Episode 7 Gardeners' World


Episode 7

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Episode 7. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Hello. Welcome to Gardeners' World.

0:00:150:00:18

If you keep pelargoniums stored over winter on a windowsill

0:00:180:00:23

or in a heated greenhouse like this,

0:00:230:00:24

they'll go on growing and flowering but they do get leggy.

0:00:240:00:29

If you lift one up...

0:00:290:00:31

By "leggy", I mean there's an awful lot of bare stem,

0:00:310:00:35

and that will go on producing flower up and up and up.

0:00:350:00:38

So by cutting it back now, that will stimulate new growth and then

0:00:380:00:43

you'll have a good shape covered with flower.

0:00:430:00:45

Now, it's not all pelargoniums on tonight's programme.

0:00:470:00:50

Joe Swift's looking at extraordinary gardens and meeting the people

0:00:500:00:55

who have designed them.

0:00:550:00:56

And we visit the plot of the king of No Dig - Charles Dowding.

0:00:580:01:04

It's time to plant out sweet peas

0:01:210:01:24

and I just want to show you the difference between growing

0:01:240:01:27

them yourself and buying them.

0:01:270:01:29

I've got a pot here with just a single seedling that was sown

0:01:290:01:35

in January.

0:01:350:01:37

And it's grown perfectly well.

0:01:370:01:39

This is a pot bought the other day and there are eight seedlings in it.

0:01:390:01:43

Now, they're perfectly healthy, nothing wrong with them at all.

0:01:430:01:46

But the secret of really good sweet peas

0:01:460:01:50

is to have a strong, healthy plant.

0:01:500:01:53

And if you've got eight seedlings competing for the same water

0:01:530:01:56

and the same nourishment,

0:01:560:01:58

they can never be as strong as if you've got one or two.

0:01:580:02:01

Having said that, it is too late to sow sweet peas now so if you haven't

0:02:010:02:05

got them, do go and buy them

0:02:050:02:07

and they will give you a lot of pleasure, but next year, think about

0:02:070:02:10

growing your own.

0:02:100:02:11

I like growing sweet peas up wigwams tripods,

0:02:180:02:22

because you can then put them in the border and they rise up and

0:02:220:02:26

you get the colour working in with the plants around them.

0:02:260:02:30

This is a variety called Royal Wedding, which is a white sweet pea.

0:02:300:02:35

And I'll always plant on the inside so that the roots can reach

0:02:350:02:40

the water. When you water,

0:02:400:02:41

you just water inside the space and that gives them maximum water

0:02:410:02:46

because the one thing about sweet peas is they are very thirsty

0:02:460:02:49

and very greedy.

0:02:490:02:51

If you've got sandy soil or thin, chalky soil,

0:02:510:02:54

really do add lots of organic matter.

0:02:540:02:58

It will make a big difference.

0:02:580:03:00

If nothing else, to act as a reservoir to hold moisture for them.

0:03:000:03:04

In we go.

0:03:060:03:07

And I put one pot per bean stick.

0:03:110:03:14

And, of course, you could use bamboo just as well.

0:03:140:03:17

If you've got eight or more growing in a pot,

0:03:170:03:21

break them up to reduce the number at each growing station.

0:03:210:03:26

They like cool weather.

0:03:280:03:30

Sunshine, not too cold, but certainly not too hot or too dry.

0:03:300:03:36

So don't put them in blazing sunny positions and, above all,

0:03:360:03:41

make sure they don't get dry.

0:03:410:03:43

These will need watering once a week unless it's very wet.

0:03:430:03:48

There we go.

0:03:480:03:49

You will have to tie them in but after about five or six weeks

0:03:550:04:01

they'll become self-supporting.

0:04:010:04:03

Now, sweet peas, for all their loveliness, are very conventional

0:04:060:04:10

but Joe Swift is looking at a range of unusual and extraordinary

0:04:100:04:15

gardens, sometimes. And, of course,

0:04:150:04:17

he is a Chelsea gold medal winner so in a very good position, not just to

0:04:170:04:22

enjoy them, but to look at how they have been designed and put together.

0:04:220:04:27

Now, it's always good to hear about a garden you've never seen before,

0:04:330:04:37

especially when it's just around the corner from where you live,

0:04:370:04:40

but what intrigues me about this one is it's made by

0:04:400:04:44

a designer but they're not a garden designer.

0:04:440:04:47

Abigail Ahern is at the forefront of British interior design.

0:04:500:04:54

Tucked behind her terraced house is a west-facing,

0:04:540:04:58

6-metre-by-30-metre garden.

0:04:580:05:00

Abigail bought the house as a wreck back in 1998 but only turned

0:05:020:05:05

her attention to the garden in the last couple of years.

0:05:050:05:09

-What a haven...

-Thank you!

-..in the city.

0:05:100:05:13

I've become a garden obsessive.

0:05:130:05:16

-I know nothing about gardening...

-That's not true, and I can see that

0:05:160:05:21

from your garden.

0:05:210:05:22

Lived with barrenness for years and years and years,

0:05:220:05:25

but we have this double-height glass wall,

0:05:250:05:27

so I was looking at this fairly miserable garden for ages

0:05:270:05:30

and the outside looked so dismal that it drove me crazy.

0:05:300:05:33

And not knowing anything about gardening and how to make

0:05:330:05:36

a magical garden, I literally had to use my kind of knowledge of

0:05:360:05:40

interiors and apply the same principles to outside and planting.

0:05:400:05:44

So I wanted it to feel really magical and lush and tropical -

0:05:440:05:48

and also evergreen, so a lot of time in the winter it looks like this,

0:05:480:05:52

which is really key because I overlook it all the time.

0:05:520:05:55

What about the layout? Did you draw that out on a piece of paper?

0:05:550:05:57

-How did that come together?

-I didn't draw it out. I never...

0:05:570:06:00

I sort of see things in my head, so I bought a cabin and plonked

0:06:000:06:03

that at the end of the garden, which really grounded the whole space,

0:06:030:06:07

and then realised all the planting

0:06:070:06:09

was just shoved around the perimeter.

0:06:090:06:11

So it's the same with interiors - everybody shoves their sofa against

0:06:110:06:14

the walls like a doctor's waiting room, which drives me crazy,

0:06:140:06:16

and I'm all about bringing things in.

0:06:160:06:19

Like, I want to feel like I've fallen down

0:06:190:06:22

a rabbit hole and I don't quite know where I am.

0:06:220:06:24

-This is a new addition, isn't it?

-It's a new addition.

0:06:320:06:34

-Mimosa.

-I love its feathery leaves.

0:06:340:06:36

-It's beautiful and in flower.

-I know.

-You know how big that gets?

0:06:360:06:39

-It's just going to go up and up and up.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Yes!

0:06:390:06:42

-That's what you want?

-That's music to my ears.

0:06:420:06:44

-This is pittosporum. Do you know all the names of your plants?

-No.

0:06:480:06:51

Is that what it is, a pittosporum?

0:06:510:06:53

Pittosporum tobira Variegata.

0:06:530:06:55

-Nice.

-And it's a fantastic plant.

0:06:550:06:57

So is this a bespoke cabin?

0:07:040:07:06

It's not, I just picked it up off the internet and it's

0:07:060:07:09

my little bolthole and it's where I go and write and just escape.

0:07:090:07:12

It's black or very dark grey.

0:07:120:07:14

People are scared of that colour in the garden but it does work.

0:07:140:07:17

People are scared of the colour in the garden, in interiors,

0:07:170:07:20

but I think the thing about inky, dark colours is they make

0:07:200:07:23

anything that stands against it really pop out and look lush.

0:07:230:07:26

Lighting has become really integral because I realised before I lit the

0:07:280:07:32

garden I was just looking out in the winter on this really black space.

0:07:320:07:36

So I've lit it like an interior.

0:07:360:07:38

I've suspended chandeliers from trees,

0:07:380:07:41

which against the darkness looks really magical.

0:07:410:07:44

I've suspended all these festooned lights running along

0:07:440:07:47

the whole pathway.

0:07:470:07:48

I've got floor lights and pendant lights and table lights everywhere

0:07:480:07:52

so it becomes an extension of my indoor space at night.

0:07:520:07:56

-You know this is Gardeners' World?

-I do.

0:07:570:08:00

I'm a little bit worried this is plastic. And you've got a few

0:08:000:08:04

-plastic plants around the garden - cacti and things.

-I have.

0:08:040:08:07

First of all, they're not plastic, they're faux botanicals.

0:08:070:08:10

-That's the new word of them.

-OK.

0:08:100:08:12

Secondly, I want the garden curated like an interior space, so there's

0:08:120:08:17

big vases with oversized foliages and fronds trailing everywhere,

0:08:170:08:21

and thirdly, I think that when you play around with what's real

0:08:210:08:26

and what isn't, it kind of doesn't make sense and therefor it

0:08:260:08:29

throws your mind and makes you feel even more kind of enchanted.

0:08:290:08:32

-So not everything makes sense immediately.

-Yeah.

0:08:320:08:35

They're very realistic and they do add

0:08:350:08:37

a whole different sort of dimension to the garden.

0:08:370:08:41

Abigail's garden is only a small space

0:08:430:08:45

but she's packed a lot into it.

0:08:450:08:47

The first thing that strikes me is how successful the connection

0:08:480:08:52

between the garden and the interior is.

0:08:520:08:55

So here we've got plants,

0:08:550:08:57

they feel like they're flooding in from the garden.

0:08:570:09:00

So when you do go outside, we got a classic outdoor room,

0:09:000:09:03

somewhere to relax, sit, cook and entertain.

0:09:030:09:07

And the connection between the outdoors and the indoors

0:09:070:09:11

is so strong. If you're going to go for it,

0:09:110:09:13

really go for it - just like Abigail has.

0:09:130:09:16

What Abigail's done so well is break up the middle space of this garden.

0:09:180:09:22

I know it's so difficult to get away from that rectangular lawn in

0:09:220:09:26

a rectangular space but you've really got to start filling up the

0:09:260:09:30

middle of the garden with plants and trees and objects and

0:09:300:09:34

sculpture - whatever it might be. In a way, what you're trying to do

0:09:340:09:37

is get the dancers on to the dance floor.

0:09:370:09:41

Most of the planting in this garden is informal, it's very relaxed -

0:09:420:09:48

except these two long lines of carex grasses straddling the side

0:09:480:09:52

of the path, two really big brushstrokes in the planting.

0:09:520:09:57

And what they do is lead you right up this straight garden path, and

0:09:570:10:01

when you get to the end, you're not disappointed and that's

0:10:010:10:04

so important in garden design - you've got somewhere to go.

0:10:040:10:08

This city garden is not only unique, fresh and packed full of personality

0:10:100:10:15

but I just love the process it's been through to get here.

0:10:150:10:20

Abigail has broken lots of rules.

0:10:200:10:22

We get stuck in our ways and perhaps a little bit formulaic when

0:10:220:10:25

it comes to our own gardens,

0:10:250:10:27

but she's shown that a whole different approach can create

0:10:270:10:30

something really special.

0:10:300:10:33

As for plastic plants, well, I wouldn't have them in my garden

0:10:370:10:41

but here...

0:10:410:10:43

(I quite like them.)

0:10:430:10:45

The trouble with real plants, as opposed to faux botanicals,

0:10:590:11:02

is that they are prone to disease and predation.

0:11:020:11:07

The box balls that used to be in this area got terribly

0:11:070:11:10

blighted and earlier this year we ripped them out and burnt them.

0:11:100:11:14

So this is part of an ongoing new project,

0:11:140:11:17

and one of the side effects of that is to reveal this wall, unclothed.

0:11:170:11:22

Now, it's east-facing and, for a lot of people,

0:11:220:11:25

a shady, cold wall is a problem,

0:11:250:11:28

but, actually, it's an opportunity.

0:11:280:11:30

So today I want to plant a rose that will cover the whole of this wall

0:11:300:11:36

and be very happy in this position.

0:11:360:11:38

Now, as we move across to this side, the wall gets shadier and

0:11:380:11:43

I've got another rose that will cope with that.

0:11:430:11:45

And in the corner, which is pure north-facing, constant shade,

0:11:450:11:49

I've got a hydrangea that will love that position.

0:11:490:11:54

This is Madame Alfred Carriere and she's a princess amongst roses,

0:11:570:12:03

one of my favourites. White flowers that have a touch of pink to them

0:12:030:12:08

and very fragrant - a tough, reliable

0:12:080:12:11

but extremely elegant plant.

0:12:110:12:14

Right, I'm digging a hole that's quite deep because you want

0:12:140:12:17

to plant roses a little bit deeper than they are in the pot.

0:12:170:12:21

Can you see there?

0:12:250:12:27

That is the graft point

0:12:270:12:30

where the top is joined to the roots.

0:12:300:12:35

And all the roses you buy will have that graft point.

0:12:350:12:40

And that should be planted an inch below soil level.

0:12:400:12:45

And the reason you do that is it reduces suckering - and suckers grow

0:12:450:12:49

from the root and have different flowers from the top,

0:12:490:12:53

so you do not want suckers.

0:12:530:12:55

The hole is not tight up against the wall.

0:12:550:12:58

Any wall soaks up moisture,

0:12:580:13:00

so the further away it is from the wall, the less dry it will be.

0:13:000:13:04

Obviously that will be watered in but first of all I'm going to

0:13:090:13:13

plant the other two and water them all together.

0:13:130:13:16

Souvenir du Docteur Jamain is a magnificent rose

0:13:180:13:23

with rich, burgundy flowers that will repeat all summer long.

0:13:230:13:28

But it really does not like being in full sun.

0:13:280:13:32

So find it a shady spot and it will flourish.

0:13:320:13:37

Souvenir du Docteur Jamain will cover this space here.

0:13:370:13:41

It's not as big as a Madame Alfred Carriere

0:13:410:13:43

but it might well grow into what I'm about to plant,

0:13:430:13:46

which is the climbing hydrangea.

0:13:460:13:48

This is Hydrangea anomala subspecies petiolaris

0:13:480:13:53

but to its friends it's always known as Hydrangea petiolaris.

0:13:530:13:57

Magnificent white flowers. It's got the outer sepals

0:13:570:14:00

and the true flowers are smaller on the inside.

0:14:000:14:04

I'm going to put it right here in the corner.

0:14:040:14:06

It'll take the deepest shade.

0:14:060:14:08

And it's a vigorous climber and it's self-supporting.

0:14:080:14:11

So unlike the roses, which will need wires, this will cling to

0:14:110:14:16

the brickwork. But don't worry, it won't damage the bricks.

0:14:160:14:19

This one I don't want to bury.

0:14:190:14:22

I want to make sure that the height that it was in the pot

0:14:220:14:26

is the same height with the soil.

0:14:260:14:28

And it does like a fairly rich, well-drained soil.

0:14:300:14:34

And the next absolutely critical thing for all three plants is

0:14:350:14:39

a really generous drink.

0:14:390:14:41

The biggest problem with most climbing plants is they get

0:14:510:14:55

too dry, so if you do have a dry spell,

0:14:550:14:59

do remember to water them regularly.

0:14:590:15:01

These are key plants that would work well in any garden,

0:15:010:15:06

but as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations we are looking

0:15:060:15:10

for our Golden Jubilee Plant that has had the greatest impact

0:15:100:15:15

over the last 50 years.

0:15:150:15:17

This week it's the turn of Flo Headlam.

0:15:170:15:21

My choice for the Gardeners' World Jubilee Plant is

0:15:240:15:27

a summer flowering jasmine.

0:15:270:15:28

I think it's a plant that should be in every garden.

0:15:280:15:32

So, first off, you've got the scent, you've got this wonderful

0:15:320:15:36

white flower that just fills the evening air with that

0:15:360:15:39

beautiful aroma,

0:15:390:15:40

and I think it's one of the compelling reasons why jasmine

0:15:400:15:44

has been so popular in our gardens because we want to welcome scent

0:15:440:15:47

into our outdoor spaces.

0:15:470:15:50

And it's a plant that's easy to grow.

0:15:500:15:52

It'll grow in any soil and it will cover a wall or a fence

0:15:520:15:57

really easily because it's vigorous,

0:15:570:15:59

it will grow and it will spread and it will just take up that space.

0:15:590:16:02

It's deciduous so it loses its leaves but you can train the

0:16:020:16:05

stems and create quite a dramatic and artistic form

0:16:050:16:10

that you can see in the winter months.

0:16:100:16:12

So it makes a wonderful package. Vote for jasmine.

0:16:140:16:17

I'm finding it fascinating hearing these different proposals for

0:16:280:16:32

our Golden Jubilee Plant nominations.

0:16:320:16:35

And you suddenly start to think, "Oh, maybe that is the one."

0:16:350:16:39

But you will have chance to decide when all ten have been put forward.

0:16:390:16:43

Then you can vote and we'll be letting you know exactly how

0:16:430:16:46

to do that and announcing the winner at Gardeners' World Live.

0:16:460:16:49

I'm pretty sure no-one is going to come up with

0:16:490:16:53

a carrot as the most important plant of the last 50 years.

0:16:530:16:58

But I can't imagine gardening without them.

0:16:580:17:02

I'm going to sow some carrots here.

0:17:020:17:05

I find broadcasting carrots is the best way to grow them.

0:17:050:17:10

But if you just scatter the seed willy-nilly,

0:17:100:17:13

weeds grow up, it's very difficult to keep weed-free,

0:17:130:17:16

and it doesn't work so well.

0:17:160:17:19

If you sow them just in a row you, then have to thin them.

0:17:190:17:22

And if you thin them, that attracts carrot fly.

0:17:220:17:25

So I broadcast them in rows.

0:17:250:17:28

I mark out the rows with two boards.

0:17:280:17:30

I'm going to sprinkle the seed in-between the boards here.

0:17:300:17:34

I've got a Nantes-type, and Nantes carrots are shorter

0:17:340:17:39

and stubbier and there are a number of different kinds.

0:17:390:17:42

And they also tend to be a bit earlier.

0:17:420:17:44

Carrot seed are small and you don't

0:17:460:17:48

get nearly as many to the packet as you used to.

0:17:480:17:52

But perhaps that's a truism about life.

0:17:520:17:54

So, sprinkle them thinly - but freely - between the boards

0:17:550:18:02

and if any fall on the board it doesn't matter.

0:18:020:18:05

There you go. A packet is perfect.

0:18:060:18:09

What will happen is they will grow up and there will be

0:18:110:18:13

a clean area where the board was without anything growing.

0:18:130:18:17

So you can hoe in there. It also gives you somewhere to tread.

0:18:170:18:20

Don't thin them, and you harvest them as you go along.

0:18:200:18:23

It cuts down carrot fly and the carrots grow undisturbed by

0:18:230:18:27

the heavy hand of the gardener.

0:18:270:18:30

Now, I did dig this ground over before sowing.

0:18:410:18:45

I don't dig the raised beds but these beds I do

0:18:450:18:48

and that wouldn't be approved of by Charles Dowding because Charles

0:18:480:18:52

has become the guru of No Dig gardening.

0:18:520:18:56

He's a really good grower, organic, and has fabulous produce

0:18:560:19:01

and last summer we went down to Somerset to see how he does it.

0:19:010:19:06

What has always interested me the most

0:19:140:19:16

is the link between soil health,

0:19:160:19:18

plant health and people health.

0:19:180:19:21

And so that's why I started being organic.

0:19:210:19:24

And then that health idea also developed into No Dig.

0:19:240:19:28

No Dig is about not disturbing the soil

0:19:300:19:33

and this allows soil life,

0:19:330:19:35

of which there is plenty in there all the time,

0:19:350:19:37

to proliferate and if we feed that soil life with organic mulches

0:19:370:19:42

on top, soil life comes out looking for food and you get

0:19:420:19:45

a hive of activity in the soil which can then work with plant roots

0:19:450:19:49

to make nutrients and moisture available.

0:19:490:19:52

When soil is dug, cultivated, rotovated,

0:19:540:19:57

the matrix of structure is broken.

0:19:570:20:01

With No Dig, the structure is firm, it's not disturbed,

0:20:010:20:05

but you actually get better drainage because you've left the

0:20:050:20:09

beautiful matrix of holes made by soil life and water can

0:20:090:20:14

percolate, as well as roots going through that matrix structure,

0:20:140:20:17

to bring water up again.

0:20:170:20:20

Digging sometimes to me feels a bit like ripping off the clothes,

0:20:200:20:23

you know, it's a bit aggressive,

0:20:230:20:26

and I think then soil thinks, "I'm not sure I like this."

0:20:260:20:29

And it wants to recover.

0:20:290:20:31

Recover means getting over what's happened but also literally,

0:20:310:20:35

in soil's case, recover with weeds.

0:20:350:20:37

It gives you incredible benefits going on through the season

0:20:390:20:43

and I find I'm doing less weeding.

0:20:430:20:45

And it's one of the reason I can run a quarter-acre market garden

0:20:450:20:49

and be very productive. There's really very little weeding to do.

0:20:490:20:53

The undisturbed soil with its compost mulch stays clean.

0:20:530:20:56

I never set out to change anything, really,

0:21:010:21:04

but what I didn't like was the way a lot of chemicals were being

0:21:040:21:06

used to grow food and so I was looking at how to grow more

0:21:060:21:10

healthy food, healthy for the environment and healthy for people.

0:21:100:21:14

During the '80s, with every year that passed, organic became

0:21:140:21:18

a little bit more acceptable, more and more people got interested.

0:21:180:21:21

I remember one day, summer 1988,

0:21:210:21:24

I was in my garden and this guy hopped over the fence.

0:21:240:21:27

It turned out he was a Gardeners' World producer and that ended

0:21:270:21:30

with Geoff Hamilton coming - and we got on really well.

0:21:300:21:33

Charles, the crops are looking really good.

0:21:330:21:36

What fertiliser are you using on them?

0:21:360:21:39

I'm not using any, Geoff.

0:21:390:21:40

It's good soil and we're putting on quite heavy dressings of

0:21:400:21:44

-manure and compost and that's enough.

-No chemicals at all?

-No.

0:21:440:21:48

That is really quite remarkable.

0:21:480:21:50

'What he was concentrating on was organic because, even in 1988,

0:21:500:21:55

'organic was still very new and talking with Geoff, you know,

0:21:550:21:59

'I realised it could become quite mainstream.'

0:21:590:22:02

The compost, that just spreads over the top, does it?

0:22:020:22:06

Just sprinkled on top.

0:22:060:22:08

How's that? I'm not a dab hand at this job.

0:22:100:22:12

That's fine. That's the idea anyway.

0:22:120:22:15

After that, he really promoted it and

0:22:150:22:18

he was the catalyst for making organic gardening very acceptable,

0:22:180:22:22

showing how it's possible and I'd love to think,

0:22:220:22:25

if he was still around, I think he'd be really up for No Dig as well.

0:22:250:22:28

Starting out depends what you've got,

0:22:370:22:40

particularly in the way of weeds.

0:22:400:22:42

I would say, on the whole, if you've got a lot of weeds,

0:22:420:22:45

actually that's not a bad sign.

0:22:450:22:48

Weeds don't grow on barren soil or in poor conditions.

0:22:480:22:51

It's really straightforward to begin.

0:22:530:22:55

You can just make a bed on the weeds, the grass,

0:22:550:22:59

whatever it might be that you have.

0:22:590:23:02

Put down a frame and fill it with compost.

0:23:020:23:05

And the compost you use will exclude the light from the weeds

0:23:050:23:10

and so you haven't got to worry about removing turf or scarifying

0:23:100:23:13

the ground in any way, removing anything that's there.

0:23:130:23:17

I like to keep the finest compost I have for the surface layer

0:23:180:23:22

and that means I've got a good surface for sowing and

0:23:220:23:25

planting and it's ideal, really, if it's a little bit dry. In my case,

0:23:250:23:28

I'm using mushroom compost.

0:23:280:23:31

Bought compost from the supermarket in big bags would be suitable

0:23:310:23:34

as well and you can sow and plant into that straightaway.

0:23:340:23:37

So that gives you a lovely sense of completion.

0:23:390:23:41

It's a one-afternoon project, if you like.

0:23:410:23:43

Many gardens now are No Dig.

0:23:480:23:50

They might not always say so, in fact, that it's, yeah,

0:23:500:23:52

really getting out there.

0:23:520:23:53

And I love sharing it, I really like talking with people,

0:23:530:23:56

particularly gardeners,

0:23:560:23:57

and I think a lot of gardeners have got a great curiosity and are

0:23:570:24:00

a bit frustrated by always being given almost a set of rules,

0:24:000:24:03

so I'm always saying, you know, "Try different things."

0:24:030:24:06

And No Dig is different in so many ways and it opens up

0:24:060:24:10

so many possibilities, so there's a bit of game changing going on

0:24:100:24:13

and I'm really happy to be part of it.

0:24:130:24:15

For years, I had this idea that somehow digging was

0:24:260:24:30

a sign of morality, even virility,

0:24:300:24:34

and used to dig with enthusiasm but I'm a convert now.

0:24:340:24:37

One should dig as little as possible.

0:24:370:24:40

It has been another glorious spring day here at Longmeadow.

0:25:060:25:11

Let's see what the weather holds in store for us gardeners this weekend.

0:25:110:25:15

It is a glorious but busy time of year and it can feel

0:26:040:26:08

bewildering - you don't know where to begin.

0:26:080:26:10

Well, I'm here to help you.

0:26:100:26:12

Here are the jobs you should be doing this weekend.

0:26:120:26:16

If, like me, you planted some seed potatoes in bags,

0:26:260:26:29

they should be showing signs of growth.

0:26:290:26:32

And if you earth them up now, that will protect them from frost

0:26:320:26:35

and encourage greater tuber development.

0:26:350:26:38

Just add some compost around them,

0:26:380:26:40

leaving the tip of the foliage showing.

0:26:400:26:43

Citrus plants are showing signs of new growth and it's a little early

0:26:480:26:52

to put them out unless you live somewhere warm but it's not

0:26:520:26:55

too early to feed them.

0:26:550:26:56

I use liquid seaweed.

0:26:560:26:58

Mix it up and give them a good drench.

0:26:580:27:02

A weak solution once a week is all they need.

0:27:020:27:05

If you didn't trim your lavender last autumn,

0:27:110:27:14

now is the time to do it. Cut them back, removing all the old growth,

0:27:140:27:18

but leave a few of the new shoots.

0:27:180:27:21

This will set them up to be good, compact shrubs

0:27:210:27:25

with lots of flower spikes.

0:27:250:27:27

Spring comes in waves in the garden and I always feel that when

0:27:340:27:39

the tulips really start to get established,

0:27:390:27:42

this is a completely fresh wave coming through.

0:27:420:27:46

We're not quite there yet but there is always

0:27:460:27:50

a point somewhere around the end of April when we reach peak tulip.

0:27:500:27:54

And then the garden opens out and the floodgates of colour pour in.

0:27:540:28:01

But they won't be pouring in today because we've run out of time

0:28:010:28:05

and we're not here next week but I'll see you back here at Longmeadow

0:28:050:28:08

in a couple of weeks' time and who knows? Could be peak tulip.

0:28:080:28:13

Come on.

0:28:130:28:14

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS