Gardeners World episode 7 2020: Monty, Nigel and Nellie are at Longmeadow, providing inspiration for gardens and discussing all the essential gardening jobs for this weekend.
The team present seasonal highlights from across the country, visiting stunning gardens, meeting the gardeners and finding out their secrets of success.
Gardeners World episode 7 2020
How to grow clematis
One of the most popular garden plants, clematis produce masses of flowers in a variety of shapes and colours. From vigorous to compact climbers, as well as herbaceous types for a sunny border, here’s everything you need to know to grow these plants in your garden.
Most clematis grow best in a sunny or part-shaded position, but there are plants available to suit any aspect. Consider the conditions in your garden and choose a plant that will thrive there, whether that’s a shady wall or a particularly hot and sunny one. If you want an evergreen clematis, bear in mind that these need a sunny, sheltered spot.
How to grow the perfect cherry
Sweet cherries produce delicious fruit and are usually grown as small open trees, or trained as fans against walls or fences. They can also be grown in large containers – and if you choose a self-fertile cultivar, they will fruit without a pollination partner. Acid cherries are self-fertile, tolerate some shade and are ideal for a north-facing wall. Their fruits are excellent for cooking and make delicious jam.
Mulch cherries with well-rotted organic matter, in late February. Feed with general fertiliser like Growmore at 100g per sq m (4oz per sq yd) from February to March. If fruiting is poor, apply sulphate of potash at 15g per sq m (½oz per sq yd).
Protect cherry flowers from frost damage: cover with horticultural fleece if frost is predicted. Keep trees well watered during the early stages of fruit development, they also benefit from a top-dressing of a general fertiliser in mid-spring. Sweet cherries are usually grown as small trees (‘open-centred bush’ or ‘pyramid’), or fans against a wall or fence.
Sweet cherries fruit on one-year-old and older wood; pruning creates a balance between older fruiting wood and younger replacement branches. Formative pruning takes place in spring as the buds begin to open, established trees are pruned from late July to the end August. For pruning of mature fan trees and for pruning of bush sweet and acid cherry trees, read more in our advice profile.
Success with bulbs
Bulbs make a fine display planted in containers or borders, especially daffodils, snowdrops and tulips in spring. They are one of the easiest and most rewarding garden plants to grow. Bulbs are useful for adding colour to spring borders. Tulips come in all shades, from dark purple to white, and bloom at a time of year when many plants offer muted colours. Other bulbs, such as snowdrops and scillas, are some of the earliest flowering plants in the garden, brightening up the short days of very early spring.
Most bulbs are acquired and planted when dry, in a dormant, leafless, rootless state. Plant as soon as possible. They may flower poorly following later than recommended planting or after lengthy storage.
Rhubarb growing
Rhubarb is an attractive hardy perennial with large leaves and pink, red or greenish leaf stalks that are used as a dessert, often in pies and crumbles. Stems are usually picked in spring, but plants can be covered with pots to produce an early crop of blanched stalks in late winter. The flavour of rhubarb varies in sweetness depending on the age of the stems.
Keep rhubarb free of weeds by covering the ground with a mulch of composted manure, but avoid burying the crown as it will rot. Cover the area above the roots with 100g per sq m (4oz per sq yard) of general purpose fertiliser in March, and water regularly in dry spells to keep it moist and actively growing until autumn. When the top growth dies back in autumn, remove the dead leaves to expose the crown to frost – this will help break dormancy and ensure a good crop of stalks the following year.
To get an earlier crop, you can force stems. To force stems, cover the crown with a traditional forcing jar, bucket or upturned pot in late winter, ensuring that all light is blocked out. Cover drainage holes in pots with a brick or stones. When stems reach the top of the container, they are ready for harvesting. Forced stems are lighter-coloured and more tender than those grown in the open, and are generally ready three weeks earlier.
How to sow seeds outdoors
Many vegetables, annuals, biennials and herbaceous plants can be grown from seed sown outdoors. The secret to success is to prepare a good seedbed, free of weeds and with a crumble-like soil-surface texture.
Many vegetables, annuals, biennials and herbaceous plants can be grown from seed outdoors. Ornamental examples include Centaurea cyanus (cornflower), Digitalis (foxglove), Eschscholzia (Californian poppies), Helianthus annuus (sunflower), Iberis umbellata (candytuft), Limnanthes douglasii (poached egg flower) and Tropaeolum majus (nasturtiums). Vegetables such as beans, carrots, onions and peas can also be grown outside from seed.
Sowing seed outdoors, directly into final growing places, is ideal for gardeners who do not have much room to raise seed indoors in trays or propagators. You also don’t need to start seed sowing as early in spring as when you sow outdoors. You can scatter seed of ornamentals in free drifts to achieve a natural-looking distribution, or sow vegetables and cutting flowers in clearly defined drills to make weeding and thinning easier to carry out.
Perfect parsnips in Gardeners World episode 7 2020
A roast dinner isn’t complete without roast parsnips – and they add a whole new dimension to stews and casseroles too. The good news is parsnips are easy to grow, need little maintenance and can be left in the garden until you’re ready to use them. Sow in spring and you’ll have parsnips in the autumn.
Sow thinly or sow three seeds at 15cm (6in) intervals, 13mm (0.5in) deep in rows 30cm (12in) apart. Although it is sometimes recommended to start sowing in February, this can lead to failure. Sowings made in March and April, and even early May, will often do much better. Warm the soil before sowing with cloches or similar; leave these in place until the seedlings have developed two true leaves.
So sad to see that the wonderful South African couple who featured on this programme were brutally murdered shortly after the Gardener’s World team had filmed this feature. May be a short tribute would be appropriate in next week’s programme.
It is hard to believe that garden centres have been closed in the UK. Here in Australia our garden centres are open and vegie seeds and seedlings are walking out the door as fast as they are delivered. It is hard to find vegies and compost if you aren’t at the garden centre when they are delivered.