Gardeners World episode 10 2012

Gardeners World episode 10 2012

Gardeners World episode 10 2012: Monty Don returns to Longmeadow with inspirational ideas and plants gathered at the Malvern Spring Show. He has tips and advice for planting ferns for dry places and then turns his attention to the pond where he shares ideas on different types of water lilies and how to plant them.


 

 



Carol Klein delves into the quirky world of moisture-loving ferns, discovering them in the wild and admiring their variety when she visits a restored Victorian grotto in Wales. There is also a catch-up on the novice gardeners at Didcot army barracks, as they continue to develop their cut-flower garden.

 

Gardeners World episode 10 2012

 

Waterlilies

After planting the edges of the pond with marginal plants, Monty Don now stocks his new pond with waterlilies. The canopy their leaves provide will create a good balance of light and shade. Before sinking the young plants into the water Monty re-pots them into larger mesh baskets using low nutrient aquatic compost. To grow successfully waterlilies need calm, still water away from disturbance by waterfalls, fountains or pumps. They are best planted between late spring and late summer in an open position with full sun.

Waterlilies are heavy feeders and benefit from a proprietary aquatic slow-release fertilizer added into the compost or soil during the growing season, following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Ferns for dry places

We usually associate ferns with moist shady situations. But there are those more suited to dry shade. Monty Don selects ferns for dry woodland shade. Here trees suck out available moisture and the leaf canopy cuts out the light. This is a situation most of us have in our own gardens, found under shrubs and trees. In the Dry Garden Monty chooses ferns suited to arid stony conditions.

Low-maintenance and tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions, ferns complement any shade plant combination. From tiny specimens grown in walls to the royal fern at six feet tall, there’s room for ferns in every sized garden.

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