Episode 11 Gardeners' World

Hello, welcome to Gardeners' World.

Well, I got back from Chelsea with my head so crammed full of

horticultural distillation that it's very nice just to let go.

To come back to Longmeadow and try not to think about

anything at all, just take it in.

Just let the garden wrap itself around me.

And, boy, it's grown.

It's grown a lot. And that's, I suppose, inevitable.

But it's always a surprise, even after 26 years.

The speed and the rate of growth is something extraordinary.

It sort of creeps up on you and then just explodes out.

And all spring, I said, "It's coming," you know.

"Hang on in there. The blossom's coming, the flowers are coming."

Well, let me tell you, it's arrived.

This week, as part of the BBC's campaign Do Something Great,

we visit Bodnant Garden in North Wales

to celebrate the volunteers who keep

our historic gardens going...

The thing about working here is to work

with pleasant people in a pleasant garden,

in a pleasant atmosphere and to see this garden grow.

..Frances Tophill continues her veg trial at RHS Rosemoor,

to find out which varieties work best

in different soils and different conditions.

Whilst we've been growing our plants here in Devon,

up in Yorkshire at RHS Harlow Carr,

they've been growing exactly the same ones.

And, as you would expect, everything is a little bit behind.

There was a time when dahlias were pretty in for a dig.

They were seen as a bit vulgar.

Well, not in my garden they're not.

I love them. I love the way that they give you powerful colour...

..from middle of June right through till November.

And I grow lots.

This is the Bishop of Llandaff.

It started flowering at the end of May.

I could keep this going by deadheading

at least until November.

But what I can't do is keep them outside in the garden.

I like to have plenty here in the Jewel garden but, if I left them,

the combination of wet and cold would rot them.

If you've got good drainage

and, ideally, if it doesn't get too cold in your garden -

ie not much below -5 -

then mulch them in winter and they should survive perfectly well.

If you've got any doubts, do as I do,

which is you lift them after the first frost, dry them off,

put them in old compost or sand in trays or pots, store them in a cool,

dark place, bring them out in March,

pot them, up like I have here, and, then,

after the last risk of frost has gone, they can be planted.

They don't need to be planted particularly deeply.

Just as long as the tubers are covered.

And they respond really well to a rich, free-draining soil.

And the more food you give them, the better they will flower.

Now, shall we put the Bishop in here?

Yes, why not?

There we are.

When you're raising a dahlia, think of it as nurturing the tubers

because, the bigger the tubers, as long as they're healthy,

the better the plant you'll have.

That's what you want to be looking after.

This is a dahlia called Grenadier,

which has got dark foliage but it's got much more green in it.

It's got these intense red flowers.

And I shall be planting dahlias in the cutting garden this year,

which means that I can pick them freely

without destroying the display in

the borders. They will go in the cottage garden, in the orchard beds.

There are dahlias that will suit almost every location.

There we are, that's perfect.

Nice root system. Big, healthy plant.

This is probably about six or seven years old now.

I'll water these in well.

They'll grow in most soils.

They like sun but they don't have to be in full sun.

And if you keep deadheading them, they just keep repeat flowering.

And a tip that's quite useful

is you can cut them back at this time of year quite hard.

You can reduce them by half.

That will encourage side shoots,

which will have a lot more flowers,

although they will start about three or four weeks later

than if they were left uncut.

Well, hopefully, these will bloom for months and months to come.

Now, our great gardens, the ones that we all visit in our

tens of thousands, take a small team,

often of extraordinarily skilful gardeners, to look after,

but also a much larger team of volunteers.

And I know that, for example, at Sissinghurst,

they have scores of them who will help in the primping

and tidying and tending of the garden.

And the head gardener of Sissinghurst, Troy Scott Smith,

who we've seen in this process of revamping it,

agreed to go to Bodnant in North Wales for us

to meet some of their dedicated volunteer team.

Bodnant is very special to me, for all sorts of reasons,

not least that I was head gardener here for seven years.

Right now, it's looking probably at its best.

I don't think I've ever seen it looking quite as good.

I was really keen when I arrived at Bodnant in 2006 to really

bring in volunteers.

They'd never been used before in the garden.

And as well as really having a lot of work to do

and needing that extra help,

I really wanted to engage a lot more, really,

with the local community.

They do it because they love it.

They love coming to the garden.

They love having a sense of ownership

with a particular area of the garden or a group of plants that they

start to look after and become very familiar with.

And, you know, they're very much part of a team.

It's gardeners and volunteers really working as one team.

-Nice to see you again, Troy!

-How long have you been volunteering?

Oh, nearly ten years.

Some of the volunteers that started

when I began the programme back in 2006 are still here today.

So it was a big change for you, wasn't it, Graham,

-when you came from your work?

-Oh, big change.

I used to sit behind a desk in an office.

Four walls, occasionally walk out into a factory,

-but now, obviously, my factory is here.

-Wow.

The thing about working here is to work with pleasant people

in a pleasant garden and a pleasant atmosphere,

and to see this garden grow.

'What's nice about some of the volunteers as well is that actually

'they go on and become gardeners.

'And it's that idea that, for some people,

'it is about learning a new skill,

'and then taking it on and making it into a career.' Julie.

Hello, I'm Troy. I used to be head gardener here.

-I'm studying the RHS Level 2, so...

-OK.

And here I can learn about all the plants

-and stuff like that, so...

-Yeah.

So what sort of things have you been doing when you've been working here?

Doing raking, weeding. I've done hazel...hazel cages.

-OK.

-So...

-So a range of things, then.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Yeah?

And what have you enjoyed best about it?

Just the learning and just the whole thing about it.

It's learning. It's meeting the people.

-It's just...

-You never stop learning in gardening.

-No, no.

That's what's... That's what's great about it.

The main feature of Bodnant at this time of year, without a doubt,

has to be the Laburnum Arch -

one of the seven wonders of the horticultural world.

It's this amazing spectacle which, in a few weeks,

will be just illuminated with these wondrous racemes of flowers -

probably about 10,000 blooms.

So you can just walk along, smell that fragrance

and just capture that beauty of this amazing spectacle.

I think, for many people, it's got that magical setting,

really, for proposing, for enjoying with children.

For me, personally, here in the Arch, I met my wife.

It's just a thing which, you can see here, is just a pleasurable thing

to walk down and experience, just once-in-a-lifetime.

About 45-50,000 visitors,

Bodnant can expect to come through the garden,

all, really, with the expectation of seeing this amazing feature

at its absolute floral best.

In the three weeks of flowering, it's really quite difficult

to be able to actually meet everybody's needs,

and so it's really nice that Bodnant have brought in

this new team of volunteers called the Laburnum Archers.

And it just shows you that, actually,

there's volunteering opportunities at all kinds of levels,

in all kinds of areas as well.

The Laburnum Archers meet and greet

and make everybody's visit that little bit more special.

Dave, you've been here a couple of weeks now as a Laburnum Archer.

Tell me how you're finding volunteering here.

Very nice.

Enjoyable. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about it.

I mean, I'm not a gardener, not by any means,

but I like a nice garden.

I like to see it like this.

What's the best thing about your volunteering so far?

Meeting people.

Talking to people.

Passing on what I know to people when they've asked.

When they tell me that they've enjoyed themselves,

then that's making me happy,

because I know I've done my part as a volunteer.

Thank you, love.

If there's somebody out there who's thinking they've got

a small interest in plants, in gardens, or in people,

because, you know, it's as much about people,

go to your local property, enquire, and give it a go.

I think you'll be surprised how much scope

and opportunities there are for all sorts of skill sets,

and, you know, certainly we would welcome you.

The BBC is running a campaign called Do Something Great,

celebrating all the various types of volunteering

that you can get involved in.

So, if you do feel inspired,

go to our website or the BBC's general website,

follow the links and you'll find all the information you need.

Anybody who grows grass of any kind whatsoever, sooner or later,

has to deal with bare patches.

It could be where you've scuffed the ground

or taken out a dandelion, or as in the case of this grass here,

where it got really wet in winter and we were working on the borders,

and we've simply worn away the grass.

Now, you can replace it by digging out a whole area and putting

a piece of turf in, or you can sow grass seed, and that will work,

but I've got another method which is just brilliant for small areas.

If you sow grass seed, as though you were sowing veg, into plugs,

you can plant little individual pieces of turf,

and because they've got a good root system already,

they'll grow away very quickly and establish.

And I like to think of it like a hair transplant.

You can dot them around and they will join up.

And, if you've used the same seed that you sowed it with

in the first place,

it'll match in perfectly.

Grass must have good drainage to flourish,

and I get loads of letters from people saying,

"What can I do about moss?"

And moss always comes when you have poor drainage and shade,

so nothing is more important than loosening the soil up a bit.

If it looks like I'm making a big mess, don't worry about it

because it's going to improve things.

And, if you notice, I'm going right down there,

and really working the fork in.

And what I think I'll do

is add a little bit of good potting compost,

mixed in with a bit of grit,

a bit of leaf mould, and actually a bit of sieved garden compost.

And the idea being is to give the grass a good start in life.

Just because it's grass, it doesn't mean to say it doesn't

need good growing conditions.

So, add that in.

Work that in a bit, like that.

These were sown at the beginning of March,

but you could sow them now, they would germinate quickly

and they'd be ready to plant out probably in August,

which is a good time to put grass in, anyway.

And just pop that in, like that.

Put another one there.

And probably another one there and those will grow together.

I can just top-dress that with a little bit of compost.

Don't cut it initially. Then, when it starts to grow strongly,

and you know the roots are taking and it's all going well,

then you can cut it.

And you don't have to worry about not treading on it.

You don't have to worry about the dogs running over it

or all the other problems you have with the sowing of grass seed.

Very simple but very effective.

I am particularly delighted with these meconopsis -

this blue Himalayan poppy.

Conventional horticultural wisdom is that meconopsis

need ericaceous soil, they're not hardy,

and they need cool, moist summers and cold winters.

Well, they're a little bit more adaptable than that,

but what they absolutely hate are hot, dry summers.

They do need moist air, so they're quite tricky.

But I grew these from seed.

They took a couple of years to develop into little plants.

Planted them out, and here they are flowering.

So, not only are they beautiful,

but they're making me feel quite pleased with myself, too.

Now, Frances Tophill isn't growing meconopsis, but she is growing

lots of vegetables and trialling them for us,

both down at RHS Rosemoor,

and also in very different conditions in the north

at Harlow Carr.

And we go back down to Devon, to Rosemoor,

to see how she's getting on.

The cucumber, sweetcorn and tomato seeds I sowed in April

have all got off to a flying start,

and today all the plants are ready to be moved on to the next stage.

I'm just planting out my sweetcorn.

This one here is Swift and looking really quite healthy.

We also have Northern Extra Sweet, which is looking good, too,

and Mirai Picnic, which is not looking quite as good

as it could be,

and I'm not sure if that's because it's a smaller variety

and will be beautiful when we harvest it.

Now, for these sweetcorn, I'm planting them in blocks of 16.

That's four by four. You have to plant sweetcorn in blocks.

If you put it in a row, the wind can't pollinate it properly,

and you'll find that the cobs won't form.

And I'm spacing these about 40cm apart,

which will give it plenty of room to grow and become quite vigorous.

The soil, ideally, should be quite fertile,

so I've added lots of organic matter

and some fish blood and bone to this.

And, if possible, not too dry with some good drainage, too.

Now, I've grown these from seed,

brought them on in the polytunnel and then hardened them off

before I've planted them in the ground here,

which you will need to do,

especially if you live in a cold area of the country.

So, that's one row planted - many more to go.

And when they're all done, I'll water them in

and make sure that they stay moist throughout the growing season.

Over 40 more sweetcorn to go.

Then it's the cucumbers.

The cucumber seeds were sown directly into pots,

and now they're also ready to be planted outside.

They need full sun,

and because they're hungry plants, dig in plenty of organic matter

before they're planted into the ground.

Now the danger of frost has passed,

it's a lovely job on a sunny afternoon to sow the French beans.

These couldn't be easier to grow.

They just go straight into the ground

and all they need is a support to climb up.

I'm putting two seeds per pole.

For spacing and planting depth,

always read the packet for instructions.

I'm planting Helda, Cobra and Violet Podded.

And it's a good idea to plant them just inside the frame -

this means there's less chance of damaging them when you weed.

Finally, the last plant in our trial, tomatoes.

Our three varieties are Tumbler, Tumbling Tom Yellow,

and this one, which is Hundreds And Thousands.

And, just to make a change,

I'm going to put them in a hanging basket.

For this basket, I'm using a coir liner,

and there are loads of different alternatives.

You can get plastic ones, you can get biodegradable ones...

This is obviously biodegradable.

The compost I'm using is peat-free,

with a slow-release fertiliser, which just basically means that it

will slowly, over about three or four months, release its nutrients,

and save you having to feed the plants regularly.

Generally speaking, when you're planting in a container,

especially if you're really cramming it full, you'd half-fill it,

put all your plants in, and then back-fill with compost,

but because I'm only going to put three small plants in,

I'm just going to fill the whole container up

and dig little holes with my hands.

This Hundreds And Thousands claims to be

the world's most prolific fruiter.

We'll see.

And this is a lovely tomato for a hanging basket,

because it will cascade downwards.

The tomatoes themselves are about the same size as a grape

and form in lovely hanging bunches,

which makes them quite nice if you're growing these with kids.

Whilst we've been growing our plants here in Devon,

up in Yorkshire at RHS Harlow Carr,

they've been growing exactly the same ones,

and, as you would expect, everything is a little bit behind,

so two or three weeks. The tomato plants are smaller

and the sweetcorn plants are also smaller.

And, unfortunately, the Mirai Picnic sweetcorn didn't germinate

so had to be re-sown.

But, generally speaking,

I think everything is pretty much what you would expect.

These couldn't be easier to look after.

They don't need staking.

They don't need picking out all the side shoots.

You just leave them, let them do their thing

and they will hopefully produce very prolific fruit.

Make sure you always keep the tomatoes nice and moist,

especially when they're in a hanging basket.

And, once a week, once the first tress of flowers appears,

start feeding it with a tomato feed or any high-potash feed,

which you can just dilute in your water as normal.

And, if you think it's too late to grow vegetables, it's not.

Go to your local nursery or garden centre and buy seedlings

and plant them out wherever you can.

As Frances said, it's really not too late to start sowing.

In fact, remember, Rosemoor is in sunny Devon,

and certainly it's a good week, if not two weeks, ahead of us here

at Longmeadow, so don't be put off.

If there's anything you'd like to grow,

from seed as well as from plants, start now, give it a go

and the chances are it'll be absolutely fine.

Remember, we go on harvesting vegetables well into November.

Now, I'll tell you what I almost don't want to harvest,

because it's so resplendent, is this rhubarb.

It's the latest rhubarb we've grown

and, boy, has it made up for it with vigour.

One stem is enough to feed a family of five for a week,

and have seconds.

All winter, this greenhouse is filled with as many

salad crops as I can grow.

But it's getting warm and it's time to start growing tomatoes,

and, from June onwards, this is a tomato greenhouse.

Now, I've planted the ones at the back,

which are cordon tomatoes,

and what that means is they grow straight, up a support.

And the problem with just putting in one bamboo cane is,

by the time you get to September or October

and you've got a large plant loaded with glorious tomatoes,

the bamboo is as wobbly as a drunk in the wind,

so you do need to have a decent structure.

And when I've got that up, I'll then show you how to plant them

so they grow as well as possible.

I'm going to space these in two rows, 15 inches apart.

So, the sort of gap I'm looking for is about like that.

OK, that's the basic structure.

If I left that like that, it just wouldn't support the plants,

so I now need to strut it.

At this time of year, good twine and a good sharp penknife

are as important to the gardener as a spade and a fork.

If you've watched me working in the garden,

you will have guessed by now that I really like

these temporary structures.

To me, they are part of the beauty of the garden.

I genuinely think that they can look really nice,

and it's important that, even though they're completely practical,

they should look beautiful, too.

These are the longest canes I've got because I'm going to

tie it together longways.

What I shall do is weave them along the back.

Everything is being supported pretty much by everything else,

except for in this dimension,

so, just in case the whole thing comes over,

I'm going to tie it in across...

like that.

I've grown lots of tomatoes in my time,

and I like experimenting with new ones,

but there are two that I keep coming back to.

One is Gardener's Delight and the other is Shirley.

And if you're an organic grower, then Shirley is really useful

because although not absolutely blight-resistant,

pretty blight-resistant,

and a good tomato.

It's one of those that,

if you're going to grow one type, I would highly recommend it.

And when I plant it,

I want to go at least to the level of the bottom leaf,

and that will do two things -

it'll anchor the plant so there's just simply more of it underground,

but also roots will grow from the stem,

and this will give it more food and moisture.

So, make a decent hole.

And I've prepared the soil with lots of fresh compost.

So that's good and deep.

Fill round it and firm it in.

When you've planted the whole bed, give them a really good soak.

And, particularly in June,

when the nights can be cold and the days very warm,

keep the water levels steady and the temperature as steady as you can.

And the best way to do that, or at least the simplest,

is to give them lots of ventilation during the day,

but close them up a little bit earlier than you might at night,

so you keep the warmth inside.

And I water two, maybe three times a week at most

but give them a really good soak.

Now, I'm going to be busy with my tomatoes,

but here are some other jobs you can do this weekend.

Raspberry suckers should be removed

because they'll weaken the parent plant,

as well as being untidy.

But don't cut them, as they'll simply grow back stronger.

Pull them up, taking as much root as possible,

and, if you do get a really good section of root,

rather than putting it on the compost heap,

you could pot it up and replant it as a healthy new plant.

Now the days are warming up, it's time to plant out squashes,

but start with courgettes,

as the nights can still be a bit chilly

and they're hardier than pumpkins.

They like really rich soil and lots of water,

so plant them in a slight saucer, so that when you water them,

it will all flow back in towards the roots.

And don't forget, they grow into large plants

so give them at least a metre's room in each direction.

If you've grown annuals from seed, like these cosmos,

you can either plant them out as they are

and they'll tend to be tall plants with a few large flowers,

or you can pinch out the tops, which will encourage them

to be bushy with side shoots that will have masses of smaller flowers.

If you're wondering where is the best place to cut,

the first rule is always just above a pair of leaves.

Now, this is Cosmos Purity.

Lovely white flowers.

I could take it down to there, which is actually my preferred place.

And it is possible to go right to there,

but, of course, the lower I cut it, the later the flowers will come.

That will become a strong, bushy plant in about

three or four weeks' time,

but I'll have an absolute mass of them on a really healthy plant.

I know this is a busy time of the year in the garden.

I know the weather's lovely - there's nothing nicer -

but sometimes inspiration can trump perspiration.

And this is the NGS Festival Weekend

and that means there are over 400 private gardens open to

be visited right across the country,

and if you go to our website, you'll get the details.

So, if you get the chance, go and visit some gardens,

get ideas for yours, and also a lot of pleasure.

When I was at Chelsea last week, I overheard someone say that

anyone who let that weed cow parsley into their garden was an idiot.

Well, then I am a joyful idiot

because I love this chaos of cow parsley.

To me, this is the plant of the season.

Nothing that I can carefully grow in this garden is as beautiful

as the froth of cow parsley at the end of May and early June,

and, while it lasts, all you can do is revel in it.

That's it for today.

Have a lovely weekend,

and while I revel in my cow parsley,

I shall see you back here at Longmeadow same time next week.

'Til then, bye-bye.