Gardeners’ World episode 11 2013

Gardeners’ World episode 11 2013: Monty Don plants up summer bedding in the Jewel Garden and starts a new tomato experiment, while Carol Klein celebrates the blossom at Batsford Arboretum in the Cotswolds.

Gardeners’ World is a long-running BBC Television programme about gardening, first broadcast on 5 January 1968 and still running as of 2019. Its first episode was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. The magazine BBC Gardeners’ World is a tie-in to the programme. Most of its episodes have been 30 minutes in length, although there are many specials that last longer. The 2008 and 2009 series used a 60-minute format as did the 2016 series from episode 23, for eight episodes in total.

Gardeners’ World episode 11 2013

Canna virus

Virus diseases in cannas are now widespread, affecting plants in stocks around the world. Symptoms of canna virus vary from plant to plant, causing streaking and mottling on the leaves, loss of vigour and occasional breaks of colour in flowers. As the season progresses, streaks worsen and leaves become ragged with holes, a great shame when these plants are chosen for their lush foliage.

To reduce the chances of bringing this disease into your garden, where it can spread easily to healthy plants, avoid buying dormant rhizomes and always check the foliage of new plants for signs of disease. This can be confusing with varieties that have patterned leaves but err on the side of caution: never buy unhealthy looking plants and dispose of any stock as soon as you see signs of unwanted streaking. When handling your cannas, it’s also a good idea to sterilize your tools between plants to avoid spreading the disease.

Pot on rooted cuttings

If you’ve taken basal cuttings such as dahlias or delphiniums, check them regularly for signs of growth. If you see strong new roots, it’s time to pot them on. Remove them carefully and pot up each cutting individually into fresh, free-draining compost. Water them and place them in a protected place to grow on and they’ll be ready to plant out at the end of summer.

Tie in climbers

Many climbers such as late-flowering clematis grow very fast at this time of year and it’s important to keep them untangled and tied where you want them to be. This way, when they flower, they’ll be looking their best. Use soft twine so you don’t damage the stems and tie them gently against their supports.

Earth up potatoes

Potatoes that were planted a month or so ago will be breaking the surface of the soil so now is a good time to earth them up. Drawing earth up over the top of the foliage will protect it from a late frost. Ensuring tubers are sufficiently buried when they form, prevents them being exposed to light and becoming poisonous. Finally, keeping tubers well covered can also reduce the risk of them being affected by blight if plants succumb to the disease later in the year.

Monty Don in Gardeners’ World episode 11 2013

Monty Don was born in West Berlin to British parents Denis Thomas Keiller Don, a career soldier posted in Germany, and Janet Montagu (née Wyatt). Both of his paternal grandparents were Scottish, through whom he is descended from botanist George Don and the Keiller family of Dundee, inventors of a brand of marmalade in 1797. On his maternal side, he is descended from the Wyatts, who were a prominent dynasty of architects. Both parents died in the 1980s. Don has a twin sister, an elder brother David, and two other siblings. His twin suffered a broken neck and blindness after a car crash, at the age of 19. Don describes his parents as being “very strict”.

Don was educated at three independent schools: Quidhampton School in Basingstoke, Hampshire, Bigshotte School in Wokingham, Berkshire, and at Malvern College in Malvern, Worcestershire, a college he hated. He then attended a state comprehensive school, the Vyne School, in Hampshire. He failed his A levels and while studying for re-takes at night school, worked on a building site and a pig farm by day. During his childhood he had become an avid gardener and farmer. He was determined to go to Cambridge out of “sheer bloody-mindedness”, attending Magdalene College, where he read English and met his future wife Sarah. He was a Cambridge Half Blue for boxing.