0:00:01 > 0:00:03BIRDS SING
0:00:05 > 0:00:09Hello. Welcome back to Gardeners' World.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15We've been away for a few weeks, but here at Long Meadow, the garden has been growing and flourishing.
0:00:15 > 0:00:16It's been a lovely summer so far.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19We've had good weather, and the plants,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22from vegetables through to trees and all the flowers in the borders
0:00:22 > 0:00:25have been really healthy.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28There have been changes. Some things have flowered and gone over,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30other things are coming to their best,
0:00:30 > 0:00:33and there's quite a lot we can do at this time of year
0:00:33 > 0:00:37to make sure that display looks as good as it can right through to autumn.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Now, tonight's programme is full of my favourite things.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Carol is celebrating one of our most dramatic wild flowers,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52along with its cultivated cousins.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Surely everybody recognises a foxglove!
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Every child who sees one of these plants
0:00:58 > 0:01:03wants to stick their fingers inside those bells and make their own gloves!
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Joe finds out what the world-famous garden designer Dan Pearson
0:01:07 > 0:01:10has planned for his own new garden.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13It's not about a grand design, imposing yourself on the landscape?
0:01:13 > 0:01:18No, it's about finding a meeting point between the ornamental garden which I'm going to make
0:01:18 > 0:01:20and this naturalistic space.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I shall be revealing a brand-new area here at Long Meadow,
0:01:26 > 0:01:31but first I'm going to continue a job I've been doing for a week or so,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33which is really important at this time of year -
0:01:33 > 0:01:36to extend the flowering season in our borders.
0:01:43 > 0:01:49Now, the border at this time of year is full of plants that have actually done their stuff.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53What they're concentrating on is setting seed
0:01:53 > 0:01:55so that next year they can look really good.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58For example, these alliums, Purple Sensation.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01They look stunning in May and early June
0:02:01 > 0:02:03and are now setting seed.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Now, if I wanted them to spread, I'd leave them,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09because that seed will develop new plants.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12But we've got too many alliums, so I'm pulling them up.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14They do just pull up really easily.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Just gently pull on them, and that clears them.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19It won't harm the bulb, which will grow again next year,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23but it will stop them setting seed.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26So it'll also create some space.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Because the Jewel Garden is planted so intensively,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31you can't get a foot in, half the time!
0:02:32 > 0:02:37And when you come to plants like the perennial geraniums,
0:02:37 > 0:02:38the hardy geraniums here,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41these are still flowering.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45There is a temptation to keep them going as long as there are any flowers.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49But don't! Because there are very few flowers on each stem,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51and these are all setting seed.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53So if I cut that back hard,
0:02:53 > 0:02:59I'll get a flush of regrowth and with it, a much more intense ratio of flower to plant.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04This applies to all the early-flowering perennials.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06So you've got hardy geraniums, Oriental poppies,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08delphiniums when they're over.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Cut them all back to the ground.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15And you should get a repeat flowering in August and September.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23The other thing is how much space is created.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28So it's not just about making existing plants grow back strongly.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31It's also about creating room to put in new plants.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35At this time of year, the plants I want to put in are the tender ones.
0:03:35 > 0:03:42Zinnias, Cosmos, all of which can now be planted into this space I've created.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46So they will grow alongside the resurgence and regrowth
0:03:46 > 0:03:48of the earlier perennials.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51That way, we get a really rich tapestry of colour.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15No other plant has given me more pleasure over the last week or so
0:04:15 > 0:04:16than this foxglove.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18It's self-sown, a weed, if you like,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20in the cracks in the paving.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Yet it's grown enormous, taller than the shed
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and it's just been filled with flower.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29I regard these kinds of things as a glorious gift.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32I take no credit for it at all.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38And Carole is also celebrating the foxglove, but looking at the kinds that you can cultivate
0:04:38 > 0:04:39in your garden.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54Surely everybody recognises a foxglove when they see one!
0:04:54 > 0:04:58These tall stems loaded with bells
0:04:58 > 0:05:04just announce its presence to all of us, and more importantly to pollinating insects.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06And once those insects arrive,
0:05:06 > 0:05:11they're guided in by these wonderful dots and spots within.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Its common name, foxglove, denotes its connections with mankind.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Every child who sees one of these plants
0:05:18 > 0:05:23wants to stick their fingers inside those bells and make their own gloves!
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Its Latin name, Digitalis purpurea, tells you a lot about the plant, too.
0:05:28 > 0:05:34Digit, like finger, and purpurea, this brilliant magnificent colour.
0:05:34 > 0:05:40It's typical of a woodland plant in that the bells are concentrated on one side.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So it's searching for the light.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47And the structure is so beautifully and perfectly evolved.
0:05:47 > 0:05:53No one flower obscures the entrance to any of the other bells down here.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58Now, lots of us grow Digitalis purpurea in our own gardens.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01But they're just the start of the story!
0:06:05 > 0:06:07In the middle of the Wiltshire countryside,
0:06:07 > 0:06:10there's a nursery that I've always wanted to explore.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16I've met its owner many times at flower shows up and down the country,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19but this is the first time I've visited here.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24This place holds one of the national collections of foxgloves
0:06:24 > 0:06:27and I can't wait to take a closer look.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32I don't think I've ever, ever been to a nursery like this.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35You feel as though you're in the middle of the countryside.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Yes, well, we are. This is the most southerly outpost of the Cotswolds.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42The wildlife has moved in. We've got a whole population of hedgehogs and rabbits
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and all sorts of things. We live and let live, pretty much.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50- I always had you down as a shrub man, initially.- Yeah, woody plants.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53That's really why the foxgloves came into it
0:06:53 > 0:06:56because what grows better with shrubs than foxgloves?
0:06:56 > 0:07:01I think this is typical of the things that are all around your nursery,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03this lovely big mound of Euphorbia.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05- Which one is this?- This is stygiana.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08It's got this marvellous honey scent.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11I wish everybody could smell it! It's so gorgeous,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15- and punctuated by - is this mertonensis?- Mertonensis, yes.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18This is just one of how many foxgloves that you grow?
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Here we've got about 35 different named sorts.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Is there any call for straightforward Digitalis purpurea?
0:07:25 > 0:07:27It's an absolute essential.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31It's got all the refined elegance of the wild plant.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41What a great idea, putting them all in a line so you can really see them.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43We have a thing called foxglove week
0:07:43 > 0:07:47- and all the digiologists in the country come and compare them! - Digiologists?!
0:07:47 > 0:07:50They come to compare one foxglove with another.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52This seemed the most efficient way of doing it.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56They're all different forms, all different subtly from one another.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58That's QUITE different though, isn't it?
0:07:58 > 0:08:00That's Candy Mountain.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Here, the flowerets are all pointing upwards.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19Essentially, they're edge of woodland or hedgerow plants, aren't they?
0:08:19 > 0:08:22They are, indeed. They like that sort of humus layer that you tend to get.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27In the garden, we can replicate that by using whatever humus or garden compost we've got
0:08:27 > 0:08:30just to create a nice moist layer on the surface of the soil.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34I love the way that in white foxgloves there's no trace of the purple, is there,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37in the stems, on the leaves, anything at all.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40If you want to create a mini Sissinghurst in your garden...
0:08:40 > 0:08:43- The White Garden?- ..the White Garden,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45you can do that in your own home garden.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49The best way to do it is to look through your seedlings and see how they're colouring up.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I have a couple here which I was going to put in a bit later.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56See this one - no marking of purple on there at all.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58So that will go in with the white group.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00That's a purple foxglove, and that will go in the garden.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02It's plain to see, isn't it?
0:09:02 > 0:09:08I'll tell you what. I've always felt that white foxgloves have softer leaves, too.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Digitalis purpurea are mainly biennial
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and they're essentially plants of northern Europe.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24But there are so many perennial foxgloves
0:09:24 > 0:09:30that can really grace our gardens and do things that Digitalis purpurea just can't do.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Things like Digitalis lutea.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Look at that with its tiny, dainty bells.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Or this one, parviflora.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Most of these perennial foxgloves are evergreen. Where they come from,
0:09:42 > 0:09:44the grow on the edge of woodland.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46But when you bring them into a British garden,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48you can put them out in full sun.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Is this a shrub, or is it a foxglove?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00In actual fact, it's both!
0:10:00 > 0:10:04This is Digitalis canariensis, from high up in the mountains on the Canary Islands,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08where it's developed not only evergreen leaves
0:10:08 > 0:10:10which withstand Atlantic gales,
0:10:10 > 0:10:16but also this shrubby growth has no reason to die back to the ground in the winter.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21There are other ways of adapting to those sort of fierce conditions.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24It's Digitalis heywoodii
0:10:24 > 0:10:26and it comes from Portugal.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31It's got an entirely different way of coping with a hot, dry situation.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35In this case, its leaves are covered in this fine fur
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and it stops the leaves losing moisture.
0:10:38 > 0:10:43So, whether you want to create somewhere that reminds you of your Mediterranean holidays,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46or you want to recreate a woodland glade,
0:10:46 > 0:10:48there's a foxglove for you!
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Earlier, I said everything had grown really well and was healthy.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Well, that's not quite true,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11because my garlic has got leek rust.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15You can see these orange pustules. It's a fungus.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19It affects the leaves and eventually they die back.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25It's not a disaster, but it does mean that it's over for that garlic.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27They need harvesting now, because it won't get any better.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31The bulb won't grow any more if the leaves are dying back.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35But the really interesting thing is not the fact that it's got rust,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38but it's so variable from variety to variety.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42So Vallelado, which I have here, is hit really badly,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45but the Elephant garlic hasn't been touched, right next to it.
0:11:45 > 0:11:51And on the other side, we've got Germidour, which is hit badly,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54just a foot away from Cristo, which is not too bad.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58It's thought that different strains of the fungus exist,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00so it's worth trying different varieties of garlic
0:12:00 > 0:12:03to see which is most resistant in your garden.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07I'm going to have to clear the ground later on,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09but I just want to try one, because it may well be
0:12:09 > 0:12:11that they're ready for harvest anyway.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14So, if I take that up - these were planted in October -
0:12:14 > 0:12:19you can see that we've got a small bulb
0:12:19 > 0:12:21but perfectly edible.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Mmm, I love the smell of garlic.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28I love the smell, the taste, the health aspect of it.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I never understand why people don't like it.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Nigel, do you like garlic, Nige? How about that? Does that smell good?
0:12:34 > 0:12:37"Sort of"! Good boy. We'll harvest those later.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41In fact, I didn't come up here to look at my garlic.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44I came up to see how my potatoes were going on.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Remember that I did a trial?
0:12:47 > 0:12:51These are Charlotte potatoes, second earlies,
0:12:51 > 0:12:53which can be treated as first earlies,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57which I've grown here in the soil, ridged up, earthed up,
0:12:57 > 0:12:58grown very conventionally.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01And I've also grown them in a raised bed very close together,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05and I haven't earthed those up or done anything to them at all.
0:13:05 > 0:13:12The point being, if the raised bed ones create as good a harvest as the conventional grown ones,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16then that's how I'll do them in future because it's really easy!
0:13:16 > 0:13:21Now, you don't harvest potatoes of any kind until they flower.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23But when you see them flowering, that's an indication
0:13:23 > 0:13:25that they're forming tubers.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29So obviously if they've just begun to flower, they're only just forming tubers.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33But if you want big baking potatoes or you want maximum harvest,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36wait till the flowering is finished or is finishing
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and then you can harvest them.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41OK.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Make sure we don't damage them too much.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48The ground is quite dry.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Pull that out. Look at that!
0:13:51 > 0:13:55These are less than three months old. That's less than 90 days,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57and here we go.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58That is not bad, is it?
0:14:01 > 0:14:03So this is two plants.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Now, I would stress that if I left these for another week or so,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16each individual tuber would be bigger.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18But that's a good starter.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Let's see how they got on in the raised bed.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Let's pull out the tops.
0:14:27 > 0:14:28One...
0:14:31 > 0:14:34They seem to be a bit smaller.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36First impression.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Which is what you would expect, because they've got less room.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44OK. I think that's the lot for there.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46So let's compare the two.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Now, on the evidence of these first plants,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53and it is early days, you can't draw conclusions until you've checked them all,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57there's a very nice harvest from the conventional method
0:14:57 > 0:14:59and the tubers are good and big.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01But there are more potatoes in the raised bed
0:15:01 > 0:15:05and they've a good size if you're eating them as new potatoes.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08But certainly it's much less work growing them in a raised bed.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10You literally just make a hole and pop them in.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Grow them in a grid and that's it. Do nothing else to them at all.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17So I would definitely suggest, if you've got good raised beds,
0:15:17 > 0:15:19grow new potatoes in them
0:15:19 > 0:15:22and save your open ground for main crop.
0:15:22 > 0:15:28Now, we can't harvest potatoes without doing one special thing.
0:15:28 > 0:15:29Nigel!
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Potato trick time, Nigel!
0:15:31 > 0:15:32Sit.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35This is a very beautiful thing.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39By the way, you shouldn't give dogs raw potatoes.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40But...
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Go on!
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Good boy! Don't eat it!
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Don't eat it. Good boy.
0:15:47 > 0:15:48Good boy.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Right. You may not have potatoes. You may not have a dog that catches them off his nose!
0:15:52 > 0:15:55But here are some jobs you can be doing this weekend.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Good boy!
0:16:02 > 0:16:03If you grow cordon tomatoes,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07you'll notice that side shoots form between the stem and the leaf.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10These grow at 45 degrees very vigorously.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13If you leave them, you'll get a tangled mess
0:16:13 > 0:16:15and not many extra tomatoes.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Pinch them out when they're young.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19If you do the job in the morning,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22use your fingers and snap them off
0:16:22 > 0:16:24because they're turgid and full of liquid.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26If you try and snap them later in the day,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28often they'll tear the stem.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31So it's a good idea to use secateurs or a knife.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36If you have a greenhouse or conservatory,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39you'll do much more harm by letting it get too hot and dry
0:16:39 > 0:16:42than by keeping it well-ventilated and moist.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Open all the doors and windows
0:16:45 > 0:16:49and water the floor as well as the plants.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Apart from keeping the atmosphere cool and moist, which is healthy,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57it'll also keep problems like red spider mite at bay.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02To keep your roses flowering as long as possible,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04it's important to dead-head them regularly,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and this is particularly true of all repeat-flowering roses.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Don't just pull the petals off, but prune them back
0:17:11 > 0:17:13to the first leaf bud,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16even if this means taking off quite a lot of stem.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18This, in turn, will promote fresh growth
0:17:18 > 0:17:21and with it will come fresh flower buds.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29By dead-heading this particular rose regularly,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32it goes on flowering right into autumn. One word of caution.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35If you're growing roses that have really good hips
0:17:35 > 0:17:39and Rosa moyesii is a really good example of that,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43don't dead-head those flowers as you'll be cutting off the hips.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48Now, about the time that we started to make this garden, some 23 years ago,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51I was introduced to a brilliant young garden designer.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53His name was Dan Pearson
0:17:53 > 0:17:57and he's since gone on to become one of the leading designers in the world.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00He's been London-based during most of that time,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04but a couple of years ago, he bought a place in the country
0:18:04 > 0:18:07and started to make a garden for himself.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10A few weeks ago, Joe went down to Somerset
0:18:10 > 0:18:12to see how he's getting on.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19It took ten years to find,
0:18:19 > 0:18:24but finally, Dan Pearson has a landscape of his own to transform.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30And it's a real challenge.
0:18:30 > 0:18:3220 acres of rolling countryside.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39As a designer, Dan's created all kinds of gardens
0:18:39 > 0:18:42from an urban oasis for cancer sufferers
0:18:42 > 0:18:45to his work at the Millennium Forest in Japan,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48a space that aims to delight and surprise for 1,000 years!
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Oh, lovely cup of coffee. Thanks, Dan.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01This is such a beautiful spot.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03It's wonderful. It's the reason we came.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Having gardened in London for years,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08suddenly you've got no boundaries.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Your horizon is different. You think completely differently
0:19:11 > 0:19:15through having space around you, and garden in context with somewhere
0:19:15 > 0:19:16rather than within a box.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21I've planted an orchard and a nuttery.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26I did that straightaway so that that will be growing for the future.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28So you're feeling your way?
0:19:28 > 0:19:32It's a slow burner. You're in absolutely no rush!
0:19:32 > 0:19:34That's a good way of putting it.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44At the front of his house are some of his favourite plants.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47This is lovely as well. This is lovely!
0:19:47 > 0:19:50This is starting to get together things which might look nice together.
0:19:50 > 0:19:56The bronze fennel, this really beautiful Oenothera suphurea,
0:19:56 > 0:20:01and I thought it would be a beautiful thing to start naturalising here in drier places.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06This is a wild barley
0:20:06 > 0:20:09which I brought back from Greece as seed.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11I think it's perennial.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16I want there to be plants that grow in the planting year
0:20:16 > 0:20:21that make it look like a garden that was here many centuries ago.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Almost as if it's self-seeded from the fields.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27From the fields into here. I've always gardened on the naturalistic side.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30I'm wanting to push it a bit further this time.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36'At the side of his house, he's developing a trial garden
0:20:36 > 0:20:38'to see what plants will thrive here.'
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Oh, wow!
0:20:42 > 0:20:44This looks like fun!
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It is an enormous amount of fun.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49- This is your Noah's Ark of plants? - Absolutely.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53- This poppy...- Isn't it beautiful? - It's beautiful! What is it?
0:20:53 > 0:20:56It's an opium poppy that I found when I was 19, down in Hampshire.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02I was on a cycle ride. I sent a letter to the person in the house,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05saying, "Please can I have some seed?" They wrote back and said, "Help yourself!"
0:21:07 > 0:21:11The scale of Dan's ambition is truly impressive.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13He's got so much space to play with.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18I started using some of the garden plants which I'm growing here
0:21:18 > 0:21:20which are man enough to deal with it
0:21:20 > 0:21:23amongst the natural vegetation here.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27So I get that slightly heightened naturalistic look.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Are you trying to create surprises here
0:21:30 > 0:21:33that you wouldn't expect to see in a natural landscape to a degree?
0:21:33 > 0:21:38Absolutely. I don't want to see that there's anything ornamental going on here from a distance.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41But I want to discover it when I get down here.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45You'll suddenly see that it's iris Gerald Darby with the dark stems
0:21:45 > 0:21:48and that amazing blue flower,
0:21:48 > 0:21:49or there'll be a giant meadowsweet from Japan
0:21:49 > 0:21:54which is three times the size in terms of its leaves.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56- So they've got to be able to battle it out in there.- They have.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58- It's the survival of the fittest! - Totally.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00This is part of the big experiment.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10'And on a site this big, there's plenty of room to encourage wild flowers.'
0:22:10 > 0:22:13I'm experimenting with some old pasture
0:22:13 > 0:22:16that I've over-seeded with yellow rattle.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18It's a semi-parasite.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21It's an annual and it weakens the grass
0:22:21 > 0:22:24which then allows this window of opportunity
0:22:24 > 0:22:29for the wild flowers which are growing amongst it to take a hold.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35My ultimate aim with this is to get orchids self-seeding, which are in other meadows nearby.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40And if I can get the orchids in here, I'll start to feel like I'm really achieving something!
0:22:42 > 0:22:46It's about finding this meeting point between the ornamental garden which I'm going to make
0:22:46 > 0:22:52and this naturalistic space, so the wild places come up as close as they can to the ornamental garden.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Gardening is a fascinating process
0:22:55 > 0:22:57and really it's not the end result,
0:22:57 > 0:23:02it's being in it and doing it that is the thing that really makes me tick.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05So I'm very happy for this to run another 30 years.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17There's an exhibition of Dan's work at the Garden Museum in Lambeth in London.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21It's open from now till October 20, so do go along and see it.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26And for more details about that and anything else on today's programme, go to our website.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33I really like the way that Dan is allowing the garden to evolve
0:23:33 > 0:23:37and he doesn't know where it's going to go or how long it'll take, but enjoying the process.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40That's what we've done here at Long Meadow over the last 23-odd years.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44But no change has been bigger than here at the Mound.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Over the years, this is just a pile of soil that's built up
0:23:47 > 0:23:49from paths and ponds and building work
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and with quite a lot of rubble underneath, too.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54And for the last few months, behind the scenes,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58we've been transforming this into a new garden in its own right.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01So it's got a fire pit where we can have our bonfires
0:24:01 > 0:24:03and also sit round a fire on a winter's night,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05a fabulous view over the countryside,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08what will be a meadow on top,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11borders down below on a lower terrace,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13and then steep banks which we'll plant up.
0:24:13 > 0:24:20And all the plants here, whether they be hedges, shrubs, wild flowers, herbaceous perennials,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22will be native.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24And this is the perfect site.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26You've got the fabulous view out into the countryside,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31and it means that you have plants that blend and drift out into the landscape.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34And the final thing that I love about native plants
0:24:34 > 0:24:38is they are the best way of attracting insects into your garden.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42And the more insects you have in the garden, the healthier it will be.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47The real planting, the flower planting,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49begins here
0:24:49 > 0:24:51on what will be a wildflower meadow.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55When you're preparing any area of meadow,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59you still need to dig it over as though you were preparing a border.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03So this has been dug, it's been raked once,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06and I'm just raking it again to get the worst of the stones.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Now, what I'm after here is long grass
0:25:15 > 0:25:18absolutely packed with wild flowers.
0:25:18 > 0:25:24And you can buy all that. If you tell the supplier, and in the days of the internet, it's dead easy,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28whether it's chalky soil, heavy clay, sunny, shady, whatever,
0:25:28 > 0:25:34they will supply you with a mix that fits that set of circumstances.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Now, it's really important to follow the instructions
0:25:38 > 0:25:41and particularly not to sow the seed too thick.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46This is recommended to be sown at about four grams per square metre.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49We've got roughly 20 square metres there.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52So that's about 80 grams.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Now, 80 grams looks something like that.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59And a tip to make it easier,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04is then to add about nine times as much sand.
0:26:04 > 0:26:05Like that.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08And then mix it up thoroughly.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10I'll be able to see where I've sown
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and if the sand is spread evenly, then so is the seed.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18It will seem scary if you haven't done this before.
0:26:18 > 0:26:24You won't believe that it will make a really decent display of flowers and grass.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26But believe you me, it will.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33Now, if you're very particular, you can divide the area up
0:26:33 > 0:26:36into metre squares, using bamboo or string.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38But I prefer to just do it by eye.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Now, this seed does not want to be buried.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54It wants to lie pretty much on the surface of the soil.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59So just rake it lightly to make sure that it's spread evenly.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Now, what I'm holding in my head while I'm doing this
0:27:06 > 0:27:14is that this is going to be a tall, beautiful, wispy, colourful meadow.
0:27:14 > 0:27:20A flowering meadow is about as lovely as any border could ever aspire to be.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24And that's what you're making from this unlikely beginning.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28This time next year, I think this will just be looking stunning.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Now, the next stage, and the final one,
0:27:31 > 0:27:34is to firm the seed into the soil.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37So I'm going to use my feet and just tread it gently.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Contact with the soil is really important
0:27:41 > 0:27:44to ensure good germination.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47So this is not about levelling the soil at all.
0:27:47 > 0:27:52It's all about pushing the seed tight up against the ground.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56If you've got a roller, that would do the job perfectly well.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13It is really important to keep your seeds watered
0:28:13 > 0:28:15every day.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20And keep on watering it until it's properly germinated and is growing strongly.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23You don't have to sluice it down, just a fine mist will do,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25but just keep it moist. Don't let it dry out.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28We shall be back at the normal time next week,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31but Carol, Joe and myself will also be at Tatton Park Flower Show.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35So join us at Tatton and Long Meadow. See you then. Bye-bye!
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd