0:00:02 > 0:00:06Welcome to The A To Z Of TV Gardening, where we sift through your favourite gardening programmes
0:00:06 > 0:00:08and dig up a bumper crop of tips and advice
0:00:08 > 0:00:11from the best experts in the business.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Flowers, trees, fruit and veg.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Letter by letter, they're all coming up a treat on The A To Z Of TV Gardening.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39Everything we're looking at today begins with the letter... J.
0:00:39 > 0:00:40Here's what's coming up.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43These juniper trees had better know how much people care!
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Hanging out with Juliet Morris on a radical conservation scheme.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51The benefits of using jasmine in your garden.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56I'm not just doing it so I can have a nice time outside in the evening
0:00:56 > 0:00:58but hopefully it will attract lots of moths.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Junior gardeners at Chelsea.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Find out how they got on.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06There's thousands of people there so it's going to be exciting.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09And Rachel de Thame on the joy of gardening.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11I know it's only a border
0:01:11 > 0:01:15but for me it's a really big deal and I've waited a long time to do it.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18That's all to come.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20But we start today with a journey into the wild.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Get your safari suits ready.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Because J is for jungle gardening.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30Let's meet our guides Rob and Dave, aka The J Team.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39We're at Desert Jungle HQ in Taunton.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44Which is our little exotic plant centre that Rob and I have created here over the last three years.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51We lived beside each other and we didn't speak to each other
0:01:51 > 0:01:54for the first four years after I moved in.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Cos I was a milkman and worked unsocial hours.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59And then suddenly noticed our gardens were beginning to merge.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02- I had bananas, he had bananas. - Yeah.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06One night there was a power cut and our neighbours had an Aga and it was the only place anyone could eat.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10- And erm... - So we all met up over stew and...
0:02:10 > 0:02:12And our lives have never been the same since!
0:02:12 > 0:02:16- And our wives rue the day we ever met, I think.- Definitely!
0:02:18 > 0:02:21You can have an exotic garden with totally hardy plants.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24You can put down a membrane, you can bark over the top.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27There's no weeding. Or you can use the really difficult stuff
0:02:27 > 0:02:29which gives a different dimension to your exotic garden.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32But does incorporate a bit more work.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36You've got to be prepared to be sitting at work on a December evening.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39Weather forecast comes out there's a frost. Thinking, I've got to get home really fast!
0:02:39 > 0:02:43Get the fleece out, cover up the tree fern, the banana or whatever.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46That's just you. Most normal people don't!
0:02:49 > 0:02:53We've got a huge range of plants, far more than we thought we would.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57We specialise in bamboos, tree ferns, palm trees.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Cannas and aroids.
0:02:59 > 0:03:00We do a lot of cacti and succulents.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05We've probably got the best part of 1000 different things, I suppose.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12One of my loves is bamboo. I think they're fabulous plants.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Evergreen, and the colour range on them is just fabulous.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18You get this delicious yellow colour on some of them.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21There's a bamboo for every garden. Some of them can be quite thuggish.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25This one here for example is beautiful but it's big.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27They work great in a jungle garden as a really good foil.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30It just gives you that evergreen structure.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33So in the winter there's always interest in the garden with bamboos.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35It's just the ultimate plant.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40This is my tree fern house.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42It's my favourite place on the entire nursery.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47This is possibly the most special of all of them.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Certainly my favourite one. It's Cyathea medularris from New Zealand.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Or it's called the mamaku.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55And it's immense, it'll grow 60 feet tall.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58What I think is incredible, you've got this frond coming up here
0:03:58 > 0:04:00that over a period of weeks just grows and grows.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03It's going to get this huge frond at the end of it.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06And it's just an incredible marvel of engineering
0:04:06 > 0:04:08how something, this little fist of frond,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11can turn into this great big thing above my head here.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16If you can get hold of a small medularris and love it, look after it,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19it'll be possibly the best plant in the garden.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Certainly the best plant in mine.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28If you want to take the plunge and have your own tree fern,
0:04:28 > 0:04:32first thing to do is to choose a really good plant.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34First of all just feel, put your hand in.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Have a good grope, bit of a James Herriot moment! Put your hand in the centre of the trunk.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40See if you can find the fronds in the centre.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45And you can feel them all tightly curled up. That's a good sign of a nice healthy tree fern.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Next one is have a look at the trunk. It should be heavy.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52If it's really light, don't buy it, because it hasn't been looked after.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Then when you get it home, all you need to do
0:04:55 > 0:04:58is to sink it about an inch into the soil. That's all you do.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Put a nice stout stake behind it to hold it in place.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04And then just start flooding it with water.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07And in the winter, handful of straw in the centre of the crown
0:05:07 > 0:05:08and that will get it through the winter.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Don't worry about wrapping it. It's not necessary.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15More often will actually cause the plant to dry out and you'll kill it.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27We've won two silver-gilts this year and we've been really close.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30A lot of our plants, the tropical ones, don't start growing until the end of May.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34And so by Hampton Court it's almost at the pique of the growing season.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36So we should be at our best, shouldn't we?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Yes, a gold for Hampton Court!
0:05:39 > 0:05:40Thanks, fellas.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45And in case you're wondering, they got another silver-gilt medal. Not bad at all!
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Now we're staying with the exotic, but this time we're actually travelling abroad.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Our next J is for Jamaica.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56We're going to be meeting the Jamaican Royal Society ladies
0:05:56 > 0:05:59who dream of the gold medal at Chelsea.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03But before we do, let's get a botanical history of the island with Wesley Kerr.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Jamaica has never been connected to any other land mass.
0:06:12 > 0:06:18It boasts 1000 endemic plant species including 200 species of orchid.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20This is an island of abundance.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29Before Europeans first made contact with the indigenous Taino Indians
0:06:29 > 0:06:32this island was already known as Jamaica.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35A word meaning land of wood and water.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39For most of the five centuries since,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42much of Jamaica's wealth has come from the plants that grow here.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Jamaica became the most valuable colony in the British empire
0:06:47 > 0:06:49thanks to cane sugar.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Wealth from sugar funded many fortunes back in Britain
0:06:53 > 0:06:55and the industrial revolution.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Rum distilled from cane fired up the royal navy.
0:06:59 > 0:07:05My ancestors toiled in Jamaica's cane fields and sugar plantations like this one.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Which are still mass producing sugar to this day.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Captured from Spain in 1655,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15the colony was underpinned by slave labour.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18It was also a place for young freemen on the make,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21like the Irish naturalist and physician Hans Sloane.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25He arrived here in Spanish Town in 1687
0:07:25 > 0:07:28as the governor's doctor.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31And through him the plants on this island were to have a profound effect
0:07:31 > 0:07:35on British horticulture and world cuisine.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39In 1707 his Natural History of Jamaica was published.
0:07:39 > 0:07:43It's an astonishing record of Jamaica's people and plants.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45- This is his map! - Yes, it is.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47So what's here?
0:07:47 > 0:07:49A voyage to Jamaica with a natural history
0:07:49 > 0:07:54of the herbs and trees and four-footed beasts and fishes.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57As a Jamaican botanist, how useful is it to know that
0:07:57 > 0:08:00all this work was done over 300 years ago here?
0:08:00 > 0:08:01It's phenomenal
0:08:01 > 0:08:04because it maps the natural history as it was back then
0:08:04 > 0:08:09and know there were a lot of changes so you have this as a reference
0:08:09 > 0:08:13for you to read, look back at these accounts,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16and see what changes are happening between then and now.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Among his many achievements Hans Sloane has long been credited
0:08:20 > 0:08:22with the invention of milk chocolate.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26But his book suggests he may have got the idea from Jamaicans.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Chocolate is here used by all people at all times.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32But chiefly in the morning mixed with eggs.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35I found it in great quantities nauseous
0:08:35 > 0:08:39though children and infants drink it here as commonly as in England they feed on milk.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43And Sloane found chocolate more palatable mixed not with eggs but with milk
0:08:43 > 0:08:46and took the recipe home to England.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Soon many apothecaries were manufacturing a medicine
0:08:50 > 0:08:52Known as Sir Hans Sloane's milk chocolate.
0:08:52 > 0:08:58And it was this recipe that was later used by Messrs Cadbury in the nineteenth century.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02But it wasn't just the plants that Jamaica's given to the world
0:09:02 > 0:09:05but the plants that have been brought to Jamaica
0:09:05 > 0:09:08that have formed a key part of this island's history.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Port Royal became a safe haven for pirates.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16In return the pirates gave British ships safe passage through the Caribbean.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21And it was here that Captain William Bligh landed in 1793.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Six years earlier, Bligh had been appointed by the admiralty
0:09:26 > 0:09:28to go to Tahiti on board HMS Bounty
0:09:28 > 0:09:31to collect breadfruit trees.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33The intention was to bring them to the West Indies
0:09:33 > 0:09:38as a cheap year-round source of food for the slaves.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42But en route to Jamaica, the Bounty crew mutinied,
0:09:42 > 0:09:46casting Bligh and 18 loyal sailors adrift in the Pacific.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50It's thought he used a disproportionate amount of water available
0:09:50 > 0:09:53not to slake the crew's thirst
0:09:53 > 0:09:55but to water the plants.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Bligh's second journey was a success.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03On the south east of the island is Bath, where his breadfruit trees were first planted.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Today it's home to the second oldest botanical garden in the western hemisphere,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10established in 1779.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Today breadfruit grows prolifically all over the island.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19But here you can still see the direct descendants of those 2000 trees
0:10:19 > 0:10:23that Bligh brought on that historic second expedition.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28The breadfruit was boiled, roast, baked,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30and even some cases fried.
0:10:30 > 0:10:36And after slavery, what happened it became a bedrock in Jamaican society.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41And currently a lot of export to places like the UK,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43Canada, United States.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48And just about every country where you find migrant population.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50So it really was a great gift to Jamaica.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52It was a real gift indeed.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Among the plant samples Bligh took back to London was this.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Jamaica's national fruit, the ackee.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02In fact, it's a West African fruit,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04brought to Jamaica by slaves
0:11:04 > 0:11:08and later given the Latin name Blighia sapida
0:11:08 > 0:11:09in honour of Captain Bligh.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Not a novelty exotic
0:11:11 > 0:11:16but a mark of the fact that the horticultural histories of Jamaica and the UK
0:11:16 > 0:11:18are inextricably intertwined.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Pearl Wright first brought Jamaica to Chelsea,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33the crowds drawn to the vibrancy of her tropical blooms.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36But after 13 years, gold eludes her.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41So she's passed the floral baton to Blossom Levine.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Will their combined passion secure the ultimate prize?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50The women's quest for gold is made all the more difficult
0:11:50 > 0:11:52in a small country like Jamaica.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56The Chelsea team consists largely of enthusiastic amateurs
0:11:56 > 0:11:58with limited financial resources.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Here even professional growers
0:12:00 > 0:12:04performed horticultural miracles in unusual settings.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11This year Jamaica's pinning its hopes on showing endemic species of orchid
0:12:11 > 0:12:13grown in a Kingston back garden.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18World-class grower Claude Hamilton's lifelong love affair
0:12:18 > 0:12:21began with a childhood trip to an orchid house.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I suppose they were just so stunningly beautiful.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29They looked almost unreal.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33It's the fact that they flower for so long.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35In a day or two a rose is gone.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39We have some of these plants that can flower for months at a time.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Wild orchids germinate on forest fungi
0:12:45 > 0:12:49so artificially plants can only be divided to increase their number
0:12:49 > 0:12:54until growers learnt how to recreate the conditions of the wild in bottles.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58So you've mastered the art of micro propagation.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Cos previously you had to divide a whole mature plant, didn't you?
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Yes, each little sprout here is a new plant.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06Those are then transplanted
0:13:08 > 0:13:10into a different medium.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Fertilisers, fruit juice. Pureed ripe banana.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- And a few other things. - A bit like feeding a baby.
0:13:19 > 0:13:20Well, sort of!
0:13:21 > 0:13:23These seedlings are ready for transplanting
0:13:23 > 0:13:25after two years in bottles.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29Orchids are phenomenally slow growing.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34So there they've been insulated in this micro climate. Now they're coming out into the world.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36This is sort of the birth process.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38They're coming from the womb here.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Where they have all the food and warmth and whatever else they need.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45And they're coming out into this wild wondrous world
0:13:45 > 0:13:47full of pests and diseases.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Most tropical orchids are epiphytes, absorbing nutrients from the air.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56They're planted in a mixture of crushed Jamaican tree fern and charcoal.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Before being transferred to pieces of bark.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04And this is sort of what you end up with.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06How long did you pollinate the parent of this?
0:14:06 > 0:14:09This was pollinated probably about 12 years ago.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14It requires amazing patience, all this. It's a real labour of love.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17I don't think so. I'm not a very patient person.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21But you do what you have to do and when it flowers it flowers.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26With Claude Hamilton's magnificent orchids
0:14:26 > 0:14:30and the enthusiasm of the ladies of the horticultural society,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34there's a sense this could finally be Jamaica's moment.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39This year we are going full speed ahead for the gold.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Chelsea 2008.
0:14:46 > 0:14:4813th appearance then. Still no gold medal.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51We're hoping it's lucky for some this time, presumably?
0:14:51 > 0:14:52Yes, and it will be lucky for us
0:14:52 > 0:14:55because we will be getting the gold this year.
0:14:55 > 0:14:56- You are determined this year. - Yes!
0:14:56 > 0:15:01I have to say, looking at it, it's absolutely packed to the gunnels with flowers.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06There is one that I've never seen before. A hairy Heliconia. Where's that from?
0:15:06 > 0:15:10That's from Montego Bay in St James.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13So do you get people from all over the island sending you flowers?
0:15:13 > 0:15:19Yes. Actually, we go and select from the growers.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22To make sure that we get the best quality.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25So you ladies from Jamaica, they must dread you coming when you say,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27- "I want that, I want that."- Yes!
0:15:27 > 0:15:32And before, we go a few weeks before to make sure there are no insects.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37Telling them make sure that there's nothing on it that will cost us the gold.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38You're a terrifying bunch.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- LAUGHS:- Yes, we are!
0:15:40 > 0:15:42But it is a superb stand.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45What does it mean to Jamaica? Why are you here at Chelsea?
0:15:45 > 0:15:51Well, first of all we are here because we love dealing with flowers.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56For Jamaica I think it helps to sell Jamaica as a destination.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00Over the years I've spoken to people who have come to visit.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02And hearing about Jamaica,
0:16:02 > 0:16:08they have no idea that we have such fabulous vibrant coloured flowers in Jamaica.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Well, you've shown them that you have. We wish you well for that gold.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14- I hope to goodness that you get it. - Yes, I do.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21And do you know, they just missed out by a whisker.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24But they did get a silver, which is really well done.
0:16:24 > 0:16:30Still to come, jasmine, juniper and even a lesson from some junior gardeners.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33But now we move from the vibrancy of the Jamaican gardens
0:16:33 > 0:16:37to ones that evoke calmness and meditation.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39This J is for Japanese gardens.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44And here's Monty Don exploring one of the finest at Tatton Park.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Sam, what's the history of this garden? The background to it?
0:16:48 > 0:16:51The history of this garden was really that in 1910
0:16:51 > 0:16:54they had the Anglo Japanese exhibition in London
0:16:54 > 0:16:56when anybody who's anybody went there.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Saw what they were offering, particularly the gardens.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02They were the things that were the main feature.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05And people who could afford them just ordered one.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- So 100 years ago there was a big influx of Japanese gardens?- Indeed.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10Yes. Across the country.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Anybody who knows about Japanese gardens knows there are lots of different styles.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22What style is this?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24I think it's a collection of styles.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27But I think it's designed really on the tea garden.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30I think that was the idea.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Is there anything of the original garden still here?
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Yes. Some of the lanterns here.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43The Shinto shrine and some of the plants.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47When you're working this and having to maintain it,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50what's the essence of being true to the Japanese style?
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Well, I think the essence of the Japanese garden is that unlike us we fill the space.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58The Japanese garden is only complete when you can't take anything else out.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07Is that meant to be Mount Fuji?
0:18:07 > 0:18:11It is the sacred mountain. Every garden should have a Mount Fuji,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13complete with snow on the top.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16What about this seat? That somehow doesn't ring true to me.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19No, this was one of the Egertons' favourite seats.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22It's a little concession, you know, to the western whatever.
0:18:22 > 0:18:27I like the way the garden could be modified to suit western tastes.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30- It wasn't meant to be pure. - No.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34I don't think we understand, we don't have a concept, for purity in Japanese gardens.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36We just westernise them.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40But if anyone understands the Japanese garden, it's Sam.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45And he's taken his lifetime's knowledge and used it in his Tatton show garden,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47as Andy Sturgeon's been discovering.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Sam really has done a tremendous job
0:18:50 > 0:18:55of distilling down that magical garden into this tiny space.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I've been a fan of Japanese gardens for years
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and the thing that really intrigues me is their use of symbolism.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03Things like this staggered bridge.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07What this represents is in the Japanese gardens when birds used to come down
0:19:07 > 0:19:11they would fire bows and arrows at them hundreds of years ago for target practice.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14As the birds took evasive flight, there's one particular bird,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17a snipe, which had this staggered flight pattern.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19So that's represented here in the bridge.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Three are also practical things in a Japanese garden. Things like this lantern.
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Of course it's very beautiful but actually it's here just to light this bridge.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35The stone which rises up out of the pool, that points away, it leads the eye to paradise,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38which is found at the back of the garden.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45One of the iconic plants in this garden is this cloud pruned tree.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50And as the name suggests, it's literally been clipped in the shape of clouds.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Because it's bringing nature down from the sky and into the garden.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05As far as I'm concerned, all great gardens must have meticulous attention to detail,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08and this garden certainly ticks that box for me.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Everything has been thought about, even the spacing on these stepping stones.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Because if a Japanese lady wearing wooden clogs
0:20:15 > 0:20:17was to walk round the garden wearing a kimono,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22she wouldn't be able to take big strides so these stones are all quite close together.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24It's been carefully thought about.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27And this fence, it's called a four eye fence,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31because when you're outside the garden looking in, it frames four views.
0:20:31 > 0:20:32But the detail that I really like
0:20:32 > 0:20:35that Sam has placed at every entrance to the garden,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39it's a stone wrapped and tied with black string.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And to Japanese people that means no entry.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Unfortunately there aren't too many Japanese people around here
0:20:46 > 0:20:48so I'm not sure everyone will get that.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56For our next pick, we're not looking at a specific flower or plant
0:20:56 > 0:21:02but a theme that explores why people love their gardens and what they get out of them.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05J is for the joy of gardening.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Let's share some joyful moments with Rachel de Thame
0:21:08 > 0:21:13as she transforms a dull-looking border into a sea of colour.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18The joy of gardening really is in putting different plants together.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22And making really interesting satisfying combinations.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25That's quite tricky because you've got to think not only
0:21:25 > 0:21:30about scale and shape and form and texture,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33and colour and scent,
0:21:33 > 0:21:38but you've also got to think about creating that year-round interest.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40And that's the tricky bit.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Anybody can get a border that looks fantastic in June.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46It's making sure that it looks good enough in February.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50- Which ones do you want to help me plant?- Purple ones.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52These ones?
0:21:54 > 0:21:56I don't think that colour looks very nice.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Cos I like all these dark colours here.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07It could all go funny.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20The perennials are sometimes the most exciting thing
0:22:20 > 0:22:21I think for me in the garden.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25Partly because there are just so many!
0:22:25 > 0:22:29There are so many for such different types of growing conditions.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32That give you such different seasons of interest.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36And whenever I set out to do a new planting,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38I almost get to a stage where I'm overwhelmed by it.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Because I can't narrow down what it is I want to grow.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Because it's so easy to get carried away,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I'm an advocate really of trying to stick to a plan.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53And then I think it's a case of being quite bold about numbers.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56And this is something I'm getting better at.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Rather than buying something and buying three plants,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01and not having it anywhere else in the garden,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05I am trying to get better about having some repetition.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09So I'll use the same thing and have three here and three there
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and three somewhere else.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14So that your eye sort of moves from one to the other.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16That's very satisfying actually.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18When you're looking at things. Oh yes, there it is again.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23And it can just make the whole thing more cohesive.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28I'm really happy with how this is looking, this area.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Think it's possibly my favourite at the moment.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35It's just getting that balance right.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Particularly with the colours, the shape of the foliage as well.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Right the way from the Sambucus at the back.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42With that lovely cut foliage.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44And then that's obviously incredibly dark.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48And it's picked up with the Eupatorium.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50Which is Eupatorium rugosum Chocolate.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55And then coming through to this Munstead Wood. It's fabulous, isn't it?
0:23:55 > 0:23:57That really dark burgundy.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00And then following it on with the Heuchera. This is Obsidian.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03So it's just so pleasing
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and I think it's because it's more tone on tone
0:24:06 > 0:24:08rather than contrast.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12It's just wonderful. It's that combination with foliage and flowers.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15And it's so easy to forget the foliage.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17But without it, it just doesn't work.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27Achilleas are such wonderful plants in a border like this.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29They've got this lovely airy quality.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31Sort of very fine ferny foliage.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35And best of all,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39the flowers are horizontal because that sort of horizontal shape
0:24:39 > 0:24:41it's quite hard to find.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43And it's such a good counterpoint
0:24:43 > 0:24:46when you've got a lot of strong verticals.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48And I'm using a lot of them in the border.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52They're often in these wonderful slightly offbeat colours.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56And they also tend to open quite dark,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59a quite intense colour, and then they fade
0:24:59 > 0:25:02to this lovely sort of pale shade.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05So they change and I really like that.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08You often get two or three of the different shades on the plant at the same time.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10That's really very effective.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13And of course they're also wonderful
0:25:13 > 0:25:16for attracting wildlife and butterflies just love them.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19So my little girls will like that.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27This section's nearly done now.
0:25:27 > 0:25:33Just getting one more Heuchera in.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36It's called I think Peach Flambe.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41Yes, and it's the sort of Heuchera I would normally have ignored.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43I'd have thought, I don't like that.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46But then you see it here in this combination.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48There's a sedum here called Chocolate.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Chocolate and Peach Flambe, all very delicious sounding.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53And it's just got a red stem.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57And just look at that with the leaf and the red stem.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01I think that's wonderful. I love the way it goes into that rose. Jubilee Celebration.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04This whole bit I think looks really pleasing.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Stipa tenuissima, Scabios Chile Black and Achillea Terracotta
0:26:11 > 0:26:14will work well in full sun and they look a bit out of the ordinary.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21Carex buchananii, Echinacea Art's Pride and Heuchera Peach Flambe
0:26:21 > 0:26:24combine just the right subtle peachy pink overtones
0:26:24 > 0:26:26that are perfect in the border.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28Putting plants with similar tones together
0:26:28 > 0:26:30like Scabios Crimson Cushion,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Eupatorium rugosum Chocolate and dark penstemons
0:26:34 > 0:26:37will carry your eye through the border.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01That's it. It's done!
0:27:01 > 0:27:03All the plants in.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07That's almost the gardening ambition of my lifetime I think.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09I know it's only a border
0:27:09 > 0:27:11but for me it's a really big deal
0:27:11 > 0:27:13and I've waited a long time to do it.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22And this is how the border looked a year later.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Now, just like Rachel, schools up and down the country
0:27:27 > 0:27:30are getting children involved with gardening.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33So our next J is for junior gardeners.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36And we're meeting the next generation of garden designers
0:27:36 > 0:27:38at their school in Hampshire.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43It's hard to believe they're only seven.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45They have a real passion for gardening.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Gardening committee started about five years ago.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59At the time we felt a lot of the children really had no idea
0:27:59 > 0:28:04of where their food came from or the names of fruits and vegetables.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And so we decided a vegetable garden would be a good idea.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11We grow vegetables and fruit.
0:28:11 > 0:28:17We grow lots of apple trees and pears, carrots, beetroot.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22Rhubarb and radish. Lots of other things.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24- Might be a bit tough. - Me me me me!
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Peas, please!
0:28:27 > 0:28:29I go to Hampton Court every year.
0:28:29 > 0:28:30I thought it would be a really nice idea
0:28:30 > 0:28:33for the children to try to design a garden for Hampton Court.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39I was very excited when my teacher told me.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44Because I've never been to Hampton Court and I never knew what it was.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47There's thousands of people there so it's going to be exiting.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50The children have done most of the work.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54They planned it on paper, cutting up bits to show the pond and the vegetable garden.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56And then they planned it out on the playground.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00I was just there pointing them in the right direction.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02Come over here, see what we should be doing.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Fortunately a former parent is a garden designer.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09And she offered to transfer their design
0:29:09 > 0:29:11and make it look a bit more grown up really.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23The pond's supposed to be in the corner.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28From the beginning we've not wanted it to be expensive
0:29:28 > 0:29:32because our school's based very much on community involvement.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Making things ourselves, doing it ourselves.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39Not things costing a huge amount of money.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43We've grown the vegetables and the sweet peas
0:29:43 > 0:29:47and we've bought some plants in small
0:29:47 > 0:29:49and then we've been growing them on.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Because that's a cheaper way of doing it.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55That one's being really naughty!
0:29:55 > 0:29:56They love being in the garden.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59One of their favourite things is weeding.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02They just love it. Weeding and digging.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06If you could give them a hoe and a fork or a spade,
0:30:06 > 0:30:07they would be in the garden all day.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11I like picking vegetables and growing vegetables.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15And planting seeds and digging up weeds
0:30:15 > 0:30:17so we don't get loads of weeds in our garden.
0:30:18 > 0:30:23I like the digging best cos when you first hit the soil with the spade
0:30:23 > 0:30:26it's quite tough and it builds your strength.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33We're not going to Hampton to build
0:30:33 > 0:30:38because it would be quite dangerous for us.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42Because we're smaller than everybody else.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47And you don't actually know how to build and stuff.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52The last thing the children can do is to box them up and wrap them up
0:30:52 > 0:30:56so they don't get damaged and send the plants off safely in the lorry.
0:30:58 > 0:31:04We are just youngsters and mostly the people that are there are grown ups.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07I think it's going to do really well because we've put a lot of effort into it
0:31:07 > 0:31:10and we're going to do really well.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13ALL SHOUT
0:31:13 > 0:31:15Think we'll definitely get first.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18So everything got here in one piece then?
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Yes, it did, it came up in a friend's van and it all arrived safely.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25- It's quite an undertaking. - It is. Very scary.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27But it's brilliant.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Do you think it accurately reflects what you've done at school?
0:31:30 > 0:31:33I hope so. It certainly looks like the design
0:31:33 > 0:31:35and that's what they're very familiar with.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39So hopefully they will think it looks exactly like it.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42It's going to be lovely for them to see it in real life.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44They're very excited, they can't wait to come.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46I love this little vegetable patch.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50But there are a few things about it that look strange.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52Is this some sort of experiment?
0:31:52 > 0:31:55Yes, it is. We garden organically so we don't use any chemicals.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00And we set up an experiment to try and foil our slugs,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02which keep eating our veg.
0:32:02 > 0:32:03- They are dastardly! - They are!
0:32:03 > 0:32:07So they were convinced they would make their fortune
0:32:07 > 0:32:10by discovering a new slug deterrent!
0:32:10 > 0:32:13- So did the children decide what to use?- They did.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16So some are a big vicious. Pointed sticks was a little vicious I felt.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18And holly leaves.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20But jam was the best
0:32:20 > 0:32:25and I wasn't convinced about the jam and I said why do you think jam?
0:32:25 > 0:32:31They said we think they'll be so busy eating the jam, that they won't touch the lettuces!
0:32:31 > 0:32:33- And did it work?- No.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36I don't think we'll make our fortune quite yet.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40I think it's a fantastic experiment, the whole thing,
0:32:40 > 0:32:44and a wonderful example to other people in schools too.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47- And I just hope the judges agree with me.- So do I.- Sure they will!
0:32:50 > 0:32:52What a great way to get children gardening!
0:32:52 > 0:32:55And in case you were wondering, they got a gold medal that year.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59Now, we all know the majority of plants love a bit of warmth.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02But there are a few who can't wait to get a bit of fresh air.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07So let's get our gear ready because up next we're abseil planting.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12J is for juniper, a tree that loves a bit of altitude
0:33:12 > 0:33:14as Juliet Morris finds out.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28These guys may look like extreme sports enthusiasts,
0:33:28 > 0:33:32but they are in fact part of a very special conservation effort.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Right, Dave, what's happening here today?
0:33:36 > 0:33:38We're going to do a bit of tree planting today.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42These chaps here.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44- What are these? - These are yellow juniper trees.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Right, so where are we going to plant them?
0:33:46 > 0:33:49- We're going to plant them up there. - Up there?- Yeah.
0:33:49 > 0:33:51Up on that nice crag, yes.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Get these to the other side of the wall.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Just down here. By the two little stiles.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02And then the rest of it I'm afraid is a bit more vertical.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05It's slippy ground.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07So I'd like you to go in twos.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Jut in case one of you has a fall.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11We've got a first aid kit.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15Although probably not going to help you if you break anything.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17I'm staying with you!
0:34:18 > 0:34:21These hardy folk are part of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust project.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Around 3000 juniper seedlings have been planted already,
0:34:25 > 0:34:29and today the team will be looking to plant about 100.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31But getting to the site is a bit of a hike.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37This is Long Crag on the lower reaches of Helvellyn.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41Even on a rather lovely day like today, this is hard terrain.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45But for these guys, whatever the weather, they've got no choice but to be out here planting
0:34:45 > 0:34:49because they've got to get the juniper seedlings in before the end of April.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00The common juniper is one of only three conifers native to the UK.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03In the old days, it was grown for its berries,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05which were used to flavour gin.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09But cheaper berries from abroad and changing agricultural practices here in Britain
0:35:09 > 0:35:12meant its numbers went into decline.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16Since the 1970s nearly half of all juniper has gone.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18And the species is now mostly found
0:35:18 > 0:35:22in remote upland areas of northern England and Scotland.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28So, Dave, these are obviously the junipers here.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30How old are these?
0:35:30 > 0:35:32These will probably be about three years old.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35That's how long it takes to take them from the seed at the nursery
0:35:35 > 0:35:39up to the stage where they're ready to plant out.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43And just establish, is it a juniper tree or a juniper bush?
0:35:43 > 0:35:44I've heard it referred to as both.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48The juniper's a strange species in that it grows in both forms
0:35:48 > 0:35:51depending on where it is and what sub species it is.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55But up on the high fells they tend to be stunted
0:35:55 > 0:35:58by the thin soils and the harsh weather conditions
0:35:58 > 0:36:00so they tend to be fairly small shrubby things.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03But they can grow to sort of eight, nine metres,
0:36:03 > 0:36:06proper tree height, in different conditions.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10And why is there such a problem at the moment with the juniper species?
0:36:10 > 0:36:13It's not a new problem, it's a longstanding problem really.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17In that the way that mankind uses the landscape has obviously changed.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22And here in particular sheep grazing has been a major problem
0:36:22 > 0:36:25in that the sheep can eat the young juniper while they're still tender.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28As they get older they're a bit more prickly so they're less palatable.
0:36:28 > 0:36:34But the problem is that the older shrubs get to a point where they no longer produce viable seed
0:36:34 > 0:36:38and even when they do the seedlings get nibbled away by sheep,
0:36:38 > 0:36:40rabbits, deer and other animals.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Hence planting them in these more inaccessible areas.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46We're basically trying to get them into places
0:36:46 > 0:36:49that the sheep can't easily get to.
0:36:49 > 0:36:50How long do junipers live for?
0:36:50 > 0:36:53They can live for 200, 250 years.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57Again it depends on the conditions where they're actually growing.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00So why is it important to try and preserve juniper,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04to try and re-establish the species in the way you're doing?
0:37:04 > 0:37:07I think any species is worth conserving in its own right.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12But obviously conservationists like to have a nice diverse range of species and habitat.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Bio diversity is what we're about trying to achieve.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18The juniper has a real niche in the habitat here.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21It sort of was the area where the woodland
0:37:21 > 0:37:23and the tree line started to fade away
0:37:23 > 0:37:26and you got into the heathland and the like and habitats of the high fells.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31So you get that shrubby juniper that would create a habitat between the two.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33It's very good for supporting various birds.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37The fruit, the seeds, provide food for passage migrants
0:37:37 > 0:37:38in the autumn/winter.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Things like red wing and fieldfare.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45In the breeding season it provides good breeding habitat
0:37:45 > 0:37:48for song thrushes, stonechats, windchats, that kind of thing.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51Right, well, these guys
0:37:51 > 0:37:55have clearly got their work cut out so I'm going to give them a hand.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57All for the love of a juniper tree.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Andy, I have never abseiled before in my life.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03- And you're assuring me it's all right?- Absolutely, yeah.
0:38:03 > 0:38:08Let's get the harness on you first. Grab hold of that. Take your gloves off.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10These juniper trees had better know how much people care.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12So that goes round your waist.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16Before you do the buckle up, reach down between your knees and pull that.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19That was very polite! Between your knees.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21That is absolutely safe.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Am I going in the right direction?
0:38:42 > 0:38:44Now don't get your ropes mixed up.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47Oh! Don't look down.
0:38:47 > 0:38:48Never look down.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53Yes!
0:38:53 > 0:38:55I've made it.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57- LAUGHS:- Oh!
0:38:59 > 0:39:00That's the practice run over.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03Now it's time to do my bit for the juniper.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07So what sort of a spot, Dave?
0:39:07 > 0:39:10I can see a ledge further down below.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12We can probably get on to that.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15We should be able to get some plants into there.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Oh! I'm not a great expert at this, I'm afraid.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21You're doing well for a beginner. You're doing OK.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25I'm amazed that they can grow on something like this, to be honest.
0:39:25 > 0:39:31- It is amazing but the roots will go down into the rock cracks.- Right.
0:39:31 > 0:39:36And they get the moisture from there. And hopefully they'll survive.
0:39:36 > 0:39:41We probably only get two or three out of about ten that we plant.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44- Oh really? - So...
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Two or three is better than none
0:39:46 > 0:39:50and I challenge any sheep to try and get round here!
0:39:50 > 0:39:51That's it.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55So spots that have got heather presumably are a good find?
0:39:55 > 0:39:58That means there's education there, and some soil and things like that.
0:39:59 > 0:40:05- So I reckon I can fit one in this... - One more plant.- In this little crag.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07Little crevice, even.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10- What do you reckon, will he be all right in there?- That'll be OK.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Put the soil back again.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15- You did very well. - Grow, junipers, grow!
0:40:17 > 0:40:19Though not all of these seedlings will reach maturity,
0:40:19 > 0:40:24enough of them should survive to ensure that this ancient and important plant
0:40:24 > 0:40:28is part of the British landscape for centuries to come.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33As we're reaching the end of today's programme,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36it's time for a few more practical planting tips.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38And for our last pick,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42we chose a flower that will fill your garden with perfume all night long.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45Our last J is for jasmine.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50And Alice Fowler is a fan of both the plant and the insects it can attract.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54One of the joys of summer is being able to sit outside in the evening
0:40:54 > 0:40:56and that's made even more pleasurable
0:40:56 > 0:40:58if you can sit and smell something lovely.
0:40:58 > 0:41:03So I'm going to make a pot which has a really heady evening scent.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08I'm not just doing it so I can have a nice time outside in the evening
0:41:08 > 0:41:10but hopefully it will attract lots of moths.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Now, the thing about moths
0:41:12 > 0:41:16is they need something which has got good strong evening scent.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19And it's all the better if they're pale coloured flowers.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21Because they're easier to see in dusk.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25And I've chosen this jasmine, which just smells divine.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29It's called Jasminum grandiflorum De Grasse.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33And it comes from grass which is the centre of the perfume industry in the south of France.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35And it's actually used in the perfume industry
0:41:35 > 0:41:42and you can tell because it's got this very very sweet floral citrusy scent.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44And beautiful very large flowers.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48The only drawback with this jasmine is that it's not hardy.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52So it can't be kept outside, hence why I'm growing it in a pot.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Because I can bring it into the conservatory in the winter.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59It doesn't necessarily need to be a heated conservatory
0:41:59 > 0:42:01but it does need to be frost free.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05And the trick with jasmines is to be slightly neglectful over the winter.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10So you see that they're dry, wait a couple of days,
0:42:10 > 0:42:12and then water them.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15And because they don't like to sit in winter water,
0:42:15 > 0:42:17I'm making sure the compost is very free draining,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21so I've done one part grit to three parts compost.
0:42:21 > 0:42:25I'm just giving it a good mix in.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28And the way to keep a jasmine happy is not to pot it up too much.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31So you really just want to go the next size up.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34This is slightly a bit of a leap.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40So I'm adding Nemesia, an easy tender perennial bedding plant,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43which provides loads of glowing blooms to attract moths.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46And will help to fill in the pot until the jasmine gets established.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Jasmines flower on new growth
0:42:52 > 0:42:53so for this year you don't have to do anything
0:42:53 > 0:42:57but next year just once it finishes flowering, just a gentle haircut,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00just to keep it nice and bushy in the right shape.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03And then it needs a nice sunny spot for the summer.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08And I guarantee that the moths will come and visit it.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19As we've had quite an international feel today,
0:43:19 > 0:43:24did you know that jasmine is the national flower in the Philippines and Indonesia,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27where it's used in weddings because it symbolises purity?
0:43:27 > 0:43:29Well, you do now.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32We'll have more top tips on our next A To Z Of TV Gardening.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35But that's all for today. See you soon. Goodbye.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd