Episode 1 of Gardeners' World 2021 and Monty Don quickly followed by Patti and Nell welcomes us to Long Meadow for this first episode.
Presenters
New for 2021
We are introduced to a new presenter Sue Kent who was a guest on last years Gardeners' World 2020.
New large greenhouse
Removal of the Box hedge in the Jewel Garden and Cottage Garden due to the ongoing battle with Box Blight.
Monty first job is to prune back the Buddleia, which needs a hard prune at this time of year to promote lots of new growth and flowers later on.
Monty in the Jewel Garden which since the box hedge has been removed new metal edging has been added and it is ready for some new plants but first he wants to divide some plants.
He is dividing a Cardoon by cutting off a section of the plant with his spade.
Monty shows us his spring bulb display including Iris, Muscari, Tete a Tete Daffodils and Crocus that he planted last September / October.
Monty is planting his Chilli seeds and Chillies will grow most places even on just a windowsill but they do need light and heat.
They will be ready to harvest by the end of the summer and Monty is using a peat free, coir, leaf mold, soil and grit mix of compost. Any soil or compost will also do.
Monty shows us round his dream new glass house which is a section of a commercial one that was storm damaged and now has found a home at Longmeadow.
He has been using it to store his olive and citrus trees but also to grow winter salad crops mainly Parsley, a family favourite and Rocket.
Monty is moving a Rose from the Jewel Garden into the Cottage Garden that is now also Box hedge less.
It is a Rosa Falstaff and it was getting smothered by the other plants in the Jewel Garden.
He is going to grow it as a climber and digs a deep hole but do not add any compost to the hole but you can to the surface. Once planted he cuts it back and gives it a good water.
Monty has not started his seed sowing outside until now due to the cold weather and he is sowing and planting out Broad Beans.
He grows them in 2 rows spaced 9 inches to a foot apart and the seeds need to be spaced out the same.
The variety is Crimson Flowered and he just makes a hole with his finger and pops them in and will be ready at the end of June.
Monty also has some plants he has already started in late December that will be ready to eat in May.
When your buds of Rhubarb are just poking through its now time to force your Rhubarb and Monty does this by covering it with a pot that excludes the light.
It is also a good time to plant Rhubarb but do not harvest it until next year.
James Lester from Leeds
He has created his own Tropical oasis after buying the house he was previously renting and the 15 x 16 ft back garden has had a complete makeover and he has utilised every available space.
It is a shady garden with a base of concrete so everything is grown in pots and chosen the right plants for the right conditions like the Gunnera, Tree Ferns, Hostas, Ferns and Bamboos which are all happy as long as well watered in their pots.
James large jungle plants attracts attention from the neighbours and he has been helping others to make positive changes to their own spaces.
Sue has recently been overhauling her allotment and we will be following her progress throughout the year.
Sue shows us round she has some Artichokes and Pumpkins and tells us the inherited design of the allotment does not work for her.
Joe visits to help Sue make some new planting beds of a suitable width using the 'no dig' method.
He measures how wide the beds can be for Sue to comfortably work on using her feet and also the path widths and marks them out using string.
Nick levels off the path area, they cover the area with cardboard, after soaking the cardboard they cover this with a minimum of 4 inches of peat free potting compost.
The beds need to be left for a few months for them to break down and settle.
To make the paths nice to walk on for Sue they cover these in Wood Chips.
Joe gives Sue a Rhubarb plant which she quickly gets into the ground until we return again in the future to see her progress on the rest of her beds.
Carol is in Norfolk at Bressingham Gardens to visit their gardens in Winter and to see the Conifer collection.
Conifers come in a diverse range of size, colour and shape and combine so well with other plants giving structure to a garden.
An Incense cedar with its trunk stripped is surrounded by late Winter plants, like Hellebores and Snowdrops and grasses.
There are a lot of very special conifers inn the collection for Carol to get excited about like the Japanese Black Pine.
With this conifer as the centre piece it is surrounded by Bergenia and Dogwood.
Carol says Conifers are best used with other plants to form a gallery of textures and colours.
Clumber Park
Shirley Roberts Senior Gardener at Clumber Park near Worksop is showing us the National Collection of Rhubarb that they hold there.
It has been there for about 15 years and they have over 130 different varieties.
It originates from Siberia and will thrive in most UK gardens, the leaves of the Rhubarb is poisonous.
They thickly mulch their Rhubarb to cut down on watering and Rhubarb should be pulled out and not cut.
From the end of July leave some stalks on so that it produces well next year.
Viewers Videos
Rani and Anoushka from Chelmsford Essex
This mother and Daughter gardening combo grow their own vegetables but want to show us a special plant the Snake Gourd.
It is a common plant used in Asian cooking and is used in curries and stir fry's.
They have a delicate flower and can grow up to 6ft tall as the snake Gourd grows wiggly a stone is tied to the end traditionally to straighten it.
Nicole from Peterborough
From her allotment where she grows Dahlias in a 63 square meter plot growing 43 different plants.
She is obsessed by Dahlias and grows 20 different varieties and during lockdown after a day working from home this became her sanctuary.
She gave bunches of Dahlias to people who were nominated for doing exceptional work during the lockdown.
This gave her great pleasure sharing her love of Dahlias with people that may not have seen this flower before.
Hattie and Ben from Aberdeen
They are growing there first ever potatoes and are using a cardboard box!
They have chitted the potatoes which are first earlies for 2 weeks on the window sill and are planting them in a couple of inches of compost.
Their trial worked and they got a good crop but as Monty points out a cardboard box is prone to falling apart when wet so maybe not the best place to grow them.
Nell had a good sleep.
Nell and Patti followed Monty around the garden. Patti inspected the new bulbs that were coming up.
Nell slept sitting up.
Patti Stared at the camera.
Nell Slept. Nell got a cuddle from Monty
Deciduous Grasses
Now the time to cut them back to ground level and get rid of all last years growth on the compost heap.
Chit Potatoes
Put your first early potatoes in egg boxes or seed trays in a light frost free place to let the shoots develop.
Prune Dogwood
The winter colour is over and the leaves are developing and now its time to cut them back hard, so you will get a good show of colour next Winter.
All Photographs are copyright of BBC.com
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