Gardeners' World S58E04
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00:00Hello and welcome to Gardeners World. Now, in this workshop, I make the hurdles that I use all the time in the garden.
00:26I'm going to be sowing some grass today. So what the hurdles will do in this case is act as a barrier. And then later on in the year, as plants grow, they act as supports.
00:36And I make them usually in the winter, simply from square chest up fencing posts, sometimes ash, that I can split and shape.
00:49And I use it because it doesn't rot very easily when it's wet. So it means that the bits that stick in the ground will last for years and years.
00:59I've got some hurdles that I made 10, 15 years ago. The first thing to do is make all the elements before assembling any of it, which is a bit like planting a border.
01:15And knowing that I've made them and that I've spent these hours in this shed quietly, usually with Ned, gives the kind of satisfaction that nothing you can buy ever reaches.
01:29It's one of those things that I regard as part of my gardening life. And I love it for that variety.
01:44Coming up on today's programme, Adam is in the Lake District, enjoying dramatic splashes of colour.
01:56The atmosphere is incredible. It just sort of tastes of spring. In all honesty, I wish I could just bottle it, put it in the car and take it home.
02:07We visit Bedminster in Bristol, where a community of urban gardeners are sharing their gardens and gardening knowledge with one another.
02:15Being part of the project has just been a really good community experience.
02:19You know, we've got to know a lot more people. We've seen a lot more gardens.
02:22Every garden you go in, you get ideas. Everybody's got different ways of doing things.
02:26Rebecca visits a garden near her own in Derbyshire to help inform her which crops are likely to thrive best in her own garden this coming year.
02:38Asparagus? Yes. We're in summer. Yes. It's a spring crop. No. No. Not here.
02:46So it always comes out at this time of year up here. So it is a summer salad kind of vegetable for us.
02:53So I need to learn to be patient with my crops. Yes.
02:58And we share one man's lifelong delight in delphiniums.
03:03I've been growing them for over 50 years and I still don't know why I like growing them.
03:08It's just a way of life. It's now been recognised as a national collection just recently.
03:14And so my job now is to keep these oldies going.
03:19This is the long walk. And you may have seen me last week where I aerated it. It got very compacted and critically
03:48very shady. And if grass is to be successful, it does need light and it needs good drainage.
03:55Well, drainage is poor. And when this all grows up in summer, it's in shade for almost all the day.
04:01So I aerated it last week, brushed it over. I brushed some sand in, but I want to add a little bit more.
04:07And then I'm going to reseed it or at least top dress it with grass seed that is specially adapted to survive shade.
04:15So the first thing to do is spread a bit more sand. There you go.
04:20And this is sharp sand, which comes from a builder's merchant. There's nothing fancy or horticultural about it.
04:33It's not a bad idea if you've got very heavy soil and you're starting a lawn from scratch or you're turfing to add a little bit of sand like this.
04:42And it will improve drainage. Having thrown the sand, next thing to do is to brush it in. This is a besom.
04:56They're incredibly good for this type of thing. The beauty of it is you don't push. You just flick.
05:03It's very light to use and very effective. And this is getting rid of the worst of the stones and the lumps.
05:09And it's pushing the sand into the holes that the aerator made.
05:17This is now ready for sowing.
05:26Now, whatever type of seed it is, throw it like that. Not too thick.
05:31It is really important that you choose the right seed for what you want.
05:36There's so much information online. You can put that in and a mix will come up.
05:46Final thing to do is to rake it in.
05:56Two other things that I need to do.
05:58The first is to keep it moist until you need to mow it.
06:03I would expect this to germinate all in four or five days, certainly no more than a week.
06:08And be ready for mowing in about three weeks.
06:11And the second thing to do, having done that, is keep feet off it.
06:16Dog feet, children's feet.
06:18And that's what the hurdles are for.
06:19So, Ned, this is against you.
06:31Right. That'll keep you out.
06:33This will never be a show lawn.
06:36The conditions aren't right for that.
06:37But hopefully by doing this, I will create the green, calm space that I want.
06:44And also a lawn that's good enough for the grandchildren to run around and play.
06:47Now, last spring, Adam went to visit a garden which I'm sure has lots of green, calm spaces.
06:55But it's also full of zinging colour.
06:58What's not to love?
07:11A day out in the Lake District, surrounded by spring colour.
07:17Also, look at that.
07:19It's Lake Windermere.
07:21And rain or shine, I think this is going to be a lovely day.
07:25Let's go.
07:30Whole Herd is a ten-acre garden managed entirely by 120 volunteers from the Lakeland Horticultural Society.
07:40And it's their work and dedication that keeps this garden looking great all year round.
07:48Right now, the garden is a riot of colour.
07:51It actually stalks you in your tracks.
07:56The rhododendrons, azaleas are a feast for the eyes.
08:01The atmosphere is incredible.
08:04It just sort of tastes of spring.
08:06In all honesty, I wish I could just bottle it, put it in the car and take it home.
08:12This is a garden that really sits well in its landscape.
08:23I also like the fact that the shrubs are not being used just for their colours.
08:29Its shapes and forms.
08:30You only have to look here.
08:31That's a pyris.
08:33And that bright flame that you can see is the new foliage.
08:38But I think that connects to the Acer.
08:40And then there's a little white flower on it, which again connects your eye back to this rhododendron.
08:46All that sort of stuff is going on all the way round this garden.
08:50It's cracking.
08:51But every now and then you come across a specimen that you're not expecting to see.
09:01And this is definitely one of those.
09:03It comes from Japan.
09:05But also, you can see the bees really busy coming in and out.
09:08If I go quiet, just listen.
09:12Just absolutely incredible.
09:15So this is called Encheanthus Campanulatus.
09:20Stunning.
09:27This is Deutzia Rosa Campanulata.
09:31And I think it's another new shrub.
09:32You can buy them different varieties from metre up to 2, 2.5.
09:37Sun, semi-shady conditions, most soils.
09:40But look at the habit.
09:42Beautiful sort of arching habit.
09:44And it will take a decent pruning.
09:46So even if you've got a small garden, superb shrub for you.
09:52The volunteers here are custodians of a mighty six national collections.
09:58Like hydrangeas and ferns.
10:01That have their moment later in the year.
10:05But right now, perhaps the most difficult to grow
10:09are the beautiful, majestic Himalayan poppies.
10:18I'm smiling because up there I can see the colour blue.
10:23And that's just what I'm looking for.
10:24Volunteer Pat Murphy has been nurturing their 80 varieties here
10:33for the last 15 years.
10:35Hello, Pat.
10:37Hello.
10:39The famous Mechonoptis.
10:41They're sort of classically a plant that people worry about growing, aren't they?
10:45They do, yes.
10:46Yeah, because there's over sort of what, 80-odd species?
10:50There's actually 90 been identified now.
10:52Wow.
10:53All from the Himalayas, many high up in the Himalayas,
10:56which we can't actually grow in this country.
10:59But we can grow the big blues,
11:01because they come from lower down in the Himalayas.
11:05I live in a dry part of the country, on limestone.
11:09I struggle to grow these.
11:11So let's go right back to the beginning.
11:13Soil conditions.
11:14What have you got here?
11:15We have got a really good loam here.
11:19It's slightly acid, but they will grow neutral to acid soil.
11:24It needs to be moist.
11:25It needs to be well-drained.
11:27And it needs to have a lot of nutrients in it.
11:30So we feed the plants, and every year I put lots of leaf mould down.
11:35This one used to be called Lingham Caliform,
11:39and the Mecanopsis group have now renamed it Michael Wickenden.
11:44Right.
11:45There are lots and lots of colours in this,
11:47especially in younger flowers there.
11:49Yeah.
11:50They're seriously sort of magical.
11:52They are absolutely magical, yes.
11:54Yeah.
11:55Wow.
12:02I mean, the obvious colour when we think Mecanopsis is the blue,
12:05but got right from the white through to a deep purple.
12:09They have, yes.
12:10That looks good.
12:12This is moite.
12:13It's a really good, strong Mecanopsis.
12:16I know the flowers, you know, the star in a sense,
12:19but the foliage and the stem and the hairs
12:22and the little colourings.
12:24When you start looking closely...
12:25Yes.
12:26..the detail is incredible, isn't it?
12:27Yes.
12:33I feel like I'm in a Mecanopsis sweet shop.
12:37And actually, what's that little dark one up there?
12:39That is Edrum.
12:41The flowers start off clump coloured,
12:43and then gradually change to a lighter colour
12:46as seen in the flower behind.
12:48There's such variety that they're always interesting.
12:52Do you know, it's got me to the point I might move.
12:55OK.
12:56Well, you should come to the Lake District of Scotland.
12:58I will.
13:03The Trust, who took over the rundown grounds in the 1970s,
13:08have worked to create a garden
13:10with a quintessential Lakeland feel.
13:14I'm chair of what we call the Garden Committee.
13:17Yeah.
13:18And it's Alison Sanford's job to manage the volunteers
13:22who make the magic happen.
13:25It's a little bit mind-blowing
13:27that this whole place is run by volunteers.
13:30How does that work?
13:32Well, it works by most of the people working in teams.
13:36Yeah.
13:37And then we have committees that will oversee
13:39and facilitate the teams.
13:42Each of the beds has a bed holder, the team leader.
13:45Yeah.
13:46And that person is responsible for looking after that bed.
13:49And the volunteers come in and help that particular person.
13:53The team who are working on a bed can decide what they want,
13:57any changes they want to make to the bed,
13:59as long as they're in keeping with the theme.
14:02Over 100 people.
14:04That's huge resources of other skills.
14:06Yes.
14:07So it's not just the gardening skills that we have.
14:09We have a wide range.
14:10One of our team is able to do stonewalling for us.
14:13Other teams are electricians.
14:15Yeah.
14:16And then we have a team who set up all the water irrigation.
14:19It feels a happy place to be.
14:22It is a nice place to be.
14:24I just love being here
14:25and it doesn't always have to be busy.
14:28And it's really nice sometimes just to find a quiet bit,
14:31my bit, up on the fell side
14:34and go and have a quiet time there
14:36before going on with some more work.
14:43Nicola and Sarah work on the alpine bed.
14:47You both look very busy, eh?
14:50Yes, we are.
14:52So the rock garden is your domain.
14:54Did you know much about alpines before you started up?
14:56No.
14:57No.
14:58But that's brilliant, isn't it?
14:59Yeah.
15:00We're both getting lots of learning for free
15:02and enjoying being up on the fell.
15:05Yeah.
15:06I do love that sense of, you know, coming together
15:08and it seems that not only the visitors enjoy this garden
15:11but locally it's really, it's important to people.
15:15Just look where it is.
15:16I know, I know.
15:17Look at what you can see.
15:18It's amazing.
15:19The last time I came to this garden, it was about five years ago.
15:31But I didn't come at this time of year.
15:34So to go and explore the garden, enjoy that colour
15:37but also that freshness that spring brings.
15:42It's invigorating and it feeds the soul.
15:46Now obviously mechanopsis are just staggeringly beautiful
16:07but I love the way they need such specific conditions
16:10in order to grow.
16:11I've got snake's head fritillaries growing in the spring garden.
16:15They just love the fact that we have a corner of the garden
16:18that is flooded so therefore they get a soaking in winter
16:21and that's the key to growing them.
16:24Here in the copse, they're wooden enemies.
16:27This coppice woodland is ideal for them
16:30whereas they wouldn't grow if they were anywhere else.
16:33And I've got some dog-toothed violets, the erifronium.
16:36Again, there is that particular magic of the combination
16:40of a beautiful flower that doesn't last for terribly long
16:44and needs exactly a certain set of conditions in order to thrive.
16:49As the bulbs are bursting out all round us, the tulips just beginning,
17:09the daffodil's still going and the muscari,
17:12there's a tendency to think of bulbs as something that happens in spring
17:16but there are good summer bulbs too.
17:19And one of my favourites, one of the best of them all, are lilies.
17:22And now is the time to get them into pots or into the ground.
17:26You can do it any time between late February and the end of April.
17:30I grow lilies in pots for two reasons.
17:33One, because our soil is on the heavy side and lilies like a light soil.
17:38And also, they have wonderful scent.
17:40And, of course, if you grow them in pots, you can move them around
17:43so that they are near where you want them when they're flowering
17:46and their fragrance is at their best.
17:48And then you can move them away when they're not doing anything.
17:51Now, these have been in this pot for about four or five years
17:55and they need revamping.
17:57If you keep them in a pot, they're going to use up the nutrients in the compost.
18:01So it's a good idea, if you've got them in pots, to repot them every couple of years,
18:05maybe every three years, certainly, and check the bulbs
18:09and replace ones that are looking a little bit less than perfect.
18:13So I'm going to tip these out.
18:22Come on. Here you come.
18:24This is Lilium regali, the regal lily, and I think the best lily you can grow.
18:31It has this seductive fragrance.
18:34The first thing I want to see is, are they firm?
18:36Is there any rot? And the answer is no.
18:38Not really on that one. That's a nice big one.
18:41As a rule, the bigger a bulb, as long as it's healthy,
18:45the better the flowers will be.
18:47See, these are small bulbs that will have been made from the parents.
18:53But what I want is the best possible display.
18:57So I don't want any of these small ones.
18:59These are good, nice and big and strong.
19:02And I put them into a smaller pot,
19:05add some of my base compost in there,
19:09and then the magic ingredient, I think, for lilies, is leaf mould.
19:13It's not such a good feed, but it's wonderful for soil structure.
19:18And lilies love the looseness of it.
19:20And we'll put three bulbs in there,
19:22and I'm going to put two of these and add a new one.
19:25And I've got a new one here.
19:28So I sort of refresh the whole thing.
19:31And I love the way that bulbs come in sawdust,
19:34and that's so they don't go mouldy.
19:37So we'll pop that in, and like all bulbs,
19:40you want to put them in, I mean, ideally twice their own depth.
19:45I'm going to pop that in there.
19:49I'm going to have another biggie.
19:52That's really good.
19:55Now I'll cover these over with a little bit of this,
19:59a little bit of this.
20:02Now when you're planting out into the garden,
20:05lilies like cool, shaded roots and sun for the flowers.
20:11This can now be put to one side.
20:14As soon as the shoots appear, they need light.
20:16And the important thing is they don't need to be on display.
20:19And this can grow on for the next month or two.
20:22And then they'll go in a terracotta pot that had tulips in them.
20:25And I've got a pot here which is actually a bit on the big side.
20:29If this was full of tulips,
20:31as soon as the tulips have finished flowering,
20:34we could take them out, put them into a plastic pot.
20:38This then goes into here with compost underneath it
20:41and round the edge and maybe some grit over the top
20:44so you can't see the plastic pot at all.
20:47And when they finish flowering, you can lift it out
20:49and you can use the pot for something else.
20:51Right, I'm going to move this out the way.
20:55Go on then.
21:15This is the wildlife garden.
21:17And it's one of those things that's quite tricky
21:20to get dead right for you, the gardener,
21:23but surprisingly easy to get right for wildlife.
21:27The key thing is cover.
21:30Now, cover can range from trees.
21:34We've got a hawthorn, we've got a field maple, we've got an oak.
21:37The hawthorn, for example, makes a brilliant small garden tree.
21:41It's got fabulous blossom, which is great for insects.
21:45And then, of course, in autumn, the berries the birds love too.
21:48So on every level, it works fantastically well.
21:51In a woodland planting like this, ground cover is really important.
21:54Now, ground cover, it can be tricky in a border
21:57because they tend to be thugs.
21:59But in this situation, you sometimes need a thug to combat other thugs.
22:05So, for example, we let the ivy roam.
22:08You've got the arum lily.
22:10Even less than celandine, which in other parts of the garden
22:13is actually quite an irritating weed, is welcome in here.
22:17So you've got cover.
22:19The second thing that's absolutely essential to encourage wildlife
22:22is to have as many flowering plants for as long as possible.
22:26So at this time of year, when there isn't much flowering,
22:29we've got the kaltha looking really good.
22:31I've got pulmonary at my feet.
22:33We've got hellebores.
22:35Just make sure there's good diversity and the insects will come.
22:39And that's why I've got some plants here.
22:42Last winter, we dug this up because it had been getting very weedy.
22:45Now, weeds are not necessarily a bad thing.
22:47It's a good idea to have a stand of nettles, for example,
22:50because they're great food for the caterpillars.
22:52But they've become dominant, so we've dug it through,
22:55and now I want to start replanting.
22:57I've got a tray of geranium fern, which I've dug up from the jewel garden.
23:01And they're ideal for this type of gardening
23:03because they're tough, they make great ground cover,
23:07they flower fairly early, they'll grow in shade.
23:10You can cut them back really hard and it won't harm them,
23:13and they'll come back.
23:14Or you can let them grow and spore wherever you want.
23:18This has got very shallow roots,
23:20so really I just need to pull a scrape in the soil and pack around it.
23:24One of the easiest plants you could possibly have.
23:28Right, I'll work this along here.
23:31Of course, Longmeadow is set in the middle of the countryside,
23:38but most people garden in towns and cities.
23:42And in Bedminster, in Bristol, there are people doing wonderful things
23:46for wildlife in their gardens and sharing it with others,
23:50as every year they have their secret gardens trail.
24:05Bedminster's a lovely community, but the neighbourhood is defined
24:08by lots of close-knit terraced red-brick houses.
24:12So there isn't a lot of green space,
24:14there aren't many street trees,
24:16and the gardens are really small.
24:18We set up the Bedminster's Secret Gardens open trail
24:22to try and make the neighbourhood greener and more pleasant for everybody.
24:26So the Secret Gardens trail started in 2009 when a few of us got together
24:34and decided to open our gardens for the public.
24:37There were just nine of us that opened that first year.
24:41We've now got nearly 30 gardens.
24:44It's amazing when you go through a gate sometimes
24:47and have no idea what's on the other side of it
24:49and can really be blown away by what people have done in a small garden.
24:56I don't think you're ever going to get away from the sounds of the city,
25:05but there's something that happens in your brain that cuts that away
25:08when you're surrounded by the greenery and the flowers and so on.
25:15I'm Sarah.
25:17And I'm Mo.
25:19We've lived here for, I think, about 38 years.
25:24A long time.
25:25Yeah.
25:30The main aim of the garden is to encourage as much wildlife as possible.
25:35We get a fantastic range of birds coming into the garden.
25:39In a small garden, I would say one of the most important things
25:42if you're trying to encourage birds is create cover.
25:45And one of the first things that you can do in these terraced back gardens
25:49is put in climbers along all your boundaries.
25:56One of the very first things we did was plant that ivy.
25:59And if you look at the size of the trunk, you can realise why maybe people choose not to plant ivy.
26:05But clearly it's a habitat for insects, it's cover for birds.
26:09It's cover, but it's also a food source.
26:12They need feeding a variety of food so that you're attracting a different sort of birds.
26:16And water, even in the winter, you need to make sure they're able to access water.
26:20So we installed a really nice pond last year.
26:25We have had sparrowhawks in the garden because the sparrow population is massive.
26:29So they do love, occasionally, to come in and you'll perch on this branch here and sort of...
26:35Eat a sparrow.
26:42Being part of the project has just been a really good community experience.
26:46You know, we've got to know a lot more people, we've seen a lot more gardens.
26:49Every garden you go in, you get ideas.
26:51Everybody's got different ways of doing things.
26:54When people come into your garden, it makes us realise how incredibly lucky we are.
26:58I'm always thinking I'd really like a much bigger garden.
27:01And then you meet people who are stuck in flats and haven't even got a little balcony.
27:06And they're really enjoying coming around and seeing these outside spaces.
27:08And I just realise how ridiculously lucky we are.
27:11Yeah, that's true.
27:17I think there's a bit of nosiness in each of us.
27:20And that's one of the great things about secret gardens,
27:22is you get to peek behind the gates and see what's going on on the other side of the wall.
27:26And it's just extraordinary what people do, even when they're constrained with the tiniest of spaces.
27:39This is a very small urban garden surrounded by houses, by a child's nursery.
27:45It's quite nice to get some privacy.
27:47I'm Mark Pyak, and this is my Jurassic themed miniature tropical garden.
27:55Jurassic themed is about prehistoric plants.
27:58I'm a big fan of dinosaurs. I work in Bristol Museum.
28:02And a lot of the plants that I've got in this garden are living fossils.
28:05So they used to be dinosaur food, horsetails and things like that.
28:09But it's tropical, which means I've got some giant plants in here.
28:12Big banana plants, tree ferns, gunnera and things like that.
28:19The rule is really just break all the rules.
28:22Choose the biggest plants and just let them go mental.
28:25They grow really fast.
28:27The trick that I've found is to give them big pots.
28:30I bought some massive pots.
28:31They didn't actually fit through the door when they arrived, so I had to turn them on their side.
28:35But they're out here now and the plants are loving it.
28:38This is my tree fern. I've had it about 11 years now.
28:43And in that time, it's developed at least a foot of trunk.
28:46And you can see it's grown to fill the entire width of the garden.
28:50Here is a microclimate, so I don't have to wrap it up.
28:53It's just fine all year round.
28:55My banana plants, I do have to wrap them up because the stems can rot down a bit.
28:59But no, he's fine.
29:01I've been really fascinated about Japanese culture and the way that they prune and develop bonsai.
29:10And obviously in such a small garden, it's quite convenient to be able to grow mini trees.
29:15A really small urban garden has its limitations in terms of light.
29:20The sun will go over the houses and get blocked up.
29:22You might have a lot of damp and dark spaces.
29:25What's really important is to choose plants that will thrive in those spaces.
29:28Having said that, when you get used to your garden, there'll be a sunny spot somewhere.
29:34And I managed to group all the cacti in the little sunspot and the cacti are doing well.
29:39I've always thought that I've run out of space, but it's amazing once you start looking at the walls, there's always more space to fill.
29:47I think one day I might like to move house to get a bigger garden, but it terrifies me the logistics of that now.
29:52This year, as part of Blooming Bedminster, 285 people came in on a single day, and that was quite a challenge.
30:01My name's Matthew Simmons and my garden is a small city garden that's really about the size of a yard, but it's quite sunken because our house is on a hill, so you actually step down into our garden.
30:22People often think about colour in a garden as, you know, the pinks and the yellows and the reds, and actually the most wide and diverse colour is green, and it's such a relaxing colour, and you can get so many different shapes and textures of plants.
30:40When people come into the garden, they're quite surprised that they've come off the street behind an unassuming brick wall, and they walk into this absolute kind of open-air plant terranium, really.
30:53And they talk about certain things, particularly, they always mention the pleached hornbeam trees that we have, because they're a really distinctive feature, and they form a fantastic green screen from the houses opposite.
31:04They also talk about bamboo. So this is the black bamboo, and often people see bamboo and they think, oh goodness, you can't grow that in a small garden, it'll take over.
31:19So it's really important to get the clump forming, not one that will spread.
31:23Although it has lots of lovely green leaves, to make sure you see these beautiful stems, then I just strip off all of the side shoots from below.
31:34Somebody once came into the garden and said, oh, you've poodled your bamboo, and I wondered what they meant, but they meant just making sure you expose the stems.
31:43So I will say to people, poodle your bamboo.
31:45My husband will often say to me, you can't get any more plants into the garden, and I always think I know exactly where I can get another plant in the garden.
31:57So there's always space for one more plant.
31:59One of the best things about Seagull Gardens is that it's a real sense of community, and it's wonderful that people can see real gardens that they can relate to,
32:14that are small, and they can take ideas away and be inspired and lead them to hopefully transform their gardens and maybe open theirs in future.
32:23What I love about that is the combination of real intimacy, this sense of your own world behind a locked door,
32:45and then you couple that with a generosity of sharing it with other people and the sense of community that that engenders.
32:51And from those two things comes real magic.
33:01Come on, Ed.
33:08I think we can definitely say we're in spring now, so it's a good time to take stop of your house plants as well as the rest of the garden.
33:15I tend to use this greenhouse to store house plants that need light, like the cacti and the oniums and the echeveras, and one of the ones that come halfway between that are the Tractocarpus.
33:30They have these wonderful flowers, rich purples and blues and touches of white.
33:37At this time of year, whatever your house plants are, it is worth getting them out, having a look, cutting off any dead or mouldy or spotted leaves, checking the compost.
33:49I mean, if that means taking the plant out, don't worry about that. It shouldn't be wet.
33:56If we take that out, this is a plant that is pretty ancient.
34:00If I divide this up, I can make a new plant just by splitting it with my fingers, and that I could divide again if I wanted to, and now I've got these plants.
34:15Now I can cut back the larger foliage. Cut that back, tidy that up. That's one. And then this one, which is looking a bit manky, cut that off.
34:33I've mixed up a mixture which is leaf mould, perlite and coir. So not very rich, but nice, loose, free draining. And I can pop this in like that.
34:46Now this is in a small pot, but it is important with Streptocarpus, if you want them to flower well, not to put them in too big a pot.
34:52And I think that was one of the problems of this. Whereas if I take this section, which is quite substantial, and put it back into this pot in the middle,
35:01which is what you might normally do with many plants to give a chance for the roots to grow out, all that will happen is I will get a lot more foliage and not very many flowers.
35:11Whereas if I put into a pot this size, that's much more the relationship of pot size to soil.
35:16And you can see the white bits of perlite and grip would do the job as well. It is important to have a free draining compost.
35:25Like so many of our house plants, the quickest way to kill them will certainly make them feel unhappy is to overwater them, particularly to have them sitting in damp compost.
35:37There are very few that like that. Far better to water more often and also keep the air humid.
35:46And we might top dress that with a bit of grit, but that's much more likely to flower.
35:51And once you start to see new growth, feed it once a week with a high potash feed.
35:57And if you're not sure, just look for either a tomato feed or a seaweed based feed.
36:04A liquid seaweed is ideal. Do that once a week, a week mix, not too much.
36:09That will be enough water. It'll be enough feed. And if it's very dry, mist the air every day.
36:15And they should flower. And as I said, I've had these for years and years.
36:19I always admired the vegetables that Recall was growing in her North London allotment.
36:35Because not only were they fascinating and very diverse, but they looked really delicious.
36:39So it is extremely interesting to see how she's adapting to her new situation now that she's moved from London to the Peak District.
36:55Since moving to the beautiful rolling hills of the Peak District, I have been grappling with the challenges of my new garden.
37:01At 650 feet above sea level and on a north-facing hillside, it is a very different undertaking to my old, sunny London allotment.
37:14Don't get me wrong, I do love my garden and all the quirkiness it has to give me.
37:19But I want to maximise its potential and find out a little bit more about this area and how to grow at such high altitude.
37:26And I've come to meet a fellow gardener who has been doing just that in this beautiful part of the country.
37:36Like me, Melanie Moore is passionate about growing her own food.
37:40And I'm hoping she will share some of her experience with me on how to be as productive as possible in what can be harsh elements in the Peak District.
37:48Hello, Melanie.
37:49Hi, Raka.
37:50Love your garden.
37:51It's beautiful.
37:52And it's such a beautiful day as well.
37:53I've got something for you.
37:54These are my pea beans.
37:55Oh, wow.
37:57And I think they'll do very well here because those are safe from this climate.
38:01Oh, thank you so much.
38:02Let them dry off on the plants and then you can save them for winter's juice.
38:07Fantastic.
38:08That's really exciting.
38:10There you go.
38:11Right.
38:12Off we go.
38:13Ebby.
38:14What is this?
38:15Your kale?
38:16It is.
38:17The bountiest part of our kitchen garden.
38:18Russian kale is my absolute favourite.
38:20Curly kale, red kale, cavello nero.
38:22Do all brassicas do well here?
38:23Yeah.
38:24They all work superbly.
38:25So at this altitude with our rainfall.
38:26Very long season.
38:27Tastes brilliant.
38:28But I've noticed something.
38:29Yes.
38:30What is this?
38:31So these are somewhat unconventional.
38:32Yeah.
38:33That looks like a jam to me.
38:34And that looks like some kind of butter.
38:35Yeah.
38:36Yeah.
38:37And that looks like some kind of butter.
38:38Yeah.
38:39Yeah.
38:40Yeah.
38:41Yeah.
38:42Yeah.
38:43Yeah.
38:44Yeah.
38:45Yeah.
38:46Yeah.
38:47Yeah.
38:48Yeah.
38:49Yeah.
38:50Yeah.
38:51Yeah.
38:52Yeah.
38:53Yeah.
38:54So we are in a never ending war with slugs and snails.
38:55And I think the whole of Britain has that in common.
38:56Oh yes.
38:57Over the years we have been able to produce so many jams, cordials, and we can't often get
39:11through them all.
39:12So if the cordial gets to a point where we haven't consumed it thick enough, after about
39:16a year it is going to ferment.
39:18Okay.
39:19And it becomes its own alcoholic substance.
39:22Right.
39:23So basically you are giving the slugs a little bar.
39:25Is that right?
39:26I am indeed.
39:27I am giving them a little hit of sugar.
39:28Yeah.
39:29And then a little bit of alcohol.
39:30Yeah.
39:31They are not then chomping on my greenery.
39:32No.
39:33That's for us.
39:34And a peaceful passing is for them.
39:36That's a great little tip.
39:37I think I might nip that.
39:39Yeah, give it a go.
39:40Give it a go.
39:41I love the way that you have a potager kind of a garden.
39:44Yeah.
39:45So you've got your flowers but you also have your vegetables within.
39:48Yeah.
39:49But you are only growing what you can eat.
39:52Is that right?
39:53Yes.
39:54We have overdone it in the past.
39:55Yeah.
39:56And we are a family of four.
39:57And I am trying to get the garden to work for me not for me to have to work for the garden
40:01all the time.
40:02Yeah.
40:03It is a nice thing I think that you can grow just a small amount but feed everybody with
40:07that small amount.
40:08And it is incredible how much comes off the earth from very small spaces.
40:13I will tend to go for the bigger leaves and obviously it steams down really well as we
40:20all know.
40:21But yeah, it's not long before you've got a real big saucepan full.
40:28You have some beautiful calendula here.
40:31Yeah.
40:32Just brings us so much joy.
40:33All that colour.
40:34But you also have them as a pest deterrent because you have no black fly on these beans.
40:39I know.
40:40Absolutely none.
40:41This is also part and parcel of the whole picture.
40:43Okay.
40:44Is that we can go ahead and eat these too.
40:46So let's do a variety actually of orange and yellows.
40:48Okay.
40:49Beautiful.
40:50Is that enough?
40:51Perfect.
40:52Lovely.
40:53Let's go.
41:00Asparagus.
41:01Yes.
41:02We're in summer.
41:03Yes.
41:04No.
41:05No.
41:06Not here.
41:07So it always comes out at this time of year up here.
41:10So it is a summer salad kind of vegetable for us.
41:13So I need to learn to be patient with my crops.
41:17Yes.
41:18I think that's probably fair comment.
41:19Yeah.
41:20Oh, okay.
41:21I love the range of plants in Melanie's veg garden.
41:24And the unusual ones like the variegated horseradish.
41:27But there is one group of plants that has really caught my attention.
41:32You have so much soft fruit in your garden.
41:36It's amazing.
41:37Yeah.
41:38I mean, it's no problem growing at this altitude and in our climate.
41:41The black currants, the gooseberries, raspberries.
41:44So really, that's the secret to this place that soft fruit does very well.
41:49And I might need to consider that.
41:50I think you should.
41:51Yeah.
41:52My eyes are going on to that soft fruit over there.
41:54What have we got here?
41:55Yeah.
41:56So this, to me, is the gem of the soft fruit world.
41:59So this is a Japanese wine berry.
42:01Right.
42:02Normally, it's about four weeks, at least, of continual harvest.
42:07It's such a sweet, delightful fruit.
42:10It contains itself very, very well.
42:12So if you keep it fresh, it holds itself.
42:15It doesn't juice easily.
42:17Okay.
42:18It's brilliant putting a cake, but you also can freeze it and it stays very, very whole.
42:22But it's just an absolute dream.
42:24We hardly touch it.
42:26And it's the gift that keeps on giving.
42:28It gives a really beautiful plant.
42:31Would you like a cutting that you can take away?
42:33Oh, I'd love one, but I'd like to try one if I can.
42:36Go ahead.
42:37Can I?
42:38Yes, anything that's red.
42:39Oh, it actually comes away like a raspberry.
42:41Yeah.
42:42Lovely.
42:45Mmm.
42:46That tastes really good.
42:47Talking about which, shall we go and enjoy some of the fruits of our labour?
42:51Oh, yes, please.
42:53Oh, yeah.
43:01Smells good.
43:02Oh, yeah.
43:03Lovely taste of summer.
43:04Oh, you can actually taste the blackcurrant.
43:05Mmm.
43:06That's delicious.
43:07It's good because it's kind of a sweet dressing, isn't it?
43:08But all these different flavours.
43:09It works really well together.
43:10Yeah.
43:11The borage.
43:12I can taste the mint.
43:13Yeah.
43:14And the borage.
43:15That's lovely.
43:16But you know what, Melanie?
43:17I've really enjoyed myself here today.
43:18Good.
43:19Good.
43:20It's been inspiring.
43:21Seasons are different in different places, and I have to get used to that.
43:24Right, let's tuck in.
43:25Let's give this another go.
43:26Yeah.
43:27Let's give this another go.
43:28Yeah.
43:29Yeah.
43:30Yeah.
43:31Yeah.
43:32And the borage.
43:33That's lovely.
43:34But you know what, Melanie?
43:35I've really enjoyed myself here today.
43:36Good.
43:37Good.
43:38It's been inspiring.
43:39Seasons are different in different places, and I have to get used to that.
43:43Right, let's tuck in.
43:44Let's give this another go.
43:45Yeah.
43:46I certainly don't share the same elevation as Wrecker, but probably the same sort of climate.
44:07It's very wet here, and it can take a long time to warm up in spring, but by and large
44:13soft fruit does very well for us.
44:16The only thing that's suffered in recent years because of our wet winters are the summer
44:20fruiting raspberries that hate sitting in wet ground.
44:24So they're not so good, but the autumn ones seem to be fine.
44:27Black currants have done very well, gooseberries, and the red currants, which I love, and we've
44:33had for years and moved around in different parts of the garden.
44:36We haven't had any for the last couple of years.
44:38The plants just got very old.
44:39They're about 30 years old.
44:41So I've got some new ones, and I'll plant them up in this space.
44:45But the beauty of red currants, and that applies to white currants and gooseberries, those three,
44:50they will grow in a wide range of soils, and also from full sun to almost full shade.
44:57So there's really no garden that can't grow those plants.
45:01This is a variety called Rovada, a nice young plant, and I've chosen it because it's very prolific.
45:09Lots and lots of lovely red fruits that hang in what are called strigs, produced quite late,
45:15July, August-ish.
45:18So we'll pop that in like that.
45:27Once you've planted, it is worth taking trouble to prune it to establish a good shape.
45:34What you try and establish was a framework of minimum of three, and it could be up to
45:39about half a dozen branches, like a goblet.
45:41And you prune it every year to open up the middle.
45:44It lets light and air in, light so they can ripen, and also openness, because the biggest
45:50enemy of red currants and gooseberries are sawfly.
45:54And sawfly lay their eggs always down in the middle of the plant.
45:58They hatch out, and the tiny little caterpillars eat it from the inside out.
46:03So if you get lots of air in there, they won't lay their eggs.
46:13I've got a couple more to plant.
46:15But they are self-pollinating, so you don't need more than one in order to produce fruit,
46:19and they're very happy in a pot.
46:22They're very happy in a border.
46:24The truth is they're very happy, easy plants to grow.
46:28Now most of us have a garden where we try and have a range of plants.
46:33But from time to time, you come across gardeners who channel all their experience and their
46:39energy and their expertise into a passion for just one type of plant.
46:46Colin Parton from Leeds certainly fits that bill.
46:54I was at a local flower show, and there was a stand of delphiniums.
47:05They were absolutely fantastic and caught me eye, mud in particular, conspicuous.
47:10And that's what started it all, and it's just evolved from there.
47:17I had one of those light bulb moments.
47:18I woke up one morning and one thought stuck in me mind.
47:22A garden with lots of delphiniums.
47:28I think of about 106 different cultivars, growing about roughly 1,000 plants, and that's
47:35probably producing 4,000 to 5,000 flower spikes.
47:42Raymond Listier is a slightly later flowering one, but forms a beautiful spike.
47:48And then we're on to Blue Dawn, which is another one I like.
47:51It's a later flowering one, and it just has this tinge of pink running through it.
47:55I've been growing them for over 50 years, and I still don't know why I like growing them.
48:00As you can see, this is a long tapering spike, typical delphinium.
48:07I like the ones with the big florets.
48:09Some on delphiniums are doubles, and these growths here, these are the laterals that flower
48:14once the main spike is running up to seed.
48:18I'm going to look a right plonk, I grow delphiniums, and don't really know why I like growing them,
48:23but I just do.
48:27A lot of these delphinium elatum cultivars, they're on the endangered list, which means
48:33they're sort of really not readily available to the general public.
48:38So unless people grow and propagate the older cultivars, they'll be lost forever.
48:44It's now been recognised as a national collection, just recently, and so my job now is to keep
48:52these oldies going.
48:54I think Walton Gemstones on the list, Darling Sue, Pandora is another one, Clifford Pink.
49:05I like Clifford Pink, because it reminds me of my dad, my dad was called Clifford, so it's
49:11one I like is Clifford Pink, yeah.
49:14You can be pottering about, busy doing nothing, all day long.
49:19Sounds like one was, doesn't it?
49:23Yeah.
49:24I like Gillian Dallas, you know, these big sort of florets and nice shaped spikes, that's
49:30a favourite of mine.
49:31I like them all, to be honest, there isn't any I dislike, so any delphinium is welcome
49:36in this garden, whether it's tall, short, fat or thin, they're all welcome here.
49:45The only way to cultivate any delphinium, to keep it true to type, is to take basal cuttings
49:50which appear in the spring, usually March to April, and you have to carefully scrape down
49:56to the crown of the plant, and carefully remove with a sharp knife the cutting, even with a
50:02tiny slither of the crown attached to it.
50:05The next stage is to insert these into my expensive propagation operators, which consists of two
50:14plastic cups.
50:15I tend to put about an inch of sharp grit sand in the bottom of the cups, and then about an
50:22inch of tap water, to about there, place my cutting directly into there, and in three to four weeks,
50:31you will see tiny roots appearing on the bottom of this cutting, and then you're ready for the
50:37next stage, which is potting into these small pots.
50:41Once you see lots of basal growth appearing, the next stage is to remove the old cutting material,
50:48and I use a pair of scissors and just snip through the old cutting, pull the cane, and that is
50:58your new plant.
50:59Unlike, say, chrysanthemums or dahlias, the cutting actually makes your plant, with the delphinium,
51:06it's the new growth that comes from the old cutting, and there you have your new delphinium.
51:13Why I like delphiniums?
51:16I've no idea.
51:18I'm going to have that on my tombstone.
51:21Why does he like delphiniums?
51:24Or why did he like delphiniums?
51:26Another one like purple velvet, and it has that nice texture to the floret, which most of
51:35them don't have.
51:36Some of the old cultivars are susceptible to mildew, and especially the purples, they seem
51:45to suffer it more than the blues.
51:47If you gave them more space between each plant, that's going to help airflow, and that would
51:56help with mildew.
51:57This is Blue Nile, and Blue Nile usually does well for me.
52:04As you can see, it's probably got up six foot six this year.
52:07It's a bit unusual, this Olive Poppleton, and it's got like a honey-coloured eye.
52:13If anybody out there's got Lady Eleanor Porthos, Margaret Farrand, or Duchess of Portland, please
52:23get in touch.
52:24It would.
52:25I might then realise why I like growing delphiniums.
52:30Once the new growth comes on your delphiniums, and they get to about ten inches of foot high,
52:43this is the time to thin them.
52:45So you're thinning down to four or five shoots per plant, and as soon as they're thinned,
52:51I like to insert three canes forming a triangle round each plant, but as soon as I've inserted
52:58the canes, I try and get the first tie on as it's crucial, because if you miss tying them,
53:04you know, they're prone to blowing over and snapping.
53:07Now some people, they'll finish tying at the base of the flower, they don't like to see
53:12the string and that, but I find this is a point where most elves break.
53:18So I like to tie even higher up into the bloom.
53:22I'd be lost without my delphiniums.
53:25It's just a way of life.
53:28I've grown them for that many years, and I'm still getting that much enjoyment out of them.
53:33I'll grow them until I pop my clogs.
53:38They're head and shoulders literally above everything else.
53:48Well, I love a delphinium, but I don't quite love them that much.
54:08I think that's absolutely fantastic.
54:10And Colin, you say you don't know what it is about delphiniums or why you like them.
54:15By the time you get to your level of delphinium obsession, it sort of doesn't matter.
54:22It's just fabulous that you and they exist in the same place at the same time.
54:28Now, going from the extreme beauty and passion for delphiniums to a much more humdrum task.
54:37This is a hydrangea.
54:38Last week I pruned the paniculata hydrangeas, and those flower on new growth.
54:43And if you prune those hard, the new growth will carry the flowers.
54:47This is a lacecap, a mop head hydrangea, and these produce their flowers on old growth.
54:55So if you prune this really hard, you'll get plenty of growth, but it won't carry any flowers.
54:59So the best thing to do is leave the flower heads on over winter,
55:04wait till the worst of the frost is over, because they do form a little bit of protection,
55:09and then just trim them back to a nice healthy pair of buds at the end of each shoot.
55:18And no bare wood after that at all.
55:22And if you've got any really old branches, you can go right down in and cut the bottom,
55:27but don't cut back more than a third of the plant at any one time.
55:31So if you want to completely renew it, do it over three years.
55:34But in this case, I'm happy to have quite a bushy big plant.
55:38Right, this is a job for me. Here are some jobs for you.
55:57If you have sweet pea seedlings, it's a little early to plant them out in most areas,
56:01but it's worth checking through them and reducing any straggly specimens by about half.
56:07And this will encourage bushy side shoots, which in turn will hold more flowers.
56:12So just cut them back just above the side shoot,
56:16and then leave them to grow for another few weeks before planting them out.
56:21Now is a good time to sow a first batch of carrots.
56:35Make sure the ground is free of stones, and also use a plot that hasn't been recently manured.
56:42Rake it to a fine tilth and sow the carrots in rows, so you know where they are,
56:47putting the seed in as thinly as you can.
56:51Then cover the rows over and wait for them to germinate,
56:54which should take about ten days to two weeks.
56:57And carrots are best sown successionally, so some now, some in May,
57:02and even some as late as June for an autumn harvest.
57:12If you have any hardy ferns, now is the time to cut them back.
57:15If you've got tender ferns like tree ferns, leave those for at least another month,
57:19as we could easily get more frosts.
57:21Take the fronds right back down to the ground,
57:25and this will expose the knuckle of new growth that is very soon going to unfurl
57:31into really fresh green growth.
57:34And the old spent material can be gathered up and taken to the compost heap.
57:51At this time of year, and at this time of day,
57:54I often come out here because the light is so lovely.
57:58And if you're going to sit in the garden in the evening,
58:01and particularly as these evenings are getting longer,
58:03make sure that you allow the light in.
58:06And if you're going to sit in the garden in the middle of the day in the summer,
58:09you're going to need shade.
58:10And although you can't control your neighbours' buildings or trees,
58:14you can control your garden to manage and manipulate and channel the light.
58:19Well, that's it for today.
58:23Next week, you'll be with Adam,
58:25and he will be in his garden eight o'clock next Friday.
58:29And I will be back here at Longmeadow in a couple of weeks' time,
58:32which, of course, is Easter.
58:34It's a big weekend for the garden then.
58:36And I'll tell you a little bit about the dog garden that I'm doing for Chelsea,
58:40with Ned's help.
58:41Till then, bye-bye.
58:43Go on then.
58:44Go on, bye.
58:49Go on, bye.
58:51Go on, bye.
58:55Go on the hill.
58:57Bye-bye.