Gardeners' World S58E03
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00:00Hello, welcome to Gardener's World.
00:24These pots have spent the winter undercover.
00:27I put them in the bus shelter in the paradise garden, and that is to protect them from rain, not cold.
00:35Increasingly, I'm growing tulips in pots rather than in borders,
00:39particularly with the way that the climate's changing and our weather is getting wetter and wetter,
00:45because tulips hate sitting in heavy, wet soil, particularly when it's cold.
00:50So, by growing them in pots, I can give them the drainage that they need,
00:55but even then, if they sit outside all winter with the rain coming down, they're bound to get soaked.
01:02But now that the shoots are emerging and there's foliage, it means that there is sunlight,
01:08and so I can put them out where they're going to be, and then they can get maximum light.
01:13A bit of rain won't hurt them.
01:14And very soon, they should be flowering, and we'll get the sort of display that I love.
01:24And the bigger pots, which are much too big to lift and move,
01:27I've protected from the squirrels and the rats and the mice and the birds with rose pruning.
01:33So, I need to remove those, because once these are out, and the weather warms up a bit,
01:37these will grow fast.
01:39And by the middle of April, this should be gloriously alight with colour.
01:46And because it's the cottage garden, they'll all be pastel colours, pinks and pale yellows and lilacs.
01:53But despite the softness of the colour, it sings out on a spring day.
01:58Now, coming up on today's programme.
02:03Nick visits a garden in Essex to discover how matrix planting can be used to best effect.
02:10People think of this style of gardening as being very much kind of late summer and into autumn interest,
02:17but actually what you've created here is truly year-round.
02:20Yes, maybe just by looking at it, it looks very complex,
02:24but actually when you think about the different layers, it's actually quite easy to understand.
02:28We meet a grower in Dorset whose love of dahlias has grown and grown.
02:34I bought my first dahlia, and it was a bright pink one, and I was very taken with it.
02:40The next year I had seven dahlias, and then suddenly I had 300s, and then it was, I think, 600 and then 1,000.
02:47Frances heads to a community garden in Bradford, the 2025 UK city of culture,
02:53which provides a welcome for all the community.
02:57Oh, I love it here. It's absolutely lovely.
03:00Everybody's so friendly.
03:02Different cultures.
03:03We learn about each other's cultures like we had a pecora day here.
03:06Yeah, that was amazing.
03:08Didn't it? That was really nice, wasn't it?
03:09And then we made apple crumble.
03:11Apple crumble, yeah.
03:13And I shall be doing some fairly dramatic remedial action on my new lawn.
03:18I suspect that most of you will recognize this, even when it's empty like this.
03:48That's the Jewel Garden.
03:50And it's been the Jewel Garden for the last, oh, 28 years.
03:56But, of course, it hasn't always been the Jewel Garden.
03:58When we came here, there was no garden at all.
04:00This was an open field.
04:03There was a very bad-tempered horse down the far end.
04:06It was brambly and tusky.
04:07And it took me a full year to clear it.
04:09And then I decided I would make a big circular lawn, and I planted a yew hedge all the way around.
04:16Funnily enough, I knew almost from day one that it wasn't going to work.
04:18I just had this feeling that I was doing the wrong thing.
04:21So I thought, okay, cut my losses.
04:22Let's do something else.
04:23And we decided to be radically different.
04:27We would make a garden that celebrated our years doing jewelry in the 1980s.
04:32And we'd worked with rock stars and dom stars and royalty, and it was glamorous and it was fun.
04:38And so we thought, okay, we'll make a garden where the plants are all jewel-like.
04:42And, of course, that just means choosing your colors.
04:45We had ruby and amethyst and sapphire.
04:47In fact, we had all the jewel colors.
04:50Now, the point of telling you that story is that when you're making a garden, when you're making a border, or even a small bed, even a big pot,
04:58it needs to have some kind of theme or story that you can work with.
05:03It could be color.
05:04It could be texture.
05:05It could be a type of plant.
05:06It could be grasses or alpines.
05:08It doesn't matter.
05:09Now, in this case, it's jewel colors.
05:12And it worked well.
05:13It looked great.
05:14But it was gradually losing its oomph.
05:17So, last year, I thought, okay, let's redo it.
05:21Let's have a revamp.
05:22And we took everything that we could out, and then we thought, well, we'll start again.
05:26Dog been true to the jewel garden, but rebuild with a freshness.
05:31Now, you may notice there are an awful lot of green shoots here.
05:35Those come from allium, allium purple sensation.
05:38And it's the weed of the jewel garden.
05:40But as weeds go, it's a pretty good one to have.
05:43The next step is to bring back the herbaceous plants that we've lifted and stored over winter.
05:50But before I do that, we're going to join Nick on the other side of the country, a very different garden to Longmeadow, different soil, different climate, different approach.
05:58But it also uses a strong theme.
06:01And the result is magnificent.
06:08When planning any garden, it's always worth spending some time thinking about how your beds and borders will look all year round, not just at the height of spring and summer.
06:18As the light fades, air cools, and plants die back, this is when structure and form take center stage to retain a sense of drama.
06:30And this garden manages to squeeze every drop of life and excitement from the soil before the season starts to change and we turn our attention to winter.
06:40It was designed by Stefano Marinas, who brought his experience of working in Italy and the Netherlands here to Braintree in Essex.
06:58Now, Stefano, this garden is looking absolutely glorious today, especially with this autumn backlight.
07:05But actually, when you arrived here, it was a completely blank canvas, right?
07:08Yes, indeed. When we came here in April time, three years ago, it was only 300 square meter of a bare lawn.
07:15But instead, we designed a garden where we create plant communities combining grasses, perennials, shrubs and trees, as well as obviously the bulbs.
07:25So all these layers were all combined and you see in this result.
07:29But they don't, of course, all arrive at once.
07:31You've got successional planting that sort of comes and goes through the year and then plants that will carry on all the way through the winter.
07:36Yeah. And I think that's the beauty of this type of naturalistic planting, where you have different layers emerging as well as disappearing.
07:43The garden sits beautifully within its own right, but it's against the backdrop of a very big black barn.
07:50And so how have you got that to work?
07:51Well, as we couldn't compete with the volume of the house, we took inspiration.
07:55We looked at the details of sort of this timber cladding.
07:58And then we drew these lines of the Prunus Lusitanica hedging, which is kept clipped.
08:03And it runs much more concentrated from the courtyard, comes out, and then it feathers out as you move away from the house.
08:10So it's sort of taking the architecture into the landscape with plants.
08:14Indeed. Indeed.
08:15I think a lot of people think of this style of gardening as being very much kind of late summer and into autumn interest.
08:22But actually, what you've created here is truly year-round.
08:25Yes. Maybe just by looking at it, it looks very complex.
08:28But actually, when you think about the different layers, so you have the perennials, you have the bulbs, you have the shrubs,
08:33you actually see each component, and it's actually quite easy to understand.
08:37The garden envelops you with a rich sense of abundance the moment you walk through the gate.
08:52And this effect is achieved through the use of matrix planting.
08:57The essence of what a matrix planting is, is all about creating a community of plants that support each other.
09:03So to break that down a bit, the planting here, there's nearly 3,000 perennials planted in here,
09:08of which around about half are grasses.
09:11And grasses are absolutely key to a matrix planting.
09:15They provide the ground cover, they provide the support for the perennials which emerge up through them.
09:21And so looking through this area directly in front of me, there's repeated grasses,
09:25but coming up through them are a succession of different perennials and annuals.
09:29So, for example, in front of me here, this is Galenia trafoliata.
09:33It looks fabulous with white flowers in summer.
09:36It's taking on these gorgeous autumn notes now, and then the seed heads will last well into winter.
09:41Then looking further back into the garden, you've got fabulous spots of colour,
09:45even in autumn with the asters that repeat all the way through.
09:49And so with that clever combination of grasses as key structure and then emerging ephemeral plants,
09:55some self-seeders, some bulbs and some perennials,
09:57you set up a fabulous plant community that has a succession of colour and interest nearly year-round.
10:03Something that's absolutely vital to make matrix plantings work well
10:18is to have long-flowering species, which you repeat all the way through the planting.
10:24And there are great examples here.
10:25In fact, an old friend and a new friend.
10:28Down here, the old friend is Tilbagia violacea.
10:31Now, it's a plant that comes from South Africa, and you can probably recognise it.
10:36It's an allium relative, sometimes called society garlic.
10:39But what's brilliant about it is it manages to flower from June all the way to November non-stop.
10:45Beautiful thing.
10:46Now, the new friend back here is a plant known as mountain mint,
10:50and it comes from the US, but it's very closely related to our mints.
10:55In fact, it's in the Lamiaceae family.
10:57And the leaves are absolutely packed with this minty essential oil, which smells absolutely delicious.
11:05But here, in a matrix setting, it's the perfect plant.
11:08It manages to hold itself up brilliantly.
11:11It flowers over an incredibly long season and is absolutely loved by pollinators.
11:16And then going into winter, as it drops its leaves,
11:18these seed heads take on lovely burnished tones,
11:21and they will last all the way through winter.
11:23And the garden is packed with plants that perform long after the flowers have faded.
11:34One of the things that gives this garden such great seasonality and longevity
11:46is the choice of perennials that have looked fabulous in summer,
11:50but produce amazing seed heads that will last all the way through winter until spring.
11:55Things like this phlomis just here, it's really good for bird food as well.
11:58This asclepias down here with these wonderful conical heads.
12:01You've got this limonium with this sort of seafoam quality,
12:05which will roll all the way through winter.
12:07And then finally, this oryngium.
12:09It's in flower now, but it will slowly take on kind of burnished brown and beige tones,
12:15and it looks absolutely fabulous carrying hoarfrost.
12:17The repetition within the garden creates a rhythm as you move through the space.
12:29Even when species change, Stefano has carefully selected similar forms.
12:34I know that you've really sort of punctuated the space with a series of different multi-stemmed trees.
12:44Why do you use them in that way?
12:45They provide a bit of privacy, they filter the lights,
12:47and they create a lovely double shade underneath which you can see it.
12:52The species that you've selected, things like the Circus siliquestrum or the Colerotaria over here,
12:58are really plants that have great seasonality.
13:01They do many things, but they have fabulous autumn colour.
13:03How important was that in your choices?
13:05Yeah, they have definitely strong colours,
13:07and they start the season with the flowering,
13:09and they continue into autumn with the strong autumn colours.
13:12But also, in winter, when they're completely bare without the leaves and the seedpods,
13:17they still have this sort of sculptural qualities
13:19that are beautiful to have dotted within the garden.
13:29Well, I have to say, it's been such a pleasure to spend time in this garden today.
13:34The matrix that you've built has kind of set up this incredible ecology
13:38that sort of equally balances pollinators, people, and plants.
13:42And I think, as a whole, it's a fabulous garden
13:45that all of us and everything wants to be in.
13:48Well, thank you, Nick, for that.
13:49We do look forward to see how the garden develops throughout the years.
13:53I really do like the matrix approach,
14:20and I'm going to use that to a certain extent in the Jewel Garden,
14:25but in a different way, or at least with different plants.
14:27I'm going to start with these.
14:29This is a Rebeckia, Rebeckia laciniata herbstone.
14:34It's a really dramatic, strong, vertical plant
14:37with wonderful bright yellow daisy flowers
14:40that will flower from July right through till October.
14:43Now, all these came from two or three clumps
14:47that had developed in the Jewel Garden.
14:50I lifted them, divided them.
14:53So we've got 40 plants,
14:54each of which will cost us about a tenner in a garden centre.
14:58So I'm going to lift these,
15:00and we can start replanting.
15:03And because they were only put in a few months ago,
15:06they come up very easily.
15:20Now, you can see here
15:22that alliums are growing up
15:24in amongst the roots of the Rebeckia.
15:27Now, I can live with an allium popping up,
15:30but if this were bindweed,
15:32or ground elder,
15:33or couch grass,
15:35it would be crazy to replant this
15:38and say, oh, it's only a little bit.
15:39What you need to do in that case
15:41is to wash the roots,
15:43wash all the soil off,
15:45and then you can see the alien roots
15:47because they will look different.
15:49I'm placing these
16:15roots in groups of three.
16:18And generally,
16:19odd numbers always looks more natural.
16:22I know
16:22that on my soil,
16:25in this garden,
16:26these Rebeckias will grow
16:27two metres tall.
16:30And it is important
16:31when you're constructing a border or a garden
16:33to really take into account
16:35the soil,
16:36the aspect,
16:38the exposure to wind.
16:39Nothing stunts growth
16:40more than a cold wind.
16:42The better you know your garden,
16:44the more likely it is to succeed.
16:46So, for example,
16:47what plants do well in your ground?
16:49Don't try and waste time and energy
16:51growing things that don't want to be there.
16:54Now,
17:03I like to place everything
17:05before I plant anything.
17:07But if you've lifted them from the garden
17:08and
17:09are transplanting them,
17:11on a day like today,
17:12which is quite dry,
17:13the roots will dry up.
17:14So I need to get them in the ground.
17:18And I'll give them a good soak
17:20when I've planted everything.
17:21Now,
17:26if I plant it here,
17:28in the front,
17:29it blocks the view through.
17:31As a rule,
17:32it's a good idea
17:33to put your taller plants
17:34near the middle
17:36or the back of a border.
17:38But
17:38not religiously.
17:41For example,
17:42the delphinium
17:42grows tall as the Rebeckia,
17:44but the flowers are tall
17:46rather than the plant itself.
17:48And I cut them back
17:49after flowering
17:51in July.
17:52So I get a good display
17:53in the front.
17:54It's dramatic.
17:55It's near the border.
17:55I can look through it
17:56to what else is going on,
17:58then cut them back hard
17:59and then all is revealed.
18:00Whereas the Rebeckia,
18:02I take a while to grow.
18:03They don't start flowering
18:04until July.
18:04So they're going to fill this space,
18:06not have anything
18:07other than foliage to look at,
18:08and then be in flower
18:10from July
18:10through to October.
18:11And obviously,
18:14if you have structural planting,
18:17like this hornbeam,
18:18anything behind it
18:19that isn't taller
18:20is lost.
18:21You won't see it.
18:22So mix your heights,
18:24think them through.
18:25You've got to think of colour, too.
18:27The colour of these
18:28is a good, strong egg yolk yellow,
18:31and yellow works really well
18:33as the opposite to purple.
18:35It makes purple look more purple,
18:36and purple makes yellow
18:38look more yellow.
18:39Orange is the opposite to blue.
18:41So by using opposites,
18:43you intensify colour.
18:45And then finally,
18:47and perhaps most importantly
18:48of all you're thinking about,
18:49rhythm.
18:50I don't plant symmetrically
18:52here in the Jaw Garden.
18:53We have the same plants
18:54roughly in each of the eight beds,
18:57but not in the same place.
18:58So you're picking up colour,
19:00you're picking up height
19:01and movement
19:02and even fragrance sometimes,
19:04and that gives it
19:05a kind of dynamism.
19:06That's what makes
19:07a border come alive.
19:10So having the chance
19:10to redo the Jaw Garden
19:12like this,
19:12I think is wonderful.
19:14I'm going to make the most of it
19:15and really enjoy it.
19:17Now one of the plants
19:18that we definitely use
19:20here in the Jaw Garden
19:20a lot are dahlias,
19:22and we grow quite a lot,
19:23but nothing like as many
19:25as the grower
19:27that we went to visit
19:28last summer
19:28down near Lime Regis.
19:36There must be a dahlia
19:38for everybody,
19:39I would have thought.
19:40There are so many
19:41different colours,
19:42so many different shapes,
19:43so many sizes.
19:44Whether you want
19:45great tall dahlias
19:46to put in a vase
19:47in your house
19:48or you want
19:48little bedding dahlias,
19:49there really is
19:50something for everything.
19:51I'm Anna May
19:54and I live in Dorset
19:55and I grow lots of dahlias.
19:59I bought my first dahliar
20:01at the Horticultural Society
20:03locally
20:04and it was a bright pink one
20:06and I was very taken with it.
20:08The next year
20:09I had seven dahlias
20:10and then suddenly
20:11I had 300
20:12and then it was,
20:14I think,
20:14600 and then 1,000.
20:16So as you can see,
20:17I was very taken
20:18with that first dahliar.
20:19The garden was full
20:24so I asked my husband
20:26if we couldn't just
20:26dig a little patch
20:27in one of the fields
20:29and the little patch
20:31got bigger and bigger
20:32and so I went
20:33from the little corner
20:34of the garden
20:35to a few years later
20:36having seven great
20:38long rows of dahlias.
20:42A lot of people
20:43come and visit.
20:44They come to choose
20:45their dahlias,
20:46whether it's for weddings
20:47or parties
20:48and so I do like it
20:49to look nice
20:50when they're here
20:50and so I've decided
20:51that rows in colour order
20:53works best
20:54and this year
20:55I think we've got
20:56the order right
20:57but sometimes
20:58you get a real surprise.
21:00So this is my pink
21:01and white row
21:02and here we've got
21:03a Rosemary's Dawn plant
21:05and yet here we have
21:07a little quarter of it,
21:08maybe less than a quarter,
21:10reminding me
21:10that actually
21:11it should be
21:12Rosemary's Blush.
21:13It's sort of winking
21:14at me and going,
21:15you've actually got
21:16no control
21:17I will do
21:17what I want.
21:24Dahlias will grow
21:25in most situations
21:27but there's a few things
21:28you do probably
21:29want to bear in mind.
21:30When you first
21:31pot up your tuber
21:32you'll give it a bit
21:33of water
21:33just to get it going
21:34but don't give it
21:35too much water.
21:37Keep it somewhere
21:38that's bright,
21:39it needs light
21:40to get going.
21:42Make sure there are
21:43no slugs or snails
21:44anywhere in your
21:45greenhouse,
21:46your polytunnel,
21:47near your windowsill,
21:48wherever you're
21:49growing them
21:49you've just got
21:50to keep an eye out
21:51because as soon
21:52as those little
21:53green shoots appear
21:54that you will be
21:55so excited about
21:56so will the slugs
21:57and they will be
21:58after them.
22:03Some of the dahlias
22:04do get very,
22:05very big
22:06so this one
22:07is perfect
22:07if you want
22:08to put it in a pot
22:09or at the front
22:10of a border
22:11this little one
22:12is small world
22:13charming look
22:15at these little
22:15tiny flowers
22:16absolutely sweet
22:17and look at all
22:18the buds
22:19you're going to get
22:2050, 60 flowers
22:22off this
22:22easily in the season
22:24so it's fantastic value
22:25they are just so
22:27generous
22:28they're the best.
22:31So deadheading
22:32is very important
22:32to encourage
22:33lots of flowers
22:34all through the season
22:35and I like to
22:37cut the stems
22:38quite low
22:39really very low
22:40actually
22:40instinct would say
22:42cut here
22:43because this one
22:44is on its way
22:45but I'm not going
22:46to do that
22:46because then
22:47I will get
22:47the next stems
22:48growing from here
22:49which won't be
22:50very long
22:50and I'd like
22:51longer ones
22:51so what I'm going
22:52to do
22:53is I'm going
22:53to go all the way
22:54down here
22:55and cut here
22:56even though
22:58it means
22:59I've sacrificed
23:00this
23:01and these two
23:02which seems a shame
23:04but it means
23:05I will get
23:05much better
23:06stems
23:07growing
23:07in the future
23:08instead of
23:09one short
23:10one from there
23:11it's painful
23:12because you know
23:13what you're losing
23:13but you've got
23:14to do it
23:15it's worth it
23:16so this is sort
23:25of my experimental
23:27bed
23:27this is where
23:28I will plant
23:29seeds
23:30complete unknown
23:31quantities
23:32every year
23:32so they could be
23:34seeds that I've
23:34saved
23:35or I've been
23:35given from other
23:36people's dahlias
23:37or I've bought
23:38from somewhere
23:38and I planted
23:40all of these
23:41in April
23:41so they're doing
23:43really well
23:43and you get
23:44surprises
23:45it's very
23:45exciting
23:46so this one
23:47it's that sort
23:48of corally
23:49peachy colour
23:50which I absolutely
23:51love
23:51and it's got
23:52this extra
23:53double layer
23:54of petals
23:55I mean it's
23:55extraordinary
23:55I don't think
23:56I've seen
23:56anything like
23:57this
23:58so as well
24:05as growing
24:05dahlias in the
24:06field
24:06and in the
24:07experiment beds
24:08I grow them
24:08in the borders
24:09in the garden
24:10and this is
24:11totally tangerine
24:12which is a
24:13gorgeous anemone
24:14I mean just
24:15look at the
24:15shape of that
24:16isn't that just
24:16amazing
24:17absolutely lovely
24:18and this one
24:19you can see
24:20here
24:20there's a little
24:21bit too much
24:22going on
24:22on this stem
24:24and rather than
24:25having what
24:26I mean I think
24:27about seven or
24:27eight slightly
24:28weedy looking
24:29flowers I would
24:31rather this bud
24:31here take these
24:33little buds off
24:34take these little
24:35buds off
24:36I think I'm going
24:38to take all of
24:38that off in fact
24:39but I might take
24:40all of that off
24:41and then you see
24:43this stem has now
24:44just got three
24:46buds to focus on
24:47so it will be
24:49a better stem
24:50and it will have
24:52better flowers
24:53these are my
24:54thumbnails
24:55every week I
24:56probably disbud
24:5710,000 little
24:58tiny buds off
24:59the dahlias
25:00and I can't
25:01get the colour
25:01of the sap
25:02out from under
25:02my nails
25:03and so I will
25:04probably look
25:05like this
25:05till Christmas
25:06you want to
25:12pick the dahlia
25:12at just about
25:13the right time
25:14to get the
25:14most out of it
25:15because I think
25:16you'll get a
25:17good four to
25:18five days
25:18in the vase
25:20if you look
25:20after a dahlia
25:21and so we'll
25:23pick it when
25:23it's about
25:24two thirds
25:25open
25:26so I will
25:27either pick
25:27first thing in
25:28the morning
25:28or in the
25:29evening
25:29and then I'll
25:30leave them
25:31in buckets
25:32of cold water
25:33in a cool
25:34dark place
25:34to condition
25:35because then
25:36they can get
25:37fully hydrated
25:37and then you
25:38really will get
25:39the best out
25:39of them
25:40aren't they
25:45just beautiful
25:46and to think
25:47that these
25:47all come from
25:48something that
25:49looks like a
25:50grubby little
25:50potato
25:51I mean
25:51they're just
25:52exquisite
26:08all planned
26:09plants have
26:10people that
26:11love them
26:11dearly
26:11but some
26:12plants seem
26:13to attract
26:14a sort of
26:15extra depth
26:16of passion
26:17and interest
26:18not to say
26:19sometimes
26:19obsession
26:20and I think
26:21dahlies are
26:21one of them
26:21now I love
26:23dahlies
26:23and I've got
26:24quite a few
26:25but at this
26:26time of year
26:26it's time to
26:27get out the
26:27ones that
26:28you've stored
26:29or if you're
26:29buying dahlies
26:31now's the time
26:32to do certain
26:33things because
26:33it's too early
26:34to plant them
26:34the risk of
26:35frost is too
26:36great
26:36but what you
26:37can do
26:37and what we
26:38do is
26:39pot them up
26:39and they
26:40will grow
26:40and as soon
26:41as the last
26:42frost has gone
26:42you can plant
26:43them out
26:43and you will
26:44get flowering
26:45dahlias
26:45two, three
26:47sometimes even
26:47four weeks
26:48earlier than
26:49those that are
26:49already in the
26:50ground
26:50this is one
26:52this is one
26:52this is one
26:52that's called
26:53varone's
26:54obsidian
26:54also sold
26:55as honker
26:56black
26:56and the reason
26:57why they're
26:57called that
26:58is because
26:58they're such
26:59a dark burgundy
27:00that they look
27:00black
27:01with quite
27:01thin petals
27:03and a bright
27:04egg yolk
27:05yellow centre
27:05they're really
27:06dramatic
27:06and you can
27:08see
27:08a really good
27:10set of tubers
27:11check them
27:12to see that
27:12there are no
27:13damaged tubers
27:15when you buy
27:16them or if
27:17you're in store
27:17make sure
27:18there are none
27:18rotten
27:19and they should
27:19feel plump
27:20and firm
27:21I mean that
27:22is really good
27:23I'm very happy
27:24with that
27:24masses of tubers
27:26now at this
27:27stage
27:28get a pot
27:29obviously
27:31old pots
27:32recycled
27:34put a little
27:35bit of compost
27:36in the bottom
27:37doesn't need
27:38too much
27:38it's not going
27:40to be in the
27:41pot for terribly
27:41long
27:42place
27:43the tubers
27:45in it like
27:46that
27:46you don't need
27:47a great big
27:48pot
27:48just an inch
27:48or so around
27:49the outside
27:49if plenty
27:50and do it
27:52so that the
27:52top is just
27:53a bit below
27:54the surface
27:54and then
27:57pack
27:58compost around
27:59it
28:00and don't use
28:01old compost
28:02it needs to
28:02be fresh
28:03peat free
28:03compost
28:03doesn't matter
28:07if the tubers
28:07are near the
28:08top
28:08whereas when
28:09you're planting
28:09them outside
28:09you want them
28:10to be deeper
28:10than that
28:11label it
28:12I will put
28:15this
28:15either
28:16in a corner
28:18of the
28:18greenhouse
28:18or a cold
28:19frame is fine
28:20anywhere that's
28:20frost free
28:21and light
28:22and a windowsill
28:23obviously would
28:23do the job
28:24let it grow
28:25and then
28:26as soon as the
28:27frosts are
28:27passed outside
28:28I'm going to
28:29have these
28:29flowering
28:30good few
28:31weeks earlier
28:32than those
28:33already in the
28:34ground
28:34now
28:35still to come
28:36on today's
28:37program
28:37Francis visits
28:39a community
28:40garden in
28:40Bradford
28:41specializing
28:42in bringing
28:43people together
28:43it is really
28:45important that we
28:46have things like
28:46this where people
28:47can come in
28:47spend time
28:48learning about
28:49gardening
28:49and they can
28:50also spend time
28:51learning about
28:51cooking and about
28:52health and
28:53nutrition
28:53some of it is
28:54about the
28:54companionship
28:55and the
28:56working together
28:57and we visit a
28:58gardener who has
28:59squeezed 35
29:01trees into his
29:03back garden
29:03I do have a bit
29:06of an obsession
29:07I've probably got a
29:08few too many for a
29:09garden this size
29:10we've had to bring
29:11in a one-in or a
29:13one-out policy
29:14he sometimes sneaks
29:15trees in without me
29:17noticing or he
29:18thinks I don't
29:18notice but I always
29:20do
29:20that'll do
29:38I'm preparing this
29:40piece of ground to
29:41sow broad beans
29:42now broad beans
29:43are one of the very
29:44few seeds that will
29:46germinate when the
29:47temperatures are quite
29:48low
29:48if you're not sure
29:50which vegetables to
29:51sow early in the
29:52year or if the
29:52ground is wet and
29:53cold broad beans
29:55are a good bet
29:55there are many many
29:57different varieties
29:58and if you're sowing
29:59earlier then aquedultery
30:00will certainly be a
30:01good bet
30:02I've also got a red
30:04bean which is very
30:05decorative and you
30:07pick it but I love
30:08the crimson flowered
30:09ones so I'm going to
30:10stick with the
30:11crimson flowers for
30:11the moment and I'll
30:12sow these later for
30:13succession
30:14to prepare the ground
30:16getting a nice tilt
30:17I've added quite a lot
30:19of compost already I
30:20did that about a month
30:21ago just as a mulch
30:22didn't dig it in
30:24so I use a board for
30:27my spacing
30:27just a straight
30:30scaffolding plank
30:31and that's a good
30:32width for a double
30:33row
30:34a double row
30:41always works best for
30:42me and in principle
30:44each seed
30:45therefore each plant
30:46wants to be placed
30:48about six to nine
30:49inches apart
30:50and what I'll do is
30:53I'll place them
30:54and just push them
30:55into the ground
30:56those in
31:05there's something very
31:15meditative about
31:16systematically and
31:17rhythmically sowing
31:19vegetables outside
31:21with the soil
31:22where they're going
31:23to grow a robin
31:26singing in black
31:26birds is incredibly
31:29for me incredibly
31:30healing it's
31:31restorative it creates
31:34a sort of foundation
31:35of I suppose
31:37happiness well you
31:39know joy simply from
31:41sowing broad
31:42bin
31:42for the second row
32:02you do need to leave
32:03room to get in there
32:05and harvest them
32:05so what I do is flip
32:07one two and then three
32:12and that's going to be
32:13a very dirty board if
32:14I do that so I'm going
32:14to slide it over like
32:16that so I've got that
32:17much space between them
32:18and actually one way of
32:20using that space which
32:21would otherwise be
32:22wasted is you can sow a
32:23line of radish down in
32:25between them or maybe
32:25plant some lettuce if
32:26you've got some little
32:27lettuce plants that have
32:28been growing on because
32:29those you can harvest
32:31before you need to get in
32:33there and walk all over
32:34it to pick the beans
32:35I'll put another row in
32:36here and of course as
32:38part of the rotation of
32:40vegetables the first
32:41plant to go in
32:42a freshly composted plot
32:44are legumes that
32:46includes beans of all
32:47kinds and peas and they
32:49fix nitrogen from the
32:51air so they're adding
32:52goodness to the soil and
32:54they should be followed
32:55by brassicas and that
32:57of course includes all
32:59types of cabbage and
33:00kale and Brussels sprouts
33:01and they really like
33:03nitrogen and then after
33:05that you follow the
33:06brassicas with the carrot
33:08family that's parsnip
33:10celery parsley carrots which
33:13don't like fresh compost or
33:15manure the crucial thing is
33:18try to avoid growing the
33:19same thing on the same
33:21piece of ground certainly
33:23for more than two years and
33:24ideally not in successive
33:26years because you're
33:27avoiding a build-up of any
33:28kind of disease keep moving
33:31things on I've said how
33:40important growing vegetables is
33:42to me promoting a sense of
33:44well-being and Francis went to
33:47visit a project in Bradford this
33:50year's UK City of Culture where
33:53they are promoting that healing
33:57and well-being through the
33:59raising and growing of
34:00superb vegetables
34:02Tucked away in a public park near
34:13Bradford City Centre is Wibsey
34:15Community Garden established in
34:192013 in 2017 it was revamped and
34:25run as a new charity a team of
34:28volunteers ensures the 2.6 acre
34:30site is able to keep up a supply of
34:33delicious produce for the local
34:35community and the huge amount of
34:37fresh fruit and veg grown here is
34:40in constant demand
34:41first impressions there are two
34:45things I notice here immediately
34:47number one it is absolutely full of
34:50growing there are three poly
34:52tunnels there's an orchard soft
34:53fruit area there's an apiary and
34:56there are so many raised beds all
34:58crammed with vegetables and
34:59salads but the second thing that I
35:01notice is that the atmosphere here
35:03is so warm and so welcoming much of
35:10the produce grown is sold on site but
35:13today they are preparing an order from
35:15a local grocery store an extra
35:17challenge for Dan thistlewood who's
35:19in charge of the panoply of fruit and
35:22veg grown here
35:22here hi Dan morning you're picking for the
35:29order are you I am I am I've got two
35:32kilos of salad to pick this morning oh
35:33excellent I mean I can give you a hand I
35:35haven't got snips I'll just do it nice
35:36and
35:38you're in charge of growing all the
35:39produce here yes this year yeah yeah
35:42we've got three poly tunnels and about
35:44150 beds they here we need to keep on a
35:46good rotation but we've got all sorts of
35:48different fruits and veggies going on at any
35:49given time and how do you guarantee
35:51there's always something growing um so
35:53my main method is to over so at any
35:56given time I've got five or six beds of
35:58salad in the ground I've got three or
36:00four module trees of various seedlings on
36:03the girl I've got salad in the ground
36:05that is just freshly picked so this is
36:06only I think the second week we're
36:08picking this one so how do you pick
36:09your varieties is it sort of like the
36:11pious yield or the most dependable ones
36:15we are very much a make-do-amend kind of
36:18site I inherited a fridge full of seeds so
36:20I'm basically going with what's there I'm
36:22not particularly worried about soul dates or
36:24best before years the majority of these
36:26seeds were well out of date when we
36:27planted them and making some beautiful
36:29crops and obviously part of your job is
36:31growing veg but a big part of your job is
36:33kind of looking after the people who come
36:34here as well as yes yeah I mean we have
36:36people from about three or four years old up
36:38to about 83 84 years old we've got all
36:40different walks of life we've got all
36:42different cultures all different
36:43religions and got a lot of people that I
36:46think otherwise wouldn't even talk to
36:47each other on the street they come in
36:48here and we all work as one big happy
36:50family really this is a garden actively
36:55welcomes anybody and everybody which
36:58means you never know exactly who you'll
37:00find on any given day behind one of the
37:04polytunnels volunteers Shaheen Derek and
37:07Carol are preparing beds for the next crop
37:11how long have you been coming here I've
37:14been coming here for about one and a
37:15half years right and you enjoy it
37:17presumably oh I love it here it's
37:19absolutely lovely everybody's so friendly
37:22you know you're socializing as well
37:24really because you're making friends
37:25yeah yeah and you're learning lots of
37:27things because whatever I learned from
37:29here I go home and I do it in the garden
37:31yeah Bradford's obviously a really
37:33diverse city but do you think that
37:36having everyone in the garden like this
37:37in one place helps to build the
37:39community of it definitely definitely
37:41don't meet different people and I think
37:44yeah yeah it's different cultures we
37:47learn about each other's cultures like
37:49we had a pecora day here yeah two
37:53together shows that it you can do it
37:59you can happen yes and you can can live
38:02together in harmony next to me missed out
38:04on the apple crumble you know nobody
38:08saved you any nobody told me well I
38:11hope you had some of the ginger cake
38:12that's floating around I will be good
38:14because that's delicious one person with
38:18no time for the delights of ginger cake
38:20is manager Jen white busy in the kitchen
38:22making sure today's order is ready on
38:25time so tell me about this place you're
38:30clearly producing lots and lots of
38:32vegetables we do chooses our hectic
38:35morning and how many people from the
38:37community can have come and use the space
38:39we're actually really popular and there's
38:42hundreds of people we've got 40 active
38:44volunteers who come every week and
38:46contribute the time we're in the middle
38:48of Bradford it's quite shocking to think
38:50that because it's a little oasis but
38:52within Bradford there is a high level of
38:53poverty and people do struggle to find
38:56healthy foods for themselves and the
38:57families so it is really important that
38:59we have things like this where people can
39:01come in spend time learning about
39:03gardening and they can also spend time
39:05learning about cooking and about health
39:06and nutrition some of it is about the
39:08companionship yes and the working
39:10together yeah outside volunteers Brian
39:16Daz and Rebecca are planning for the
39:19longer term operating a fairly unusual
39:22looking piece of equipment used for
39:23sieving soil and compost
39:31as you can see the thinner stuff is
39:33falling through the finer mesh the
39:35bigger stuff that we don't want in with
39:37the normal soil going through at the
39:39bottom and that's the difference in the
39:42two oh yes look at them it's yeah
39:45that's brilliant it's quite a contraption
39:48this is so much quicker and so much
39:50easier than you kind of the classic
39:52sieve where you're doing it by hand
39:54when I came here that's what they were
39:55doing so found the cycle wheels in one
39:58of the sheds down there we knew we had
40:00the mesh these are some old greenhouse
40:02parts oh yes yes and cost what to make
40:05so when did you first start coming here I
40:16started just over a year and a bit ago I
40:20had a well I had three heart attacks I was
40:24in hospital for 11 days came out tidied a
40:28lot of the things out of my garden shed and
40:30various other things thinking well you
40:32know this is don't be careful now we
40:35looked for somebody to give it so because
40:37I had all sorts of spades shovels you
40:39name it found this place rang them up I did
40:43literally a couple of days later I came up
40:44had a look I explained to him that I
40:46couldn't be walking up and down the
40:47sites I can't dig I couldn't do anything
40:49like that but certainly helping them out
40:52you know repairing think yes I could do
40:54that Daz is a grafter you know he's the
40:57type so between us I could say right I
40:59need to do this yeah Daz would be there
41:02with me so this place has changed your
41:05life really oh completely it's like
41:07another world yeah you just escape reality
41:10and just come here and it's just like
41:11it's you know it is like utopia in a lot
41:15of ways it's just nothing out there can
41:17bother you you're just here at peace
41:19lovely yeah just really just get on with
41:23it
41:24we get so used nowadays to hearing
41:32people say that gardening is good for
41:34you it's good for your mental health
41:35it's good for your physical health but
41:37you come to a garden like this and you
41:39speak to the people here and they
41:41actually use the words this garden has
41:43changed my life and suddenly it brings
41:45home how we shouldn't take that for
41:48granted it's so important it can really
41:50change the way that we are and bring
41:52whole communities together we should
41:55never underestimate the power that a
41:58garden can have
42:18change the way that a garden can have
42:22I think France's point is it is a really
42:24good one because we know now that there
42:26are lots of community projects and
42:28they're all doing good work but for the
42:30individuals involved they're the only
42:32project and their transformative effect is
42:36really profound and that's what's to be
42:39celebrated now this is the long walk this
42:44is a long strip between the busyness of
42:48the cottage garden and the intensity of
42:50the jewel garden it's a breathing space
42:52but for the last 10 years we've had box
42:55cones with alcamilla mollis running
42:58either side of the path that went all the
42:59way down but then box blight devastated
43:02the cones and last year we dug them all
43:05up put in drainage and made what we wanted
43:09to be a lawn and the idea was my
43:11grandchildren could come here and run up
43:13and down and ride their bikes and kick a
43:15ball and generally muck about and play
43:18but you can see part of it hasn't endured
43:21well over winter compaction shade and too
43:26much water has really caused problem so
43:29I've got a machine here that will help
43:31out it's an aerator and you can hire it
43:34and it will take out plugs of soil spread
43:38those plugs on the ground that will let
43:40oxygen in and also loosen the soil so
43:44let's get this machine going
44:08you can see it's pretty dramatic and very
44:15effective it's pulling up lumps of soil
44:19they look like goose droppings but these
44:23little plugs of soil that it's taking out
44:25if you can crumble them between your fingers
44:29all you need to do is brush over the whole
44:32thing or use a wire rake and that will
44:34even them out and break them up and they'll
44:36go back down into the holes if like these
44:39you squeeze in between your fingers and
44:41they just mold a bit like plasticine
44:44then you need to let them dry out leave
44:46them on the surface daylight today may
44:48even just be a few hours but now is the
44:50best time of year to do this and if you
44:53can't get a machine this is only the
44:54second time in my life I've used one of
44:56these machines just get a fork and work
44:58it in but that is hard work and you do
45:00need to really go as deep as you possibly
45:02can either way just remember the three
45:05tenets of really good grass sunshine water
45:10and drainage and probably drainage is the
45:14most important of a lot now I can top
45:17dress the lawn using a seed mix but I am
45:21going to wait until the overnight
45:22temperatures warm up a little bit and
45:24then the seeds will germinate we're going
45:27now across to the other side of the
45:29country to join Nick Phillips and his
45:31family in their garden near Cambridge
45:34and I know that grass is not very high
45:38up on Nick's gardening priorities
45:44I have to say having a garden where we
45:48can just get outside enjoy the fresh air
45:50enjoy the wildlife has been really
45:53really vital for us as a family we're
45:56very very lucky to have this space my
46:00name is Nick welcome to our garden in
46:02Cambridge I live here with my wife Hannah
46:06and our baby Max who's five months old
46:11we moved here about three years ago the
46:15entire area was covered in weed
46:18suppressant membrane and about a foot of
46:20gravel I started peeling back some of the
46:23membrane and it was like a bit of an
46:25archaeological dig you could see there
46:27was a garden here before
46:32this is the drought resilient part of our
46:36garden and we've got really really
46:39difficult conditions we're in
46:40Cambridgeshire which is one of the
46:42driest parts of the country and it gets
46:45absolutely baked but also to add to the
46:47challenge we're really heavy deep clay
46:51and that gets super wet and waterlogged
46:53during the winter and we had to choose
46:55plants that were really robust and
46:57resilient to all those different
46:59conditions one of my absolute favorites
47:01there has to be the Olympic mullet and
47:03which is behind me which is such a
47:05majestic plant it starts one year
47:08relatively low to the ground and then
47:09the next year it sends up this huge
47:11flower spike it flowers for many months
47:14it's just going over now but even when
47:17it's finished flowering it's hugely
47:19architectural looks great all through
47:21winter and it's a really really good
47:23food plant for lots of different
47:24wildlife so yeah I really love that plant
47:27so I do have a bit of an obsession and
47:34that is trees and I absolutely love
47:36planting trees I've probably got a few too
47:39many for a garden this size I've got about
47:4230 or 35 different trees I've lost count
47:46to be honest I've got pomegranate I've
47:50got spindle tree I've got Persian iron
47:54wood a dawn redwood cherry tree a
47:58persimmon tree a small tree called
48:01salix magnifica which has amazing
48:03beautiful leaves I've got wedding cake
48:06tree gosh the list I've got many more
48:10I don't remember what else I've got
48:12oh yeah I forgot a few in the back but
48:16yeah we've had to bring in a one-in or a
48:22one-out policy he sometimes sneaks trees
48:25in without me noticing or he thinks I
48:28don't notice but I always do probably my
48:33finest moment but when I sneaked in some
48:34extra trees when my wife was on a hen do
48:36I was coming back from from my hen party
48:40and then as I arrived back I saw Nick
48:43sneaking around the corner carrying a
48:44large pot which contained the crab
48:47apple tree so yeah always managing to
48:50just squeeze another one in there if at
48:52all possible
48:54our garden is about 40 meters long by 15
48:59meters wide from a tree point of view
49:01that might seem not particularly big so
49:04we really had to think about lots of
49:06different techniques we can use to try and
49:09bring trees into the garden so this is
49:13what's known as a pillar apple tree or
49:15column apple tree and basically what that
49:18means is it grows vertically up doesn't
49:21get very big and all the fruit are just
49:23around the the main trunk so this will
49:25only grow maximum about another meter and
49:27this is as wide as it's going to get you
49:29don't get as many apples on them obviously
49:31but you can grow a wide variety of different
49:35types in a very very small area
49:38one of my methods to get more trees into
49:44the garden is to buy dwarf cultivars so
49:47these are trees which don't get very big at
49:50the adult height and we've got two here we've
49:52got ginkgo and we've also got a katsura tree
49:56called global and both of these the normal species
49:59could get bigger than 30 meters huge far too
50:02big for for this garden but these will
50:05barely get bigger than they are now so you
50:07can have them in your borders you can have
50:09them on your patio you can incorporate them
50:12anywhere the thing i love about the ginkgo
50:15firstly it's called troll which i think is a
50:17really really cool name but also when max is a
50:19bit older i want to be able to tell him
50:20about how this tree was around in the
50:22dinosaurs time if you're planning to get a
50:25dwarf cultivar tree like these because
50:28they're smaller they often have smaller
50:30roots which means you do need to really
50:31keep on top of things like watering and
50:34they love nothing better than a good
50:36annual mulch every spring which helps
50:38really keep the moisture in and gives them
50:40some nutrients as well
50:50this is a another technique you can use to
50:53get more trees into your garden so these are
50:58himalayan birch and i absolutely love these
51:01trees they have the most amazing trunks
51:04and what i've done here is i've planted three
51:07trees really close together and that does
51:09mean that they will actually compete with
51:11each other which might sound a bit strange but
51:14the great thing about that is it restricts the
51:16height of all three so you can have a fantastic tree
51:19species in a small space and it also looks like a
51:23multi-stem tree which are quite expensive so it's not
51:26only cheap but it's also a great way to get more trees into your garden
51:34just behind me here is an example of a really good impactful tree for a small
51:39space it's uh probably my favorite tree in the world certainly my favorite tree in the garden
51:44uh it's called a paperbark maple and this one's only a youngster so it's only about two and a
51:50half years old paperbark maples have so many seasons of interest so you've got fantastic autumn
51:57color when the leaves come out in the spring they're really really vibrant and it has this one of the
52:02best things about it is this peeling bark which is this really unique feature and it just looks
52:07stunning even in the winter what we're really hoping is the garden will evolve over time and
52:15one of the things which is so important is shade and something to keep you cool and trees are just
52:21brilliant for that because they not only provide shade but they actually cool the air around you
52:27by evaporating water off their leaves so it's one of the best things you can include in your garden
52:31if you really want to create somewhere that you can enjoy all year round
52:34nick's done an amazing job on the garden it's just been really wonderful to see how the garden has
52:42changed and just see it come to life really um in such a short space of time
52:51i'm really hoping that we leave a bit of a legacy in this garden um i mean trees are a bit like keepers
52:56of time you know they'll be seeing things you know in over centuries and so i'm just really excited by the
53:03huge number of trees we've got in this garden and we'll leave effectively a little mini forest garden
53:08i'm super passionate about including trees in the garden and i encourage everybody to do so
53:22i think nick is completely correct in saying that every garden can have at least one tree the only
53:39thing i would say is just find out the mature size of the tree that you're planting and if when it's
53:47mature which might be in 100 years time it's too big for the garden then think twice so for example
53:52this is a wild cherry a gin and if i had my time again i would never plant this because they cast a
54:00big shade they suck up all the moisture they drop branches but there are lots of smaller trees that
54:06are wonderful aces and crab apples and hawthorns and so many and of course you can prune and shape
54:11so don't be put off planting trees just bear in mind that some of them grow very big indeed
54:21now here are your jobs for the weekend
54:31if you're growing tomatoes this year and you sowed the seed earlier they should now be ready to prick
54:41out when they have a true leaf it's time to give each seedling its own individual growing unit hold it
54:48by a leaf never by the stem because if the leaf breaks at least that can be replaced take as much root
54:54per plant as you possibly can and then carefully put them into an individual pot or plug and then water
55:03them put them somewhere warm and sunny so they can grow on in the coming weeks into nice sturdy young plants
55:10hydrangea paniculatus like limelight produce their flowers on new growth this means they can be pruned
55:27as hard as you like at this time of year and they will still flower i prune back to a framework removing
55:35any damaged old or crossing branches while i'm about it and this will provoke the new shoots that will
55:42carry their flowers in the summer lace caps and mop heads produce their flowers on previous year's growth
55:49so shouldn't be pruned so hard and if you're not sure which is which best not to prune at all
55:54if like me you've been storing your pelargoniums over winter to protect them now is the time to take
56:08them out look them over and cut them back and don't be frightened to do this hard because that will
56:13produce lots of new shoots that will carry a really good display if they already have fresh shoots these
56:21can be kept for cuttings pop them in a jar of water very often they'll root in that and then can be
56:27potted on or can be potted on into a very free draining compost and then they can root
56:42in a way what i'm doing now is an extension of the revamp of the jewel garden because having cleared
56:55the grass borders and cut them back it's a little bit early to be adding any new grasses or dividing
57:00any that we've got and i've taken out quite a lot of iris sibirica from the jewel garden iris
57:05sibirica has got grass-like foliage and wonderful sapphire blue flowers and iris sibirica loves this
57:13garden because it likes fundamentally damp conditions whereas the bearded irises we really struggle with
57:21but they only flower for 10 days two weeks in may and very early june and then that's it and you have
57:27a lot of foliage and the foliage looks great in here but not so good in the jewel garden
57:32they need to be fairly near the front because the grasses grow very big and they'll crowd the
57:38mouth of the voice now look at this look at that that for the uninitiated is bindweed this is one of
57:51the worst weeds you can have in the garden because every tiny little bit of root and it's very brittle
57:58you can just snap it easily in your fingers makes a new plant and it gets in amongst the roots of
58:05other plants and can become like a great mass of spaghetti what we tend to do is put these on the
58:09bonfire and burn them but we have got bindweed in here so now also if i come across it a really good
58:15time to dig it out there well that's it all we've got time for today but before we go just to remind you
58:23that on sunday one o'clock in the morning the clocks go forward so we get another hour of glorious
58:30evening sunshine in wish to garden and i will see you back here at long meadow next friday
58:38at eight o'clock so until then bye
58:51you