• 2 months ago
Gardeners World 2024 Episode 27
Transcript
00:00Hello, what an amazing morning! Now Gardeners World has taken us to some lovely gardens
00:20over the year and this is one of my favourites. I'm back at Powderham Castle helping my friend
00:25Jeanette who runs this community kitchen garden in the walled garden here. It's a green hub
00:32and welcoming to all sorts of people including me because I've come and helped her for many
00:37years now. But I have to say, this is probably one of the best runner bean harvests that
00:42I've ever seen here. Coming up on today's programme, Carol explores a garden that's
00:54bursting at the seams with late season colour. Look at this, isn't this enchanting? It's
01:01like being in the middle of a fairy tale or Alice in Wonderland, surrounded by all these
01:07beautiful plants. We visit an extraordinary space providing a haven of peace and tranquillity
01:13for people recovering from life changing surgery. We have paths that are on the unevening surface
01:20with different cambers, gravel and bark to walk on. It really is a kind of a stepping
01:25stone to getting them back to normality really. Joe meets a couple who have transformed an
01:33urban garden into a lush green paradise. Roughly in the middle of the garden or halfway down
01:40is this wonderful sculptural olive and it's doing an incredible job from a design perspective.
01:50And I am going to be potting up some seedlings for next year, amongst other things.
02:19This is the herb garden that Jeanette and I have been planning for years and finally
02:24it is taking shape. Now this whole garden is about productivity, it's a kitchen garden
02:31and the herb garden is no exception to that. And that's partly informed the design but
02:36I also want it to look really nice as well. So it's just straight rows of beds which kind
02:41of mimics the veg beds that are in the rest of the space but they're on a different angle,
02:45they're diagonal. But the reason for these rows is partly because when Jeanette is harvesting
02:51it's really easy and efficient and quick but partly also it will hopefully have that look
02:56of a Provence field of lavender. But it won't all just be lavender, it's all different kinds
03:00of things. So far we have four lavenders which have already planted up. Lavender is very
03:06beautiful and very good for pollinators. This bed here is going to be a row of different
03:11stages. They're all culinaries, they're all edible but they look different so you can
03:18see some are variegated. They might have slightly different flavours but the idea is that there
03:24will be a lot of variety and also as a grower it's always lovely to try different cultivars
03:29so that you can see which ones do better in your soil and be informed for future years.
03:34I'm really excited about this one particularly, it's called Burrgarten. It's not one I've
03:38grown before but apparently it's a mass of blue flowers as well as being edible so if
03:43you want just one stage that might be a really nice one to grow. Good for pollinators, tasty
03:48but also very pretty. So I will be keeping a close eye on this one.
04:03Now the soil here is pretty good and it's a really hot place against this big brick
04:09wall with the sun beating on it and reflecting back on me so I have absolutely no worries
04:14about how all these Mediterranean herbs will do here even in damp Devon. So I'm not going
04:21to add grit or sand or anything like that to the soil, I'm just going to leave it as
04:24it is but what I'm also not going to add is loads of really rich compost and soil improver
04:31because herbs don't like it, they actually like to be a little bit stressed. When they
04:35are stressed and when they're hot they produce more of the volatile compounds that give them
04:40their strong smells and their strong flavours so they'll taste better. So hopefully here
04:45they'll be very happy. I'm just planting them not proud of the soil but certainly not deeply.
04:59These although they need quite free draining and warm conditions are fully hardy so they
05:03can cope with cold winters but I am planting a few herbs here that depending on where you
05:08are in the country may not survive outside. Now the first herb that's a bit tender that
05:22I'm planting here is actually I think my favourite herb to grow, it's French tarragon. It has
05:28such a unique flavour tarragon, aniseed-y, fennel-y and you can't always buy it in the
05:34shops, it's really hard to get hold of so I always grow it myself. What people don't
05:39realise is that it's tender, it's really tender in fact. So here in a pot it means it can
05:46be moved into the polytunnel or the greenhouse for the winter and that'll be all it needs,
05:49it doesn't need heat for the winter, just frost protection and then it'll grow as a
05:53really lovely perennial. What I'm actually planting on here is an old bit of spent compost
06:01that was in the bottom of this which was quite dry and baked and then I've topped up just
06:05about 7 or 8 inches with fresh compost and that's all that these plants need, they tend
06:11to have surface roots that spread outwards rather than deep and that dried compost will
06:16hopefully stop this from getting waterlogged because it doesn't want to get too wet. You
06:20could add grit or sand to this compost if you wanted to but these aren't quite as arid
06:25as some of the other Mediterranean herbs so they're going to be very happy in this which
06:28is just compost. So once all these are in I'm going to give them a water so that they
06:32can establish well and then that will be the beginning of the herb garden started finally.
06:41Now Carol visited a garden that is full of colour and also the epitome of right plant,
06:48so let's go and have a look at the garden in the first place.
07:00I've come to Monmouthshire to visit a garden that's got the Black Mountains and the Welsh
07:05Hills as a backdrop. Here at Highfield Farm, 3.5 acres has been transformed into a series
07:13of gardens, all with our own personality but all packed full of the plants that I love
07:20best, perennials.
07:22Well an unusual entrance into a garden through the chicken shed and down through here in
07:38this wonderful gravel garden. It's sunny, it's open, everything's lilting and mixing
07:45together and it all looks splendidly happy. It also looks as though it's doing its own
07:51thing but it wasn't always like this. It's a gravel garden now but at one time there
07:58was a great big track that ran across here up to the shed so it meant that the soil either
08:04side was extremely compacted, very, very poor indeed, which means that the kind of
08:11soil here is very, very free draining and that's exactly the kind of situation that
08:16suits these plants so admirably.
08:20Two of the key plants here are this glorious scabious called okra lucca and it's very widespread
08:28in the wild right the way across Europe and Asia. I love the way it's mixed with this
08:33gaura, this has just got to be one of the prettiest plants ever. This variety is called
08:39whirling butterflies and you can see why. The flowers seem to float over the foliage,
08:44in fact you're not even aware of the stems. It's as pretty as can be, incredibly easy
08:50to grow. If you were growing it in rich fertile soil then it might only last a winter or two
08:57but this way it's thriving and not only thriving, it's seeding all over the place.
09:12One of the most exciting qualities about this garden is the way in which perennials are used
09:18in so many different ways. This part of the garden the owners describe as being planted
09:23in the matrix style. All that means is like-minded plants are put together with a backbone of
09:31grasses through the centre and then planted with them are these perennials. There are
09:36lots and lots of the same perennials which are repeated here and there, not in deliberate
09:42swathes or in lines and they just lead you on and everything that's planted in here you
09:48can tell is really enjoying the conditions here and loves the same as its neighbours too.
10:00One of the plants that makes these wonderful repeated clumps right the way through the garden
10:07are these asters and I think this has to be my favourite of all. It's a perfect plant,
10:13it's Aster Fricartii Monk. I love its deportment, the way in which all these
10:20daisies are quite separate from one another and none of them conflict or obscure any of
10:26the others within the plant. They're all facing the sun. If you listen you can hear the buzz of
10:32the insects and if you look you can see just why they're loving this plant. The reason the insects
10:40are so interested is because of the formation of this flower and what's inside it. First of all,
10:46around the edge you've got these ray florets and their whole purpose is to say to the insects,
10:53come on, it's over here and they're drawing the insects in to these centres. The centres are
10:59called disc florets. First of all, it looks just like one yellow blob in the middle but if you
11:05look more closely you can see that it's composed of lots and lots of separate little flowers
11:12and if you watch the insects going around they'll move right around the inside of the flower
11:19just as each one of these is opening to taste that nectar and to enjoy that pollen.
11:25The daisy family is very well represented in this part of the garden and no wonder. So many daisies
11:38are reliable, accommodating, really straightforward plants and I think this is one of the most
11:44outstanding examples. It's a Hellenium called Eldorado and it truly is pure gold. Look at that
11:52great golden tutu and then these lovely knobbly flowers in the middle. There are Helleniums too
12:00on the other side of the path and yet another daisy. This one's called Venonia crinita
12:07mammoth and it runs right the way through the garden. A constant theme but here it frames
12:15so beautifully the mountain beyond.
12:34Look at this, isn't this enchanting?
12:36How about this for the perfect picture? This is Selenum wallachianum. It's the most exquisite of
12:44all the umbels. It's got everything going for it. It's got ferny green leaves in the spring that
12:50make great big green doilies and then they're still here embracing these flowers and as the
12:57flowers come out they're creamy white in these lovely rounded umbels.
13:01But if you look behind me, nobody's helped this to self-seed over there, it's just done it itself
13:09and isn't that the wonder about self-sown plants? They always look as if they landed up in exactly
13:17the right place. How about that for a combination? Those beautiful greeny white heads and all that
13:23fluffiness surrounded by this big silky white umbel.
13:31Solid yellow daisies of Arubachia, it's absolutely brilliant.
13:40For me perennials are the heart and soul of any garden. They change so much creating different
13:48pictures almost day by day and this garden demonstrates some of the most important
13:56factors about perennials. Their diversity, their brilliance as far as wildlife is concerned
14:04and also their exquisite beauty.
14:27One of the best things about perennials is also that they're really quite low maintenance for us
14:31gardeners, especially when they seed themselves everywhere. But if you don't necessarily want
14:36your perennials or your annuals to seed themselves all over your garden, you can take a bit of
14:40control by collecting seeds and storing them so that you can choose where they go and now's the
14:45perfect time to do that because the seed heads have matured and the seeds inside will have
14:51ripened. Things like poppy seeds are best collected when they have gone brown. If you pick them when
14:57they're still green the seeds will not be viable yet, so the best thing to do is just wait, you
15:01can give them a bit of a shake, see if you can hear a rattle inside tells you that that is now ready.
15:08You might want to leave a few seed heads on for the birds.
15:13Some seeds you need to sow pretty much as soon as they've set. Often plants that have
15:19evolved in wetlands have very short viability on their seeds, but poppies famously
15:23have a very short viability on their seeds, so you might want to leave a few seed heads on for the birds.
15:28When you are collecting seed, always wait till a dry, preferably warm and sunny day if you can,
15:36because if these have any moisture in them and then you try and store them,
15:40they do tend to go a bit mouldy. Oh there we go, look there's loads of poppies!
15:43So you want to put them straight into an envelope, now when you are collecting seeds always wait till
15:48a dry preferably warm and sunny day if you can, because if these have any moisture in them and
15:54then you try and store them, they do tend to go a bit mouldy. Oh there we go, look there's loads of
15:58seed in! Gardening is a very sensory experience and in this case you just have to keep going
16:07until you stop hearing them land. I think they're done. Okay and then of course, very importantly,
16:19label them so you know what they are and when you collected them, because if a seed doesn't
16:26have long viability, you want to know when you need to use them by.
16:35And that will give you plenty of poppies for a few years I would say.
16:39There we go, keep them somewhere cool and dark and dry.
16:44If you don't want to go through all of that hassle of storing
16:47and collecting though, you can with some plants do something a little bit quicker.
16:58This is another favorite plant of mine for collecting seeds from, it's Digitalis or Foxglove
17:04and if left here, the seeds will cascade down and start germinating on the ground here,
17:09but I don't necessarily want them here because it's already
17:12fairly congested, so instead I'm going to put them somewhere else and I'm not
17:16going to bother with an envelope this time, they'll just go direct on the ground.
17:26I cleared this patch a few weeks ago, so now there's a little bit of a hole and so next year
17:30it'd be lovely to have that filled with lovely Foxgloves. So I will just rattle it around
17:37rattle it around and hope that some here germinate.
17:43That will give me flowers in two years time because these are biennials,
17:47so if I want flowers for next year, which I do, I need to put some seedlings from this year
17:53in here as well.
17:57So
18:06there are Foxglove seedlings all through this border, so I'm going to take a few and redistribute
18:13them, but they happen to be right next to Burdock seedlings and they look very very similar.
18:19Both have fairy leaves, this is a Burdock, this is a Foxglove, both have a sort of rosette at the
18:28centre where the growth point is and both have a purple colouration to that central stalk.
18:36The key difference is that the Burdock has arrow-shaped leaf, so it's got this shape where
18:44the leaf meets the stalk, whereas the Foxglove has a spade-shaped leaf so it gently
18:51meets the stem. The other key difference is when you look at an older plant you'll see
18:57that Foxglove leaves aren't as big as Burdock leaves. They are a real pain Burdock, you can
19:03use the roots but the seeds stick to everything and spread themselves everywhere, so I'd probably
19:08dig that one out, whereas I would want the Foxgloves to stay. So getting your eye in is
19:13really important, as you get to know your plants this sort of stuff becomes second nature.
19:20I'm just gonna dig these seedlings out of the ground and put them straight into
19:25a bucket of water and then replant them as soon as I possibly can.
19:27I have actually just seen whilst I'm here another plant I can very easily move right now
19:41and that is Verbena bonariensis, which seeds itself everywhere.
19:51The Verbenas are right at the front of the bed, although they can be translucent so they can
19:56work in the front. If I put them up and grow them on I can put them anywhere I like.
20:03To identify them as seedlings they basically look very similar to the parent plant, so they have a
20:10square stem which is often purple in colour and then they have decusate leaves which means they
20:15have alternately opposite leaves, so one set goes one way the next set goes at 90 degrees,
20:24quite easy to identify and I love them they're one of my favourite flowers so
20:28I always let some be because part of the joy of Verbena is that they
20:32seem to come up where they choose and don't ever feel too controlled and contrived.
20:54That's the foxgloves in the ground and I'll pot up the Verbena
20:57into containers later on today and until then they'll be absolutely fine in the pocket of water.
21:08Now when you ever move seedlings or any kind of plants in this heat you really have to water them
21:13in, so doing that now and then keeping an eye on them for the next few weeks until they've settled.
21:20It's a lovely thought knowing that these are going to flower next year
21:23and then the following year the seeds I scattered will flower and from then on
21:28hopefully every year there will be some foxgloves here in this spot.
21:33Now we all get a bit of respite from our own gardens but there is one garden in London that
21:39is making an enormous difference to people who are recovering from life-changing surgery.
21:53Tranquility, peace, it's brought all those things to me.
21:59This garden helped me heal.
22:04This garden for me is a place to just relax and forget you're in hospital.
22:10This unit really supports patients who've experienced an amputation to get back onto
22:19the road to recovery to regain their independence and this garden really
22:25plays a really important role in them being able to do that.
22:31This is the amputee rehabilitation unit which is part of Guy's and St Thomas' Trust.
22:37It's in Lamba, South London.
22:42I'm Joe Scoble and I'm the head gardener here but I also work as a rehabilitation assistant as well.
22:49Let me help you with that. Thank you.
22:52If you've experienced an amputation it's a life-changing event.
22:55It can obviously have an effect on your mental health.
23:00Right are you happy? Yeah I'm comfortable now.
23:02Should we put you on a slight angle like that?
23:04Okay.
23:06When you come out into the garden you notice that people relax, they can practice with their
23:11wheelchair outside, they can practice with their prosthetic. It's important for someone's mood.
23:17We've got some different paths here that are set up especially for training with a prosthesis
23:24so we have paths that are on the uneven surface with different cambers, gravel and bark to walk
23:30on. It really is a kind of a stepping stone to getting them back to normality really.
23:39I use my imagination to create this beautiful design here.
23:44Thumbs up.
23:47My name is Tatana. My passion is dancing so dancing kizomba which is an African
23:53dance from Angola in Africa and I went there because I wanted to improve myself
23:59and I unfortunately contracted a severe malaria.
24:05To save my life they had to amputate my arms and my legs.
24:10I'm a very positive person so that didn't scare me much really. I just wanted to like
24:18get on my life and try to figure out how I can dance again.
24:23When I arrived here everything changed on the first day.
24:27From being not being able to move to finally being able to move it was amazing. It was a great
24:35feeling. Yeah just being outside the garden was really like something peaceful and something to
24:42get your mind out of your own room and then what happened to you. It was just like a feeling of
24:48freedom.
24:53So we have plants from all around the world here and they are plants that can cope with the quite
25:00dry hot environment of London. This is a Mexican lily which has a really interesting large flower
25:09that comes up in the spring and which develops on the mature plant. We've got the rice paper plant
25:14the tetrapanax and we got this large miscanthus giganthum. We got plants such as this one here
25:23which is the Ococavia carneo which is from the slopes of the Andes. The Australian indigo just
25:31behind us. You've got the lancewood from New Zealand. Quite unusual looking trees. So we've got
25:38plants that perhaps you wouldn't normally see in people's gardens.
25:45That's fine. Yeah. What we've come to realise is that you can take rehabilitation out into the
25:52garden using hand tools in the garden. We perhaps take it for granted but somebody who's just
25:59learning to use a prosthesis and is maintaining their balance has to think about what they're
26:05doing a little bit more carefully. So these tasks really help them to really progress
26:13with their balance and their confidence. Big or small? I reckon the big daddy. Let's go with that.
26:21My name is Luke. I've been here about six weeks now. I was on a motorbike trip driving from the
26:26US down to Antarctica. Unfortunately only made it as far as Colombia where I crashed.
26:32I was there for about a month in hospital and then was repatriated back to England.
26:37Arrived in this oasis. Do you put your foot on it? I would just use your strength if you can.
26:44Shoving it hard and then lift. It's just so different to being in a hospital bed to coming
26:50in here. It's just nice that it's separate. That's what's important.
26:56I've had my leg for about two weeks and the first week was pretty savage trying to get
27:03used to walking on it and now I feel like I've got a bit of independence back. It's much harder
27:08to walk on this soil than it is on normal ground but I think it's quite good for the balance. If
27:12you can walk on soil I reckon you can have a good go on the London Path. Right, this is where I fall
27:18in the ditch. Don't fall in the ditch. Being out in the garden I get used to actually hobbling
27:24around on my leg and working out how to go up things and down things and when something throws
27:28me off balance I can come back to the centre so it's incredibly useful. This is the best
27:34physio session I've had. Do you want to stand up? Do it with the rake.
27:50Right, we've got sage. These two are mint, Corsican mint and then we're going to plant mint up there.
27:59My name's Christine. I came to the centre after having my leg amputated about four,
28:08well it's four months ago now. I had a bypass in my leg because the arteries were furred up.
28:16I was very depressed, cried every time someone spoke to me because it is overwhelming.
28:25Even now I sort of...
28:34It's just peaceful to sit out here. Your mind, you feel a bit calmer when you go in, you know.
28:44Hopefully I'm going home next week. I'll miss him and I'll miss the garden, yeah.
28:55The sunlight is so important, isn't it, for our immune system and so bringing patients out into
29:05the open and to enjoy the outdoor space, I think that's really important when it comes to
29:11the future of providing healthcare.
29:18Taking care of the garden gave me a sense of having my independence back
29:22and it's a start of my life really because I stayed in here for six months and after that
29:29it's like being outside, like in a real world, we'd say. And then, yeah, being ready to have my
29:35own little garden. When I'm taking care of my plants I just forget about things, I just forget
29:40about the world around me. I just want to be there with them and I love it. I'm so grateful to be
29:46able to do that and it's nice.
29:58I just can't imagine what that kind of trauma must feel like and it's so lovely to know that
30:03there are places and people and, of course, gardens that can help. Now I'm gonna help a
30:10little bit with Jeanette's brassicas because this year has been quite a challenge with them.
30:16I know you've been struggling with the brassicas this year, haven't you Jeanette?
30:24I've lost probably 50%. My brassicas have been assaulted by wood pigeons and then as the year
30:32went on the white cabbage butterfly caterpillar. But I haven't done anything to harm them in any
30:37way other than put covers over my brassicas. Okay, you've netted some crops? I have.
30:44There are a couple I've noticed that's got holes in the leaves, so even though I'm using
30:49netting to cover them, something is laying on them. It just seems that the white butterfly
30:55is doing particularly well, particularly in my garden. This is some purple sprouting broccoli.
31:06I do find that once you get past the baby stage, they get the strength then just to grow on and
31:11out of it as long as nothing has taken out the growing tip. Okay, are they going to stay uncovered?
31:19They're sort of getting stronger and more mature and also we're going into autumn, so it's not
31:23quite such cabbage butterfly weather. Having said all of that, and I know that it's immensely
31:29frustrating when you're a grower and your crop isn't doing that well, but the serious element is
31:34that insects in general and butterflies this year have done incredibly badly. I think on the big
31:40counts this year, they found that it was nearly 50 percent down on numbers this year from last.
31:46We as gardeners can avoid using pesticides and chemicals and we can grow
31:59as much flower and pollinator friendly crops as possible and actually make a bit of a difference.
32:04I've adopted permaculture principles here, which I'm absolutely wedded to, and so I don't
32:10use chemicals at all. I just try so hard to work with nature, you know, creating a place that's
32:17diverse for our insects. And so when I am weeding, I just tend to lay them down on the paths and just
32:24leave them to rot down. If we sort of paint around underneath, we'll probably find some lovely big
32:29fat worms. If you didn't have a good biodiversity with, like you say, worms and beetles and wasps
32:36and flies and bacteria that break down this stuff, you'd never get the good soil from it.
32:41So, you know, by doing things like having log piles in the corner or piling up leaves or
32:46letting long grass or weeds live in one area to support lots of different species, you're then
32:52allowing those species to act on your garden and make your garden better.
32:56So we're weeding around these purple sprouting now. Yeah. Well, I'm back in a few weeks so we can
33:06see how they've done. Yeah, yeah. Still to come on today's programme.
33:13Jo explores a beautiful garden in London that has been designed to be both low maintenance
33:18and wildlife friendly. What a beautiful garden. Honestly, it's absolutely gorgeous.
33:25So we wanted it to be low maintenance because we don't have time to weed, to water.
33:32And we meet a mother and daughter team who create unusual displays using reclaimed containers
33:38and houseplants. I'm a plantaholic, I confess. Yeah, and it's not going to change.
33:45Likewise, I live and breathe plants.
33:59Well, if there's one plant that grows abundantly in this garden, probably too abundantly,
34:05it's comfrey. It can be a little bit of a thug, but it is incredibly useful
34:10for making a fertiliser that feeds all of the other plants. That's what I'm going to do with
34:17all of this. I am wearing gloves for this whole process, and that's because comfrey
34:21is covered in very fine hairs that can really irritate your skin.
34:33Come on, Brie.
34:40So the most famous thing about comfrey feed is its terrible smell that will fill your whole
34:57allotment or garden. But this way avoids the smell. It's very simple. This is just an old
35:03waterbuck, which was lying around here. And all I'm going to do is put the comfrey leaves in dry,
35:11not add any water, and then weigh them down. And that's literally it. And by leaving out the water,
35:20you're removing the stagnation, and it just doesn't smell nearly as bad. It doesn't smell at
35:24all bad. But it's such a fantastic resource. I mean, you can use anything. You can use
35:29all sorts of green material that you have, because they will all be full of nutrients.
35:33The thing about comfrey is it's very full of potassium, and that's because its roots go
35:38deep into the soil, where they can bring up all of the potassium that other plants can't access.
35:44And that's perfect for flowering and fruiting plants, whereas things like
35:47nettles are really high in nitrogen, and that's better for leafy crops.
35:53So then, once you've filled it, all you need to do is really firm it down
36:00to get all the air out, and then weigh it down with a rock,
36:08and then leave it. There we go. And in about six to eight weeks, you'll have some liquid
36:14feed coming out of this. And the lovely thing about having it in a waterbuck is eventually
36:20you'll be able to just open the tap, and the liquid will come out. And you'll keep adding
36:26leaves and leaves and leaves, and so you'll have a pretty much constant source of liquid
36:32fertilizer here. And you can see it's a little bit thicker and darker comfrey feed than your
36:38normal comfrey tea. And it is more intense as well, so about twice the dilution, so one in 20
36:45one in 20, rather than one in 10 when you are feeding with this. But by liquid feeding any
36:52plant, you're making the nutrients really accessible to it. That will be perfect for
36:58feeding all kinds of things. I recently got my own house, so I know exactly how daunting it is
37:04to design and create your own garden, especially working with whatever was there already. But Joe
37:10went to visit a couple in London who have done just that, and created a real oasis in our capital
37:16city. I think a garden can add so many things to your life. It can connect you with nature,
37:28be somewhere to be really creative in, and who knows, bring back some wonderful childhood
37:34memories too. And this garden does all of those things and more, and it does it beautifully.
37:48Impressively, it was designed by its owners Paola
37:52Sequeira and Andrew Durham, who knew just what they wanted.
37:58What a beautiful garden. Honestly, it's absolutely gorgeous.
38:03So we wanted it to be low maintenance because we don't have time to weed, to water, so laying the
38:09gravel is the major part of it, you know. We also wanted a place where we could relax and be, and
38:19remind me at home as well, because I'm from Brazil. Okay. And we obviously wanted it to be a mixed
38:25between British culture and Brazilian culture. I'm from the middle of the country where it's dry
38:32throughout six months, and then rain non-stop throughout six months. And having the fresh water
38:40softening the gravel and the harshness of it was a massive element to remind me of home.
38:47So Andrew, what was the garden like when you first came here?
38:49Well, straight away we fell in love with this space. We had maybe eight trees here. Quite a lot of them were in bad shape, but it had also some beautiful elements like this amazing wall of ivy. It's such a great element to have.
39:10Not only did they design the structure and the planting,
39:14they built most of the garden themselves too, with a lot of graft.
39:19Now looking back, I think it's like giving birth. You don't remember how much work and pain it was.
39:33The garden is long and thin, seven meters by 29, and cleverly divided into areas.
39:42But the water near the house is key.
39:45One of the things that Paula and Andrew inherited was this large pond, and I guess most people would think I'm going to get rid of that. It's a bit scary to maintain, but it adds so much to this garden. It's absolutely beautiful.
39:58But also the water, they don't fill it up from the tap. It all comes off the roofs and they harvest it, and it's all natural water going into this pond.
40:07They've divided it into two. There's a really deep part on this side, and on this side it's much shallower with gravel and marginal plants.
40:15And also it's a beach, so it's great for wildlife too. And the wildlife is just flocking here. There's damselflies, there's dragonflies, and on these reed mazes over here, a lot of people call them bullrushes.
40:27They're the casements of the old dragonflies that have emerged and flown off.
40:34And honestly, this is just so magical to have this in your garden in the centre of London on a day like this. It's fabulous.
40:46And in this low-maintenance garden, it's cleverly placed plants that create the different areas.
40:52Roughly in the middle of the garden, or halfway down, is this wonderful sculptural olive.
40:58And it's doing an incredible job from a design perspective because from the house, it screens this back part of the garden.
41:06From this side, it's screening the house and creating that sense of seclusion in this fire pit area. It's fantastic.
41:12And by placing it here and not surrounding it with lots of plants and cluttering it up, it's like living sculpture.
41:20It's majestic.
41:30At the beginning of this project, a lot of trees were taken away. Well, left on site actually, but reinvented as habitats and places to sit and dotted around the garden.
41:40But new trees were put in, and trees much more appropriate for a smaller garden.
41:46Here, I love this mini sort of stylised birch grove. We've got three trees set out in a triangle.
41:52And as they grow, they'll grow together as one nice big clump.
41:56And when they drop their leaves, of course, in autumn, you've got these wonderful white stems, a really lovely composition.
42:02And from a design perspective, they're important too, because on this side, we've got that large ivy.
42:08We've got the olive as well.
42:10And without these here balancing the garden out, it would all feel very lopsided.
42:20There's not much colour in the garden.
42:22The interest comes from the texture and shape of the fabulous planting.
42:28But there's one central bed.
42:30It's actually the old pond that was filled with recycled garden rubble and soil.
42:36And it sits beautifully in this simple but clever space.
42:48There's a lovely continuity to this garden.
42:50And I think that's because there's just two materials used throughout, really.
42:54We've got timber and gravel.
42:56So we've got this deck and these lovely floating sleeper steps.
43:00And the railway sleepers are cut into random sizes and dotted through with stepping stones through the path.
43:06It creates a lovely meandering feel through the garden.
43:10And as with all garden design, the detail will take good design and elevate it to an excellent design.
43:20And there's one last experience here I just can't resist.
43:25And there's one last experience here I just can't resist.
43:31Oh, this is beautiful, I've got to say.
43:35And to think this is low maintenance, it's environmentally friendly, it's buzzing with wildlife.
43:41And it's beautiful too. They've achieved so much in this small garden, I've got to say.
43:45And you can cool yourself down on a hot day.
43:49What more do you want?
43:55What more do you want?
44:09I really love that garden.
44:11And I think to have done it themselves and yet be so pared back and careful in editing their choices,
44:17made for a really successful design, which I know many people, including myself, struggle to do by always overfilling things.
44:25Now, autumn is a really good time for dividing perennials.
44:29You can do it with all sorts of things.
44:31But here, Jeanette has a clump of garlic chives that she doesn't want here,
44:35so I'm going to dig these up and put them into smaller pots.
44:39And the reason why autumn is the best time for it is because it's quite mild,
44:44we usually have quite a lot of rain, so things can be watered in and recover more quickly.
44:49But also, there's still a little bit of warmth,
44:52so there's some time for these plants to recover, put on more roots before the really cold season begins.
45:02Come on then, Ruth.
45:19Division is probably the easiest form of propagation,
45:23and that's because basically all you're doing is digging up a clump of plant,
45:27prizing it apart and then potting up smaller pieces.
45:31And it's particularly easy with these because they're bulbs.
45:35I am reusing the pots that the herbs came in.
45:39Let's put a bit of peat-free compost in the pot.
45:44Get the plants in, into the centre if you can.
45:47And then top up.
45:52You could plant these straight into the borders if you wanted to,
45:56like I did with the Digitalis.
45:58Putting them in a pot is quite a good way of making them recover quickly.
46:02And also, in compost, they can put on stronger root systems,
46:05so a pot of compost is probably more reliable.
46:10You can do this with any sort of herbaceous perennial.
46:13At this time of year, you can go through the whole herbaceous border if you want to
46:16and break things up, things like astrantia, hemerocallis, hardy geraniums,
46:20all can be divided now.
46:23The only things that you wouldn't want to divide in the autumn
46:25would be things like grasses, which can take a bit longer to recover,
46:28especially when it's cold and wet, or anything that's in flowers.
46:39And I am also going to pot up the verbena seedlings
46:43that I dug up from the border earlier on.
46:46The key to success with division or anything like this, repotting,
46:52is good root contact with the soil, and then water them.
46:55It's really, really important, even in the autumn, even when it's rainy,
46:59to water plants that you've recently divided,
47:01because without water, the roots actually can't touch the soil
47:05and it's that contact with the soil that allows them to take up nutrients.
47:09There we go, a verbena seedling and some garlic chives.
47:16Now, if you want to still flex your gardening muscles
47:20but don't actually have a garden,
47:22there are loads of houseplants and indoor gardens that you can make.
47:26And nowadays, being so popular, people are coming up with more and more
47:30inventive ways of displaying their houseplants.
47:33I'm a plantaholic, I confess.
47:36Yep, and it's not going to change.
47:39Likewise, I live and breathe plants.
47:42The pleasure and joy of houseplants, for me, is actually seeing them thrive,
47:46and particularly when we're doing mixed-container planters,
47:50and you can fit multiple houseplants in one container.
47:53And I think that's a really good thing.
47:55I think it's a really good thing.
47:57I think it's a really good thing.
48:00Mixed-container planters, and you can fit multiple houseplants in one container.
48:05It creates a mini garden that you can enjoy in your home
48:08and actually brings the outside in.
48:13My name's Holly.
48:14I'm Nicky, Holly's mum.
48:16And together, we love creating indoor container gardens.
48:20The plants have to live harmoniously.
48:23The rule of thumb is plants that are compatible together
48:27and that require the same light situation,
48:30same amount of watering, when and how often.
48:34And actually, the speed of growth
48:37is one going to dominate and push out the other one.
48:41By the plants being so closely planted in one container,
48:45they're almost mimicking their natural environment,
48:48whether they're a crawling, trailing plant,
48:51or they've got an upright habit,
48:53they kind of intermingle,
48:55and we can kind of try and recreate that environment in one pot
48:59to get the best out of the plants.
49:06So, this is one of my favourite planting combinations
49:10for a low-light position in the home.
49:13We have got a ficus elastica, a rubber plant,
49:16darker leaf, you've got a faxia japonica,
49:19a mulleinbeckia, a dracaena,
49:22and my favourite plant in this planter
49:26is the maranta fascinator, it has to be.
49:29It's got beautiful red veins, it's a moving plant,
49:33it moves with the light throughout the day,
49:36and you'll also get beautiful flowers.
49:43My love of houseplants and our passion for vintage containers
49:47definitely evolved and was inspired by Mum.
49:50It was almost impossible not to be around plants,
49:54I didn't know any different.
49:56Mum would always take us to a local garden centre or shop,
50:00that's what we did.
50:02Part of the holidays, wasn't it?
50:04Part of the holidays, part of the weekends.
50:07Plants have just always been there.
50:09Squid you in the car amongst all the plants.
50:12Yeah.
50:16There's not a better feeling
50:18than when you're titivating with all your houseplants,
50:21giving them a drink.
50:22New leaf.
50:23And when you see a new leaf, wow.
50:25That's the lottery, isn't it?
50:34I'm going to plant a planter that can go inside and outside.
50:39OK.
50:40What are you doing?
50:42I came across this old vintage wash basin
50:46and I'm going to plant that up with houseplants, pet friendly.
50:50I'm going to start, Holly,
50:52I think I might use the bird's nest fern.
50:56So I have drainage holes in mine.
50:59Yeah, me too.
51:01Next I'm going to use a Calathea orbifolia
51:04and I just love the foliage on this one.
51:08Reminds me of a melon.
51:10A little bit, yeah.
51:12So we're going to start with a Sansevieria.
51:15This is going to be my centre point
51:17and this is going to go right in the middle.
51:20Snake plants actually can go in a low lit position in the home,
51:27but because we're going to mix it with succulents,
51:30the whole arrangement will need to be in a brighter position
51:33and it will actually live really well and you'll get more growth.
51:37I'm going to top dress with gravel
51:39because we've got succulents
51:41and they don't want to be swamped with wet soil
51:44if you did over water.
51:46The gravel is going to help with drainage
51:49and aesthetically it just pairs better with succulent and cacti.
51:53So Holly, I think I've finished.
51:55It looks great.
51:57And in the bathroom it's going to be the perfect place for it
52:00because of the humidity.
52:02We're just going to add some crock broken terracotta pots.
52:06Everybody has broken terracotta pots
52:08and these are going to go in as finishing touches
52:12to almost look like we've planted lots of individual succulents.
52:17And it looks like they're bursting out of the pot.
52:20So this lovely succulent garden
52:22is going to be a perfect place for it
52:24because of the humidity.
52:26We're just going to add some crock broken terracotta pots.
52:30So this lovely succulent Sansevieria combination
52:33will sit really well in a kitchen space.
52:36Plenty of light, a nice soft light.
52:38It will live very happily, won't it?
52:40It will, yeah.
52:45I would say having a shared bond
52:48and a shared passion for plants with mum is...
52:51Never a dull moment.
52:53It's never a dull moment, but I would say it's very, very special.
52:57We've got this bond that only we know.
53:02It's a mum and daughter thing.
53:24I love Holly and Nikki's work.
53:27It's beautiful.
53:28It's so much more inspiring than just a pot in a little drip catcher.
53:32Right, now it is harvest time of year.
53:37And if you're anything like me,
53:39you will find that you probably don't manage to eat it all when it's fresh
53:42and you need to find ways of preserving some of it for the winter.
53:45And one thing that I tend to do is make vinegars.
53:49I'm going to make one now which is called fire cider vinegar.
53:53It's very simple.
53:54It's things like garlic.
53:56I've got some horseradish root.
53:58You could use ginger.
53:59You could use turmeric.
54:00And I've got a chilli because fire cider is fiery.
54:04But you can put whatever you fancy in.
54:06Letting that infuse for a couple of months
54:08until the vinegar has taken on the flavour
54:10and some of the properties of all of those plants.
54:15With anything like this,
54:17you want it to infuse as much as possible.
54:19So you want as small pieces as you can get.
54:23And there are no set ingredient numbers.
54:27It's basically as much as you can be bothered to do.
54:32So as long as nothing's sticking out above the vinegar.
54:35Anything above the surface runs the risk of going bad.
54:41Now I like this really fiery.
54:43I like chilli so I'm going to use all the seeds
54:46and all the material up the top
54:48which is where you get the strongest chilli effect.
54:53I could do even more of this.
54:57But after a few months this will still be fairly punchy.
55:00And the most punchy part of it is the horseradish root.
55:05Fire cider vinegar is not for everyone.
55:07I really like it.
55:09And I tend to have a spoonful a day.
55:11You could mix it with olive oil
55:13and put it on salad, something like that.
55:15The fire cider vinegar
55:17is sometimes called four thieves vinegar.
55:19And the story goes
55:21that it dates back to the plague
55:23when some thieves were stealing from plague houses
55:25and not getting ill.
55:27And when they were finally caught
55:29they gave the recipe
55:31of how they were managing to stay alive
55:33and this is it.
55:35So it uses loads of antibacterial,
55:37antifungal and antiviral botanicals.
55:39So it's a mixture of those.
55:41Antibacterial, antifungal
55:43and antiviral botanicals.
55:45So things like the garlic.
55:47But also I'm adding
55:49lots of herbs
55:51and thyme is one of those plants
55:53that has a lot of those properties as well.
55:55Along with things like sage and rosemary.
55:57So I'm putting some of those in too.
56:03And then some winter savoury
56:05which is one of my favourite herbs.
56:07It has that same flavour as thyme
56:09but thyme can be a little bit temperamental.
56:11So hopefully all of these
56:13together will taste really really nice.
56:21And now a good shake.
56:29There.
56:31And that should infuse really nicely.
56:33So I'll put this somewhere dark
56:35and cool, leave it for a couple
56:37of months and then it'll be ready
56:39just about in time for Christmas
56:41to strain off and give
56:43people as gifts
56:45if you do it soon.
56:57Summer squashes
56:59can be productive for many months
57:01but now
57:03it's a good time to cut the ends off any
57:06long growing shoots so that the plant's
57:08energy goes into swelling the remaining
57:10fruit. Harvest regularly
57:12when they have a firm but soft
57:14skin and you should be able to do this
57:16right up until the first frosts.
57:24Providing extra food
57:26is a great way to attract more
57:28birds into your garden. You can use
57:30a ready made seed mix in a traditional
57:32feeder, mealworms
57:34or seed heads that you've collected
57:36or simply cut an apple.
57:38Ensure you hang your feeder high enough
57:40off the ground to avoid predators
57:42and then sit back and enjoy
57:44the show.
57:49It's not too late to sow hardy annuals
57:51such as calendula
57:53for an early flowering next year.
57:55Either scatter seeds directly
57:57where you want them to flower
57:59or sow into plugs.
58:01Put two seeds into each module that you
58:03have filled with a peat free compost
58:05then cover lightly.
58:10Water well before putting somewhere warm
58:12to germinate.
58:20Well, I've had a lovely day because I feel
58:22like I've achieved quite a lot actually
58:24which is a very good feeling, especially in a garden
58:26that you love. But that's it for me
58:28I'm off home. Monty is back
58:30at Longmeadow next week at 8pm
58:32but until then
58:34goodbye.
59:02you