0:00:07 > 0:00:10Hello, welcome to Gardeners' World.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15The floor of the copse here is covered with these
0:00:15 > 0:00:17little wood anemones.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19And they open out in the sunshine
0:00:19 > 0:00:22and they'll close up when it clouds over.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24And their like blossom growing up from the ground.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27They've got that same freshness, the whiteness touched with pink.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30And there's also delicacy about them.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32You know this is not going to last forever,
0:00:32 > 0:00:33but while it does,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35it's a kind of heaven.
0:00:38 > 0:00:44This week we meet a grower from Cumbria with a grand passion for dahlias.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47I set off with 12 - 12 different varieties.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Now we have over 350 different types.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Everybody says it is dahlia heaven.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58And last April, James Alexander-Sinclair
0:00:58 > 0:01:02went to Alnwick Garden in Northumberland
0:01:02 > 0:01:06to witness its amazing display of cherry blossom.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09Part of the whole idea of cherry blossom is as the wind comes
0:01:09 > 0:01:12it just blows off drifts of petals, doesn't it?
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Yes, we can advertise it as Snowdon Alnwick,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16cos there'll be so much blossom,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18this hill will just be completely white.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40I've decided to make some cut flower borders.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43You know how it is - you go out and you're picking flowers
0:01:43 > 0:01:48and you want a lovely, big, generous bunch of flowers in the house.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52But you've just got perfect blooms in the border,
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and to take them would rob the border.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58And that choice can be really difficult to make.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03So if you have an area dedicated to cut flowers, it's a crop,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07and they are grown solely to be picked for the house.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09You can grow absolutely anything -
0:02:09 > 0:02:14herbaceous plants, shrubs, annuals, tender plants,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19whatever you like to pick and use to decorate the house.
0:02:19 > 0:02:20I've prepared the ground.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23This has grown vegetables for the last 20 years,
0:02:23 > 0:02:24so the soil is terrific.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Lots of manure, really good drainage, it's sunny,
0:02:28 > 0:02:32it's sheltered, and that's perfect conditions for cut flowers.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38I've got some gladioli here, and this is a gladioli called Zorro.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42And it's the most incredible dark red.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Perfect as a cut flower.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50So what I'll do is put a board down, and then...
0:02:50 > 0:02:55And this, by the way, is a tulip planter.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56I came across it,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and it is an extraordinary thing.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04But a spade will do just as well, it's a toy.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05And I'm going to...
0:03:06 > 0:03:10..open out a slit trench,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12like that.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19And I'm going to add a little bit of grit along there.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26If your soil is very well drained, you don't need to do this.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I'm not going to plant them all right now.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38A really good idea if you are planting gladioli at all
0:03:38 > 0:03:40is to do them in succession,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42otherwise you're going to get all the flowers at once
0:03:42 > 0:03:44and they will all go at once.
0:03:44 > 0:03:45But particularly for cut flowers,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49you want a good supply for as long a season as possible.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52So I'll put some in now, some in about three weeks' time,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55and then some as late as late May.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Pop them in about four to six inches apart.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00You want to give them a chance
0:04:00 > 0:04:03to develop into really nice, strong plants. So not too close.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09At least four inches deep in the ground.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14That way you get a nice strong stem, anchored in well,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16and what you need for cut flowers
0:04:16 > 0:04:19are straight stems, if possible.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23And planting deeper will give you a stronger, straighter stem.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31So I'll just cover these back over like that.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34Gladioli have never been fashionable.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Other than Dame Edna, who used to
0:04:37 > 0:04:40use them almost like a weapon.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46As a general rule, water them in well.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Actually, today, my soil is fairly moist.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50It has been showering, and I want to continue,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54so I will water the whole bed when I've finished.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58When I was a child, my mother had a cut flower bed,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01but she only grew two things in it, which were dahlias and gladioli.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06And the colours seemed to me back then, and certainly in my memory,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08very lurid, vivid pastels,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12if that's not a contradiction in terms.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14They were like, sort of, 1950s lipstick.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19And it took me a while to realise that dahlias, for example,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24come in a wide range of colours and can be dramatic and can be subtle.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28I've grown a lot since, and grown to love them too.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29But I don't grow nearly as many
0:05:29 > 0:05:34and I probably don't love them half as much as Jack Gott does.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38And we went to visit him and his dahlias in Cumbria.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50I've been growing dahlias for, I would say,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52between 44 and 46 years.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55I set off with 12 - 12 different varieties.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00And now we have over 350 different types.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01I'm an electrician by trade.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Used to get together at brew times, and one of these lads said,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07"I've got some dahlias if you want to give them a try."
0:06:07 > 0:06:09That's just how it started.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13I'm just passionate about them.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16The difference of varieties, the forms -
0:06:16 > 0:06:19there's everything from the dark leaf ones
0:06:19 > 0:06:22to the tiny ones that only grow 12 inches tall
0:06:22 > 0:06:25with a flower like a little daisy,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28to the great big ones that are just full of petal.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33I've lived in this street all my life.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36I'm now 68 years old.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40We have the largest collection of dark leaf dahlias in the UK.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44And the Dutch people say we've got the largest collection in the world.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48We've got Grenadier here, which is a bright red one.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51We've got Fire Mountain.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54These two are better than Bishop of Llandaff.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56They are a lot brighter flower.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00And with the dark foliage, it makes it stand out better still.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Black Jack is not named after me, as if you might think it is,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09and you won't see a darker leaf or a darker flower
0:07:09 > 0:07:11of that type of dahlia anywhere.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15That tree dahlia is imperialis.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18It's been in about four years.
0:07:18 > 0:07:24I've never had it to flower yet, but it will one day, it will flower.
0:07:24 > 0:07:25The roots are that big,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28I would need a pick and shovel to get them out.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31I think in time it will start moving that conifer behind us.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38There is a lot of colour here, but when you go round the back
0:07:38 > 0:07:42and see all the colour that there is round there, you'll be gobsmacked.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Well, for growing show poms,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04to start with you need the right varieties.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08All flowers and all buds have what they call a calyx
0:08:08 > 0:08:10which wraps around the bud to start with.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13So for a good pom to be shown properly,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16you need to cut those calyxes off,
0:08:16 > 0:08:18just take them off like that.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22And that allows the pom petals to go right back,
0:08:22 > 0:08:26right to the back of the stem, just like that.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33For showing cactus dahlias or any dahlias you want to show
0:08:33 > 0:08:35that have got a long stem,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39you need to be taking these two shoots off,
0:08:39 > 0:08:40like that.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45And you take the next two off below, like so,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50which will give you a cut flower stem of about 22 to 24 inches.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53The floral art ladies like them for displays
0:08:53 > 0:08:55cos it gives them a long stem and they can put
0:08:55 > 0:08:58greenery in between and the flower on the top.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10I'm raising new collarette type dahlias.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14The collarette is with the other collar round the centre.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17And what I'm doing is I'm letting the bees, like that one,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19it's going from there and then it'll go to there,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24go to this one, and send the pollen onto these.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28And this is the mother plant, you can say,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32which is the one that's going to carry the baby seed.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36You can always tell if a flower is finished cos it's pointed.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41And then for ten days, I squeeze the water out of them...
0:09:41 > 0:09:44and that ripens the seed.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Then we cut them off.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Just put them in milk bottles as if it was a flower.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Leave it there until this has all gone brown.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Then we knock the seed out of the pod,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58save it in an envelope,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and then on the 1st of April every year, we sow the seed.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Most of them will come single.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08You may get five that have a good collar around them.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Which, this year, I would say I have five out of 100, which...
0:10:12 > 0:10:13That is good going.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Letting the bees do it, it's fantastic,
0:10:21 > 0:10:22they are doing the work for me.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Everybody says it is dahlia heaven.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44I do think that people like Jack are the beating heart
0:10:44 > 0:10:45of British gardeners,
0:10:45 > 0:10:49with real passion and expertise for their subject.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52It doesn't matter if it's dahlias or whatever it is.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Long may they thrive.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58But you don't need real expertise just to grow dahlias at home.
0:10:58 > 0:11:00You do for showing, but in the garden
0:11:00 > 0:11:04you fundamentally make a hole in the ground, pop them in,
0:11:04 > 0:11:05and nine times out of ten
0:11:05 > 0:11:09they will grow and flower without any trouble at all.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12What they don't like is the cold, so you need to protect them from frost.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15They don't like it too wet over winter, so we bring them in.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18But they are very easy to propagate,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20and especially from cuttings at this time of year.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23I've got here a plant of Grenadier.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27And as Jack showed, this has dark foliage and lovely red flowers.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30And I've chosen a plant with plenty of shoots,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34and I've forced these shoots by putting them in the greenhouse,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37giving them a little bit of heat and light early in March,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and that will bring them into growth.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42And what I'm looking for are strong, upright shoots
0:11:42 > 0:11:44to make cuttings from.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46And I take a pot with a little bit of depth to it,
0:11:46 > 0:11:51use a potting mix that has got plenty of drainage.
0:11:51 > 0:11:52I've added lots of grit to that,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55so that will make the cutting go better.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59I need to put my glasses on so I can see properly.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01I don't want weak growth.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02That one there is absolutely ideal
0:12:02 > 0:12:05whereas the little one next to it is a little bit small.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07So I'm going to try and isolate that out.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12And when you cut them off, do so at the base, right down at the tuber.
0:12:12 > 0:12:13There we go.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18And you can see, I've got a little bit of tuber there.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Now, we clean off the extra growth.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24And you do need a sharp knife when you're taking cuttings.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29And the reason why you remove the leaves from cuttings
0:12:29 > 0:12:33is because they are transpiring all the time.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36They are taking up moisture, but because there are no roots,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38there's no moisture coming in.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39So there's a deficit.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44But if we just leave a little bit of leaf,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and put that in the corner of the pot,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51because against the plastic side of the pot it dries out more slowly.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Now, this must go somewhere warm
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and it must be kept moist.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04So water it, and then if you've got a little sprayer,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07spray it two or three times a day.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10That stops it transpiring too fast
0:13:10 > 0:13:14and gives the roots a chance to grow before the leaves die.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18And with any cutting, it is a race to develop roots
0:13:18 > 0:13:20before the top part dies.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And you'll know that it's got roots when you start to see new growth.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26And that way, you generate, over the years,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29lots and lots of new dahlias.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32While I'm in here, I'm going to sow some peas
0:13:32 > 0:13:34for my new vegetable garden
0:13:34 > 0:13:39And I said that I wanted it to be full of interesting, unusual
0:13:39 > 0:13:42and sometimes endangered varieties.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45These are purple podded peas.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48The actual peas themselves are green,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51but the pods are purple so look really dramatic.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55And this variety, which is hard to pronounce, Blauwschokker,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57is tall, so it needs support,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59so you've got these purple peas hanging down.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02They taste good, you can eat them as a mangetout,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04you can eat them just as green peas,
0:14:04 > 0:14:09so great in the kitchen and looking dramatic and fabulous in the garden.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12And if I sow them in these root trainers,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15you get nice, straight roots.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20You just put them together like that, and if I...
0:14:22 > 0:14:24..put some compost in them...
0:14:34 > 0:14:37And just one pea per trainer.
0:14:38 > 0:14:44If you've got lots of seed, you could put two in for each one
0:14:44 > 0:14:46and then remove the weakest.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48I'm going to cover those over a little.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58Right. I'm going to put these in here
0:14:58 > 0:15:02simply to make them easier to carry about.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03There we go.
0:15:27 > 0:15:28The greenhouse is really busy now.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32This is the propagating centre of the whole garden.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Seeds are sown, cuttings are made.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38They work their way down, they then get pricked out and potted on.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41And then after the last risk of frost,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43they can be planted out into the garden.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45But for the last four weeks and the next four weeks,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48this is the engine room of the garden.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03April is the month where the great white cherry blossoms.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06But when it blossoms does vary according to the weather.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08I'm keeping an eye on it.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Here are the buds, still, I would say, at least a week away,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14even if we have really warm weather, it could be two weeks.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19Last April, James Alexander-Sinclair went to Alnwick in Northumberland
0:16:19 > 0:16:25where they have an extraordinary display of the great white cherry.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Cherry blossom is the national flower of Japan
0:16:34 > 0:16:38and every spring, blossom fever grips the nation.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42For hundreds of years people have observed
0:16:42 > 0:16:45the ancient tradition of hanami, or flower viewing.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52'All over the park are rings of singing and clapping
0:16:52 > 0:16:54'and dancing and drinking people.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58'Everyone's anxious to share their love of the fragile blossoms.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00'The time when the love of nature,
0:17:00 > 0:17:03'inborn, they say, in every Japanese,
0:17:03 > 0:17:04'comes bursting out all over.'
0:17:06 > 0:17:11Here in the UK, one place you're almost guaranteed to see blossom
0:17:11 > 0:17:15at this time of year is Alnwick Garden in Northumberland.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Famous for its fountains, it now has another feature
0:17:19 > 0:17:25growing in celebrity - its 350 Tai-haku cherry trees.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30These trees were planted a mere seven years ago,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32and already their branches are beginning to touch,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36which creates this luxurious panoply of white flower.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45Prunus Tai-haku has the largest flower of all ornamental cherries -
0:17:45 > 0:17:48a single blossom can be over two inches wide.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Bright white with hardly a hint of pink in sight,
0:17:52 > 0:17:57the name Tai-haku simply translates as big white flower.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Head gardener Trevor Jones knows all about these stunning trees.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09In my mind's eye, I can just see, five years on from now,
0:18:09 > 0:18:10we will see no sky.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13That's right, it'll just be a complete cloud of white,
0:18:13 > 0:18:14which will be fantastic.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17And the beauty of it is that once it starts to fall,
0:18:17 > 0:18:18then we can advertise it as Snowdon Alnwick,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20because there will be so much blossom,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22this hill will just be completely white.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Part of the whole sort of idea of cherry blossom is as the wind comes
0:18:26 > 0:18:29it just blows off drifts of petals, doesn't it?
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Yes, it's beautiful, it's just like confetti falling.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40There's a rather lovely story behind this tree, isn't there?
0:18:40 > 0:18:41It has got a very good story.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45This tree is unique because, at one time,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47this tree was lost in cultivation in Japan, believe it or not.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- It's native to Japan? - It is, yes.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52And thanks to a gentleman called Collingwood Ingram,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55he had a fascination for cherries.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58At 46, he was such an authority on Japanese cherries,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00he was invited to come across to Japan
0:19:00 > 0:19:03and address the Cherry Society.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06And when he went across he spotted a picture, and in that picture
0:19:06 > 0:19:09there was a beautiful white Japanese cherry tree.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11It was then that he learned that this cherry
0:19:11 > 0:19:13was no longer cultivated in Japan.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17He actually recognised the cherry from a cherry that he knew of
0:19:17 > 0:19:18in the United Kingdom.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22So he was able to come back to the UK and propagate that cherry,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25which was really run down, and sent it out to Japan.
0:19:25 > 0:19:26It's a lovely story, isn't it?
0:19:26 > 0:19:29The fact that there was this one Englishman with an eccentric name
0:19:29 > 0:19:32who just reintroduces this whole species back into Japan.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Absolutely amazing, yeah.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37And thanks to him, we now have these wonderful Prunus Tai-haku trees,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39not just in this country but all over the world.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41And they're quite easy, aren't they? Are they easy to grow?
0:19:41 > 0:19:45They are very easy. In fact, we don't do an awful lot to them.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47They enjoy a fairly dry soil.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49They don't like their feet being wet.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51You plant them with lots of compost?
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Yes, a fair amount. Compost or leaf mould, just worked into the soil.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56- Give them a good start. - That's right.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58And you leave them, really, to get on with it.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01It's never a good idea to prune a cherry tree hard, anyway, is it?
0:20:01 > 0:20:03It's not, really, because you open the plant up
0:20:03 > 0:20:05to lots of infection, then you start to get canker developing.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08So, no, I would tend not to prune, really.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11So only in desperate circumstances do you take a saw to them.
0:20:11 > 0:20:12Definitely.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20So, if you had a small garden,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22would this be the tree that you would plant in it?
0:20:22 > 0:20:24No, this would get too big.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Really, these trees tend to be quite large trees with flat tops
0:20:27 > 0:20:29that cast a lot of shade underneath,
0:20:29 > 0:20:31and really it would dominate your garden.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33- Bad for a small garden.- Yes.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36But not bad for a middle-sized garden?
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Or, if you have a very large garden, then 350 will do.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42TREVOR LAUGHS
0:20:47 > 0:20:51in Japan, if you're willing to ride the blossom wave as it sweeps north,
0:20:51 > 0:20:56you can follow flowers from January through to May.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59But here in the UK we're only treated to this delicious display
0:20:59 > 0:21:03for a brief few weeks in March and April.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06The thing about cherry blossom
0:21:06 > 0:21:09is that the season is unbelievably short,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12and within just a few days, all of this will be gone.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15And so it has come to symbolise those fleeting moments
0:21:15 > 0:21:19in our lives, and how we must appreciate every one of them.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21And what better way to appreciate
0:21:21 > 0:21:24one of those fleeting moments than this?
0:21:35 > 0:21:37The blossom may not be out yet at Alnwick.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39They have a website, so if you go to the website
0:21:39 > 0:21:42and check it out they will flag up when it comes into flower.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45It should be in about a week or two.
0:21:45 > 0:21:46I've never been, I confess.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51It's one of those places I'm dying to go and see at any time of year.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54The blossom here at Longmeadow begins with this.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56This is a damson.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00It is light and frothy and borne on bare branches.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04And then over the next few weeks, with the crab apples and the pears
0:22:04 > 0:22:09and the cherries and the apples, the whole garden just blossoms.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Come on.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Come on.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28The cottage garden used to be the vegetable garden.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32And when I made the shift, I thought that we must have some topiary
0:22:32 > 0:22:36to get that spirit of the traditional cottage garden style.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38And this is my Nigel topiary.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Early days, not nearly finished, but it's beginning...
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Come here, you can... Come here, Nige. There we go.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47You're facing the wrong way.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49It's coming into being.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Now is a really good time to plant evergreens.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57And yew, or box, makes the best topiary.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Yew is perfect, because the harder you clip it,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01the denser the regrowth.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04And you can clip right back into the wood,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and that will sprout new shoots.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08So, we're coming along here.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10But there is a little bit of a problem
0:23:10 > 0:23:12because we're missing two vital elements,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15which is Nigel's right front leg and his rear hind leg,
0:23:15 > 0:23:17so I'm going to plant them now.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22I'm using cuttings that I took two or three years ago.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28I realise that we're going to have to have a yew ball in his mouth.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29Because he's standing looking at me
0:23:29 > 0:23:32because that is really what he wants. BALL SQUEAKS
0:23:32 > 0:23:35We need a ball there, and then he will pose. Go on, you can take that.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47OK. I don't want to plant it too deep. There we go.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56There we go.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12We will tie that into there.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Try and use twine that is softer than the material you are tying.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20So if anything is going to break or rot or be damaged,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22it's the twine and not the plant.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27You should be thinking about tying in, not cutting.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29It's not a good time to trim topiary.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34And most people cut their topiary in August or September.
0:24:37 > 0:24:38Those two cuttings are planted,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and all I want them to do for the next year or two
0:24:41 > 0:24:45is establish into nice, strong, fast-growing plants.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49Then I can worry about the details of turning them
0:24:49 > 0:24:51into reasonably lifelike legs.
0:24:51 > 0:24:57One tip I would say is that any plant is going to grow much
0:24:57 > 0:25:01more strongly if it is growing vertically than horizontally.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04So, like his tail here, I've left growing up.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06And when it reaches the length that you want,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and this applies to any part or any type of topiary,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12then you can tie it to the horizontal.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15But as soon as you tie it down, that will slow down the growth.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20I'll give these a little bit of water.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27And your back leg, Nige.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36I realised that I'm going to have to plant another topiary for Nel,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38and have the pair of them.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40And it's right and proper that Nel will be a bit slower
0:25:40 > 0:25:42and a bit smaller and take a while to catch up.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44And if it's anything like the real dog,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46the topiary will take off in the night,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49dig holes where I don't want holes,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and generally be very naughty indeed.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Now, I have been sent a picture by Geoffrey Bright,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57and he sent it via Facebook,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00which is a really good way of communicating with us, of his dog.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02There we are.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05It's good. A slight touch of the wild boar about it, perhaps.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07But then I think looking at my Nigel,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I'm in no position to criticise anybody,
0:26:09 > 0:26:10and I don't want to,
0:26:10 > 0:26:15because quirky, individual topiary is fantastic,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18and please send us pictures, if you've got them.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Now, I realise that not everybody does topiary,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25so here are some jobs that we can all do this weekend.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Gooseberries, redcurrants and white currants
0:26:32 > 0:26:35can all be pruned now to open them out.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37This is not the case with blackcurrants.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Cut back any inward-growing branches
0:26:41 > 0:26:44or any that are crowded or crossing.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Any growth that is left can be cut back by about a quarter.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53What you are looking to achieve is the strong framework
0:26:53 > 0:26:55of an open goblet.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Rubus tibetanus and Rubus cockburnianus
0:27:03 > 0:27:07are ornamental brambles that look fantastic in winter,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09with their white downy coating
0:27:09 > 0:27:10over plum coloured stems.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14But they can be very invasive.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17When the stems touch the ground they layer and form new plants.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21And also they are horribly prickly for the gardener. So coppice them.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27That means cutting back all this year's growth, right to the ground.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Clear them away, and new shoots will soon appear.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40Mophead and lacecap hydrangeas can be pruned now.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Cut-off last year's dead flowers,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46plus between a quarter and a third of the shoots,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49cutting back to a pair of nice, healthy buds.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Remove any branches that are crossing or damaged
0:27:52 > 0:27:55so you have a nice, healthy framework.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04Well, I have given this hydrangea,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06this is Hydrangea macrophylla 'Veitchi',
0:28:06 > 0:28:09a bit more of a hard prune because it was all over the shop.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11And what I've really looked for is a decent shape.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14But the principle is exactly the same.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Just cut back by about a third, move any crossing branches,
0:28:18 > 0:28:19and it's fine.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23And it feels pretty fine also on these lovely spring evenings.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25It's been a funny day.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30Started cold, got rainy, and now has ended with lovely spring sunshine.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34So, I hope that sunshine stays with you all weekend.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37And I'll be back here next week at Longmeadow. Until then, bye-bye.