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Gardeners World 2025 Episode 2 (S58E2)
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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World. You've caught me doing a job that I should have done about a
00:19month ago. This is an epimedium, and epimediums are wonderful, particularly if you've got a very
00:26shady dry area. They're one of those plants that thrive in dry shade. And they have glorious flowers,
00:34but they're almost completely hidden by the foliage. So what you should do, round about the
00:40middle of February, early March at the latest, is cut the old foliage off, go right back down to the
00:46ground. And then as the flowers slowly unfurl, and there's lots in here still to come, the light gets
00:52to them, and also more importantly, you can see them and you can enjoy them. However, it's not too
00:57late, but be very careful when you do it not to cut the flowering stems off. That's the issue. So it's
01:04the dry stems of the foliage, and just do it one by one. Whatever you do, don't get shears and just
01:11sort of cut away, thinking that will do the job. And as I say, they're a lovely plant, and they're worth
01:25a little bit of trouble, particularly if you do it at the right time. Now, coming up on today's programme.
01:32Joe visits a group of neighbours on a street in North London who are championing the front guard.
01:38I really like the way you've got this central bed right in the middle of the front guard, which I
01:43guess was paved over before. And you've got a kiwi for you. A kiwi? This is my ideas of early days ago,
01:49now let's have a little Mediterranean area. We meet the custodian of an historic garden that was
01:56originally planted by a legendary plants woman. This is the most famous ditch in England. It is where
02:03marjorie fish planted all her snowdrops.
02:09Sue visits a garden in Carmarthenshire, getting advice from a gardener who has embraced the Welsh
02:15climate and growing produce that thrives in these conditions.
02:20These are Baltadi beetroots. Throw them every year. I've tried a variety, and I always return to the Baltadi
02:25because they don't bulk when you get some summer sun. They also produce fantastically big beetroot.
02:32And I shall be adding some shrubs to the jewel garden as part of its revamp.
02:36You may remember that I showed you last week that we've widened the paths here and dug up where the
03:06grass was. So now I've got strips of bare soil, and I want to plant them up.
03:11I've got a tray here of a geranium, geranium phylum, which I have divided up. I did this last year.
03:19It's one of those geraniums that does very well in quite deep shade, and this is a fairly shady area.
03:26It's got small, really dark flowers, sort of rich burgundy. Flowers early in the season.
03:33And then you can cut it back when it's finished flowering, and it'll regrow like all hardy geraniums.
03:39If you've got them in pots, place them all before you plant any. Set them all out.
03:46Then you can move them around, and then when planting comes, you just dig a hole and stick them in.
03:51And also, I'm not going to plant them in a line along the edge. I want it to work in with the planting that we've got.
03:58So we pop that there, and maybe another one back there.
04:04Now, as well as the geraniums, I've got Alcamilla mollis.
04:11We used to have this lining the long walk, and it spilled right over on the path, completely covering it.
04:18Look magnificent, but not terribly practical. So don't plant something like Alcamilla too close to the edge.
04:24But it's fantastic. It will grow in dry conditions. It will grow in wet conditions.
04:28It will grow in sunshine, just as much as shade. It's a wonderful plant.
04:32This may look like a grass. In fact, it's in the asparagus family. It's Ophiopogon nigressens.
04:47They have a small pink flower, but you don't grow it for the flower.
04:50You grow it for the dark, almost black leaves. You can see they're green underneath.
04:55And the more shade they have, the greener they'll be.
04:58Now, if I wanted to, I could break this into many smaller pieces.
05:03A clump like this would give me about 20 new plants.
05:06So buy a decent sized clump from a garden centre.
05:09Then divide it up yourself, grow them on, and hey Presto, you're away.
05:13We'll put that there.
05:16The beauty of the plants that I'm putting in is that they're tough.
05:27They might take a year or two to get to full size, but these will be absolutely fine.
05:32Right, I have got a lot more to do, and of course I want to take it on round the corner.
05:35And while I'm doing that, we're going to go and join Joe,
05:38who went up from his Dorset garden to London to visit something that is all too rare nowadays.
05:46A street full of glorious front gardens.
05:56In the UK, around 25% of front gardens have already been paved over,
06:01and they're still disappearing at an alarming rate.
06:04Now, this street, tucked away in North London, has a row of railway cottage gardens
06:10that have bucked the trend in a spectacular fashion.
06:16Front gardens are extremely important, especially in our cities.
06:20And it's not just about curb appeal.
06:23Even the tiniest of spaces can bring some much needed greenery to our neighbourhoods.
06:28They're a sanctuary for wildlife and help to reduce pollution.
06:34I'm meeting a group of neighbours whose front gardens are flourishing,
06:40and it's all down to a great community spirit and love of gardening.
06:52Hello, Cathy.
06:53Oh, hello, Joe.
06:54This is beautiful.
06:55Oh, thank you.
06:56It's bursting at the seams, your garden.
06:58There's a lot of plants in here.
07:00I've always liked herbs and useful plants, so I began slowly sort of getting those.
07:05And then the lawns sort of just got smaller and smaller.
07:08There's lots of pollinators in this garden.
07:10I've seen bees and hoverflies all over.
07:12Yes, absolutely.
07:13Have you planted with those in mind?
07:15Yes, absolutely.
07:16And try to get some things usually in flower all through the year.
07:21I think that's really, you know, really important.
07:24You've got lots of height in this garden as well.
07:27The arbutus at the front.
07:28Yes.
07:29That's a great tree.
07:30This is a lovely tree.
07:31I wanted a lot of edible things in the garden.
07:33So that's called arbutus tornado, which means I believe you only eat it once.
07:36Is that right?
07:37That's right.
07:38That's right.
07:39But it's already got the fruit on it now that will ripen in sort of October-ish, sometime
07:43like that.
07:44Yeah.
07:45And that's so intriguing because it has the flowers and the fruit at the same time.
07:47And then you've got this beautiful bark.
07:49Yeah, well, it's a very good coastal plant.
07:51It's great for the city as well.
07:53Evergreen.
07:54Yes, exactly.
07:55I have tasted the fruit once.
07:57What do you think?
07:58Once.
07:59It must give you pride in the street that you live in.
08:01I think, well, I'm very proud of it, certainly.
08:03All these gardens are beautiful.
08:04They are.
08:05There's no letting the cycle.
08:06No, well...
08:07No, no, no, no name.
08:08What I think is brilliant is just the way every single garden is different.
08:19Mike, nice to meet you.
08:20I'm Joe.
08:21How are you doing?
08:22Nice to meet you.
08:23Now, this is clever.
08:24Well...
08:25You don't see that at all from the street side.
08:26This is the bins and the recycling, right?
08:27Yeah.
08:28All the rubbish in there, yeah.
08:29I'm trying to cover it up and make it a little bit neat.
08:31It's a bit wild at the moment, but...
08:33What I'm trying to do is just slowly arrange the passionflower there.
08:38It's enough cover.
08:40You get a few of the flowers on view.
08:42I really like the way you've got this central bed
08:44right in the middle of the front garden, which I guess was paved over before.
08:48Yep.
08:49So you've got a root all the way round it, which is fantastic.
08:51Nice big fig tree.
08:52Yeah, it's got a few on there.
08:54But it gives you a bit of screening from the house, doesn't it?
08:56It does a job.
08:57Yeah.
08:58Oh, now you've got a trumpet vine on the house.
09:01We have.
09:02That's quite unusual.
09:03But it shows what a microclimate it is.
09:06And this is...
09:07What was it?
09:08Southwest facing.
09:09Southwest facing, and it soaks up the heat.
09:10Yeah.
09:11So even if it gets knocked back really hard, it'll still regenerate.
09:14Comes back, yeah.
09:15And you've got a kiwi through.
09:16A kiwi.
09:17This is a bit...
09:18This is my ideas of early days ago.
09:20Now, let's have a little Mediterranean area, you know.
09:23But, yeah, so this kiwi, it just goes mad.
09:27I mean, it runs everywhere.
09:35There are a few things to consider when designing your front garden,
09:38or just planting it up.
09:40For a start, think about how it's going to sit into the streetscape.
09:43Now, by that, I mean how they're all going to work together.
09:47And what I love about these is that there's not just a sort of single hedge,
09:51or a variety of hedges just blocking the views into the garden.
09:55Some have got hedges, yeah.
09:56And some have got sort of tall, wispy plants that create that veiled view.
10:01So there's enough privacy from the house to the street,
10:04but also you can see in as well.
10:06And that works really nicely.
10:08Another thing to consider is the volume of planting.
10:11Not putting lots of small things into a front garden.
10:14So small trees, large shrubs, climbers against the house,
10:19so that they envelop these gardens,
10:21but also soften the houses and help them sit into the street itself.
10:26And the last thing, most of these have dug up the central area,
10:29planted them up, and we're getting more volume,
10:32more plants, more seasonal interest, more bugs,
10:36and just more, well, enjoyment for everybody who lives here and walks past.
10:41Well, Jane, you've got the largest front garden in the street, haven't you?
10:51You've got the corner plot.
10:53So do you have a different approach to your front garden?
10:55I think so, because I don't put very delicate things in,
10:59because if I have to keep watering it every day,
11:02that would be very, you know, onerous.
11:04So it tends to be tough things.
11:06Yeah.
11:07The grasses are ideal for this.
11:09The framing of your window, the clipping around the window is great.
11:13Yes. Yes.
11:14When I arrived in 1981, there was two columns each side of the window,
11:19and I decided I wanted to join it,
11:21so I put some stick and trained it over.
11:24Yeah.
11:25And then cut it.
11:26What about the abutilon? That's beautiful.
11:28Oh, yes.
11:29And that's in a pot, a nice big pot, too.
11:31Yes.
11:32I'm very fond of that.
11:34But I love the fact that I've actually made friends over the fence
11:38with people who have asked me about the plants,
11:41and it's just so nice.
11:43I think I'm known by a lot of people in the neighbourhood as the garden woman.
11:48That's a lovely thing, the garden woman.
11:51Well, I have noticed, though, that every person in the street
11:57has actually improved their gardens,
12:00and I'm sure that's a knock-on effect.
12:03It's infectious somehow.
12:05It's infectious, yes.
12:06Oh, Janine, look at you deadheading your lavender.
12:16Perfect time of year for it.
12:18Absolutely.
12:19Keeps it nice and compact.
12:20Yes.
12:21So how does it feel to live in this street of lovely gardens?
12:25Oh, it's absolutely wonderful.
12:27It's just a little oasis in the heart of London, really.
12:30It just gives you your own little space.
12:32It separates you from the kind of busy London traffic.
12:35It's just really important to connect with your community.
12:38Yeah, you feel very connected, which is lovely.
12:40Yes.
12:41Is there ever a case of feeling like you need to keep up with the Joneses,
12:44because there's some quite serious gardeners here?
12:48Only in the nicest possible way.
12:51You spur each other on?
12:53Yes.
12:58Eddie, your garden is beautiful.
12:59Oh, thank you.
13:00It sits so well in front of your house.
13:02It just looks great.
13:03Yes.
13:04You're obviously into your edibles and your tomatoes are doing well.
13:08I mean, you have got a few flowers.
13:09I mean, things like this verbena are beautiful.
13:11I didn't actually plant these.
13:13They blew in on the wind from next door.
13:16So...
13:17Everyone's got them dotted all the way down.
13:18I've just left them.
13:19Sweet peas over there.
13:21Sweet peas, yeah.
13:22And you've got...
13:23They're quite fragrant.
13:24...lovely runner beans as well.
13:25Beautiful.
13:26Yeah, they're just about to produce.
13:29So I'll be eating those next week.
13:31It is inspiring, because if someone walks past here
13:33and they've got just a bit of grass or something in their front garden
13:36or have never grown vegetables, you're showing it can be done
13:39in the middle of London in a front garden.
13:41That's right.
13:42I've got to say, I really admire this group of neighbours.
13:50And what I like is that they've all got their own personalities stamped onto their plot.
13:55Here we've got edibles and vegetables.
13:58Down there there's purple flowers.
14:00There's pollinators everywhere.
14:02But the combined effort is just staggering.
14:05And it's not just this street and these residents that benefit.
14:09It's the whole community.
14:12And that's what I love about it.
14:25I'm old enough to remember when front gardens were the norm.
14:35Most houses had a front garden and many were fascinating.
14:38And to see a street like that brings it all back.
14:42And, of course, it's not just the individuals.
14:44It's everybody that benefits.
14:46Now, we've largely emptied the Jaw Garden.
14:49And at this stage, what I'm really thinking about doing is getting instruction.
14:54If I can get in the woody structure, trees, shrubs, then I can work around that.
15:00And this is a buddleia, which I've left in.
15:03But, like all buddleias, it needs pruning back now.
15:06Buddleias flower on new wood.
15:09So, the harder you prune it, the more new wood there will be.
15:12And, therefore, the more flowers there will be.
15:14I'm going to plant another buddleia in the Jaw Garden.
15:17This is called Buddleia wayoriana sun gold.
15:26And instead of having the conventional purple flowers, this has round, globular, yellowy-orange flowers.
15:34And I'm putting it over here because I am now looking absolutely due south.
15:43This, therefore, is the sunniest spot.
15:46And that's what buddleia is like.
15:48I've chosen to put it back here, not in the middle of a border, but near a hedge.
15:52And the reason for that is because the hedge is sucking moisture out of the ground.
15:57And buddleias flower best in poor soil, good drainage, and actually quite dry conditions.
16:06And when a shrub is as small as this, planting it is easy.
16:11The only thing to remember is dig a hole that is not much deeper than the pot, but it does need to be wider.
16:20Do not add goodness underneath the shrub.
16:29Because if you do it, you're going to create the most perfect environment for the roots and they won't want to leave.
16:36The roots need to get out into the soil.
16:38That should be enough.
16:41Let's take this out the pot.
16:43And if we plant that like that, I don't want it to go any deeper.
16:49In fact, I'm going to lift that up a little bit so it's slightly proud of the soil.
16:54And even a little bit more.
16:58There we go.
16:59That's perfect.
17:01I pull the soil round it like that.
17:06Now it's really important to heel it in.
17:08Put your heel and go round so that most of the pressure is in a kind of circle around the edge of the roots, almost creating a cone up to the middle of the plant.
17:20So it's firmly in the ground, but it's proud.
17:24And that means that it's much less likely to be damaged by being too wet.
17:28Now I've got a couple more shrubs that will cope with some shade.
17:33Let's go.
17:34Let's go.
17:35Let's go.
17:36Let's go.
17:42These are a pair of hydrangeas.
17:45Hydrangea paniculata wims red.
17:48This starts out very pale, then goes pink, but then goes a dark red.
17:54And hydrangeas couldn't be more different to buddlias in the conditions they like.
18:00They're very happy in a bit of shade.
18:03They don't mind rich soil.
18:05They actively like being moist as long as they sit in boggy ground.
18:09They do need some drainage.
18:10I've got a pair.
18:12So I'm going to have one which I'll put over here on this side.
18:16I'll find a place for that.
18:18And I do know exactly where I want to put this.
18:24There was an awful lot in here, but having cleared it, we've got space now.
18:29And this is perfect for this hydrangea.
18:32So I'll plant this just like I planted the buddlia, not worrying about digging up alliums.
18:37Paniculata grow quite strong.
18:40If you don't prune them too hard, they can grow six to ten foot tall.
18:44Or you can prune them down.
18:45They're very flexible and very easy to grow.
18:49Pop that in like that.
18:51Plenty of room around it.
18:53Backfill it like that.
19:02And if you want to prune hydrangea paniculata, the time to do it is in spring.
19:09Now I will water that in.
19:11What I would say, unlike the buddlia, if it is very dry, certainly in the first year, give it a good soak once a week.
19:24Because hydrangeas do not like to dry out.
19:28Now next week I intend to share with you just how you set about redesigning or even designing from the first place a border or a garden from scratch.
19:40Just the nuts and bolts of how to make it work so that it looks its very best.
19:46However, now we're off to Somerset to visit the garden of Marjorie Fish.
19:52Now, in the 50s and 60s, her writing was incredibly influential.
19:57And her garden is still being looked after and loved.
20:15Even on a grey day, it's a heartwarming sight and you see the snowdrops beginning to appear and the crocuses coming under the Acer.
20:24It's lovely.
20:27My name is Mike Workmeister and I am the current owner of East Lambrook Manor Gardens.
20:33We moved here in 2008.
20:36I saw an article in a Sunday newspaper about the garden being for sale.
20:41So we drove up here. There was an honesty box in the drive.
20:45We walked around. Garden looked magical.
20:48And we kind of fell in love with the place.
20:51East Lambrook is the only grade one listed cottage garden in the country.
20:57It was created by the celebrated plants woman and gardening writer Marjorie Fish.
21:07Marjorie Fish worked for various Fleet Street editors latterly for a man called Walter Fish whom she married.
21:15They bought the property in 1937.
21:17It was a time after the war when labour was scarce.
21:21You had to do it all yourself.
21:22I mean, she was very much creating a garden for the masses in a way.
21:26Marjorie Fish knew from the beginning she wanted to create a cottage garden.
21:33She came to gardening late in life.
21:35She was in her mid-forties before she ever picked up a trowel.
21:39The story goes that she built all the dry stone walls around the garden.
21:46She started writing about gardening for magazines.
21:50She had a very easy to read style.
21:52And she wasn't afraid to write about her mistakes as well as her successes.
21:57She created a garden on a human scale.
22:00And so many people come here and say they really love the garden.
22:11I actually think it's amazing that a garden as famous or well known as East Ambrook can attract new owners who've kind of nurtured it and looked after it but kept it very much as it always was.
22:29It's one of the things I've done here is to plant bulbs in grass.
22:34Late winter is when the Crocus thomasianus come out under the Acer.
22:38I've let them spread into the lawn.
22:40And I like the way they just seed naturally.
22:43It's a great source of early nectar for the bees.
22:47We're clay here but they seem to like it.
22:50And I think the tree roots dry out the soil so they take the water up.
22:54It's a good place for crocuses.
22:59We tried a little experiment this year because the pigeons always bite off the crocus flowers.
23:06We don't know why but we thought we'd buy a few birds of prey and stick them in the garden.
23:13There are no birds at night but every time I walk past it it gives me a fright.
23:17But crocus around the trees haven't been pecked off.
23:21But up there where we haven't put them they have been pecked off.
23:24The area known as the Woodland Garden is one of my favourite bits of the garden because it's where a lot of the snowdrops are planted and it's full of ferns and other woodlanders.
23:39Margie fish was very keen on hellebores.
23:46The ones we mainly plant are hellebore hybridus.
23:51I like the whites with pink in the flower because it's not the petals you're seeing it's the calyx which actually on a hellebore appears to be the petals.
24:00And there's some lovely Betula eutellus jackmontii there which look great against the beech hedging.
24:07So it has a very friendly feel.
24:11I mean it's a smallish intimate bit of garden with nice sort of woodland paths between it.
24:17Running Historic Garden is yes it's been an adventure it's been a challenge.
24:24Essentially it's fun.
24:26Walter Fish always said that a garden needs a good structure in the winter of evergreen shrubs.
24:34And one of the things that Margie Fish did plant was these Shamus cypress lawsoniana fletcheri which she called her pudding trees because of the shape they made.
24:44And of course lawson cypress is fairly quick growing but eventually these have had to be replaced in the past because they get too big and you can't get down the path here.
24:55Because although we clip them every year and clip them as hard back as we can we can't clip into the old wood because it won't regrow.
25:04So a more sensible plant to put in might have been yew because obviously if a yew gets too big you can cut it right back and it'll regrow.
25:13But these are kind of iconic plants for the garden.
25:21This is the most famous ditch in England.
25:24It is where Margie Fish planted all her snowdrops.
25:28Nowadays of course they've all hybridised with one another but there have been one or two snowdrops found in the ditch which are interesting and they've been named.
25:37Most notably the first one that was found was Galanthus margie fish.
25:41The snowdrop itself is quite a delicate snowdrop with a long pedestal which comes up and hangs down at an angle.
25:49Lovely little snowdrop.
25:51I acquired a collection here which I have added to quite a lot.
26:03For my own amusement I found seedlings which I've grown on.
26:07I mean in order to get one which looks fun I've grown on hundreds.
26:11This one here has rather interesting green markings on its outer petals.
26:17This one has a more bulbous flower with stripes and this one's very simple really.
26:23The green markings on the inner petals look like a rabbit's ears and we call it bunny.
26:29But I haven't officially named or anything.
26:32It's just a bit of fun.
26:39We've been here 17 years.
26:41I didn't think we'd stay here that long but it's quite a wrench to leave it.
26:47When we came here I felt the garden had slightly lost the ethos of Margie Fish and I wanted it to feel like a private garden.
26:57I feel that's possibly my legacy.
27:01It needs younger new people with fresh ideas.
27:06I'm moving to North Devon and at the moment it is just a square of grass.
27:12I'm going hopefully to create a new smaller cottage garden.
27:18I've never been to East Landbrooke but when I'm down near Taunton I think I may try and make time for a visit.
27:37And clearly Mike has looked after it wonderfully well so I hope that the new owners continue that tradition.
27:44Now a tradition that sort of emerged here at Longmenau is to pack this table outside the potting shed with as many bowls and pots as possible.
27:54And this year has been really difficult.
27:56It's been the hardest year to get a good display that I can remember.
27:59Everything's been very late, very slow to come through.
28:03We've still got hardly any Muscari or Sillas.
28:07An awful lot of the daffodils are not yet budding.
28:10However, there is a display.
28:13There are glorious daffodils.
28:14We've got the Arctic Bells.
28:16We've got tete-a-tete.
28:17We've got the irises, Pixie and George.
28:20So even when it's not at its best, it's still good.
28:24And it's good because somehow you're condensing and distilling not just colour but hope for spring.
28:33Now, still to come on today's programme.
28:36So this is...
28:37Sue is in Carmarthenshire, exchanging tips and ideas with a gardener who is growing produce that thrives in the local Welsh climate.
28:47The more we can save our own seed and then grow those same varieties year on year, the better it is as well for success in the garden.
28:53Because plants are like people, we get happy in places that we're used to, you know.
28:57And we visit a back garden in Edinburgh that's been lovingly developed in a relatively short time with an ingenious design.
29:05The next thing I did was add in the arch.
29:08And as soon as I put it over the path, I could see what an incredible effect it had.
29:12Just helping with that whole illusion of creating space and intrigue and not being able to see the whole space in one go.
29:19The vegetable garden here is pretty empty now. Spring is the lean time.
29:37This is when you've used up all your winter veg and you haven't really got much going for spring.
29:42We have got some spring cabbage which I planted out last October, not ready to harvest yet but they should be in about a month's time.
29:48And we've had a good crop of Arctic king lettuce.
29:52Now I sowed those last August, planted them out in early October and we didn't harvest them at all until I think it was the end of January, beginning of February.
30:01So they sat all winter under cloches and they're fantastic. So I highly recommend that.
30:07Now I sowed these lettuce in January. So if you sow now, they won't be ready to plant out for another six weeks to two months.
30:17And I wouldn't sow direct yet. If the soil feels cold to the touch, then they will not germinate.
30:23But what I am going to do is plant these out into a raised bed. They drain better so therefore it warms up better.
30:29And also a bed on this side of the garden because it just gets a little bit more sun.
30:35Now I've got two types here. I've got Arctic king, which is the same as those there, and then little gem.
30:41Now little gem is a cos lettuce, grow quite quickly, will tend to bolt in hot weather and they make a small lettuce, so it's one per person.
30:50So great for sowing now or if you've sown before, planting out now, harvesting through till about June.
30:56And we sow them in a seed tray and then prick them out into individual plugs, which is more work.
31:02But it is worth it because you get really nice strong roots.
31:05And because of that, they're healthier and much less likely to be attacked by slugs or snails.
31:11But you'll know when they're ready, when you take them out of the plug, which you can do gently just by pushing underneath, lifting it out, if it holds together like that, it's perfect.
31:22And then to plant it, all you have to do is just make a hole and pop this in. Easy.
31:34A little bit of space. These are small, so they don't need to be too far apart.
31:38If you're not used to growing in raised beds, they're very easy to make. Doesn't matter what you make them out of.
31:51And you want to be able to reach the middle from both sides.
31:55And not only do they heat up quicker, so they give you earlier crops, but also the much more efficient way of using your space.
32:03Right, doesn't matter what time of year it is, water them in.
32:12And not only does that give them water, but it also firms the roots in.
32:17I'm going to cloche them, and although I leave them open at the ends, it is extraordinary how they're heated up just enough to make a difference.
32:35One thing to remember though, of course, is if you have cloches on for more than a week or two, you are going to have to water because of course the rain can't get in.
32:47I've been growing vegetables all my life, but I do know that there is always more to learn.
32:53You can always discover things, particularly by visiting other people and seeing how they do things.
32:58And that's exactly what Sue has done in search of vegetable perfection.
33:03I've been growing fruit and vegetables in my garden for many years and more recently in my allotment.
33:17It's a fun and continuous learning experience.
33:20I've got the basics covered, but I feel there's more to consider to get the best out of the growing conditions.
33:27So I'm excited to spend the day with local gardener Adam Jones.
33:35He's an hour from me in Swansea and has a wealth of experience on how to get the most from his growing space.
33:43Adam, thank you so much for having me to your garden.
33:46I'm right by the sea. I've got salty, windy conditions, but it can be quite mild.
33:51What are the conditions like here with you?
33:54Well, Christ, so welcome to the garden.
33:56It's a cool, typical Welsh wet garden, let's say that.
34:00We're 200 metres above sea level, OK?
34:02So what tends to happen is we get a condensed growing season.
34:05So we can have late frost going into June and we get early frost then October, end of September.
34:10So we have a lot of humidity, especially when we get a bit of summer heat as well.
34:13So it can be a challenging environment to be growing vegetables in.
34:17I've really struggled with my courgettes.
34:19I've had to sow them three times and they're only now beginning to fruit, which is really late in the season.
34:24And I wish I could help you, but if you saw my non-existing courgettes, I could completely sympathise.
34:29We've had difficulty with the peas.
34:30A lot of mildews on the peas from being initially dry and then overly humid.
34:34But then things like my beans, I, you know, initially thought I'd have a poor harvest.
34:39They've cordoned back on fantastically well and they're doing great.
34:42So it's not all bad, you know, despite the challenging conditions.
34:45My soil's alkaline. What's your soil like?
34:48Well, we initially started landscaping in the garden.
34:50In some areas it was 4.7 on the pH, so that's a very acidic soil.
34:55We had to bring in a lot of topsoil, a lot of manure to try and raise the alkalinity of the soil.
35:00And we've done that successfully.
35:01In terms of the beds, you want a neutral, slightly alkaline soil.
35:05Yeah. So you don't really worry if things don't always go to plan.
35:08My philosophy has always been, give it a go, try everything, try every variety, every cultivar that you can, and then try and evaluate.
35:15OK, well, if that didn't work this year, maybe I'll try it in a different area in the garden and see if it works there before giving up completely on it.
35:21But I think we do have to persevere, don't we? If it was all that easy, it wouldn't be fun.
35:26I've probably killed just the amount of plants that I've grown, and I've done it proudly, because that's how you learn, isn't it?
35:32I can see flowers all around me, but I'm dying to see the veg.
35:35Well, let's go see the magic. Yeah, let's do it. I love a bit of veg.
35:39Adam's not fazed by a little wind and rain, and he's adapted what he grows to his local conditions. Pests and all.
35:52Wow, this is a real smorgasbord of plants.
35:55It's not just one monoculture that attracts aphys. There's no big sign to a fast food outlet saying,
36:00come here and prey on my plants. You know, it's about having a hodgepodge of everything.
36:05No, and it's absolutely beautiful.
36:08This is a lovely bed of beetroot.
36:14Yeah, these are Baltadi beetroots, so these are my old favourite. I grow them everywhere.
36:18I've tried other varieties like Moulin Rouge and Detroit, and I always return to the Baltadi because they don't bulk when you get some summer sun.
36:26They also produce fantastically big beetroots that you can preserve, you can eat them, you can do so many different things with them.
36:33I agree, I've tried the others, and these I think are the best. How do you eat them?
36:39Yeah, well, I'm a bit old-fashioned in a way. See, I like to pickle them, I like to roast them, I like to boil them, and then eat them with red onions.
36:45Oh, lovely. Beautiful in a salad. I like them pickled and then I put them in mashed potatoes, spring onions and mayonnaise.
36:51Oh, that's heaven on a plate, that is.
36:53Oh, that's heaven on a plate, that is.
36:57So, so here, I've recently harvested my turnips, as you can see, not a bad crop, quite happy with these.
37:12Erm, but I'm ready to replant it again, I'm going to plant it with some cabbages.
37:16I, I, I noticed this, you're telling us to look lovely, but planting again with a brassica, that's unusual.
37:21Yeah, you know, people stress a lot about crop rotation and they need to plant plants in separate locations because of disease and problems,
37:28but this is the fifth year of me growing brassicas in this bed now.
37:31What I found is by annually mulching the garden, I reduce the fungal spores that are available on the soil surface,
37:38which reduces disease, and I have had any problems in that time.
37:41So, I don't stress too much about crop rotation, that's what I'll say, because many of us don't have the luxury, of course.
37:46Small gardens, you've only got two raised beds, if crop rotation's going to stop you growing what you need to grow, then you shouldn't worry about it.
37:56Right, what are we doing next, Adam?
37:58So, you're going to be planting the chicory in the centre of the cabbages,
38:01and I'm going to be planting radish as a quick crop between the cabbages as well.
38:09It's inspiring how Adam makes the most of every bit of space.
38:14There we go.
38:15That looks good, Adam.
38:16Well, the to-do list is getting ticked off soon.
38:20And this includes some rather special beans.
38:24These are lovely, long run of beans, what variety are they?
38:27Well, I don't really know what variety they are, I call them my tadkee bean, or my grandfather bean,
38:31because I've been growing the same seed from my grandfather since 2006 in the garden.
38:36He was my gardening hero, and I've continued to save the seed year on year on year, and I keep growing them.
38:42So, I couldn't tell you what cultivar they are, but they do fantastically well, they're prolific cropping.
38:47Heritage, obviously, is very important to you.
38:49Oh, absolutely. And, you know, when it comes to heritage varieties of vegetables, they grow much better in our climate, and they're locally adapted.
38:56So, the more we can save our own seed and then grow those same varieties year on year, the better it is as well for success in the garden.
39:02Because plants are like people, we get happy in places that we're used to, you know.
39:06So, Welsh seeds or Gymry from Wales do really well in my garden.
39:09I hope they're going to do well in my garden too.
39:12Do you know, I don't see myself as the head gardener here.
39:15I'm just one of the gardeners, and nature is my head gardener, and I just go with the flow and hope for the best.
39:20I've had a wonderful time here today, Adam, and I want to thank you because you've really shown me a different way of growing vegetables.
39:36Because when you're a vegetable nerd like me, the more information you can get, the better.
39:41I'm going to take all those lovely thoughts with me.
39:44Björk, Adam.
39:56Collecting your own seed not only preserves old varieties difficult to get hold of, but also these are seeds that are adapted to your garden, your plot, wherever it might be.
40:07Now, I love rhubarb. I've got two varieties here.
40:12One is called Timperly Early, and as the name suggests, it's one of the very earliest rhubarbs.
40:18And I've got another variety called Victoria, which is very late.
40:23Doesn't really start providing anything meaningful until well into April and sometimes early May.
40:30But it has really big stems and will go on into July.
40:35Now, you shouldn't pick rhubarb after July. Leave it to replenish its stores, and it will go on for ages.
40:42These Timperly Early plants I've had now for 36 years.
40:47And whatever type of rhubarb you have, never cut it. You always pull rhubarb.
40:54So, you've got a stem like that, put your hand down at the base, and just gently pull and it will come away.
41:03And when you pull it away, there will be a little piece of the crown.
41:06And the reason you do that is because infection and disease and viruses can get in through cut stems, whereas they won't through the crown.
41:13And, of course, you don't eat the leaves. And, in fact, rhubarb leaves are poisonous for dogs.
41:20Not that I've ever known a dog want to eat a rhubarb leaf, but if you find your dog eating it, stop it.
41:26Rhubarb need a lot of feeding and quite a lot of water.
41:30So, rich ground, you can see I've mulched these heavily with compost, and that should be done every year.
41:36And if it's dry, give them a really good soak.
41:41By the way, these are forcing pots for putting over rhubarb before it starts to grow.
41:48They grow in the dark, and they grow paler and taller and thinner, and with much, much more leaves, and they're much sweeter.
41:58So, you get an earlier, sweeter harvest.
42:01Now, we're going to see one of the first films of the year that you sent to us.
42:07And this is not of a private garden, but a garden for children, where that element of fun is there from the very beginning.
42:22Hi, I'm Saxon, and welcome to HDS Kids Gardening Club.
42:26This used to be just the lawn, but we kind of transformed it into a whole garden.
42:36Thanks to everyone coming here every week.
42:39This is Reverend M, who is also my mum, and she is actually in charge of this church.
42:53She's very organised with getting her snacks for the crew and everyone that rides.
42:58And then one.
43:01Theo, what's your favourite thing about gardening?
43:04Favourite thing?
43:06Potatoes.
43:07Potatoes.
43:08Planting potatoes?
43:09Yeah.
43:10Planting potatoes.
43:11Planting potatoes.
43:12Planting potatoes.
43:14Planting stuff of making the world better in the environment, but we try to make other ones that give us air.
43:24For this fun though, we still do this joy.
43:25Yeah.
43:26My favourite thing about this club is that I get to meet new people!
43:30…I get to meet new people!
43:32Gardening club is just great because it brings us all closer to nature and also closer together.
43:39It's like one big happy community here at Gardening 루�-PA.
43:43Teddy, bye!
43:50well there's no doubt about it if you want to get children interested in gardens and gardening
44:01make it fun now we do love getting films from you so please do send them in particularly if
44:08you think your garden is unusual or you've got an aspect of it that is particularly fascinating
44:13or some tips or ideas that you'd like to share with the rest of us and if you go to our website
44:19you get all the details of where and how to send them come on come on come on when you're planning
44:42a new garden or a new border the best way to produce lots of plants whether they're annuals
44:48or long-lasting perennials is from seed just got a few here to just give a hint of the kind of range
44:55we can use there are some of the old favorites that i've always used in a jewel garden like sunflowers
45:00and i've got here carrot which has got a wonderful rich color and i love those marmalade colors
45:05sunflowers you can sow now and if you've got somewhere to keep them warm plant them out in
45:10june but you can also sell them direct in fact sometimes it's a lot better to do that wait
45:15until may and they normally grow just as well as you grow them earlier indoors tithonias are
45:22not difficult to germinate but can be very temperamental as a seedling but once they reach a big enough
45:29size to go outside they're fine cosmos i love always going to have cosmos they're not difficult to grow
45:35but they are tender so i've sowed them now ready to plant out after the last frost so mid-may
45:42i've got verbena bonariensis here i love it it's a perennial but i treat it almost as an annual it's
45:48very short-lived it grows quite easily but i've never grown it in the jewel garden well i'm definitely
45:53going to do that this year and i've also got a perennial that i've not grown before this is
45:59agastache or agastash navajo sunset a really beautiful sort of orange hyssop but it can take
46:07up to three months to germinate so if i sow this today it's going to be the end of june potentially
46:13before i see anything it also means that this won't be ready to plant out till next spring
46:19but at the same time a couple of packets could give me a hundred plants
46:24so from relatively easy annuals to relatively complex perennials tri seeds well let's start with the
46:35agastache fill that up like that there we go right now i don't want to waste a single one
46:49each one of those minute seeds are potentially a beautiful plant that will last for five to ten
47:01years so it's worth really being careful at every stage from now on in now i won't be able to sow
47:08those individually they're too small so what i do is just take a little pinch and sprinkle
47:14now even though they're minute very gently i'm going to push down just to make sure there's really
47:23good contact with the soil these need a bit of light to germinate so i'm going to cover them with a
47:29thin layer of vermiculite which will let in some light whereas if i covered them with compost that
47:37will keep the light out and at the same time it keeps some moisture in
47:43and again just firm it gently down
47:51because these are a very small seed i will actually put them in a basin of water so it
47:59soaks up moisture for about 15 minutes and then i will put them onto a heated mat in the greenhouse
48:05and not let them dry out and wait and maybe i have to wait for three months but hopefully my patience
48:14will be rewarded next summer with a brilliant set of plants that have cost me a fraction of what buying
48:21them as mature plants would be we're going to scotland now to visit a small garden that had a big dream
48:35we moved to the house 17 years ago and it was basically the garden was just laid to law and
48:42there was some slim borders around the sides you know with a few shrubs and herbaceous plants and
48:47there was a caudaline australis tree down the end which is kind of the only original plant that i've still
48:53got it's got these gorgeous old stone walls but they're quite tall a little bit oppressive and and the
49:00whole thing did feel a bit boxed in so it was about three years ago i decided i was going to redevelop it
49:09my name is libby webb i work as a doctor and this is my garden in edinburgh city centre
49:18the gardens only seven meters across by 14 meters long so it's not a huge space we were really keen to
49:25do all the work ourselves i guess you know to have a sense of ownership but also to keep the budget down
49:31the first thing i knew i wanted to do was to break up the kind of rectangular effect of the garden
49:35and i knew that the best way of doing this was to introduce a curved path down the garden to give
49:43the illusion of a sense of journey so that the eye would follow that rather than take in the boundary walls
49:48the next thing i wanted to do was introduce some height and i bought three small winter flowering
49:54cherry trees uh autumnalis rosea on a whim actually and they were pretty small all three
50:00of them fit in the boot of my car and i brought them home and i planted these three trees all offset
50:05down the garden
50:10so why winter flowering cherry tree i think it's probably the best tree for a small garden in terms
50:15of the interest and you can see it's got this beautiful open canopy and i thin the laterals
50:20just to make sure that there's enough light coming onto the bed below and it's just a gorgeous
50:25structure beautiful leaf lovely height and in the autumn time you get this fiery fiery orange and in
50:31the winter the blossom it's not like a spring flowering cherry tree it's not the same show but
50:36it goes on for month after month after month and it's beautiful
50:39i suppose when i first planted those trees i probably didn't realize how important they would
50:48become but they very much are the backbone of the garden and everything sort of subsequently
50:53has been built around them and it's just completely transformed the space planting them
50:58was the best decision that i made
50:59that was the first year the trees in the cobble path so i guess i had the bit between my teeth
51:10at that point because i could see what a transformation just these small changes had made
51:14and so in the second year looking at the lawn i kind of realized it wasn't being used and we just
51:21lifted the entire lawn otherwise to create four new flower beds
51:25and the next thing i did was add in the arch over the original path and as soon as i put it over
51:32the path i could see what an incredible effect it had just helping with that whole illusion of
51:38you know creating space and intrigue and not being able to see the whole space in one go
51:44so another brilliant thing about arches is the surface area and the amount of planting that
51:48you can get on them i've got this beautiful slalom crispum here which is a really fast grower
51:53and trachylus sperm and jasminoides which will be in flower and the scent just gets trapped in the
51:57arch when you're walking through it absolute joy
52:05i guess a lot of people have been quite shocked that the garden's only 7 by 14 meters but actually
52:11i've learned through this process that there are just so many different things that you can consider
52:16doing to create the illusion of a sense of space being and it being much much bigger than it actually
52:23is what i would encourage people to do is to think about your boundary wall or fence as your boundary
52:31not a planting guide and actually bringing everything in from the edges so that it can properly you know
52:38illuminate and so that the sun can shine through them just turns a kind of good flower or good plant
52:44into something just next level this is the center of the garden that used to just be covered in lawn
52:53and this is now the kind of showpiece and the alliums here i think demonstrate really beautifully
53:00what planting away from the edges can do because when the sun filters through these they just
53:05glow like lanterns and just create magic
53:14in a small space light's really important and in this shady border i've lifted the base of this
53:19camellia and lifted its skirt so that i can under plant it and i've got this fatsia japonica
53:24spider's web variety which is the variegated leaf which has just got this white which totally pops in
53:29the low light and combining that with the estrangea shaggy here which is also white
53:35and also the hydrangea patiolaris behind you get the same effect just lifting the whole space
53:45so i spent the last 30 years uh studying and working in medicine as a doctor considering kind
53:50of individual but also population health so i'm really fascinated with the kind of research some of
53:55which is still in its infancy but kind of pointing us in the direction that gardening and looking onto
54:01green space and and working you know in nature can reduce our stress hormones regulate our blood
54:07pressure boost our immune function and also it's well documented that it can lift mood reduce anxiety
54:14help with sleep and the act of gardening itself you know it's functional movement it's good for us
54:19it's what we should be doing and it helps strengthen our bones and our muscles and helps a balance which
54:24is particularly important as we get older
54:27so one of my favorite sayings is that you should sit in nature for 20 minutes every day unless
54:35you're busy and then you should sit for an hour and i just love the sentiment behind that and whilst
54:41i don't do it or pretend to do it i think we can all take the message that that's giving us
54:48and there's another saying which is an apple a day keeps a doctor away but i just wonder
54:52if it might be really good for us to be growing the apple tree as well
55:13of course libby's absolutely right it's obviously good for us to spend some time just sitting quietly
55:20in our gardens but if i'm honest i always say i'm going to do it and i encourage other people to do
55:27it but i always see things i need to do and i think any form of gardening is good to do and if that's
55:34just sitting looking at your flowers great and if that's digging and hard work equally great and talking
55:41of hard work here are your jobs for the weekend
55:55snowdrops spread by seed but you can speed up that process by lifting and dividing them and now is the
56:01time to do it choose a good size clump dig it up cut it in half put half back in the original hole
56:09and the other half in a new location and by doing this every year you can quickly increase the display
56:24to get the best color from the bark of dogwood it's important to prune them regularly at least
56:30every three years or even every season because it's the new shoots that are the brightest
56:35cut back to an existing framework and then you can use the cuttings to make new plants simply cut
56:42them to length stick them in the ground and 90 times out of 100 they'll root
56:55if you haven't done so already it's important to get on and sow sweet peas soon they have a deep
57:01root system so use a pot rather than the seed tray and i like to put three seeds per three inch pot and
57:07then the whole pot can be planted out as one unit cover them over and put them somewhere warm to
57:13germinate but they don't need a lot of heat and then when the seedlings have emerged they can be put
57:19outside to harden off and they should be ready to plant out in about six to eight weeks time
57:33last year i added oh nearly 30 new roses here to the cottage garden and it included
57:42about half a dozen climbing roses which i've got growing up these supports
57:46and they didn't really need tying in last year because they didn't grow enough
57:49to need that support but they do now
57:54now because these are climbing roses they produce their flowers on new growth you can see these new
58:02shoots just beginning and these are the ones as they grow that will have the flowers but we do need
58:08a framework upon which to carry those new shoots it's very important to try and get it going early
58:15to be the skeleton around which we can clothe it with glorious flowers later on
58:22right i will continue to do this but it is the end of today's program however i'll see you back here
58:31at long meadow next friday at 80 o'clock so until then bye-bye
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