In Real Gardens Episode 17, Monty Don visits Huddersfield to see Adam, Katie and family to see their children's jungle playground
We return to Huddersfield to the allotments and garden of Adam Waterman who we last visited in Real Gardens Episode 15.
In this episode the organic gardener was tackling pest problems on his allotment and adding acid loving plants to a new border.
In this episode the organic gardener was tackling pest problems on his allotment and adding acid loving plants to a new border.
Monty Don arrives just as Adam is tying up some Jerusalem Artichokes.
Monty questions this as they can act as a windbreak but Adam insists they still will and will also look nice.
Monty says he doesn't grow them as they give him a flatulence problem but obviously not for Adams vegetarian family.
Adam's Kale and broccoli are doing well, the artichokes are ready and the potatoes are flowering.
The first job today is to earth up the potatoes but because Adam is no dig it has to be done with straw.
They add 4 - 5 inches to keep out the light to stop the potatoes going green.
Afterwards the straw will be composted or re used to cover the asparagus over winter.
Next stop is Adams polytunnel where he is growing rare seeds.
Adam is growing Green Nutmeg and Blenheim Orange Melons.
He does not want them to cross fertilise so he hand fertilises them.
The female have the fruit behind them.
Adam grows them to protect the heritage plants from becoming extinct.
Adam is a member of The Heritage Seed Library, because of the EC regulations on the range of seeds on sale they keep a stock of rare seeds.
Adam as well as others including Prince Charles are guardians of these Heritage seeds to protect them as well as taking photos and records of how they grow.
Monty and Adam take a trip to the Seed Library at The Henry Doubleday Research Association Ryton Organic Gardens in Coventry.
Adam takes his Uncle Burt's Kale purple seeds and this is Adam's idea of paradise.
Monty and Adam go into their poly tunnel and Adam spots some Early Warwick beans from 1890, that you can no longer buy seeds to grow.
All the plants are grown to go to seed so they can be harvested.
This has inspired Monty to collect his own seeds as they continue to walk around like kids in a sweetshop!
Ann-Marie Powell is in the Cotswolds to visit Dilys and her town garden.
Dilys Wilson has made huge changes to her Cotswold town house and garden since she moved in a year ago.
In Real Gardens Episode 16 she rebuilt an early attempt at a dry stone wall, as it was bulging and added alpine plants in planting pockets.
Nothing is slow pace in this garden and when Ann-Marie Powell returns Dilys has already drawn up plans for her kitchen garden / potager.
Dilys shows Ann-Marie what she has achieved in the last week, which includes a lovely big Grecian style urn in the new potager area.
More trellis has been erected to create another room the same as they added in Real Gardens Episode 15.
The most surprising is a 2ft deep pond complete with paved edging, plus she has laid the lawn in the top section, all this in a week!
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Back to the potager area, Dilys thinks this will be the focal point but the urn is too high.
It needs lowering by about a foot so they set to work digging a hole in the central bed.
They use a spirit level to make sure it in line and they step back to admire the new view.
Dilys shows Ann-Marie her plans for her French style Potager garden which will be a formal garden for vegetables and flowers.
This is near to the house as she wants the lawn area to be in the sunny part of the garden.
They start by filling the bottom of the Urn with rubble then add compost and fish blood and bone.
She wants to add strawberries that will dangle over the edge and hopefully they will be slug free.
To the bed below the Urn they dig in some compost where Dilys wants to grow a mixture of flowers, vegetables and herbs.
She has some wonderful Dahlia 'David Howard' and then a row of lettuce around the front edge.
They then add the herbs including sage. Gaillardia x Grandiflora are added in amongst the Dahlia.
Dilys talks about her interest in Feng Shui and how having the herbs near the house is good for healing and also some water in the garden to add some calm.
Certain flowers like roses and colours in your South-West corner is supposed to attract love.
It has worked for Dilys in the past!!
Next job is to lay the Newbury Gravel around the bed to an inch thick.
Ann-Marie is not happy as there has been no base put down.
They go upstairs to look out at their hard work.
Ann-Marie leaves Dilys to finish the gravelling around the pond.
Carol Klein visits Chulmleigh in Devon to see Chris and Bill in their Country garden
Chris and Bill Skeels moved from Southend Essex to live in the Devon countryside and manage a small holding.
This is our final visit to the Skeill's garden who we first visited in Real Gardens Episode 11 where Bill made a propagator for Chris to grow her many plants in.
In Real Gardens Episode 13 beds were made in the gravelled area.
The pond was planted up in Real Gardens Episode 15 and in Real Gardens Episode 16 they added a bog garden to finish it off.
Returning for the last time to Devon Carol Klein has arrived to help Chris and Bill with a problem area in their garden.
At the front of the house is a shady area with 2 beech trees that Chris has no idea what to do with.
At the front of the house is a shady area with 2 beech trees that Chris has no idea what to do with.
Chris thinks its scruffy and wild, Chris has prepared a bed for Rhododendrons and has some wild plants to put in it.
Carol said the wild flowers would much rather be in a more natural area under the beech tree than in a mixed bed.
Carol said the wild flowers would much rather be in a more natural area under the beech tree than in a mixed bed.
They start under the beech tree with Carol dividing some Primroses that Chris has in some trays.
Carol tips the tray out and rakes through the dirt, tearing off the individual plants and Chris trims the roots to the length of her palm.
Chris goes to dig up some self seeded Foxgloves as Carol clears the ground under the trees.
Carol tips the tray out and rakes through the dirt, tearing off the individual plants and Chris trims the roots to the length of her palm.
Chris goes to dig up some self seeded Foxgloves as Carol clears the ground under the trees.
Wildflowers do not need rich soil so the soil under the tree will be perfect.
The self seeded Foxgloves will flower in their second year and they plant them straight away.
In the trays Chris has some bluebell bulbs so they dig them out and plant them randomly under the trees to spread.
As Carol bids a goodbye to the Devon garden they wager which bed Chris will prefer?
Monty Don on Strawberries
Strawberry propagation involves filling a 3 inch pot with compost and placing it under the runner and pinning it in position.
Leave it for a month then snip it off and transplant the runner to a new piece of ground.
In 2 years time it will be at its best. The old crop needs cutting to the ground and after 4 years need replacing.
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