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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World.
00:16I know sometimes we might give the impression that everything here at Longmeadow is without
00:22any problems.
00:23We don't have weeds, we don't have pests.
00:25Everything just works smoothly.
00:26Well, I'm afraid that's not true.
00:28We have our fair share of weeds and pests and disease, like anybody else, and there's
00:33a patch here in the jewel garden that is infested with coochgrass that I've been trying to dig
00:37out for the last 25 years, and I've never quite got rid of it.
00:41You can see they've entwined themselves in a line of Ophiopogon.
00:46The coochgrass, whose roots look actually quite similar to the Ophiopogon, have got
00:50inside the plant, and the only answer in that case with cooch or with bindweed, where the
00:56roots will regrow new plants from just the scrap, is to wash the parent plant.
01:02Take it out, wash it down so there's no soil left on it, and you can see, you can disentangle
01:07the roots that you don't want, which is quite a job.
01:12But we shouldn't be fussing about the weeds at this time of year.
01:15A few weeds don't matter.
01:18What matters is that the garden is really at its moment of glory, and here in the jewel
01:22garden it's ablaze.
01:24It's got the Cacosmia lucifer, and the clematis in all its colours of purple and burgundy,
01:31the sunflowers, the buddleia that's coming through, and that's what I'm celebrating
01:36rather than worrying about weeds.
01:39Now, coming up on today's programme.
01:43We join Sue as she reassesses her summer borders.
01:47I'm not sure how the anteronyms will mix, but, you know, it's trial and error gardening,
01:53and you could get a joyous union, or you could get a horrendous clash, but, you know, that's
01:59how you learn.
02:02We meet a gardener whose love of aloes and pitcher plants has resulted in a colossal
02:07collection.
02:09Even I have a couple of polytunnels already in my disposal.
02:14Some of my carnivorous plants have already spilled out in the garden.
02:19Basically, there is always a space.
02:22Adverley visits the romantic garden of Plas Brondano, with its spectacular backdrop of
02:28the Erui National Park.
02:31This is an architect's garden, based around the views and vistas of the surrounding mountains.
02:38And when you're surrounded by such an incredible landscape, the results are breathtaking.
02:45And I'll be planting amarine bulbs for autumn colour, and checking up on my strawberries.
03:08This way. Come on.
03:15At this time of year, it's the perfect time to prune back those shrubs that flower in
03:21spring and early summer.
03:23I'm thinking of lilac and mock orange, and I've got here a philodelphus of mock orange,
03:29which has finished flowering a couple of weeks ago.
03:32It's got lovely white flowers, with perhaps some of the best fragrance you can get in
03:36the garden.
03:37It's called mock orange because it's got that citrusy orange smell to it, and it flowers
03:43quite a long time.
03:44But it produces those flowers on the growth that it made the previous summer.
03:48So, for example, you can see that this, which has got brown shoots, this is old wood.
03:54This is not fresh this year.
03:55And it's covered in flowers.
03:57These side shoots all had flowers on them.
04:00And it means that this particular stem will not carry any flowers next summer.
04:07Whereas this, which is much more pliable, pale green, new growth, this didn't have any
04:13flowers this year, but it will carry flowers next year.
04:17So if I want to prune it, if I prune that off, I'm not going to have any flowers.
04:21But I can prune this back if I want to, and that won't harm or hinder next year's flowers.
04:27So once one's got that idea in your head, then you can work out your pruning.
04:30But before I get to work pruning, now is the time to take cuttings.
04:35And when you're taking cuttings, what you're looking for is new growth that is really good
04:42and healthy and doesn't have any kind of flower bud on it.
04:45And actually, this is a good example.
04:47And there's another good example.
04:49And you start to see that actually there's plenty of growth that I could take.
04:54So we can get going.
04:57I will just take this here.
05:01Pop that in the bag.
05:06Don't worry too much about where you cut them, because you're going to cut them down and
05:09clean them up later.
05:17Right.
05:19Those will be okay for a few minutes while I do the pruning.
05:24So I'm going to take that off there, like that, and that can go.
05:31And then the ones below it can also come off, like that and like that, so they can go.
05:37And do you see, I'm cutting to something.
05:40It's an absolute rule of all pruning.
05:43It's always cut to something, whether it's the base, whether it's a leaf or a bud or
05:49anything.
05:50Never cut in the middle of a stem, because all that's going to happen is that that exposed
05:55piece will die back and the dying back will increase the risk of disease getting in.
06:00And it'll look ugly too.
06:01So we cut there.
06:03Let's take that back to that, that off, a bit of a cross there, take that off, and I
06:13think that too actually.
06:16And that's it.
06:17That's all I need to do.
06:18Just leave that.
06:19The new growth will ripen and that will be ready to form flower buds, which will be at
06:24their best next June.
06:26Now, a few weeks ago, we went down to Swansea to visit Sue in her garden, where she's busy
06:31reassessing her summer borders.
06:48I've been in this garden for almost 35 years.
06:52And as my knowledge has increased, so the garden has evolved.
06:56I made a beautiful daffodil border here, which I was really, really pleased with, but they
07:01don't provide colour all through the year.
07:03So I chose a perennial wallflower, bose mauve, to put some colour in and I'm really enjoying
07:10it.
07:12I'm deadheading to keep them flowering all summer long and well into the autumn.
07:19Perennial wallflowers don't last forever.
07:22And so if you want to increase your stock, it's important that you take cuttings.
07:26And the sort of cuttings I'm going to take are heel cuttings.
07:29You take a branch that hasn't got a flower showing and you gently pull it down away from
07:34the angle of the plant and then it exposes this green, which has a lot of cambium in
07:43and that's the stuff that helps to root the plant.
07:47Now you need to get it into a plastic bag as soon as you've cut it to help keep the
07:53moisture in.
07:56I'm taking quite a few cuttings because there's a change I want to make in this border's sister
08:02border.
08:12This is the sister border and I planted agapanthus because I had them and it was a
08:17cheaper option.
08:18But unfortunately they're not in flower yet, whereas the other border started flowering
08:22in March and will go through to November.
08:25So it's a no brainer for me.
08:26I'm going to take out the agapanthus in the autumn and put in some wallflowers.
08:41I've got a lot of plants on the go at the moment and I've also taken some perennial
08:46wallflower cuttings already but I need loads more as you saw.
08:49So take them out of the plastic bag and remove the bottom few leaves so you get a nice long
08:57stem.
08:58You don't want the leaves to take the energy out of the plant and also you've got to get
09:02right into the centre here and pinch out the top bit.
09:06There we go.
09:07Pop it in as far as it'll go and then firm it in.
09:20Now I've got to water them in.
09:25I'm going to put the pot in a plastic bag to create humidity and help it to get rooting
09:30quickly and I'm going to keep that pot out of direct sunlight and in a few weeks I should
09:36start seeing new growth appear from the top.
09:39That's when it gets exciting.
09:40And hopefully I'll have lots of plants to plant in the border for the autumn.
09:46And now I want to show you my hot borders which haven't all been plain sailing.
09:51I've grown a lot of things from seed including cosmos and a top tip here, I've got white
09:57cosmos somewhere else in the garden and I've got red cosmos and to stop me getting confused
10:01I put the white cosmos in a round pot and I put the red cosmos in a square pot and I'm
10:07going to get them in the ground now because they really are desperate to get out.
10:21These four hot borders are proving a bit of a learning curve.
10:24I'm really pleased with my dahlia and with my potentilla but this bed has proved a little
10:30bit difficult.
10:31I planted a lot of cornflowers, they're a beautiful colour but the wrong colour and
10:37they grew 40cm more than it said in the packet and they fell over and I've cleared the area
10:42and I've chosen plants that I'm fairly confident the colour will be correct.
10:47I've got some anterinums which I've never grown before called potomac red and I've got
10:53this lovely Japanese blood grass called red barren, I'm really excited about that.
10:58I've got cosmos rebrenza that I've grown from seed and then I've got a rebecchia called
11:04cherry brandy which is really red and has a tint to its leaves.
11:09This border's a bit wider than I normally like because I'm standing on one leg to do
11:14a lot of gardening and I can only reach about 45cm.
11:17I'm going to have to plan so the plants that don't need much attention will go at the back
11:22and therefore I won't have to get in and fiddle with them too much and walk on the soil and
11:26I think the best thing for that will be the blood grass because it sort of does its own
11:31thing and it doesn't need deadheading and I love the way I think it really complements
11:35the cosmos.
11:39I'm not sure how the anterinums will mix but you know it's trial and error gardening and
11:44you could get a joyous union or you could get a horrendous clash but you know that's
11:50how you learn to get better.
12:04I'm going to leave them in their pots for a couple of days to make sure I've got the
12:08right plant in the right place.
12:10I will water them to keep them happy and there's one more job now I've got to get on with.
12:20I've got two white borders, one's formal and one's wild.
12:30Not everything is going right in my formal border so I need to slightly change my thought
12:34process a little bit.
12:40I put some new plants in my formal white border and they're not doing very well and I think
12:46that may be because the hydrangeas are shading them.
12:49One in particular that I really want to do well is Veronicastrum virginicum album which
12:54is a lovely white flowering plant and it makes its presence felt in the border.
12:59So I'm going to put the spare ones I've got in the wild border because I think it gets
13:05a bit more sun and they might develop a bit better.
13:11I'm going to put a little bit of compost in the bottom of the hole just to give it a little
13:18bit of a head start in life.
13:22And then I'm going to put the plant in.
13:25Now it's got a bit kinky in its growth habit and I don't know why that is and I don't think
13:33that's going to be very helpful as it grows up.
13:37So I did put a stick in it but I think I'm actually going to cut it back.
13:46I may not have flowers this year but by cutting the stems it will send all its energy into
13:53getting a really good root system developed and I should have a nice lush plant.
13:58So it's all about patience gardening.
14:12I love the business of designing my garden.
14:16It's a constant process of updating and adding and changing and then it takes patience to
14:22wait and sometimes that can be years until the border fully develops.
14:27And you may get it wrong but never mind and when you get it right it's absolutely joyous.
14:47Well Sue has hit the nail on the head because the greatest liberation in gardening and the
14:53most sure road to happiness and enjoyment is to allow yourself to fail.
14:59And that certainly applies to cuttings because with cuttings some are not going to take,
15:03some are going to fail but it's surprising how many don't.
15:07I do need to make sure that I have a pretty free-draining compost.
15:14Perlite is great for cuttings and you can just use pure perlite because it's open and
15:20light and lets air in but also improves drainage and gets a really nice texture.
15:27So I'm just going to mix that in like that and that's ready.
15:31Right let's prepare the cuttings.
15:33The first thing I'm going to do is take off these leaves.
15:36We don't need them and they are losing moisture and therefore hastening the demise of the cutting.
15:43Now that's too long as a cutting, we don't need all that so I'm going to take it down
15:48to below a node.
15:50All it means is the point from which the leaves emerge.
15:55Get my perlitey mixture and so I'm going to pop that in down there like that.
16:05Let's prepare the others.
16:13Take that down there and pop that in.
16:23Take that off there, leaves, leaves.
16:29I do know that when you start out in gardening, cuttings can seem a little intimidating.
16:36Somehow it's a sort of higher level of horticulture but that just is not the case.
16:42So don't be intimidated by it, give it a go.
16:45Some will work, some won't but you'll be amazed at how many do and it's one of those things
16:54that is really satisfying to raise a plant.
16:58You know it could be a shrub or a tree even from a cutting.
17:02It feels like magic and it is a kind of magic.
17:07Now at this stage you water it.
17:13If you've got a polythene bag you can put it over the top and these ones with the zip
17:17tie are very good because they tie around and that keeps the moisture in.
17:21They should be creating roots in about, well somewhere between ten days and three weeks
17:27and will start to see new growth and then either they can be potted on in late summer
17:32or early autumn or left in the pot with their roots and potted on next spring and in a couple
17:36of years time you'll have a whole new Philadelphus to plant out.
17:41Now I love plants and I do see that there are a lot of gardeners that are very excited
17:47and interested by collecting as many of a particular type of plant as possible and back
17:52in May we went to visit one such gardener whose love of collecting at times I think
17:58would be the first to admit can become all-consuming.
18:08My collecting habit is a little bit more like an obsession.
18:14I've always been fascinated about what plant can I have in my garden.
18:20Basically, there is always a space.
18:27My name is O.G. Placido.
18:30I grew up in the Philippines.
18:36We are surrounded by trees, basically we have a rainforest at the back of our house.
18:41The need to be surrounded by greenery and living things, it comes up naturally for me.
18:51So, carnivorous plants, I actually came across them by accident.
18:56I have a garden and every year I have been stung by horseflies.
19:03It's a burning sensation and usually lasts for two weeks and I said, oh, this is nasty.
19:08I need something to control it.
19:11So I said, why not pitcher plants?
19:13I tried it and in the last five years I never had a bite so I said, oh, that works.
19:21I stumbled upon a collection that they want to let go because I think the owner can't
19:27take good care of it anymore and I said to myself, oh, I got space.
19:31I said, why not?
19:32So I bought actually a third of the collection, which is around 4,000 plants.
19:38And from there, this is now the result of it.
19:43So, Saracenia comes in different size, shape, color and the brighter the sun, the brighter
19:57the color it gets.
19:59So this one is called Max Rawlings and the moment you see it, you can't unsee it.
20:06I just love them so much.
20:14Some of them, I let them flower and some of them, I just cut off the flowers.
20:18For the main reason is when they flower, usually in early spring, the flowers come out first
20:25before the pitcher.
20:26So what I found, if you let the flowers bloom like what you can see in here, the pitchers
20:32is usually a month delayed later.
20:35So like this one, for example, this guy's own flower, but as you can see, the pitchers
20:40are just starting to come out.
20:44Some of my plants get knocked off like this, the four plants that I have.
20:57So what I have, this very, very simple trick and solution, I have this stick, which is
21:02just a regular barbecue stick and then pipe cleaners.
21:08What I love about pipe cleaners is malleable enough and sturdy and also they're quite soft
21:16to the plants that won't damage it.
21:20So there you go.
21:21So you have now your stunning plant again.
21:25Even I have a couple of polytunnels already in my disposal.
21:40Some of my carnivorous plants has already spilled out in the garden.
21:44They can grow outside in this condition.
21:48So here they're being rain fed and exposed to the elements, but they still survive.
21:53They need to be fed with rainwater only.
21:57One of my favorite among the Saracenias, this is a species called Saracenia rubricorpora.
22:03This is a native of Florida.
22:04What I love about this one is the lip is vividly yellow and then the whole pitcher itself is
22:12got this vividly green color in contrast with the veining on the top.
22:19As well as pitcher plants, I also collect aloes and this has started in 2019.
22:36And as you can see now, I actually need another polytunnel.
22:40They are so-called low maintenance plants.
22:43This is just plants that I collect, but I'm also doing the breeding as well.
22:48I wanted to create aloe hybrids that are actually small and that are perfect for windowsill spaces.
22:57When I do my breeding program, I basically have the mother aloe who will produce the
23:02seed and they also got the father, which is the pollen donor.
23:06The mother usually carries the size, the shape, and the color of the offspring.
23:14And the father or the pollen donor will be carrying the texture.
23:20So what I do, I use a tweezer, which I have in here, and I will take pollen from the father.
23:32And then all I do is just touch it into the stigma.
23:37And after I've done that, I usually use this jewelry pouch to make sure that there will
23:45be no cross-contamination.
23:47So no insects can come in and cross-pollinate it because I really wanted to make sure that
23:54what I really want will come out into the offspring.
23:57However, it's still not guaranteed, but this is the beauty about breeding.
24:03Anything can come out randomly.
24:08Aloe has got a very, very long root system.
24:20And also they love having the cooler roots to grow them in these Japanese bell pots.
24:29It takes all the boxes because it's white.
24:31It actually promotes a cooler environment for them.
24:34And at the same time, because they're a little bit tall, the long root system also takes
24:39all the boxes.
24:41With regards to medium, my requirement is always 30-70 ratio, 30% organic.
24:49You can use an ordinary soil on it, and you mix it with 70% mineral.
24:55I discovered that clay grit, which is the one that they use for oil spillage, is value
25:01for money, and it's available everywhere.
25:04Or the other one is, it's sometimes referred to as a cut litter.
25:09So there are cut litters that are actually the same ingredients that they use.
25:18Having the two are a little bit extremes.
25:20So I have aloes which are colorful, the texture.
25:24What I love about the pitcher plants are its function.
25:29It's a natural fly catcher, but also you get the size, the color, and the flowers of
25:36my pitcher plants are just magnificent as well.
25:39There's no competition.
25:40It just happens that I want the best of both worlds, basically.
25:59I love the fact that OG, having been bitten by a horsefly, went and bought 4,000 sarracenias
26:21to defend himself.
26:22Well, I just have one or two sarracenias, and what I didn't know was that letting the
26:28flowers develop would delay the pitchers by a month.
26:32But I love the flowers.
26:33I'm very happy for them to grow, and the pitchers do come.
26:37What I've learned over the years is once they start to brown, don't hang on to it.
26:44Cut the pitcher right back because that will encourage new growth.
26:48I open one of these out.
26:51You can see the residue, the rather disgusting residue of digested insects.
26:57But there have been some years when they've been thawed to the brim.
27:01This year, hardly any, and that is all part of the fact.
27:04There is a desperate shortfall of insects this year.
27:08It's really noticeable.
27:10Insects and butterflies are very thin on the ground, indeed.
27:16Now, still to come on today's program, Avrili visits the historic garden of Plas Brondano,
27:25set within the beautiful landscape of the Erui National Park.
27:30Through the gate, you can sometimes see the peak of Erewitwa, or Snowdon, because Williams
27:37Ellis designed the garden around focal points like these, ensuring that each view acted
27:45like a picture frame.
27:49And we visit a modern garden near Stratford-upon-Avon that is full of wildlife-friendly plants.
27:55I love this garden because it is full of life.
27:57As soon as you open the door and step out, there's going to be something moving or flying,
28:03or there'll be little plops as frogs jump in the pond.
28:07It's absolutely teeming with life.
28:13But first, we visit the garden of a mother and her son in Reading.
28:18Hello, gardeners' world.
28:20I'm Pepper.
28:21I'm Linus.
28:23Welcome to our untidy garden.
28:27As you can see, we are not very tidy gardeners.
28:34We have a really simple planting strategy.
28:38Put it in and see if it grows.
28:42Our garden is for playing, learning and growing.
28:52But we also wanted to create a home for nature, which includes trying to embrace living with
28:59a family of moles.
29:01We don't have much room inside our house.
29:04So this year, we tried growing seeds in milk jugs.
29:09With our southwest-facing garden, it means that this time of year, most of the garden
29:14gets a good amount of sun each day.
29:18So we have several plant nurseries at different places in the garden to nurture our little seedlings.
29:26This year, Linus' mud kitchen has been converted to house all of his seedlings.
29:33Some seeds are ones we've bought, but the majority are ones we found around the garden
29:39or on our woodland walks.
29:42Every morning before school, he has a look to see what has grown and what has been chomped
29:47by the slugs.
29:49Those in need of TLC have a stay in our plant hospital.
29:55This is our second year of growing hops, and after a slow start, it has really taken off.
30:00My husband is hoping for beer, but Linus and I have other plans for a hop scarlet to go
30:06inside the house.
30:08Our garden isn't perfect, and there are probably a lot of things we could do better.
30:16But we love it, and we wouldn't change a thing.
30:23Thank you for visiting our wild garden.
30:26I love Linus and Pepper's delight in their garden, and if your garden is making you happy,
30:48if you love it, then it's a good garden.
30:52Now, not everything here in the greenhouse is good by conventional horticultural standards,
30:57because the tomatoes have suffered quite badly from whitefly.
31:01In fact, if I jiggle the leaves here, we might see someone come off.
31:05Look at them.
31:07The whitefly's been worse than I've ever known it.
31:09Now, that has two effects.
31:11On the one hand, it makes the foliage go yellow and almost die back.
31:16So I've taken most of the leaves off.
31:18The other effect of whitefly is that their honeydew attracts a black mold, and that's
31:24not just on the leaves.
31:25You get it on the fruit as well.
31:27This is a good example.
31:30You can see on there, this black sort of staining is the mold on the surface of the tomato.
31:37Now, that looks disgusting.
31:39In fact, it washes off, and the fruit is absolutely fine.
31:43It's the plant that suffers.
31:45By and large, by this stage, not a lot you can do.
31:48It's a bit late in the season.
31:50Prevention is better than cure.
31:51Good ventilation, and also keeping the humidity quite high.
31:54If it's very dry, just water the floor.
31:57Elsewhere, things are fine.
31:58Good peppers.
31:59We've had great basil.
32:00It's now flowering.
32:02We've had a lot of pesto.
32:03We've got another batch ready to come through.
32:06We've got cucumbers just spilling out of the plant.
32:09And I think the thing about cucumbers now is, it's partly through the breeding and partly
32:13because they're relatively easy to grow, is if they work at all, they give you a gut,
32:17rather than the same way that courgettes can do.
32:20They also have got whitefly in quite a big way.
32:22You can see them here.
32:23They don't seem to be affected, not in the same way as tomatoes were.
32:27And now, today, I want to plant our aubergines.
32:29Now, it is late to put them in, but there is a reason for this.
32:33I sowed a batch of aubergines back in April, and they germinated really badly.
32:42So I abandoned them and sowed another batch at the beginning of June.
32:46So this is very late, but they've come through, and you can see now that they are starting
32:51to flower, and that means that they may well produce fruit.
32:55It's much too late to plant these outside, and if they do fruit, it's going to be September,
33:01October.
33:02But there's no reason why that may not happen.
33:04So we've had parsley in here, cleared the base, and I'm going to plant these out.
33:08Aubergines grow fairly large, so they need to be spaced reasonably far apart.
33:14So something like that will do, I would guess.
33:19And then across here that way, and like that, that and that will go there, and this one
33:29we can pop at the back here.
33:34Now aubergines are related to tomatoes and chilies, so if you can grow tomatoes or peppers,
33:42then they should grow fine.
33:44They need plenty of water, so keep them well watered.
33:48And the only years that I've had really good aubergines here at Longmeadow have been those
33:53summers when it's been blisteringly hot.
33:55So if I get any, I'll be very happy.
33:57These will need probably a bit of support too, just a short cane is enough.
34:16Once they reach about two, three foot tall, pinch out the tops, that will encourage side
34:23shoots.
34:24And if we have a lovely September, October, there's no reason why we couldn't be harvesting
34:28them then.
34:30Now earlier this summer, Adverley went to visit another of our great historic gardens,
34:36and this one is Plas Brondanew in Gwynedd.
34:46Every garden benefits from making the most of the surrounding landscape, borrowing views
34:52to provide a backdrop for its design, making the garden feel part of the scenery, as if
34:58it belongs there.
35:01And when you're surrounded by such an incredible landscape, the results are breathtaking.
35:09The garden at Plas Brondanew is surrounded by the spectacular Aero Re National Park,
35:16and was the creation of a single unique designer, Clough Williams Ellis.
35:22This is an architect's garden.
35:25It's structural, based around the views and vistas of the surrounding mountains, and it
35:30reflects Williams Ellis's personal taste in every step, stone and statue.
35:42Born in 1883, Bertram Williams Ellis, known to all by his middle name Clough, was a Welsh
35:49architect and environmentalist.
35:52He fought all his life to preserve the unique character of the gardens and buildings around
35:57rural Britain, particularly North Wales, where he grew up.
36:04Clough Williams Ellis is best known for Portmeirion, the Italianate town that he created about
36:10five miles from here on the Welsh coast.
36:14But it was this garden at his ancestral home that he loved the most.
36:21He said, it was for Brondanew's sake that I worked and stinted.
36:25For its sake, I chiefly hoped to prosper.
36:33He inherited the property in 1908 from his father.
36:37The house was crumbling and the garden had been turned into allotments.
36:41He spent the next 70 years lovingly rebuilding, still adding to the garden in his 90s, when
36:49his budget would allow.
36:54Williams Ellis said, a cheque of £10 would come in and I would buy hedging to that extent,
37:01a cheque of 20 and I would pave a further bit of terrace.
37:07In this manner, his garden came together piece by piece.
37:14The garden is divided into several small rooms, filled with the eccentric objects that Williams
37:20Ellis collected over a lifetime.
37:23The use of tall yew hedging and narrow passages leads you through gaps, finding surprises
37:30around every corner.
37:34You could feel confused, but all these spaces are linked through his love of local materials,
37:40which can be seen throughout the whole garden.
37:46Looking around, you immediately get a sense of place.
37:50The slates in the walls are from quarries in this valley.
37:55And some have been recycled.
37:57Look at this one.
37:58It has a hole in it where it was once used as a roof tile.
38:03He loved a bit of make-do and mend.
38:07And offset against the greens and grey, he added splashes of colour that shine out all
38:14year round.
38:17This turquoise and gold detailing can be seen all over Plac Brondanou and it was inspired
38:25by the garden's history.
38:27The turquoise represents the sea and the gold, the sand.
38:33Believe it or not, until 1811, the sea stretched up much further into the estuary below the
38:39garden, until a sea wall called the Cobb was built in the coastal town of Porthmadog.
38:47In the space of a few years, 2,000 acres of farmland were reclaimed from the sea.
38:54Plac Brondanou was no longer a seaside garden, but these colours are a reminder of its maritime
39:02history.
39:11And through the gate, you can sometimes see the peak of Erewitwa, or Snowdon, because
39:17Williams Ellis designed the garden around focal points like these, ensuring that each
39:24view acted like a picture frame.
39:31This framing technique was inspired by Williams Ellis' love of Italian Renaissance gardens,
39:37which are full of avenues and vistas.
39:42Looking east to west, this long line of views, gates and stone walls helps to frame the Moyle
39:48Hare Bog mountain, this one here, an effect only slightly marred by the new trees growing
39:56outside the garden, which now block the view.
40:01But inside the garden, the views can be controlled, and at the end of every vista is an eye-catcher.
40:08No matter which way you look, you're always pulled forward to explore further.
40:16Williams Ellis was a magpie when it came to statues, and he frequently visited reclamation
40:22sales from country houses, mixing and matching whatever he could find.
40:32On one wall sits a classical trio of busts and statues, but turn a corner and you'll
40:39find a much more modern, baby-faced fireman with working hose.
40:46And some statues are complete fabrications.
40:50This bust of Caesar, for example, has a classical pillar, a plaque saying it came from Napoleon's
40:57estate.
40:58But actually, all three pieces were bought separately, glued together to create this
41:04marvellous piece of historical fiction.
41:16The garden continues outside the walls into a woodland with the greatest surprise yet.
41:24During World War I, Williams Ellis served as an officer in the Welsh Guards.
41:29He married in 1915, and at the end of the war was offered a traditional silver serving
41:35plate as a wedding present from his fellow officers.
41:41But instead, he asked them to help him build a ruined castle on a nearby hillside, the
41:47final piece he needed for his garden.
41:54This is so typical of Clough Williams Ellis's philosophy.
41:59The folly is made from local stone.
42:02What could be more romantic and personal than a collapsing castle?
42:06Also, it fits with the countryside, nestling into these mountains with a perfect view of
42:13the landscape he loved.
42:15Apparently, when Williams Ellis asked for this folly instead of a silver platter, his
42:22commanding officer said, it's an odd sort of present, I must say, but standing here
42:30with whales at my feet, I know which one I would choose.
42:53Despite that being an extraordinary, grand and beautiful garden set in that magnificent
42:59greenery, there was one little touch that struck me as something that we could all relate
43:03to, which was this idea of getting £10 and, yeah, I can go and buy some hedging plants.
43:07Or if you get £20, you buy some stone.
43:09Of course, you can multiply that up, and over the years, it accumulates.
43:13Right, I've got here my normal compost, which I'm going to mix with some grit to make even
43:22lighter.
43:23I wouldn't say normal compost.
43:24This is a mixture of a coir-based bark compost, garden compost that sieves some grit, a little
43:31bit of perlite, but I want this to be really free-draining, so I'm going to add extra grit.
43:38Right, let's put that down and give it a good mix, and the reason I'm doing this is because
43:46I'm planting some bulbs, but these are not bulbs for next spring.
43:51These are autumn-flowering bulbs, like either nerines here, which you can still buy, and
43:55you can see that these are sprouting.
43:57Normally, if you read the textbooks, they will tell you to plant autumn-flowering bulbs
44:03in April or May.
44:05Here we are now in August, and it is still possible to do it if you really get on with
44:09it and do it this weekend.
44:11You can buy nerines and plant those, but amarines, which are a cross between amaryllis and nerine,
44:17with some of the vigor of amaryllis but the delicacy of flowering of nerines, certainly
44:22you can get and certainly you can plant, but both of them have two very specific demands
44:28in which they need to thrive.
44:30The first is as much sunshine as you can give them.
44:34Wherever is the hottest, driest place in your garden that bakes, that's where they want
44:38to go.
44:39And the second thing is drainage, which is why I've added the extra grit.
44:43And unlike most bulbs, which you bury, amarines and nerines you plant with the snout, the
44:50pointy bit, sticking out of the ground.
44:53So if we're going to put these like this, and this is a variety called Aphrodite, which
44:58is a lovely pale pink, and I'm going to mix them up with one called Anastasia, which is
45:04a slightly more magentary pink.
45:09So we have a double pink, which I think will look good.
45:13And then filling around them, but not burying them.
45:17So if we just go like that, that's all we need to do, we'll just label that.
45:25I will water these, and keep them watered.
45:27Just because they like lots of heat and sunshine doesn't mean to say you should let them dry
45:30out completely, and they should flower in about six to eight weeks' time.
45:35Now, we're going to visit the garden of Dionne Sandbrook, near Stratford-on-Avon, who, when
45:41she isn't playing saxophone in a band, is creating a haven for wildlife.
45:51I love this garden because it is full of life.
45:54As soon as you open the door and step out, there's going to be something moving or flying,
46:00or there'll be little plops as frogs jump in the pond.
46:04It's absolutely teeming with life.
46:06And there's usually something new that I haven't seen before.
46:10Even if it's a slug worm that's chewing my birch tree.
46:14I've seen that today for the first time.
46:16There's always something new, so I love it all.
46:20Even the hedgehog poo.
46:27I'm Dionne, this is my garden, which is a fairly new garden.
46:32I'm 26 years old in a brand new village that's built on a brownfield site.
46:38I've always had an interest in the environment, so I did actually study environmental science,
46:46and I ended up actually working as a soil scientist, principally.
46:50So I like getting my hands dirty.
46:53The more you put into the garden, the more you get, and so it's endlessly fascinating.
47:00It's really important to me that I'm doing lots of little things that I've put in all
47:04through the garden to support nature and encourage nature and wildlife as much as I can.
47:10So I've planted quite a few different native plants, because I think they're beautiful
47:16in their own right, but also because the native plants support a wide range of different insects,
47:24or birds, or mammals.
47:26So I've planted quite a variety that come out all through different seasons.
47:36I've also built into the garden a pond and a lawn.
47:40Now the lawn is ever shrinking, and my husband has mentioned repeatedly that there's hardly
47:45room for the dog.
47:47There's a lot going on in a really small space.
47:51So this area of the garden is the most shady patch.
47:57It gets the least amount of sun, and no sun at all for half the year.
48:03So I've planted this, just thinking very carefully about what plants will do well in shade, and
48:09I also wanted to make sure it was really green and lush, and provides lots of cover for wildlife,
48:15but also to include some native plants as well.
48:19I've got some native ferns, the male fern in there.
48:23This beside me is a teasel, which I think is a fabulous, statuesque, architectural plant,
48:30and actually I sowed this from some seed from a Christmas decoration I'd made, because the
48:35teasel heads, the flower heads, are beautiful.
48:39They're also great for pollinators when they come into flower, and then the seed heads
48:44are also popular with small birds, such as goldfinches.
48:47I've got some lovely white bladder campion, which is a native flower.
48:53It's a really interesting shape, and quite unusual, because it has this fat little bladder
48:57behind the petals.
49:03I've got a little pile of seven frogs that are all sunbathing.
49:09Oh, another one's just popped up, actually.
49:12I could lose hours just looking in that water, watching all the little creatures whizzing
49:18around, and the pond snails, and the dragonfly nymphs.
49:21Creatures of the deep that suddenly appear up.
49:24The first time I saw one of those, I thought, good grief, what on earth is it?
49:28Every time there's something to look at, look up, and learn about.
49:35So, there's a nice mix here.
49:37There's different types of plants, and there's some lovely uprights.
49:41There's several different mare's tails, and also one of those oxygenates the water
49:47to make sure the water keeps healthy and clear.
49:50Natural ponds are still water, so having fountains, or filters, or pumps aren't ideal for wildlife.
49:59So, you have to make sure that the planting provides all the nutrients and oxygen in the
50:06water to support the wildlife.
50:08There's flowering plants in the pond, and on that side there's a lovely water forget-me-not.
50:14So, the flowers look just like a normal common forget-me-not, but it actually lives in water.
50:20And then on this side of the pond, there's a lovely plant called a bog bean, which is
50:26a lovely plant called a bog bean, which again is a British native, and it has the most spectacular
50:32flowers for something that has such a dreary-sounding name.
50:36It's absolutely lovely.
50:40One of my favourite flowers is ragged robin, and I fell in love with ragged robin just
50:45walking on the hill over the way, because there was a huge bank of it growing, and I'd
50:51never seen anything like it before, because it's a beautiful pink, and really pretty,
50:56delicate, raggedy flowers.
50:58So, I then got myself a packet of seed, and have that all around the back of the pond.
51:08So, I'm a gigging musician.
51:10I play saxophone in a couple of bands, getting home one, two in the morning.
51:16So, it means that the next day, being in the garden is just a lovely way to sort of relax,
51:23pop some headphones on, listen to some music, maybe have a little sing, just enjoy the space.
51:30A nice, gentle, relaxed pace.
51:33Wait till you hear me singing, you'll regret that!
51:37So, I'm going to plant this.
51:39It's called a Deptford pink, and it's a type of dianthus, but it's a native, and it's actually
51:44endangered.
51:45So, it's only found in a couple of dozen locations in England now.
51:51So, I thought it would be a lovely, wild flower to have in this new border.
51:57This border is all for pollinators, so it's a little bit of a mess.
52:02This border is all for pollinators, so it's a real mix of natives and non-native flowers.
52:10They look beautiful, but also attract pollinating insects.
52:15I'm also going to plant a wild carrot.
52:19So, the wild carrot has a lovely, big, flat, white flower.
52:24It's an umbellifer, which will look beautiful next to the white toadflax, as well as attracting beneficial insects.
52:33I see this space as a little green oasis.
52:39For me, as well as for nature, I'm very excited, having made a little hole under my fence,
52:45to now have hedgehogs coming in, because they're becoming increasingly rare.
52:49So, that's really exciting that I'm enticing, slowly, bits of nature to come into my garden.
53:02It's very impressive, the way that Dion's garden has already, despite being in a new build, got so much for wildlife in it.
53:20A plant that is certainly not native, but is looking wonderful at the moment, are my tree ferns.
53:25And although this summer has been pretty miserable for us gardeners, it's been grey, and it's been damp, and it's been a bit chilly,
53:33for tree ferns, it's been heaven.
53:43Now, my strawberries this year have been a profound disappointment.
53:48Not because they haven't grown, but because they've grown too well.
53:53The weather has been very conducive to growth, but not to the ripening of the fruit.
53:58So, what we've got here is a mass of foliage, plenty of fruits underneath, and there still are plenty of fruits,
54:05but they haven't been ripening.
54:07Underneath the foliage, it's been very damp, it's been dark, and they've been rotting before ripening.
54:12And the thing to do now is cut your losses, cut back all the foliage that you can see, and move on and prepare for next year.
54:21So, be bold, get in there, and just cut like that.
54:26Now, the reason for doing this is to let light and air in, and allow the new growth to come through.
54:33And you can actually see already, and you see in there, these new leaves just beginning to appear.
54:40Otherwise, if you leave them, they get suppressed, and the old leaves die back on top of them, and the whole thing becomes a bit of a claggy mess.
54:49Now, this might look a little bit brutal, but I promise you, the plant will be fine.
55:09When I finish cutting back, I will water them thoroughly, I'll mulch them, making sure there are no weeds,
55:15and that will set them up, so the plants will grow back, and then they're in a situation either to be left, ready for next year,
55:21or if I want to move some, or even add some in, September is the time to do that.
55:29Well, I've got a lot more to do, but here are your jobs for the weekend.
55:46August is a good month to cut long grass that's had bulbs and wildflowers growing in it.
55:52Cut it as short as you possibly can, and it may take several passes of the machine to do this.
55:58Then gather up every last scrap of the cut grass, which can then go to the compost heap.
56:04And don't worry if the result looks rather sculpt and bare, because bare soil is an opportunity for the wildflower seeds to germinate.
56:12The grass will quickly recover, can either be kept short by mowing it weekly, or allow it to grow long again.
56:24If you sow hardy annuals, like these cornflowers, or nigella, or modicella, now, they will flower earlier than normal,
56:32and give you a range of display spreading across a number of months.
56:37You can sow them where they are to flower, but I find it easier to sprinkle the seed onto a seed tray,
56:42let them germinate, prick them out, and then either plant out the seedlings in autumn, or keep them over winter and plant them out in early spring.
56:55This year, strawberries haven't just grown vigorous foliage, but they're also sending out long runners.
57:01And it's these runners that produce the plantlets, which are ideal for making new plants.
57:07Choose the healthiest plantlet closest to the parent, cut off the others, but leave a little bit so that you can pin that onto the surface of compost.
57:16And you can either use staples or fashion your own from a length of wire.
57:20Leave it for about two or three weeks, by which time it will have set roots down into the compost.
57:25You can then cut it clear from the parent, and it's ready to replant wherever you want it to grow.
57:37At this time of year, the light changes, and towards the end of the day, you get this slightly lower light where it really glows here on the mound,
57:56as it cuts through just through a certain group of trees and picks up the colours, and they look at their very best.
58:04But that's it for today, and next week we're with Adam in his garden, and so you can join him at 8 o'clock next Friday,
58:14and rejoin myself, Ned, and Patty back here at Longmeadow in a couple of weeks' time.
58:21So until then, bye-bye.
58:33Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation