All language subtitles for Gardeners’ World 2021 S54E14

Hello, welcome to Gardeners' World.

I'm just making a hole here
in the Jewel Garden,

trying to do
as little damage as possible

to the plants around me
because it's time to plant up

probably the most spectacular thing
that we grow anywhere

at Longmeadow, and that is
a salvia - Salvia dombeyi.

Like all salvias,
it likes a sunny position

with well-drained soil,

which the latter is a bit
of a stretch for us here

because our heavy clay is hardly
what you call well-drained -

but it does OK. We grew it last year
here in the Jewel Garden

and it was fantastic
with long, tubular red flowers,

and it can grow up to ten foot tall.

And I've overwintered it
in the greenhouse.

So now I want to take it out
without damaging it,

which I have to say is not easy
at the best of times.

Come on. There we go.

It's coming. It's coming.

There we are. Da-dum!

And in you go. Perfect.

All right, let's get this
back-filled while it's happy.

Coming up on today's programme...

Carol is rejoicing
in the seasonal displays

at Trebah Gardens in Cornwall.

Wherever you look, there's
innovation, beautiful ideas,

and you just get this feeling
of optimism

and looking forward to the future.

With box across the UK
being decimated by the combination

of caterpillars and blight,
Nick visits RHS Wisley

to discover alternative shrubs
for hedging and borders.

You know what? The good news is,
there are all sorts of plants

that can give you
that box-like effect

without having to plant box.

And I will be planting my squashes
and outdoor cucumbers.

Before I plant this Salvia fulgens,

I'd like to take some cuttings.

Now salvias take very well
from cuttings

and traditionally you take cuttings
at the end of summer,

in early autumn,
as a kind of insurance policy

in case you lose the parent plant -

but the truth is, you can take
cuttings at any time of year

from salvias,
if you find the right material.

And the right material
are shoots -

new shoots without a flowering bud.

Now, at this time of year,
they tend to have flowering buds,

but there are
a few on this salvia here.

But if you are setting out to take
cuttings of anything at all,

particularly at this time of year
when it's hot,

you must be armed
with a polythene bag.

And that is because
once you cut the material off,

it's effectively dying,
and it becomes a race

to get it into a routine medium

before it dehydrates too much.

And if you put it in the bag,

that slows
that dehydration process down

and gives you
a little bit more time.

Now, I'm going to start
with a tip cutting.

There are a couple here,
which actually will do very nicely.

I like these tip cuttings because
they're a little bit stronger

than the side shoots.

So pop that in there,
and fold it over.

Right. The important thing with
these cuttings is not to hang about.

Time is not on my side.

All cuttings need
a bit of preparation.

If you just chuck them in
as they are,

you are not increasing
your chances of survival

because it's the foliage
that loses moisture.

So the first thing to do
is to reduce the foliage.

I'll explain about these glasses
in a minute.

So you take your cut material
like that and you need a sharp knife

and just cut off the lower leaves,
leaving a maximum of two,

so that has
a much better chance of survival.

Now, the roots form best
from just below a node -

a node is where the leaves form.

So although I've cut it
in the middle of the stem,

I need to just trim it back,

so it's just below that point there.

So just with a sharp knife
straight across.

Now, in the past, I've used perlite
very successfully for salvias,

pure perlite, no compost at all,

because, to take a cutting,
all that's needed is water and air.

You don't need any nutrition.

So if you've got it,
you want to use it,

I know from experience
that works well, but I've been told

that salvias actually take
just as well in pure water

and that's what these glasses
are all about.

Like that, and pop this in.

There. Simple as that.

Well, that is gardening made easy.

And if you've never taken cuttings
before, nothing could be easier

so go on, give it a go.

And the whole point of taking
cuttings from tender plants

is not just to make plants for free,
which of course is good,

but because the cutting is identical
to the parent,

it means that if you lose
the parent to bad weather,

you've got plenty more
to replace it.

Now that, of course, is important
for most of us

because our winters are cold.

But if you're lucky enough to live
somewhere warm by the Gulf Stream,

like Cornwall, then the range
of plants that will survive winter

is much greater.

And Carol went to visit
the marvellous gardens

at Trebah in Cornwall,

which I last went to 25 years ago,

and was astounded
by the incredible range of plants

that they have growing there.

Trebah Gardens near Falmouth

is a subtropical paradise,

full of tree ferns, exotics
and rhododendrons.

It's also famous for hydrangeas,

which in the 1950s were shipped

to Covent Garden Flower Market -

and there are still lots here.

But no garden stands still, and here
at Trebah, they're very conscious

of that time between their spring
splendour and their autumn glory -

and to make that more exciting,
more interesting, more wonderful,

they've introduced
all sorts of new plantings

with vivid splashes of colour
throughout the garden.

Much of what has been done
to bridge that gap

between the spring and the autumn
is very, very deliberate.

But in this case, this plant
has spread this way and that way

and creates
the most wonderful picture.

This is Erigeron karvinskianus.

It's called Mexican fleabane,

so you know where it comes from!

And you can guess the kind of place
it loves to grow

from how well it's doing here.

In contrast
to this hard granite wall,

it's just so endearing,
it's delightful.

And if you'd like some,
don't go pulling it out of a wall,

because it won't grow.

And anyway, you shouldn't do that!

The reason it won't grow is because
each of these little plants

has made a taproot, which pushes
in between the stones

to find nutrients and water.

But what you can do is get
some seed, put your seed on the top

of a half seed tray,
full of gritty compost,

cover it with a bit of grit,
water it well from underneath

and within a few weeks,
it'll germinate.

And once you've got your individual
little plants, you can push them

carefully into your wall or wherever
else you want them to grow

to create this wonderfully
frothy effect.

This tiny erigeron fringes this
magnificent bed of succulents...

..which pepper the top of the
garden -

and amazingly, they can stay
in the ground over winter.

Towering over the whole scene

are these giant echiums.

This is Echium pininana,
it's from the Canary Islands.

And very, very few of us
could actually get it

to this sort of stage
in our own gardens,

although there is a little
native plant, viper's bugloss,

which has exactly
the same sort of flowers,

although on a much smaller scale,

and is equally attractive to bees.

And you can hear, never mind see,
this whole thing is humming.

It's buzzing with bees.

And this is truly
the Land Of The Giants.

Look over here, these great
towering stems of puya.

This is a plant from South America.

And, in its native habitat, it
would be pollinated by hummingbirds.

Well, even here, there aren't
any hummingbirds around -

but the bees love this, too.

Aren't they absolutely brilliant?!

In contrast to the drought
of the parched bank,

a natural stream runs through
the heart of the Trebah Valley

and it's been turned
into a primula paradise.

Isn't this perfection?

Aren't I lucky?!

It's just so beautiful.

You don't know where to start,
really, but on the other hand,

you're just immediately drawn
to this beautiful combination.

The iris in the centre.

It's an Iris sibirica,
and it's called Ruffled Velvet.

It's got quite broad falls
to the flowers.

And each one of them has a silver
edge, giving it an added delicacy.

And how about this
for a marriage made in heaven

with this lovely Primula helodoxa?

Brilliant, pure yellow flowers.

I really can't imagine how you could
possibly improve on this combination

and the very fact that this yellow
is picked up

right the way up the slope

or, if you prefer, right the way
down this series of waterfalls,

just makes it all the more romantic,

all the more perfect.

Just to add to the mix,
there are these arum lilies, too,

putting in a dash of clean white.

But it's the primulas
that really lead the party.

Primula helodoxa is just one
of a whole series

of beautiful primulas.

All of them come from Asia,
and they all frequent damp places.

Many of them even grow
in a bit of shade, too.

But they have
their stature in common.

They have a rosette of leaves
at their base

and then they thrust up
these tall stems.

Eventually, there might be as many
as eight of these whorls

at one single stem.

They set seed very easily, and
they'll very often seed themselves,

which is one of the reasons
they always look so natural.

So if you haven't got a waterfall,

or a wonderful boggy area
in your garden,

but you really want
to grow these sorts of plants,

then just dig a hole,
line it with compost bags

turned inside out, puncture
a few holes, return the soil,

and that will ensure
that when you put your plants in,

they're going to absolutely thrive

because you can always keep them
well-watered,

and you can enjoy
these beautiful plants yourself.

As the valley widens out,
there are lots of other treasures.

Bamboo in profusion,

more promiscuous primulas,

and lovely textured combinations.

This is podophyllum Spotty Dotty,

with huge leaves.

Dryopteris wallichiana,
covered in furring emerging fronds,

with dark stems.

And hosta Blue Mammoth.
You don't get much bigger than this.

This is a most wondrous garden.

It's so cared for.

Not only does it respect
its history, wherever you look,

there's innovation, new plantings,
beautiful ideas,

and you just get
this feeling of optimism

and looking forward to the future.

Of course, the thing
that makes gardens like Trebah

and the other gardens in Cornwall,

Pembrokeshire, West Coast
of Scotland so special

is the Gulf Stream.

That warms them up just enough

to make all the difference
in the world.

So do visit if you possibly
get the chance.

Now, I hope you've been growing
the cactus mix dahlias from seed

that we began here
earlier in spring.

They've now got a good size
and ready to plant out.

What we have are pretty nice,
healthy, good plants

and you take them out
and they've got a good root system

and this should grow well.

Dahlias, remember, come from Mexico.

They are fairly exotic plants.

They respond well to heat and light
and air and water and rich soil.

So if you can give them
as many of those elements

as possible, they will thrive.

And do bear in mind
that they won't all be good.

Some will be absolutely beautiful,
but because they're grown from seed,

they will have mixed characteristics
from each of their two parents.

Now, these are looking good,
and the soil is rich,

but if you have one like this,
which is developing a flower head

and you can see that
it's at the expense of side shoots.

So what I strongly suggest you do

is actually cut
the flowering stem off.

And you can take it back like that

and, in fact, almost go right back.

I am going to be ruthless
and go right back to there.

And that means that there will be
lots of side shoots.

The flowers will be
a little bit smaller,

but critically, the goodness

will be going into the roots
and this will be all the better

next year for a little bit
of ruthlessness this year.

And you can see a really good
root system formed on that.

So we'll put this in here.

OK.

Right. It's now time
to visit one of your gardens.

And we're starting out
by going to America.

In fact, not just
America, but right across

to the other side, to California.

Hello, Gardeners' World.

Welcome to our garden
in Santa Monica, California.

I'm Lavina.

Today we want
to tell you about our epiphyllums,

also called Jungle Cactus.

Most of the year, they display
these wonderful large leaves.

Then, in early spring,
the fireworks begin.

These beautiful buds will open to
become these lovely large flowers.

Caring for epis is quite easy.

They like a mist of water
on the leaves.

They like good draining soil
and being packed in a tight space.

Epis are hardy down to freezing,

so you there in England should keep
them in a greenhouse

until there's no chance of frost.

Cuttings are just like
any cactus.

Snip off a section of a leaf
about six or eight inches long.

Let it dry out for a week or two.

Rest it on a pot of soil and
support it with plenty of grit.

This is the new one - we got it
about four years ago,

and it's finally starting
to blossom,

which proves again that gardening
takes plenty of patience.

In closing, we just wanted
to say thank you.

We really enjoy watching
Gardeners' World.

It's been a refuge,
especially in this crazy year.

Well, thank you very much for
sharing your garden with us, Lavina.

Of course, what you grow outside
with huge and full expression,

we grow as house plants,

and they're nothing like as big
or as beautiful as that.

So it's lovely to see them.

Here in the Jewel Garden,

the biggest change we've made
for years was to take out

the box hedging, which had suffered
horribly from box blight.

And we struggled on with it.

And then, this winter, we bit
the bullet and ripped them all out.

Now, what that's left is much
more open borders and wider paths,

but it's a little bit harsh,
a little bit rigid,

and I want to soften them up.

So I've got some plants here
deliberately to plant

along the edge of the paths,

so that they can spill over

and just soften the whole effect.

And I'm starting
with a hardy geranium.

This is a variety
called Anne Thomson.

So I'm going to pop this in here.

And when you're planting on the edge
of a path or a lawn to soften,

go right up to the edge.
You want this to sprawl.

You're not trying to contain it.

Hardy geraniums are very tolerant
of most situations.

These are a really useful plant.

But immediately you can see

that rather hard metal edging
is softened.

Now for a splash of colour,

I absolutely adore geums.

And this is probably
the best known geum of all,

it's Mrs Bradshaw.

And you can see it's got
this brilliant vermilion flower.

Now, this is not actually
a spreading plant, as such,

because the flowers grow and spiral
upwards rather than laterally,

but the foliage will grow out,

and I think the key thing
when you're creating edging

that you want to be soft and looking
natural is to have a variety

of hummocks and spreads and sprawls,
rather than just a rigid row.

So hopefully that will add
another range of texture.

And then finally, I've got one here

that I'm a little bit
undecided about.

This is a nepeta. I'm slightly
worried that the blue

is not quite dark enough
for the Jewel Garden.

And if it proves to clash
in a bad way,

then I might have to move it
to the cottage garden.

But if it works, it'll be ideal
because it will form a low mound.

It never gets too big
and, if popped here,

will just add that balance
I'm talking about.

OK, there we go.

I will work down all the paths,
getting a rhythm.

I've got about four or five
different edging plants

and some of this is experiment.

Some will definitely work
better than others.

But I love the new development.

I love the way that the Jewel Garden
is actually changing

and adapting over time.

And we could, of course, have put
hedges back that weren't of box

because there are alternatives -

and Nick went to RHS Wisley
to check them out.

The buxus, or box plant, as we know
it has always held universal appeal.

British native. It's small,
evergreen leaves and dense growth

make it suitable for close clipping.

Incredibly versatile,

it can add form and structure
to pretty much every type of garden.

Box ticks an awful lot of boxes,

but it's under serious threat
here in the UK

with a combination
of both box blight

and the invasive box caterpillar.

So now is probably a good time

to rethink those small, clipped
topiarised plants or hedges.

You know what? The good news is,
there are all sorts of plants

that can give you that box-like
effect without having to plant box.

I reckon one of the best
alternatives to box

has got to be this -
it's Lonicera nitida Maigrun.

You can see it's got this dense
foliage, so it can be clipped

in a similar way to box,

but it's got this slightly
lighter foliage,

which I think's absolutely lovely.

And it's also got
some added advantages to it.

It doesn't get any pest
and disease problems

and you can grow it in sun
or in partial shade.

The only thing you need to be
careful about

is that it doesn't like growing on
very heavy or wet soils,

but otherwise it will do
extremely well.

You can see here, as well,

it's done a great job covering
the base of this taxus hedge,

so this is slotted in
brilliantly underneath.

Equally, it will work as a low
clipped stand-alone hedge.

And I think it's really got
to be one of the very best

replacements for box.

Yew trees are an iconic part
of the British landscape.

You'll find them all over the place.

Now, left to their own devices,
they will produce huge trees.

But believe it or not, this in front
of me is a form of yew.

It's called taxus Repandens, and
it has an almost sort of creeping

or horizontal quality to it,
which means it can be clipped

and kept very, very low,
which means it's a fantastic

alternative to buxus.

Now it stays evergreen.

You can get away
with clipping it once a year.

And what's most useful, I think,
is that it will grow

in relatively heavy shade
and in full sun.

So you can use it
as a border fronter

in all of those
different situations.

If there's one plant,
which I absolutely love,

I always plant it
into my own gardens

and it always goes into client
gardens, it is pittosporum.

Now it's a shrub
that comes from New Zealand

and there are so many forms of it.

There's one
in front of me just here,

a variegated form
called Collaig Silver

and the one over there is called
rather unflatteringly Wrinkled Blue.

Now you can see both of them
can be clipped down

into quite tight hedge
or topiary forms.

Equally, you can leave them
as free-form shrubs.

Now, if you've got a large
pittosporum in your garden,

the fantastic thing is
that you can topiarise it.

In other words, you can prune
that existing free-form shrub

into a cube, or a ball or a sphere.

I think the other fantastic thing
about pittosporums

is that they're so pale.

And so if you think most
of our evergreens through winter

tend to be darker, inky tones,
these make a fabulous contrast

and provide a certain lightness
into the garden.

And, as a final whammy,
this cultivar, Collaig Silver,

takes on pink tones
in the winter as well.

What more could you want
from a shrub?

Keen to inspire gardeners to move
away from traditional box hedging

and the threat of disease,

Matthew Pottage and his team
at Wisley have been carrying out

studies on a host of alternative
options over the last five years.

One that looks really promising,
Nick, is probably the podocarpus.

A Southern Hemisphere native,
but proving very hardy for us.

And long before this area
was planted,

we had Podocarpus nivalis growing.

We had minus 16 back in 2010

and there was no damage to it
at all.

And it's almost a similar growth
habit to a yew or a box.

It is quite slow, but progress
so far is positive.

It regenerates from old wood.

It's been happy to be clipped

and they just look
really presentable.

And I think that could be
a really good future alternative.

Progress to date is promising.

OK, I guess most people
don't know podocarpus.

It's a conifer, right?
It is. It's a conifer.

Almost looks a little bit like a box
with small rounded leaves.

You have fruits on it,
a bit similar to a yew.

I notice, as well, you've got
corokia Frosted Chocolate,

which does what it says on the tin -
it looks like chocolate.

I've only known it as a freeform
shrub, but it clips really well.

You've got a few other cultivars,
as well.

Yeah, we have both
Yellow Wonder, Red Wonder,

and one called Silver Ghost,
which is a favourite of mine.

Lovely tiny little silvery leaves
and black zigzaggy stems

makes quite an unusual form,

but lovely, lovely,
unusual texture to it.

I remember in the 1970s,
back in my childhood,

berberis were absolutely ubiquitous,
they were in every garden.

But I think gardeners got tired
of them, they started to disappear.

However, I reckon
they are due a revival.

They're such an adaptable plant.

Now, this is a form called
Berberis thunbergii Orange Rocket.

And it's got that name because
it has fabulous autumn colour.

But before it does that, you've got
these lovely burgundy leaves.

You've then got the lovely
little creamy green flowers,

which eventually turn
into red berries,

which then join the superb
autumn foliage,

which is a mix
of reds and oranges and yellows.

So it truly glows
at that time of year.

Now, going into winter, of course,
it loses its leaves

and it does come with a warning.

It's a very spiny plant.

One of the big surprises here for me

in terms of its ability
to be clipped quite hard

and given a sort of buxus look,

is this plant, which is
Leptospermum grandiflorum.

Now leptospermums come from
Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania,

and they tend
to be quite loose, open shrubs.

However, this form
is a little bit more dense.

Now, left to its own devices,

it will produce
quite large white flowers.

It's a really
beautiful-looking shrub.

But you can treat it in this way
as well

and get some lovely topiary
or hedging forms from it.

Of course it has
an added bonus as well.

The leaves are absolutely packed
with protective oils

and they have a very distinct scent.

It's got a note of citrus,
of sweetness

and sort of Mediterranean herbs
as well.

It's really, really lovely.

What the real joy is,
is when you clip it, of course,

it releases those scents.

With so many fantastic alternatives
that work just as well

without the risks, it's definitely
worth thinking outside the box.

I think the whole box replacement
story is a difficult one,

but it's fascinating
to see such choice.

And probably the best way
to go around it

is rather than thinking,

"What can I use that will make up
for the lack of box,

"that is a substitute?"

Think, "What would I like to use
as a first choice

"if I had all these plants,
including box,

"laid out in front of me,
which one would I plump for?"

And that way it becomes
a first choice,

and therefore really
a creative one, and interesting.

It doesn't matter
what kind of hedge you grow,

whether it is a very
low-clipped edging hedge,

or whether it's a tall boundary one,

whether it's deciduous
or evergreen, now is not the time

to do any serious hedge cutting.

In fact, the RSPB says you shouldn't
cut hedges between March and August,

and that's good advice.

That's because birds are still
nesting their own young in the nest.

And if you start getting a hedge
cutter out, you're almost certain

to disturb them, and the results
will not be good.

However, they are growing strongly,
and particularly, for example,

the hawthorn hedges we have
up at this end of the garden.

It means that where you pass
between hedges,

they can either be rather prickly or
if it's been raining,

you just get - it's like
going through a car wash

as you push through the wet growth,

and it's a good idea,
just to very lightly trim

those vertical growths back now.

So just use a pair of shears

and very lightly,
trim all the excess off.

That's all you have to do.
And then again on this side.

And that really is it.

And then when we come to here,
just cut this back.

And it is incredible
how effective it is,

is if you can get the vertical lines

that should be straight,
dead straight,

everything else locks into place
around it

and forgives a multitude of sins.

Here we go.

That's all that's needed.

Now, still to come...

We visit a community garden in Deal,
to see how gardening has brought

people together
in this coastal town.

We're here all the time, we love it.

As soon as the sun's out,
we're out here gardening.

We all have a lot of fun.

But now we're going to visit
a garden much closer to home,

or at least my home, because this
has been sent to us from a viewer

just a few miles from here
in Herefordshire.

Hi, my name is Phil Powell,

I live in Herefordshire,

and if I may, I'd like to show you
round the back garden of my home.

My wife originally laid out
the garden.

She's gone on now, so I'm sort
of like the caretaker of it,

and I do my best.

I really like growing hostas.

Most people have got one in a pot,

but I've sort of gone completely
overboard and this time of year

is just the best time.

Just as the leaves
are sort of fully unfurled

and before they start
to make flowers.

Yeah, very restful.

This viburnum was one
that my late wife brought with us

from our old house.

You see just how wonderful
those flowers are -

they're absolutely splendid.

I sent a little bucket
into the ground there

and made like this little wildlife
pond, which gives it a nice feature.

Like, you can see I've got this...

I've got this
mind-your-own-business.

It will take over the garden,
but I'm stringent with it.

Every autumn I cut it back
and keep it at bay.

And so it keeps it in this area.

But actually it looks OK,
but it needs managing.

This little box dragon here

was one that I took some cuttings
from one of the buxus in the garden.

A lot of people that come by
find it unusual,

but anyway, I like it, so...

I guess I'm pretty lucky
to live here, you know?

Anyway, that's my back garden.

Well, I think you've done
Herefordshire proud, Phil,

it's a lovely garden, and it's
interesting that your hostas

look so good because
there's no question about it

that the local soil here, which is
fundamentally clay loam, it's heavy,

and very rich in nutrients,
is good for hostas.

And you can see here in the damp
garden, the hostas are very happy.

I love them.

I love the fact they're so generous

and these great leaves
with their wrinkles and furrows

and they really do hold their own
with any other plant in the garden.

And of course, this is before
they even start to flower.

And my theory about hostas
is simple,

is if you have healthy plants,

they will be left alone
by slugs and snails.

They need rich, heavy soil
with lots of moisture.

So if you've got soil that's a bit
thin, or not much organic matter,

or the drainage is very sharp,
or you don't get much water,

they're going to be stressed,
and stressed plants

are what slugs and snails go for.

And choose varieties
with nice thick leaves,

and you will find that at least
until late summer,

they won't be touched.

Now, we went down to Deal in Kent

to visit a community garden
that was not only open to the public

and to the gardeners, but also
wide open to the elements.

We're here all the time, we love it.

As soon as the sun's out,
we're out here gardening.

I'm Linda and I run Sandown Castle
Community Garden Group in Deal.

We started this group in 2015.

It was my husband, John, and myself
and Marlene Walker,

and we come down here and do lots
of community gardening.

Our garden is about a quarter of an
acre and is a very natural garden

because it's right by the coast,
and we have a little boat,

we have a wild flower bed,
lots of terracing

and a good view of the sea.

We're on the east coast of Kent

between the North Sea,
where it meets the English Channel.

We have a lot of wind, we have a lot
of salt spray, and the salt spray

can sometimes go
right over the garden.

We don't let anything
deter us here.

We'll have a go at anything
and we don't give up.

It was October the 18th, 2014,

and my husband, John,
wasn't very well.

We decided we were going to go
and have a walk and we got

to this place, looked across
and John said to me,

"That looks really sad and sorry."
It was completely overgrown.

And John said, "Somebody
should do something about that."

And I got this vision
popped into my head

with all these coloured flowers,
and that's how it all started.

So John decided that he would put
a post on social media,

which he did. And the one comment
that stood in our mind was,

"If you don't like it,
do something about it,"

and that's a bit like
a red rag to bull for me.

And all those people who commented
wanted to join the group.

When we started the garden,
we were finding things in skips

and people were donating plants,
giving us cuttings.

Down here, we've got
some lovely lavender.

They came from someone's
wedding tables.

We have another plant, lovely
agapanthus that a lady donated.

She used to meet her friend here
many, many years ago.

And sadly, he passed away.

So she wanted to bring something
in memory of him.

So we have a lot of plants
like that.

And every time I see them, I think
of the person who gave them to me.

When we set up, we had to think
about our location,

so we were looking
at what could we grow here,

what could we see visually
with the tiers?

You've got different tiered levels.

The sea thrift was already here
when we started.

So what we did, we moved that
to the front of the beds

while we removed the grass
because it was completely overgrown.

The plants that work the best

are really the lower sort
of rockery type shrubs,

sedums, and those sorts of things.

These lovely blue geraniums,
they work very well.

The catmint works well.

We've got these lovely cowslips.

And the London Pride.
I remember when I was little,

I used to really go in
and examine them right inside.

I think they look like little
iced gems.

They're just so vibrant.
I like the colours, the yellows

in with the pinks, in with
the purples, in with the blues.

It's just a whole splash of colour.

They make me feel happy.

I'm Betty, I've been coming here
for about four years or so,

having a dig and putting
a few flowers in

and hoping a few more wild ones
will come,

because this bed
is for the wild flowers to come to.

So to encourage the bees
and the butterflies,

which we do get quite
a few butterflies and bees here.

We've got some firebugs, what they
call firebugs, little red bugs.

And none of us had actually
ever seen these bugs before,

so that was quite good.
We were quite pleased with that,

that we had something
that was a little bit rare.

Because I live on my own,
it's contact with the outside world.

And to me,
that's probably more important

than actually planting the plants.

I'm Marlene. My particular role
today is to plant the succulents

in the walls.

What I do is just generally
make it nice and soft.

Then I get some nice,
new, fresh compost

so that roots have got something
to bite at.

Now, this large piece on the side,
we don't need.

It's an old flower and what we want
is all the energy

to go into the plant.

So we'll take that off...

..and then you push and push,
push into the new compost.

So that's in good contact with it

because it's nice and big.

And then we secure it
with some stones, pebbles, anything

to keep it really secure.

They're a very nice group of people,
we've got a few people

that are with us now
that are down from London,

living with us,
joined in the community

and they are fantastic company,
work hard with us.

And it's just a lovely area to be.

I've got a lovely, lovely sedum
here, and the way we planted this

was we wanted the effect of it
looking like a waterfall.

So we've taken it down
so it flows down the sides

and it looks really stunning
against the pink sea thrift.

I just like how it's all planted,
how one thing merges into another.

This is just...
It's just like a painting.

This is a lampanthus -
it's one of my favourite plants.

This one's going to end up
around the garden

and we'll do some cuttings.
So we'll break them off here.

We'll pop them in some compost
and potting grit

and pop them in the greenhouse
until they get going.

And then we'll come and start
putting them around the walls.

My husband has
a really important role here.

He likes watering, and even though
he can't manage to get around

very much these days, he loves
to water from his rollator.

My husband wasn't very well

and we weren't in a very good place
mentally, and he wasn't physically,

but starting this garden has made
a huge difference.

It's filled a void.

It's given us hope that things will
improve - and things have improved.

We get so many nice comments
from people coming to visit.

They appreciate it.

We love doing it.

And we all have a lot of fun.

It means everything.

I love the way that they've gone
with the landscape,

they haven't tried to
impose a garden on it -

and of course, there's the fact
that community gardens

are about so much more
than horticulture.

Clearly doing a lot
of good to a lot of people.

Now here in the Writing Garden,
we have a particular kind

of horticultural - not problem,
so much as challenge.

Unlike the Jewel Garden or the
Cottage Garden, this is subdued.

We've reduced it down to essentially
two colours, green and white,

and the secret is to keep it going,

making sure that there is this relay
of different shades,

particularly of green.

But I've got some plants
that I've grown from seed.

It's echinacea White Swan,

and what I particularly like

about this echinacea is that,

as well as its white petals,
it's got a green cone.

In fact, that does turn typically
yellow or orange,

like most echinacea,

but that white and green lasts
for a few days

before it fully comes out,

and that picks up the whole rhythm
of the garden.

This is smaller than many echinacea,

and so you can put it nearer the
front of a border,

which is well,
for a small border like this.

And it's fantastic for attracting
insects, particularly bees.

So I'm just going to pop this
in a slot,

just chop out a hole for it...

..and drop it in.

So, these have developed
into nice, strong plants.

And of course, you don't have to
grow them from seed -

you can buy them
from a nursery or garden centre.

But if you are growing them
from seed,

I suggest sowing the seed sometime
now through to the end of summer

and they will grow slowly,
they germinate slowly,

and they develop slowly,

and you won't have a plant
ready to plant out

until this time next year.

So sow them, grow them on,
store them over winter.

They're quite hardy,
so they can be kept outside,

but they don't want to be too wet,

and then they will be ready
for the garden next year.

There we are.

Now, that - very inconspicuous now,
but at least I'm planning ahead,

and that will start to flower
in about a month or so.

And I've got four or five
that I can drop in

in the rest of the Writing Garden.

Now it's time to go to the last
of your gardens this week,

and it takes us to Liverpool,
to a much-loved back yard.

Hi, I'm Annika. And I'm Kenneth.

Welcome to our yard in Liverpool.

We've lived here for three years
together,

and this is our little
oasis of tranquillity.

We've tried to maximise the space
available and we have a few plants

that add height and gravitas,
if you like.

Two years ago, a friend needed to
get rid of this palm tree,

for example, so we adopted it.

And then it took three friends
and a large dinner as a bribe

to actually drag it
through the house.

We learned to plant the tall plants
with smaller ones

so that the wind and the sun don't
dry them out too quickly,

as we like to visit our families

and we'll sometimes be away
for a little while.

But mostly the Liverpool summer
can be relied upon

to take care of watering.

All pots are on feet or movers
to protect them

and to protect what's
left of the old decking.

There's not much air circulation
with the high walls.

We have an amazing variety
of pests,

and our only hope
is this little ladybird.

We now apply nematodes regularly

and sneak around in the night
looking for weevils.

Our neighbours probably wonder
what we're up to

when they hear our little battle
cries in the dark.

Look, I've found one!
Get it quick!

So this is our pond in a pot, and
we've just got a simple tub there,

four beautiful plants which
Annika selected.

We've decided to offer this nice
little rippling effect,

all run by a wonderful
little solar panel for 20 quid.

We were going to put some fish
in here,

but we don't really trust
the Scouse seagulls

to leave innocent fish at risk.

So there's our yard.
It's not Longmeadow.

But we're definitely working on it.

I can tell you one thing,
Kenneth and Annika,

you can get just as much pleasure
from a garden

that is limited in size,

from one that is acres big.

And that's one of the magical
things about a garden.

It's nothing to do with
the size of the garden

when it comes to pleasure.

Now, I'm clutching this because I'm
about to do one of my favourite jobs

in the garden, because it's
one of the easiest -

and that is to spray
the tree ferns.

And if you just moisten the air
around them,

and particularly the roots,
which are on the trunk.

The trunks of a tree fern
are essentially a bundle of roots,

and if they dry out, that really
affects both the health of the plant

and also dramatically
the size of the fronds.

If you have a tree fern that seemed
to be growing well and then one year

the fronds seem smaller than normal,

almost certainly
that's because it's too dry.

So ideally, just get a hose

and spray it for only
about a minute or so.

It's one of the very few times when
spraying is the right thing to do

rather than watering at the ground,

because there
are hardly any roots,

or feeding roots anyway,
in the ground

under the tree fern -
they're all there on the trunk.

So you want to keep them moist
and keep the air around it moist.

And that way they will be healthy
and happy.

And there you are, job done.

I always feel that tree ferns

have something distinctly
prehistoric about them.

In fact, ferns, in general, you feel
were all growing

long before mankind
emerged to admire them.

So it seems a good time
to revisit Robbie Blackhall-Miles.

Robbie has always had
an absolute fascination

for prehistoric plants.

When I was little boy,

I grew up in a garden with
a monkey puzzle tree in it.

I discovered that this plant
had been around

since before the
time of the dinosaurs.

This little garden of mine
took shape just four years ago.

My partner and I went down to buy
a hanging basket and came back

with a Wollemi pine tree.

One of those plants from
the Jurassic era

that was only discovered in 1994.

From there on in, the garden grew
around that tree

and we built this collection
of fossil plants.

Some of the very earliest
flowering plants that we grow

give a great insight into how
flowering plants have evolved.

Things like illicium,
the star anise flowers,

have been around on this planet
for about 125 million years.

Darwin called the evolution
of flowering plants

his abominable mystery,

and it's taken up until recently

for scientists
to just start to figure out

where flowers originally came from.

Water lilies are one of the first
flowering plants to have evolved.

They don't really understand
whether that evolution took place

on the land and the water lily
crept back into the water,

or whether the evolution took place
in the water

and flowering plants
crept out onto the land.

One particular group of plants that
I'm really, really interested in

is the family that includes protea.

They come from
the southern hemisphere.

So Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa and South America.

So what I have here is a seedling of
a cycad called Bowenia spectabilis,

and cycads are a group
of fossil plants

that's about as endangered
as it comes.

Some are extinct in the wild,

others only numbering one or two
left in the wild.

They're rarer than tigers,
rhinos, pandas.

By growing some of the plants
that are threatened in the wild

in our own gardens,
having got them from cultivation,

we can really go a long way to
saving plants like this.

BIRDSONG

Thank goodness there are people

who are fascinated by one
narrow group of plants

and do collect them,

because otherwise they can be lost.

Now, it's time to plant our
squashes, or cucurbits, actually,

because I'm going to plant out
cucumbers

as well as squashes and pumpkins -

and they all share the same growing
conditions,

or, at least, love of the same
growing conditions,

which is lots of sunshine and heat,

lots of water as the fruit
are growing and ripening,

and as rich soil
as you can give them.

Now, the reason why I've got
this framework at an angle

and this one upright is
because this is for the cucumbers.

So at this stage, I don't
need to add anything to the soil,

that's already there -
I just pop them in the ground.

And this is a variety called Swing

that you can grow
indoors or outdoors.

It's a ridge variety.

I'll just pop that in there like
that and this one in here.

As these grow, I will tie them in
to the sloping support

and they'll quite happily
climb up at an angle.

And then,
as the flowers become fruits,

gravity will ensure that they hang
nice and straight

and they'll be easy to pick.

And, of course, you want
to have your sloping supports

whether they're canes or sticks,

facing into the sun
so that as they grow,

the foliage won't shade out
the fruits and delay their ripening.

Now, cucumbers will grow there,
they'll get maximum sun,

and I'm going to grow my squashes
vertically too.

Pumpkins and squashes
like to spread.

They take a lot of space.

And I've found that by growing them
vertically up a support

of any kind, really, you can get
an extra 50% of harvest

out of the same available space.

The only thing is the support does
need to be quite robust

because if you've got a big squash
or pumpkin

and you've got, say,
three or four on each plant,

they're heavy, and your average
bamboo cane

is struggling to take that.

As for planting them, I'm just going
to put one at the base of each post.

Now, this first variety
is a small squash.

This is Jack be Little. Very tasty,
and don't spread too much,

so, therefore,
if you're very limited for space,

this is an ideal one to grow.

I'll put that in the ground
like that -

and at the next row
I've got here is...

..Blue Hubbard.

Hubbard squashes are long,

and this blue is a lovely
sort of glaucous, bluey grey.

OK, I'll get the rest of these
planted out

and then I'll give them a good soak.

Well, while I'm doing this,
here are your jobs for this weekend.

At this time of year, you'll notice
clusters of seedlings

appearing in your borders.

A lot of them will be lovely,

but they are often too intensely
gathered around the parent plant

and need distributing.

So lift a group, break them up,

and then plant them where you want
them to grow.

But be sure to water them
in really well.

In order to keep a constant supply
of fresh salad leaves

throughout the summer,

it's a good idea to sow lettuce
little and often.

And as soon as the seedlings
are large enough to handle,

prick them out into plugs,
and in about four weeks' time,

these will be big enough
to plant out in the garden.

And that way you will never run
the risk of having a glut,

followed by no salad at all.

As the sweet peas come into bloom,

it's really important to regularly
pick them,

otherwise they will set seed,

and this inhibits future flowering.

We've found that if you pick every
single bloom about every ten days,

that's the perfect balance between
having a good display in the garden

and masses of lovely flowers
to decorate the house.

BEE BUZZES

I think it's more important
this year than ever before,

and certainly at this time of year,

to give yourself a chance
just to sit, stop

and enjoy the garden
at its very best.

BIRDSONG

BEE BUZZES

WATER LAPS

Well, that's it for today,

and I'm away for a couple of weeks -

but Gardeners' World, of course,

will still be with you,

and in Adam's garden,

and I'll be back here at Longmeadow

in a few weeks' time.

So, until then, bye-bye.