Gardeners' World 2020 Episode 3: 03 April 2020

Adam Frost welcomes us to his garden as he is standing in for Monty Don.

Adam starts the programme talking about how the garden brings a sense of 'normality' with everything going on.

He points out the Euphorbia Robbiea and how vibrant and alive it is with its acid green.

Adam says his Primulas are popping up and how his Hellebores have put a smile on his face.

Hellebores
Adam is adding some new ones to his Woodland area.

He is doing an experiment and just planting some of the young plants and the others he is going to grow on until next year to see what the difference is.

Mulching
Adam has been busy mulching his flower beds, he usually starts in September and carries on all through the Winter.

Unfortunately in November the garden had suffered from some flooding and was under water for 3 months so he has been unable to do it as the ground has been too wet ever since.

The borders are making a recovery and although he may lose some plants the mulching will help the soil recover some nutrients.

Adam is using well rotted horse manure but you can use your own compost or leaf mulch and he lays it a couple of inches thick.

It can be expensive so even if you do it every other or every 3 years it is worth doing.

Adam uses canes in his garden to remind him of jobs that need doing!

He has grasses he was not happy with last year so now is the right time to move them to a new spot.

Walled Kitchen Garden
Rachel De Thame has gardened in many places but she has always dreamed of having her own walled kitchen garden.

Her plan is to grow plenty of fresh produce, vegetable, fruit, salads, cut flowers and herbs as it was in a traditional walled garden.

The scrub and brambles will need to be cleared to make way for the raised beds but she can make a start on some other jobs.

Woodapuss the cat is also helping!

Sowing Peas
Rachel is using old strips of guttering to sow her peas in, she got this tip from a Geoff Hamilton book.

She seals up one end with Duct Tape leaving a hole for drainage and the other has the guttering end cap.

She fills the guttering with compost and is planting Nairobi peas.

Rachel makes a hole with her finger quite close together and drops in a pea and covers.

When they are ready to plant out she takes another section of guttering and uses this to push out the soil and peas into a trench she has made in the soil.

She gives them a good water and leaves to grow.

Fruit Trees
The outside wall of the walled kitchen garden is the ideal spot to grow fruit trees.

Rachel is going to grow Oblique Cordon Apples up the wall so she can have lots of different varieties growing.

The cordon means it is grown on a single stem and pruned to make a tight framework of small branches.

This means they don't need much space so great for small gardens.

Rachel adds some organic material to improve the soil and has already added the growing wires to the stone walls.

You need to leave some space for air to circulate and she has already got the bamboo canes into the frame work.

Rachel has bare root maiden whips, they are a year old and need a good soaking before planting.

Bare root trees are a lot cheaper than container grown trees.

She is planting 'Kidd's Orange Red' it stores well and is a good juicer and eater.

Planting them at the right height is very important because of the graft as this should not be buried as it will send out its own roots.

She prunes them to about a metre in height to encourage the buds to grow into fruit.

Once trod in she continues planting them and then gives them a good watering.

Adam points out how lovely it is to hear his old boss Geoff Hamilton is still being referenced for gardening advice.

He goes on to say with Lockdown there are new viewers and growers to Gardeners' World.

Vegetable Growing back to Basics
To show you can grow vegetables in absolutely anything, Adam has an old foil turkey backing tray to use.

He wants to show us some crops that are quick to grow and can be started on the windowsill before moving out into the garden.

He makes some holes in the bottom for drainage then fills it with compost / soil mix but if you have no compost just some soil from the garden will do.

Adam runs it through his fingers to make sure there are no lumps or large stones and levels off the top with a bit of wood. His cat thinks its dinner time!

He then gives it a couple of taps on the table and gives the soil a good water.

He is sowing Wild Rocket , which once you have harvested the tops it will regrow again.

Adam sprinkles the seeds on top of the damp soil.

If using garden soil you may get weeds, you might want to sow in rows so you can tell what is a weed!

He then covers it with a centimetre of soil, rubbed between his hands.

It is prone to bolting as the weather gets warmer so if kept in the shade it is less likely to bolt.

Adam next container is an old wooden box lined with a hessian sack, a bin bag or compost bag will work just as well.

In this he is sowing carrots as the container is much deeper, it would also be suitable for beetroot.

He again tops it with compost and will take a couple of weeks to germinate.

Daffodils
Last year Gardeners' World went to Worcestershire to meet some fanatical growers.

These are all grown to take to the annual Daffodil Society show.

The daffodils are all precisely arranged for the show.

There are 13 different divisions in the show and are all very different.

There are several tricks to getting them show ready, cotton wall in the trumpet or daffodil bondage!

Here is a selection of some of the different divisions and types of Daffodils.

They are judged out of 10 and no Daffodil ever gets a 10, a 9 would probably win Best in Show.

The winner got 8 out of 10!

Adam sitting in his orchard looking at his own Daffodils that have only been in a year.

He is happy with the grouping of the Wild Daffodils.

Alliums
Adam wants to add some pockets of colour to his orchard planting by adding some Alliums.

He is using Violet Beauty as it is scented, a mild scent which is unusual.

He potted them in September in containers first and it is a cheaper way to do it than to buy in the green.

He can then plan exactly where he wants them and they have not been effected by the Winter flooding.

Alliums like a sunny, well drained spot in the garden.

To give seedlings a good start they need pricking out into individual pots so they have room to grow.

Holding them by a true leaf they need carefully lifting out.

If they are at different stages just prick out the larger ones and leave the rest to grow on.

Give them a good water and leave somewhere warm still.

Early Rhubarb should be ready for harvesting now.

A pot was placed over the Rhubarb to help force it a few weeks ago to exclude the light.

Perfect for crumble.

April is the right time to reseed patches on the lawn.

Rake over and scatter the correct weight of seed for your patch and rake over then water.

Cover with some fleece to prevent the birds having a picnic of it.

Adam talks about how therapeutic it feels gardening and if you can do it safely it will all do us some good in these difficult times.

Even if its just sitting out in the garden it does the power of good.

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1 comment:

Sir Kevin Parr Bt24 February 2022 at 13:31
It is hard job crafting a art and craft garden on 6 acres from farm fields. On my own have achieved most of it as hedged garden rooms on 2 acres and rest veg and fruit. Only time is needed for hedges to grow up and all will be ready as a contained pleasure set of gardens wide borders iron double gates and as Edwardian as possible can be made. I know the feeling now of seeing own daffodils emerging just now for next month full display in pergola wisteria walk. It will look amazing I hop. I started gardening aged four with barrow made by my dear father and strip of turned over land.My love was Gardening club with Percy Thrower as a boy on tv BBC which was to be Gardeners world later on.Without it I would not have had the skills I have now

Gardeners' World 2020 Episode 3: 03 April 2020

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