Gardeners' World 2020 Episode 1: 20 March 2020

In this first episode Monty Don welcomes us back to Long Meadow.

Lifting Irises

Siberian Flag Iris flowers in June.

Irises and other herbaceous plants tend to grow outwards leaving large holes in the middle

These need lifting every 2-3 years when there is strong new growth.

You now have a strong healthy clump to replant

Next stop for Monty is the Writing garden

The daffodils are all coming up and bursting into flower.

Also the summer Snowflakes are starting to grow.

Pruning Roses

Its not too late to prune roses including climbers, Hybrid Tea, Shrub roses, the only ones it is too late for is Ramblers.

Monty always cuts his back by a third.

He cuts back new long growth to the base. any rubbing stems and flimsy branches.

Monty 'Dons' his gloves for this thorny job! Sorry! Pete Free 🌻

He creates a nice open framework to lessen any fungal problems.

Do not prune back your ramblers as they produce flowers on old growth unlike other roses that need new growth for flowers.

House Plants

Frances Tophill visits RHS Wisley to see their house plant display they had on show. (Now closed)

House plants are usually from hot tropical countries that would not survive outdoors in our winter climate.

There are house plants for every location and growing conditions in the house

Danielle Warner is one of the creators of this exhibit based on a house where the plants have taken over.

The lounge area is full of plants that like damp forest floors

Including smaller miniature swiss plants that trail down.

Bromeliads in the bedroom collect water in there leaves and need to be planted using a lot of orchid bark to stop the roots getting water logged.

The ferns in the bathroom show nicely how they do not have to be just grown in the ground.

And of course Frances took some more home to add to her 50+ house plants.

Monty is new to house plants.

He already has quite a collection in the greenhouse.

You need to find out where a plant comes from to give it the right growing conditions and don't over water your plants.

Moisture loving foliage plants love a good mist, just make sure you place them where the water can not do any damage.

Succulents need really good drainage so a potting mix of 50% coir and 50% grit.

For foliage plants that need more water, a peat free compost, a bit of leaf mold and a little bit of grit.

You can buy pre mixed house plant compost but unfortunately it is not peat free!

Monty repots a Calathea, jungle floor plant that like moisture but to be soaking wet.

The little black flies or Sciarid fly you see on house plants sometimes live in the damp soil in the pots but do not damage the plants.

Avoid overwatering and let the soil dry out in between watering to help avoid getting these.

Growing in pots

They visit Julia thyer who has 1,259 pots in her Congresbury, Somerset garden.

Bulbs

Monty is a fan of pots mainly because you can move them to create different effects.

He is dead heading some Iris bulbs so they don't set seed but he is leaving the foliage to put the energy back into the bulb.

Tomato Plant Seeds

Monty is in the potting shed sowing his Tomato seeds

His compost mix is coir, leaf mold, garden compost and a little bit of perlite. A bought general purpose peat free compost is just as good.

First to be sown are Costoluto Florentino a beef tomato, a real meaty chunky tomato.

He uses the pencil tip, of wetting the end of a pencil to pick up each precious seed. Not many in a packet these days!

Monty says how you treat seeds from day one, has an effect on the end result, so dont crowd them.

He then flattens the seed into the compost.

Compost is then sieved over the top to form a thin layer or you can use vermiculite and gently press down again.

Cuore di Bue is sown next, which means Ox heart it is a mix of a normal and a beef tomato.

They are labelled and taken into the greenhouse or a warm windowsill above a radiator and watered.

Monty says the latest you can sow Tomatoes is the end of April or they wont grow and ripen in time.

Prune back hard leaving a leaf below the pruning cut.

You can make new plants from the cuttings by putting them in a jar of water to root.

Take any deciduous grasses right back to the base so any new shoots can grow.

With evergreen grasses do not cut back but tidy up any dead bits.

Now the time to chit potatoes in egg boxes.

Put them somewhere sunny and frost free to grow shoots to plant out when the soil is drier and warmer.

Monty ends the show on the mound with the spring daffodils and says that now its the Spring equinox we will have longer lighter days ahead.

See you next week Monty!

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