Episode 1 The Beechgrove Garden


Episode 1

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Well, hello, and welcome to Beechgrove, 2017,

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and the team are all here, ready, waiting to deliver the goods.

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But what a winter we've had! It varies all across the country.

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George, do you want to start?

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Well, yes, Edinburgh, it started off quite mild.

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It was very cold in November and into early December.

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Frost three or four nights, you know, scraping the windscreen.

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-Brian?

-Scone, well, the winds have been cold,

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but luckily for me, there's been no damaging winds, no trees down.

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-Touch wood.

-Touch wood, aye. Like that.

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What about you, Carole?

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Well, here in the garden, the coldest temperature -6,

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which I think is quite interesting.

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So not particularly cold.

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And across the UK, we've got this concertina effect

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of the snowdrops and the crocus and the daffodils

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all flowering together.

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Yeah, yeah. And what's it been like in Gloucestershire?

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Well, Gloucestershire, you see, we had a very mild autumn.

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So November was just unbelievably mild.

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And then come January, boy, did it get cold! I mean, it really dropped.

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-5, -6, virtually every night.

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But that cold period just seems to have really cranked those plants.

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I mean, they are full of enthusiasm for growing.

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They think winter has finished. They're in action.

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-There's nothing stopping them.

-You were talking...

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Who was talking about the magnolias in Cornwall?

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That's right, well,

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they started flowering on the 28th February

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and the idea there is that when you have 50 flowers out

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on Magnolia campbellii, I think it is,

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that's a sign of spring.

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And then, you know,

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they test it and see how far up the country it's going, and how quickly.

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Now, spring is supposed to come at walking pace, isn't it?

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But the fact of the matter is that there are those,

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the statisticians would say,

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"We've got 10 more days of a growing season."

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It depends where you live. I mean, I have had the snow shovel out once.

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-4 has been its cold.

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But I see cold winds are very telling on plants.

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And the point that you make, Chris, that they're all raring to go,

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we've had a mild time.

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What's going to happen when we get the spring frosts?

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And, Jim, you might need the snow shovel again,

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cos it's snowing in Glasgow at the moment.

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THEY LAUGH

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This is true. I won't put it in the loft, then.

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I'll keep it by the garage door. But there you are.

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There's a lot of things to do. There's a lot of things happening.

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And it's time we got on with it.

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With my secateurs and shears,

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it's all about pruning and cutting back this week.

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And aren't these snowdrops lovely?

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It's maybe a little bit chilly to do a spot of gardening,

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but doesn't it encourage you to get outside

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and appreciate these little gems?

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And that's exactly what I'm going to do this week.

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Continuing the sort of climate thing, George,

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we started the programme talking about

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the differences all over the place.

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And it's not so very long ago that the headlines in the paper

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were that we were running out of vegetables, because sadly,

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the Mediterranean countries were having a real bad do, weren't they?

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Well, they had heavy rainfall, they had snow, they had frost.

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What? The courgettes were wiped out, the calibraise.

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Imagine being rationed to only three iceberg lettuce!

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-How old are these?

-22 weeks.

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These were planted at the end of the last series. Under cover all winter.

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-Look.

-So we finished the outdoor veg and these are already in.

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We've got some magic stuff here.

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Now, that's that Cavalo Nero,

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which we can eat as the dark green leaves

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or you can have these wee short shoots.

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-We've got this.

-The magic kale. They've just discovered it.

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We've been eating it all our days sort of thing. Nice bit of broccoli.

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One or two wee shoots here.

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I think the daddy of them all is the pak choi.

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-It loves it!

-It loves this cold weather, the cooler weather.

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So the continuity from last autumn's veg,

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-and then we've got this lot.

-And once we've eaten this...

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-We're not finished yet.

-We're not finished, it's outside.

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THEY LAUGH

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Planted at the same time, so the same age, but outside.

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Less protection, not so far forward,

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and that's just exactly what we want, isn't it?

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Yes, because then we finish those, we go on to these,

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but look at the pak choi! Look at that. Isn't that good?

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I mean, so, the staples for winter used to be tatties, leeks,

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-onions, carrots, you know...

-Boring.

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But now we're used to all these fancy veg.

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And we think,

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"Oh, my goodness me, what are we going to do

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"when they have troubles?"

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-There we are.

-You can grow them here.

-Grow them yourself.

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And so the continuity must be continued

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because the main veg plots,

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the two of them have been covered already,

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that's to prevent them being wetted and rewetted

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so that the temperature comes up because planting potatoes,

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and getting in some of the root crops.

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Now, these are Maris Bard.

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This is one of the early potatoes, and we've had these chitting

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somewhere nice and warm and airy, and look.

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Lovely little sprouts on those already. Look at that.

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-You said sitting.

-No, chitting. Sitting chitting.

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THEY LAUGH

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-Our message is, grow your own!

-Do it yourself!

-Yes.

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Don't wait for the supermarket.

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It's the middle of March, and don't these catkins

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on the Contorta hazel look absolutely beautiful?

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But also at this time of year,

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it's very busy in the garden,

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and lots of jobs to do.

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And high on my list is some pruning and cutting back

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of a variety of plants

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that can be done over the next two or three weeks.

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Well, another plant that is looking absolutely gorgeous

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at the moment are the hellebores.

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Just look at those flowers.

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Value for money plants at this time of year because these flowers

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can last for one or two months.

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But the job in hand is all about cutting back this old foliage,

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evergreen foliage, so this is the foliage from last year.

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But you can see how now they are starting to look a bit diseased,

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dying back.

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And if you want your plant to stay healthy and happy,

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we need to cut these back.

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Right back, all the way round.

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And it's the kind of job that you can do with other plants

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as well, so, for example, the evergreen ferns, like Aspleniums.

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Cut those back, and then you'll see the new fronds coming through.

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And you can see, once I tidy up the plant,

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you can fully appreciate that it makes a much better job.

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But we also picked up a really nice tip from Ann Fraser

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at Shepherd House.

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Because if you want to fully appreciate these nodding flowers,

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if you put a little mirror underneath, just look at that,

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and you can walk past and you can see the flower

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without holding it up.

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From cutting back the old foliage from last year,

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on this particular plant,

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it's all about cutting back the woody stems from last year.

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This is a Hypericum.

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And I'm going to go right down to the base.

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The variety is called Elstead, and the whole idea is,

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by cutting these back,

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what we want to do is encourage lovely, new growth

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that's going to be nice and healthy and have a beautiful display

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because this plant, as far as I'm concerned,

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is, again, value for money

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because you have yellow flowers followed by tiny little berries.

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They are a sort of a salmony-red colour.

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And so you've got interest for most of the year.

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Now we're moving on to some more woody stem pruning

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of a completely different nature

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because this is our willow fedge.

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I suppose, basically, it's a hybrid

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between a hedge and a fence.

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And this is what I'm aiming for, in other words,

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this has already been pruned back,

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but here you can see what it was like.

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This is the growth that was put on last year,

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so I'm wanting to reduce the height.

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And you do, you go right back...

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..maybe just leaving a couple of buds...

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..so that it can sprout again.

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The same with the sides.

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So, I mean, the whole aim is to have this sort of very narrow form,

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and very sort of vertical fedge effect.

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Now, don't throw these away, because they have lots of wonderful uses.

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For example, if you've got any gaps, you could use the rods

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and put them in there, and, hopefully, they should root.

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Having said that as well, you can take hardwood cuttings

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so you could use them as other plants around the garden.

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You can also use them for willow reeds and finally,

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something that we've tried in the garden at the moment,

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is we've used them for plant supports around hyacinths.

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And it looks really attractive.

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I'm now going to be doing some lighter pruning.

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And it's all about the heathers. This is a Calluna vulgaris.

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This flowers in the autumn time.

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Now, I don't want to confuse you, but as a general rule,

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heathers get pruned immediately after flowering.

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But in the case with autumn flowering ones,

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you can enjoy those old flowering spikes over the winter time

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because they won't put on any growth,

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but NOW is the time to prune BEFORE they start to grow again.

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And it's very light pruning, because what you do is

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pick a flower spike like that, and you are pruning just below.

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But it would take me absolutely ages with my secateurs.

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And the best thing is to get yourself some hedging shears,

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and just go across like this.

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Now, this is quite an old plant here.

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But because we've been doing this pruning every year,

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it keeps the plant nice and fairly compact,

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and stops it going too woody.

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And just to show you that heathers do flower at all times of year,

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I've got this lovely example here of Erica carnea,

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so winter flowering-cum-early spring flowering.

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So as soon as that one finishes,

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we'll do exactly the same as we did with the Calluna.

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It's not just about cutting back foliage and flowers,

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we can also have a look at some fruit.

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And these are our autumn fruiting raspberries.

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Now, to me, this is a similar pruning job

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as we just did with the Hypericum.

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In other words, these are the fruiting canes from last year.

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And we cut them hard back. Every single cane...

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..gets cut back.

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And then what happens is that they put on new growth from the base

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and those will be the canes

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that will produce the raspberries for this year.

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But I also want to show you our summer fruiting raspberries,

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because it is a different pruning technique.

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They were pruned in the autumn time,

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so these are the canes that were cut hard back,

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those were the ones that had the fruit on.

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And these canes that grew last year will bear the fruit this year.

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So DO know which type of raspberry you have,

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because if I cut those back,

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I'm not going to get any fruit in the summertime with this variety.

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So, Carol, you've been awfully busy,

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but there are still plenty of jobs to do in the Alpine Garden.

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And, you know, the Alpine Garden, Brian, is looking fantastic

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because you only started to revamp this about this time last year.

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And the daffodils are gorgeous, aren't they?

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They've come on really well, and they are, hopefully,

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looking how they should look in the wild where they're up the top

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and they're just self-seeding their way down the scree there.

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I'm really liking how the purple of the Saxifrage

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is going with the daffodil there.

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Real ground-hugging plant, and a rather specialist Primula.

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The lilac with the silvery foliage.

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-Really nice.

-It's a winner, definitely.

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OK, you said we've got jobs to do, so what's first?

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So at this time of year,

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just before the alpine plants are kicking into growth,

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this is when we want to get out with

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a bit of fertiliser and give the ground a wee feed.

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And it's a well-balanced fertiliser.

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Yes, it's one that's definitely not high in nitrogen.

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If we get high in nitrogen,

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it's going to produce soft, lush growth

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and as Jim says, if we get a hard frost,

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it's just going to kill these plants.

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I think we still will get frost, Brian.

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And when you sprinkle it on,

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being a little bit careful to avoid the foliage.

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Yeah, you just want to sprinkle it around them,

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and just onto the gravel.

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And what I would personally do,

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is I am just going to water this in straightaway.

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I mean, obviously, if you know it's going to rain, but that way,

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-it's getting direct, isn't it, to the plant?

-Exactly.

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It's going to get washed through the gravel right into the roots.

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And the worms.

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I think they've been a little bit active because we are seeing,

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I mean, for example, by the Saxifrage,

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you can see a bit of soil there.

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There's a little bit of soil here.

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Once you've fed, then it's a great time

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to just look for these little patches

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and give it a wee top dress.

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And that's a good tip, I think,

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because that's going to keep the weeds down.

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And, you know, people can mulchen their borders as well.

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What about the seed-sowing, though?

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Yes, at this time of year,

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it's still a great time to do a last-minute Alpine seed-sowing.

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So there is two ways we can do it.

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We can either do it in a pot,

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put them into a cold frame and grow them on,

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or we just go straight to source,

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and we sow them direct into these crevices.

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Which is perfect, cos, I mean, it's just tiny little nooks

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and crannies that you're sowing this in. A little Aquilegia?

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Aquilegias are great at self-seeding as well, so, hopefully,

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that will self-seed itself as well, all around there.

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And, Brian, you've got quite a few specialist seeds here.

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Where did you get them from?

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So these seeds are from the Scottish Rock Garden Club.

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I'm a member, and when you are a member,

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you have access to the seed exchange,

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and you can get hundreds and hundreds

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of different Alpine plants for you to grow on yourself.

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This time of the year is a point when you really get to see

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a garden's structure, the way it's divided and compartmentalised.

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And you know what they say.

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A garden with good bones is bound to produce

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a good garden during the summer months.

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So now is a good time to think about how you create divisions

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within the garden's space.

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There are lots of ways of doing it, fences, walls,

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but think a bit laterally.

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Hedges and even trees all come into the equation.

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And this is a prime candidate.

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This is a lime, Tilia Pallida.

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One of the exciting things about the way this grows is

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that if I turn it that way,

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you can see it's got an incredibly flat profile,

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whereas on that axes, it's got all of these nicely layered branches.

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And that means it's perfect for training and pruning into,

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well, a hedge in the sky, really.

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A screen which hovers above all your other planting,

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and, perhaps, above other fences like this one we've got here.

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How do you go about pruning it?

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Well, you employ a principle called pleaching,

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or some people call it plashing

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which was first described by Julius Caesar in 60 BC,

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so it's not exactly a modern event.

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Now, what you have to do is think of the frame

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on which you want the tree to exist.

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And I've created, just out of six-foot-high bamboo canes,

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a simple six-foot square, then a series of laterals,

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each one of those laterals will be a layer of branches.

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And you need the cane representing your trunk as well.

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So, I'll put another layer in there, so we've got one, two, three,

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four, five laterals and then the trunk coming through,

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all of that's zip-tied together...

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..which is a good way of making a good, strong connection.

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Zip-tied all together, and then,

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to create a bit of structural rigidity in the diagonal,

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you can lay...

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some diagonal canes in as well.

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So that will give you your basic support

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to which you train and prune your plant.

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And in order to fasten the plant to it, I've got one at this end.

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Here's my basic tree.

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Exactly the same, this is Tilia Pallida.

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On the framework...

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..there...

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..is the frame.

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It's a good, strong structure.

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And that will provide me with the basis for the tree.

0:16:140:16:19

Lay the tree down and then using some of the flexy coil,

0:16:210:16:25

this is good because it doesn't stress the bark of the tree

0:16:250:16:28

when you fasten the cane to it,

0:16:280:16:31

you first of all start off by...

0:16:310:16:32

..tying in all of those verticals.

0:16:340:16:36

So the trunk in to the vertical canes, all the way up.

0:16:370:16:41

And then you gradually work your way up the tree,

0:16:410:16:45

looking for branches to tie in to the horizontals.

0:16:450:16:49

So, for instance, this one here...

0:16:490:16:51

They are quite flexible at this time of the year.

0:16:510:16:53

You could easily tie down into that structure there.

0:16:530:16:56

Similarly, it's a bit of a weaker branch, but, you know,

0:16:560:16:59

early in the season this will produce lots of growth.

0:16:590:17:01

Tie in there, and come up to the next layer.

0:17:010:17:03

And tie that one in. And so you work your way up the tree,

0:17:040:17:07

because, essentially, what you are looking for

0:17:070:17:09

is the vertical and then five sets of horizontals.

0:17:090:17:13

When you get to the top, you will find that your young tree

0:17:130:17:16

will probably massively overshoot, and that's fine,

0:17:160:17:19

because you can just prune it off at the nearest bud.

0:17:190:17:22

Now, in order to see what it looks like when it's finished,

0:17:220:17:24

here's my first year pleach.

0:17:240:17:26

Put in the ground, short stake,

0:17:260:17:28

couple of ties, and you can see the bamboo cane structure,

0:17:280:17:32

and then I've got these branches tied in all the way to the end.

0:17:320:17:36

Once they reach the end,

0:17:360:17:38

it's been pruned off at a bud because then all of these buds

0:17:380:17:41

will produce side shoots

0:17:410:17:43

and it's on those that you'll get your massive greening.

0:17:430:17:46

And you'll be surprised just how verdant this hedge becomes,

0:17:460:17:50

even in one season.

0:17:500:17:52

And this process of pleaching

0:17:520:17:55

is one of these ideas that were seen

0:17:550:17:58

all the way through medieval gardens,

0:17:580:18:00

a way of dividing the space up

0:18:000:18:03

and creating a wonderful green division,

0:18:030:18:06

a sense of lushness against the hedges and fences.

0:18:060:18:11

And, of course, if you want to do this,

0:18:110:18:13

you have to do it in the spring

0:18:130:18:15

when the buds are forming and when the branches are nice and pliable.

0:18:150:18:19

Something else you have to do in the spring, of course,

0:18:190:18:21

is to get out and enjoy snowdrops,

0:18:210:18:23

which is exactly what Carole's been up to.

0:18:230:18:26

One of my favourite plants is the common snowdrop,

0:18:350:18:38

Galanthus nivalis.

0:18:380:18:40

And it always appears in late winter.

0:18:400:18:43

Now these drifts here

0:18:430:18:44

at Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire

0:18:440:18:47

create a wonderful display.

0:18:470:18:49

The little flowers maybe appear rather delicate,

0:18:490:18:51

but they're incredibly hardy.

0:18:510:18:53

And, when they're in full bloom like this,

0:18:530:18:56

it's a cheerful reminder that spring is on its way.

0:18:560:18:59

But it's not the snowdrops at Fyvie Castle

0:19:080:19:10

I've come to see today.

0:19:100:19:12

Instead, I'm making a short journey to Rothienorman

0:19:120:19:15

to meet Helen Rushton.

0:19:150:19:17

She's a snowdrop collector,

0:19:170:19:18

otherwise known as a galanthophile.

0:19:180:19:21

And her garden has hundreds of different varieties.

0:19:210:19:24

Helen, when did you become a galanthophile?

0:19:300:19:32

I think I must have started about 15 years ago,

0:19:320:19:35

with the first couple, and then I've just kept adding to them.

0:19:350:19:38

-And now I've ended up with quite a few.

-You say quite a few.

0:19:380:19:41

-How many do you think you have?

-Somewhere around about 350, I think.

0:19:410:19:45

Oh, my goodness, that's an awful lot.

0:19:450:19:47

And why the fascination, then, with snowdrops?

0:19:470:19:49

I think because they are the first flower to come up in the spring.

0:19:490:19:52

Everywhere's brown, and then, all of a sudden,

0:19:520:19:54

they come through, and you know spring's on the way.

0:19:540:19:56

I totally agree with you.

0:19:560:19:57

I think, as gardeners, we appreciate that, don't we?

0:19:570:19:59

So this one, for example. What have we got here?

0:19:590:20:01

This is Robin Hood, and this is one of my favourites, actually.

0:20:010:20:04

And I particularly like this one

0:20:040:20:06

because of the markings on the inner petals.

0:20:060:20:08

It looks like a little face to me.

0:20:080:20:10

-Yes, it does, doesn't it?

-Absolutely gorgeous.

0:20:100:20:12

And, actually, it's all about attention to detail, isn't it?

0:20:120:20:15

Because there's such variety between them.

0:20:150:20:17

Yes, there is, there's quite a lot of variety.

0:20:170:20:19

-So I think we should have a look at some of those varieties now.

-OK.

0:20:190:20:23

So I've gathered here a selection

0:20:290:20:30

of different snowdrops from the garden

0:20:300:20:32

so that you can see the different leaf shapes

0:20:320:20:34

and the flower shapes as well.

0:20:340:20:36

So this is the widest one that we've got in the garden,

0:20:360:20:38

this is krasnovii.

0:20:380:20:39

-And it's a lovely bright green, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

-Very shiny.

0:20:390:20:42

And the next one along is a plicatus leaf,

0:20:420:20:45

and you can just about see the little pleating along the edge.

0:20:450:20:47

Oh, yes, very different.

0:20:470:20:49

And, finally, this very narrow, again, back to the glaucous form.

0:20:490:20:52

Yes, this is almost like a blade of grass. This is gracilis.

0:20:520:20:56

-It's got a nice little twist, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

0:20:560:20:58

So what about the flowers?

0:20:580:21:00

-I mean, what a variety you have here.

-Hm.

0:21:000:21:02

Well, everyone expects them to be three white outer petals

0:21:020:21:05

with three inner petals, perhaps with some markings.

0:21:050:21:08

But they do vary a lot.

0:21:080:21:09

So this one generally points upwards. Her name's Funny Justine.

0:21:090:21:14

Nice name.

0:21:140:21:15

Going quite green?

0:21:150:21:17

Yes, more of a pagoda shape, I think, and that's South Hayes.

0:21:170:21:20

Really pretty. And greener still.

0:21:200:21:22

Yeah, that's Green Tea, it lives up to its name.

0:21:220:21:25

Not so sure, Helen, about that one.

0:21:250:21:27

Well, that's a love-it-or-hate-it snowdrop, I think. That's Narwhal.

0:21:270:21:31

Some people do like it and some don't.

0:21:310:21:33

And, again, with the twisted spade at the top.

0:21:330:21:35

I'm sure lots of people have asked you this,

0:21:350:21:37

but of your 350 varieties that you have,

0:21:370:21:40

or cultivars, do you have a favourite?

0:21:400:21:42

Well, at the moment,

0:21:420:21:43

the snowdrop that's out that's my favourite is Diggory,

0:21:430:21:46

and I like that one because of the big petals,

0:21:460:21:48

-and they're almost like seersucker fabric.

-Oh, sounds lovely.

0:21:480:21:51

Now, you're open, aren't you?

0:21:510:21:53

You have visitors coming round to the garden

0:21:530:21:55

-and looking at your snowdrops.

-That's right.

0:21:550:21:57

So what we've actually done now

0:21:570:21:59

is we've built a stepped raised bed and in there,

0:21:590:22:02

we've collected together a variety of different forms

0:22:020:22:04

so people can compare them.

0:22:040:22:05

-And they are all beautifully labelled.

-Yes, that's right.

0:22:050:22:08

So we finally go on to the yellows, very different.

0:22:080:22:11

Well, yes, this is Lady Elphinstone,

0:22:110:22:13

and she is a lovely little yellow double snowdrop.

0:22:130:22:16

Sometimes she comes up green if you disturb her,

0:22:160:22:18

but she's quite reliably yellow here.

0:22:180:22:21

-And to me, it looks like a bit of a petticoat.

-That's right, yes.

0:22:210:22:23

And the last one, really yellow at the top.

0:22:230:22:26

That's Primrose Warburg, and she's another one of my favourites.

0:22:260:22:29

And I'm sure you have quite a collection of yellows, don't you?

0:22:290:22:33

Well, I've actually gathered 16 of my yellows together in one border.

0:22:330:22:37

-Shall we go and have a look at them because the sun's shining?

-Yes.

0:22:370:22:41

Gosh, with the sunlight,

0:22:500:22:51

I can actually see quite a bit of yellow here.

0:22:510:22:54

Another one yellow at the top?

0:22:540:22:56

Yes, this is Spindlestone Surprise

0:22:560:22:58

and it's also yellow inside.

0:22:580:23:00

Oh, it's gorgeous, isn't it?

0:23:000:23:02

Now, all of these seem to be growing in pots. Why do you do that?

0:23:020:23:06

Well, they are actually aquatic pond baskets,

0:23:060:23:08

and we do it for two reasons.

0:23:080:23:10

We have a lot of bank voles and moles

0:23:100:23:11

that burrow through the borders

0:23:110:23:13

and so they lift the bulbs and scatter them.

0:23:130:23:15

And also, in the summer, when we want to lift and divide

0:23:150:23:18

some of the pots, they're easy to come out.

0:23:180:23:20

So you lift and divide in the summer, rather than...

0:23:200:23:22

-We very often say lift them in the green.

-That's right.

0:23:220:23:25

Well, we lift them in the summer because they're dormant

0:23:250:23:27

so there's no foliage to attract pests.

0:23:270:23:29

And also, you are less likely to damage the bulbs.

0:23:290:23:32

OK, now, also because these are hybrid,

0:23:320:23:34

-they're not good to come through from seed, are they?

-That's right.

0:23:340:23:37

Actually, when they finish flowering,

0:23:370:23:39

we go along afterwards and pull off the seed pods

0:23:390:23:41

so that they don't self-seed amongst the original bulbs.

0:23:410:23:44

And with 350 varieties, you've got a lot of work there.

0:23:440:23:47

That's right.

0:23:470:23:48

In the greenhouse here, we've got a range of snowdrops

0:23:580:24:01

that like it a bit drier through the winter.

0:24:010:24:03

They can stand any amount of temperature, they are fully hardy.

0:24:030:24:06

But they don't like sitting in the wet.

0:24:060:24:08

Something like this reginae-olgae hybrid

0:24:080:24:11

would originally have come from Greece,

0:24:110:24:13

and so they like it drier.

0:24:130:24:15

But, as you say, perfectly hardy,

0:24:150:24:16

so if you had the right conditions, you could still grow them outside.

0:24:160:24:19

That's right, yes.

0:24:190:24:20

Now, I've heard some ridiculous prices for some of these bulbs,

0:24:200:24:25

you know, some of the specialist varieties.

0:24:250:24:28

We like to bide our time, I'm afraid,

0:24:280:24:29

and wait for them to come down in price considerably.

0:24:290:24:32

But a recent one, a Golden Fleece, that went for over £1,000.

0:24:320:24:36

A lot of money, a lot of money.

0:24:360:24:38

But, you know, if somebody wanted to start off a wee collection,

0:24:380:24:41

what would you recommend?

0:24:410:24:43

I'd go for one of the hybrids again, something like Magnet or Sam Arnott

0:24:430:24:46

or Viridapice because they bulk up quickly,

0:24:460:24:50

and they are different to the common snowdrop,

0:24:500:24:52

so you can see that they are different.

0:24:520:24:54

Well, Helen, I've really enjoyed my day,

0:24:540:24:56

and you have shown me such a range of snowdrops.

0:24:560:24:59

-They really are beautiful.

-Oh, thanks for coming.

-Thank you.

0:24:590:25:02

I guess many of you will have had bubble polythene on your glasshouse

0:25:090:25:13

to insulate it over the winter months

0:25:130:25:15

so that you're not spending too much on heating

0:25:150:25:18

if you are growing stuff in there.

0:25:180:25:19

This is the time of year now

0:25:190:25:20

when you've got to decide when to take it off

0:25:200:25:22

because the plants really desperately need

0:25:220:25:24

all the light they can get.

0:25:240:25:25

The choice is yours.

0:25:250:25:26

I'm thinking that we should be starting to take this off now.

0:25:260:25:30

Well, isn't this a pretty sight? The crocus in flower.

0:25:320:25:35

Now, we planted these back in September,

0:25:350:25:38

naturalising them in the grass, it was a bit fiddly,

0:25:380:25:40

there were 150 of these to plant, but well worth the effort.

0:25:400:25:44

And these now should come up year after year.

0:25:440:25:47

Well, they've set me a challenge this year, and that is to

0:25:490:25:51

grow a salad for every week of the session that we are here.

0:25:510:25:54

So we'll have to be a wee bit imaginative this week.

0:25:540:25:57

However, we are going to do that in the Small Space Garden

0:25:570:26:00

and this is the area that we are using.

0:26:000:26:02

And we're just going to feed that with some fertiliser

0:26:020:26:05

because we want to get as much growth

0:26:050:26:07

on to the plants as we possibly can.

0:26:070:26:10

Cos the idea is that I want this fertiliser

0:26:100:26:12

to be as near the top as we can

0:26:120:26:14

so that the seedling roots get into it

0:26:140:26:16

as quickly as they possibly can, grow really big,

0:26:160:26:18

and we can harvest salads for every week of the session.

0:26:180:26:21

So these dead flowers of the astilbe,

0:26:230:26:26

they've looked good over the winter, and provided some interest,

0:26:260:26:28

but we're needing to cut back the foliage now,

0:26:280:26:31

and we better do it quick before we damage any of the new shoots.

0:26:310:26:34

Slugs and snails are active surprisingly early in the season,

0:26:370:26:41

especially given the mild winter we've had in some parts.

0:26:410:26:43

So take action now.

0:26:430:26:46

In this particular case,

0:26:460:26:47

I'm using ground and composted sheep's wool,

0:26:470:26:49

and that's because it's not toxic,

0:26:490:26:52

but it does have a rather sort of irritating follicle on it.

0:26:520:26:55

Scratch it round the plant, water it on,

0:26:550:26:58

and that's the job done for the season.

0:26:580:27:01

Right, you know you've set me a challenge

0:27:030:27:06

of producing a salad every week?

0:27:060:27:08

Well, I have just sown them this week,

0:27:080:27:10

so there's no way we are going to eat them,

0:27:100:27:12

but I went round the garden, and I have selected some weeds

0:27:120:27:16

and plants to eat, all edible, so this week, it's eat your weeds.

0:27:160:27:20

-Me?

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

0:27:200:27:22

-So what's in here is, that's a bit of cleavers.

-OK.

0:27:220:27:26

-What have we got for you, Jim?

-Bishop's weed, maybe?

0:27:260:27:28

Bishop's weed is there, maybe. That's it.

0:27:280:27:30

-There's some bishop's weed there.

-Bishop's weed, good lad.

0:27:300:27:33

-What have you got for me, George?

-Anything at all.

0:27:330:27:35

Hairy bitter cress or chickweed.

0:27:350:27:36

-Hairy bitter cress?

-Let's see if I can find some.

-Take that.

0:27:360:27:40

As you'll notice, I've not had anything, which I think is fair.

0:27:400:27:43

What's it like?

0:27:430:27:44

I tell you what, this will also help to bridge the gap

0:27:440:27:46

-if there is a shortage, won't it?

-I could market this.

0:27:460:27:49

-But as usual...

-That is bitter!

0:27:490:27:51

THEY LAUGH

0:27:510:27:52

As the name suggests.

0:27:520:27:54

Well, I think it's the dressing that's very important.

0:27:540:27:57

-But the bishop's weed's fine.

-It's not... It's not good.

-Is it not?

0:27:570:28:00

-It's not good.

-Well, I'll try growing them, then.

0:28:000:28:03

If you've got nothing else, you'd be thankful.

0:28:030:28:05

If you would like any more information

0:28:050:28:06

on this week's programme,

0:28:060:28:08

then it's all on the factsheet,

0:28:080:28:09

and you can get that on our website.

0:28:090:28:12

-You've stolen my lines, Brian.

-Oh, Carole, sorry.

0:28:120:28:15

Actually, next week, I'm going to a very interesting garden,

0:28:150:28:18

it's a topiary garden in Aberdeenshire, Monymusk.

0:28:180:28:22

And I'm playing with a few plants in a slightly alternative way.

0:28:220:28:25

Well, I shudder to think what that's going to be like. Oh, blimey!

0:28:250:28:28

-And I suppose it will be more salad from you?

-Yeah.

0:28:280:28:31

Well, I'm back in the glasshouse,

0:28:310:28:33

just in case the weather is not so good.

0:28:330:28:35

-Until we see you next time, bye-bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

0:28:350:28:38

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