The meadow that Monty sowed on the mound has had a mass of growth. Included in what he sowed are quite a few weeds that have been promoted into growth by the groundwork, and an awful lot of annual flowers which are nurse plants. They're actually providing a cover while the perennials which are much slower to germinate, get established. The banks of the mound are quite steep, which can make them awkward to plant because if you've got a slope the earth erodes, it all gradually moves south. Monty has got some plugs and they are ideal for this kind of mound planting because if seed is sowed, to get the moisture needed for them to germinate, the seed will effectively get washed down the slope. Plugs that Monty uses are coltsfoot, knapweed, devil's bit scabious and sanguisorba. Carol Klein is looking at burnets, also known as sanguisorba. This is an underrated meadow plant which is becoming a big hit in British gardens. Carol also meets Brian Ellis from Baginton in Warwickshire who holds one of the country's finest collections of sanguisorba. Sanguisorba is a member of the rose family. It gets its name from the Latin - sanguis meaning blood, and absorbere to absorb - and it's long been used medicinally.
As we slide into autumn, the hot garden is still looking really good but it is the miscanthus flowers that has really caught Monty's eye. These grasses show that they have flowers that hold their own with anything else around them. Carol Klein also visited RHS Rosemoor to get seasonal inspiration...
Monty is in his orchard harvesting his apples in readiness to store them. Monty treats the apple harvest as a process. This is due to the apples ripening over a period of about a month. The ones that get the most sun come first and then the last ones will follow four or five weeks later, so he te...
Monty is in the Lime Walk which is the main link from the house to the garden. It changes across the seasons and over the twenty years since its creation, the roots have grown and it's not only got darker because everything's got bigger, but also it's got much much drier, so the planting has chan...
