Episode 20 Gardeners' World

Hello. Welcome to Gardeners' World.

Now, the bank holiday weekend does signal the end of formal summer.

We're about to enter what can be the best season of the whole year.

And because we've got a long weekend,

we've got plenty of time

to do those jobs that need to get done and finished

so that we can get the garden all ready to make the most of it.

This week, Rachel makes a final visit to her novice gardeners

to see the result of the communal beds that they built from scratch.

Oh, my goodness, it looks beautiful.

I still can't believe this is the first year.

Carol is in East Yorkshire

to find how the relatives of her favourite wild flower

can light up any garden.

It's wonderful mixed with other plants

and the very best time to see it is in the evening

as the sun goes down.

Slugs have been a major problem for all gardeners this year,

and in response to a deluge of letters,

I'll be sharing your tips on how to cope.

You always think you'll remember what the garden looked like,

but you don't.

It is really important to record it as much as possible.

Come a grey March day it'll be really hard

to piece together the exact relationship

of the colours and the textures of any border.

At this time of year that's what it's all about,

it's all about that interrelationship

and balance and harmony of colour.

And here in the Jewel Garden, of course, the colour is very intense

so that you have an amazing dahlia, this 'Arabian Night'.

Against the intensity of the orange of the cosmos, 'Bright Lights'.

Look at that.

And I think that this trick of using a very bright colour

with a very rich one works well.

I think probably my favourite plant at the moment is Angelica gigas,

which has got an incredible, slightly metallic

burnished burgundy colour to it.

It's statuesque, it's an emperor of plants. An absolute joy.

Nothing matters more at this time of year than simple deadheading.

It really is the key to keeping those colours coming.

Here, for example, on the dahlia,

this is 'Bishop of Llandaff',

I've got a bud that has finished.

And the fact that it's pointy

tells you that that's over and has done its stuff.

Whereas I've got another one, which is rounded,

which is yet to flower.

So that is the difference that you're looking for with dahlia buds.

The round one you leave on

and that will produce flowers in a day or two.

But as soon as it gets a pointy end, cut it off.

And then you'll get new flowers coming through from that.

And this cosmos, keep deadheading it.

The thing I like about deadheading,

it's a job you can do for 10 minutes at the beginning of the day,

you can do it at the end of the day,

it gives you a chance to look round the garden,

you're feeling pretty shattered,

but you can do really important work

just with a pair of secateurs.

Something like this crocosmia, no point in deadheading that,

you won't get any more flower if you cut it back.

But surprisingly, a buddleia will respond.

And also, it's important to remove the ugliness of spent flowers,

because that distracts the eye.

So if you cut them off like that,

you'll get new flowers forming

and then you'll get more butterflies

and that lovely rich cycle will just keep going.

One of the things that gardeners debate hotly

is the right time to sow sweet peas.

There are some that swear by sowing them in autumn,

others say there's no need - you sow them in spring.

I tended to belong to the latter group,

but this year I thought I'd give it a go

and try sowing some in autumn, some in spring,

and also some directly, and just see how they reacted.

A very unscientific test, but interesting nevertheless.

So what we have is, at the far end,

we have some that I sowed into a compost mix in pots last October.

In the middle, some that went into exactly the same mix this March,

and at this end, the same variety - they're all Monty Don sweet peas -

were sown direct into the soil in May.

You can see at a glance

that the ones at the far end are bigger,

there's more plant there.

The ones in the middle are covered in flowers,

and these poor old direct-sown ones have had a tough time of it.

We haven't had a single flower off them.

We're keeping a tally,

and the idea is to see what the result is across the whole year.

And so far, the autumn-sown ones

have produced twice as many flowers as the spring-sown ones.

However, these are due for picking now

and you can see that these have got a lot on, they're catching up.

It will be interesting to see if the autumn-sown ones go over first

and therefore what these lost at the beginning

they catch up at the back end.

But we'll wait and see.

Now, the reason that we grow sweet peas is partly the incredible scent.

The fragrance now as I'm standing here is just wafting all around me.

And also they do make perfect cut flowers.

And everybody can get that from the garden.

You just sow some seed

and you've got flowers that will fill the house all summer long.

Rachel has been establishing a cut-flower garden

with a group of novice gardeners.

This week, she's going along to celebrate their success.

'In March I arrived at the barracks

'of the British Army's bomb disposal squad,

'the 11 EOD Regiment,

'who are setting up a community garden

'to enhance the well-being of the families

'and military personnel on the base.'

I'm just going to show you a few techniques.

'I came along to give them a helping hand

'to turn what was an overgrown site

'into a space for cut flowers and vegetables.'

I think you've got off to a really great start.

'The wet weather helped everything to grow lush and vigorous,

'but there were hiccups too, with dahlias searching for the light

'and a few problem pests.

'It's now five months since they started

'and I can't wait to see how it's looking.'

Oh, my goodness, it looks beautiful.

I still can't believe this is the first year.

This is the magnificence of sowing annuals,

such a profusion of flowers blossoming

just five months after they were sown.

I'm used to getting plants from the garden centre

and just having them as small plants growing.

But growing them from seed,

and having something so beautiful within a season is just lovely.

It's a bit like magic, really!

I think, just...

It's full of colour and sunny...

and it worked.

It's brought us together, which is really nice.

It's a great way of meeting people in the community,

especially because you do move around

so you don't know where you're going,

and the people that you're going to be living with.

The garden is a constant feature in this environment

where things often change.

Many of the wives who've been working on the garden

are about to move on to another base.

Both Sarah and I are in the process of moving,

so we're going on to other places.

So we're... Yeah, I'm going to miss this and miss the garden.

Us ladies, we're quite hardened at saying goodbye to people,

but I know we will all keep in touch.

For me, if it hadn't been for the garden

I probably wouldn't know them.

Today, the Army's welfare team

are organising a special lunch to celebrate the success of the garden.

And to decorate the tent,

the wives want to use some of their home-grown flowers.

To help arrange them to best effect,

I've enlisted the help of local florist Jo Wise.

-Ladies, just grab foliage.

-Go for about five stems.

And then you want to prep each stem

by stripping off any leaves

that are going to be beneath the water level.

So just run down like that.

That's going to stop them rotting under the water

and increase the vase life.

So this is quite a good shape and height to start off with.

'Next, we add some bishop's weed, Ammi majus,

'This grew profusely in the garden

'and their lace-cap flowers bring lightness and air to any arrangement.'

That's lovely, it's already starting to look really pretty.

With the garden flowers,

it's nice to try and create different heights

and create space around your arrangement.

-You don't want it too solid.

-Yes.

'Then for some colour,

'our ladies sowed an abundance of sweet peas, calendulas and larkspur.

'There weren't many dahlias in flower yet,

'so Jo and I brought some from our own gardens

'so that they could see what to expect.'

-I love all this colour against the green...

-It's a riot of colour.

It's really zingy, yes.

I don't think there's another flower in the garden that has this saturation of colour.

-It's just so right.

-You're right.

-And you can mix them all up and it still looks great. Yes.

-Yes.

OK, everybody, let's see what you've done. Hold them up.

-Fantastic. They're really good.

-Really good, yes.

OK, let's go and put them in the tent.

To buy something so spectacular would cost a small fortune,

but with just 20 packets of seeds and bags of enthusiasm,

our ladies have really done me proud.

GENTLE APPLAUSE

'When all the flowers were put together, they were so beautiful'

and it's amazing to see we've managed to grow them in our garden.

These beautiful flowers have created a bit of a stir on the camp

and everyone is really thankful for the joy

this garden has brought to the community.

I'm going to light a candle to remind us

that Jesus is the light of the world.

Thank you for this garden, the hope of transformation it has brought us.

May our soldiers bring hope and transformation wherever they serve.

Amen.

'It's gobsmacking, really, to come from it being the car park

'and to think that this is what it looks like now

'and the vases of flowers on the tables.'

It's, yes, it sort of takes your breath away, really.

Cheers, everybody.

Yes, well done, everyone!

'When I look around this garden'

and remember what it was like back in March

and how it's been utterly transformed with a few packets of seeds

and some dahlias, nothing complicated,

but masses and masses of enthusiasm from the people involved,

well, I find it incredibly moving

and I think it's benefited everybody who's worked on it.

Well, that was inspirational and it does show

that a bunch of flowers picked from the garden is always lovely.

Not yet, no.

DOG PANTING

(Come on.)

Now, we have a problem with this area of what should be grass,

but really the grass that there is is pitiful.

It's become a compacted muddy slick when it's wet

and a sub concrete area when it's dry, not very often this summer.

There are two reasons for this and first is the lack of light.

You've got heavy shade from these trees,

which of course is getting worse as the trees are growing.

Second problem is the compaction.

Grass needs light, drainage

and water to grow successfully. Well, water, we've got.

The drainage we can do something about,

so I want to repair this, but first of all, I've got to dig that up.

And it's no good just turning over the top inch or so like that.

The important thing is to go really deep.

MUSIC: "Baby Scratch My Back" by Slim Harpo

Main problem here are tree roots.

I mean, our soil is wet, heavy, claggy stuff

and it's been an exceptionally wet period, and yet,

hardly any moisture in that at all.

It does show you how trees just suck the water from the soil,

like a sponge.

# Aww, I'm itchy

# And I don't know where to scratch... #

Now, I confess I thought...

this would be a gentle dig over, with a fork.

HE LAUGHS

But, if you want good grass, you have to have good preparation.

Having raked out the worst of the lumps and bumps, the next step

may seem counterintuitive but it's really important.

And that is to tread it over, to get rid of any dips and hollows,

because if the soil isn't level, the grass won't be level.

Now, having done that, rake it again,

to get rid of any of the dips and hollows that your feet exposed.

And there certainly were some down this end.

You can buy grass seed specifically for shady areas

and if it's going to be used for walking on at all,

make sure it's got some ryegrass in it, because ryegrass is tougher.

That is thick enough.

It's sparse.

If you think of sowing seeds in a seed tray,

you don't fill the seed tray full of seed and then expect to get nice

strong seedlings, and it's exactly the same with grass seed on soil.

That's the great thing about sowing grass seed at this time of year.

It'll germinate and grow really fast.

Final thing to do is to rake it in, and so it's covered.

Once that's in and it's watered, that should start to grow.

It is important with grass seed, as with turf, not to let it dry out.

So, if it doesn't rain, water it every day.

I have to confess that this is a case of

making the best of a bad situation.

The grass here will never be good. It may not even grow much.

But if it is going to grow it will now,

and if it doesn't grow, well, I'll have to think of something else.

And while I'm doing this,

here are some other things you can be getting on with this weekend.

If you don't use chemicals,

keeping paths clean of weeds can be a bit of a job.

Every now and then there's nothing for it

but to get down on your knees and hand-weed them.

An old kitchen knife comes in useful at this point

but whatever you use needs to be sharp.

And whilst there's no doubt that it is something of a chore,

it's curiously satisfying.

Strawberries are tough plants but it does pay to give them

a little bit of attention at this time of year,

especially the summer-fruiting ones that have finished their work.

Give them a good weed.

Remove any extra runners and then cut back all of the old foliage.

This will let in light and air

and gives the new leaves the chance to grow strongly.

Now, it is getting a bit late in the day

but if you sow spring cabbages this weekend

you should get a harvest at the end of next spring.

You can raise these outside

but I prefer to sow them under cover

because then they're easier to protect from pigeons and slugs.

I put them into their final growing position

at the beginning of October.

I'm sowing Spring Hero and some black kale.

Just one note, is that when you plant these out in October,

don't be surprised if they don't seem to grow at all right through winter.

They'll just sit there.

But...soon as the soil warms up in March or April

they will start to grow and give you a really good harvest in May

and possibly even June, just when you need it,

because there's not much else that time of year.

The reason I raise seedlings in here is, as much as anything else,

to keep them slug-free.

About a month ago I asked for any slug and snail experiences you had

in what is, by general agreement, a pretty bad year.

Well, of course I've had masses of response

and lots of ideas of how to deal with them,

ranging from copper barriers, salt, putting down beer traps.

There we have a picture of slugs lapping at a tray of beer.

The totals have been amazing. We've got a letter from Marjorie Greenwood in Hampshire.

Marjorie has collected

12,883 slugs.

And I like the fact she's kept a total. "Am I obsessed?"

Well, you just might be, Marjorie, I think.

Now, slugs and snails do exist in huge quantities

and my recommendation is to try and control a limited area.

You're never going to stop them in the garden at large.

There's just too many of them, it's a battle you're going to lose.

We keep the greenhouse, the cold frame and this standing-out area

reasonably under control.

So if I pick that up and look...

Ooh, there we are. Have a look at that.

There is one, two... two slugs nestling in there.

So they're still there but at least I can see them and destroy them.

So I'm going to put those down to one side.

A really good ecosystem, wildlife...

Hedgehogs love eating slugs, so do thrushes and blackbirds.

Beetles, toads. Encourage wildlife into the garden.

If you can keep ducks, they're fantastic too.

Yep, more in there.

Of course, one of the weapons in the gardener's armoury

is to grow plants that slugs and snails seem not to like.

And this week, Carol is looking at a plant that

slugs and snails may not like but gardeners universally adore.

This dainty, delicate, brilliant blue little flower. What a delight.

It's Campanula rotundifolia. The harebell.

It's one of our commonest wild flowers

and you find it in all sorts of places.

And its looks actually belie the fact that it's incredibly robust.

First of all, it has these very wiry sort of stems

that support these little pleated buds.

And as those buds begin to open this bell emerges

and eventually folds over and dangles down.

And the whole idea of that is that the pollen is protected,

so even in a windswept place like this,

they can still manage to get pollinated.

Not only is it successful in all these wild habitats

but it's a brilliant garden plant, as indeed are all campanulas,

and there's such an enormous variety of them.

There really is a campanula for every situation!

I've come a few miles inland to Burton Agnes Hall.

It's a beautiful 17th-century building

and one of its more striking characteristics

are these lovely brick walls which announce the entrance.

And at their top, there's this enormous collection

of Campanula rotundifolia,

and it was these self-seeded harebells

which were the inspiration for the creation, within the walls,

of one of the country's best national collections of campanulas.

The great thing about a national collection of any plant

is that it gives ordinary gardeners an opportunity

to go and see what's on offer.

They can see the full range of campanulas

and decide which ones suit them and their gardens.

Things like this Campanula isophylla that we're used to seeing

usually in blue but this white form is lovely.

This is the kind of plant that once you put it into a wall,

it'll find its own way, wending along every crack and crevice,

and coat the wall.

But what drew me to this corner is this lovely little plant here.

It's got double white flowers and very dainty foliage

and it's probably a form of Campanula cochlearifolia.

Perhaps the biggest use of bellflowers is in beds and borders.

Usually we associate them with all those lovely pastel shades -

pinks, blues, lavenders - but look what's happened here.

This enormous Campanula rapunculoides

has seeded itself in the back of this group.

Great tall spires of bright blue

combined with the brilliant red of Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

and these huge yellow daisies.

Who would have thought of putting them together,

but don't they make a stunning combination?

The very first time I saved seed -

or tried to save seed - from campanulas,

I watched these seed pods ripen,

and when I went to take one off it was empty.

And that's because the seed actually disappears from three apertures

right in the back of the seed pod, right at the stem end.

So I'm not being fooled again. I'm going to take this one off now

and just detach the whole thing with a pair of scissors.

Then you can shake it straight into a paper bag, collect it for later,

sow some straight away if you want to or save it till the spring.

And it'll yield literally scores of brand-new campanulas.

Head gardener Jeremy Palmer has nurtured the campanulas

here at Burton Agnes Hall for the last 14 years,

during which time he's seen the collection grow.

How long has the national collection been here?

It was formed in 1990 and it was developed then,

obviously with the interest in the harebell.

-Yes.

-So we just kept it going

-and we've got about 300 different varieties here now.

-300?!

-That's phenomenal, isn't it?

-It is.

Some of these campanulas are gigantic, aren't they?

But what if you've got a tiny garden?

-Would you say there's a campanula for everywhere?

-Oh, there is, yeah.

Even tall ones, like this lactiflora, will grow in a small garden.

It's just nice, tall, sturdy, and you can get away with it.

I mean, a plant like that, despite this huge volume,

is actually quite small at the base, isn't it?

It is, yes, it's very misleading.

And they're really easy to look after as well.

-There's very little maintenance to a campanula.

-And very little disease.

There's hardly any disease at all. All pests, actually, that attack campanulas are very easy-going.

I feel really at home in here.

It's nice to be in the midst of a plant that's bigger than you.

And it's difficult to imagine the relationship between

this enormous Campanula lactiflora

and that little tiny harebell that we saw on the cliffs.

It's wonderful mixed with other plants

and the very best time to see it,

as with any blue or white flowers, is in the evening,

as the sun goes down.

It's now time to prune summer-fruiting raspberries.

The autumn-fruiting ones, and I've got them round the corner there,

are just beginning to kick in and produce fruit, so it's a relay.

These have done their stuff

and if we remove the wood that produced the fruit,

the new wood, which is this green growth here,

can be tied in ready for next year.

So the first thing to do is to get rid of all the brown stems

that bore fruit this year.

And we're left with potential stems for next year.

I want to keep the strongest and make sure they're spaced out

reasonably evenly, and no more than half a dozen per plant.

So just work through them.

I can see, for example, that stem is no good, so we can take that out.

That can come out.

Now, the really important thing is to tie them in securely,

cos they're quite brittle.

You can see that they're evenly spaced, they're nice and secure,

they're not going to move in any direction.

I'll tie the tops and then when they're tied in,

cut them off an inch or two above.

Cos otherwise they can act as sails

and you find the stems sometimes snap, which is really frustrating.

But once that's done, there's nothing else to do with them except

give them a good mulch next spring and harvest the fruit next summer.

Well, that's it for tonight.

Enjoy your bank holiday weekend and I'll see you next Friday. Bye-bye.

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