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00:11You coming? Come on then.
00:17Come on then.
00:25Come on then.
00:26Come on.
00:28Good boy, you are. Good boy.
00:35Hello. Welcome to Gardener's World.
00:44And welcome to a lovely spring day here at Longmeadow.
00:48And a brand new piece of the garden.
00:50This used to be one side of the copse.
00:53And I planted it over 30 years ago from hazelnuts that I gathered.
00:58I planted some trees in here and underplanted it with all the lovely primroses and bluebells that you get in
01:03coppice woodland.
01:04But the trees grew very big and they sucked all the moisture from the soil, blocked all the light.
01:10And for the last five years it really hasn't been very good on any level.
01:15But no longer.
01:16Because I have begun the transformation into making this area into a really beautiful woodland garden.
01:23And so on.
01:53WHISTLE BLOWS
01:53in almost every variation of the shade theme.
01:59Whoa, hang on a minute, that's Ned.
02:00Ned, what are you doing?
02:02Come on, come here.
02:06Okay, good boy.
02:08Would you like a little something?
02:09Would that make you feel better?
02:11Now, please don't bark when we're filming.
02:14Right, what I'm going to plant today
02:16are two modest plants, but they are charming.
02:20They all grow in shade and they spread really easily,
02:25but not out of control.
02:26So what's not to like?
02:27Now, first one is Tiorella.
02:30This is Tiorella Spring Symphony.
02:33And Tiorella has these tiny white little starbursts of flower
02:38carried on long stems and flower from now through till May.
02:43And they are happiest with dappled shade
02:46that doesn't dry out too much.
02:50This is Telema, Telema grandiflora.
02:53And you can see the foliage is quite similar,
02:55but the firs are rather different
02:56because they are born on long, thin stems,
02:58but they're pale, primrose-yellow, tiny little bells.
03:02I love them.
03:02They'll last into June.
03:04And they are the perfect groundcover woodland plant
03:08that also looks really good.
03:09They're not just filling a space, they're performing as well.
03:14Both of these plants come from the damp woodlands or forest
03:18of the west of America,
03:20so don't stick it in very dry shade.
03:30It's gardening convention that plants look better placed
03:34in odd numbers than even.
03:37If you plant in threes, fives, sevens, even nines,
03:40it tends to look more natural than if you do it in twos or fours or sixes.
03:45So I tend to plant in triangles in groups of three.
03:53If you want a mass defect of any kind,
03:56it's nearly always more economic and more successful
03:59to buy lots of small plants than a few really big ones.
04:04Small plants establish much more easily,
04:07and they're much cheaper.
04:17Although I absolutely love the creativity of making a new garden,
04:22the thing I love most in the world is actually planting.
04:27On a spring day, with the sun shining, the birds are selling,
04:31putting plants in the ground, knowing that they're going to grow,
04:34that sense of hope and satisfaction all comes together,
04:38and it's just as joyous now as it ever has been in my life.
04:43Now we're going to visit Mary Keane.
04:45Now Mary Keane, over a long period of time,
04:48has been one of our best-known garden designers and writers,
04:52and she's made gardens all over the world.
04:55But Jo has been to see her in her own garden at home.
05:02When I think of gardening royalty, Mary Keane is right up there.
05:07And what sets her apart is her instinct for planting.
05:13From Grand British Gardens to designs across the world,
05:17Mary's work is about atmosphere and emotion.
05:20And she designs gardens that are to be loved,
05:24lived in and feel truly alive.
05:27But down this path is something even more personal.
05:31It's her own sanctuary.
05:32And it's not somewhere that she shares very often.
05:35So this is a real treat.
05:42So Mary, you design gardens for, well, the rich and famous royalty.
05:48Some very high-profile clients.
05:50Quite high-profile. I'm not allowed to talk about any of them.
05:53I know, we're not going to talk about any of them.
05:54But what I'm interested in is how different it is
05:58designing their gardens and designing your own garden.
06:01It's completely different.
06:02I like small-flowered plants that you see through and that are ephemeral.
06:08I'm not doing display, I'm doing atmosphere.
06:11And it's for me to potter and wander about in the morning,
06:15in the evening and the middle of the day.
06:17It's just a lovely place to be, not a place to look at,
06:20not a place to show off.
06:22And the actual layout, did you draw it out on a piece of paper?
06:25No, I didn't.
06:26It's two rectangles, like two tennis courts, end on end.
06:30And I knew I wanted some flower beds for conventional plants.
06:35And then I wanted two-thirds, which we're in now,
06:39to be wild, with wildflowers all year.
06:42And I made this S line of beauty path through it
06:46to make the garden seem longer and more mysterious.
06:50If you've got a small garden, you want to be able to walk round it
06:53and to feel like a sort of adventure.
07:00Oh, this is energising, Mary.
07:02I've got to say, what style of planting would you call this border, then?
07:06Mixed? Can we call it mixed?
07:08It sounds a bit boring.
07:10It's got lots of stuff in, like, snowdrops and hellebores underneath,
07:13so it goes on all the time.
07:15And then these sort of bursts of colour,
07:18like the Henry lily and the agapanthus.
07:21Don't ask me.
07:22I think it's a head-borne hybrid, but it's just a good dark form.
07:25Yeah.
07:26I love the orange.
07:26Some people don't like orange.
07:28I love orange.
07:29I like it.
07:29I love it.
07:30There really is a lot to see,
07:32because you're planting in small groups here,
07:35like you said, not large brushstrokes.
07:37No.
07:37And it's got a sort of wild feel,
07:38and the more you look, the more you see.
07:40You could stand here for hours and just look at the detail.
07:47A plantswoman at her core,
07:49Mary has filled her garden with plants that bring her joy.
07:53Not as you might expect in the usual arrangements of threes or fives,
07:58more like an artist playing with colour on a canvas.
08:04Mary's really got me thinking,
08:06because I've been reticent to use purple foliage plants in my garden,
08:11mainly going for greens.
08:12But she inherited that purple berberis,
08:16which is on the boundary,
08:17and she's picked it up in colours and stems of other plants,
08:20like the thalictrum there has got dark stems.
08:23We've got the hollyhock with those purple flowers,
08:26really deep colours.
08:28And over here, we've got the foliage of the dahlias,
08:30and that red sanguissorba in the back there as well.
08:34And it's really got me thinking.
08:35It has a lovely depth to the planting, colour-wise,
08:39and a nice rhythm as well.
08:41Might have to use it.
08:50So, has this border got a name?
08:52Well, that border beyond that we've just looked at
08:56is wild and high and shrubby.
08:59And this one is the transition between wild and high and shrubby
09:03not totally working,
09:05and a much more gardened, flowery look against the wall.
09:09So, that's the floweriest, chaddest bed.
09:13Catchy names you've got there for them.
09:16I love the hollyhocks.
09:17I love the height,
09:18because a lot of people think,
09:19oh, tall plants,
09:20you've got to put them at the back of the border,
09:21but you're bringing them to the foreground,
09:23and you're looking through them.
09:25Well, I love the looking through tall plants.
09:27That's my aim always, to look through.
09:30I love this euphorbia.
09:33It's Segueriana.
09:34What is it you love about euphorbias, Mary?
09:37Oh, well, I like their greenness.
09:38You like euphorbias, too, don't you?
09:40Love them.
09:41I love their leaves.
09:43I love the fact that they perform all year.
09:46It's the zinginess, isn't it?
09:48It's the zinginess.
09:48They set off other plants in the garden so well.
09:52And the Dianthus carthusianorum.
09:54That is my favourite plant.
09:56Your favourite plant of all time.
09:58I've got a lot of favourite plants,
10:00but that is currently my favourite plant.
10:02Yeah, okay.
10:03Desert Island plants.
10:05Desert Island, I'm allowed eight.
10:07No, that's records.
10:09Okay.
10:10No, but it's fabulous.
10:10The thing about it is it grows in shade,
10:12it grows in gravel, it grows in the border,
10:14and it flowers for a long, long time.
10:17I mean, it's just a brilliant, brilliant,
10:19airy, graceful, lovely plant.
10:26As well as being a great designer,
10:28she obviously loves her plants too, does Mary,
10:31because, look, from the front of the garden,
10:33all you see is plants.
10:35You've got an apple tree.
10:35We're planting all the way around it.
10:37No voids whatsoever.
10:39And before I came, I thought,
10:41oh, there's going to be some unusual stuff,
10:42some rare things.
10:44I better gem up a little bit.
10:45But actually, what's lovely is
10:47they're mainly cottage garden-style plants
10:50and things that we can all get our hands on
10:52in nurseries and garden centres.
10:54Things like the pinks, the oregano there.
10:58We've got crocosmere here,
11:00peonies, iris, fennel, agapanthus,
11:05and it's all put together so effortlessly too.
11:12This is idyllic, this courtyard.
11:14It's beautiful.
11:15Well, I rather love it,
11:16because it's got a lot of rarities.
11:18You said there weren't any rarities
11:19in the rest of the garden.
11:20This is the rarity corner here.
11:23Well, I can see this is more unusual.
11:25It's more exotic.
11:25Yeah, I like a challenge.
11:27I've got the fuchsia, climbing Lady Boothby.
11:30That's lovely.
11:31And melianthus.
11:32Melianthus, which Joe likes.
11:34I like.
11:34Well, I think he looks great there.
11:36Yeah, I know.
11:36I think it's lovely, actually.
11:38And what about the one by the door over there?
11:40Oh, that's Begonia albopictorosia.
11:44It'll stay out all summer
11:45and then it'll go in the kitchen in the winter.
11:48So, of all the gardens that you've created,
11:50how does this one rate?
11:52When people ask me what's my favourite garden,
11:54I always say mine, of course,
11:56and they're quite surprised.
11:58But, of course, isn't yours your favourite garden?
12:01Most definitely.
12:02Because that's where you can garden,
12:03and that's what we want to do.
12:05It just is the place
12:07where I feel completely at home and myself.
12:11The passion comes across from you so strongly.
12:15Oh, Joe.
12:16Thank you so much.
12:16This has been amazing seeing you.
12:18It was lovely having you here.
12:19Thank you for coming.
12:21Thanks for inviting us.
12:39Come on.
12:51Many, many years ago,
12:53I visited Mary Keane's previous garden in Berkshire.
12:56It was wonderful.
12:57And she was the very first person
12:59to come and see my garden in London 43 years ago,
13:04and she wrote an article about it,
13:05and arguably started my career
13:08as a garden writer and broadcaster.
13:10So, it's fascinating to see her garden now.
13:14Now, I'm just gathering one or two
13:16of these scented-leaf pelargoniums,
13:18which I'm going to take down to the end
13:20because it's time to give them a bit of attention.
13:30Come on, panty boy.
13:32Hot panty boy.
13:39The thing about these scented-leaf pelargoniums
13:43is obviously, as the name suggests,
13:45that they're fragranced.
13:47Now, this is tormentosum,
13:48and you rub the leaf
13:50and it releases this strong odour of peppermint.
13:54It's really powerful.
13:56Now, this is a new variety called Torrento,
13:59which rather weirdly smells
14:01of those little cola sweets.
14:05It is slightly weird, I have to confess,
14:08but interesting.
14:10And there are lots and lots of fragrances,
14:12from the slightly weird
14:14to the absolutely delicious.
14:17But whatever type of pelargonium you have,
14:19now is the time to get them ready for spring.
14:27This is a much more familiar zonal pelargonium.
14:31It comes from South Africa,
14:33and rather than these relatively compact plants
14:38with big flowers,
14:39when you see them growing wild,
14:41they can be big shrubs,
14:42big woody shrubs,
14:43sort of six foot tall,
14:45with smaller flowers,
14:48which are then pruned by fire.
14:51But from it, they regrow.
14:53And I don't necessarily suggest
14:55getting a blowtorch to prune this,
14:57but prune it you must
14:59if you don't want it to get really leggy.
15:01These have been in the greenhouse all winter,
15:04so they've flowered all winter.
15:06However, you've got to be bold
15:08and cut them off now,
15:10or else you won't have any in the summer.
15:11It's exhausted,
15:12and it needs a rest.
15:14So if we take off those flowers
15:16and cut back,
15:17refresh the compost,
15:19water it,
15:20feed it,
15:20we'll get vigorous new growth,
15:22and that will give us a really good display
15:24later on in summer.
15:25You can cut these really hard,
15:28or if you like a little bit of legginess,
15:30and I do,
15:32then you include that.
15:34So what I'm going to do
15:35is just cut here,
15:36which leaves a bit of stem,
15:38and then here.
15:45And that can come off there.
15:49Now, this one,
15:50the one that smells of cola bottles,
15:54I'm going to be much more ruthless.
15:58Take that off.
16:00That there.
16:01Now, can you see there is new growth
16:03right at the base?
16:05And that's where I'm going back to.
16:07Now, that is radical,
16:09but because it's a young plant,
16:12I'm doing that
16:13to really encourage
16:15a fresh flush of growth
16:17from the base.
16:19And finally, this one,
16:21Tormentosum,
16:22I like the way that it spills down.
16:24I don't really want
16:25to reduce this at all.
16:27All I'm going to do
16:28is take off
16:29any spent leaves.
16:32However,
16:33this one here,
16:35this zonal pelargonium,
16:36needs repotting,
16:37and I'll show you how to do that.
16:38So I'm going to take it
16:39out of the pot
16:40like this.
16:45And what I'm going to do
16:46is take off
16:47the bottom third.
16:49So we're taking off
16:51quite a lot
16:52of the compost there.
16:58And I've put
17:00the crocks back
17:01in the bottom.
17:04And I've got
17:05some fresh compost here.
17:06Now, this is
17:08a wood-based compost,
17:10a little bit of garden compost
17:11added,
17:12and quite a lot of grit.
17:15Just look at the roots on that.
17:27And I'm going to wiggle it
17:29to work the soil
17:32around the roots.
17:33And then I'm going to dress
17:34that with some grit,
17:35which just makes it look better.
17:40Give it a drink,
17:42but make sure it drains thoroughly.
17:48And then feed it
17:49liquid seaweed
17:51once a week,
17:52and you should start
17:53to see healthy new growth.
17:55And keep feeding it
17:56until it starts flowering.
17:59I will go through
18:00all the pelargoniums,
18:01particularly the zonal ones,
18:03and set them up
18:04for fresh growth
18:05and, of course,
18:06a really fresh,
18:07good display
18:08in the summer months.
18:14Now, last September,
18:16we went to visit
18:17Karim Habibi
18:18in his nursery in Kent
18:20and his incredible collection
18:23of heritage apples.
18:31We have 700 varieties of apples.
18:34What I'm doing
18:35is actually preserving
18:36lots of the old varieties.
18:38It's important
18:38that these are available
18:40for people to grow
18:41in their gardens
18:41because they're not
18:42available in shops.
18:44And people forget
18:45what very nice
18:46heirloom varieties
18:47taste like.
18:48Each apple is like
18:49rehearing a song
18:50you've not heard
18:50for a while
18:51because I'll instantly
18:53remember the other times
18:54I've tried that apple.
18:56So I'm quite passionate
18:57to keep these apples going.
19:00I'm very glad
19:01when people do come
19:02to the nursery,
19:03try an apple
19:03for the first time,
19:04and they say,
19:05goodness,
19:05I never knew apples
19:06could taste like this.
19:13This is Sweet Society.
19:15It's a lovely dessert apple
19:17with quite an intense flavour,
19:19quite crisp as well.
19:25This is Jumbo,
19:26one of my favourite
19:27cooking apples,
19:28and it cooks down
19:29to a lovely apple sauce
19:30very, very easily.
19:36This is Captain Kidd,
19:37a lovely sweet apple
19:38with a pear drops flavour.
19:45Caring for all these trees
19:46is a huge operation.
19:48I'll be producing
19:497,000 or so
19:50new trees a year.
19:52I am obsessed
19:54with the apples.
19:55I'm obsessed
19:55with looking after fruit trees
19:57and maintaining
19:57the collection.
19:58It is a sort of
19:59labour of love.
20:03Right now,
20:04we're amongst
20:04the mother trees,
20:05so there's about
20:061,000 trees here,
20:07and every single tree
20:08is actually a different
20:09variety.
20:10And that's essential
20:11to have so that
20:12I can harvest
20:12Cyan wood.
20:13And Cyan wood
20:14is essentially
20:15new growth
20:16on that tree,
20:17which I can use
20:18for cloning.
20:19Just above each
20:20leaf stalk,
20:21there is a bud,
20:22and each one
20:23of these buds
20:24has the potential
20:25to produce a new tree.
20:27If you look at
20:27older growth
20:28on a tree,
20:29those active buds
20:30aren't there,
20:30so that's why
20:31you can't use
20:32older wood
20:32and you need
20:33new growth.
20:36So right now,
20:37I'm taking
20:38the leaves off
20:39the Cyan wood
20:40so that it doesn't
20:41actually dry out.
20:42I'll also
20:44take the top off
20:45because that is
20:46actually too thin
20:47to work with.
20:48So now that's ready,
20:49and the next stage
20:50is to graft this
20:52onto some rootstock.
20:59Right now,
21:00we're amongst
21:00the rootstocks.
21:02The rootstock
21:03obviously determines
21:04the vigour
21:05of the tree,
21:06and so every
21:07apple tree
21:07that is in this
21:08country
21:09is actually
21:10made in this way
21:11where it's actually
21:12made up of two parts,
21:13the rootstock
21:14and the Cyan,
21:14which is above that,
21:15and you can usually
21:16see the graft union
21:17where it's actually
21:18going to have
21:19different bark,
21:20it's going to look
21:20quite different,
21:21so that's the part
21:22where you know
21:23that any flowers
21:24on that top part
21:25of the tree
21:26will produce,
21:27let's say,
21:28your Bramleys
21:29or your Cox's
21:29Orange Pippins.
21:30So this Cyan wood
21:32that I collected
21:33from the mother tree,
21:34I'm going to graft
21:35this onto this
21:36rootstock right here
21:36using a technique
21:37called chip budding.
21:39I'm making a shallow
21:40cut on the Cyan wood.
21:45The next stage
21:46is to make
21:48the exact same
21:49incision
21:50on the rootstock.
21:55I'll then
21:56tape
21:57this up
22:02and that's
22:03now done.
22:04So that bud
22:05that is now
22:06on there,
22:06that will fuse
22:07to the rootstock
22:08and next year
22:09and next season's
22:10growth,
22:10that will grow
22:11into a one-year maiden,
22:12so it might put
22:13five, six foot
22:14of growth on.
22:22So every summer
22:23I'll be out here
22:24chip budding
22:24in late July
22:25through till August.
22:27It's a lot of work.
22:28I will probably
22:29be spending
22:29the best part
22:30of 10, 12 hours a day
22:31both collecting Cyan wood
22:33and chip budding.
22:34I'll probably aim
22:36to do 500 of these
22:37a day.
22:38I'll work well
22:38into the night,
22:39some nights
22:40with a head torch on
22:41and that's just
22:42because there is
22:43a shortish period
22:44where you have to get
22:45quite a lot of work done.
22:50Once you grow
22:51an old variety
22:52like Ashmead's Kernel
22:54for example,
22:55it's such an unforgettable
22:56variety that you
22:58become quite excited
22:59and passionate
23:00about preserving
23:01more and more
23:02old varieties
23:02because you realise
23:03that these apples
23:05are some of the best
23:06fruits in the world.
23:08You can go back
23:09through time
23:09and see how important
23:11a certain apple
23:12was to a certain area.
23:13Because that apple
23:14is cloned
23:15you can actually
23:16taste exactly
23:17what people were tasting
23:19sort of 200, 300, 400
23:20years ago
23:21and you can't really do
23:23that with a lot
23:24of other fruits.
23:27in the early 90s
23:29when my parents
23:30started things here
23:31Britain was actually
23:32losing lots
23:33of its old orchards.
23:34My parents
23:35were quite passionate
23:36about actually
23:37sourcing old material
23:38and creating
23:39a collection
23:40things like margill
23:41or pitmast
23:42and pineapple
23:43these old varieties
23:45which were
23:46such lovely apples
23:47to actually grow
23:48and try yourself
23:49they really wanted
23:51everyone to have
23:53that experience.
23:56I really wanted
23:58to experiment
23:58and try and create
24:00my own varieties.
24:01Eventually
24:02I persuaded my dad
24:03to let me have
24:04a sort of small
24:05nook of the nursery
24:06where I actually
24:07sort of planted
24:08seedling varieties
24:10grafted those out
24:11and eventually
24:12I have actually
24:13produced some
24:14of my own varieties.
24:15Unfortunately
24:16my father passed away
24:17before trying
24:18any of the seedling apples
24:19and one of the first
24:20apples which was
24:21an exceptional apple
24:23I've actually now
24:24named that variety
24:25after my father
24:26I've called it
24:26Hamid's red pippin
24:28I think he would have
24:29been very interested
24:30to try that
24:31it's quite sad
24:31he never did
24:32but it's very nice
24:34every time I see
24:35that apple
24:35to sort of
24:36think of my dad.
24:40Right now
24:40we're amongst the
24:41maidens
24:42in the nursery.
24:43To get to the point
24:44where your
24:45one year old tree
24:46is going to start
24:47to thrive
24:48and produce apples
24:49firstly you want to
24:50plant the tree
24:50in the wintertime
24:51and let the tree
24:52establish
24:53so that means
24:54plant the tree
24:54well so the roots
24:55are happy
24:55and water the tree
24:57quite a lot
24:57so in that very
24:59first wintertime
25:00whilst it's dormant
25:01you probably want to
25:02cut some branches off
25:03lower down
25:03so these lower branches
25:05in the long term
25:06are not going to be
25:07very useful
25:07perhaps if you are
25:08going to sort of
25:09try and train
25:09in a spallier
25:10or step over
25:11but for a
25:11freestanding tree
25:12which generally
25:13is what most people
25:14plant
25:14you really want
25:15a clear trunk
25:16lower down
25:16so that maintenance
25:17is quite easy
25:18and then at the top
25:19of the tree
25:20most people actually
25:21want quite a sort
25:22of three-dimensional
25:22crown
25:23so imagine a goblet
25:24shaped tree
25:24and those are where
25:26you want your fruit
25:26so that the tree
25:27is able to sort of
25:29hold itself up
25:30whilst carrying heavy
25:31fruits
25:32you can essentially
25:33choose where you
25:34want the crown
25:34of the tree to be
25:35by cutting the leader
25:37off at a certain
25:38point
25:38because what happens
25:38is if you cut
25:39the leader off
25:40all the buds
25:41below the certain
25:42point where
25:43you cut the tree
25:44they're going to
25:45compete for apical
25:46dominance
25:47which means they're
25:47going to try
25:48and grow as much
25:49as they can
25:50so you end up
25:50with a large
25:52sort of cluster
25:53of branches
25:54coming out
25:55and from that
25:56you can actually
25:56select some
25:57that will form
25:58a balanced crown
25:59of about sort of
26:00four branches
26:00five branches
26:03I would like to
26:04think that
26:05in a few hundred
26:06years time
26:07people might have
26:08a Hamid's red
26:08pippin tree
26:09in their garden
26:10and they will look
26:11up who was this
26:12person
26:13where did this
26:13apple come from
26:14oh I live in Kent
26:15oh okay I know
26:16where that you know
26:17where that town is
26:19it's something that
26:20I'm very fortunate
26:21to be able to do
26:22and I certainly
26:24would love it
26:24if one day
26:25one of my children
26:26wants to
26:27continue this
26:28I can't think
26:29of anything nicer
26:30than working
26:31alongside one of
26:32them or all of
26:33them if they all
26:34want to join in
26:35so many apples
26:37yummy
26:52when I planted this
26:53orchard so many years
26:54ago I carefully
26:57hunted out and chose
26:58heritage local
27:00varieties I wanted
27:02to build up something
27:03that could only
27:04represent this area
27:05so therefore of
27:06course I really
27:07admire what Kareem
27:08is doing and he's
27:09doing it so well
27:10it wouldn't be
27:11marvellous if his
27:12children carried that
27:13on and his
27:13grandchildren
27:14what a fantastic
27:15project
27:17now it's time to
27:18visit one of your
27:19gardens
27:19we're going down to
27:21Dorset to visit the
27:23garden of James
27:24Baker
27:25hello
27:27I'm James off of
27:28the Traitors
27:29welcome to Weymouth
27:30I do this for a
27:31living gardening
27:32so I thought I'd
27:33show you my humble
27:34abode this is like a
27:35patio area obviously
27:37it's a bit early in
27:37the year but your
27:38tulips are coming up
27:39now it's constantly
27:40experimenting daily I
27:42might move something
27:42around whatever tickles
27:43my fancy that's part of
27:44the fun of gardening
27:45you know you're never
27:46right and you're never
27:47wrong everyone's a
27:48busker me included
27:52structurally functional
27:53down the middle I have
27:54a family I don't have
27:56any please keep off the
27:57grass business I just
27:59like to fill the beds
27:59with everything just go
28:01wild and I like to
28:02let the periwinkle
28:03cascade down a bit
28:04like a waterfall the
28:06hebe just goes wild and
28:07what I love about this
28:09you get the purple and
28:10I've got a climbing rose
28:11that comes through and
28:12the pink and purple
28:13intertwine beautiful now
28:15this is my pièce de
28:16resistance my favourite
28:18bit of the garden this
28:19pear tree so basically
28:20this pear tree was
28:21swamped with ivy and
28:23it was on its last legs
28:24had one little pear on
28:25it we replanted that
28:26seed and that is
28:27growing down there
28:30that scraping sound you
28:31hear in the background
28:32is my son I don't know
28:34hello raking up the
28:35leaves good man and I
28:36let the kids do what I
28:37used to do in my
28:37granddad's garden is just
28:38learn on the spot watch
28:39learn experiment trial and
28:41error my great granddad
28:43was an incredible
28:44gardener lived to 102
28:46so you know there's
28:48something to be said to
28:48be outdoors you know
28:49breathing in the air
28:50it's good for the soul
28:52gardening master and
28:53apprentice I think you're
28:55the master there in this
28:56area I'm gonna put onions
28:59down here carrots in the
29:01front row radishes lettuce
29:03plants potentially a
29:06cucumber plant running up
29:07that you've got the job
29:08now it's yours so this
29:10little area I salvaged
29:12what I could from the
29:12wreckage of a hedgerow
29:14this bay was put in and
29:16it was a twig when we cut
29:17it back but it's you know
29:18been shaped now no Edward
29:20scissorhands but you know
29:21good enough the little hack
29:22I've got is sedum stone
29:23crop it's good ground
29:25cover it's great weed
29:26suppressor this came from
29:27one clipping I got which
29:29is incredible they're up
29:30there with periwinkle for
29:31me for beautiful almost
29:32like forest floor carpet
29:33coverage here's my bravery
29:36award for gardening this
29:38aeonium was left out all
29:40year kind of as an
29:41experiment really it was a
29:43success story so I will be
29:44trying that again I hate to
29:45shatter the illusion it is
29:46trial and error gardening
29:48gardening adds years to your
29:50life and life to your years
29:51and that is like the best
29:53quote I think I've ever
29:54heard I want that on a
29:55t-shirt that's my garden
29:57thank you for watching
30:24I like the fact that James' son
30:26was growing vegetables
30:30well it's time that I started
30:32to sow some vegetables too
30:34Longmeadow had such a soaking
30:36all winter now the raised beds
30:39make a difference and actually
30:41now they're not too bad they're
30:42ready the rule of thumb if
30:44you're sowing seeds or indeed
30:45planting anything out is if the
30:47soil feels cold to your hand
30:49don't do it but if it doesn't
30:51feel cold don't have to feel
30:52warm it just doesn't feel cold
30:54then you're away and you can
30:55get going and what I'm actually
30:57going to put in here is for me a
31:00bit unusual this is garlic and
31:04nine years out of ten I plant
31:07garlic directly into the bed
31:09usually in September but
31:11certainly no later than October
31:12but I couldn't get the bulbs to
31:15plant until October late October
31:18and by then the ground was too
31:20wet so what I did is I planted
31:22them up into these plugs I bought
31:24them on in the greenhouse for
31:25about the first month and then
31:27they've been outside all winter
31:28because for garlic to form
31:30cloves rather than just a single
31:32bulb it needs a period of cold
31:35weather
31:41if you've planted bulbs and
31:42they've rotted in the wet or if
31:44you've just got ground that
31:45stays wet all winter this system
31:47of planting the garlic in deep
31:49plugs or pre-inch pots and then
31:51planting out when the ground is
31:52ready I think can work very well
32:04now last August Carol went to RHS
32:08Rosemore to see their vegetable
32:11garden and potager and of course I'm
32:13sure they produce delicious food and
32:16I'm pretty sure that all of it gets
32:18eaten but it also looks fantastic
32:25as far as I'm concerned nothing beats
32:28growing your own fruit and veg and
32:32eating it here there's so much to
32:36inspire you to grow your own
32:41this is a huge space the sort we
32:44might all dream of mind you with a
32:46veg garden this big we'd have to feed
32:48the whole street there are so many
32:51ideas here we can take away and use
32:53in any size garden or even without
32:56one there are examples all around of
32:59veg herbs and fruit growing in
33:01containers there are tomatoes chillies
33:05aubergines basil parsley an array of
33:08herbs and even a glorious apple tree
33:11traditionally in larger gardens fruit
33:15and veg are separated from flower
33:17borders to be more productive but
33:21so that's not practical in smaller spaces
33:23so if you want to grow a bit of both and
33:27have limited space there's a perfect solution
33:32well this is another of rosemore beautiful gardens this one is called the potager there are
33:38vegetables galore here but it has a whole different aesthetic from the vegetable garden in the vegetable garden
33:45everything's grown in serried ranks.
33:48Here, everything's grown because it looks beautiful
33:52next to its neighbour.
33:53The whole idea is about design,
33:57using vegetables ornamentally
33:59and making them look utterly beautiful.
34:04The overall design in this garden is important.
34:07It's based on a circle.
34:09There's a circular herb garden in the centre
34:12and around it are arranged four symmetrical beds.
34:15Although everything's edible,
34:17it's all about what plants look like together.
34:21So, you've got beautiful chard here,
34:24with these pink stems.
34:26But over there, another Swiss chard,
34:28but this time with golden stems,
34:31with the sunlight streaming through it.
34:33It's hugely versatile.
34:35And what's more, you can eat it
34:37right the way through the year.
34:39It'll overwinter wonderfully.
34:41It's very, very hardy.
34:43I love the addition of these tagetes
34:45all around the edge of this bed.
34:48There's the tall one here,
34:49which is one called cinnamon.
34:51But the point is, it's single,
34:53which means it's hugely attractive
34:55to pollinating insects.
34:57And, of course, that's just what you need
34:59to pollinate your beans
35:01and lots of your other flowering plants.
35:03And then, for a bit of drama in the background,
35:07we've got this amaranth.
35:09This is one called red army,
35:11with these very dark stems
35:12and dark flowers and seed heads.
35:15Amaranth is a wonderful vegetable.
35:17It's grown all around the world for its leaves.
35:20Here, it's grown both to eat, but also decoratively.
35:24Now, everything's set against each other here
35:27to give interest in texture and colour.
35:30But also, there's height from these beans
35:33growing up an obelisk in the corner.
35:35And next door to them, another vertical emphasis,
35:39that great big orac, looking gorgeous
35:42in seed against the blue sky.
35:44And then, right in the middle, these two sentinels,
35:48these great big plants of bronze fennel.
35:51Another interesting texture to add
35:54to what already exists right the way through the bed,
35:58and, in fact, right the way through the garden.
36:02How about this for a novel idea?
36:04If you've got a fence separating
36:06one bit of the garden from the other,
36:08don't just leave it. Grow something up it.
36:11Grow something like this beautiful plant.
36:14This is an ornamental gourd.
36:17And it's just using the fence as support.
36:19All along these stems, flowers are produced,
36:22both male and female.
36:24And when the bees have moved the pollen
36:26onto the female flowers, they'll turn into fruit.
36:30Now, on this plant, they're ornamental gourds,
36:33so they're not edible.
36:34But there are so many members of the Cucorbit family
36:37that grow in exactly the same way,
36:39that are utterly delicious.
36:41Squash and pumpkins for a start.
36:44All they need to grow successfully
36:46is loads of sun and lots of water.
36:50Beautiful.
36:56Not only is this garden packed with beautiful vegetables,
37:01but there are so many fruit trees, too,
37:03and so many good examples of how to grow them.
37:07Here's a step-over apple.
37:09The whole idea is it makes a really, really low plant,
37:12and yet it's extremely productive.
37:15Just look at the apples here.
37:18And all that happens is, as the apple comes up,
37:21two big shoots are trained horizontally along wires.
37:25The wires are just a couple of feet off the ground.
37:28And it's tied in and keeps making progress all the time.
37:32And each time it sends out a side shoot,
37:35that's cut back to a couple of buds,
37:38which is when it makes these fruiting spurs
37:40and eventually these lovely, delicious apples, too.
37:44But another wonderful way of training apples is this.
37:49This is an espalier,
37:50and it's a beautiful example of this technique.
37:53So here's the central trunk.
37:56And this time,
37:57these branches have been trained out horizontally.
38:01These ones first, obviously.
38:03The plant has grown up a couple of feet,
38:05and then two more are trained out sideways.
38:08Again, that happens.
38:11Third one,
38:12and probably you'd end up with a fourth one you have here.
38:15And all the way up you've got this bountiful crop of apples.
38:19So even in a tiny space,
38:22or on a flat wall,
38:24or in between two parts of a garden,
38:27you can produce a plant which gives you loads and loads of fruit.
38:34Throughout the veg garden,
38:36there are glorious examples of companion planting.
38:39As here,
38:40with this wonderful archway,
38:42full of fig leaf gourds.
38:44Look at those beautiful fruit.
38:46But at their feet are growing tagetes,
38:49and they are supposed to deter white flies,
38:52and other kinds of apis.
38:54They've got a really strong, pungent smell,
38:56and they bring in all sorts of pollinating insects.
39:01The potager and the vegetable garden show us all
39:04that with a little bit of creativity,
39:07we can put vegetables and flowers together
39:10to produce something which is just as beautiful
39:13as any bed or border.
39:16in the winter.
39:40Now here's another change that we made over the winter.
39:43This is the mound.
39:44And for the last six or seven years,
39:47these have been big beds on either side of the path
39:51with roses and quite big planting.
39:55But the space was awkward.
39:57So I've taken them out,
40:00and this has been laid as a terrace.
40:04Here you're raised up.
40:05I'm looking down on the new woodland garden,
40:07which is pleasing,
40:08and so I'm very happy with the result.
40:22This has proved to be the perfect place to keep house plants.
40:26And they're happy in here for three reasons.
40:29The first is the light is good.
40:32It's bright, but it's not glaring.
40:35It's never very direct sunlight.
40:37The second reason is that the temperature in here is pretty constant.
40:42And house plants like that,
40:43whereas in the modern centrally heated house,
40:45the temperature can fluctuate by 20 degrees.
40:48And thirdly, the reason why they're happy in here,
40:51because they're neglected.
40:52And neglect is the secret of the happy house plant.
41:07When I say they thrive on neglect,
41:10what I mean is that you can really damage them
41:12by too much of anything.
41:15Too much watering, too much feeding,
41:16too much warmth, too much light
41:19is going to do far more damage to house plants
41:23than a bit of benign neglect.
41:25I'm going to go through each of these
41:27and do what I would do in spring
41:29as we enter the growing season.
41:31I'm going to start with the cheese plant
41:33because this poor thing is not in a good state.
41:36Look, it's fallen completely over.
41:38It's lost its support.
41:39And if I put it on the table for a minute,
41:42you can see what's happened.
41:43This here has broken away,
41:47so the first thing to do is to prune it.
41:50Now, now is the time to prune a cheese plant.
41:54It's too big, reduce it in size.
41:56If it's damaged, take off the damaged part.
42:00By and large, it's actually not at all unhealthy.
42:03Can you see me through the leaves?
42:06It's looking quite happy.
42:07So the first thing I need to do is to support it.
42:12Make sure they're strong and make sure they're tied in well.
42:15When you're tying up any plant, always use soft twine
42:19so it doesn't damage the plant.
42:24There we go.
42:27If the leaves get at all dusty, just wipe them with a damp cloth.
42:32With your fingers, just remove some of the compost,
42:36maybe the top inch, and then top it up.
42:40So a soil-based compost or a bark-based compost with plenty of drainage.
42:47This just gives it a little bit of extra goodness
42:50to kick off this fresh growing season.
42:54The next thing to do is to give this a good drink.
42:57What I have is a very weak solution of seaweed feed.
43:01And I'm going to water that in until it's running out of the bottom.
43:06Let it be sodden and then let it really drain well.
43:12Now this spider plant is moderately happy.
43:16And spider plants are one of the few house plants
43:20that actually can be a bit wetter than most
43:21because they're very forgiving.
43:23So if you do overwater them, you're unlikely to kill them.
43:27But once a week is plenty.
43:29With house plants, you may experience little flies.
43:32These are fungus gnats,
43:34and they are living off decaying organic matter in the compost.
43:39And one of the reasons why it's decaying is because it's too wet.
43:42So the quickest way to get rid of it
43:44is take off the top layer of compost,
43:46replace it with fresh,
43:48give it a soak,
43:49and then only water it again when it's bone dry.
43:52What I'm going to do with this now
43:54is give it an immersive soak.
43:57Hold it down until it stays under the water.
43:59Can you see the bubbles coming up there?
44:03It's bubbling like a man
44:04who's had Jerusalem artichokes before his bath.
44:09It's got a good way of watering house plants
44:11that have become so dry that the water just seems to bounce off the top.
44:16Now, while that's having a soak,
44:18I'm going to deal with the Chinese money plant.
44:21And what I'm going to do with this is repot it.
44:24That's pretty firmly in there.
44:26A little trick is to use a cane in the bottom
44:28and just push like that.
44:30Now you can see that that is essentially pot bound.
44:34If you can see more roots than compost,
44:37it needs repotting.
44:39Now, I'm going to put it back in the same pot
44:41rather than putting it in a bigger pot.
44:43So I'm going to remove some of the existing roots and compost.
44:47And I'm just going to use my fingers.
44:49I'm just going to scrape away a bit like this,
44:53creating room for some fresh compost
44:56and therefore fresh roots to grow into.
45:01We'll put a little bit of compost in the bottom.
45:08Push that down in.
45:10Having repotted, I will give this a water and a feed,
45:14let it drain thoroughly and then put it back.
45:18Now, your best friend with any houseplant is this, a mister.
45:23If you're not sure how much to water or when to water,
45:26you can never go wrong by increasing the humidity.
45:30So place them somewhere where you can spray them
45:33so their leaves are distinctly damp
45:35and sometimes running with water
45:36without damaging carpets or curtains or cushions.
45:41And having watered them,
45:42if any has accumulated in the saucer that's beneath them,
45:45throw that away.
45:46Don't let them sit in the wet.
45:48And that will do for most houseplants.
45:51Of course, it doesn't apply to cacti or succulents,
45:55which are another whole thing altogether.
45:58Now, the whole point of houseplants
46:00is that they deliver all the year round.
46:05But out in the garden,
46:07there are some plants that are absolutely of the season
46:10and only perform for a few brief, bright weeks,
46:15but are really special when they do.
46:17And we went down to Cornwall
46:19to visit a grower of camellias,
46:22which of course are at their best now.
46:24And I think you might truly say
46:27that he does love a camellia.
46:39I'm described by my missus as a serial obsessive,
46:42and my current obsessions are camellias.
46:46Really in it deep with camellias.
46:51The Italians used to call them perfecters.
46:53There's a perfection in the arrangement of the flower
46:56that is pretty much unrivalled.
47:05My name is Jim Stevens.
47:07I've been in professional horticulture all my life.
47:09This is my garden in Doddwalls in southeast Cornwall,
47:12and we've been here for about 35 years now.
47:17Camellias give me interest in the garden
47:19from late autumn right through to spring
47:21when not much else is happening.
47:24Being evergreen shrubs, providing greenery through the winter
47:27and form a background for everything else that's going on.
47:29They're beautiful.
47:32Look at that.
47:38There are over 30,000 varieties of camellias.
47:42There's about 300 species.
47:44There are camellias with beautiful foliage
47:47right through to the other extreme
47:49where you've got flowers six inches diameter in vivid pink
47:53and everything in between.
47:55You've got perfume, you've got big growers,
47:57you've got small growers.
47:58There's got to be a camellia for everybody.
48:01I've got a couple of dozen here.
48:03When I'm showing you them all,
48:05I want you to put your hand on your heart
48:06and say you don't like any of them.
48:11This is Camellia Annette Carol,
48:13which has long been one of my favourites.
48:15It always performs really well every year.
48:17I love the way it opens from this really deep pink bud
48:20and then fades, so at any one time
48:22you've got a sort of range of different colours across the bush.
48:29This is one called Camellia japonica bob hope.
48:33As good a deep rich red camellia as you'll get,
48:37but a very typical japonica type camellia,
48:40so it's a fairly solid presence in the garden.
48:43This one has been here probably 12 or 15 years
48:45and I've kept it around about the same size
48:48by taking a couple of years' growth off every second year.
48:54When you read gardening books,
48:55they'll often tell you that camellias don't need pruning,
48:58but if you don't prune them, they'll grow into small trees
49:01and are much too big for a small garden.
49:04And you can prune them.
49:05They respond extremely well to pruning.
49:13So if you're wanting a really good starter camellia,
49:16I've got a variety called Debbie.
49:18This is a Williamsii camellia.
49:21It's a good rigorous grower,
49:23has lots and lots of flowers over a long period of time.
49:26One of the characteristics of the Williamsii
49:28is that they, generally speaking,
49:30drop the flowers before they go brown.
49:32One of the reasons that they're so popular.
49:34The japonica varieties, which comprise the majority,
49:38tend to hold on to the flowers
49:40and they go brown on the bush.
49:43This one's one called Minato no Acibonum,
49:46which means harbour at dawn.
49:49And this is a Lutruensis hybrid,
49:51which means that it's beautifully perfumed.
49:54Right beside that, towering above it,
49:56is Camellia reticulata mystique,
49:59which is very, very different.
50:01It's a very blousy, pretty pink thing.
50:06Camellia reticulata is the prima donna of the Camellia world.
50:10And this, I guess, is what most people would associate with Camellias.
50:13This is what they would be thinking of.
50:15Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
50:17That, to me, is beautiful.
50:20At the other extreme are things like this.
50:23This is Camellia lutruensis, which is a species such as you'd find growing in the wild.
50:27So the flowers are tiny, they're single flowers.
50:30They're quite sweetly perfumed, which the vast majority of Camellias are not.
50:34And then the third one that I've got here is a variety called Koto no Kaori,
50:39which is a hybrid between Lutruensis and a Japonica variety.
50:44And this, to my mind, combines the best of both worlds.
50:48You've got the colour, you've got the floriferousness of it,
50:50plus you've got the perfume.
50:57This is my propagator, and I took this batch of cuttings very late July, early August last year.
51:04They've been pretty much undisturbed since then, just watered them occasionally.
51:08And it'll be interesting to see whether they've got any roots on them.
51:12Ah, look at that, a little root system.
51:17Oh, you're looking at a happy man here, terrific.
51:20When I take them, in the cuttings that I took, I cut that off right at the base,
51:26wounded it slightly.
51:27With a very sharp knife, I just pare the bark off just down one side,
51:32which is just enough wounding to stimulate rooting a bit,
51:35and stuck it in the propagator.
51:38So that needs to be potted up now into a little individual pot,
51:42and lots and lots of new plants.
51:53Here we've got another species camellia.
51:56This one's one called Transnocoensis, with tiny little white flowers.
52:01Very, very strong contrast with this and the debbie behind it,
52:05the typical, what people would think of as camellias.
52:07Perhaps wouldn't even recognise this as a camellia at all.
52:10But it has a much more natural, relaxed habit of growth,
52:14so a very thin, twiggy, upright habit of growth
52:17that might be much more appropriate to a lot of people's more natural-type gardeners
52:22than the traditional camellia.
52:30People who don't like camellias are not amenable to reason, are they, for heaven's sake?
52:35How could you not like camellias?
52:38It doesn't make any sense.
52:55Well, it's hard to say this, Jim,
52:57but you may notice I don't have a single camellia in this garden
53:01because I'm one of those terrible people that has not yet learnt to love them.
53:06But maybe it will come to me.
53:08But I do love hydrangeas, and I've got some here in the writing garden.
53:13You may notice that we've made some changes over winter
53:16because when we put the doghouse up last summer,
53:19we put a path in front of it, and it was a bit narrow.
53:22So we widened the path to make a terraced area,
53:25and now there is space to put big pots.
53:28I've got two, and I'm putting in hydrangea paniculata.
53:33Hydrangeas cope well in light shade,
53:35and they need relatively good drainage.
53:39And the great thing about paniculata, they can be pruned hard every year.
53:44So therefore, you can grow them in a pot without them getting too big.
53:49First things first, it needs a crock in the bottom.
53:51It's not so much to improve the drainage, but it's to stop the compost falling out the bottom of the
53:57pot.
53:59I've already mixed up a mixture of grit, plenty of our homemade leaf mould,
54:05and the rest is peat-free compost.
54:17Right.
54:18Now that, obviously, gives lots of room for growth.
54:23And because this is a great big pot, I do want it to be dramatic.
54:26This is a hydrangea paniculata cayushu, and it carries conical white flowers, June, July, August.
54:36A lot of hydrangeas you think of as being September, coming in for their best later in summer and into
54:41autumn.
54:42Also, the critical thing about them is they flower on new wood.
54:48Right, let's take it out of the pot.
54:52As a rule of thumb, when you're planting anything in a pot, leave at least an inch for watering.
55:00Perfect.
55:11Now, as always, particularly at this time of year, when you plant anything, water it in.
55:20Give it a good soak.
55:22As well as watering it and giving it moisture, it's moving the soil around the roots.
55:27And I will water this weekly.
55:31Now, what you see will carry no flowers at all, so these stems will be bare.
55:36The new growth will carry the flowers.
55:40Eventually, what I want is a plant that is about seven foot tall, festooned with white conical flowers.
55:51Now, I've got some jobs you could do this weekend.
56:04But yeah, can be pruned now
56:06But yeah, can be pruned now.
56:07It flowers on new growth.
56:10So everything that is on the plant now will produce no flowers.
56:15So you need to cut hard.
56:17If you go down to two buds from the base of the plant,
56:21that's about as low as you need go or maybe about two or three foot but be
56:27brave and cut hard
56:37now is a great time to soak cosmos for a really good late summer display fill a
56:44seed tray with peat-free compost and carefully sprinkle the seeds so they're
56:49evenly placed across it cover them over water them and the best way to do this
56:54is to dip it in a tray of water for about 10 minutes and then put them
56:58somewhere warm to germinate and they should be ready to prick out in a few
57:02weeks time
57:08if you've got hyacinths that you've grown for an indoor display over winter or any
57:13other bulbs that you've grown in containers you can plant them out into
57:18the garden when they've finished flowering put the whole thing untidied up leaves
57:26stems and all into the soil bury them and let them die back naturally and they
57:31will flower next year
57:39so
58:03I will take these buddlier cuttings and put them through a shredder and then that will
58:09go onto paths that way everything gets recycled. Well that's it for today it's been a beautiful
58:18spring day here at Longmeadow and I do hope that you can get out into your garden and enjoy some
58:25spring sunshine and just this sense of the world breaking free from winter and coming alive again.
58:32I'll see you back here at Longmeadow next time. So until then, bye-bye.
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