Episode 7 Gardeners' World

Hello. Welcome to our hour-long Easter Gardeners' World. This is

the best moment of the year to get anything done in the garden. And I

shall be transforming mine here at Long Meadow with some roses,

amongst other things. Carol shows us how to find

inspiration in the hedge rows. Primroses, Sorrel, Airums, ferns,

ivy, pig nut. The list is almost endless.

Rachel travels to Cumbria to discover the art of gardening in

extreme conditions. And that's why these fences are

around here as wind breaks, which is only temporary. They've only

been in ten years. At the Eden Project, the gardeners have gone to

extraordinary heights to get their tropical plants into shape. It's a

very important, serious piece of equipment, which just happens to be

quite enjoyable as well. As well as planting roses, I'll be sowing some

carrots and revealing my recipe for I've never planted climb against

this. It's always been a Brack drop to the border, so this is a good

opportunity, and if you're planting up a wall for the first time, the

first thing to take into account is its aspect, and then you can select

your plants that'll suit the situation rather than trying to

place plants that you like and get them to fit because they've got to

be happy. They've got to feel at home. Now, this is east facing, so

any aspect means you put your back to the wall, look out, and that's

the direction that's going to be the dominant factor in what

influences the plants. East-facing wall is cold. It's never in full

sun, exempt for a few hours around about breakfast time, and it's

never in fell shade, so, for example, camellias will be no good

here at all because they'll be cold. They'll get morning sunshine, and

that's when the blooms get damaged. Wisteria would be wasted on this

wall because it needs nice, baking sun to flower properly, but

honeysuckle, completely happy against it - almost all clematis

would love it on here and a lot of roses, and it's roses I'm going for

a because it's pretty much a rosy garden. Also, the thought of having

roses growing along this wall, a treat. I am not going to overlook

it. And the first one I'm going to plant is this one, Madame Legras de

Saint Germain. This will work well on my wall. And because it's

virtually thornless and has a fabulous scent, it will be ideal

next to a path or a seat. This is bare root, so it's been kept in a

bucket of water, and if you're planting any bare-root plants,

don't expose it to the air until the very last minute. Always keep

them either covered with damp cloth or in a bucket, and as with any

climber I'm sorry, going to plant it well away from the wall. There

is a temptation to get it stuck in there so it will climb up. Don't.

Put it out at least a couple of feet. I want it away, so about here.

There is an acanthus growing here, so I'll remove that that can be

moved to somewhere else. It's got a nice root on that, so we'll put

that to one side. OK. And then - now that's what I need to remove.

If you see that in the garden anywhere, it's bindweed. If I get

that in the roots of the rose, that's a disaster - because I'll

never get it out. Take any amount of time and trouble to remove it. I

don't want it. Now, what I'm doing with this hole is essentially

losening the soil - just making sure that there is a nice, easy

root run, loosen the size of the hole as well, so what I have in

there is nice viable soil. I'm going to add a little bit of

compost, but not too much. And the reason for that is that I don't

want to create too snug a home for the plant. If you add lots of

manure or compost to planting hole, the plant never wants to leave.

This is just going to be a kick start for them. Literally that much

will go in the bottom of the hole. Sprinkle that in and mix it in, and

actually, the microbacterial activity will be as important as

anything else, but what I am going to add is this, and this is

microrizal, which is a fungus. It enables the plant to interact with

the bacteria in the soil - if I can take the lid off. It comes in a

powder like that, and it's particularly good for roses or any

woody plant because they can be slow to establish their own

microrizal relationship, so it speeds up a natural process by up

to two or three years, so we just sprinkle that onto the soil, and

we've got our bare root plant - a lovely root system. And the

advantage of bare-root plants is that you can see how healthy they

are, and they tend to be much cheaper, so if you can get them, a

distinct bargain. I want to plant this - it's going back against the

wall, so probably in that orientation. And I want to plant

that so that the graft is just below the surface, which is about

there. Push that in, and the next stage is just to back fill enough

to hold it in position because then I'm going to fill the hole with a

What this means is that as the roots grow, they will be going into

damp soil. It's been terribly dry of late. And just let that absorb

right down, and then back fill the soil. Now I'm going to go and have

I'm firming but not stamping because it's wet. It's like a bog,

All right. We'll let that gradually soak in. When it's completely

absorbed, bring the soil back to its level, and then - and this is

important - put a really generous compost all around the plant. It

will suppress weeds. It will keep the moisture in as well as

enriching the quality of the soil. Right. That's Madame Legras de

Saint Germain planted. Now, she is a climber, a small climbing rose.

What I'm going to plant here - felicite perpetue - is a rambler.

If you want a rambler that'll flourish in shade or one that'll

scramble into a tree, then felicite perpetue is a good choice.

And the difference between ramblers and climbers is not that great and

certainly not one to get worried about, technically, but ramblers

more or less always have a great froth of small flowers that only

are produced once, and they tend to have very long, vigorous chutes.

Climbers come in all shapes and sizes. You can get climbers with

great big flowers. You can have climbers with small flowers. You

can have them that are suited for many more different positions, so

on the whole, a climber is going to be more adaptable. But where a

rambler works, it works in a way no climber can match, so if you want

that exuberant froth of flower in midsummer, then ramblers are

perfect. But whether rambler or climber, the planting technique is

the same. The last rose I'm planting is Veichelnblau. This is

another good choice to grow alongside a path or on an arch

because it is virtually thornless and delicately flagrant.

Now that doesn't look much - a few little green twigs sticking out of

the ground. These very pruned hard before they left the nursery, which

is a good thing because all the new growth will be from the base of the

plant, and we'll get nice vigorous new growth, but when you buy

climbers or ramblers from a garden centre, likely they'll be as much

as 5-6 feet tall and ready to lean against the wall. That's fine. You

can cut them because which is probably the best horticultural

advice, but it takes a hard heart to do that we want to see flowers,

and we want the see them as soon as possible. These roses are all

exotic. They come from all over the world. They have been highly bred,

but one of my favourite roses of all is a simple dog rose that you

get in a hedge row - unadorned and as lovely as anything you can put

in the garden, and it's to the hedge rows around her own garden

that Carol has been looking for At this time of year, my garden

changes by the hour. I just love this little corner better than

anywhere in the garden at this moment. It's full of newness and

freshness. It's springtime personified. And I love the way

everything feels so very new. Sometimes you see a bud opening, a

flower emerging, and you know that you're the very first person to see

that in all its pristine glory. Spring has brought an exciting

display at Glebe Cottage, but also something rarer - a new space to

plant. I dug up an old, unused plant and made a new bed. Do you

know, whatever your garden size or shape, whether it's in the town or

the country, all of us have boundaries to our garden. We have

edges. They're either made by fences or walls or hedge row. What

can you grow there? I mean, one minute it's hot, beating sun. The

next, they're plunged into dense shade, and the water is so uneven,

sometimes it can be a diluge, and sometimes the place is as dry as a

bone. Well, the edge of this border is made up with this fence, and

behind it, my native hedge, which I proudly planted just a few years

ago. It's getting established, but this countryside all around us -

all the fields are surrounded by hedges. In fact, North Downs'

famous for them. So I'm off to have a look at what's growing at their

feet because the plants that thrive in this unique, challenging

environment will give a goods source of the plants that'll

flourish in my new bed. For a thousand years or so, the people of

these islands have been enclosing their land by using hedge rows. As

these hedges have grown and developed, this whole wound rouse

array of different plants have moved in and evolved with the hedge

row, exploiting the conditions there. They live in really close

harmony with one another - things like primroses, Sorrel, airums,

ferns, ivy, pig nut - the list is almost endless, and they're the

plants that give us a lot of inspiration about the kinds of

things that we can use in similar situations in our own gardens.

What's evolved here is a community of plants that intermingle and grow

with each other. That's what I want to create in my border. I'll be

using a combination of native plants and some of their cultivated

cousins - all plants that can cope with sun and shade and handle dry

summers and wet winters. Above all, plants that don't need

mollycoddling. They'll be happy to just get on and grow, whatever the

conditions. This is the sweet shop. I've gathered together a wheel load

of plants that I want to put into this border. This is euphorbia

martinii. I have chosen it because it really loves shade. It should

really foot up with both shade and full sun. It should be perfect in

here. Here's another native, but a strange one. It's a double

buttercup. It's called ranunculis acris flore pleno. Flore pleno just

means it's got double flowers. It's a hedge row kind of a plant, so it

should be completely at home here. This too comes from a similar sort

of place. It's a blue scabious. The bees are going to love them.

Although it's great to use indigenous plants because they're

going to be better for our wildlife, butterflies and bees aren't fussy.

This, for instance, this is a beautiful primula, and it's from

Japan, and if you look in here, they've got these wonderful little

extra pieces all the way around, so it will spread itself, and I'm

going to put it down towards the end of the bed because it loves

moisture. And this is just a white one, something which is native.

It's a pulmonaria lungwort. The pale colour in the evening is going

to be just right. This - look at this - it's this glorious Solomon's

seal. These bells will gradually develop and hang down from there.

It will just sort of wander around, so perhaps back in here where we

can really appreciate its stature. Plenty of room for everything to

spread out, but still a few spaces This bed was a path, weed dug out

the rubble and added soil, but no money off. These plants just do not

need it. -- many of. -- manure. I have finished the border, but as

you can see, the rest of the garden is in some light, but this is in

shade. -- some light. I watered everything thoroughly before

putting it in and I will give it a really good soaking. It will not be

long before everything starts to seed, run around, mix and mingle.

Eventually I will have the same kind of community you find under

That is the most beautiful tulip. You would not expect to find there

is growing in a Devonshire head Rowe, but I agree with Carol, if

you want to see plants are growing a bad best, go to nature --

hedgerow. They were always in for me better than any textbook. We

will look later at propagation of plants which can be done now.

Tulips are something we have always loved. In this area, a herb garden,

we have Indian velvet, and a tall, pale on. Down here I have put in at

Nicholas Tyacke. I put the bulbs in the ground on 24th January. That is

much too late but it has worked. So sometimes you can break rules and

get away with it. If you have the bulbs, got -- get them in the

ground. These are formal. I like them for that. But if you look into

the spring garden you can see that the yellow tulips are coming up

amongst all the yellow, natural plants in a loose way. That works

well. You can have the formal and informal with the same plant

My tomatoes need to be watched regularly to get the timing of the

potting dead right. These are ones They are doing fine, but I think

they are ready to move out because what I have found over the years is

that almost everything has a 10 day window when it either needs

pricking out, or potting on. Funnily enough it never seems to

recover if you miss that slot. It is instinctive. If you look at this

plant, it is getting a bit yellow, if you compare it to this, which is

a better colour but in the same compost. Sometimes early tomatoes

will turn a blue colour. Move them on, pot them on and they will

recover. These will be planted out into the top greenhouse in May.

Time to take these and give them an Potting on is a simple process made

easier by using good modules, then you do not have to lift them. This

is a deep one, so the roots are well formed, it holds together as a

unit. Once it is this size do not try to hold it by a leaf, because

it will rip off. This stem is strong enough to take my brutal

touch. I'm putting these into three inch pots. The key thing with any

potting on is not to going to be a pot. The reason for that is because

if you put too much potting compost around it the routes will not reach

it for ages, so it just becomes a sodden mass of soil full of water.

Where the roots are will dry out and it does not work. So it is

worth taking the trouble to pop on every year, or with a seedling like

this, a few times. Rather than skip a phase and go on to the next size

up. So put a bit underneath at the bottom and pop it in. It does not

matter how deep it goes, just give it a shake, I do not put these into

strongly because when you water it Do not even think about putting

these outside until the end of May, There are many bits I have not

shown you yet. I'm about to show you one of the very best of all. It

is the compost heaps. I love compost not just because it is so

satisfying to turn what is waste material into the most precious

item in garden can have, which is this... Finished compost. That is

what drives this garden. But also because it exemplify s everything

that a sustainable system is trying to do, which is to take all your

waist, use what it has to give and then make things better in a very

gentle way. That is what we are doing it with compost. The system

we have here with a tin, lot of big Bay's is something that has evolved

over the years and suits me here. But it is not the only way to do it.

You can make compost in many ways it to understand what you're trying

to do. -- if you understand. Anything that has ever lived will

compost. Although saying that, meet, a fact and cooked food is not a

good idea to put on a compost heap because it attracts vermin and it

rots down at slowly. Cardboard is good on a compost heap, it will add

a lot to the heap and pocket up. -- bulk it up. This is green and full

of nitrogen, comfrey. You want to balance the nitrogen you get with

clippings and green plants, and be carbon you get in a brown plant

material. This is solelyto packing material, very good. Hayley is full

of carbon. In fact, the ideal ratio is about 20 to-one carbon to

nitrogen and most heaps fail because they do not have enough

carbon. If it gets the sludgy, smells bad, slimy, you need more

carbon. You would be amazed at the transformation. Kitchen waste,

paper, envelopes, all very good. Throw it on. Then chop it up. I

used a machete for the big stuff but actually I have found that if I

spread it out the easiest way to chop it up into smaller bits is to

That is quite rough but the idea is simply to break it up a bit. We

added to the heap. -- at it. -- add it. This is full of roughly chopped

material, some things have slipped through. A bit of packaging, a

broken stem, but that has given surface area for bacteria to get to.

You should be able to see steam coming off this. It is warmer in

there. That means there are lots of tiny creatures busy eating their

way through this, that is how compost is made. It is not the

decomposition that makes it, it is the digestion. Mainly by bacteria,

but fund the, slugs, worms, Beatles. They all love it, Digest it and use

it. 10 billion animals for every gram of compost. As it heats up,

more bacteria come into play, then it heats up even more, and more

come through. Then when it starts to cool down that means it is time

to re heat it, the best way to do that is to turn it by adding oxygen.

Then it comes into this been which is usable as compost. It is a bit

crude, rough, it is still being eaten, but that is becoming a

recognisable compost. It is sticky dough. It needs more time to be at

its best. But when it is ready, it is like this. This is completely

ready for the garden. I know that because compost that is ready to be

used feels a pleasant, smells just faintly of woodland floor. There is

nothing nasty, unpleasant, or dirty about it. If it feels a bit sticky,

turn it again. Keep turning it. By turning it you do not have to put

it from One Day to another, just route it around, get a fork, turn

it up and down, move it with a stick, anything to get bearing to

it. -- air into it. This is a towed, he comes in for the slugs. -- toad.

You have this into connectedness between the whole garden. --

connection with the whole garden. You do not need great big bins made

of corrugated iron to make good compost, you can do it on a small

scale in a dustbin. But some holes in it, fill it up, that will work.

You can have council beehive compost bins, just remember the mix

of carbon tonight and, more carbon air nitrogen. Try to fill it up as

quickly as possible. Then turn it about every three to five weeks.

Although the compost is essential here the soil is terrific. You can

grow almost anything. Rachel went to the Lake District to visit a

garden where there is practically no so well, it is Brockie, battered

by winds and seemingly about the most inhospitable place you could

ever attempt to grow anything -- Rocky. Yet the result is beautiful.

The Valley of Great Langdale is one of the most romantic and awe-

inspiring views in the Lake District. 18th century poets like

Wordsworth and Coleridge came here inspired by the wild, untamed

beauty that is battered by savage This site would be a challenge for

any gardener. But here, one man was inspired to overcome the punishing

weather conditions and create his Borg is a Professor of chemistry

and a veteran mountaineer. -- Bob. 30 years ago he and his late wife

Peggy took the brave decision to make this into a garden filled with

rare plants from his expeditions. You have the most credible --

incredible landscape. How do you go To be as a scientist, it's a

question of observation. When we've got climbing mountains, we pass

through, obviously, lower down areas where plants are growing, and

if you're observing, you see little things growing, and you think,

that's rather nice. I wonder what it is. So I have a little notebook,

and I write it down and try to identify it later on. Then when I

get enough, see if I can get it over this side, or try to get some

when I'm next in that area and bring it back to grow, if it will

grow. How do you go about protecting the garden from the

elements? We learnt the hard way. We used to put plants in the ground,

then two weeks later, they'd blown out of the ground. Sometimes we get

70mph gusts up the valley. It would even shake the house, tremble.

That's why these fences are around here as wind break. Without this

mesh fencing around, which is only temporary - they've only been

around ten years, but it gives these plants here chance to grow.

Then later we'll take those out. Probably the next year they'll come

down, but we'll get there slowly. What about the actual rocks? You

can't move the largest boulders. The first thing to remember is this

garden is built on scree. Therefore, whenever you dig, you find rocks,

so we move out the rocks and use them to build a wall, make a raised

bed. That's very good for the plants because they get the

drainage. Also, as you get older, we build the walls higher, so we

can actually see the plants more It's impossible not to notice lots

of plants still in their pots and dotted around the garden, but Bob

takes the long-term view when it comes to finding the perfect spot

for each plant, and only when he feels it will thrive will he

finally plant it. I get the sense that all of this

sort of instant gardening is absolutely of no interest for you.

It's not all about creating a finished garden. It's the process

of creating the plants. That's right. It's copying nature,

basically. That's whatit comes down to at the end of the day and being

observant in order to notice what thinks are growing, what thinks are

growing well and are handsome. The bamboos there, we propagated those

from a single stem and a tiny bit of root at the bottom. You can tell

by the leaves it's happy - looks happy and healthy, like a smiling

face. That's what I call it. If it's smiling at you, you know it's

all right. MUSIC

I think what's so interesting is the way that you're using every

single level, so you're going from these tiny Alpines here in the

raised bed... Yes. Then you go up through the mid-storey right up

into the tree canopy, so your eye just wants to travel all the way up.

That's because when you're climbing a mountain, that's what you're

doing - you're looking at the horizon way up there, but your eye

is looking at where you're going to put your feet. There is a trillium

rivale down there which looks exquisite. We have lots around, big

ones and small once, but I especially like these small ones,

rivale this is called. That's gorgeous. We tried various

different places before we found that place. It likes that place.

Put it here, it sulks. Just a couple of feet away. It reminds me

of ladies, actually. Difficult? difficult - charming, but aren't in

the right place. Bob's garden at Copt Howe is opening over the

Easter weekend for the National Garden Scheme. It's a great day out,

but if Cumbria's too far for you, there are plenty of other gardens

opening for charity at the weekend, Highfields in Yorkshire, Yonder

Hill in Devon and the Old Corn Mill in Herefordshire are just a few. To

check the opening times and for more suggestions, go to our website.

Still to come: How to sow carrots and avoid carrot

root fly, a propagation master class that could save you a fortune,

extreme pruning Eden style. Now, you can sea that the peas I

put in, what, three, four weeks ago are coming - they haven't liked the

dry weather, but they're perfectly healthy, as are the onions, garlic

and shallots. The potatoes are coming through. These are the red

Duke of York, but the rocket I sowed on top was washed off by a

heavy shower minutes after I sowed them, and it hasn't rained since,

so the best-laid plans - something I put in between just a week ago

have come up nice.Ee each bed is planted with a different group of

vegetables. Each year the batch moves on to the neighbouring bed.

This rotation of crops means each can share the same suitable soil

preparation. It also avoids the build-up of pest and disease

specific to any one type of vegetable.

Now, this bed is the brassica part of the rotation. I put some cavelo

nero in there. This is for carrots, parsnips and the members of the

same family, celery, celleriac and parsley. Now I want to plant

carrots and parsnips. And they like a soil that hasn't

been freshly manured and doesn't have too many stones. Drainage is

good. And the raised beds will help

drainage. When it comes to sowing carrots, most people sow them in

rows, but this is a technique which seems to work fairly well. I use

two boards, which stops me treading on the soil, and I put one like

that and then flip it over, and I broadcast my carrot seed in the

space between the boards. Now, I've got quite a few different carrots

here. I've got Autumn King, which is a good main stock carrot, and as

its name implys will sit through winter, Yellow Stone. I have what I

want to plant today which I bought in Italy. Nant carrots are good for

early sowings. They mature fast, have a shorter root, very sweet,

and so a good choice at this time of year. I would like to do another

sowing of carrots around about the end of May, early June, which is a

good way of skipping the carrot fly cycle, but very small seed. You can

see that, and this is a big packet of seed, sort of a lot. I just take

a sprinkle like that and just scatter them quite thinly. I don't

worry if it's too even. Maybe just another little flourish at the end,

and that's good. Now, the point of broadcasting them is I won't thin

them. I'll leave them like that and then pull them as I want to eat

them, and it's thinning that attracts the carrot fly more than

anything else because when you pull up a carrot, however small it is

you, the human, can smell that lovely carroty, sweet smell. Well,

if you can smell it, every carrot fly for about half a mile can smell

it too, and they will come zipping over, lay their eggs on the soil on

the neck of the carrot. Then when the larvae hatch out, they'll

burrow into your roots. We want to disturb them as little as possible.

The system I've got is we have them like that. All I'm going to do is

flip that over on top, flick this over again and then flip that again

and that again, and that's my next Although parsnips are closely

related to carrots, they're better son in rows than broadcast. That's

because we want larger roots and spaced two to three inches apart.

Try to sow them as thin as you can. The seeds are large, so it's

relatively easy to space them out. However, they're relatively slow to

germinate. So it's a good idea to sow some radish along the same row.

These will grow and be harvested before they compete with the young

parsnip seeds. I've got some parsley seedlings that I sowed

under cover into modules, and parsley is part of the same family

as carrots and parsnips, also thinking of parsley and parsnips, a

parsley root wants to be that big. It wants to be like a parsnip, and

the top wants to be about 18 inches to two foot high, so it needs room,

so if you plant it with generous spacing, and by "generous", I

reckon a good hand span, which in my case is about nine, ten inches,

and the plants will grow strong and healthy, and you can have repeated

pickings. Now, growing herbs or vegetables is about as earthy as

you can get, but at the Eden Project down in Cornwall, they have

been so successful, that they've got a problem which needs a

In the ten years since the Eden Project opened, a horticultural

challenge has changed from getting the trees to grow to getting them

Because of our special conditions we have here, I love levels on

anything like the tropics. Plants have to take advantage of any light

there is, so these trees push through very, very fast, so our

trees sometimes tend to grow straight up instead of stretching

out when they should do, so we're trying to simulate these different

levels of canopy, and it's an interesting challenge. Lavender but

how do you prune when the branches you want to reach are over 150 feet

above the ground and hemmed in by other trees? Started off when the

trees were small with long-arm saws, then as the trees grew, we needed a

cherry picker, then we started absailing off the roof dangling off

this steel work here, which is a bit scary, but it takes a long time

to rig the ropes and transfer from one to the other, so the balloon is

perfect. It's a helium-filled balloon. Original thrif, used by

canopy researchers in plass like Guyana and South-East Asia to

access flowers and insects in the rain forest canopy, but we thought

it would be a really simple solution for pruning jobs, planting,

checking the plants for health. It's a bit of a juggling act, and

there are all sorts of things to consider - where the balloon is in

relation to the trees around you and the structure. Sometimes it's

hard to get to certain places because there is a tree canopy that

is blocking your way. It's quite tricky to manoeuvre that balloon. I

have tried various technique over the years, but the hook system is

really useful. You can make your way around like Spiderman sort of

thing. Sometimes it doesn't go to plan, but it's not like I'm going

to drift off into the stratosphere. Helium is balanced by the weight of

the gardener and a water tank, which can be filled or emptiedso

that the balloon will almost hang in midair. It's a very elegant way

to garden. 80% of all life in rain forest is up in the forest canopy,

so now we want to start adding that second layer of planting, so we

want to add the Brom you'llids, or kids and talansias that live in the

rain forest canopy. We can now do this with the balloon. It's a nice

tool to use. We can get some of What I love about it is the kind of

architecture of the plants. You can really see the leaf forms and the

structure of the palms, in particular, that you just can't

really see as well from the ground. It's just fantastic views from up

there. Also, I love being up there because you can't see any weeds and

jobs that need doing. It just looks stunning and pristine. It's a very

important, serious piece of equipment. It just happens to be

The Eden Project would be a great family day out over the Easter

holiday but if you don't live in the south-west, dried spaghetti,

the Alnwick Garden, Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire and

countless National Trust gardens all over the UK are putting on

special events all over the weekend. You can find more information on

our website. And if you're not planning to go out and about over

Easter, there is plenty to be getting on with in your own garden.

Now is the perfect moment to move any evergreen trees or shrubs. Dig

the plant up with as much root as possible, then transfer them to the

planting hole, filling it with water before you back fill with

soil. Make sure it doesn't dry out, and you'll find it will grow again

very quickly at this time of year. Also, now is a good time to be

sowing biennials such as these wall flowers, for colour next spring.

Scatter the seed thinly in a seed tray ready to be pricked out later

on. It's a slow process, growing these, but well worth the wait

because it will give you masses of colour next spring when the garden

Most of the work in this garden recently has been based around

planting, dividing, moving plants, particularly in the Jewel Garden

because we gave it a revamp and are in the process of replanting it.

Now is the perfect time to get herbaceous perennials in. They are

growing fast. The clock is ticking. The Jewel Garden is based on a

colour scheme. You have diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires,

emeralds. So the best form of pure colour is Drew herbaceous

perennials. When you come home with a car full of plants, the instinct

to get them in the ground is exciting, it feels like the process

is being held back if you do not get on with it. But actually I urge

you to place them in their pots, have a look, of walk around. Leave

them overnight, come back the next day. Unless you have a plan of

exactly placing each plant, which we have never had, it is all about

instinct, feeling, you will have a good feel for when a plant is in

the right place. M going to leave those but I will get them in the

ground by the end of the weekend. But I can start planting right away

these. This is iris deep black. Not grown it before but I want it for

its pure rich purple. It is almost black. It is taking purple as far

as it will go, that intensity is right for the Jewel Garden. It is

important with iris to give them as much sun as you can give them.

Over the years we have learnt that the effect of neighbouring plants

can be as damaging in terms of Shahed as a wall, or tree. --

Shahed. -- shade. That is why I am putting them here. Iris needs to

bake. This is heavy soil. So I'm You have this on the surface, take

it out of the pot, you have a decent root system beneath. It is

essential you keep this above the soil level. Do not bury it. That

wants to break, the more it can bake, the better the flowers will

be the following year. If we plant that about that kind of depth, you

can see this is on the surface, the feeding roots are down below,

getting all the nutrients and the plant will be healthy. These plants

have been bought. But it is much cheaper, and actually just as

exciting, to generate your own plant material from Stock you have.

Whether it be from cuttings, seeds and so on. When it comes to

propagating plants there is nobody who does it better, or knows more

Look at this beautiful plant! One of the most exquisite things in the

garden. When I see it at this time of year I think right, I am going

to propagated, make more! Then I forget about it. It is the perfect

time for so much propagation. You can feel everything growing. I

suppose most of my garden has been propagated from seed cuttings

division. And quite a bit of it from basal cuttings. That is how

I'm going to make more of this. I am slipping my knife right down at

the base of the stem, where it joins on to the root stock. I and

detaching pieces. You are looking for shoots that are not flowered if

Now was the perfect time to take cuttings from a huge range of

plants. Take advantage of their rapid spring growth. For more

information about which plants you can propagate right now, visit our

website. Take this off, then I can really get to work. A clay pot

which I am filling with this very gritty compost. It is important

when you do any kind of cutting that you have well-drained compost.

Feel it right up to the top. -- fill. Give it a smart tap to settle

it. These are long cuttings, but strong. No. Attending these kind of

cuttings when the stem is -- There is no use attempting these kind of

cuttings when the stem is hollow, it has to be solid. We do not even

need to take more off there because I have cut it so clean. I will take

a couple of these off because the cutting no longer has the roots of

the plant to draw up moisture or and it will keep on transpiring

through these leaves. So if you remove a few it means there is less

stress on it while it is concentrating on making routes. I

am pushing it right down inside so This grit will keep any weeds down,

retain moisture or and also stop them rotting round the top. One

good watering, then into its final I have a lot of half-hardy annuals

in here and they are ready now to be pricked out. They do not wait

for you! They have such energy, they want to get on with it. If you

miss the time, they turn into pathetic little plants, so you

really have to keep them on the move. This cosmos is really ready.

It is so important with these half- hardy ones to keep them moving. As

soon as you see there is true Leeds, you have to get in there and

separate them. It is vitally important to pick them up by the

sea to Leeds. They are dispensable so if they get damaged the plant

will still get over it. But if you start bending stalks and bashing

through leaves and damaging roads, then it will not. It is strange to

think that this tiny little plant is going to turn itself into a 3 ft,

or metre giant later on! Last to ride decided there was too much of

this in his bed, so I lifted up a couple of clumps, meaning to give

them a new position. I put them into pots temporarily and topped

them up with compost. That is exactly where they have stayed. I

am lucky. They have been very forgiving despite my neglect. When

you get to this stage you have two options. You can either separate

them into big clumps and replant them into the garden, or you can

pull them apart and make this nice sound when I do it. These can going

to pots. -- go in at two pots and just stay there, growing and

entirely new route system. -- into pots. This is Stafford, a lovely,

dark daylily. It would be good to have a few more in the hotbed. That

is seven really good plants out of that clump. They look a bit

dishevelled at the moment. I could trim these leaves back just as I

did with those, to reduce the stress, but I think they will perk

up. Good watering, they will be There is no question that

generating your own plants gives more satisfaction than anything

else in gardening. However, most people do buy plants at some stage.

If you are shopping for plants this weekend, make sure they are good

quality. You can see without any horticultural experience that this

is healthy. The leaves are green and glossy, it has a good bushy

spread, substance, it is not too tall and floppy. Look at the routes.

Carefully put your hand on top of the compost, but not crushing the

plant, to bit over and take it out of the pot. You can see it has a

nice root system. Healthy plant, healthy top. Carefully put it back

in, then you have not damaged it. You Inspector your goods, you can

then pay with confidence knowing it will do what it says it will.

Another purple, which is different from the irises, one of my

favourites. It is a simple plant to grow because once you get it right

it just performs. Every year! Michael clematis it does like rich

soil and plenty of moisture. -- like all clematis. It needs a

substantial haul because I want to put in plenty of compost. -- hole.

I normally say do not add compost in great quantities, but clematis

always do better if they can get plenty of moisture. What the

compost will be doing is not feeding the clematis so much as

holding the moisture. So really I have digging a pit, a couple of

feet deep, which I will fill up I have brought with me compost that

is not finally rotted. This is from the middle they. I have added in

some Auld hey. Straw would do, even You can see the characteristic

yellow roots of the clematis. This just as a couple stems. As it get

older it will become multi- stemmed. It will have half-a-dozen all more

growing out of the base. -- half-a- dozen, or more. Back fillet gently.

Then give it a good soak. Quite a few of these plants and others from

the Jewel Garden will be available at a stall at hour event from 15th

June to 19th June. All the proceeds of those plants sales will go to

Children In Need, so another good reason to come and enjoy the show!

I'm putting up a good support for it because by late summer that will

be 10 ft tall, and a great column of this wonderful maroon, purple