Gardeners World 19 October 2012: With the first frosts beginning to bite, Monty Don takes some practical steps to preserve and protect tender plants like cannas and shares tips on how to over-winter dahlias. Also, with an eye on next spring, Monty plants up containers with tulips and pansies as well as planting out wallflowers grown from seed. Now is also the perfect time to plant apple trees and Monty will be sharing advice on planting and training step-over apples.
Carol Klein will be at Glebe Cottage demonstrating just how easy it is to make more of our favourite plants for free by taking cuttings from their roots. As well as giving an insight into which plants can be reproduced in this way, she’ll also be giving us a practical guide on how to do this type of propagation.
In the gardens of West Dean in Sussex, Joe discovers a fantastic collection of fruit which has been trained to take up the minimum of space but which yields maximum crops. He finds out not only how it is done but also how fruit grown in this way is ideal for smaller gardens.
Gardeners World 19 October 2012
Tulips
Tulips are amongst the most popular of bulbs, valued for their brilliant flower colours and shapes. Plant in autumn for a show of spring flowers. Choose from a large range to suit the situation. Whether used in formal or informal beds and borders, tulips make ideal bedding plants combined with annual or biennial planting. Tulips can also be useful for containers, and some varieties can be naturalised in grass.
Tulips grow best in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun, sheltered from strong winds. All dislike excessively wet conditions; this is particularly true with alpine species which require excellent drainage. Exceptions include Tulipa sprengeri, T. sylvestris and T. tarda which prefer a more moisture-retentive soil with partial shade. Incorporate organic matter into the soil before planting to improve both clay and sandy soils, making them much more suitable for tulips. Coarse gravel can also help improve growing in clay soils.
Canna
Cannas are vibrant tender perennials that produce bold leaves and showy flowers in shades of red, orange, yellows and pinks. It is a useful summer bedding plant for both containers and borders, but does well in cool conservatories in summer.
Cannas can be grown in borders or containers. They are grown from rhizomes (underground stems), which you will find for sale in late winter in bags of shredded paper, or sold loose. Cannas are easy to grow from rhizomes, but you can also buy plants over the summer.
