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 attract predatory insects. To make the feed, the process is the same for both weeds - Monty uses a bucket, cuts up the material and fills up the bucket with it and tops it up with water. He is then going to leave the feeds for a month to brew. Carol Klein enjoys the beauty of one of our unsung native flowers, the geum, and visits a gardener, Sue Martin in her cottage garden which holds the national collection of cultivated forms. Formula 1 supremo Sir Frank Williams opens his garden at Inholmes as part of the National Garden Scheme Festival Weekend in memory of his wife Virginia who died earlier this year after a long battle with cancer. We also met up with the Head Gardener there, Mark Lyons, who designed the garden together with Lady Williams.
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 ...
Monty is in the greenhouse to check on his tomato trial that he started a few months ago by using three different methods. The trial was to see which technique produced the best possible taste and quality fruit. The variety he planted was 'Gardener's Delight'. The results so far are as follows - ...