Gardeners World episode 19 2019: It is not late to grow crops for harvesting this year and Monty shows us how to produce a medley of vegetables from a small space. He also lifts and divides irises plus adds spires of summer colour to his borders.
Carol Klein is inspired by the summer planting at Wollerton Old Hall in Shropshire and Frances Tophill travels to the Isle of Man to visit an allotment where plants are grown and harvested as ingredients for cosmetics.
Nick Bailey is at RHS Harlow Carr, revelling in their stream-side planting, and Adam Frost is in Northamptonshire, finding out about the design and planting at Cottesbrooke Hall. And the programme meets a woman whose passion for bees is inspiring young beekeepers at a school in Huddersfield.
Gardeners World episode 19 2019
Vegetables in containers
Planting vegetables in containers is a versatile way of growing edible crops in the garden, particularly where space is limited. When to grow vegetables in containers: timings vary depending on the crop, but the main growing season is from early spring to autumn.
Container choice
- Pots, troughs and grow-bags can all be used to allow gardeners without time or room for a vegetable plot to grow fresh, tasty produce
- Container-grown vegetables can be started off in a glasshouse, conservatory or porch for earlier crops
- Smaller containers can result in a lack of moisture and nutrients for plant roots. Aim for containers with a depth and width of at least 45cm (18in), otherwise frequent watering and feeding will be needed
Compost choice
- Use sterile proprietary potting composts to obtain best results
- The soil-based compost John Innes No 3 is especially easy to manage, but other composts, including peat-free varieties, are also suitable
- Compost in grow-bags is often both good value and reasonable quality
- Home made mixtures of two parts soil and one part well rotted organic matter fortified with extra fertiliser can be an economical substitute, but home-made mixtures are not sterile, so may pose a risk for pest and disease problems
- Organic growers who wish to avoid fertiliser use can get good results from mixing well-rotted manure into the potting compost in the lower half of their containers – 20 percent by volume should be sufficient