment.
26:36You know, he was doing that to enjoy,
26:39but really in a way,
26:40he was doing that for another generation.
26:43So I'm back in my gravel garden,
26:45which is a garden I put together last summer, really.
26:49But what I'm really pleased with
26:50is things have started to seed around.
26:52That's what I wanted.
26:53I wanted to sort of end up with
26:56what I call cultivated chaos.
26:58So today, I'm going to plant some Allium naturopurperium,
27:01which is a lovely, deep purple with a reddish tinge to it.
27:05But I'm planting them in the green.
27:07And what I mean by that is they're containerized bulbs.
27:11There's something that I did back in the last years.
27:13You can buy your bulbs in the green,
27:16so you can still definitely do this this time of year.
27:19But by doing that, I get a real understanding
27:21of actually what the plants are going to look like.
27:23And I'm working like a little river
27:25that's going to go all the way through.
27:26So it's going to pick up on the grays of the Artemisia,
27:30go through the grasses,
27:32and then sort of finish itself at the Santolina there.
27:35So you can imagine the heads of the Alliums
27:37and these grasses just moving themselves together.
27:46Still to come on today's program,
27:48Mark Lane visits Denman's Garden,
27:50home of the late John Brooks,
27:52one of Britain's most influential garden designers.
27:56It's hard to believe that these were ideas
27:58that were put in practice in the 60s and 70s,
28:01and yet it still looks current today.
28:04And we also meet Jamie Song,
28:06who's created a tropical paradise in his living room
28:10with a stunning array of house plants.
28:14This is the star of the show here,
28:16this Oxalis triangularis.
28:18It's possibly one of the largest specimens in the country.
28:23But first, Frances has been to Grave Tyre Manor
28:25in West Sussex to see their wonderful collection of trees
28:29that have been planted with wildlife in mind.
28:38The sound of bees is the sound of spring,
28:41as they make their way from flower to flower
28:43searching for the vital food they need.
28:46And they do us a favor in return.
28:48It's been estimated that one third of the food we eat
28:51relies on pollination by bees and other insects.
28:55Even closer to home, like here at Grave Tyre Manor,
28:59bees foraging for food in our gardens
29:01pollinate our flowers and trees,
29:03providing us with a wonderful variety of seeds and fruit.
29:12But there's a problem.
29:14As a result of habitat loss, pesticide use,
29:17disease and intensive farming methods,
29:19bee populations are in decline.
29:22One third of the UK's bees have disappeared
29:25over the last 10 years,
29:27making it more important than ever for us gardeners
29:29to do our bit to help with this issue.
29:33There's a wonderful symbiotic relationship
29:35between bees and flowers.
29:37Most people don't know bees need a balanced diet like us.
29:41They forage for pollen and nectar.
29:43As they brush past the stamen,
29:45pollen is transferred onto them.
29:47The bee then flies away with the pollen attached to it,
29:50and this is deposited on the next flower.
29:52The bee gets its meal, the flower gets pollinated.
30:03By late spring, our flower beds and borders
30:05are abuzz with bees.
30:07But there is another way that we can provide them
30:09with the food they need earlier in the season,
30:11and that's by planting bee-friendly trees.
30:21The great thing about a tree is that you can get
30:24so many more flowers on it than your average garden plant.
30:27I mean, just take this Erica arborea.
30:30This is a tree heather,
30:31and it is awash with flowers for the bees.
30:35This is a really good plant for any garden.
30:37It's so easy.
30:38It will cope with drought and wind.
30:40So for a problem spot, this is the tree.
30:42And the lovely thing about this
30:44is it smells absolutely incredible
30:47when you're up close to it.
30:48And it makes such a huge impact from far back.
30:51But when you look closely, you can really see that detail.
30:54Fine little red circles within it,
30:56so there's something for everybody.
30:58And of course, plenty for the bees.
31:10Amelanchia lamarckii is very familiar to us
31:13on garden as well,
31:14but that's because it's such a good doer
31:16from a gardening perspective,
31:17especially in a small garden.
31:19It gives so much.
31:21It has lovely form, beautiful blossom, beautiful fruits,
31:25and then fantastic autumn color,
31:27especially if you plant this in the sunshine.
31:29More importantly, the blossom offers a really good
31:32early spring, early autumn, early winter,
31:35and then the flowers are just so beautiful.
31:37The blossom offers a really good
31:39early source of nectar for bees.
31:41And then the fruit later is fantastic
31:43because the birds love the seeds.
31:45So you could call it a win-win.
31:50There are 270 species of bee in the UK,
31:53with the vast majority being solitary bees.
31:57Different species are more prevalent
31:58depending on the time of year and the temperature.
32:01Bumblebees tolerate lower temperatures,
32:03while honeybees love the warmer weather.
32:08This is a tree that bees absolutely love.
32:11It's called Cirsus forest pansy.
32:13Now, it's a native to North America,
32:15but for a small garden, it's absolutely invaluable
32:17because it has such a beautiful shape.
32:20This has lovely big purple heart-shaped leaves
32:22and pink flowers that are yet to open on this
32:25just a few more days and they'll be open.
32:27And the really unusual thing about Cirsus
32:29is that it flowers on its bare branches.
32:32Now, it's believed that where this evolved
32:33in the forests, it's because the bees
32:35Now, it's believed that where this evolved
32:37in the forests of North America,
32:38that meant that all kinds of insects,
32:40not just flying ones, would have had access to that nectar.
32:44So it's something for all the pollinators in our gardens.
32:58Pyracilis folia, so-called,
33:00because it has willow-like or salix-like foliage,
33:03is a really undervalued tree,
33:05but I can hear it buzzing already with bees
33:07and other insects, so it's very valued by our wildlife.
33:10And they have these lovely clusters of white flowers,
33:13but these open flowers are really accessible
33:15to bees and pollinators.
33:17They'll turn into small, inedible fruits,
33:19but birds really love them too.
33:21And with silver foliage, it makes it
33:22a really lovely addition if you're planting a white garden.
33:26Now, I think they can suffer
33:28from some rather insensitive pruning,
33:30but when you do it carefully
33:32and let the natural weeping habits show,
33:34it can be an absolutely stunning addition to any garden.
33:38This is also a fantastic tree if you live in an urban area
33:41because it's very resistant to air pollution,
33:43which makes it really good for us
33:45and really good for the bees.
33:55Now, we're used to seeing bees buzzing
33:57all over our orchards,
33:58but there are all kinds of ornamental fruit trees
34:00that you can buy that do exactly
34:02the same thing for pollinators.
34:04When you're picking them though,
34:05make sure they have single flowers
34:07because in double flowering plants,
34:08those nectaries where the food is
34:10have been bred away and replaced by petals.
34:13Now, this is an ornamental cherry called Taihaku,
34:17meaning big white flowers, and you can see why.
34:20They are double the size of the average cherry blossom.
34:24Probably better for a slightly larger space
34:26because it will get quite tall, a lot taller than this,
34:29and the spread is huge.
34:31But if you have the space, plant one.
34:34The bees will thank you.
34:36It's important to remember that some trees and plants
34:39are pollinated by the wind and other types of insects.
34:43So when choosing your tree,
34:44check that yours is one that bees will enjoy.
34:52So next time you're looking for a new addition
34:53to the garden, spare a thought for the bees.
34:56Consider planting a tree that will give you structure,
34:59flowers, and maybe even some fruit
35:02and be an invaluable source of food for our bees.
35:26How's Isla?
35:27By the way, she's grown a little bit
35:28since we first moved in,
35:30but she's a good girl, aren't you?
35:31Good girl.
35:32Well, most of the time.
35:35Do you know what?
35:36That's an interesting way, isn't it, to plant your garden.
35:37You start thinking about the bees
35:39through the whole 12 months.
35:41With doing that, you're adding layers of interest,
35:44so you're getting the joy as well.
35:49We added a hive last year,
35:50and we started with a really small nucleus of bees,
35:53and they've grown so much over the 12 months
35:56that we've had to split the hive
35:57in the last couple of weeks,
35:58and we're now adding a second beehive.
36:01This is a slightly wilder part of the garden,
36:03and they are loving this white comfrey.
36:06And at the moment, I'm loving that bird cherry.
36:25Come on.
36:27Good girl.
36:32So this is the latest project I've got on the go,
36:36which are two water features.
36:38You wouldn't believe that these old tanks
36:39were literally being thrown away.
36:42Before we had a feature here,
36:43you came through the gateway
36:45and bang onto the massive lawn,
36:47so you had nothing to sort of think about
36:49and make you go in one direction or another.
36:53So I wanted to pause you,
36:54and that's exactly what these do.
36:56In quite a lovely but simple way.
36:59On top of that, the Buxa's hedging that sits around
37:01is going to carry that table out,
37:03so the features will actually look bigger than they are.
37:06And the reason I've gone for Buxa's
37:08is because I've already got it in the garden,
37:10so I've got to hedge that side with a big clip shape,
37:13and I'm trying to balance that up
37:15on the other side of the garden.
37:16So it just starts to link these little spaces together.
37:20If you repeat the plant down through a smaller space,
37:23that will give you that cohesion
37:25and bring everything together.
37:28So I've already built one.
37:29Now it's time to just get the second one finished.
37:36These tanks are quite heavy, and it needs to be level.
37:40So I've put a little concrete base in,
37:41so you've got a hard but level base to work off.
37:44And then as we fill with water,
37:46they're just going to become reflective surfaces.
37:49So next, we come to the hedging.
37:52A lot of us, we worry about Buxa's, don't we?
37:54But I'm quite lucky in this area,
37:56in a way, is that we're very, very dry.
37:58So we don't really suffer with blight.
38:01If you're in a damper area and you are worried,
38:04maybe use something else.
38:05Ilex cronata, you could use even something
38:07like Saga coca, which is winter box.
38:09So there's plenty of other plants
38:11that you could use to clip in quite formal shapes.
38:14Even lavender would look quite nice around here.
38:18Size-wise, I could have gone for bigger plants
38:21and made this into an instant feature.
38:25I have them for two reasons,
38:26one being that, actually, it would be quite expensive.
38:30But the second is, I want them
38:32to establish really good root systems.
38:35So, let's get them in.
38:40So what I'm going to do is set these lines up to start with.
38:44As I said, I've been quite technical around this one
38:46and really worked to quite tight measurements.
38:48So I'll just check what I had.
38:51About 18 centimeters, so, hello you.
38:54All right.
38:55So the first thing I need to do
38:56is just set the tape measure up.
38:58Yes, thank you very much.
39:00Thank you.
39:01And I'm just using iron pins just to hold the lines.
39:04So, if you imagine.
39:08And then all I'm going to do then
39:11is work that to the other end there.
39:14So just, I'm just going to put another pin in.
39:18I get it as close as I can.
39:19I can always adjust them.
39:21Once I set that line up nice and tight,
39:26it would be more useful if you could tie
39:28and things like that, you know,
39:29rather than just eat, wouldn't it?
39:32Right, so get that loop round.
39:34Pull that all the way through and tighten that off.
39:39So any hedge you're putting in, really,
39:41you know, if you want that straight line,
39:43it's worth working, you know, to this sort of detail.
39:46It really is.
39:49That's it, now we're set to go.
39:50I've kept them about 30 centimeters apart.
39:53If you put the plants too close together,
39:55not only are they starting to fight for the same,
39:58I suppose, room under the ground,
40:00but the quicker these plants grow together,
40:02you're going to cut down that air circulation.
40:04So just giving them the time to grow into each other,
40:07the plants are going to be healthier for it.
40:11One, two, three.
40:19And just start to prep that hole.
40:22So don't plant them too deep,
40:23but they want to be quite firm.
40:26And then we just literally work our way along.
40:30When we get all this in, a really good watering,
40:34make sure over that first season,
40:36the roots really get to establish themselves.
40:40Hopefully this demonstrates that you don't need
40:44masses of space to have maybe a nice feature
40:47just on the edge of your patio.
40:49And garden design, I think,
40:51is now a lot more accessible to so many of us.
40:55And I think that was partly driven by one person,
40:58and that's John Brooks, who sadly passed away last year.
41:02And Mark Lane has gone down to Denman's Garden
41:05in West Sussex, where John used to work and live,
41:08just to find out a little bit more
41:10about the man's thought process
41:11and the way that he put gardens together.
41:17♪
41:22♪
41:27With summer in sight, if you're like me,
41:29you just want to get outside and enjoy your garden
41:32and use it like an extension to your home.
41:37Remarkably, this is a relatively new idea,
41:40a concept championed by the late John Brooks in the 1960s,
41:44when he coined the phrase, the room outside.
41:47John Brooks was largely regarded as the man responsible for the modern garden
41:53and brought design into the average back garden,
41:56making them spaces to be enjoyed, lived in and not just maintained.
42:02And it's here at Denmans in West Sussex, his former home,
42:06that his design ideas are perfectly illustrated.
42:10The walled garden really epitomises John Brooks' idea of the outdoor room.
42:17So what would you normally do if this was a room?
42:19You would have a settee or a sofa.
42:22And that's what John has. He has his blue benches,
42:25one of his favourite spots where he used to come and sit
42:28at the end of the day and watch the sunsets.
42:31In a house, you would adorn it, wouldn't you, with carpets, with small objects.
42:37But here, in the outdoor room, he's added this magnificent urn.
42:42And in the far distance, we have these wonderful curved buxus balls.
42:47And what's great about that is that it draws your eye out to the distance.
42:54His friend and former student, Gwendolyn Van Passion,
42:57learned from him first-hand and is now the owner of the garden.
43:06Can you just explain a little bit more about this outdoor room idea?
43:10He felt that people in Britain didn't spend enough time outside.
43:14That if you're going to create a garden space outside of your house,
43:18it should be associated with your living style inside.
43:21It was just another room.
43:23And you should design it the same way you would do an interior.
43:27You'd have your place for your children to play,
43:30you'd have a place for your barbecue, you'd have a place to read.
43:33But it was all about how you use the space.
43:38So you really must have learnt about this grid
43:41that everyone sort of thinks about when they think about John Brooks.
43:44Yes. So if you took what you saw on the vertical plane
43:48and you popped it down on the horizontal plane,
43:51you got the proportions of the building right.
43:53And suddenly he had a grid pattern that he could use
43:56to ensure that all his lawns and terraces and flowerbeds
44:00were proportionate to the house.
44:08This is the clock house where John lived and worked.
44:12You can see the principles of his design ethos.
44:16You've got the house behind me.
44:19And if you take the house and put it flat, almost like its shadow,
44:23you can see how the lines come off and form this grid system.
44:27You have a line that comes off where the tower is.
44:30It then goes off at a right angle, parallel to the house.
44:33It then juts out again, right where the Juliet balcony is,
44:37and then returns all the way along, parallel with this long building.
44:43John first came here in the 1970s with his design students.
44:47It was then owned by an innovative plants woman, Joyce Robinson.
44:51They became great friends when John set up his design school at Denmans.
44:57John used to laugh and say that it took Joyce about ten years
45:00to let go of the garden, and it took him about ten years
45:03to feel that the garden was really his.
45:06So you could imagine the tussle between these two formidable people,
45:10very opinionated people, as they sort of created this amazing space.
45:16Although we always think of Denmans as John Brooks' garden,
45:20we should always remember that Mrs Robinson,
45:22a really keen plants woman, was here before.
45:26She went travelling in the early 1970s,
45:29and she was a very keen plants woman.
45:32She was a very keen plant woman, and she was a very keen plant woman.
45:36She was a very keen plant woman, and she was a very keen plant woman.
45:40Joyce Robinson, a really keen plants woman, was here before.
45:44She went travelling in 1977 to Greece,
45:47and really loved the way that the plants grew out of rocks and crevices.
45:52So she wanted to create something like that when she came back.
45:55Now that was really innovative back in the 1970s,
45:59and this is the result, a meandering dry riverbed
46:04made from local stones and pebbles and rocks.
46:07John saw this and absolutely loved it.
46:10He described the planting as scatterings,
46:13as if the way seeds are just scattered all the way across.
46:21I always thought with John Brooks,
46:23the plants were almost like the last element,
46:25so it was about form, texture, shape, and then you looked at the plants.
46:29You'll see throughout the garden, you always see that structure, form and texture.
46:33He loved that architectural style,
46:35and it was sort of a punctuation mark in a garden for him.
46:45This is a really good example of John Brooks' architectural plants.
46:50Just look at the way we have this beautiful curve of this box.
46:54And then just peeking behind, you've got this spikiness of the Mahonia.
47:00And then you've got this real acid green of the Euphorbia,
47:04and then the glaucus blues coming through.
47:07It's just a beautiful picture to look at.
47:12John was still gardening at Denmans until his death in 2018.
47:17Gwendolyn is now busy renovating the garden
47:20and ensuring it remains true to his design ideas.
47:25When I look around this garden,
47:27it's hard to believe that these were ideas
47:29that were put in practice in the 60s and 70s,
47:32and yet it still looks current today.
47:35What a great legacy to leave behind.
47:39Hopefully John will have approved of my water feature.
47:42Do you know what? He goes back deep into my psyche.
47:45Even as a child, my dad was a landscaper
47:48and worked on John Brooks' gardens at the Chelsea Flowers Show,
47:51so I've always been aware of John as I've gone into design.
47:54I've always been aware of John.
47:56I've always been aware of John.
47:58I've always been aware of John.
48:00I've always been aware of John.
48:02I've always been aware of John.
48:04I've always been aware of John.
48:06I've always been aware of John as I've gone into design.
48:09Amazing man.
48:10So there you go.
48:12That's the last one in.
48:13I won't necessarily prune them,
48:15but eventually what I'm looking to do
48:17is get a really crisp line that sits the same height as that water,
48:20so you imagine you get this lovely sort of green table
48:23that moves into water.
48:25It's actually quite simple,
48:27but really effective, I think.
48:36I hope this bank holiday weekend
48:38doesn't just give you the opportunity
48:40to spend a bit more time in your garden,
48:42but maybe get out and visit some of the wonderful gardens
48:45that are open to the public up and down the country.
48:48For me, no other site says spring
48:51more than a woodland floor transformed into a sea of bluebells.
48:56And a great place to enjoy them
48:58is Coton Manor in Northamptonshire.
49:02At this time of year,
49:03there are loads of flowers vying for our attention.
49:06Aberglasney Gardens in Carmarthenshire
49:09has some brilliant spring displays,
49:11and the camassias in their woodlands
49:13are really worth a visit.
49:15If you're a Camellia fan,
49:16then Tree Bar Garden in Cornwall
49:18has a fantastic collection you can enjoy right now.
49:22Rockeries really are back in fashion,
49:25and the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh
49:27boasts a stunning one,
49:29full of delicate spring alpines.
49:33If you fancy a tulip fix,
49:34then the garden at Ford Abbey in Somerset
49:36could be the place for you,
49:38with over 40,000 tulips in bloom.
49:42And RHS Wisley in Surrey,
49:44they are celebrating National Gardening Week
49:46with a whole host of events.
49:49For more information, go to our website.
49:57To be fair, you don't actually have to leave your own sofa
50:00to enjoy beautiful plants.
50:02Houseplants have really come back on the scene
50:04in the last couple of years,
50:06and Jamie Song from London
50:08has created his own little paradise
50:10in his front room.
50:22The first thing I see when I come up here
50:24to my indoor garden is
50:26that my plants have already woken up before me.
50:29It's just like coming into a world
50:32that's already alive.
50:36I love taking care of them,
50:38and this time you spend taking care of them
50:40is for me a little bit like meditation.
50:43And when I watch a plant,
50:45I can almost see the circle of life
50:47because, you know, when a leaf dies,
50:49a new one comes out,
50:51and it's just beautiful.
51:00For me, the most important thing
51:02when it comes to designing with houseplants
51:05is that you want the plants to thrive
51:07because a sick plant or a plant that's not doing well
51:10is not going to make you happy in the end.
51:13So I always place them where they will thrive.
51:16And then in terms of designing my indoor garden,
51:19I do my best to create different heights,
51:22but I also like to mimic nature a little bit.
51:30I've hung a lot of my plants up in the air.
51:34The ones that I like to hang are the rainforest cacti,
51:38the ones that are epiphytic in nature,
51:41so they attach themselves to trees and grow downwards.
51:45They have long leaves and such unusual shapes,
51:49so it really makes you feel like
51:52you're walking through a tropical rainforest.
51:59electronic music plays
52:05This is a neon pothos.
52:07In nature, a pothos would kind of coil up a tree and climb,
52:12so I decided to experiment with making it a climbing plant.
52:16So I found these little plastic clips
52:19that attach to the wall without damaging the wall,
52:22and I put the stems through the clips
52:25to create this vertical garden,
52:27and it's really become a focal point of the living room.
52:30Everybody is so impressed by it,
52:32and people love to sit on the sofa and take selfies here.
52:35electronic music plays
52:43So these are my mid-level plants,
52:46and they're actually my favorite plants.
52:49They're very special plants that I like to keep close to me
52:53when I'm sitting on the sofa.
52:55This is the star of the show here, this Oxalis triangularis.
52:59It looks like a hundred beautiful purple butterflies,
53:03and I'm so proud of it because when I got it a few years ago,
53:07it was in a pot this big, about 10 centimeters,
53:10and now it's possibly one of the largest specimens in the country.
53:14And the special thing about it is that
53:17all these little butterflies close at night,
53:20and in the morning when the sun comes out, they open,
53:23and they actually move towards the sun during the course of the day,
53:27and it's really one of my favorites.
53:30electronic music plays
53:38The plants that I like to place on the lower level,
53:41directly on the floor, are the ones that have leaves facing up,
53:45so they look the best when you're looking from above down at them.
53:50electronic music plays
53:53This is a Philodendron xanadu.
53:56I got it from a large flat-pack furniture shop,
54:00and it's been with me for such a long time,
54:03I can't imagine living without it.
54:05A very interesting thing about this plant is that when it was young,
54:09the leaves were not serrated at all,
54:11but as it aged, the shape of the leaves changed
54:15and became more and more beautiful,
54:17and now each leaf looks like a giant hand facing up.
54:22And for this plant, I actually installed a mirror up high on the wall
54:27so the sunlight gets reflected onto this spot,
54:31and I just want to give it as much sun as I possibly can.
54:35electronic music plays
54:39If you walk around my home, you'll see a lot of repetitions
54:43in color and texture, actually,
54:45and I have orchids dotted around the room,
54:48and it's like there's birds singing to each other,
54:51and it just gives this cohesiveness, if you will.
54:55Just like a painting needs a frame,
54:59I believe every plant needs its own pot.
55:02One of the things that I like about this plant
55:06One of my favorite plants is my jewel orchid, or Lutetia discolor.
55:11I love its black, velvety leaves.
55:14It flowers year after year in December or January,
55:18and I found this perfect pot for it,
55:20and it has a zigzaggy, black pattern
55:23that goes so well with the lines on the leaves.
55:26electronic music plays
55:29I feel like if you only have plants that you love
55:32and you put them in a pot that you love, the stands that you love,
55:36and you combine them with the art that you love,
55:39it's a winning combination.
55:41Everyone should have houseplants.
55:44electronic music plays
56:00I don't know about you, but I found that really inspiring.
56:03It proves that you don't even need a garden
56:06to create something wonderful, and he really has there.
56:09Maybe he's made me rethink houseplants,
56:11because being honest, I don't really grow them.
56:13I've got enough going on out in the garden.
56:15Nearest I get is these Ioniums, which need winter protection.
56:20But I'm having a bit of a bittersweet moment.
56:23One of them has come into flower,
56:25and it looks absolutely stunning.
56:27It really does.
56:29But an awful lot of these, once they flower,
56:31they set seed and they die,
56:33so I'm probably going to lose that plant.
56:35But that's a single stem,
56:37whereas here, I've got some flowering going on
56:39on a multi-stem plant.
56:41That means, actually, the main plant will probably be all right.
56:43And all I'm doing, really, at the moment,
56:45is just giving them a bit of a clean-up
56:47and getting them ready to go out in the garden.
56:49So that's one job I'm working on,
56:51but here's a few more for the weekend.
57:03With plants now marching into full growth,
57:06it's a good time to keep an eye out for the pests.
57:09Cover your fruit and vegetables.
57:12If you see any aphids, they could be removed manually,
57:15or, like me, rely on Mother Nature.
57:25We're now at the start of May,
57:27so it's a good time to think about hardening off
57:29your more tender plants.
57:31Make sure the cold frames and the greenhouse
57:33are open during the day,
57:35and there's a good air circulation.
57:38Bring the plants out into the open
57:40for a good seven to ten days in the daytime
57:43before you leave them out overnight.
57:50Don't forget those shrubs.
57:52They will really benefit from a general-purpose feed.
57:56I keep it simple. I just use chicken pellets
57:58that I sprinkle at the bottom of the plant,
58:00and then, in drier conditions,
58:02I'll make sure that I water it in.
58:08I really have had a lovely day,
58:11but next week, Monty will be back from his travel,
58:14so he'll be at Longmeadow,
58:16whereas myself, Carol and Frances
58:18will be paying a visit to the RHS
58:20Malvern Springflower Festival.
58:22So, see you then.
58:24Think that went all right, girl?
58:26Yeah.
58:27Wasn't too bad, was it?
58:29Yeah.
58:37¶¶