Episode 4 Gardeners' World

Hello, welcome to Gardeners' World.

The primroses have been fabulous this year -

I think as good as I can ever remember them.

Of course, the rain we had over winter did them a lot of good.

They like the damp as long as the drainage is reasonably good.

I always come back to primroses as my favourite flower of all,

not just because of their simplicity and elegance

but because they are so full of hope.

Then if you couple that with the clocks changing this weekend,

for me, this is the high point of the year.

This week we have got plenty to enjoy -

Carol meets a daffodil breeder who has spent 40 years rescuing

heritage varieties but has also bred hundreds of new varieties...

The real fashions at the moment are multi-head ones, different colours -

the more modern ones, there are stunning shapes and colours.

..we visit a dahlia enthusiast

who's been growing show-stopping displays since he was a boy...

You can grow little ones which are no bigger than two inches

across, right up to the giants which are dinner plate size.

They just have that wow factor.

..and Joe has been in Lancashire, finding out how to make

a stunning garden from an inhospitable rock face.

There is a magical staging about a rock garden that you will never

achieve with anything else.

Come on.

I guess this is a situation that a lot of us

have had to deal with, which is a honeysuckle that has not been

trained well from the outset

and has become a completely entangled mess.

Honeysuckle is a woodland plant and they want to scramble and twine.

We have a number in the Spring Garden, growing up

trees and through shrubs that are completely happy.

So you can't change the nature of the plant.

But if you get a situation like this,

where it is definitely past any kind of reasonable training,

you have to take radical action and you can do with honeysuckle.

This particular honeysuckle is Lonicera periclymenum 'Belgica'.

It has got pink and white flowers that appear in June, July.

All this top growth where it comes up

and then arches over itself like the crest of a wave.

In fact, in this case, climbing up into the Portuguese laurel.

It is a sign that it has got past a controllable point.

What we want is just two dimensions only,

growing up the wall along the wires.

It should be pruned immediately after flowering.

By pruning it now, there is a real risk that we may lose

most of the flowers for this year, so that is just a warning.

There is a nest in here.

This is last year's so I am not destroying anybody's home, and

this is a blackbird that produced its young quite happily in there.

I am afraid it is time for it to go so it can come down. There we are.

Lined with mud so we'll put that on there.

Now, let's get in.

Of course, that isn't just going to pull away neatly.

What I need to do is cut away more and take it out piecemeal.

I suppose the crucial thing to stress is - don't be

frightened by a job like this, you are not going to harm the plant.

You can apply it not just to honeysuckle

but some of the clematis,

like Clematis montana that can get really tangled, a mass of growth.

But with the early flowering clematis, wait until after

it's flowered because it will be flowering in a month's time.

Wait till it has flowered and then, as soon as it has done,

you can apply this operation to it.

It is important when you have done a major prune like this

to give it a really good drink.

Honeysuckle like damp-ish feet, they don't like to get too dry.

Then mulch it so it gets a bit of a feed.

It will start growing again and very quickly re-establish itself.

We planted these pseudonarcissi about 15 years ago

and they were very slow to develop.

I remember there was an original 50 bulbs and just two or three flowers.

Gradually they have built up over the years

and now they are getting established.

I know that in about 20, 30 years'

time, this will be a sheet of these lovely delicate yellow flowers.

Carol is continuing to look at the iconic plants of our gardens

and the people who have devoted their lives to developing them

by a visit to a daffodil grower in Cornwall.

Cornwall is a rugged county, renowned for its floral landscape.

But in spring, the ground is set alight with a gorgeous,

brilliant yellow of a million million daffodils.

Born into a dynasty of daffodil growers, Ron Scamp has dedicated

40 years of his life preserving and promoting its blazing beauties.

It is because of Ron's pre-eminent work

and his enduring passion that gardeners now have access to

an extraordinary kaleidoscope of colours and forms.

I have been involved in daffodils for almost all my life.

It started when I was a very young boy, when we lived on the farm.

Like many children in Cornwall,

Ron's childhood was filled with daffodils.

Flower forms dotted the coastline and it was during this time

he developed a deep passion for heritage varieties.

During the war years, all of these farms, the flower farms,

they were ordered to remove daffodils from their fields

so they could grow vegetables.

They couldn't sell them

so they got deposited in hedges and banks and places like that.

A great deal were lost or still remain in the hedges.

These things that were almost on the point of extinction have been

brought back now by you and people like you.

Some of these old ones, they really have a soft spot in my heart.

-There is something very special, isn't there...

-Absolutely, yes.

..about heritage varieties?

Indeed.

This is one of these heritage varieties and it is beautiful.

Yes, this is Bath's Flame and it is one that I used to pick as a lad.

What is it about the quality of the flower that is so very special?

The clump is gorgeous, elegant, isn't it?

It has got that lovely bright colour and, of course, it has got those

beautiful petals that wave about in the wind.

If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be able to grow this.

I mean, you have got that eye, haven't you?

You have got that discernment.

I have got that passion, shall we say?

I would like to think that I saved it from extinction.

It is a very beautiful thing to pass on to future generations.

It is indeed, and we have to keep it going.

Ron has helped save scores of heritage daffodils from being

lost for ever. But his work does not stop there.

He is also at the forefront of breeding new varieties

and he is recognised internationally for introducing

some of the very best modern hybrids into our gardens.

That is what you call a splendiferous daffodil,

-isn't that lovely?

-Yes, it is gorgeous. This is Gallipoli Dawn.

-This is your trial field, isn't it?

-That's right.

This is where we plant out all our unnamed seedlings.

So every one of the plants in here is from crosses that you have made?

That's right,

they are all crosses and going back almost 20 years, some of them.

-As long as that?

-Yes, yes.

It takes four to five years from seed to the first flower

and then five to 10 years trialling it to make sure that it is going

to be a good sound variety for your garden.

Because, I suppose, it's all very well if they look beautiful,

but what you want is more than that, isn't it?

It's what we look for in a new variety.

It's good foliage, a good grower,

the flowers need to be above the foliage,

so that you can see the flowers nicely

and have a good, long life.

What do you start off with?

Do you say, "Oh, I like that and I like that."

Or do you have this idea in your head of what you want to create?

You have an idea, and that's why you use selective parents.

But, as the man said,

"You dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"

SHE LAUGHS

You're quite on the cutting edge of daffodil breeding, aren't you?

What's the fashion?

Which direction are these daffodils going in?

The real fashions and the hopes at the moment are multi-head ones,

different colours, white and red, white and pinks.

Also, the split coronas.

Some of the more modern ones, there are stunning shapes and colours.

There's a lot of things to come.

I bet there'll be quite a few Ron Scamp daffodils.

Well, I hope so.

I always say it's 40% research,

60% inspiration.

And a lot of luck.

These are cabbages that

either have started to bolt

and never got eaten

or never really developed a head and now it's too late to eat them.

So, time to clear them and create space for another set of crops.

And here are some other jobs

that you can be getting on with this weekend.

'It's a good time now to prune figs.

'All this year's crop is already present as tiny pea-sized

'fruit on the shoots.

'So, if you remove all this growth,

'you won't get any figs this year.

'However, take out any crowded or crossing branches and try to create

'a shape that is as flat against a wall or fence as you can

'and this will mean that as much light and air

'will get to the plant as possible.'

'Once your amaryllis has finished flowering, don't throw them away,

'as, with the right care, they'll flower again next year.

'Cut off the spent flower heads to stop the energy going into seeds.

'You can leave the stem on,

'although I prefer to remove it,

'simply because it looks better.

'But, let the leaves fully develop and don't remove them.

'Water it weekly and give it a general-purpose feed every

'week or two and then, when the risk of frost has completely gone,

'you can stand it outside in a sheltered spot.

'If you've stored your dahlias over winter,

'it's time to take them out and check them over.

'Make sure none of the tubers are rotten or have dried out and,

'if they have, discard them.

'Pot up the good tubers,

'so the crowns are just proud of the surface of the soil.

'Water them and put them somewhere warm

'and this will encourage new shoots

'which can then be used for cuttings.'

Now, you may not be storing any dahlias, but it's still

a good time to buy them and check them out, using the same criteria.

First of all, you must be able to see the tubers.

You can't see them, don't buy them.

The second thing is, feel them.

Give them a squeeze.

They should feel firm.

If they feel at all dried up or squidgy, don't buy them.

I adore dahlias.

They're a plant that grab people and dominate their lives and I think

Darren Everest in Kent would be proud to be included in that number.

Dahlias give you that splash of colour

when the rest of the garden is starting to look a bit tired.

The dahlias come to life and they give you those flowers

right from middle of July,

right up to the first frosts.

I love the variation in size.

You can grow little ones, which are no bigger than two inches across,

right up to the giants, which are dinner plate size.

And all the colours,

a mixture of colours, that you could possibly wish for.

They've just got that wow factor.

My earliest recollection of dahlias was when I used to

walk down my grandad's garden

and I saw rows of dahlias growing,

lovely colours, and that's what sort of first got me interested in them.

I started growing them when I was about 11 or 12 and then,

more seriously, from 15,

I was showing at the National Show in the novice classes.

I just enjoy growing them.

This variety is called Kenora Sunset.

It's one of my favourites.

You can guess why it's called Kenora Sunset. The blend of red

and yellow is, I think, really quite stunning.

When you're exhibiting dahlias, you normally have to put

three in a vase and they should all be exactly the same and matching.

It's quite difficult to match, because, obviously, they've got

the different colours, and between each bloom there are differences.

So, when it comes to showing it, quite often the judges will

go for a plain white or yellow,

as opposed to a bi-coloured,

whereas, I think, to match three of these is far more of an achievement.

I treat the dahlia world of exhibiting

in the same way as I look at the football leagues.

You've got the Premier division of the top growers,

the same as the Man United's and the Chelsea's of the world.

I like to put myself a bit further down the table,

where you get the odd victory against them.

You do quite well in the other classes,

but I wouldn't want to be the best grower

in the country, because, when you just win the odd trophy,

the satisfaction of winning is

greater than if you was winning all the time.

Really, what a dahlia needs is plenty of water,

early on in the season,

some high nitrogen feed for a few weeks

and then a balanced feed and then,

just as the flowers are starting to come out, a high potash feed.

The main pest is an earwig and I have a cunning little trick

to stop that on all my flowers, which is petroleum jelly.

Just get a little bit on your finger

then just rub it up and down the stem

for about four inches,

or 10cm, just below the flower.

And that will stop the earwigs

from climbing up the stem

and chomping on your prize-winning flowers.

'This year, I've got 660 plants.

'All my spare time, certainly at this time of year,

'is spent up at the allotment.

'You know, probably, on average, three hours a day.

'You need to spend the time with them to get them

'to a really good standard.

'My wife is exceptionally supportive.

'Even my children come up and help.'

It's very difficult, letting other people, even my own children,

touch my flowers, because they are precious to me.

But, over time, I'm hoping that at least one will take up

the challenge, cos there aren't the growers there any more.

'And that's a real shame.

'I'm all for trying to get people to start growing them.'

If one of the three take it up, then I've done a good job.

To see Darren's allotment filled with dahlias is

a very old-fashioned English sight. It's beautiful.

Of course, they're beautiful in a border, too.

Talking of borders, the other day, I took the box hedging that

surrounded the grass borders out and burnt it,

because it had box blight.

We all felt pretty glum about it.

But the borders are better.

Light has got in, you can see the grasses thoroughly.

I think it looks much better without the hedge around it.

So, next week, I will be going over the borders,

removing some of the dead material, splitting plants

and adding some more plants to fill the space where the hedges were.

So, what was a pretty sad day, in fact,

has evolved into an exciting opportunity.

Now, I've got another major task.

This corner is a suntrap and has very free-draining soil,

so it makes an ideal space for a dry garden.

And, at its best, it can and has looked fantastic.

But, in recent years, some of the plants have become unruly

and have taken over.

All the gems that love this extreme drainage

and baking sun have got crowded out.

And what I'm going to do is what you can do in any border

in any situation, not just a dry border,

is to take everything out that can reasonably be removed,

take out all the weeds, refresh the soil,

and then put back all the plants that I want to keep

and then see where the gaps are and think about adding other things.

One of the biggest bugs is Acanthus mollis.

For a few years, this would grow and then get knocked back in winter.

It tended to be really hit by frosts in February and March,

but we haven't had that this year.

So the best thing to do is to cut off all this top growth.

The roots, however, need to be extracted

because every single scrap will grow back.

This is getting a little wet. And I think it's time for a cup of tea.

And while I'm doing that, you can see Glenn Shapiro's stunning

dry garden in Lancashire that Joe visited last summer.

For many years, rock gardens have been a popular feature.

But what do you do if your garden is made of nothing but rock?

Well, I'm here to meet a gardener whose pioneering spirit has created

something really special out of solid stone.

Here in Silverdale, North Lancashire, hard limestone

has created a unique craggy landscape,

so gardening here isn't for the faint-hearted.

But that didn't deter Glenn Shapiro and her husband

when they moved here 32 years ago.

I remember him saying the disadvantage is there isn't a garden

and there isn't even anywhere to put a garden.

I just smiled quietly to myself.

You could see the potential, even though

it was absolutely covered in scrub?

Oh, without a doubt. It was just a really exciting challenge.

Limestone rock is just the most beautiful rock for a rock garden.

-Shall we go and explore?

-Yes, I'd love to show you.

There is a magical staging about a rock garden

that you will never achieve with anything else.

It's very, very sculptural, very three-dimensional.

I was a sculptor originally

and that's the way I like to think of it.

-The way you move through the space and see things in 3-D?

-Absolutely.

You've got very thin soil, and actually in a lot of the garden

you've no soil at all, just pure rock.

How easy is it to establish plants?

If someone at home has the same conditions,

how do you get them going in the first place?

I build up soil in the fissures between the rocks.

And that's a good place to get your taller shrubs and dwarf pines

and things going.

And then there are what we call runnels, the narrower bits,

where the water is draining into the fissures.

So you can get slightly larger plants, maybe dianthus

and things going in those quite nicely.

-They're almost like little containers.

-Yes.

They're like little pots, so you are gauging the plant you can put in

-by the size of the hole, is that right?

-Yes, yes.

And then when it comes to no soil,

there's things like silver saxifrages.

Often just a bit of wet moss in a crack is enough to start them.

They form a little carpet, so you can break bits off.

And I'll have a little spell of going around

and sticking them in here, there and everywhere.

They just look so natural in a garden like this, they are ideal.

These eryngiums at the moment are stunning.

I love the colour of them and the way they reflect the light.

This particularly dry area suits them very well.

What strikes me is the range of plants you've got here.

People would see a garden like this and see the limitations

and think, "I can only grow a few things." But you've really

extended that palette out to create an all-year-round garden.

Yes, definitely.

Well, I am busy in it all the year round,

so let's have it looking good.

-I know the garden doesn't finish here. Shall we keep moving?

-Yes.

What a lovely spot this is, isn't it?

It's like a destination point after a mini-climb, I guess.

It's almost like a garden in reverse

because up here you've got a traditional lawn and a pond

and a very different feel.

You don't see the rockery at all from the top.

This is the sort of ha-ha effect.

And then as you look over, it's a complete surprise again.

It feels as though you'd never know it was there from here at all.

I think it's just lovely to work

with the materials you've got on site.

What would your advice be to someone who's got, let's face it,

a pretty difficult spot to make a garden in?

Go with the landscape you've got.

Make sure that it fits into the surrounding area

and sits happily within it.

And go for the plants that are happy in that terrain.

-Don't fight it.

-Very good advice, I'd say.

And you've created an absolutely stunning garden here.

I couldn't agree more with Glenn Shapiro.

The best gardening advice of all is go with the conditions.

Plant what wants to grow

and you're almost certain to make a decent garden out of it.

And of course that's more than a decent garden, it's wonderful.

You can see it, it's part of the National Gardens Scheme,

and if you go to our website, you will find all the details.

The rain has backed off,

I've a feeling it might come back a bit, so I'm pushing on.

Well, let's start with the hardys first.

So, the plan is to dig out the central core of this acanthus.

Take as much root as I can.

And you can see that just slicing through, you've got these

very fleshy roots, and every little bit will create a new plant.

Which is why I can be quite cavalier about chucking some of this away.

I want to move on just to another plant.

I've got some bearded iris here.

And they've been divided and moved, they are very healthy, but...

There is couch grass in amongst them.

And while I'm revamping a border like this,

it's tempting to leave the iris, but I need to remove the couch grass.

Now is the time to do it.

I'm being quite gentle because I don't want to damage the roots.

The less I can disturb them and the less I damage them, the better.

Now, you can see, look at all that couch grass in there.

That's all got to come out.

And couch is one of those weeds, like bindweed,

like ground elder, that once it gets into a border,

it can only spread, you are never going to contain it.

I've just got a handful of couch grass just from this one here.

Don't put this on the compost heap.

If you can't have a bonfire, bag it up and let the council deal with it.

And I can pot that up.

But when you lift a plant out temporarily, you want to do so

as an entity, so, for example, if you take this sedum here,

which I can dig up and keep a nice root ball on it.

A bit of tansy interwoven in it, which I will gently tease out.

If you can keep a root ball right round it -

and we are giving this a little weed while we're about it,

just taking out the tansy out of the roots.

It doesn't really matter what compost you use.

It's rough and ready, but that will be good for replanting

for a couple of weeks and it will hardly notice that it's been moved.

Make sure that it's watered and in reasonable shade

and that can sit until you are ready to replant it.

When I've refreshed the soil, I'll be putting back

the plants I've taken out and also adding in plants

because here in the dry garden,

it's really important only to put in plants

that will relish baking sun and really sharp drainage.

And of course there are plenty that will do that

and I'll come back to that in a couple of weeks' time.

That's it for this week.

Next Friday, we are back to our normal time of 8.30.

Until then, bye-bye.