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0:44

Hello,

0:50

I'm Cathy Clugston and this is Gardner's Question

0:52

Time from BBC Radio 4. So

0:55

grab those secateurs or sit back

0:57

and relax, however you like to listen and

0:59

enjoy the next 45 minutes of great tips,

1:02

advice and dubious horticultural

1:04

humour.

1:06

Come into the garden, Maud, I'm here at

1:08

the gate alone. Hello and welcome

1:10

to GQT. I'm in the village of Freshwater

1:13

on the west coast of the Isle of Wight this week.

1:16

Just on the edge of the village is Farringford

1:18

House, the former home of one of the literary

1:21

giants of the Victorian era, the poet

1:23

Alfred Lord Tennyson. A keen gardener,

1:25

he was president of the Freshwater Horticultural

1:28

Society, who are our hosts today.

1:31

His love of the garden and nature was strongly

1:33

evident in his writing. Take this section

1:35

of his poem,

1:36

To Ulysses, about the evergreens

1:38

on the Farringford estate. And see

1:41

my cedar green and there my giant

1:43

Ilex keeping leaf, when frost is keen

1:45

and days are brief. Or marvel

1:48

how an English air, my yucca, which

1:50

no winter quells, although the months have

1:52

scarce begun, has pushed toward

1:54

our faintest sun a spike of half-accomplished

1:57

bells. Beautiful.

1:59

There's nothing half accomplished about today's panel

2:02

of horticultural experts, and I've

2:04

chosen for each of you, panel, a Tennyson quote.

2:07

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. It's

2:10

the ever-so-sage Bob Flourdew

2:12

to strive, to seek, to find, and not

2:14

to yield the motto of variegated

2:16

plant seeker Matthew Potich. And

2:19

if I had a flaw for every time I thought of

2:21

her, I could walk through my garden forever. It's

2:23

the fabulous Pippa Greenwood. Please welcome

2:25

the panel.

2:36

Let's take our first question here in the Freshwater

2:38

Memorial Hall. Hello, I'm Louise

2:40

from the Carrowsbrook Gardening Group. Have

2:43

you ever found a permanent black

2:45

marker pen that stays permanently

2:48

on a plant label?

2:50

I think we

2:52

probably know the answer to this one Bob. You

2:55

know, this goes right back to Victorian

2:57

times. In the magazines then, people complaining

3:00

they couldn't get something that would stay on the labels

3:02

forever. You have tried pencils,

3:04

soft pencils. To be works

3:07

much better than a marker pen and lasts longer. It

3:09

still disappears. What

3:11

gets me though is the label will

3:13

still have the name of the nursery on it, but

3:15

the plant has gone. It

3:18

may even have the price on it still, but the plant

3:20

has gone. The answer is actually

3:23

to have two labels. One is the label

3:25

that's with the plant and the other is a page

3:27

in a book where you've drawn a plan and written

3:30

down what it was on a plan. And

3:32

indeed if you've got unusual plants,

3:34

trees and soil in your garden, make a plan

3:37

and just nail it to the rafters in your house

3:39

so that when you're gone, somebody else can work

3:41

out exactly what they are.

3:43

Very good tip Bob. Pippa,

3:46

what are your thoughts on labelling? Do you label things?

3:49

I do. I think if you really

3:51

want to go down the pen route, the best I've

3:53

ever found, and it's not perfect, but

3:55

it's better than the classic permanent marker

3:57

is a laundry pen, a laundry

4:00

marker. But the other thing I really

4:02

do like is you can buy very

4:04

thin strips

4:06

of copper with a hole in one end

4:08

so that you can then you know put some

4:11

twine or piece of wire through it and

4:13

attach it to the plant. But you can then

4:15

write on the label and it's indense

4:18

so if you use just like a pencil and

4:20

you write whatever

4:23

I can't think of a single plant. It's indense

4:26

permanently on that piece

4:31

of copper and then if the plant

4:33

dies as Bob complains they do in his

4:35

garden not in mine of course. Then

4:37

you can squish that over the tight

4:40

corner of say the edge of a table and

4:43

press out what you wrote the time before and then write

4:45

again. That's nice pepper and also Matthew we're

4:47

thinking about aesthetics you know we don't if you don't want sort

4:49

of scraggly little bits of things we want the labels to

4:51

look good. Yeah we do

4:53

we do I'm always worried about aesthetics

4:56

I mean my little cacti and succulent collection

4:58

I have them all labeled because I'm a little bit

5:00

like that and I actually use those

5:03

black labels that come there it is annoying

5:05

to do this but they come with those sharp points

5:07

and you almost scratch it in so I miss

5:09

you etch it in but it trust me it never

5:12

goes anywhere it just it does last

5:14

but you know really what's the worst that can happen

5:16

because I took a group around

5:18

the south of France last summer and I

5:21

thought I was you know mr. knowledgeable

5:23

pointing out all the plants naming all the plants and

5:25

half the group had those plant identification

5:28

apps they were following me along going yeah he was right

5:30

yeah he knows this stuff yeah he was right he was right

5:33

and I was thinking they don't need me you

5:35

know there's apps some of them are really

5:37

accurate now so I mean what's the worst that can

5:39

happen maybe just relax and not worry about labeling

5:42

things. I know but also you know

5:43

you want to be walking if you're walking around summer I don't

5:45

want to be constantly with the phone and the plant.

5:47

It's okay

5:48

with using my sense. Well yeah you just learn

5:50

the plant names. Oh okay. You don't

5:52

need to label them. Try a bit harder caffi.

5:55

I'll start with A and get cracking.

5:58

Thank you so much to Lisa.

5:59

Thank you, very interesting question. Let's

6:02

move along to our next dilemma in the garden.

6:05

Hello panel, I'm Phil Lawrence

6:07

from the Freshwater Horticultural Society.

6:11

My cartoons are out

6:13

of control.

6:15

Can I dig some up and

6:17

grow them in pots?

6:19

Right, could you describe them for us please Matthew?

6:22

I love cartoons, they look similar

6:24

to an artichoke, you

6:27

grow them for ornament, they're a classic herbaceous

6:29

border plant. They almost look like a

6:31

giant thistle, they've got lovely silvery

6:33

blue leaves and they

6:35

generally come into leaf in late winter so you've got

6:38

something to look at in the border, they're very early into

6:40

leaf which is something I love and then they

6:42

push these enormous flower spikes, quite

6:44

big woody stems and they have a flower

6:46

a bit like an artichoke or a big thistle on top.

6:49

Bees

6:49

and butterflies love them, loads of purple

6:52

stamens. I actually planted some in a friend's

6:54

garden recently and he's really into

6:56

edibles, he was devastated, he was like

6:58

why would we grow these instead of, why would we

7:00

have a globe artichoke? I was like well

7:03

these are a lot prettier. Anyway, his other

7:05

half got it, she's like hang on, you

7:07

can eat cartoons. Oh but really, yes

7:09

you tie the leaves up and blast

7:12

the inner and it's like

7:15

a long thin cabbage and a tasting

7:17

of artichoke. But it's like

7:19

an Asian

7:19

pear. Anyway, it's

7:24

great they're doing well for you, they are vigorous and

7:26

if they're happy they form enormous big clumps.

7:29

Yeah, they're too happy. Yeah, I

7:31

mean my only thought would be,

7:33

they probably would struggle along in a pot but it'd be

7:36

such a shame to restrict it in a pot. I

7:38

would rather say and I know it's a bit of work is

7:41

just split it and divide it and give some away

7:43

to friends. Well it's

7:44

not just one, I've got about 20 of

7:47

them and the pheasants

7:49

get in them and they fall

7:51

all over the place and they're

7:53

taking up, what the pheasants

7:55

or the pheasants are falling

7:58

over.

7:58

If

8:00

you've had enough of them, obviously, it's maybe time

8:02

to just do away with them altogether. I think they're

8:04

best with a free root run. I'd be interested if these

8:07

guys would grow them in pots. Yeah, I bet

8:09

you were pulling

8:09

a face. No, I'm just worried

8:11

about, I have this vision of something

8:14

getting more and more miserable and I've not

8:16

ever put one in a pot. So I'm

8:18

not speaking from experience, but I really

8:20

don't think it would be a happy garden.

8:23

And I would prefer to

8:26

cut down dramatic be the number in the garden if

8:28

you feel you've got too many and

8:31

then give them away as was suggested, or

8:33

would you just compost some

8:35

of them? Well, then about that, they probably escaped

8:37

the composting, but I wouldn't

8:39

want to put one in a pot. I think it would look

8:41

miserable. I think it would get drawn. I

8:43

think it would be better off

8:45

not being, you know, it'd be like

8:47

a battery chicken. Okay, we're basically saying no,

8:50

Phil, I think. Yeah, thank you. So

8:52

there you go, that's

8:52

your answer. Thank you. Who's

8:55

next? Hello, my name is Rod Powell

8:57

from Shelflead, and I'm having a few problems

8:59

with my butternut squash. They're

9:01

getting discoloured. They start as a lightish

9:03

colouring and then they gradually get worse

9:05

and worse. I cut them off to try and stop

9:07

that. And as a background, I'm

9:09

growing them on my compost heap. They

9:12

grow on the year two compost heap and the year three

9:14

compost heap. So they should have plenty of

9:16

nutrition.

9:17

Okay, how many of these do you have?

9:18

I've got this one, I've got about 10 or

9:21

so in my shed and the three or four I've left

9:23

on the plants still. So we're getting plenty of

9:25

fruit on them and plenty of vegetation as

9:27

well. It comes out of four plants of

9:29

butintment.

9:30

Okay, let's have a look then. You've brought the squash to show

9:32

us. Let's pass it up to the panel. Bob, can you grab

9:35

that? Thank you. I've

9:37

got exactly the same ones on my mind this

9:39

year for the first time ever.

9:40

Oh, famous. It looks disgusting.

9:43

I'll hand it over to Pippa because I haven't got anything

9:46

like this. Yeah. I

9:48

did say it was for the first time. And I'm growing mine on

9:50

my compost heap as well. It is so much better

9:53

on the compost heap. They love it. They love it, they really

9:55

do, yeah.

9:57

It's very strange, isn't it? Because it

9:59

really does.

9:59

does I think look disgusting and I can say that

10:02

because I've got it too on some of mine in that

10:04

you've got a sort of darker colour to the butternut

10:06

squash skin covered in sometimes

10:09

some slightly circular aroundy sort of waves

10:12

of whitish sticky

10:15

dandruff look to it really. It's really

10:17

rather unpleasant. What I would say to

10:20

start with is I ate one of these the other

10:22

day and the skin just

10:24

peeled off absolutely perfectly normally and it was perfect

10:27

underneath. So to start

10:29

at the end and work backwards what I'm

10:31

planning on doing because lucky most of mine

10:33

are okay. I'm just going to eat

10:35

these ones first and I would

10:37

certainly not store them in the shed

10:40

with the others because I have

10:42

a feeling and I haven't taken a microscope to mine

10:45

but there's probably something slightly fungal involved

10:47

but probably fairly weak fungus

10:50

that's only there because of what I think

10:52

has caused it and I

10:54

would put these fruits somewhere

10:57

better ventilated than your shed and

11:00

the shed's got an open window and door because

11:02

what you need to do is let them dry out quite

11:05

dramatically but not too fast. So you don't

11:07

put them somewhere like a radiator or

11:09

the back of your Rayburn or if you've got one or whatever

11:11

but just put them somewhere there's good fast

11:14

air movement. So maybe I don't know

11:16

whether you share your house with anyone but maybe on the windowsill

11:18

or something in the kitchen or the sitting room

11:21

or somewhere where there's a bit more air movement

11:23

and warmer drier air and

11:26

then I think they'll last fairly well because there's no

11:28

sign of any deterioration under the

11:30

skin. What do I think did it? Well

11:32

with mine they're not growing on the compost heap they're

11:34

growing in open ground and the same

11:36

part of my garden that I grow

11:39

on my veg and I think

11:41

it's because we had that horrendous

11:43

non-summer after we had that

11:46

dry spell, hot spell in about

11:48

June it was wasn't it when we had the heat wave.

11:50

The rest of the time has been lots of muggy

11:53

air, damp air, generally

11:55

wet when it really should have been summery

11:58

and I think it's just like a

12:00

little bit of the equivalent of acne, you know, it'll

12:03

pass. It was brought on by

12:05

certain conditions and it isn't going

12:07

to cause any serious damage. And

12:09

if you listen to that, you

12:12

know, it's still rock hard under there like a

12:14

good butternut squash should be. But yeah,

12:17

I'm with you. It's a bit miserable making, but go

12:19

on, make some soup. You can freeze

12:21

butternut squash if you think it is starting

12:24

to go off. I'm going, if I do anyway,

12:26

I'm going to put you peel that bit off, chop

12:28

it up, dice it a bit, stick

12:30

it in the freezer.

12:32

There we go. And not too much to worry about.

12:34

Thank you. Thank you very much.

12:36

Let's take our next question, please. Hello.

12:39

My name is Brian from Wello.

12:42

My bedding plants on the patio and

12:44

by the front door are looking sad at the end

12:46

of the season. Can the panel recommend

12:49

alternatives to pansies to brighten

12:51

up the pots for the winter? Okay,

12:54

so you're dealing with pots and planters?

12:56

Yes. And they're on various sides of the house.

12:59

So we've got some in south side,

13:01

east and north. Okay. So you'd like something

13:03

for all of those that isn't a pansy? Yeah.

13:06

Okay. Actually our pansies have stayed

13:08

on from last winter

13:09

and they're still flowering. Okay. So some other

13:11

ideas then for Briany. Matthew

13:13

Potich. So

13:16

on the sunnier side,

13:18

so the south facing pots, because

13:21

you're a little bit milder here on the Isle of Wight,

13:23

some of the cichlomon persicum that you

13:25

see sold in the garden centers in the autumn.

13:27

They're not any good for cold, wet gardens,

13:30

but here in a container against

13:32

a sunny wall, I would definitely recommend

13:35

those. The key with them is to pick them

13:37

over, deadhead them, take off any yellow leaves

13:39

because their biggest enemy is Betrotus. Often

13:42

they're sold just out in the garden center

13:45

and one assumes it's a hardy bedding

13:46

plant, but it's not. But then against

13:49

a warm wall, they would do okay

13:51

for you. The other winter bedding plant

13:53

that you sometimes see a little bit closer to Christmas,

13:55

but it will take frost and it's a brilliant

13:58

kind of short-lived shrub.

13:59

is Selenum pseudocapsicum

14:03

and sometimes called a winter cherry. It almost

14:05

looks like it has little cherry tomato like

14:07

fruits but in central London you see them

14:09

growing year on year on year and

14:11

then if you don't go below minus five minus

14:14

six they just continue flowering and

14:16

fruiting and they're really cheerful little

14:18

things and I would definitely recommend

14:20

those. They start appearing in the garden centers

14:23

more like November but it's just

14:25

a change from pansies and primulas

14:28

and polyanthos you know that you see a lot.

14:30

Yeah nice thanks Matthew. Pepper Greenwood.

14:34

That's really sounding lovely and I like

14:36

everything that Matthew suggested and I actually grow

14:39

some of those cichlomon in my Hampshire garden

14:41

which isn't as mild as here and it's

14:43

actually quite wind-swapped and cold the hillside

14:45

but I always have a couple of pots with

14:47

them which are right up next to the front

14:49

door and I do occasionally have to

14:52

chuck one of those fleece jackets over the tip

14:54

of them and drawstring it around them and

14:56

I find they're really worth it because

14:58

they are so lively and colorful

15:01

aren't they in a way that it's hard to get bedding quite

15:03

doing that otherwise. The other

15:05

things of course are the the winter flowering heathers

15:08

and the heathers that have good

15:10

foliage color in the winter some of them are quite

15:12

sort of fiery if you if you like those

15:15

and I rather do and

15:18

again I know you said knocked pansies

15:21

but and I understand if you don't like pansies

15:23

that's fine but do you think about violas

15:26

mini pansies I know but they are slightly

15:28

different and they tend for

15:31

me anyway to be a lot tougher and a lot

15:33

more floriferous in a hard

15:35

winter than the bigger flower

15:38

versions of pansies but they're

15:40

violas. That's what I

15:42

would suggest I think and and again think

15:45

about adding in some bulbs

15:48

now into the compost

15:50

in the containers that are going to come up in

15:53

early early spring or late winter

15:55

you know some of the really early crocus some of the really

15:57

early narcissus or

15:59

even and some snowdrops, they would really add a

16:02

little bit of extra oomph to your containers.

16:05

Lovely,

16:05

these are sounding very nice. Bob,

16:07

Florigy, what would you add? Something quite different.

16:09

You keep them in the pots, but you plant the pots out

16:12

into the ground, and that's a collection of different

16:14

ivies, because there are so many, in wonderful

16:17

yellow foliage, silver variegated foliage,

16:19

and you grow them in the pots, and then you plant them

16:22

out as a colourful evergreen,

16:25

and then you take them up again in the spring when you have other

16:27

things to go in, and put them around the back somewhere

16:29

where they can be out of the way, just growing away, getting

16:32

even more bushy, because they can be

16:34

a wonderful amount of colour and very little

16:36

work. Right,

16:37

thank you very much, yes, that

16:39

all sounds very interesting. We'll list for

16:41

you, Briany, and everyone else, all the plants mentioned

16:44

by the panel on the Radio4 website. Just

16:46

look for the GQT page and scroll down, you'll

16:48

see the list there. And we'll have more questions

16:51

from the audience here in freshwater on the Isle of

16:53

Wight in just a few moments. Now,

16:55

this time of year is perfect for taking stock

16:58

after the last of a summer harvest has been picked,

17:00

plucked or chopped. It's an

17:02

especially good time of year to clean your greenhouse,

17:05

if you're lucky enough to have one. That is

17:07

the main job on the agenda for Brie

17:09

Langley, Botanic Courticulturist at

17:11

Royal Botanic Gardens, Q. Brie

17:14

looks after Q's famous hot and sticky

17:16

water lily house. But what happens

17:19

to the water lily house during the winter months when

17:21

it's closed to the public? Peter Gibbs

17:23

went to find out and also learn

17:25

some valuable seasonal tips for those

17:27

of you with ponds at home.

17:31

Brie, we're standing outside

17:33

what is, I suppose by Q standards, quite a dinky

17:35

little greenhouse. Tiny. The

17:38

water lily house, but huge by most people's

17:41

standards. Tell us about the history of this place.

17:43

So this was a kind of weird thing

17:45

that happened in the Victorian age that everybody got very

17:47

competitive about things.

17:48

So there was this new plant that

17:51

was found and they named it

17:53

after Queen Victoria. And

17:55

that's what we now know as the giant water

17:57

lily. And then there was this weird competition that

18:00

that happened throughout all the large houses in Britain

18:02

that they had to flower it first

18:03

to give it to the Queen. So

18:05

that's why this house was built in 1852. It

18:08

opened for the first time, so almost 200 years ago now. And

18:12

it was purely for this competition,

18:14

purely to grow this one plant, which

18:16

seems

18:16

absolutely ridiculous now. And

18:19

the upshot is we lost. After

18:22

all that. After

18:23

all that. Chatsworth had a

18:25

nicer house and it was bigger.

18:26

Yeah. I

18:29

think we've still won, haven't we? Because

18:31

it is a magnificent building. But

18:33

for you, there's quite an annual cycle involved,

18:35

isn't there?

18:36

Yeah. So we tend to close, I

18:38

suppose, around about Halloween, give or

18:40

take. And that's simply because a lot

18:43

of the plants that we grow here are tropical.

18:45

And they start to wake up to the fact that

18:48

with our diminishing sunlight hours, they're

18:50

not

18:50

in the tropics anymore. They're in Britain

18:53

and they don't like it.

18:55

Everything starts to die down. We also

18:57

have bedding around about

18:59

the outside, tropical bedding. So

19:02

by the time it gets

19:03

to October, they're really looking a little bit

19:05

sad and they want to get going. OK,

19:07

that makes sense. Well, it would be nice to get

19:09

into some tropical heat on

19:12

a day like this. So should be wandering inside and have

19:14

a look, see what's going on. Yeah, yeah, let's get warm. So

19:17

here we are stepping through the doors and instantly

19:19

into the tropics. And wow, does it feel like it.

19:22

But it's the lushness that really

19:24

hits you as well. It's really spectacular.

19:26

Yes, and I mean, I

19:28

design

19:29

this now every year. And as

19:31

much as I would love to do a very kind of

19:33

pared back planting and things, this is

19:36

what this house is all about. It is clashes

19:38

of colors. It is brightness. It is ridiculous

19:41

looking plants. It is weird things. Yeah,

19:43

absolutely. They're all talking points of

19:45

their own right. And right in the centre of all this

19:47

magnificence and extravagance. The

19:49

giant water lilies, of course. Yes, yes,

19:52

yes. But it won't be long before

19:54

this pond is going to be empty. So

19:57

everything in here is emptied pretty

19:59

much.

19:59

soon as we shut the doors to

20:02

the public we will start to

20:04

take out all of the plants. By this

20:06

time we've already about a month ago we've

20:08

already propped all of the plants that

20:10

we need for the next year's planting

20:13

so we'll just dig everything out and

20:15

then the pond itself is drained

20:17

as soon as we know that we don't need

20:19

to propagate any of the water lilies here.

20:22

We'll drain it, we'll collect all of our seeds

20:25

that we've got from the Victoria.

20:27

But you'll also reproduce it

20:29

through cuttings? No. I

20:31

mean can you think of how big these cuttings are?

20:34

Fair point. So

20:36

it comes

20:37

so easily from seed.

20:38

I mean the plant was

20:41

almost

20:41

two

20:42

metres in diameter in the

20:44

start of June

20:46

and it was

20:47

a seed in February. I mean

20:49

it grows so fast. So you

20:51

don't actually keep it as a plant from the year

20:53

for you? No, no, no, no. It's like a massive

20:56

annual basically. I mean in the wild

20:58

it would probably be more like four years, like a short

21:00

term perennial.

21:01

In here we just do not have the space

21:04

and it seems to work really well as an annual. And

21:06

then it's a good scrub out of the pond once it's empty.

21:08

It takes so long. Yeah

21:11

so

21:11

I get very very dirty and

21:14

we will scrub out the pond, we

21:16

will power wash and then scrub it

21:18

again, we will power wash

21:21

all of the pots. We really try to

21:23

make sure that it's as clean as possible

21:24

because I mean if anybody at home knows

21:26

an artificial pond is so hard

21:29

to maintain. If we can start

21:31

clean it saves a lot of bother.

21:33

Of course, yeah. And then you'll bring the plants back

21:36

in when?

21:37

Yeah so we'll tend to plant in

21:39

March and then

21:40

open at the start of April.

21:42

The aquatics tend to be later and

21:44

the outside plants can almost be

21:47

a month in advance. Depends

21:49

on our timing. Many people at

21:51

home aren't going to be able to grow a giant

21:53

Amazonian waterlily because it

21:55

does need the sort of heat that we're standing in today.

21:57

Yeah limited clientele.

21:59

and a massive great glasshouse

22:02

to do it. But have

22:04

you got any tips for people at home that have got

22:06

a garden pond? What

22:08

sort of maintenance they should be thinking about through

22:10

the year? I'm never entirely sure with

22:12

mine, what's the best time of year to do it? I

22:15

mean it is really really difficult and

22:17

I think you know your own

22:19

plants, you know your own pots. Everybody

22:21

says spring to split

22:25

water lilies or to do any pond maintenance.

22:28

That's fine but then if you know that

22:30

you have a chosen pond or tote, that's

22:33

March. Spring

22:34

is a very long time and I think

22:36

that you can play around quite a

22:38

lot with the timing. Your

22:40

plants aren't going to know, if

22:42

you do it at the start of the year that makes

22:44

sense. Also if you're further north

22:47

or you have a very small pond, your

22:49

pond might be further back timing wise because

22:51

that small amount of water would have

22:53

got a lot colder than a large body of

22:56

water. Your plants are probably still

22:58

sebumating. When you find that it's warm

23:00

enough for you, which I think is most important,

23:03

to go into the pond and actually start splitting

23:05

things up, back to the time to do it. A

23:07

nice sunny day,

23:08

just remember to lay things

23:11

along the side of the pond to make sure

23:13

that any nature falls back in, any

23:15

newts, any tadpole,

23:17

anything that you can find. And then just

23:19

keep an eye on things over the season if you find

23:22

that pond weed is getting

23:23

out of control then try to get that way, especially

23:26

if you've got fish because you don't want those things

23:28

to be taking the oxygen away from the water.

23:31

If you've got a lot of algae and you really don't like

23:33

that, then just little and often it's just

23:35

like weeding

23:35

the borders really.

23:38

Little and often do a little hoe every

23:40

so often and you'll keep on top of it. That's

23:42

really useful, thank you. Well, reluctant

23:45

as I am to leave this tropical climate,

23:47

you've obviously got a lot of work to do, but I'll

23:50

leave you to do it. Yeah,

23:52

gonna have to start digging things out now.

23:59

Brie Langley and some valuable inspiration

24:02

on how to tidy up our ponds and

24:04

water features. Now it is the perfect time to do

24:06

it. Panel, it's the perfect time for

24:09

what job

24:09

in your garden? Bob Flardew. Oh

24:11

the pruning, the fruit pruning because if

24:13

you don't get it done and out of the way then it's

24:15

going to be a bit late and I like to get it done

24:17

before the weather really closes in on this. So

24:20

get that fruit pruning done. Okay well we

24:22

say jobs Pippa, we sometimes don't like that word

24:24

on the programme because it's a bit like a sort of a

24:26

chore, a thing to be done. What enjoyable

24:28

pursuit will you be doing?

24:32

Well weirdly I quite

24:34

like a bit and then suddenly I don't

24:36

like it I must admit but I will enjoy up to

24:38

a point leaf raking and

24:41

so leaves that are on areas of

24:43

grass and I've got quite a bit of grass at home

24:45

now. It is worth weight raking

24:47

those up and creating some leaf mold because

24:49

it's a great soil conditioner.

24:52

It's totally free and as you

24:55

probably have heard numerous times I have a heavy clay

24:57

soil so lovely organic

24:59

matter like that is great to add in. So

25:02

raking leaves there's something slightly

25:04

therapeutic about it. What about

25:06

your autumn agenda Matthew Potich?

25:08

In my little London garden

25:10

it's getting light in for the winter

25:13

so it is cutting back ivy,

25:15

it's cutting back some of the big evergreen plants,

25:17

it's taking out some canes from the bamboo which

25:20

lives between me and the neighbours that runs between

25:22

the fences and nobody seems to like. All

25:24

the neighbours blame me for it but it does predate

25:26

us. Because simply

25:28

everything is so built up the winter light

25:31

levels are so low and plants at

25:33

ground level really some of little

25:35

evergreen plants really struggle you know they don't

25:37

enjoy the winter. I've got lots of succulents

25:40

so I need as much light coming in as well

25:42

you know into the garden but also

25:44

I've got loads of house plants and I need as much

25:47

light coming in the house as possible. So

25:49

rearranging house plants moving them nearer the windows,

25:52

cleaning the windows it sounds crazy but you

25:55

know as much light as you can get in as possible

25:57

is really crucial because

25:59

going into the winter months we feel it ourselves

26:02

and my goodness evergreen plants feel it too

26:04

so as much light in is like

26:06

cleaning a glass house you need as much sun

26:09

in as you can get.

26:10

Thanks panel you're listening to Gardener's Question

26:12

Time on Radio 4 and BBC signs. I'm

26:15

Kathy Clugston and with me on the panel today

26:17

are Matthew Potich, Pippa Greenwood

26:19

and Bob Slargie and putting their questions

26:21

to them an audience of keen gardeners in

26:23

fresh water on the Isle of Wight.

26:32

Well as I mentioned earlier fresh water was home

26:35

in the mid 19th century to the poet Alfred

26:37

Lord Tennyson who wrote a lot about nature.

26:39

I wanted to share this poem with

26:42

you called The Flower.

26:43

It was really an allegory for his poetry

26:45

but

26:45

I think a lot of you will relate. This is the

26:47

first bit of it. Once in

26:49

a golden hour I cast to earth a seed.

26:52

Up there came a flower, the people said, a

26:54

weed. To and fro they went

26:57

through my garden bar and muttering

26:59

discontent cursed me and my flower.

27:02

Then it grew so tall it wore a crown of

27:04

light but thieves from over the wall

27:06

stole the seed by night, sowed it

27:08

far and wide by every time and tower

27:11

till all the people cried, splendid

27:13

is the flower. And so it goes on and it

27:15

becomes a weed again. The message being

27:18

grow what you want, don't trust anyone else's opinion

27:21

and write whatever poetry you like. But

27:23

before I get lost in a poetic reverie let's

27:25

move on to our next question

27:26

from our audience.

27:28

Hello my name is Jeanette Barzdel. My

27:30

question is are there any flowering climbing

27:33

plants that like climbing

27:34

trees? I

27:36

think the answer is yes

27:38

but we want a bit more than that. What

27:40

sort of trees Jeanette? I've got mixed

27:42

trees, I've got fruit, I've got fruit

27:44

trees, I've got

27:45

I feel like an imposter here because I don't know but

27:48

I think I've got a yucca plant that's

27:50

very tall and other

27:52

things. Other various

27:54

things? Yes. I

27:56

was curious about the idea, I did try

27:58

to, I put some netting

29:10

You

30:00

get the big flower and a little flower and they're scented.

30:03

And occasionally, in a very strange

30:05

year, you will get sausage-like fruit,

30:07

which are edible, though not necessarily

30:10

palatable, but a nice curiosity,

30:13

little purple sausages. They're

30:15

only quite interesting. A kybi quinata,

30:17

well worth growing. And something that

30:19

people don't think of, but it's lovely and you can get

30:21

them, hops. You

30:24

don't have to make beer from them, just grow them. They

30:26

really are rather lovely.

30:27

We could have wine and beer with your suggestions.

30:30

Yeah, wine and beer. I don't think they go

30:32

well together, actually.

30:35

Nice ideas, then, for some different things.

30:38

Matthew, what about your favourite climbers,

30:39

or what you might suggest for a chance? I adore

30:41

climbers on trees. If they're a big tree and

30:44

you can't be bothered to learn the pruning technique

30:46

of wisteria, just let them go up

30:48

a tree. Because they flower magnificently

30:50

when you leave them loose. The whole tree

30:52

will be purple or white, whatever you choose

30:56

in May time. One thing that

30:58

is really effective of a tree, and you don't see

31:00

it used that much, is the Virginia

31:02

Creeper, the Boston Ivy. It

31:05

will scramble up and then when it's covered the

31:07

main branch network, it hangs down like curtains.

31:09

And the autumn colour,

31:11

you probably know it, it illuminates bright

31:14

crimson this time of year. And curtains

31:16

are that hanging down out of a tree. It's

31:18

magnificent. Pippa mentions

31:21

roses, a rose that I hate pruning,

31:23

even though it's not thorny, but it's so

31:25

vigorous. It's a nightmare to

31:27

train and deal with. It's

31:29

the lovely early flowered Banksian rose,

31:32

Rosa Banksia lutea. It's

31:34

thornless, it has a lovely custardy

31:37

yellow flower in May. But it's

31:39

so

31:39

vigorous. If you've got it on a wall or a pergola,

31:42

you know, you need to take a week off work to deal

31:44

with it at the end of the summer. So

31:46

run it up a tree or a conifer, and

31:48

it's incredible.

31:49

Well, thank you, Cal. Can I ask?

31:51

Yes. None of this will hurt

31:53

the tree. Oh, they all hurt the tree

31:55

by taking the light and adding weight and so

31:57

on. What do you want if you want?

32:00

A climber that doesn't hurt the tree, you need to go

32:02

for something like a climbing rose, which doesn't

32:04

produce a mass of foliage. But most

32:07

climbers will slowly climb over

32:09

the tree, taking away most of the light.

32:11

It won't kill the tree usually, it'll just make it very

32:14

weak. It is about balancing the vigor though.

32:16

Look at how big the tree is, look at how strong the

32:18

tree is, and then think about the vigor. Generally

32:21

the book on climbers will recommend a

32:24

small obelisk, a large arch, a big

32:26

pergola, and generally that's

32:29

what you want to be looking at. But

32:30

of course every tree

32:32

would rather not have anything on it, but Mother Nature

32:35

intended climbers to climb trees, she didn't

32:37

invent pergolas. So you know,

32:39

where they ended up, up on the tree. Thank

32:42

you very much.

32:42

That's inspired you to have a go, Jeanette. Thank

32:45

you, I appreciate it. Who's next?

32:47

Hello, my name's Diana Gates, I work

32:49

at Freshwater and Yarmouth Primary School. What

32:53

could we plant in our new Forest School

32:55

garden to break up the space, define

32:57

areas and be useful

32:58

or interesting to grow, preferably

33:01

native plants?

33:02

Okay, so native plants for a primary

33:05

school, what sort of area are we talking about?

33:07

It's probably like 30 foot

33:09

square or something like that. Okay,

33:11

and you want

33:12

some kind of division, some areas

33:13

for different things, there's quite a lot in this question.

33:17

But where might we start, Bob? Teasles.

33:19

You've got to have teasles because they're just so

33:22

useful. You know that the leaf joints, where

33:24

the leaves join the stem, there's always

33:26

a little cup there for the water, it catches the rain

33:28

in the dew, so it's good for the insects and the

33:30

birds. The flowers are good for the insects,

33:33

the seeds are good for the birds. And did you

33:35

know that if you look at them on the side

33:37

of the road, you'll see that they've caught the dust,

33:39

they actually turn back at where they faced the traffic. Perhaps

33:42

some seeds, don't forget the biennial, you have to sow them

33:44

two years running to keep them going. After

33:46

that they sell seeds, of course.

33:47

Okay, what about dividing up this

33:49

area, Matthew?

33:51

I was just thinking of something that's, I

33:53

guess it's going to get quite a lot of wear and tear, and

33:56

something that's robust. And did you say it was in a forest

33:58

or woodland situation?

33:59

We're using it as a forest

34:00

school area so we've

34:03

got hedging around it and things

34:05

but it is quite open at the moment. OK.

34:09

Because you could either, I probably wouldn't need

34:11

to worry about this, I was going to say with some root barriers, some

34:13

different bamboos could be interesting but I

34:15

want to go back to your point of why does it have to be

34:17

native?

34:19

Just because of the ethos

34:20

of the forest school things really. Because

34:24

the climate is changing and the plants that were

34:26

left on this island after

34:28

the last ice age aren't necessarily changing

34:30

and adapting to the climate and we

34:32

need to think about diversity and we

34:34

need to think about what's doing well in the

34:36

current extreme climate. So

34:38

our native plants are not always enjoying climate

34:41

change, there's new pest and disease on these

34:43

shores, sorry you didn't come here for a lecture. So

34:47

sorry I think we need to be talking about non-native

34:49

plants that are

34:50

coping well with our extreme climate

34:53

and looking at what is, what

34:55

are our plants of the future. Climate

34:57

change is sadly with us and is happening

35:00

so maybe we should be thinking, sorry you didn't want this

35:02

at all did you? Fine, fine, great point. So

35:05

thinking a little bit outside of that

35:07

original box but I wanted to talk about bamboos

35:10

because they're quick growing, they're really

35:12

fun. When they push the new canes in the

35:14

spring you can be out with the kids actually

35:16

measuring day by day how quick the

35:18

canes are growing. They're useful

35:20

to then harvest the canes for support

35:23

and there's a lovely Chilean bamboo called

35:25

Chuzkia which has a solid cane,

35:28

it can actually be used to make walking sticks

35:30

but they're really pretty and they're really elegant

35:33

and you know with foot traffic around them, with kids running

35:35

around them it will manage the spread of them to

35:38

some extent but they'll provide shade,

35:40

they're quick to establish and

35:42

they're just, they're useful plants

35:44

but I think the speed of the young canes pushing

35:46

in the spring will really surprise the

35:49

children.

35:49

Yeah that'd be fun. Pepper, some

35:51

ideas from you? It's very difficult isn't it because a

35:53

lot of the plant food tradition they use particularly

35:56

those which are more on the

35:58

native front. hedging and

36:00

divisions are of course also quite prickly

36:02

and spiky. I wonder

36:05

if some of the things like the damnsons

36:08

and the boluses and things like that

36:11

would provide interesting fruit you know you can

36:13

make jam and things from damnsons

36:16

and even marabone plums and so

36:18

forth and use those maybe

36:21

as a bit of a divider.

36:22

Actually some of the willows just to add

36:24

will be really quick and easy. You can see

36:26

them from hardwood cuttings this coming winter.

36:29

Pencil like thicknesses of willows. If you know

36:32

someone with a willow you can harvest some off

36:34

it. You've got one. Perfect.

36:36

A certain member of my family I

36:39

shan't say their gender so I'll give away to

36:41

one it is. When we started

36:43

up a small business age about five

36:45

with willow woven into various

36:47

things including flyswats and

36:50

plant supports and any

36:52

unfortunate friend or family member that

36:54

came near the house was offered these

36:56

for sale and it wasn't really an offer it was a

36:59

demand. Absolutely

37:01

brilliant and really good fun to weave

37:03

things out of and you can make little almost like

37:07

doll shapes mini scarecrows

37:09

and flyswats and stuff

37:11

up a business. You know you can do business studies out there

37:13

as well.

37:15

Look into the cultivars of Felix

37:18

Alba because those yellow, orange and

37:20

red ones are in the stems. They're

37:22

really colourful. You harvest them and you can make

37:24

colourful things with them and they bulk

37:26

up so quickly. Lovely.

37:28

A few ideas there. We

37:30

have to move on but thanks so much for the question.

37:32

Who's next?

37:32

Hi I'm Chris Hallan from

37:35

Tophland Bay. What

37:38

I'd like to know, well off the panel is why are my

37:41

Suffolk Red Seedless grapes

37:43

full of seeds? It's two years

37:46

old. It's planted outside a greenhouse

37:49

but trained into it.

37:51

Ok and is it doing pretty well? Yes.

37:54

A good supply of grapes. So

37:57

lovely grapes. We've just got to see what's going on Bob or

37:59

could be. Well, seedless grapes are amongst

38:01

the hardest to grow. Generally, most

38:04

seedless grapes are not very good doers. You've

38:06

got one here. I haven't grown this one before. I

38:08

don't know it. However, I think it's

38:10

probably reverted because most seedless

38:13

grapes are ones that have been discovered as seedless

38:15

on another vine already and then they've

38:17

been propagated. And I think this one's gone

38:19

back to whatever it was before a CD1 because

38:22

they are producing grapes without seed, that's

38:24

the idea. Grape

38:27

vines originally used to have male and female plants

38:30

on separate ones. They became both on the

38:32

same plant years and years before we even

38:34

started recording history. But

38:36

the earliest grapes all had self

38:39

pollinated and produce, as you know,

38:41

lots of seeds. The seedless ones are relatively

38:44

few, very, very, very poor growers.

38:47

And I reckon it's just reverted. So I wouldn't

38:49

worry about it. Enjoy it as it is. It

38:51

may not do it every year. Also,

38:54

it may be that have a look carefully

38:56

and see if all the grapes are seedless

38:58

because you may be able to cut back to one

39:01

bud of a bit that was growing

39:03

seedless ones and another bud that's been

39:05

growing seeded ones. So you may be able

39:08

to prune it back to the one that you want as seedless.

39:11

Okay, hope that answers the question. Thank

39:13

you, Chris. We've time to squeeze in one

39:15

last question. Hello, I'm

39:17

Jill Reynolds, Freshwater at Horticultural

39:20

Society. I have a birthday

39:22

this week and I was wondering what garden

39:24

gifts the panel would like to receive

39:26

on their next birthday. Well,

39:29

happy birthday, Jill, coming up. Okay,

39:32

a gardening gift. What on earth do you buy for the

39:34

professional gardener in your life? I do not

39:36

know. Bob Flourdieu, what would you like to receive?

39:38

A new wheelbarrow, actually. Yeah.

39:42

The wheelbarrow I've got was my father's and he put a new

39:44

hard on it when he was still alive and that was 30

39:46

years ago. I've been using it ever since

39:49

I've put a new wheel on it. But to be fair,

39:51

it really is falling to bits. So if

39:53

anyone wants to give me a gift, nice new proper

39:55

builder's wheelbarrow, that would be perfect. Notable.

39:58

Could you hear me, wife? It helps me.

39:59

been noted. A birthday present, pepper,

40:02

what would I buy you? Oh you

40:04

could buy me so many things. I

40:06

agree about the wheelbarrow, I get through them unfortunately,

40:09

they don't last as long as Bob's dad's one nowadays.

40:12

I could do with the wheelbarrow. I would love a sort

40:15

of unending gift voucher

40:17

to a really good shrub nursery, does

40:19

that count? Because we've just created

40:21

a new area that I can

40:25

just, oh I can already see some things

40:27

I'd like to plant in there. So

40:29

oh gosh, I could basically plant. Yes,

40:32

plants without any doubt. I mean I was once given

40:34

an amazing gardening present but I don't necessarily

40:37

want to repeat it again exactly the same way. It was

40:39

a very sizable load

40:41

of manure and it was in

40:45

front of our previous house

40:47

which meant that it entirely blocked the entrance

40:50

to the house which meant that

40:52

I had to on my own because I was the one at home

40:54

with a wheelbarrow, moved the entire

40:57

lot out of the drive before

40:59

anyone else came home and that was

41:02

that was a sort of mixed present. I didn't want that

41:04

one again. Yes,

41:06

a unique gift, that's for sure. Useful

41:08

but not where it was. Yeah, hard to gift wrap

41:11

out of thought. Matthew, have

41:13

you had a great present or what would you like? You

41:15

can never have too many pots and the best

41:17

pots are the massive big frost resistant

41:20

beautiful detailed pots and

41:22

let's say I mean everything costs a thousand

41:24

pound doesn't it these days if it's nice but

41:27

pots cost hundreds or they can do

41:29

so I think I would say just one

41:31

really nice good quality pot that

41:34

you can then put a gorgeous plant in and really

41:36

enjoy that would be my

41:38

choice. Good choice. What are you hoping for next week,

41:40

Jo? Oh gift vouchers, garden

41:42

centre vouchers. Yes, Dine a Garden Centre for

41:44

you. Well have a wonderful day. Thank you for your

41:46

question that's all we've got time for this week. Thanks

41:49

so much for being a fabulous audience here on the

41:51

Isle of Wight and thank you for listening.

41:54

Do join us next week if you can. I'm

41:56

Cathy Clugston dispensing their horticultural

41:58

expertise this week.

41:59

Pippa Greenwood,

42:00

Matthew Potage and Bob Flaherdew.

42:03

And as you ponder with dismay your mishaps

42:05

in the garden, remember the words of former

42:07

Islander Alfred Lord Tennyson, I paraphrase

42:10

slightly, "'Tis better to have gardened

42:12

and lost than never to have gardened at all."

42:15

Goodbye! Goodbye!

42:17

Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

42:20

Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

42:23

Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

42:26

Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!

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