Gardeners' World 2020 Episode 9: 15 May 2020

Monty Don Welcomes us to his garden Longmeadow and to Gardeners' World 2020.

Longmeadow has been taken over by the spring growth spurt and especially with Cow Parsley that is everywhere in the Spring Garden.

As it is a weed some people would be worried by its appearance and it swamping other plants but Monty is enjoying the celebration of Spring and new life in the garden.

Jewel Garden
Alliums 'Purple Sensation' are all out in force in the Jewel Garden and they have the most purple intense colour.

Monty has to do some planting now so there is not a gap of colour in the garden, so he is planting a Canna that he has hardened off for 2 weeks.

It is Canna 'Wyoming' and has stripy leaves and orange flowers, they like being moist and in a rich soil.

He is adding a new plant to the Jewel Garden that he usually has in the vegetable garden its Ruby Chard!

With its bright purple red stem and heavily veined leaf and it is an attractive decorative plant which can also be eaten for supper, perfect.

In a week or so when warmer he will plant out the tender plants and Bananas and Ginger which can only stay out for the warm months.

Joe Swift is in his garden in Hackney, East London which has a very large plant that needs sorting out!

The Banana plants he planted 20 years ago are enormous, its a hardy variety called Musa Basjoo and are lovely his courtyard microclimate.

It is the largest herbaceous perennial in the world and usually they need protecting in the Winter.

Joe has had bananas from his and it is flowering at the moment so its trunk will die back.

He needs to trim it back to the ground but already there is new growth beside it.

He also has to trim back some of the old leaves so that new ones can take their place.

They are fast growing so it will just be days before their is new growth on the plant.

Joe cuts the tops of at an angle and they crash to the floor and swamp him in leaves.

'Timber' he cries and declares it 'as much fun as gardening gets', as the courtyard is flooded with light.

Agapanthus
Monty has an Agapanthus that has grow so big it has cracked its way out of its pot.

They like to be tightly restricted in a pot so if they break free that is when to repot them not before.

Monty keeps the broken pot to be mended!

It is a white evergreen Agapanthus and are not as hardy as the herbaceous kind.

It has formed a solid root ball so to divide it Monty will have to cut it and he has brought his very heavy billhook so he can chop it but a sharp spade will also do it.

They are tough plants and will recover well from this treatment.

For the soil it has to be free draining so a peat free mixed with grit, sand or perlite.

He puts them in the pot and tops them up with the compost mix.

They will need feeding once a week throughout the summer to build up the roots.

Small Garden
Last year Gardeners' World visited Dan Cooper AKA The Frustrated Gardener in Broadstairs Kent and he is obsessed with plants but only a small garden.

He likes to be surrounded by plants and his garden consists of just 2 small courtyards.

The jungle Garden is 20 foot by 30 foot and the Gina and Tonic Garden is smaller at 20 foot by 20 foot.

Previously the garden was a barren space with an air raid shelter and outdoor toilets.

With the help of a designer he put in raised beds as well as planting in pots.

There are some trees like a Santa Cruz Ironwood in the garden that provide shade for the tropical plants.

One of the best plants in the garden is Canna Musifolia which has huge leaves like a banana and grows to 10-12 foot in the growing season.

Dahlia 'Nicholas' looks amazing next to Hedychium 'Stephen' with their colouring they are 'perfect partners'.

Dan advice for a small garden is to think big and don't let the size of the garden daunt you.

Red Campion

In the Grass borders the Red Campion is taking over.

It is a wild flower that has self seeded and will flower right into June and Monty loves it.

Auricula Theatre
Advolly Richmond, Plant Historian favourite is her Auricula Theatre which was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.

They were made to display Auriculas who are members of the Primula family and came from Europe.

In 1400s wild plants were cultivated by collectors to get the array of colours and patterns.

The term Florist was used in 1623 for these collectors.

As a plant only affordable to the Aristocrats they all had regal names.

The theatres meant they could be displayed all together and at a height making them easier to see.

The popularity of the plants slid down the social ladder to become popular with miners and weavers as it was something to grow on just a windowsill.

Different trend followed from doubles to bright colours, coloured edges and scents.

They like a well drained compost, so grit needs to be added and they are happiest in the shade.

Dahlias
Monty has some David Howard Dahlia cuttings that are about 3 weeks old and the roots are already coming out of the bottom of the pot.

This and fresh growth means they need potting on but you have to be careful as the roots are still fragile.

Monty empties them out and he now has 6 new Dahlias to pot on in some rich compost.

Carrots

Vegetables were Monty first love when he started and every year is different in the vegetable garden.

Carrots are easy to grow if you get the basics right, they need to be rotated, so not grown in the same place as last year.

They do not like manure or compost as this will make them split.

Carrots also like the soil to have good drainage and raked to get rid of any lumps and stones.

Monty likes to sow his in rows using a board to block off between rows.

He is planting a variety he has not tried before 'Purple Sun' which is purple which along with white was the original colour of carrots.

He sows them thinly before doing the same with another packet called Carrots mixed colours, orange, purple and yellow.

These are great for children to plant and hopefully they will enjoy eating them then.

Monty grows his in strips to avoid the thinning process that attracts Carrot Fly.

You can also grow Carrots in a deep container.

Propagation
Carol Klein is in her garden at Glebe Cottage where she has lived for over 40 years.

The garden, that she loves has radically changed since the bare empty garden it was before.

A lot was grown from seeds, dividing plants or from cuttings as well as having bought some but seeing Carol ran her Nursery, Glebe Cottage Plants for 30 years she did have plenty of plants!

Propagating is a great way to get more plants for free and as a lot of people have more time at the moment it is a great thing to do to fill the time.

Pelargoniums are an easy plant to grow and her Osteospermum were grown from cuttings.

Red Salvias that were started from cuttings a few months ago are ready to plant out.

Salvias are lovely and colourful and Carol has a pink one called 'Wendy's Wish' and she is going to be showing us how to propagate from it.

Using a sharp knife or secateurs you take the cutting from under a leaf node.

The bottom leaves are then taken of, Carol also cuts off the top of the plant, she wants to the get it into the soil ASAP which she has in a clay pot but any pot will do.

The compost needs to have grit added for drainage.

Carol uses a chopstick to make the planting hole at the edge of the pot deep enough for the top leaves to be level with the compost.

What was a plant stem now becomes the root stem of the cutting.

Once several cuttings are around the pot she covers it with grit, to keep the moisture in, the cuttings don't rot and keep it weed free.

Give it a good water and put in a shady place in a greenhouse.

You can take cuttings from loads of plants like Pelargoniums, Fuchsias and Salvias.

When the roots start poking out the bottom of the pot, repot them individually.

When they are big enough plant them out, then they are ready to take cuttings from.

Herb Garden
Monty is in the herb garden, on the sunny side is the Mediterranean herbs, which the need as well as liking poor soil.

The Mediterranean herbs include Thyme, Rosemary, Sage and Oregano.

There are several varieties of Sage, like Common Sage, Purple Sage, variegated and various different sizes.

Sage is a Shrub and can get leggy so needs cutting back in the Spring, this will keep them compact.

Monty favourite Sage is Lavender Leafed Sage which he uses for cooking.

He wants more of them so he is taking cuttings and it doesn't matter if the plant is a bit leggy or not looking its best to get good cuttings.

He pops the cuttings straight into a plastic bag and closes it so they don't dry out.

Following Carol advice he has some clay pots, he removes the lower leaves and pops them in the pot.

He then covers the pot in grit, then labels and they need to be kept moist so puts them in the greenhouse.

Sage can also been grown easily from seed.

Monty has a tray of peat free compost, plants out the seed and covers in grit to help keep them in place.

These are then labelled and they will be watered and put in a greenhouse, window sill or cold frame.

Once they have come up they will be potted on for planting out in the Autumn or the following Spring.

Seaweed Feed
Monty is busy mixing Seaweed feed for his Tulip bulbs to give them a good feed so they flower better next year.

His pot of Tulips have finished flowering so he is removing the seed heads and will then feed it weekly with Seaweed feed or Tomato feed until all the foliage has died back, the foliage will then feed the bulbs.

Exotic Plants
A few years ago Mike Clifford from Poole in Dorset Garden was on Gardeners' World.

He had radically transformed his garden completely into something special and Adam Frost went to see it.

Wow as Adam goes from the main road straight into the tropics in the front garden.

He says the atmosphere is amazing like you are moving through the jungle, with dense planting but also contains some beautiful details.

There are lots of plants Adam doesn't recognise so he meets Mike to find out more about his garden.

Mike tells him how the garden was designed on just a piece of paper on a wet Sunday afternoon.

After measuring out the scale he wanted to make the most of the space available, like putting the summer house in a corner and hiding the potting shed.

The borders all link together so you wander through the garden not knowing where you are or where you are going.

One of Mike favourite plants is Giant Dandelions - Sumptuous which have identical seed heads to the smaller garden variety.

He also has Tapioca plants, Scheffleras and Brachyglottis Repanda otherwise known as Bushman's toilet paper, I think that's self explanatory!

In his 'cold' greenhouse he has a collection of carnivorous plants as well as ferns.

He grows a lot from seed for the garden or takes cuttings so it can be done on a budget.

Adam says he knows a lot about gardens and designing them and then you come to a Specialist garden like this and its infectious and Adam heads home to plan an exotic border of his own.

Comfrey Feed
Monty is making Comfrey feed it is good for flowers and fruit as its not high in nitrogen.

Lots of Potash is good which you can get from a Tomato feed but its just as good to make your own as its unlimited and free.

He cuts the Comfrey leaves from the base so they regrow.

He then strips the leaves off which as well as feed they can be put straight on the compost heap to improve that too.

Once the bucket is packed with leaves you just add enough water to cover the leaves to make a concentrate.

As it has a high level of protein the mixture stinks, and I mean stinks badly so store it out the way!

Once ready you sieve the leaves out and just use the concentrate to add to a watering can of water.

Water newly planted trees
If you have planted any trees, hedges or shrubs they need to be kept well watered every week in their first growing year.

Tidy up ponds
Now is the time to spring clean your pond to remove any old leaves, dead stuff and leave on the edge of the pond for a while so any creatures can get back in the water.

Remove Lily Beetles
These are becoming more of a problem on lilies and Fritillaries, luckily they are red so easy to spot and remove.

You need to be careful not to cause any vibrations approaching the plant as they disguise themselves by falling off and laying with their brown bellies showing on the soil.

Viewers Videos
Amna and Pocket the cat from Burnley, Lancashire where she has been gardening for last 4 years.

She loves to play with colour and re-use and recycle objects in her garden.

Today she is showing us how to make eco bird feeders using oranges that she scoops out the middle, threads string through the top and fills with bird food. Birds also need fresh drinking water.

Cally from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire who is 6 years old, whilst off School she has been doing some gardening.

She has grown a Sunflower, Tomato plant and Pumpkin.

She wanted to make her community smile so has been growing sunflowers to give away to people.

She has a stall and sign outside her house for people walking buy to take a plant.

Cally ends her video with Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Keep gardening. 🌈❤

Linda Kelly from Kells in Ireland and has been gardening for 2 years and like to grow different things from seeds.

She gets the seeds from produce she has in the house, Sunflowers she grows from her birdseed, Strawberry plants she grows by taking the seeds out of the strawberry.

She dries the seeds out for a couple of days before adding them to compost, she has some she planted 2 weeks ago that are already growing well.

She also dries out the seeds from Cherry Tomatoes and plants them.