0:00:06 > 0:00:09Hello, welcome to Gardeners' World.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Last week I spoke about stopping
0:00:11 > 0:00:16and allowing yourself time to enjoy the peak of the year.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20But what happens from now on in is really exciting.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24All the colours are intensifying and the whole garden,
0:00:24 > 0:00:27every nook and cranny, is starting to fill up
0:00:27 > 0:00:30with glorious, rich colour.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42Joe visits the home of the designer John Blake
0:00:42 > 0:00:44who reveals his tips for creating a stunning garden
0:00:44 > 0:00:47where there's not much room to play with.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50We tend to go in large clumps of things we really love.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55It's a terrible mistake to put too many small things in a small space.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00We visit the house and garden of High Glanau Manor near Monmouth
0:01:00 > 0:01:03where colour and design work perfectly together.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06The garden's typically Arts and Crafts,
0:01:06 > 0:01:10and the beauty of designing a house and garden as one
0:01:10 > 0:01:14is that you line up the windows with the garden features,
0:01:14 > 0:01:15so it's a perfect view.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20And I will be revisiting my grass borders,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23making sure they're looking as good as they possibly can
0:01:23 > 0:01:26for the rest of the summer as well as sowing some more carrots.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Colour is a very personal thing.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55You choose what works for you and your garden and the situation.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59But there are certain rules that you can follow and which do help.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03For example, pink and orange don't work terribly well together
0:02:03 > 0:02:07but contrasting colours set each other off.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11As the sun is rising and it gets hotter
0:02:11 > 0:02:15and the light gets more intense, rich colours work well together
0:02:15 > 0:02:17and that's what we've done in Jewel Garden.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19So, rich rubies
0:02:19 > 0:02:22and oranges and blues
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and also there have to be in-between linking colours
0:02:25 > 0:02:27and one of the absolute key plants
0:02:27 > 0:02:29in the Jewel Garden is this geranium.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33It's Germanium Ann Folkard because it does two things.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37On the one hand, the flowers, which are a really rich magenta,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41tie together pinks and reds and purples.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44They span that colour divide.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Also, the way the plant grows, it weaves in and out of other plants.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49It does this all summer long.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Over here, we've got the clematis.
0:02:53 > 0:02:54Gypsy Queen.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58What is fascinating about this is that when it is open
0:02:58 > 0:03:03and mature, you can see that it is distinctly violet purple
0:03:03 > 0:03:08but when it's young, it's much more of a plum colour.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11It really changes as it grows.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12You need to take into account,
0:03:12 > 0:03:16the colours of the plant right the way through its performance,
0:03:16 > 0:03:22when it flowers and critically, what it's flowering with.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25# A little bit of me and a whole lot of you
0:03:25 > 0:03:26# Add a dash of starlight
0:03:26 > 0:03:28# And a dozen roses too
0:03:28 > 0:03:32# Then let it rise for 100 years or two
0:03:32 > 0:03:34# And that's the recipe for making love... #
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Of course, the best linking colour is foliage.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Foliage will always last longer than any flower.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45There's always more of it than any flower,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48so in the Jewel Garden, we use purple foliage from the Purple Hazel
0:03:48 > 0:03:51the almost chocolate colour of the cannas and the dahlias,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55which is a brilliant backdrop against oranges.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59You get an intensification of colour and then, a very different colour,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02but just as dramatic, you have the lime green,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05almost golden touch of the sambucus.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09That contrasts with the purple foliage
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and it's great to intensify blues and whereas purple foliage,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16can, if the light is low, suck in light,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18the golden foliage throws it out.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23What you're doing is playing with colour, creating it,
0:04:23 > 0:04:28using flowers, using foliage, and I love that process.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31# If you've made it right you'll know it
0:04:31 > 0:04:35# It's not like anything you've made before
0:04:35 > 0:04:38# And if you've made it wrong you'll know it
0:04:38 > 0:04:43# Cos it won't keep you coming back for more... #
0:04:43 > 0:04:48Now, of course you don't have to make sure that everything
0:04:48 > 0:04:51is perfectly in accordance with a pre-laid plan.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54For example, these foxgloves.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Self sown and almost everything about them is wrong
0:04:57 > 0:04:59as regards the Jewel Garden.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03The colours don't work - too pale, too pastelly. Some white ones,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07no white anywhere else in the Jewel Garden.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10But everything about them as a flower is right.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13They're wonderful, I wouldn't dream of taking them out.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17Just remember, all rules are made to be broken.
0:05:17 > 0:05:25# That's the recipe for making love... #
0:05:27 > 0:05:30I've been talking about exercising discrimination
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and choice about colour.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35You can do that in any-sized garden
0:05:35 > 0:05:36and it always makes things better
0:05:36 > 0:05:38but if you've got a very small garden,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41some of those decisions have to be more radical.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Not just about colour too,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46everything has to be considered and edited down.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Joe has been to a small London garden
0:05:49 > 0:05:53where the choices seem to be all dead right.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00If you've got a tiny garden
0:06:00 > 0:06:03and think there's nothing you can do with it, then think again.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04I'm here in north London
0:06:04 > 0:06:09and I've been invited to a garden that measures just 12 metres by 5.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14I'm told it's a real gem and makes the most of its small proportions.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26This tiny garden lies nestled in the shade
0:06:26 > 0:06:28between two towering Victorian houses.
0:06:28 > 0:06:34I can instantly see that it uses a classic design solution, diagonals.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Putting things on a diagonal gives you more perspective
0:06:37 > 0:06:41so you can look through things from one angle to another.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43It means you don't waste space.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45It's a clever technique because it brings the planting
0:06:45 > 0:06:47right into the middle of the garden,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50rather than having a paved area with all the planting around the outside,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52which is a common mistake, I think.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Another trick that John has used
0:06:59 > 0:07:03is to plant upwards into all that free space above the ground level,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05with trees and tall shrubs.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I think a lot of people are scared of putting trees
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and large shrubs in a small garden but they are absolutely key
0:07:12 > 0:07:16for a bit of drama and drawing the eye through and around them.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20It's a terrible mistake to put too many small things in a small space.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22"I'd like one of those and one of those."
0:07:22 > 0:07:25You get a very, very bitty thing.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28We've been quite sparing in our choice of plant.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31We tend to go in large clumps of things we really love,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34rather than have a bit of everything.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Now, hostas.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39You're the only man I know who can grow beautiful hostas
0:07:39 > 0:07:42in the middle of London without much slug and snail damage.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43How have you done that?
0:07:43 > 0:07:45I have to own up.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49I am a hosta addict and my wife has insisted that I can't have any more.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53I think I have 45 different hostas.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Basically, I go through all the tricks but the main one,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59is watering the ground with nematodes,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02that is a natural bug that eats other bugs.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04The other key thing, I think, is copper.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Slugs and snails hate crawling over copper
0:08:07 > 0:08:10and I keep pots off the ground with copper rings
0:08:10 > 0:08:13and I put copper wire or copper banding around the tops of the pots.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26In a small garden, every plant has to really earn its keep
0:08:26 > 0:08:29and the fine details come to the forefront.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Look at this combination here,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33I absolutely love the way it holds the corner,
0:08:33 > 0:08:36it's like a pivotal point as you come down the stairs.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40We've got this heuchera in the pot here, sitting nice and upright.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44You really get up close to the foliage and next to it
0:08:44 > 0:08:48we've got this Sedum 'Red Cauli', a beautiful plant and the colours
0:08:48 > 0:08:49link nicely together
0:08:49 > 0:08:51but the forms are very different.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54What I like about it is, it draws the eye in.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58In a larger garden, a composition like this could easily get lost.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11The smaller a garden gets, the more important the boundaries become
0:09:11 > 0:09:14because they are what you see around you at eye level.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Here there is a mixture of boundaries.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19We've got a lovely frosted glass screen through there,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22creating privacy on the top balcony.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25A lovely rendered wall, which links into the architecture
0:09:25 > 0:09:28of the house, and then these beautiful old brick walls,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32which have been exposed in some areas and then covered in climbers
0:09:32 > 0:09:35with others, so there's a good variety through there.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38But at the back of the garden, Virginia creeper
0:09:38 > 0:09:42and ivys green it up completely and what that does is trick the eye
0:09:42 > 0:09:45into not knowing exactly where the garden ends
0:09:45 > 0:09:47so it makes it feel even bigger.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54I can never understand it when people say it's difficult to create
0:09:54 > 0:09:56an exciting garden in a small space.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Sure, you need to do some research, get your plants in the right place,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02think about your boundaries and your layout and somewhere to sit.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04But that's the fun of it -
0:10:04 > 0:10:07creating something that is a haven in the city
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and a beautiful place to be.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32I think that does just prove that a small garden, a tiny garden,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34can be full of interest,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37full of beauty and delight right throughout the year.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39And talking of good design,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42there is a new competition
0:10:42 > 0:10:45being run by the BBC and the RHS
0:10:45 > 0:10:48called Designs On Chelsea,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52which will be open to any amateur designer or gardener
0:10:52 > 0:10:53over the age of 18.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57And if you think you could design a Chelsea show garden
0:10:57 > 0:11:01as good as the professionals, now's your chance - enter.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03You can get all the details on our website.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06If you think you've got it in you, go for it, do apply,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and it could be a life-changing decision.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Now, talking of life-changing decisions,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14time to sow some carrots.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22When you're preparing soil for carrots
0:11:22 > 0:11:24there are two things to consider.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27The first is it shouldn't be freshly composted or manured,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and if you do that you'll find that the carrots will fork and split,
0:11:30 > 0:11:31and the same applies to parsnips.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35The second thing is you want well-raked, free-drained soil.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39They don't like great clods of heavy soil,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41so break it down, dig it and rake it fine.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48It might feel a little late to be sowing carrots, but it's not.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50You can sow carrots in March
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and you can sow carrots as late as the beginning of July
0:11:53 > 0:11:55and you'll get a succession of crops.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59And carrots sown now will be ready to harvest in September and October.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Now, there are two ways that I sow carrots.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08One is in rows and the other is broadcast.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10When I sow them in rows I actually always use a plank,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12partly because it's good to stand on
0:12:12 > 0:12:13and means you're not compacting the soil,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16and it also makes a very useful spacer.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19I just draw a drill with the side of my hand, like that,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22and then again, the other side of the board.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23And that's pretty good spacing
0:12:23 > 0:12:26and then you can see really clearly where you've sown them.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28And sowing them couldn't be easier.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31I've got a variety here called Nantes 2.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34And carrot seed has a corky quality
0:12:34 > 0:12:36and sowing them is one of those things
0:12:36 > 0:12:40that I have very, very fond memories of,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42from quite an early age.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44And very thinly
0:12:44 > 0:12:47sprinkle them along the row.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51All the way along.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53And then the other row.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55And there is nothing to be gained by sowing thickly,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58because the process of thinning attracts carrot fly.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02And carrot fly can be a bit of a nuisance.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Now, cover them over.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Carrot flies lay their eggs on the ground
0:13:09 > 0:13:12and then the larvae hatch out
0:13:12 > 0:13:15and bore into the roots as they grow.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17They're attracted by the smell of carrots,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21and when you thin the carrots you get an incredible aroma.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24Anyone who's grown carrots can immediately notice
0:13:24 > 0:13:27how even the smallest one smells beautifully carroty.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Well, if you can smell it, the carrot fly can too.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33So I also sow broadcast to avoid thinning.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37The advantage of that is it's easy, you just scatter seed,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41the disadvantage is that it's hard to tell the difference
0:13:41 > 0:13:44between carrot seedlings and weed seedlings.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48So what I do is I measure out spacing
0:13:48 > 0:13:51with two boards, like that.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55And then I broadcast in the gap between the boards.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57So I've got a nice sharp edge.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59So I know everything in that area is carrot,
0:13:59 > 0:14:02and everything outside it can be hoed and weeded,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and that tends to work pretty well.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07I'm just going to broadcast that thinly.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12And this is a variety I've not grown before, called Oxenhall.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17As long as I just thin to eat,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19the ones left in the ground get bigger and bigger
0:14:19 > 0:14:21and, by the time you get to November,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24when the effects of carrot fly really start to kick in
0:14:24 > 0:14:28and you get these honeycombed carrots with black holes in them,
0:14:28 > 0:14:30they've all been eaten up.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33If you don't want to do that,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36simply put a barrier up and you can do it two ways.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39You can either put a physical barrier over the top
0:14:39 > 0:14:42and keep it firmly pegged down and only lift it to harvest.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47Or you put a little fence around them of fleece.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49It only needs to be three-foot high
0:14:49 > 0:14:52because the carrot fly flies very low to the ground.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Just rake over them lightly,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57gently covering them...
0:14:59 > 0:15:01So they're in the ground,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04we're not getting too worried about carrot fly
0:15:04 > 0:15:07because we're going to eat them before the larvae can.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09But the final thing to do...
0:15:09 > 0:15:11is give them a good soak.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Now, this is just to promote germination,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25and the seed will go against warm, moist soil
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and will germinate really quickly.
0:15:27 > 0:15:28And that's one of the advantages
0:15:28 > 0:15:31of sowing carrots at this time of year as opposed to spring.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33There we are. Job done.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Now, you may not want to sow carrots this weekend,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40but here are some other jobs that you can be getting on with.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47If you planted a hedge or trees this winter or spring,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50it's important to water them regularly,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52especially in dry weather.
0:15:52 > 0:15:53Don't use a sprinkler,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56but make sure the water goes straight to the roots
0:15:56 > 0:16:00and give them a really generous soak.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03Better to do this once a fortnight
0:16:03 > 0:16:05than a light sprinkle every day.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07You only have to do this for their first year
0:16:07 > 0:16:10and it sets them off to a long, healthy life.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15At this stage of the season,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18it's important to encourage your tomatoes
0:16:18 > 0:16:20to be strong, healthy plants.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25You can help with this by tying them in regularly,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27using soft twine,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30so there's no stress or strain on the grain stem.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Pinch outside shoots that will grow at 45 degrees
0:16:33 > 0:16:35between the stem and the leaves.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Water them regularly,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41giving them a really good soak at least once a week
0:16:41 > 0:16:44and, if you feed them, do so with a general-purpose feed.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48In the summer months,
0:16:48 > 0:16:51don't worry about your greenhouse getting too cool,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54but overheating is a real problem.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55First thing in the morning,
0:16:55 > 0:16:57open up the doors, windows and any vents
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and let the air flow through.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02And as well as watering plants,
0:17:02 > 0:17:04also water the floor every day
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and this will get humidity into the air.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09A combination of ventilation and humidity
0:17:09 > 0:17:12will help prevent most greenhouse problems.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22I planted this vine last April.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25It grew well last year but, of course, had no fruit.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27This year we've got four bunches of fruit.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30Now, you could remove those
0:17:30 > 0:17:31and the vine will grow stronger
0:17:31 > 0:17:34and future years might give you a bigger harvest,
0:17:34 > 0:17:35but that's very purist.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Come on, it's too exciting to get some grapes just to get rid of them,
0:17:39 > 0:17:40and who knows what'll happen next year!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42So I'm keeping these,
0:17:42 > 0:17:45but it is important to prune back the side shoots.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47These side shoots, in time, will bear fruit.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52But to prune them back to about four or five leaves each,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55like that...
0:17:55 > 0:17:57and like that...
0:17:57 > 0:17:59So we're putting the energy into the main stem
0:17:59 > 0:18:02rather than the side shoots.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04So that can come back to there.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06We'll take that off.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10So what I've got is a nice stem going along that wire,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12and that will go to the end of the greenhouse.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Another one going up there,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17and in time I'm going to train that right along the top
0:18:17 > 0:18:20so we've got two tendrils running along the length of the greenhouse.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25And the idea is it'll be festooned with glorious Black Hamburg grapes,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and that may come in a year or two's time.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32One of the heydays of greenhouse gardening
0:18:32 > 0:18:33was the Edwardian era,
0:18:33 > 0:18:36the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40It's one of my favourite eras of garden design.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43And High Glanau Manor in Monmouthshire
0:18:43 > 0:18:46was one Arts and Crafts garden of that era,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48but it had all but been lost
0:18:48 > 0:18:51until new owners discovered and resurrected it.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06When we actually bought this house we had no intention of moving,
0:19:06 > 0:19:08we were very happy in our other house.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12And one coffee time my husband was rather bored and he said,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15"Well, shall we go and see that house?"
0:19:16 > 0:19:19The designer of the house and garden
0:19:19 > 0:19:20was Henry Avray Tipping,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24and he was the architectural editor of Country Life magazine.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28When he designed this house and garden in 1932,
0:19:28 > 0:19:31it was just after the end of the First World War.
0:19:31 > 0:19:32He bought this land
0:19:32 > 0:19:35and then he decided it was the ideal place
0:19:35 > 0:19:37to make his sort of retirement cottage.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46The garden's typically Arts and Crafts.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49The Arts and Crafts movement
0:19:49 > 0:19:52really believed in getting back to nature,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55it was a sort of reaction to the Industrial Age.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00The house has got lots of stone, oak,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03local vernacular architecture,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and the planting in the garden matches, in that it was
0:20:07 > 0:20:10sort of big drifts of herbaceous plants,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12which softens the hard architectural lines.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14When we bought the house,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17there really was no herbaceous planting left.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21The top of the pergola had fallen down
0:20:21 > 0:20:23and Tipping's famous ribbon parterre
0:20:23 > 0:20:26had been replaced by a hideous turquoise swimming pool.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30I wrote to Country Life and asked if they had any photographs
0:20:30 > 0:20:33of the house and garden, and eventually,
0:20:33 > 0:20:3724 wonderful black-and-white images came that Tipping had taken
0:20:37 > 0:20:39for Country Life in 1927,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and that gave me the most marvellous steer for putting the garden back
0:20:43 > 0:20:46to the original 1923 design.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59In an Arts and Crafts house, the beauty of designing
0:20:59 > 0:21:02a house and garden as one
0:21:02 > 0:21:05is that you line up the windows with the garden features
0:21:05 > 0:21:08so it's a perfect view.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Tipping, in every single house he had, had a garden room
0:21:20 > 0:21:23where he could eat outside in the spring,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26when the weather was clement and he could have doors slid back
0:21:26 > 0:21:29so he could really enjoy nature.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33We love this garden room, because this faces west
0:21:33 > 0:21:35with the view out over the Vale of Usk,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38and you get the sunsets on this side,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40and we stop every night at six o'clock
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and have a glass of wine in this room,
0:21:43 > 0:21:46and it's actually one of the nicest rooms of this house.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55So, all along this upper west terrace,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58I've planted roses with Arts and Crafts names -
0:21:58 > 0:22:02Charles Rennie Mackintosh, William Morris, Gertrude Jekyll.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05They're all in hues of pinks,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and I think they look so nice against this natural stonework.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16I've tried to keep the same atmosphere
0:22:16 > 0:22:19with the really blowsy planting
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and the big drifts of colour in sort of soft hues.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29When I plant something in the border, I put seven plants in.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32I never put one in because it doesn't give it the right feeling
0:22:32 > 0:22:34or the atmosphere.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39The proportions of these Arts and Crafts gardens
0:22:39 > 0:22:41is really important.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45These mirror herbaceous borders are exactly 100 feet long,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48the dry-stone wall on the lower terrace is 50 feet long,
0:22:48 > 0:22:54and the big columns on the pergola are exactly ten feet apart,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57so you've got proper proportion and scale in the garden
0:22:57 > 0:23:02and that gives the stonework a real harmony with the planting.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07I love delphiniums so I use those as focal points
0:23:07 > 0:23:13all down the borders because I love the sort of stateliness...
0:23:13 > 0:23:17I've introduced lots of things but they're in the style of Tipping.
0:23:18 > 0:23:24Tipping said that you must never put too much in a garden
0:23:24 > 0:23:26because it spoils the simplicity,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30so I listened to that as I designed these borders.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47Well, if you like High Glanau as much as I do,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50then you can go along and see it for yourself.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54It's open tomorrow afternoon. Get all the details on our website.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Now, you wouldn't find borders like this
0:23:56 > 0:23:59in any Edwardian garden. It's a style that
0:23:59 > 0:24:03evolved round the use of grasses about a quarter of a century ago
0:24:03 > 0:24:07in Holland, Belgium and Germany,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and I love it. I love the way that you get the structure
0:24:10 > 0:24:14from these strong verticals of plants like the calamagrostis
0:24:14 > 0:24:18and the delicacy of grasses like the stipas.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21And then, amongst them,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26you can interweave perennials and annuals and climbers
0:24:26 > 0:24:28in a very, very loose way.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31Up until this year, that looseness was contained,
0:24:31 > 0:24:35corseted even, by tightly-clipped box hedges
0:24:35 > 0:24:37and I like that contrast very much.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39But we got box blight
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and I was forced to dig up the box hedges,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46to stop it spreading even further, and burn them.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Do you know what?
0:24:48 > 0:24:51I prefer it without the box.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Although I never would have chosen to do it voluntarily,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57I'm glad that it happened,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00because it has allowed this part of the garden to breathe.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12However, there are still one or two things
0:25:12 > 0:25:16that I need to do as a result of removing those hedges.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Where I took the hedges out,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38in their place are hedges, if you like,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43of poppies. These are opium poppies that have been stimulated
0:25:43 > 0:25:47into germination by the digging up of the soil,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and if you think of the poppies in the First World War
0:25:49 > 0:25:51that suddenly came into flower
0:25:51 > 0:25:54because all the shells churned up the ground,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58and it's that disturbance of soil, the exposure of seeds to light,
0:25:58 > 0:25:59that triggers germination.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Now, poppies are lovely
0:26:02 > 0:26:04and I don't want to get rid of them,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07however, they will pass and I do want to add some grasses,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10and I sowed some annual grasses -
0:26:10 > 0:26:13this is Briza maxima, quaking grass -
0:26:13 > 0:26:18with these lovely little flowers, and then seed heads
0:26:18 > 0:26:21that look like delicate bobbling bees.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25They're called quaking grass because they move and they shimmer
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and as they dry they make a little sound,
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and that's one of the real bonuses of growing grasses in a border -
0:26:31 > 0:26:37you get fabulous sibilant sound, as the wind sifts through the foliage.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Try saying that when you've had three glasses of gin and tonic!
0:26:40 > 0:26:45I can pop probably a couple of brizas in there -
0:26:45 > 0:26:48you can see they've got a good root system -
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and put them in some sunshine, there.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Of course, a packet of seeds gives you scores of plants.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59I've got three trays of these from one packet of seeds.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06And they look pretty hidden at the moment
0:27:06 > 0:27:08but they will grow and they will work.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12I'm going to plant a few little clumps all the way along.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20These will grow and look good. They won't grow very big -
0:27:20 > 0:27:23just maybe twice the size they are now -
0:27:23 > 0:27:26and as we go into autumn, they'll start to turn and dry
0:27:26 > 0:27:29and in fact, like many of the grasses,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32they're probably at their very best from the middle of September
0:27:32 > 0:27:34till the middle of October,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37and then when the cold weather comes they will die back,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40but that doesn't matter. They will have given us really good value
0:27:40 > 0:27:42for their short growing lives
0:27:42 > 0:27:44and we can grow more seed next spring.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55Now, obviously, any plant at this time of year,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58any annual grass that you grow, water in really well.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Give it a soak, give it a good start in life
0:28:01 > 0:28:04and then they're all tough plants
0:28:04 > 0:28:07and they'll need very little care and attention.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11That's it for today. We'll be back next week
0:28:11 > 0:28:14at nine o'clock, after the tennis.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16Till then, bye-bye.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Come on, then, Nige.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21HE CLICKS HIS TONGUE