Monty's tulips are going over and they do need attending to - this is an issue for a lot of people. Monty reads out a viewer's letter from Nick Shearme who asks what to do with tulips after they have flowered. One solution is to lift and store them somewhere warm and dry. In the autumn, they can then be planted out again in a spare part of your garden and grown on as cut flowers. There's no guarantee that they will flower, but at least they're not in a prominent position if the display fails. Carol Klein continues her plant hunter series with a visit to a unique display of rhododendrons at Minterne House in Dorset. Plant hunters like Joseph Hooker and George Forrest travelled all over the Himalayas collecting plants, including many of the rhododendrons that now decorate this Dorset Valley. The Digby family inherited this estate back in the 17th Century, and each generation of obsessive plant collectors has left a legacy. Carol met The Honourable Henry Digby who is keen to maintain the tradition. She also spoke to Head Gardener Ray Abraham whose task is to look after this unique collection of historic plants.
Although you can buy plant feed, Monty decides to make his own plant feed - one out of comfrey and one out of nettles. Not only do nettles make a good feed that is rich in nitrogen, they are also useful for another reason - they attract butterflies because caterpillar larvae feed off them, they a...
Monty is in the Jewel Garden to plant up a very large pot. Previously he has planted up the pots with tulips and wallflowers and last year he had dahlias and cannas. Today he is planting two types of fuchsias and will fill the gaps with vincas. Carol Klein is at home at Glebe Cottage and tells us...
Monty demonstrates how a radical chop of some border plants now can rejuvenate them for later in the season. He starts off with looking at the alliums which he pulls up as they need space. Next he moves onto the hardy geraniums which are still flowering which he also cuts back. He advises to cut ...
