0:00:04 > 0:00:05Good boy.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Hello. Welcome to Gardeners' World.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14And welcome to the longest day of the year, June the 21st.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17And I always think of it not as a mountain with a peak which
0:00:17 > 0:00:21then drops down the other side, but as a plateau.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23We reach this point of summer
0:00:23 > 0:00:28and for the next few weeks the days are just flooded with lovely light.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31And of course the thing to do is to make the most of them
0:00:31 > 0:00:34both in ourselves and also how we manage the garden,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36just as a celebration of summer.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Now, in tonight's programme I'll be planting up fuchsias.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Carol will be looking at an understated woodland plant
0:00:43 > 0:00:47that will happily flower all summer long given the right conditions.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50Since its introduction centuries ago,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54the astrantia has become a real cottage garden favourite.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00It has wonderful stories to tell and an intriguing history.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06And Joe is getting a preview of a superb Japanese garden.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10The Japanese garden never really ends.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12It's about continually moving through the space
0:01:12 > 0:01:15and seeing different compositions as you go.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19I shall also be planting out the sweetcorn that I sowed
0:01:19 > 0:01:22some weeks ago and putting tender annuals into my writing garden.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36I've had tulips and wallflowers in these big pots over winter
0:01:36 > 0:01:39and last year we had a big display of dahlias and cannas
0:01:39 > 0:01:43but I've sort of repeated that in the other big pots in the Jewel Garden
0:01:43 > 0:01:47and this year I thought I'd try something completely different.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50And I'm basing it around fuchsias.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54You see, I've got this fabulous standard here
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and it's funny how fuchsias are really popular.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Lots of people grow them, lots of people love them
0:02:00 > 0:02:02but they're not trendy.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05People slightly look down on them, I think, which is
0:02:05 > 0:02:08bonkers because they're really wonderful plants.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13I remember when I was a child my aunt had a fuchsia by her front door
0:02:13 > 0:02:16and when I was very little, I must have been about four or five,
0:02:16 > 0:02:21we would go in and pinch off the flowers and take off the green end
0:02:21 > 0:02:25and suck the nectar out and you could just get this hint,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30this ghost, of honey. And it was the most intoxicating thing.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34I remember being found by my aunt with a sort of
0:02:34 > 0:02:39a litter of her fuchsia flowers around me and looking rather guilty
0:02:39 > 0:02:44and of course she was furious that I'd destroyed her lovely plant.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46So that was my introduction to fuchsias
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and I want to get their richness and their intensity of colour
0:02:49 > 0:02:52because of course here in the Jewel Garden that's what I'm
0:02:52 > 0:02:55looking for and I think they'll make a dramatic display.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57This is 'Mrs Popple', and it's a standard.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Now, a standard means it's got a bare stem
0:03:00 > 0:03:06and what will eventually become a round ball of flower at the top.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09This one's only a year old and not terribly expensive.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11This was about £25,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13which I think in the scheme of things is
0:03:13 > 0:03:14a lot of flower for your money
0:03:14 > 0:03:19and it will go on producing these relatively small flowers with
0:03:19 > 0:03:26rich, purply interior, crimson cherry colour on the outside
0:03:26 > 0:03:30from now right through into autumn, so I think good value for money.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Now, as far as growing it,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36what we need to do is make sure it's got a nice loose well-drained soil.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Fuchsias are woodland plants and they like dappled shade,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44so my main problem here is will it have too much sun?
0:03:44 > 0:03:46I think it'll be all right but I need to watch for that.
0:03:46 > 0:03:52And the soil mix I've put in there is a bark-based compost with
0:03:52 > 0:03:54quite a lot of leaf mould added.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59If you buy a proprietary compost add at least some perlite or grit
0:03:59 > 0:04:01and if you've got some leaf mould that's ideal
0:04:01 > 0:04:04because it'll make it nice and loose and a good root run.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Now, if I put that in a little bit lower, about like that...
0:04:08 > 0:04:09There.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14And I'll top up around that. Really important to have a stake.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16I think I'm probably going to replace this stake with
0:04:16 > 0:04:19a longer one that'll go right down into this big pot
0:04:19 > 0:04:23because that's very sensitive to wind rock and you can get damage
0:04:23 > 0:04:25so that definitely isn't going to be strong enough.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30But fundamentally that's the easy bit. They don't need a lot of feed.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32They don't like to be waterlogged.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Water them every day if need be but don't soak them.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38The water must drain away and they like rain.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41In fact, this one, 'Mrs Popple', is pretty hardy.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47This is tough. But if you're growing a standard the stem is very,
0:04:47 > 0:04:48very susceptible to frost damage
0:04:48 > 0:04:51so this will have to be brought into a greenhouse in November.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52That's my centrepiece.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Now, I'm going to underplant this with more fuchsias because
0:04:55 > 0:04:59if you're going to grow fuchsias, don't do it apologetically.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05Go for it, revel in it and you get this lovely full-on blast of colour.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Now this is one called 'Dark Eyes'.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11And this has got double flowers, whereas 'Mrs Popple' is single,
0:05:11 > 0:05:16and it's got a kind of violetish touch to its mauve and purple
0:05:16 > 0:05:21which contrasts with the red. I've put four in here.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Now, these will grow to be three or four times their size.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27You can see that they've got lots of nice, healthy growth.
0:05:27 > 0:05:31When they finish flowering, which will be around about the time of the
0:05:31 > 0:05:34first frosts, I like to take even the hardy ones in, but if you take
0:05:34 > 0:05:37your fuchsias indoors they don't have to have any special treatment.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40You can put them in a shed, in a cellar.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43We put ours in the greenhouse underneath the bench
0:05:43 > 0:05:44and they're quite happy over winter
0:05:44 > 0:05:48as long as the temperature doesn't go much below about minus five,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51but a frost-free greenhouse is absolutely ideal.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57I'm filling the gaps with some vincas. This is Vinca minor.
0:05:57 > 0:06:04It's a lovely purply violet colour that we had in the spring garden
0:06:04 > 0:06:06and last year took lots of cuttings from.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09Just tiny little cuttings from the end
0:06:09 > 0:06:12and I've got about 50 of them which I was going to put under the hedges,
0:06:12 > 0:06:17but I think this will be nice trailing down over the side of the pot
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and of course the colour will pick up the colour of the fuchsia.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22A bit of an experiment, I've never thought of growing this
0:06:22 > 0:06:24in a pot before, but we'll see how it looks.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Now, this is a big set piece,
0:06:35 > 0:06:40but Carol is looking at a plant that is much more modest in many ways,
0:06:40 > 0:06:45but really rich, both in the way it appears and also in its history.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56As summer finally takes over there's a great verdant swell
0:06:56 > 0:07:01all around the garden. There's not a patch of soil to be seen.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Everything is beautiful coppers and verdant greens.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11The whole thing forms a backdrop for all manner of flowering plants.
0:07:11 > 0:07:17One of them, the astrantia, since its introduction centuries ago,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20has become a real cottage garden favourite.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25It has wonderful stories to tell and an intriguing history.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27MUSIC
0:07:35 > 0:07:39This floral beauty is Astrantia major.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45It's found all across Central Europe growing in damp meadows
0:07:45 > 0:07:47alongside other perennials.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52It was first recorded growing at the end of the 16th century
0:07:52 > 0:07:55in the garden in Holborn of one John Gerard.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00He was a herbalist, a botanist, but above all a good gardener.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04He'd gather plants from far and wide and grow them there.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09He recorded all these wonderful plants in a book that's come
0:08:09 > 0:08:12to be known as Gerard's Herbal.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16"To the large and singular furniture of this noble island
0:08:16 > 0:08:20"I have added from foreign places all the variety of herbs
0:08:20 > 0:08:24"and flowers that I might any way obtain.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27"I've laboured with the soil to make it fit for plants
0:08:27 > 0:08:31"and with the plants that they might delight in the soil
0:08:31 > 0:08:35"that so they might live and prosper under our climate
0:08:35 > 0:08:37"as in their native and proper country."
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Though Gerard's words were written centuries ago, his philosophy
0:08:43 > 0:08:48still rings true. It informs what we all do in our gardens.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50It's certainly what I try to do.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52MUSIC
0:08:58 > 0:09:03I love astrantias and they love living in this garden.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05The soil suits them perfectly.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09It's rich and deep and fertile and it's heavy clay underneath.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Every winter they get a special treat
0:09:11 > 0:09:16when we lay a great big deep layer of muck all across these beds.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20I like to try and grow them in the sort of context where you'd find them
0:09:20 > 0:09:25in the wild, cheek by jowl with other perennials and grasses.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30First of all they're out with all these late spring flowering plants,
0:09:30 > 0:09:35things like the rheum here, that lovely lamium, but then
0:09:35 > 0:09:39they're around when the poppies pop and the peonies burst forward.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41MUSIC
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Of all the plants in these beds and borders
0:09:50 > 0:09:53including the astrantias seem to form clumps
0:09:53 > 0:09:56and sometimes it's lovely to contrast them with something
0:09:56 > 0:10:01with big foliage, a statuesque plant like this rodgersia.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Its bronzed leaves are touched with pink, too,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07which picks up on the astrantia 'Roma'
0:10:07 > 0:10:11that runs through the centre of it. The whole thing is set off by
0:10:11 > 0:10:15the glaring white of this Geranium sylvaticum.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19This association, like so many in my garden,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23are inspired by Margery Fish, the Doyenne of Cottage Gardening.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26She loved astrantias of every description.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30In some ways, she reminds me of John Gerard.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35They both collected plants from all over the place, far and yonder.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Astrantia 'Shaggy'.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Isn't it aptly named?
0:10:46 > 0:10:51With these sort of long bracts and this rather untidy
0:10:51 > 0:10:56kind of flower, it has a real wild, rascally look about it.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Margery Fish must have pounced on this plant.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03It's exactly the sort of thing that she loved.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06It would have fitted in wonderfully
0:11:06 > 0:11:08with her wild sort of plantings.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13People have called Astrantia 'Shaggy' "Astrantia 'Margery Fish'",
0:11:13 > 0:11:17a fitting tribute to a great plants woman with a real eye for a plant.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Astrantias belong to the family Apiacea,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31which used to be known as Umbelliferae.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36Umbels are familiar plants - usually it's cow parsley that we
0:11:36 > 0:11:39see on country walks, growing in the verges and ditches
0:11:39 > 0:11:44and lining the roads with their flat heads and small flowers.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Whereas, in astrantias, it's a hemisphere, a dome.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Once the flower has pollinated, the seed is set.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Eventually, it becomes brown and drops down onto these bracts,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00and then one day in late summer, on a really blustery day,
0:12:00 > 0:12:05the wind carries them off and they then become next year's seedlings.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08That's how nature does it, but if we want to,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13we can step in and play a part in the process ourselves.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Growing astrantias from seed is so rewarding.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26You fill the seed trays,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28then you slide them underneath the mother plant
0:12:28 > 0:12:31and you wait for nature to take its course.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37The cold and the weather eventually persuades the seed to germinate.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41In the spring, you've got a tray full, hopefully,
0:12:41 > 0:12:46of little seedlings which you can prick out and pot on.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51All these astrantias here were grown from just one collection of seed.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55John Gerard, Margery Fish
0:12:55 > 0:12:59and countless other gardeners have celebrated astrantias.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04They are such easy, accommodating plants that bring beauty to
0:13:04 > 0:13:07all our gardens for months on end.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19Astrantia is actually one of my favourite plants, too.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21It's a lovely, lovely plant,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24and I'm going to put one here in the writing garden.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27I've got one called 'White Giant', a new variety, which has got
0:13:27 > 0:13:31a perfect combination of silvery white and touches of green.
0:13:31 > 0:13:37Exactly fits the theme that I'm trying to build up in this new garden.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39When you're planting astrantia,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41just remember, it's a woodland plant.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44It likes light shade and above all,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47does not like very dry soil.
0:13:47 > 0:13:48It needs moist soil.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57The only point that I would reiterate that Carol made
0:13:57 > 0:14:02is that they do drop their seeds and they seed themselves everywhere.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07Fairly locally to the plant, but they certainly will increase.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And the root of the parent plant does get pretty woody
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and quite hard to divide,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17so if you want to constrain it in any way,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20remove the seedlings as they appear.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23But that's beautiful, I don't want to constrain that.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26I want that to spread right through this garden.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28An astrantia is an herbaceous perennial.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32It'll die back in winter and then regrow the following spring
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and go on doing so for a number of years.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38But obviously, annuals do all their growing,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41all their flowering, all their seeding in just one short season.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44I've got two annuals here which really show
0:14:44 > 0:14:49the difference between the seasonal variations of light.
0:14:49 > 0:14:55Today of all days is the balancing point of the light of the year.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57So, I've got Ammi majus,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59a wonderful umbellifa plant which is growing.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05It's flopping all over the place round here. I've also got Cosmos bipinnatus 'Purity'.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Ammi majus is what we call a long-day plant.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12It comes from the northern hemisphere and it responds to light.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17As the days get longer, it grows more and more vigorously
0:15:17 > 0:15:21and is more and more inclined to produce flower.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26As they get shorter, that urgency increases and also to set seed.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Because it knows its time is up, it knows it's got to do
0:15:29 > 0:15:33everything it can to reproduce before the dying of the light.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Whereas the cosmos, which comes from closer to the equator,
0:15:38 > 0:15:43and that includes plants like the zinnias, sunflowers, dahlias,
0:15:43 > 0:15:47don't respond to light because the light remains pretty constant around the equator.
0:15:47 > 0:15:48It responds to heat.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55And by coincidence, the heat tends to increase round about the time of
0:15:55 > 0:16:01the longest day, so it's a brilliant time for planting out tender annuals.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03Put them out now, they'll grow well because it's warmer,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06particularly the nights, and they'll go on growing
0:16:06 > 0:16:10and flowering right through to the cold weather.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Quite a few more to get in the ground.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19But, if you're not planning to plant any annuals this weekend, long-day or short-day,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23here are some other things that you can be getting on with.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32Strawberries are now starting to turn from green to red.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35And it's infuriating when the birds get at them
0:16:35 > 0:16:41before they're ready to harvest, so a net put up now will protect them.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Make sure it's stretched taut so birds can't get tangled in it
0:16:44 > 0:16:48and also make sure it's fixed securely to the ground,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51because they will slip underneath it if they possibly can.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59It's important to support your tomatoes before they need it.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03You can either put a cane in and then tie the plant as it grows,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08or attach a string to the base of the plant and then tie it off,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12either to the roof of the greenhouse or to a wire strung out across it.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16And then, as the plant grows, you simply twist it around the string.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24To keep box hedging and topiary looking at its best,
0:17:24 > 0:17:25it needs cutting now.
0:17:26 > 0:17:31Either use a lightweight electrical trimmer or else really sharp shears.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35In either case, the secret is to keep moving.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Just cut lightly and in as flowing an action as possible.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Then, when you gather up the trimmings,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43they can be put onto the compost heap.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51Of course, nobody is better or more meticulous at pruning
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and trimming trees and shrubs than the Japanese.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58For them, it is a highly developed artform.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01A few weeks ago, Joe went to visit one of the very first
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Japanese gardens that were ever made in this country.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18You would expect to find a beautiful garden in the heart of rural Hertfordshire,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21but what you might not expect to see is a garden like this,
0:18:21 > 0:18:23a traditional Japanese garden.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27The maples are just coming into leaf,
0:18:27 > 0:18:28beautiful purple maple here,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31creating a lovely dappled shade beneath,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35and look at these beautiful, sculptural, ancient pines that
0:18:35 > 0:18:40were planted back in the 1920s. I feel as if I'm in Kyoto.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43I've always wanted to go to Japan to see the gardens -
0:18:43 > 0:18:44I don't really have to.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53There's a whole philosophy behind a Japanese garden like this.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57The idea is to bring together the most beautiful plants
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and conjure up scenes so tempting
0:18:59 > 0:19:02that they'll bring down the gods from heaven.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05One of the elements that it has to contain is a bridge.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09This one is based on a sacred bridge in Nippon.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13There are three wonderful, red, lacquered bridges through this garden,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16really singing out against the green backdrop.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17But it's more than that -
0:19:17 > 0:19:19it's about the journey and the way you cross the water.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21A Japanese garden never really ends.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24It's about continually moving through the space
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and seeing different compositions as you go.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30So how did this piece of Japanese paradise get here?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38This garden was created in 1905 by wealthy china merchant
0:19:38 > 0:19:42Herbert Goode after a visit to the country.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46To make his garden truly authentic, he brought back 20 Japanese workers
0:19:46 > 0:19:48and a garden designer.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52These spaces are notoriously high maintenance - they need to be
0:19:52 > 0:19:57polished, pruned and brushed and that's the job of Caron Lawton.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00How do you approach planting a garden like this?
0:20:00 > 0:20:05There's four seasons, there's four sections to a Japanese garden.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09And the first one is the spring planting, which are very much to do
0:20:09 > 0:20:10with the cherries.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Then there's the wisteria, that's the summer.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Then during the autumn time, we have the Acers, the beautiful reds
0:20:17 > 0:20:19and oranges.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22And then during the winter time, we have the structure and hopefully
0:20:22 > 0:20:24if we have a huge fall of snow,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27it just looks an absolute picture.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30I can imagine. I think that's so interesting that each season is just
0:20:30 > 0:20:33- depicted by a single plant, almost. - Yes.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37And the structure is so important in a garden like this, quantities.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41Quantities, it's always odd numbers. Threes, fives, sevens.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43That is a sign of prosperity.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48Everything is all about getting the best out of the garden.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54You couldn't have a Japanese garden without a beautiful cherry blossom.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58- Absolutely not.- It's a culturally significant plant.- Absolutely.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00During the Second World War,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04the Japanese Kamikaze pilots would fill their cockpits
0:21:04 > 0:21:09full of Japanese cherry blossom and then open their windows
0:21:09 > 0:21:13and all the blossom would just pour out of the cockpit.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16- Just before they plummeted down. - Yes.- Wow! I didn't know that.
0:21:24 > 0:21:30- So this is the authentic teahouse. - It was imported in 1923.- Wow!
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- Piece by piece.- You can sort of sit here when it's raining outside.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38You've got somewhere covered in the garden to look out into the beautiful landscape here.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43It's amazing vision to realise it was going to mature like this.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47I guess when the plants first went in, it can't have looked like very much.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Not at all. I've got a picture here.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54It's an old newspaper cutting in 1939 of the garden
0:21:54 > 0:21:56when it was ten years old.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59And everything is really tiny.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Yeah, the bridges and the buildings look
0:22:01 > 0:22:04so big in comparison to the plants.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06It looks almost like they're almost Bonsai, the plants.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10Yeah. Hundred years on and we've got what we've got now.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13And this natural piece of land, was there already undulations
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and this sort of topography here before the garden was built?
0:22:17 > 0:22:22No, it was a field, originally, and they dug out the three ponds by hand
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and it put it over into a huge mound over there, which they
0:22:25 > 0:22:27now call Fuji Mountain.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37- So this is it, then?- Yes, it is. Mount Fuji.- The crowning glory.
0:22:37 > 0:22:42Yeah. You're supposed to light a fire to create the eruption of the volcano.
0:22:42 > 0:22:48- The volcano!- Which is supposed to come out of here in smoke.- Right.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- Really?- Yes.- Does it still work?- Yes.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01You can imagine back in the Edwardian days how amazing that would be.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04- Oh, yeah. - It's an authentic Japanese garden,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06but they obviously had a sense of humour too.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Now, the garden is not normally open, but it is this Sunday,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23so if you want to go and see it, go along.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And you can get all the details from our website.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I have been lucky enough to go to Japan and see the gardens,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32particularly in Kyoto, and they were staggering.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34It was a life-changing experience.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37And the overriding thing that impressed me
0:23:37 > 0:23:40was the incredible attention to detail.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Talking of which, the attention to detail on these tomatoes is
0:23:44 > 0:23:47a bit lax, but interesting things are happening because,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50if you remember, I'm doing a little trial.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54They're Gardener's Delight and I planted some in a grow bag, some
0:23:54 > 0:23:59in plastic pots and some with very little compost in terracotta pots.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And thank you, by the way, for all of you who've written to me,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04telling me and often showing me
0:24:04 > 0:24:08with pictures the ways that you grow your tomatoes. As things stand,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12the ones in the grow bag are growing very strongly, the ones
0:24:12 > 0:24:15in the plastic pots are also growing strongly,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18whereas the terracotta pots are way behind and much smaller.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22But I'm not surprised at that and anyway, the whole point is to
0:24:22 > 0:24:26test which produces the best fruit, so it's early days, but interesting.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34But now, I'm going to plant my sweetcorn.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I sowed these a couple of months ago.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Potted them on and you can see they've made nice healthy
0:24:42 > 0:24:45plants and they've grown hugely. They've trebled in size.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48They've got a nice root system, ready to plant out,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51particularly now the nights are getting warmer.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53That's the key. Warmer nights.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58Now, with sweetcorn, there are just two things to remember.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00The first is to give them enough room.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03These are going to be big plants, they could be 6ft tall.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06So if I put one here,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09put that in nice and firmly,
0:25:09 > 0:25:14the next one wants to be at least 2ft away.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18And I'm not going to measure, I'll just work it out, do it by eye.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20But that's about right for me.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28So, you do your first row in a line like that...
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Put that in, and then this one.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44But never plant sweetcorns in rows.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47You must always plant it in a block.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52And I would say never plant less than nine, ie, three by three.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54I'll get 12 in here.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58And the reason for that is that sweetcorn is wind pollinated.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00Now the wind tends to come from over there.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04So if I had just that row, the wind would blow and take the pollen
0:26:04 > 0:26:07that way, where there are no sweetcorn waiting to be pollinated.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10I would have no cobs at all.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14So if you want to produce lovely golden sweet cobs,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16you must plant them in a block.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42I've got masses of room and traditionally,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45particularly in South America, sweetcorn was always
0:26:45 > 0:26:50grown along with beans and with squashes of some kind.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55I've got courgettes, I'll put in there, and the rest of the space, I'll fill up with lettuce.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58And by the time the sweetcorn start to shade out the ground, I will
0:26:58 > 0:27:03have long harvested the lettuce and the courgettes will be fine.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08This is going in here.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26Nothing like a shower to speed up the planting process.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Right, I'm going to do the lettuce later. I'm getting too wet.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Well, the rain can't dim the beauty of the roses.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48This is Madame Gregoire Staechelin.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52It's one of the first to bloom in this garden and it's a good example actually,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56if you get a decent framework on a climbing rose, you then get
0:27:56 > 0:28:01really good flowering shoots coming off these horizontal stems.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05And this is a repeat flower, so it will go on producing these
0:28:05 > 0:28:08great voluptuous blooms all summer long.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13I'm afraid we're not here all summer long because we've got Wimbledon coming up and then the Proms,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17but I'll see you back here at Longmeadow on July 19th.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Till then, bye-bye.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd