0:00:12 > 0:00:15Hello there and welcome back to Beechgrove Garden
0:00:15 > 0:00:21after two weeks of trials, tribulations and triumphs of Wimbledon.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24It's very nice to be back in the peaceful garden here
0:00:24 > 0:00:30and what better place to start than our little alpine garden, though things are not perfect here?
0:00:30 > 0:00:33I think we'll have to do a few bits of titivating,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37but just look at that wonderful little cotoneaster over there!
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Two years ago, it covered these three stones which is a seat
0:00:41 > 0:00:46and the pruners were taken to it, but it's still there, cochleatus, doing a wonderful job,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49following the contours and creeping along here.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54Then we've got the thyme which has got a big takeover going on here.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57It is lovely, but we'll have to restrain it a little bit.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02The same with this lavender and white erinus, it's beginning to creep, creep, creep.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06It's overstaying its welcome, so we'll have to spend some time here.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10But we're not short of colour coming through the summer -
0:01:10 > 0:01:16the helianthemums, there's Fire Dragon there, and little Amy Baring right here, gorgeous yellow.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22There's colour coming on all the time. There's a lot of work to do, but it'll take time to sort it out.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25Now then, in the rest of the programme...
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Isn't this just fabulous? It's the River Findhorn in Moray.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34The garden I'm visiting this week backs right onto it.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40And I'm just outside Edinburgh, trying to get to the bottom
0:01:40 > 0:01:44of why this garden has a persistent damp patch.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51Here in the garden, we're going to take another look at our cucumbers
0:01:51 > 0:01:54and I've one variety, it's called Socrates.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59This side, they've been grown from seed and this side are the grafted plants.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03The grafted plants are meant to give us more vigour, more yield
0:02:03 > 0:02:05and are more disease and pest-resistant.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Well, it's quite interesting because I've got some figures here.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13From the 27th of June, when we started cropping the grafted ones,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17we've had 12 cucumbers already out of eight plants.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21On this side, 1st of July we started cropping, so a few days later,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24and we've only cropped three cucumbers so far,
0:02:24 > 0:02:30but you can see there's a wonderful crop here and there's plenty of cucumbers here to come.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34It's early days, but at the moment, the grafted ones are winning.
0:02:34 > 0:02:40A little bit of work too, so when you start to get these side shoots, you need to keep them in check,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42otherwise they get out of control.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48There's the fruit and we count one, two leaves and then you just nip out the shoot here.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Or you can use a sharp knife with that.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56Another crop... We looked at these tiny, tiny plants initially, the cucamelon,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and fairly small fruit at the moment.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01They only get to bite-size.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05They come from Mexico and are meant to taste of lime,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09so I'm hoping we'll have enough of a season for those to mature.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Finally, the tomatillo, we have grown this one before.
0:03:12 > 0:03:19It's related to the Chinese lantern and the fruit is actually encased in that lovely little casing there.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23I'm slightly worried cos look at the foliage. It's rather white and yellow.
0:03:23 > 0:03:29This happened to our okra last year and I think all it is is to do with the temperatures.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35We've had extremes from really hot to really cold, and now it's over to Jim next door with the tomatoes.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Well, thankfully, I've an inside job to come to when the rain comes on.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48And to recap, here in this glasshouse we've got nine different varieties of tomatoes,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50three plants per bag.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54They're all in the same compost. It's Gardening Which Best Buy.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58So, they're all getting the same treatment. What I'm really after is what is taste?
0:03:58 > 0:04:04It's very subjective, so a bit later on when we've got plenty fruits on the plant,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09we'll have a bit of a taste test with a wee scientific spin on it maybe.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14In the meantime, we've got to look after the plants and it's a question of get the string round there,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18and don't take it underneath the truss, take it over the truss.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Why not? Because you could strangle it if the string slips.
0:04:22 > 0:04:28I've already taken the leaves off the bottom. I've started trimming them up a little bit.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34If you pull them off with an upward action, they come off clean, no bother at all.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38One of the good things at this time now is that with so much foliage...
0:04:39 > 0:04:42..it lets a bit of air circulate.
0:04:42 > 0:04:49There are a couple of things I want to draw your attention to. First of all, this curling of the leaf.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54In the daytime, the temperature can go up to the high 30s if you've not got enough ventilation on.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56And at night, it can drop to 12.
0:04:56 > 0:05:03Now, that is a huge change and it's stress that causes the leaves to curl up like this
0:05:03 > 0:05:05because cold and very warm.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09The more you can get it to about ten degrees centigrade difference
0:05:09 > 0:05:12between day and night, the better they will be.
0:05:12 > 0:05:17The other problem you sometimes get early in the season is this purpling of the foliage
0:05:17 > 0:05:22which is phosphate deficiency, but it may not be that there's not enough phosphate in the compost.
0:05:22 > 0:05:28It may be the conditions, it's not getting there fast enough and the plants are growing pretty quickly.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32The compost in the bags has a certain amount of fertiliser in it,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37but from now on with these plants growing and more fruits coming on them,
0:05:37 > 0:05:42we start to supplementary feed and we use a high potash feed, the tomato feed.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47There's quite a lot to be done here and I'm absolutely in my element. I just love it.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52I'm in Balerno just outside Edinburgh to help with something
0:05:52 > 0:05:57that's left enthusiastic gardener Sally Cheseldine feeling pretty exasperated.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00It's very rare that I walk into a garden
0:06:00 > 0:06:05and the piece that I'm addressing is very carefully and discreetly fenced off,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08but you clearly have a problem here.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10We have a lot of sogginess.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Last summer, particularly, brought it to the fore.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17It was so wet and we think there are underlying field drains.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21The two together have really made it terribly boggy
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and the fence is around, so we don't plough a lawn mower over it.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29We started off with a rowan tree in there and it didn't survive,
0:06:29 > 0:06:35so knowing there were field drains, we put in a willow, thinking they like water, but that didn't survive.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40It's the right course of action. If you've got wet ground, a willow should be perfect.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45They grow alongside rivers and streams, so if a willow won't thrive, there is a real problem.
0:06:45 > 0:06:51You can see straight away there's a difference between the lawn. This lawn out here is quite mossy.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55There's also a difference between that and what's going on in here.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59This is much more lush. The ground is really quite squelchy.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02There's patches where you'd lose your lawn mower!
0:07:02 > 0:07:08There's a whole collection of plants in here that tell you that there's an issue, so, for instance,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12that little leaf there, that's hairy bittercress.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15That's rosebay willowherb, a wet hedgerow plant.
0:07:15 > 0:07:21And that little sweetie there, look at that, that's a little veronica. That's also a wetland plant.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Tell me a bit about how we arrived at this position.
0:07:24 > 0:07:30The house was built 18 years ago on the previous front garden of the house behind,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33so it was completely levelled and churned up.
0:07:33 > 0:07:39And there was nothing in the garden, so 17 years ago, we had the garden landscaped.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45I think a combination of builders, landscape contractors, big machines and potentially a field drain
0:07:45 > 0:07:48could be why you've got the problem here,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53but all we can do is dig a square patch out as deep as you can and we'll explore the soil profile.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56The soil will tell us what the problem is.
0:07:56 > 0:08:01- Have you got any preference over where you'd like to dig? - The softest bit.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07That's the bit I've already dug. That's cheating.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11- It's a very sort of stagnant...- Yes.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16If you were delving around in the bottom of a pond, that's the sort of smell you get.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18It's rotting vegetation.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24Never a good sign. If your soil smells stagnant, that's never a good starting point.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Oh, we've had a leak as well.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30The water's just lying in the ground,
0:08:30 > 0:08:32just a foot below the surface.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37Is that consistent with a field drain coming down or just the effects of rain?
0:08:37 > 0:08:42This is more than just rainfall. This is water which is permanently in the soil.
0:08:47 > 0:08:52That's the horticultural equivalent of Niagara Falls you've got there. That's not good.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57The reason for digging a clear face like this is it starts to tell the story,
0:08:57 > 0:09:02so in this upper horizon here, and the layers of a soil are called horizons,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05what we've got very clearly in this top section here
0:09:05 > 0:09:09where the grass is rooting, it just pulls back really easily,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12are the roots of the grass, rusty and rotten.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17As they try and penetrate down, even just three or four inches, they're rotting off.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20It's too wet even on the surface.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Then we go into this layer here which is predominantly grey.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26In soil terms, it's called gleying.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31Under normal circumstances, it would be brown because of iron naturally existing in the soil.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36When the air penetrates and you get water, it rusts and that's what gives us brown soil.
0:09:36 > 0:09:43Where there's no air able to get because there's too much water, it turns grey,
0:09:43 > 0:09:47so anything we plant has to exist in those top four inches in this part of the garden.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51I hope in another part of the garden, the soil is better.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56Calum is digging up here. We'll compare the hole up here and hopefully, we've got a bit more life.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Thanks. You've got a better end of the deal. That's a decent hole.
0:10:00 > 0:10:05This is what it should have looked like. This is the perfect profile
0:10:05 > 0:10:08with turf being laid. It's been laid on a sand bed.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12The landscaper has used sand to level it off, but still roots going down.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17You can see the brown nature of the soil. It's a good dark brown colour.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22It's about the same depth, so there's about a foot of decent quality topsoil, plenty of roots.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26There's roots even right down to the bottom of the topsoil there,
0:10:26 > 0:10:29so this is what that should look like down there.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34So, how are you going to fix it?
0:10:35 > 0:10:39There are two ways, really, I can see of dealing with this.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42The first is to put a full draining system in,
0:10:42 > 0:10:47so that would mean starting at the other side of the garden, at the bottom of the bank,
0:10:47 > 0:10:53and running it through here, then out to a soakaway in that corner. And that's a hugely costly exercise.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57So the other alternative is to just put what we've excavated back in
0:10:57 > 0:10:59and then plant in this upper horizon
0:10:59 > 0:11:06plants that are going to tolerate this four inches of wet, but not permanently stagnant ground.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09But we've got to bail out the water first.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15I can honestly say I've never had to bail out a garden before planting.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21So I think the thing to do is just place these out
0:11:21 > 0:11:25and try and create the effect of a wetland meadow.
0:11:25 > 0:11:31- Hmm.- But it's an exotic wetland meadow, so we're using species from all over the world.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43- How do I look after it now? - It should be straightforward
0:11:43 > 0:11:46because these plants thrive in these conditions.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51The big blue ones here, Camassia leichtlinii Caerulea from North America,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55and there is also the shorter white form which is later flowering.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00Then that very delicate little grass which forms wonderful tussocks, Luzula nivea,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03very, very animated in a breeze.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Then we've got a wonderful little wetland plant, it's a British native, Geum rivale.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12This particular one is Leonard's Variety which is a selected form
0:12:12 > 0:12:14which gives you that pink flower,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17then all of the others are lychnis, ragged robin.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22The idea is just to let them move around, let them mingle and marry with one another
0:12:22 > 0:12:24and see where they take themselves.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27What happens to them in the winter?
0:12:27 > 0:12:32They'll all die back down and you can then just either strim or scythe over the top.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Treat it like a meadow. Don't mow it as hard as this.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41Allow it to go a bit tussocky, then in spring, they'll all come back through.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47- Maybe one or two cuts a year and you should end up with this wonderful, informal tapestry.- Lovely. Thank you.
0:12:52 > 0:12:58Back in the veg patch, it doesn't matter how careful you think you've been with the weeding,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00there's always one that you miss.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02There is a thing called fat hen.
0:13:02 > 0:13:07That is a monster of a weed. If you let that seed, it will be all over the place,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10so go over the rows of peas and get rid of it.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14This row of peas is fine, but up here, something has happened.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17They've disappeared. It's a different variety.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Either we didn't sow them, which I don't think is the case,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25or something has got to them and I think it was the mice
0:13:25 > 0:13:30because there were little holes in the top of the ground where you could see they'd gone in for the seeds.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Luckily, in true Blue Peter fashion, we have some over here.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Same variety, successional sowing. That's the benefit of it.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44You can always replace them when there's a disaster, so I'll get on and plant these.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48- Jim, what are you up to over there? - Well, playing catch-up.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53We've been away for a fortnight. We want to get round as much of the garden as possible.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56I, too, am in the vegetable plot, amongst the potatoes.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00First, you'll notice there are ups and downs all over the place.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04There are 16 varieties, only half a row of each variety,
0:14:04 > 0:14:09so there are changes in foliage, colour and height and growth, but they're looking well.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14They're not quite meeting in the drills yet, so I'm going back through with the hoe,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17tidying up, taking out the weeds and keeping the tilth going.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22George tells me, in the north of Ireland, they've already had a blight warning.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26We don't want blight on here because they are looking so well.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31The only thing we can use at this time is copper oxychloride, a preventative spray,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34when we hear the blight warnings for this area.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40Some varieties are substantially free from attack by blight. Here's one of them. This is Blue Danube.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44You can see almost a bluishness in the petioles of the leaf.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49The flowers are gorgeous. It's a plant that could stand on its own in the herbaceous border.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53On a similar theme, under that fleece are maincrop carrots.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Here we are, third week of July.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01By the first week of August, we're getting the second generation of carrot fly.
0:15:01 > 0:15:07These are the maggots that, when they hatch, they drill into maturing roots and make a real mess,
0:15:07 > 0:15:13so they're back on with the fleece, cover them up, make sure that we don't have a damaged crop at all.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17I'm not so worried about the brassicas. They're looking good.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21The weather has suited them. We've got some nice crops on hand there.
0:15:21 > 0:15:27George, while I'm talking pests and diseases, you're right by the broad beans. Any sign of blackfly?
0:15:27 > 0:15:30No, there's nothing on them yet. Yet!
0:15:30 > 0:15:34We're likely to get an infestation of blackfly,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36usually right up on the tips, isn't it?
0:15:36 > 0:15:40I think we should just nip the tops out of these.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45I would take a bit off the top, leave six or seven trusses of flower and that should be enough.
0:15:45 > 0:15:51- We'll do that and we won't throw these away.- No.- We can eat them. - Edible.- Absolutely.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56- Good man.- You can eat them raw or you can steam them or something like that.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00- I'll get on with this. Carry on, sir. - Plenty work to do.
0:16:07 > 0:16:13I'm in the beautiful Findhorn Valley at the walled garden of Panny and Alastair Laing at Logie House.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Four years ago, they closed the garden and undertook some major re-landscaping.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23It re-opened a year ago, so I can't wait to see how it's changed.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29It's great to be able to show you all the changes we've made here.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33- You've made huge changes. - Huge changes, absolutely.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37This burn was completely piped under the garden from...
0:16:37 > 0:16:41We saw a very little bit of it over there, but not very much of it.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46- Water makes a garden. - It just brings a bit of life. - Beautiful plant combinations.
0:16:46 > 0:16:52Yes, it's fun, isn't it? The corydalis coming up through the Rodgersia is just gorgeous.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56- A beautiful blue, absolutely stunning.- It's stunning, isn't it?
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Then you obviously like iris. This black iris is beautiful.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04They do well here and then we've got these ones here, the drier type, the bearded.
0:17:04 > 0:17:11What's so extraordinary about them is that you can see that one with the purple flowers and the white bit,
0:17:11 > 0:17:16that seems to come out first, then we get the yellow ones and this pinky-purply thing,
0:17:16 > 0:17:21- then the blue ones and they organise it themselves. - That was just a coincidence?- Yes.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23- That's gardening.- Exactly!
0:17:31 > 0:17:37- Now, the drystane dykes are really striking.- They are. They really make the garden.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43- So many people have said, "It looks as if it's been like this for ever." - It does. It's beautiful.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48Ewen Manson works for us and he was a time-served drystane dyker before he came
0:17:48 > 0:17:52and he was very integral in the design of the whole garden too.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57Gavin Dallmeyer, a good friend, and I started on a piece of paper and then came down here
0:17:57 > 0:17:59and we had to tweak the line a bit.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04- Do you have to watch the angles? - You do. You can't do it too tight. It just doesn't work.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08We had to get between the tree and the viburnum and do a bit of a wiggle
0:18:08 > 0:18:11and get out over there by the big tree.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15- So, it was important to save one or two mature plants?- It was.
0:18:15 > 0:18:21Especially as we'd made a bit of a micro-climate down here. You could grow all sorts of different things.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24You say all sorts of things. In particular, herbaceous?
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Yes, I do love herbaceous plants.
0:18:26 > 0:18:33They do so well here. They die down and disappear over winter, then come back twice the size the next year.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37- This is lovely.- Nepeta subsessilis is wonderful. The bees love it too.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42What I'm amazed about as well is this is only the second year of the planting and it's filled.
0:18:42 > 0:18:47We were very lucky last year and the year before that it rained and rained and rained,
0:18:47 > 0:18:52so we could plant virtually every day and move things and I put them in the wrong place!
0:18:52 > 0:18:57- It's worked well. This is a real contrast.- Yes, it makes you stop which is so nice.
0:18:57 > 0:19:03Gavin said to me, "I know what you'll do. You'll plant every square inch of this garden
0:19:03 > 0:19:07"and it will be very fussy, so we need to have a calm bit." He's right.
0:19:07 > 0:19:13- It is nice and, in a way, it kind of draws your eye to the orchard.- It does.
0:19:13 > 0:19:19- And when you're over there, it looks good over here.- You can sit there. - Yes, absolutely, on the focal point.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23- In the sun, it gets lovely and warm. - Then I spy the meconopsis.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26- That is a stunning blue. - It's a wonderful plant.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29It's particularly good in a woodland situation.
0:19:29 > 0:19:35Here it struggles a bit because the blue fights with the geraniums and we had bluebells earlier.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37It's not quite so good with that.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42That's really interesting, so avoid other blues around it in herbaceous planting?
0:19:42 > 0:19:46It's such a stunning blue, but it's just tricky to place.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49The aquilegia here, that's an unusual colour.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52- Isn't it gorgeous? It's sort of demure.- What is it?
0:19:52 > 0:19:56Oxysepala, it's called, and I just love having the species
0:19:56 > 0:20:02because you know what you're getting, they come true from seed and so often they're rather better.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06- And the bees enjoy that too.- They do. They work hard in this garden.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10And a real focal point in the garden is the giant redwood.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Yes, it's lovely. We really see it now.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17Before we did the changes, the garden shed was attached to the bottom.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22You didn't see the tree because you didn't see the bottom of it.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25- It really shows it off now. - It's lovely.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42This area used to be the vegetable garden from right over there to right over here.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47- We've retained one or two things such as the tree onions which are fun. - They're lovely plants.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Yes, they're great. And we've even got a tattie still peeking out the ground here.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58- You always get the odd row which is so annoying, but the alliums are beautiful at the moment.- Yes.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03It gives it a lift. This is a late border. It's not very interesting at this time of year.
0:21:03 > 0:21:09- And it just gives it a bit of colour. - The plants look so healthy. What's your secret?- Rock dust and mulch.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13All the topsoil went out and sat on a mountain for three years,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17so when it came back, the bugs and the system wasn't working very well,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21so rock dust and leaf mould and all that sort of thing.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27- OK, so lots of trace elements, you think that helps?- Definitely. - Definitely works for you?- Yeah.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40I know the revamping of the garden took you slightly longer because we had those two bad winters,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43but do you not think this season has been quite kind to us?
0:21:43 > 0:21:49Absolutely. After a mild winter, we've had a steady increase in temperature in the spring.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Although it's been cool, it's been very steady with no extremes.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56We didn't have, like last year, the heat then the freezing cold.
0:21:56 > 0:22:02- Yes, it was late, but the good thing is so much blossom on the apples and pears.- Absolutely.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07- Lots of insects for the pollination, no frost.- I think there's going to be a good crop.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12- This garden is open all year round, so I need to come back later on. - You certainly do.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20- That was a colourful garden. - This is quite colourful too, George.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25This is your wildflower mixes. They were sown last year. You've got five lots of perennials.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30- These ones there with the gowans in it, the moon daisies.- Oxeye daisies.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34The ones along the side of the motorway, brilliant at the moment.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39- This is pretty. - This is a really good one with the wonderful yellows through it
0:22:39 > 0:22:42- and good crested dog's-tail grass. - They look great.
0:22:42 > 0:22:47- These ones, we've got a honeybee and a butterfly mix. - There's not a lot of difference.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53There isn't. What's helped is the clover. They're really looking good, but it's the clover that's helped.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59Clover belongs to the legume family, it's nitrogen-fixing in the root, so it gives a bit of nutrition.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04OK, what can we say about the annual ones then? Where are the poppies?
0:23:04 > 0:23:09Last year, we had poppies, we had cornflower, we had corncockle, we had corn marigolds,
0:23:09 > 0:23:15so it was blue and red and yellow and it was just bee heaven, the whole thing.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21- They were strimmed down, then you put the seeds back into the ground. Is it the weather?- It could be.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27We cut these, let the seeds fall to the ground and the resident weeds have smothered everything.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30- Too much competition? - I think that's what it is.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34You have green manures which are dug into the ground to help the soil.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Yeah, we're improving the soil structure by doing that.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40We've got phacelia, the blue one,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44and that is one which we'll dig in, huge amount of fibre above ground,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48but the root system will give a lot of fibre addition to the soil.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53That will be dug in as well and it adds to the whole organic matter content of the soil -
0:23:53 > 0:23:56- maybe better crops next year.- Yeah.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Phacelia, I think, is rather bonnie.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02- I think we should get rid of the annuals.- Yes, please.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05- Let's see the Award of Garden Merit vegetables.- Yes.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13Here we are, George, with the Award of Garden Merit vegetables.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16What we're looking at is AGMs, as opposed to non-AGMs.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21The AGMs have been selected because they're pretty well disease-free.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27- They're consistent and generally available, so they're all-round better performers.- Supposed to be.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33This is interesting. Here we've got the leaf beets or the rhubarb chard. This is the AGM, Bright Yellow.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38- It's starting to bolt a bit. - It's starting to go. We've got a flower shoot coming up already,
0:24:38 > 0:24:44- whereas on that one, nothing at all. - It's Vulcan, a different colour, but it looks really good.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49- We could crop that and use the leaves.- We could.- The lettuce are fine.- They look fine.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53The radish, we've already had a look at these. Look at the size now!
0:24:53 > 0:24:59- This is the non-AGM Prinz Rotin. - That's right. This is the one that we tested before, Scarlet Globe.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01LOUD CRUNCH
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- That's brilliant. - Do you think that's OK?- It's OK.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- That's all right.- OK, the spinach...
0:25:08 > 0:25:11You've been cropping yours at the allotment, haven't you?
0:25:11 > 0:25:14- That's right. I grew Picasso. - Can you speak?
0:25:14 > 0:25:19Yeah. I grew Picasso and Emilia. Emilia is the AGM variety.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Picasso germinated better. It cropped earlier.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- This one has as well. - I did total cropping.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29- What happened was that I got two pounds, 13 ounces.- OK.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32With this one, poorer germination, fewer plants.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35- But larger leaves. - Much bigger leaves.
0:25:35 > 0:25:41- I thought, "This is a disaster," but when I cropped this and weighed it, two pounds, 13.- The same amount.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47- So we've got some cooked here. - Here's one we produced earlier. - We don't know what's what.- Right.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52- Hmm, that's delicious. Swap bowls.- Mm-hm.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- I like that one best. - I prefer this one as well.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05- That's "E".- That's Emilia.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09- So, AGM wins.- Well done, Emilia. LAUGHTER
0:26:11 > 0:26:17This is an important plant if you're trying to establish a wildflower meadow. It's called Yellow Rattle.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21It's parasitic on grass, so it suppresses the grass growth
0:26:21 > 0:26:26and lets other wildflowers and interesting plants get going.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31These are our cut-flower chrysanthemums. Top end of the bed are Spray, multi-headed.
0:26:31 > 0:26:36And at the bottom end here, we hope to have single stems with a single big flower at the top.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40We missed the time when we should have been taking the tops out.
0:26:40 > 0:26:46I've taken them out there and one out there and I'll come down here and take that one out as well.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50It seems pretty harsh, but that's because we missed the boat earlier.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54We'll get some nice stems up here and these will flower up at this height.
0:26:54 > 0:27:00When you've done successional sowing of vegetables, remember to keep thinning them.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04We sowed these turnips three weeks ago. We have to get them thinned.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11I want to look at our fuchsias. We're making them into standards.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17This one is a quarter standard and nice and bushy at the top because we keep pinching out the side shoots.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19This one will be made into a full standard.
0:27:19 > 0:27:25That means we're going to have three foot of clear stem and we're ready to nip out the top.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28There's no going back now.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35- This bog garden is looking really plumptious.- No' half, eh?
0:27:35 > 0:27:40- Especially the carnivorous plants, the sarracenias, cos they're in flower.- Brilliant.
0:27:40 > 0:27:46- Jim, you're not happy.- I tell you what took my eye this time - these cherries in the greenhouse.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48- I've got them counted.- Oh, dear!
0:27:48 > 0:27:54The thing I really like today is that digitalis Illumination, the RHS Plant of the Year last year.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58- It's a fabulous colour, brilliant thing.- Is that its finished height?
0:27:58 > 0:28:03- I hope so. It's a perennial, so it will really make an impact. - I like the colour combination.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07More information about this week's programme is in the factsheet
0:28:07 > 0:28:09which you can access online.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12We're on Twitter and Facebook as well.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17We're not back for a fortnight. Next week, we've to take a week off because of the golf.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22- Last time, it was two weeks for tennis. Gardening's more important than the pair of them!- Yeah.
0:28:22 > 0:28:28His nibs is off to Colonsay to do a community garden with a veritable harem of assistants.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32- But we're in the garden.- We are, in a fortnight. See you then.- Bye.- Bye.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd