Episode 2 of Gardeners' World 2021 and Monty Don has his Dahlia Tubers out of storage and welcomes us to Long Meadow.
Presenters
Monty Don
Nell & Patti
Adam Frost
Frances Tophil
Monty Don
Nell & Patti
Adam Frost
Frances Tophil
New for 2021
The mound is having a complete makeover and all the plants removed to make way for a summer house.
Dahlia Tubers are stored over winter in a dark and cool place wrapped up in newspaper to keep them insulated.
The variety is Tambura and the Tubers have kept nice and firm over Winter after giving them a squeeze Monty says they are fine.
Monty pots them up in compost and garden compost he then waters and labels and puts in the greenhouse.
He is also growing some from seed and he is planting a Dwarf Dahlia called Figaro mixed and Cactus Hybrids Mixed.
He is using a seed tray with good drainage and a seed mix compost and spaces the seeds evenly, covers in compost, firms and waters and put them somewhere warm.
Monty Succulents are in the greenhouse over Winter and they have not been watered all Winter as they store their own water.
Now that it is Spring they need a water and they only need monthly watering.
Snowdrops are ready now for dividing and moving whist they are in the green.
Monty digs up a clump that can either be replanted whole or divided, snowdrops don't like drying out so nee a moist soil.
He also has some Spring Snowflakes Leucojum they also like a damp position.
Last year the Hazel was Coppiced to produce new shoots and used the wood was used for poles and hedging. Now that the light is able to get the floor is full of Primroses and Hellebores.
Monty is in the Wildlife Garden and he has deliberately not cut anything back so the wildlife have cover for the Winter months.
These will be cut back when the new growth starts to come through.
He has some pruning from his Dogwood that he is going to use as cuttings in the Wildlife Garden simply by keeping them in water and he cuts off the end by a node. He then cuts the top at an angle and pushes them deep in the ground.
Monty is in his new large greenhouse and he is planting out Salad Crops to keep them fed throughout the Spring which he had sown before Christmas.
He has some Cultivated Rocket, Spinach, Mitsuba, a type of Japanese Green and Endive.
Some he will grow in the greenhouse for fast cropping and some outside to stagger the crop.
He has planted them in plugs so they are easier to transplant.
If you are planting outside they will be protected and crop quicker by covering them with a cloche or fleece.
You can buy young plants at the Garden Centre but remember to not plant them too close.
Monty is sowing his Tomatoes and he is using a seed compost and planting a variety called Black Krim which are a large tomato and he presses them down and lightly covers them, label and water and puts them somewhere warm.
When the seedling appear you need to keep turning them.
The other variety he is sowing is Sungold a cherry tomato and are very easy to grow for indoors or outdoors.
Monty is on the mound digging up the last of the plants to create space for a Summer house and he has a Wisteria to move which will hopefully survive the move.
He first cuts it back to help it survive the shock of being moved and he starts digging quite a way from the plant as they have big roots.
He gets it out and repots it straight away so it doesn't dry out and with the perfect conditions it will be ready to replant in about a year.
Monty is building a summerhouse on the mound to come in the evening using recycled materials.
He ends with telling us with the clocks going forward the days in the garden are getting longer and more time to enjoy it.
Daisy Hale from East Finchley
Daisy has a wonderful collection of Cacti and Succulents and she finds them hilarious and entertaining!
She rescues plants that are not doing well and started collecting them at 14 years old when she had an Aloe Vera plant.
Every plant has a personality and she names them! Her favourite house plant is String of Pearls.
Her most unusual plant is a Merremia Holubii which is part of the Morning Glory Family although it looks like a weird potato but it has beautiful flowers once a year.
She mists them once and twice a week and when they need a proper watering she puts them in the bath and showers them.
Adam's garden has been coming alive with Snowdrops and Winter Aconites but the Hellebores have been magnificent.
Adam has been admiring them with a cup of coffee every day and they have been full of bees.
Last Summer Adam started work on a new terrace next to his Gravel Garden and then over the Winter he got a digger in and cleared more of his garden.
He got a bit carried away and started a massive project in extending his Gravel Garden to connect with the other new area.
He starts the layering planting with the trees first, in the gravel garden he has an Amelanchier so he has added another 2 to the new area.
To add Winter colour he has Cornus Mas which he wants to connect with the large Viburnum tree.
Adam is now adding the Shrub layer and the first one he planting is Euonymus Alatus Blade Runner he has already added lots of manure and gravel to the soil.
The next shrub is amazing it is a Muehlenbeckia Astonii or Wiggy-Wig Bush which grows to 2 metres by 2 metres and they are a key plant he is putting in to link it to his Corokia.
It may look all brown and empty but Adam has the hope and vision to what his new garden is to become in the future.
Frances last Summer visited Dave Goulson Wildlife Garden in West Sussex who is a Professor of Biological Science as well as an Author and Bee Expert.
He tries to attract as many insects as possible to his garden and he tells Frances how insects are in decline.
Insects breed very quickly so by giving them the right environment they will return.
Even a small garden can attract lots of insects and we can help by not spraying Pesticide and plant lots of insect friendly flowers.
Dave has a mixture of Herbaceous plants and Native wild flowers.
He has Giant Hyssop, Catmint, Lavender alongside Marjoram and Birdsfoot Trefoil in a pot.
In Dave's Vegetable garden he has left for Vegetables to go to flower like his Parsnip and they flower in their second year and he can also collect the seeds.
This also helps keep garden pests like Aphids under control as it is also home to their predator like Ladybirds so this keeps the number of pests down on his vegetables.
He also has Comfrey and Leek flowers that attract Pollinators that help his Runner Beans.
Dave says it is all about Balance.
His lawn is mowed once a year and he runs a net over the lawn to collect the insects to show Show Frances his catch, like Lacewings that would not be here if the grass was mown and this creates a whole eco system.
Even a small patch of un-mown lawn will help stop the decline of insects.
Poppy Okotcha Houseboat Gardening
Poppy, her boyfriend and 3 legged cat live on their houseboat on the Grand Union Canal in Central London.
In the past 4 years Poppy has developed her garden as a floating oasis and Wildlife pontoon and she grows plants inside, on top and on the deck of the boat.
On the deck she grows a lot of herbs ready for cooking with.
On top of the boat it can get windy and they have problems with the willow overhanging that they coppice every 2 years so it can be very shady.
Poppy has had a huge lifestyle change from a Model to living more grounded and gardening became a healer for her.
The plants do take over with not much space left for them.
Poppy has grown some Ginger from an Organic Ginger root she bought from the Supermarket and then she soaked it in water and potted it on in very moist compost and they can take a while to grow.
She loves plants and as she cares for the plants they too care for her.
They are not self sufficient but she gets enjoyment from the whole process and is growing 3 different types of Tomato, Minibel, Gardener's Delight and Marmande alongside companion plants Borage, Nasturtiums and Basil.
Poppy makes an arch out of her coppiced Willow to support her Tomatoes.
She says her garden is a 'dream' and she is very lucky to have it.
Viewers Videos
Helen from Coventry
Helen rents her property so she uses pots to garden in and gets her inspiration from her Grandma who was a keen gardener.
She sadly passed away recently but as most of the plants in her garden come from cuttings or plants so her memory lives on in the garden.
In the Autumn she took a cutting from a pink climbing fragrant rose and she is dividing them up into pots with peat free compost with added Rose food. She will then share these with friends and neighbours.
Craig from Dorset
Craig has created his own small Tropical oasis on the Dorset Coast in a tiny garden and he has managed to fill it with decking, patio and a pond as well as planting beds.
His favourite plants though are shade loving plants in this sunny garden!
He loves Ferns, Impatiens and Begonias and he takes cutting from his house plants and uses them as Summer bedding plants outside for added foliage.
Laura from Easy Cheshire
Laura has a small garden and she plans to grow fruit and vegetables in her borders amongst her other plants.
The garden is surrounded by high fences and faces West and is a space for the children too.
She is adding clusters of Beetroot, Red Cabbage and French Beans to the borders instead of Annual Flowers.
The garden is not perfect there are Chickens, 2 small children and a dog all using it. She is hoping the plants will survive all that as well as look attract in her borders.
She is hoping for food on the table and smiles all round, what more can you ask for.
Nell watches Monty and his Dahlias.
Patti makes her first appearance in the show in the warmth of the greenhouse and between Monty's legs.
Nell and Patti both make another appearance right at the end of the programme on the Mound.
Prune Redcurrants
Redcurrants, White Currants and Gooseberries all need pruning now and the new growth needs cutting off as they produce on the old wood.
Cut back late flowering Clematis
Now the time to cut back Clematis like Clematis Viticella and prune back all last years growth to avoid bare stems this year.
Sow half-hardy Annuals
Now the best time to sow like Zinnia, Cosmos and Tithonia.
All photographs are Copyright of BBC.com
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