0:00:02 > 0:00:03Come on.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Hello. Welcome to Gardeners' World.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13I started this wildlife garden almost exactly a year ago,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and in that time, it's evolved in two ways that please me.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19The first is, there's lots of wildlife.
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Just the other day I saw a huge grass snake slither into the pond.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28There are lots of insects, butterflies, birds, mammals, frogs.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30It's working really well on that level.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34It's also working well on the level of being a nice place.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Wildlife gardens are great, but if it's your only garden,
0:00:37 > 0:00:39you want it to be nice for you, too.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44It's got to be somewhere you can sit and enjoy it purely on your terms -
0:00:44 > 0:00:48and the two can work really well together, so I'm pleased about that.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51And the planting, of course, will go on developing, so these plants here,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55which are all planted to be bee-friendly, specifically,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58and things like that lovely cherry-coloured thistle,
0:00:58 > 0:01:03the Cirsium rivulare, is starting to flower really well.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06In fact, I saw a white one at Chelsea, which was really tempting.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08I might get one of those.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15This week, we look at prehistoric plants
0:01:15 > 0:01:18that thrived alongside the dinosaurs.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Things like illicium, the star anise flowers,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27have been around on this planet for about 125 million years.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29And Adam Frost is in London
0:01:29 > 0:01:33with a sneak preview of the Open Garden Squares Weekend.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35This is really breathtaking.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37I knew there was a garden up here, but I wasn't expecting this.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40There's literally a meadow in the sky.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Come on, you've got to stay here. You stay there.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Before I do anything, I'm going to gather up some bees.
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Yesterday, I was in the garden
0:01:53 > 0:01:55and I heard what sounded like a motorbike rally.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57BEES BUZZ
0:01:57 > 0:02:01And it was an enormous swarm of bees circling around in the orchard,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04and they finally settled in one apple tree.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06They're still there this morning,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and what they're looking for is a new home.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13So I'm going to gather them up and provide them with a nice new home.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22The plan is that I go up to the swarm
0:02:22 > 0:02:26with this very handsome bee skep,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30knock the branch, they will fall into this as one,
0:02:30 > 0:02:35and they will be collected later and taken to their new home.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Simple enough.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39The only slight hitch to this plan
0:02:39 > 0:02:42is that I have never done this before,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44so I will be very much learning on the job.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53OK, here goes.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Now, this underneath...
0:03:05 > 0:03:06OK.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12And they won't fall out, cos they'll cling to the inside.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18It provides them with a nice protected hollow space up high,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21out of reach of predators, also a little bit warmer.
0:03:25 > 0:03:26I think that's working.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30I'll leave them there for a little bit, let them quieten down.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33I'll make a phone call to say they're ready for collection,
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and they'll go to their new home.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42While I've got my protective gear on,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44I'm going to go and check the hive for honey.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46It's a good time, because when they swarm,
0:03:46 > 0:03:48there'll be far fewer bees there -
0:03:48 > 0:03:51up to half could have left - so, easier to manage.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Also, because there are fewer bees in the hive,
0:03:53 > 0:03:55there's going to be a surplus of honey,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58so if I take it, I'm not depriving them of any.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05Let's lift that off.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12I've got the smoker here, which will make life easier.
0:04:14 > 0:04:15You can see here...
0:04:17 > 0:04:20..a lovely...
0:04:20 > 0:04:22clean comb forming,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and that's just formed in the last week or so.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28But there - that is the honey.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Go on. There you go.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Look at that. Isn't that fantastic?
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Absolutely wonderful.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45And the whole thing has just taken a minute or two.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58This is the first harvest of honey from these bees,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01and it's trickling out of the comb.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It's incredibly sweet.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Very clear, light colour.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11Probably most of that has actually come
0:05:11 > 0:05:14from the rape in the field next to us.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17It just looks so beautiful - it seems a shame to break it up.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19It's such a beautiful, beautiful thing.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22And, of course, man has been collecting honey
0:05:22 > 0:05:26exactly like this since man walked on this earth.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28But bees have been around a lot longer.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Bees have been around since dinosaurs were roaming,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35as, indeed, were a few of our garden plants.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49Robbie Blackhall-Miles is fascinated with these fossil plants,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52so we went to his home in North Wales
0:05:52 > 0:05:55to learn more about his particular passion.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57When I was a little boy,
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I grew up in a garden with a monkey puzzle tree in it.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03I discovered that this plant had been around
0:06:03 > 0:06:06since before the time of the dinosaurs.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09That just sparked something in my imagination,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13and from that point onwards, in all the dinosaur books I read,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15it wasn't the dinosaurs I was looking at,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17it was actually the plants behind the dinosaurs.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24What I have here is a fossil of the maidenhair tree
0:06:24 > 0:06:28and a fossil of some of the wood of a monkey puzzle tree
0:06:28 > 0:06:31as they were during the Jurassic period.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36In my garden, I have these two plants growing,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38looking almost identical.
0:06:42 > 0:06:48This little garden of mine took shape just four years ago.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52My partner and I went down to buy a hanging basket
0:06:52 > 0:06:56and came back with a wollemi pine tree,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59one of those plants from the Jurassic era
0:06:59 > 0:07:03that was only discovered in 1994.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08From there on in, the garden grew around that tree
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and we built this collection of fossil plants.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Some of the very earliest flowering plants that we grow
0:07:22 > 0:07:26give a great insight into how flowering plants have evolved.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Things like illicium, the star anise flowers,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35have been around on this planet for about 125 million years.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38Darwin called the evolution of flowering plants
0:07:38 > 0:07:42his "abominable mystery", and it's taken up until recently
0:07:42 > 0:07:45for scientists to just start to figure out
0:07:45 > 0:07:47where flowers originally came from.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Water lilies are one of the first flowering plants to have evolved.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55They don't really understand
0:07:55 > 0:07:58whether that evolution took place on the land
0:07:58 > 0:08:01and the water lily crept back into the water
0:08:01 > 0:08:04or whether the evolution took place in the water
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and flowering plants crept out onto the land.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14This is the kind of hub of it all, where it all happens.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19It's a bit like my mini laboratory, where I can really watch
0:08:19 > 0:08:22all of those seedlings that I'm producing growing.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Some of the plants really are unique,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27things that you can grow in this country,
0:08:27 > 0:08:31but you have to have a really strong understanding
0:08:31 > 0:08:33of their ecology in order to do so.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39One particular group of plants that I'm really, really interested in
0:08:39 > 0:08:42is the family that includes protea.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45They come from the southern hemisphere,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50so, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South America.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Something like this little Protea aristata here,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55the Ladismith sugarbush.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Where it comes from in the wild,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59it comes from very nutrient-depleted soils.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03When I'm potting these things up,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07I just pot them into a mixture of very, very fine composted bark
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and some perlite to give it the drainage that it requires,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and I find that that's all they really need to survive.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17They don't need all of that heavy fertilisation
0:09:17 > 0:09:20that we're so used to giving all of our normal garden plants.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28So what I have here is a seedling of a cycad
0:09:28 > 0:09:30called Bowenia spectabilis.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Cycads are a group of fossil plants
0:09:32 > 0:09:36that are about as endangered as it comes.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37Some extinct in the wild,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41others only numbering one or two left in the wild.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45They're rarer than tigers, rhinos, pandas.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51By growing some of the plants that are threatened in the wild
0:09:51 > 0:09:56in our own gardens, having got them from cultivation,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59we can really go a long way to saving plants like this.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Well, the nearest thing to an old fossil in this garden,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15apart from myself, of course, is this.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17It's a Ginkgo biloba.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20I planted this small sapling last winter,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22with the idea it would form a big tree
0:10:22 > 0:10:24at the edge of the Jewel Garden.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26But it will take time - but it's used to time,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29because ginkgos shaded the dinosaurs.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34They're one of the most ancient plants that we have on the planet.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Come on, then, matey. Come on.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50If the Jewel Garden is starting to limber up
0:10:50 > 0:10:54into its more muscular colour display,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57the Cottage Garden is just easing into a flow,
0:10:57 > 0:11:01with everything drifting and merging into each other.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04And who would have thought that purple sprouting broccoli,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07which I put in there for decorative effect for the leaves,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11as much as for the harvest, would have flowers that work so perfectly?
0:11:11 > 0:11:15This wasn't an artful piece of border design.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19I forgot to pull them up, they flowered, and they look great.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Sometimes the accidents are better than anything you can plan.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25But the cut flower beds
0:11:25 > 0:11:28do need a little bit of attention and addition.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31First thing to do, of course, is keep on top of the weeds.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33They will grow at this time of year,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and because I'm growing them in rows, it's dead easy to do.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Just like weeding a vegetable patch,
0:11:38 > 0:11:43run a hoe lightly through them two or three times a week
0:11:43 > 0:11:44and they never get too bad.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46These are gladioli.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49We've got nigella here,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53which will look great as a cut flower.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57But before I do anything else, I'm going to thin the nigella.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59It's very tempting when you're thinning
0:11:59 > 0:12:01to leave a bit more in and just think,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04"Oh, I'll get more flowers," and it just doesn't work like that.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Think of every little seedling as a potential plant
0:12:08 > 0:12:11that's going to be big and robust and strong,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14and if you crowd them all into a tiny space,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16they can't possibly be like that.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20So give each one the best conditions it can have
0:12:20 > 0:12:22and you'll get your best return.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28Now, I've got various other plants to put in.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I've got...
0:12:30 > 0:12:35a tray of Nicotiana "Lime Green", which I've grown from seed.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38I've got some gypsophila,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43which obviously make a spray of small white flowers.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Really good for flower arranging and for decoration.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48And they were a long-rooted cutting,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51which is why I've put them into a tall pot.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53Now, I've got four cuttings,
0:12:53 > 0:12:58and I could either grow them as large plants or break them up.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03I think I'm going to put that one in as is.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14I'll see if I can break up another pot easily.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17If not, I'm going to plant that as a good display, too.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19I don't know if you can see.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23These are the individual root cuttings there and there,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and I'm going to try breaking that open.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27There you go.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32So, there we have it -
0:13:32 > 0:13:34that is one plant...
0:13:34 > 0:13:37which I will pop in there.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39In you go.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Top and tail of the row, I'll put this all in as one
0:13:51 > 0:13:52so we have one big plant.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54There we go.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01A whole row of those.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07And the next row is going to be Nicotiana "Lime Green".
0:14:07 > 0:14:08Really good for cut flowers,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12because that lime green colour
0:14:12 > 0:14:16always works well with other stronger colours.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20And these are easier, because these are plugs,
0:14:20 > 0:14:25and it's worth repeating that the reason why I'm growing these in rows
0:14:25 > 0:14:27in what was the vegetable garden
0:14:27 > 0:14:31is that I'm treating the flowers like a crop.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34And it means I can plunder them and harvest them and pick them
0:14:34 > 0:14:37without in any way spoiling the borders.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40It's not a trade-off between the garden looking good
0:14:40 > 0:14:43and the arrangement indoors looking good.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46You can have both if you have a little cut flower bed.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56There are gardens that we very rarely get a chance to look at
0:14:56 > 0:14:57except on a few select occasions -
0:14:57 > 0:14:59and next weekend is one of those occasions,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03because it's Open Garden Squares Weekend in London,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07and this covers rooftop gardens and hidden little corners
0:15:07 > 0:15:09of all kinds and sizes.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12And Adam Frost went along to have a preview.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21London - concrete, chaos, noise.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23You may be surprised to hear that, actually,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26we're one of the greenest cities in the world -
0:15:26 > 0:15:28but quite a lot of those spaces are locked away.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32But there is one weekend in June where you get to go and have a nose.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40Open Garden Squares spans a weekend
0:15:40 > 0:15:44when over 200 London gardens open their gates to the public.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49And some, like this, you might easily pass by without noticing.
0:15:51 > 0:15:52Wow, this is amazing.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55I've literally just come down off this chaotic London street
0:15:55 > 0:15:58into this lovely little sort of pocket park.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00It's called St Dunstan-in-the-East.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03The atmosphere in here is absolutely fantastic.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09The church was damaged in the Great Fire of London, rebuilt,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14then bombed in the Blitz, then in the '70s, it opened as a garden.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I don't think I've been to anywhere like it, I really haven't.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21You know, all the different views.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It's really as if the plants are playing second fiddle,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26because the buildings around the outside
0:16:26 > 0:16:29capture different periods of time of architecture.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32I mean, look at this one. Look at this, look.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Look. The Shard.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39And I think the thing that stood out to me straight away
0:16:39 > 0:16:40is the size of the trees.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43There's zelkovas out there, there's some acers out there.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45You know, trachycarpus.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Slightly odd, in my mind, but it's there, you know?
0:16:48 > 0:16:50And it's just this little oasis of peace.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58My next garden is really out there,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01at the top of a London solicitor's office block.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07This is really breathtaking.
0:17:07 > 0:17:10I knew there was a garden up here, but I wasn't expecting this.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12There's literally a meadow in the sky.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15And this stuff seems to be so happy up here
0:17:15 > 0:17:18that it's spreading itself all over the place.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21You look at this space here and we've got things like chives,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24you've got geraniums, obviously the sedum works all the way through.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28You know, cornflowers. It's stunning.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30As well as this rooftop oasis,
0:17:30 > 0:17:35there's a kitchen garden created by two employees, Julie and Marta.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Lovely to meet you.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40How did it all start? You've got a full veg garden in here.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44When the building was designed, this area was put here especially,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46but it took about five or six years,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49and it's just stemmed from that, really.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54One little point, right? How did you get everything up here?
0:17:54 > 0:17:56We bribed strong men with beer.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59- Did you really?!- This is very true.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Seriously, I don't say this, ever - I'm proper blown way.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- The meadow, and then coming in... - Oh, thank you.- Thank you, thank you!
0:18:06 > 0:18:08At Coutts bank on The Strand,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12head chef Peter Fiori has worked his wonders in his kitchen garden.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16So, this garden goes all the way round this building?
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Yeah, so we've got around 450 metres of garden
0:18:19 > 0:18:21on the two sides of the path.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24With the four gardens, we've got four microclimates.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26This side will get the flowers later,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28and then we pick no more than two hours before service,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and then we put it on our food for our guests.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34You're literally using it, picking, bang, straight to plate and out?
0:18:34 > 0:18:35That's the philosophy, yeah.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Along here... We've got lots of varieties of carrots, you know?
0:18:38 > 0:18:41- You've got purples.- My favourite. - Also sweet cicely.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47So we use the stalk for ice cream, as opposed to using pernod,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49which dilutes the end product.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51- What's that one? - This is a red frill.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Some people call it potato mustard.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57So you get a big hit of potato and it ends in a peppery bite, you know?
0:18:57 > 0:19:00It's incredible. You really do. It really happens, doesn't it?
0:19:00 > 0:19:02- Wow!- Potato...mustard, yeah?
0:19:02 > 0:19:05- You can tell a story with that one as well.- That's fantastic.- Yeah.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09- This one?- Wild rocket. You don't need much of this.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12I only recommend, you know, one leaf per eight in a salad,
0:19:12 > 0:19:13cos that blows your head off.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16- Especially when it's fresh from the ground.- Ooh-hoo-hoo!
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- I mean, incredibly strong. - He's right.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23In here, nasturtium. Obviously, one of the easiest things you can grow.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25When they get to this size, we blanche them,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27then we stuff them, a bit like vine leaves.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Yeah.- And in the flowers, which are milder,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32we stuff them sometimes with a little bit
0:19:32 > 0:19:35of maybe, like, a fish mousse or something
0:19:35 > 0:19:38and pane it, or put it in a tempura batter, deep-fry it.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- Or eat it raw.- I just like doing that.- Yeah, lovely, aren't they?
0:19:41 > 0:19:44- Lovely. - Peppery, beautiful.- Brilliant.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47You've really proved, ultimately, you do not need a lot of space.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49These are in tiny little boxes,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53you've got an irrigation system set through - fantastic.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54All the fennels.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57- Sichuan pepper.- Oh, wow!
0:19:57 > 0:20:00- I've had a Japanese chef up on here seen this.- Yeah?- In tears.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02A Michelin-starred chef was emotional
0:20:02 > 0:20:04at seeing Sichuan pepper on the roof.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07We gave him a couple of cuttings and he's got it in his restaurant.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10- Did you really?- Yeah.- That's brilliant.- Look, we've got wasabi.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I think there's only one other firm growing wasabi,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15so we pull it out and we grate it to order.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17That should be...water, really, shouldn't it?
0:20:17 > 0:20:20It should be flowing water, so we give it a lot of water.
0:20:20 > 0:20:21But we've managed to grow this.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24- It's taken four years. We're really proud of it.- It's fantastic.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27I don't know anywhere else picking their own wasabi,
0:20:27 > 0:20:28certainly in London.
0:20:28 > 0:20:29This is unbelievable!
0:20:29 > 0:20:31In terms of courgettes,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33we were told you can't grow courgettes in small boxes,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36but we can, and we get lots of courgettes every year.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41You've produced something from seed, you've picked it, cut it, served it.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- That fills you with pride. - This is like music to my ears.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46- Honestly.- And in Central London.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48- Yeah!- Growing figs and growing peaches and things like that.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51I mean, I think it's amazing. We're really proud of it.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56You know, I got a lot of great tips from Pete,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59but I can't leave here without tasting his food.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01- Adam.- Hello, mate. - Just prepared this for you.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Here are the fruits of our labour - all the produce from the garden.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07- Get your chops around that.- Bless you. Thank you very much, mate.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11So we've got chervil, parsley emulsion from the garden, the herbs,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14nasturtium, the chive flowers that you've seen.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15- Wow!- Some nice lettuce.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18And we cure the hake in a cure for an hour
0:21:18 > 0:21:21- with some thyme from the garden as well, so...- You keep talking.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24We've got some lovely tarragon here, as well - some peas, as well.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27What you've done up here is truly inspiring.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29- You can come back any time, Adam. - Bless you, mate. Cheers, pal.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32- Enjoy your meal.- Thank you, fella. Thank you very much.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36Come on.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Well, it just goes to show
0:21:39 > 0:21:42that you can grow good food absolutely anywhere,
0:21:42 > 0:21:47and the best food is always fresh and always seasonal.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06I've got lots of oranges on my orange plant, which is great,
0:22:06 > 0:22:11but this has been in this particular pot for about five years,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14and it's a good idea to pot on all citrus plants
0:22:14 > 0:22:19every two or three years, so this is overdue - it needs doing.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22If this is the biggest pot you've got and it's ready to pot on,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25you can always repot it in the same container.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28By the way, June is the perfect month to do this.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30And when you ease it out,
0:22:30 > 0:22:32don't water it for about a week beforehand,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34because it will come out much easier if it's dry.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37And you might have to ease it a bit round the outside.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Oh, that's come out OK. So, there we are.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42I'm going to put that into there for a moment.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47And just scrape off some of the soil...
0:22:47 > 0:22:50like that, around the outside.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53There we go. Can you see how gritty that is?
0:22:54 > 0:22:58And all citrus need really good drainage.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Absolutely essential that they don't sit in wet compost.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07I don't think I need to trim those roots too much.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Maybe just a little bit while I'm about it.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Because I don't want the roots to go round the side of the pot.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16I want them to reach into new compost.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19So I'll just trim that off there.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Not too vigorously.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23And I'll put that on the ground.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30So I've got lots of crocks on the bottom.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37And if you've got any doubt at all, put a layer of grit over the crocks
0:23:37 > 0:23:42so that the roots will go down and then just reach a dry layer,
0:23:42 > 0:23:47just avoid any risk of them sitting in wet material.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49That will do more harm than anything else.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59That's pretty good.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04The best oranges and lemons I've ever seen grown are in Italy,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and I was always asking, "What is the secret of your soil mix?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10"What's your compost mix you put into pots?"
0:24:10 > 0:24:12Of course, no-one would tell me.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15But what I did get from them were the basic ingredients,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17which was good, well-rotted manure,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and I would substitute that with garden compost.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26A soil base. They use clay, mainly, but I've used my turf stack.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Lots of... They use pumice, but I've used lots of grit.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34And then a general purpose compost, which I'd use a bark-based compost.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37But it seems to me the key features,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39a good amount of garden compost or feed.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45The thing to do now is work your new compost round the edge.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50Be really careful about packing the soil in.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54You need to push it down in so there are no air pockets.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Hopefully...
0:24:56 > 0:25:00instead of feeling that it's been into intensive care,
0:25:00 > 0:25:05it'll feel like it's been to a spa and had a loving revamp.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Put it up onto feet of some sort.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12You can buy these terracotta feet,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16and that means, again, it doesn't sit in water.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21I know people sometimes get confused about watering citrus of all kinds,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23but it's very simple.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Let them dry out completely in between watering.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30When you do water them, give them a really good soak
0:25:30 > 0:25:33and make sure the water runs straight through the pot.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37It should just flow through and then leave them.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41And I like to feed them every time I water them,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44either a fairly dilute liquid seaweed,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47a comfrey feed, or a tomato-based feed.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Other than that, they're quite tough plants.
0:25:49 > 0:25:50And, of course, it'll need pruning -
0:25:50 > 0:25:53but not when it's covered with fruit.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I have actually got a little plant here.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00And you can see it's starting to grow, but to train it and prune it,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03what you really want to do with all citrus
0:26:03 > 0:26:05is have a fairly open centre.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Cut that off there...
0:26:08 > 0:26:11and I think probably take that off there.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14I'm just getting a framework that's a little bit more open,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17bearing in mind where I cut, you will get side shoots coming.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20And they all respond very vigorously to pruning,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23so don't feel anxious if you have to make dramatic cuts.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26You will get dramatic regrowth.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Now, obviously, this weekend, you are all going to be busy
0:26:29 > 0:26:32repotting your citrus plants, but when you're finished,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34here are some other things you can be doing.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40It's time to mulch strawberries.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42The fruit are ripening by the day
0:26:42 > 0:26:44and they should be kept off the soil,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46which will stop them rotting,
0:26:46 > 0:26:48keep slugs and snails away to a certain extent,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and also, importantly, keep them clean
0:26:51 > 0:26:55so you can eat them nice and warm direct from the plant.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58I like to use straw, which is the traditional method -
0:26:58 > 0:27:00and, I think, looks very good.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Even if you're growing lettuce already, don't forget to sow more
0:27:08 > 0:27:11to keep a succession going throughout the summer.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15You can sow them direct, but they do become prey for slugs and snails,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19so I like to sow them in seed trays having soaked the compost first.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Sprinkle the seeds thinly on the surface, cover them lightly,
0:27:23 > 0:27:27and put them somewhere protected, but not too hot, to germinate,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30and then be pricked out and planted into final position
0:27:30 > 0:27:32when they're growing strongly
0:27:32 > 0:27:37and able to resist the predations of the greediest slug or snail.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Clematis are greedy and thirsty plants
0:27:44 > 0:27:48and respond well to a liquid feed, especially as they start to flower.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53You can use liquid seaweed or a basic tomato feed,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55but resist the temptation
0:27:55 > 0:27:58to make it stronger than the instructions on the label,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01as this can do more harm than good.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Well, that will help the clematis maximise its colour.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12And, in fact, the colour is maximising daily
0:28:12 > 0:28:14here in the Jewel Garden.
0:28:14 > 0:28:19Obviously, plants like the Oriental poppies, the alliums, the irises,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22have a kind of intensity and bright freshness.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26You simply feel the blood coursing through your veins
0:28:26 > 0:28:27every time you look at it.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31However, that's all the time we've got for today.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Enjoy the colours in your garden, whatever they might be,
0:28:35 > 0:28:37and I'll see you back here at Longmeadow next time.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Till then, bye-bye. Come on, Nigel. Come on.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43HE WHISTLES