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Gardeners' World (1968) Season 58 Episode 30
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FunTranscript
00:00Hello.
00:02Hello.
00:04Hello.
00:06Hello.
00:08Hello.
00:10It's lovely to be back at Damsen Farm with this lovely autumnal light and dew on the ground.
00:35Yes, it's slightly chilly, but it's the perfect time for some good autumn gardening jobs.
00:41And one of those is division.
00:44So this patch here is in dappled shade and it's growing this lovely plant called Tilima.
00:51Now it's a close relative of Heuchera and Tiarella and the leaves look very similar.
00:57Another word for it is fringe cup.
00:59So in the spring this shoots up a spike of flowers with little white cups with lovely fringed petals.
01:05So a really pretty plant.
01:07And now's the perfect time to divide it.
01:10Now from here, with a bit of careful prizing, I reckon we can get three or four good plants.
01:18But with a bit of extra, you could, if you wanted to, get even more.
01:27I'm going to get my dog absolutely covered in soil here.
01:30Go on, find somewhere else to play.
01:35Spring and autumn are the best time for doing division of perennial plants.
01:39Now the benefit from doing this now is that over the winter these roots have even more chance to put on some growth.
01:44Get really, really strong and well established.
01:46Maybe in the spring the flowers will not be quite so prolific.
01:50But from then on and each year they should get stronger and stronger and be really healthy plants.
01:54And with getting them from the garden, all of the mycorrhiza, all of the bacteria that are already in the soil and interacting with this plant to keep it healthy,
02:03will go into its new home and keep these little new plants healthy as well.
02:09Now this is just one of the things I'm planning on adding to a container.
02:27But here are some of the other lovely things we have to share with you today.
02:30Arit explains the secret of great design from a couple's garden in Oxfordshire.
02:36The wraparound of glass obviously lets lots of light come into this part of the home.
02:43But also what it does is put the garden on view 24-7.
02:49We meet a teacher in Bristol who shares his appreciation for apples at a city centre allotment.
02:55Over 40 kinds of tree fruit probably are in one half of an allotment plot.
03:01And we get lots and lots of fruits off here and it's just wonderful.
03:05Nick shines a spotlight.
03:07Wow.
03:08On the plant science behind the importance of light.
03:11Gosh the difference really is astonishing isn't it?
03:14I mean this is nuts.
03:17And we join Sue at home as she propagates and plans for next year.
03:21For now I'm going to pop them into water.
03:24Later on I'm going to put them into a peat free compost and they should romp away.
03:28Now I have been coming here for the last couple of seasons and seen the garden change.
03:46And it's always such a beautiful space.
03:49And that's really because Alison Jenkins who lives here and gardens here has put it together so very well.
03:55When I first came here Alison and I planted some salads and containers just here on the decking.
04:05Now that all of the crops in here are well and truly over and the harvest is finished.
04:09It's time to replenish these containers.
04:12And although you might want to leave some of them clear to grow crops in again.
04:15This one here is going to become a permanent display of perennials.
04:21So what I'm going to do is just enrich the compost that's in here.
04:25I won't throw it all away.
04:26So I'm just going to add homemade compost to this container.
04:32And that will bring nitrogen and potash and phosphates and all of those good plant nutrients that are needed for plant growth.
04:39But it will also bring with it some weed seeds.
04:41So when this is finished I will just mulch the whole thing with some shop bought compost which has been sterilized.
04:48And that will act as a weed suppressing mulch.
04:51And the first plant I'm going to add to this is a bulb.
04:55Obviously autumn is bulb planting time of the year.
04:58This is a narcissus, a daffodil called Thalia.
05:03And it's one of my favourite daffodils.
05:06It's got a pure white flower and it's scented.
05:09And if you plant them really densely they look great.
05:13Eventually when I actually plant them I'm going to dig them down because they are quite large bulbs.
05:17And generally as a rule of thumb a bulb needs to be planted about three times its own depth.
05:22So that will eventually be a good trowel's depth below the top of this container.
05:27So I will dig these in.
05:29That is not a dog bed.
05:44There we go.
05:48When you're planting a bulb there is always an up and a down.
05:51So look for the root plate.
05:53The basal plate that's this bit at the bottom.
05:55That's got the roots coming out of it.
05:56And then the tip is the growing tip where the leaves will come.
06:00And always make sure you're putting healthy bulbs in.
06:02Sometimes they can go a little bit soft.
06:04But a nice firm bulb should make a healthy plant.
06:07Now I'm going to add this compost to the top.
06:20So just a thick mulch to stop the weeds from coming up.
06:23There we go.
06:28In terms of the actual planting that's going into here.
06:34Some of it comes from the garden.
06:35So there's the Tenema that I divided just now.
06:39And also some Melica which has come from the garden.
06:42That is a beautiful ornamental grass.
06:44Really, really underrated.
06:46There are also some plants that have been brought in like this.
06:50This is a Carex Apalachica.
06:57And I'll put three of them in with a fern.
07:01This is a Polypody.
07:03And another three of those will give an evergreen structure throughout the pot.
07:08If I just get the placement of those first off.
07:11Sets of three or five do create balance in a container.
07:15And a slightly symmetrical layout will make this look good from every angle.
07:20Obviously if you were putting it against a wall.
07:22You'd want more interesting things at the front.
07:24And taller things at the back.
07:25So if I get them actually planted in.
07:28We can work the rest from that point.
07:41These are all very well adapted woodland plants.
07:44So this container is perfect for a shady position in the garden.
07:48Which can be tricky to fill with interest.
07:51So I think one of the easiest and most effective ways to do that.
07:54Is to use evergreen.
07:55Use the colour green.
07:56Best colour there is anyway.
08:02There's a window here and a room behind.
08:04I think wherever you have a window and a view out onto the garden.
08:07If you're lucky enough to have that.
08:08You should fill it with beauty.
08:10So little containers like this.
08:12Draw your eye out.
08:14And create something beautiful to look at.
08:16Even in the depths of winter.
08:17When you may not actually want to go outside into the garden.
08:21So the next thing to go in.
08:23Will be the talima.
08:25I divided earlier on.
08:27And because that has quite a tall flower spike.
08:29That will look best in the middle.
08:31Or just snip off the dead leaves.
08:35And stems.
08:36Just to make it look really neat.
08:38Because I think when you have something in a container display.
08:42You really are displaying it.
08:44If I was just plonking this back in the border.
08:46Probably wouldn't go to that much effort.
08:48But there we go.
08:49Nice and neat.
08:50Now the last plant I'm going to add is this.
09:00Melica.
09:01But just again.
09:02I'm going to tidy them up a little.
09:05There.
09:07So that will go throughout.
09:09And then sprout up.
09:11Through the whole display.
09:12And create.
09:13A little bit of chaos.
09:14In this very symmetrical planter.
09:33It is so special to be able to look out of the window.
09:36And see your garden.
09:38And the way that our gardens interact with our homes.
09:40Is a really interesting element of garden design.
09:43Now Aritz.
09:44Went to Oxfordshire.
09:45To discover more.
09:50We gardeners get so attached to our outdoor spaces.
09:53And why wouldn't we?
09:54We spend precious hours.
09:56Nurturing and loving.
09:57The space that is our unique garden.
09:59Our piece of land.
10:01So when we have to reluctantly.
10:03Give it all up.
10:04And move on.
10:05It can be heartbreaking.
10:10For Jan and Ken.
10:13Moving from their cherished rural garden.
10:15With sweeping views.
10:17To a smaller garden.
10:18Was a huge decision.
10:20But it was also an opportunity.
10:22To create something new.
10:25I'm delighted with.
10:27How.
10:28Mature.
10:29Looking.
10:30The garden is.
10:31And.
10:32I'll get up.
10:33And I'll walk around this garden.
10:34At six in the morning.
10:35And it's beautiful with the sunrise.
10:37It's really lovely.
10:38Takes on a different look.
10:40What is your sort of ideas and vision.
10:42That you had for it.
10:43We decided the most important thing.
10:45Was to have a practical garden.
10:47That I could always enjoy.
10:50The main thing was low maintenance.
10:52You notice there's no grass.
10:54And we're getting to the age.
10:56Where we thought.
10:57We really ought to.
10:58Always be able to cope with it.
11:00It needed to be.
11:02Future proof.
11:03No steps.
11:04One level.
11:05One level.
11:06And that involved.
11:07Quite a lot of.
11:08Earth moving.
11:09It was a mud bath.
11:10Yeah.
11:11Very very wet.
11:12And then.
11:13When I stood here.
11:14And I thought.
11:15This is the weirdest shaped plot.
11:16What are we going to do with it.
11:18I really love.
11:19That Jan and Ken.
11:20Were very specific.
11:21In the fact.
11:22That they did not want lawn.
11:23In this garden.
11:24They'd had enough of it.
11:25But that means.
11:26They get lots of plants.
11:27And I really love.
11:28This planted palette.
11:29Actually.
11:30I think there's some.
11:31Nice touches.
11:32Using the grasses.
11:33This panicum.
11:34Here.
11:35And the hakenokloa.
11:36Continual movement.
11:37That will be.
11:38Within this space.
11:39Which.
11:40I think there's some.
11:41Nice touches.
11:42Using the grasses.
11:43This panicum.
11:44Here.
11:45And the hakenokloa.
11:46Continual movement.
11:47Within this space.
11:48Which is important.
11:49There's a lot of.
11:50Open paving here.
11:51But.
11:52Then.
11:53To have the static.
11:54More.
11:55Solid plants.
11:56Things like the.
11:57Highly telephone here.
11:58The.
11:59Yew balls.
12:00That also.
12:01Holds the structure.
12:02Of the planting together.
12:03And that's really.
12:04Important.
12:05And having height.
12:06Within the space.
12:07Things like the.
12:08Persicaria.
12:09As well as that.
12:10Actaea.
12:11Gives you a sense.
12:12Of being immersed.
12:13Within the garden space.
12:14Not everything's down.
12:15At a low level.
12:16Important.
12:17Ground cover.
12:18So things like.
12:19The aduga here.
12:20That helps to keep.
12:21The suppression of weeds.
12:22So.
12:23This palette of plants.
12:24Is not only looking good.
12:25But there's functionality.
12:26To it as well.
12:27People.
12:28In.
12:29Till.
12:30Too often as well.
12:31To them.
12:32To the floor.
12:33To them.
12:34To them.
12:35To them.
12:36To them.
12:37To them.
12:38To them.
12:39and make sure that they just become secondary within the design
12:43or here, celebrate them and bring them forward.
12:46So this is larch, fencing panels.
12:52I have to say, I think it really does work.
13:01It was really important to Jan and Ken to have the garden on one level
13:06and it's a good consideration when you're thinking ahead.
13:09Now, this non-slip of this porcelain is very practical
13:13but also as well, it runs seamlessly into the rest of the house.
13:18But the designers also used this lovely brick paver
13:21and I like how it's creating this meandered pathway around this border, framing it.
13:28But it's also adding colour into the garden
13:31and it picks up the accents of the stem on the actaea,
13:34even the little flowers on the hack and the clow are there.
13:37So this subtlety of colour is an actual, very clever design punch in this garden.
13:42The house and garden are only two years old
13:58and the borders are maturing so well
14:01but a house, when it's new, can feel quite stark and quite out of place.
14:06By cloaking it with climbers like this evergreen trackless bermon,
14:10it starts to give it a sense of place already, a sense of age.
14:14So, got an empty wall, put a climber on it.
14:17Having a water feature was a non-negotiable because it had the practical solution
14:39of helping to muffle the sound of the road alongside the garden
14:42but as an actual focal point in this garden, I think it's wonderful.
14:47I love the copper reel here.
14:50It's going to patina so nicely, give it a lovely verdigris colour.
14:54But this old trough, this stone trough, it's got such a sense of place.
14:59It really grounds the design.
15:00The wraparound of glass in this lower portion of the house
15:12obviously lets lots of light come into this part of the home
15:16but also what it does is put the garden on view 24-7.
15:21What that means is that the planting and the design within it, therefore,
15:26has to be looking on point all times of the year
15:28and that's been achieved through evergreen planting,
15:32gorgeous trees that have got structural interest even when they defoliate
15:36and it's even making sure that the perennials can work into the winter months
15:42so things like the hack and the clower go a gorgeous golden colour
15:45and don't need to be cut down until February or March.
15:48So, when you've got a garden like this that is actually surrounding the house,
15:53celebrate it, bring it right up inside and enjoy it.
15:58It's definitely true that as well as all the design challenges
16:19that come with a new garden, there's that emotional wrench of saying goodbye
16:23something you've put so many years and so much love into, it's always tough.
16:29Now, this is, or was, the meadow and it's now been cut back and turned into hay
16:35and grass clippings in themselves can build up over the summer
16:39and it's sometimes hard to know what to do with all of that plant material
16:42but Alison actually has a very cool way of dealing with all of her cut back plants.
16:56Hi Alison.
16:57Hiya.
16:58Aren't we lucky with the sunshine?
17:00Oh no, isn't it gorgeous?
17:01It's beautiful.
17:01Now, tell me what you're going to do with this hay
17:04because I know this is where the squashes were growing before
17:07but what is the plan with all of this?
17:10So, I've been making these compost cakes for a few years now
17:13and I adapted it from a method I learnt that was taught really as an approach to
17:20it's a way you can make compost without having a compost bin,
17:23you can do a freestanding cake.
17:25But as I was learning it, I was thinking,
17:28ooh, I've got loads of hay from my meadow
17:31but I wouldn't reuse that as compost because it's got lots of grass seed in
17:34but it actually works perfectly to build these structures in the field
17:39to use them as a place to grow squash
17:41because they're big and sprawly and they can just spread.
17:45And we've all seen pumpkins that have germinated in the compost heap
17:48being really happy.
17:51So, what are these twigs doing at the centre there?
17:53Yeah. So, that's really my need to give some aeration in the bottom
17:58and then layering different materials.
18:00So, obviously I've got quite a lot of hay
18:02and then whatever else we have to hand.
18:05So, we usually have a lot of nettles, grass clippings,
18:08so just kind of layers of different materials
18:11and then wetting it in between.
18:13Right, shall we start the first layer?
18:16Yes.
18:23So, what are these uprights for?
18:26The idea is to create a defined shape, not just a big pile of stuff.
18:32You need a relatively decent size, I'd say minimum two metres really,
18:37just so that you've got enough material for it to break down.
18:40So, basically, anybody could do this
18:46with whatever materials they're cutting back.
18:48So long as you've got that good balance
18:50between your browns and your greens, your carbon and nitrogen.
18:52Woody material and leafy material, basically.
18:55Yeah.
19:10So, I do this side?
19:11Yeah.
19:12Thanks.
19:14I guess I guess it's going to be quite tall.
19:15In the middle it would be bone dry for a long time if it wasn't wet.
19:18So, yeah, each layer we tend to water.
19:22It just helps everything break down.
19:24So, the microorganisms need a moist environment to be active.
19:31There you go.
19:32So, what is the next layer going to be now?
19:35Well, we can use some of the old compost
19:37from the previous year's compost cake.
19:39So, yeah, if you just have a little feel of what's going on in there,
19:45it's just, you know, it's all really composted down.
19:47Oh, wow, that's really, really nice, isn't it?
19:50It's a beautiful texture.
19:53Perfect.
19:53Yeah, so we reuse that and we'll layer that between all the new layers of hay
19:58and other herbaceous material.
20:01Amazing.
20:01I'm going to try this on my allotment.
20:02I'm going to do it.
20:03It's inspired me, Alison.
20:05Good.
20:05I'm just gathering a few of the windfalls that are way beyond eating
20:15to add to Alison's compost cake and ones that have rodent damage.
20:29Now, it's a really common worry if you have a compost heap that you don't want to add food to it because you can bring things like rats in.
20:36But here I figured they're going to be eating the apples when they're on the ground rather than bothering to go to the effort of burrowing into a compost heap to get them.
20:44So I'm going to put a few windfalls into that compost cake.
20:48Now, isn't this orchard just beautiful and idyllic?
20:54But you do not need acres and acres to be able to grow a lovely, beautiful and very productive collection of apples.
21:01At the moment, this country imports probably about 85% of the fruit.
21:12And admittedly, a fair amount of that will be citrus and bananas.
21:15But we could grow so much more.
21:17And I'm really interested to see how much we can get into a small space and anybody can do that.
21:24My name's Tim Foster, and this is my allotment.
21:27And I teach gardening here in sunny Bristol.
21:31Over 40 kinds of tree fruit probably are in one half of an allotment plot.
21:39It's a very abundant plot and we get lots and lots of fruit off here and it's just wonderful.
21:48So to enable us to get as many trees in as possible, we've used a number of different techniques.
21:54So simply, one of the most obvious ways of trying to get fruit into a small space is to have a small plant.
22:02And with a tree, you would normally think that's not possible.
22:06But here we have a little apple tree and this particular variety is one called Darcy's Spice.
22:11And just behind me, in the brassica cage, we've got kale and purple sprouting broccoli, which is probably larger than this little tree.
22:19What determines the size of a tree is the rootstock.
22:24And every tree that we buy, virtually anyway, has been grafted.
22:29That means that a piece has been taken from a variety, which will have the fruit that you want to eat.
22:35That's called the scion and it's grafted to attach it to the top of the very dwarfing rootstock.
22:44And then the rootstock is in the ground and will influence the size.
22:52Something people say is why you're growing so many apples.
22:55Well, each individual tree doesn't necessarily produce a huge amount.
23:00So it's the range which is quite important.
23:02The total quantity of apples, yes, we've got quite a lot, but they're all used and they are spread out over the months.
23:10And so, yeah, we need them all.
23:16So another way of getting a lot of fruit into a small space is to actually grow them on single stems.
23:24And we've got seven trees in a line along here.
23:28That means I've got seven varieties of apple, and when one doesn't produce in one year, it doesn't matter because I've got the others there.
23:37The very first one is one called Tom Putt.
23:41It's an early cooker, and that means it's ready when the blackberries are ready.
23:47And that can't be any better than blackberry and apple.
23:49At the other end of the row of cordons, we've got a complete contrast.
23:55This is a dessert apple, and it's one called Pitmast and Pineapple.
23:59And it's just a delightful little fruit, which genuinely do have a hint of pineapple about them.
24:12Magic.
24:13You won't get anything like that in a supermarket.
24:17You've got to grow it yourself.
24:19EREAN
24:26Cordons are grown in their particular way for a reason.
24:29And the cordons themselves are at 45 degrees, not upright.
24:34That's because those branches are being stressed slightly, and it encourages flowering and fruiting.
24:40We can do a very similar thing with a freestanding tree, where the branches are upright, and none are not fruiting terribly well.
24:46so we can bring the branches down from the vertical towards the horizontal by tying a weight on it
24:52it's called festooning lovely name all it is is simply stressing those branches and getting them
24:58to fruit a little bit more easily after time if this works the weight of the apples themselves
25:04will bring keep the branch down and we won't need these which is quite handy because when
25:09you're moving around you quite often get a face full of log
25:12so another great way of getting fruit into a small space having that variety is to have something
25:25slightly strange and that's have to have one tree with more than one variety on it it's called
25:30multi grafting and this particular tree has got four different varieties on it and starting with
25:39discovery which is a slightly strawberry tasting fruit fairly mild but it's ready in august
25:48that's followed by ellison's orange tastes of aniseed really a unique apple the third one on here
25:57it's called winston and that's terrific for storage so we'll be eating those well into the new year
26:05a little bit small perhaps should have been thinned who's in charge here finally at the back is a fourth
26:13variety which i was donated because it's a very special one it's called cat's head some places call
26:20it pig snout because of the shape of it and the reason why it's special is because it's possibly from
26:27roman times certainly pre-medieval times and i'm growing it possibly for that reason alone because
26:34it's a pretty foul taste
26:37i'd find it really difficult to pick out a particular variety which i'd say is the best
26:47but if i was really pushed it might be this one here and this is a variety called ashmead's kernel
26:54it's a really lovely crisp creamy white flesh and the flavour is so complex and rich it blows
27:03everything else out of the water and this will store really well as well
27:07i'm very pleased the way this has all turned out it's a little sanctuary as much as anything
27:17and i hope anybody visiting here will be able to see what is possible and as a teacher i quite like
27:25the idea that people could learn from how to grow trees and particularly how we can all fit fruit trees
27:32into a small area and make sure that we all have homegrown fruit
27:48i love that project tim seems such a lovely man and the generosity of growing learning yourself so
27:56that you can pass on not only the plants and the fruits to other people but all that knowledge as well
28:01it's such a lovely way of approaching gardening come on brie
28:09now this may not be an edible fruit like an apple but just look at the berries on this tree they're
28:15like a metallic blue with this pink calyx behind really really gorgeous this is a chlorodendron
28:21trichotomum it's a lovely tree and when it's in flower they're also heavily scented so they fill the
28:27whole air with a beautiful smell and i'm actually going to take some cuttings
28:35now this is a plant that does throw up suckers and one way of propagating it is to dig
28:41those suckers out with some roots as well this one hasn't yet got big enough to do that but this
28:46i would say is perfect for hardwood cuttings it's got straight vigorous growth that goes right the way
28:53up it's non-fruiting non-flowering so it's really going to be great
28:56look one snip of a branch and that is going to get me loads of potential new trees
29:13i'm just going to check with allison where she wants me to put them but look at that it's really
29:18coming on oh allison that is so satisfying isn't it they're quite satisfying to build is it finished
29:30now yeah so we'll leave this now for the winter and of course it will gradually kind of compost down to
29:39maybe half that size by june you know when we're ready to plant the squash out i have snipped off
29:46a piece of your clarodendron i was going to take some hardwood cuttings from it but do you have an
29:50outside bed i could stick them in yeah there's a little bit of a nursery bed just down by the
29:55compost bins okay yeah perfect i'll do that then thank you who wouldn't want more of these beautiful
30:04shimmering berries of clarodendron it may be early in the season for hardwood cuttings
30:10but as the leaves are starting to turn yellow it shows it's starting to enter dormancy
30:22taking hardwood cuttings
30:24is a really magical thing to do because from just one branch you can actually get loads and loads
30:32of new plants but the key to success in it is number one patience let things stay out in the bed
30:40for a good while it might even be a year before they're going to have good roots on them and number
30:45two it may sound obvious but remembering which way's up and which way's down because in the middle of
30:52winter if you're taking hardwood cuttings there won't be leaves to help guide you
30:57the way that i remember is i make a flat cut on the bottom just below a node and then a diagonal cut
31:06on the top above a node and the theory for that is that it means here water will slide off the
31:13cutting and not sit on the top and rot it you can do this with things like hazel willow
31:19willow alder elder loads of woody plants will take well from hardwood cuttings
31:29from one branch that's been pruned off that needed pruning off anyway i've got 13 cuttings
31:35they probably won't all take but even if half of them do and hopefully even more than that will
31:41that's loads and loads of trees a whole forest of clarodendron
31:45now what i will do is just push them straight into the beds if you had very stony or tough ground
31:54i would dig a little trench lay them in it and then firm it back in so you don't damage the nodes
31:59as they go into the ground but this is really nice soil it's really important to remember that you
32:05label any hardwood cuttings because they will just look like twigs in the ground they should start
32:11putting on shoots next summer and then in the autumn when they're going into their dormant period
32:17that's the perfect time to move them now i'll give them an initial water but the great thing about
32:21doing this in the autumn is that they should get rained on fairly regularly isn't that incredible
32:26magical almost to be able to create so many plants from just one branch now speaking of magical
32:33plants nick has been looking at plant science and today he is taking a deep dive into light
32:38and how plants use it as gardeners we know light is essential for our plants to grow and flourish
32:55you'll remember from school days that plants photosynthesize
32:59they gather the energy from the sun via the green chlorophyll in their leaves and then combine it
33:04with water and carbon dioxide which then goes on to fuel their growth it seems a remarkable
33:11feat for leaves but these days scientists are discovering even cleverer skills it turns out
33:20that plant cells can differentiate between different types of light and have evolved astonishing ways to
33:26get just the right amount that they need depending on where they live
33:30many flowers in our borders need masses of light to flourish
33:39but those on tropical forest floors have adapted to thrive in very deep shade
33:47associate professor heather whitney is the incoming scientific director
33:52here at the university of bristol botanic gardens
33:54gosh so this really does kind of set up that i guess tropical forest thing just layers and layers
34:02of canopy creating masses of shade down on the ground right absolutely it can get really dark
34:07under here but there are plants that can live right down at the bottom but they've got some
34:11really strange adaptations to survive on tiny scraps of light
34:16so you can see that some begonias have to this metallic coloration and there's a range of ways they
34:31can produce sort of these metallic colors one of which is to take the light harvesting structures in
34:37their leaves and actually then turn those into layer upon layer of structures and those layers actually
34:44help slow the light down so they can squeeze every bit of energy out of the light
34:51in such deep shade though their growth is slow and it's thought patterned and shiny leaves may also
34:57help deter hungry predators we've got some evidence for the fact that these metallic colorations might
35:04then protect that harvested light by really confusing the herbivores because most leaves aren't metallic
35:10and aren't strange colors yeah i mean i guess as a sparkly leaf isn't an obvious choice in your salad
35:16right exactly i don't think i've ever had an iridescent sweet evolving ways to cope with deep shade
35:25is clever but it's a fraction of plants abilities
35:28as humans we see sunlight as one color but shade tolerant and sun loving plants can recognize the
35:36rainbow of wavelengths and colors within it
35:41so there are the usual red yellow blue and green that we all learn about at school but sunlight is
35:49also made up of several other light wavelengths such as ultraviolet or this even one called far red and
35:57plants are not just able to distinguish between these different types of light but they employ them
36:02in different ways and for different tactics
36:10professor kerry franklin is a plant scientist specializing in how sun loving plants actively
36:16avoid being in shade and it's all about those different light waves
36:22so two of the most important wavelengths for plants are red and blue light because they absorb these
36:28wavelengths and use them for photosynthesis as a source of energy and so something like this this
36:34aster is going to be absolutely delighted it's in full kind of open sunlight there and it can it can
36:39fully function absolutely because if a plant grows over the top of your plant it's going to block out all
36:45its light and stop it from photosynthesizing and amazingly plants can recognize if they're being
36:53shaded by a life-threatening neighbor rather than a passing cloud by measuring red and far red light
37:04kerry has a handy brolly for illustration when a plant grows over the top of another plant the red light
37:11will be absorbed by the canopy the leaves above and used for photosynthesis however the far red light
37:17which isn't used for photosynthesis will pass through the canopy so what the plant detects is less
37:23red light but not less far red light and that's the signal that it's being shaded by another plant and
37:30not a cloud wow so the fact that the the shading plant ahead is absorbing certain wavelengths is what
37:36tells the little plant below that it's a plant that's shading it out that's right and that's a
37:41desperate situation for the plant so it rapidly elongates its stems to try and either over top
37:47its neighbors or to find a gap in the canopy above wow so it's going to send up those shoots and
37:52elongate cells as quickly as it can that's right back at the university kerry can show us exactly how that
38:03shade avoidance plays out she has growing chambers which can shine different types of light on plants
38:12so within these chambers we can actually change the lighting on different shelves to actually mimic
38:17canopy shade wow so so in one cabinet you could effectively have you know top section that's full
38:24blazing sunlight and a lower section that's emulating natural shade yeah that's right
38:29three weeks ago kerry set up an experiment for us she sewed two identical trays of mixed seeds
38:40and once they germinated she put one in full light and one in shade conditions
38:46she also popped some radishes in for good measure and they've all been growing
38:51and they've all been growing up and they've all been growing up and they've all been growing up
38:57wow they're so different you can see the top batch are compact and chunky
39:04i can see down here everything's so so stretched and elongated and desperately seeking the light
39:10on closer inspection the results are even clearer between the plants in full sun
39:21and those in shade conditions
39:25gosh the difference really is astonishing isn't it in looking at these you can see they've grown
39:31fairly conventionally they're quite sort of squat and compact ordinary looking plants
39:36then this is nuts this is nearly nearly 50 centimeters tall in contrast wow i mean all of
39:43this just because of light absolutely and this is what happens if plants stay in the shade so they'll
39:48start off by elongating their stems but if the shade signal persists and they're really in trouble
39:53then they flower immediately to try and set seed and that's a kind of panic response thinking i need
39:58to reproduce as fast as i can yeah that's exactly what it is yeah yeah and i guess we've all seen the same
40:03kind of thing at home if we've over sown a crop or something's kind of shaded out something we're
40:08growing it sort of behaves in the same way right so that's why planting density is so important you
40:13need to space them out enough to get enough light so that they grow healthy like the plants over there
40:21but looking at the radish roots the difference is even more stark the one in full light is healthy
40:28and tasty looking while the shaded plant has bolted with barely any root at all
40:37and all of this is due to plants recognizing different light wavelengths and using them for
40:42information and growth we've all seen the plants in our garden stretch as a result of heavy shade but to
40:52understand the science of how and why that happens gives me a whole new respect for these amazing organisms
41:11when you see those two seed trays as a direct comparison i know i've had seedlings like those
41:21unhealthy ones and then plants that i put in the ground and have become like that and just seeing
41:25how directly the light impacts it unlocks maybe where i've been going wrong in the past so learning
41:30that plant science can really inform us to be better gardeners
41:34the other thing that all plants obviously require is the correct temperature and at this time of year
41:45it's starting to get chilly and there are some plants that will prefer to be indoors for the winter
41:50so things like salvias this is a blackcurrant sage might be okay with a cold winter as long as it's not
41:58too wet but to be on the safe side i'd bring that one in this is salvia elegans or pineapple sage and
42:04the leaves actually do smell really strongly of pineapple it's a lovely thing it's not yet flowered
42:09it has red flowers that should come very very soon but by looking at these leaves i can see they've begun
42:15to brown slightly this is a warning for me that they need to come in now and get protected
42:20this is another lovely lovely slightly tender plant this is lemon verbena so it can actually
42:28live outside if you're in a very mild and very dry area but to be on the safe side i would bring
42:34this in if it's in a pot and i would put them all into an unheated greenhouse or an unheated
42:39conservatory and if you don't have either of those things against a south facing wall and then keep
42:45your eye on the weather forecast if there's a frosty night forecast cover them with some fleece or a
42:50blanket and then they should be fine for next year
43:04it might have got a bit chilly but there are still some things that you can put out even at this
43:22time of the year
43:34biannuals that have been growing this year but will hopefully flower next year can now be planted
43:45out if you've got them in modules like this some of them are not fully hardy and some of them are
43:51fully hardy so it's always worth checking what will and what won't survive the winter
43:56but i've got two here that should one that definitely will this one is hesperis so it looks
44:06very much like a rocket but it's really beautifully scented and that will flower next year but you can
44:11see by the slightly purpling leaves that it's getting a little bit stressed now in its module it's got a
44:17really good root system absolutely perfect for planting out so this should put on some roots and
44:24start getting some really healthy vigorous green growth on the plant just in time for the winter
44:32hello
44:37this next biannual is stock and they are half hardy so there is a chance that they'll survive the winter
44:44out here if we have a mild one if you were in doubt you could put some horticultural fleece
44:49over the top of them for the coldest parts of the year but there is also a chance that the frost might
44:55kill them so half of these i will pot into nine centimetre pots and put them in the greenhouse for the winter and
45:00half of them i'll give a chance growing outside but they're such lovely plants in fact both of these
45:04flowers are scented in the evening so they're perfect for nighttime pollinators like moths
45:12i'm giving them plenty of space in between each one you could plant these where you want them to
45:17actually end up but allison isn't yet sure exactly where she does want these to end up so this is kind
45:21of a holding bed for the winter and then next spring they can be moved
45:35there that should be very happy in here until the spring when it can go outside now this year we
45:52have been following sue's garden as it changes and today we're catching up with her as she takes stock
45:57of this glorious season we're well into autumn now and there's still lots of things to do and one of
46:13the things i'm doing here is i'm removing some japanese anemones so we've got really windy weather
46:20and wet weather here in wells and these can really stand up to that they hold their flower there we go
46:27they hold their flower in all that weather so they're a stalwart of my garden the reason i'm
46:32moving them out is because i planted this apricot rose which i grew myself from a cutting and they're
46:38crowding it out so i want to give that rose space to develop so one more dig i think and it'll come
46:45these plants aren't going to go to waste they've got a job to do
47:00last year my daughter decided to move house and she asked me to help her with the garden because it
47:06needs quite a lot of work so what i've been doing is i've gone around my garden with her and she showed
47:12me all the plants that she likes and i've dug some up i've taken cuttings i've taken you know seeds and
47:19grown them on and these are my final plants that i want to add to the list but they need a bit of prep
47:24work i'm cutting the tops off so the plant will send all its energies into growing new roots
47:33for now i'm going to pop them into water later on i'm going to put them into a peat-free compost
47:38and they should romp away
47:46i'm a bit of a romantic and gardening for me is all about creating connections and special memories
47:52and one of the memories i have is my grandfather's walnut tree and he gave a seed to my father and a
47:57seed from my father's tree has come to me and i want to do the same for my son but the squirrels also
48:03like my walnuts and despite me caging them and trying to fend them off i've only managed to get
48:08three and there are a couple of different ways i'm going to do this to try and get success now
48:13when they fall from the tree they can look like this green one it's not quite ripe yet so it's not
48:18quite ready to try and plant so this one the husk has gone black and it's cracking so it means it's ready
48:28to release the shell and i'm going to try and do this but if you do it the sort of color of it will
48:35stain the fingers so i'm going to use a bit of paper to protect me and my clothes and hopefully it'll open
48:42up oh it's coming away really easily that's a relief and look here's the shell and inside is the nut
48:52marvelous i'm going to put this shell with a nut inside into damp soil in a plastic bag and i'm
49:00going to bury it in in you go i'm going to put it in the fridge for a process of something called
49:07stratification which is to mimic winter conditions so it's nice and cold and that will encourage it to
49:13germinate and i think that's going to take about a month so i'll check then and all i'm looking for
49:19is a little white root and once i see that i'll bring it out and pot it on and keep it in a frost
49:24free place probably in my cold frame over winter now this one i've had soaking in water overnight to
49:31sort of soften the shell and i'm just going to pop it in to a pot of soil i'm going to cover it nicely
49:41with a good covering of soil to keep it warm firm it down a little bit but the thing i'm really worried
49:50about is mr squirrel so i'm going to try and deter him these are bits of bamboo for my bamboo plant
49:58so i'm going to push them in the angles all around my walnut i haven't a clue if this is going to work
50:05he may think i don't like that or it may be like red red to a bull and he wants the challenge i need
50:11to water it in i've got two different options to get my walnut tree going and i'll have to wait for
50:21this green one to blacken up a bit and i may have success with that as well let's see what happens next
50:27i do enjoy eating garlic but i find the cloves and the bulbs a bit small and fiddly and the way
50:48around this i've discovered is elephant garlic it's mild tasting but the cloves are huge and really easy
50:55to manage and when i dig them up i sometimes find a lot of these like little corms attached like this
51:02one so i'm decided to have a go at planting these corms i've got quite a few here i'm going to plant
51:10them in this bed and they're going to take a year to even get to an individual garlic clove stage and
51:18then they're going to take another year before they come to anything remotely like this possibly three
51:28and around me i've got these beautiful cosmos and echium and you may remember that i planted this
51:35with all the seeds old seeds that i didn't want and these have been phenomenal
51:40being a long-term project i know i'm going to forget what i put in there all right ah i'm going to
51:52label it then there'll be no confusion in the middle of winter
51:57i'm assessing my wild white border at the end of the season because i don't feel
52:15it's been quite as good as it was the year before i need something for the spring to lift the border
52:21so i've chosen a tulip and it's purissima also known as white emperor and it's a perennial one
52:28so it should come back next year and the reason i've chosen it is that i've grown it before so i
52:33know it and it has nice sturdy stems for this windy welsh weather and it has a lovely flower which
52:40holds on its stem for quite some time this is a not an ideal place for tulips because it doesn't get
52:48too much sun so i'm going to have to treat them quite carefully first i've got a new tool pop it in
52:55and twist it around and if it meets a stone it rotates itself past it bit of a wiggle to get it
53:02out although it's stony it is quite damp and tulips don't like to have their roots damp so i'm going to
53:09put in some gravel at the bottom now i've mixed the gravel with a bit of blood fish and bone because
53:14i want the tulip to have a best start and it needs a bit of a something to keep it going through the
53:20winter well we all do don't we really and pop it into the hole pointy side up down it goes all snuggly
53:28in the soil tamp it down a little bit top it up with some peat free compost nestle it in for the winter
53:37i'm only going to plant 10 tulips because i'm not sure it's going to work and if it does i can then
53:44buy some more and that's the thing about gardening you need patience these will be ready in the spring
53:50the garlic will take probably two years and i may not see a walnut from the walnut tree for 10 years
53:57sometimes the longer the wait the sweeter the reward and with all these projects i hope
54:03they're going to give me pleasure in the garden for many years to come
54:18of course to be a gardener requires so much patience but looking forward to stuff is the best
54:23part the anticipation of what's to come and one of the best things for that anticipation is planting bulbs
54:33when i first came here this gravel garden was full of beautiful orange digitalis the parva flora they
54:45were beautifully flowering and now they've got these seed heads that give stature and grace to the autumn
54:52garden here but what i'm going to do now is look ahead to not next season not winter but the spring after
54:59and the bulb i'm going to plant in here is a pretty special tulip it's a species tulip called orphanidia
55:07now often when you buy tulip bulbs this time of the year and plant them they're very highly bred and
55:12they will flower beautifully for a year they might come back a second or even a third but this will
55:17reliably come back every year and they naturalize and they'll form little clumps here now these ones have
55:23a kind of flame colored flower that ranges from yellow through to red and they almost turn back
55:29like little jester hat petals but much smaller than your normal tunip flower these tulips can cope with
55:36rain but they really don't like to sit in the water so they'll be very happy here in the gravel garden
55:42or if you had a very sunny baked free draining area in your garden or even a pot that you mix lots of
55:48gravel in with they should do just as well there as long as it's bright and sunny now this is one of
55:55my favorite autumn jobs but there are many other things that you can be getting on with this weekend
56:00if you fancy this is the perfect time of year for dividing herbaceous perennials that have lost
56:19their vigor and stopped flowering so much start by cutting back the stems of the clump that you want
56:25to remove and then either chop it or fork it out of the ground making sure you have plenty of roots
56:30and shoots on all the parts you're replanting then simply put them wherever else you want them in the
56:35garden over the course of summer a huge amount of dust and maybe even some algae can build up on the
56:48glass of your greenhouse this reduces the light levels over the winter an all-important time for
56:53plants to continue photosynthesizing so cleaning it off is really helpful use some water and a splash
57:00of vinegar wash it off with a cloth and then dry it down for the best results
57:06if you want to use any plant material you chop back now but don't necessarily have space for a
57:19compost heap then you can use the chop and drop method simply cut back any old stems or plants save
57:27any seed heads for the birds to be fed over the winter and then chop up into small pieces all of the
57:33plant material and let it fall onto the ground this will act as a mulch that will hold in moisture
57:38and feed the soil and also as excellent habitat for any insects over the winter
57:47well it's been a very lovely gift of a day here at damson farm and actually beautiful seeing this
58:05really special garden at its best it's a place where there's so much going on aspirations for me
58:11personally to one day achieve this level of beauty and productivity and that really lovely ethical
58:18biodiverse approach to gardening it's been so lovely to spend today here getting our hands dirty but
58:25that's it for today and monty's back next week at long meadow so until next time
58:41you
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