David Thomas and Peter Brown from Buckingham Garden Centre talk about their gardening experiences, what to do in the garden, seasonal gardening advice and interviews with horticultural experts.
As autumn approaches DIG IT’s Peter Brown and Chris Day provide a monthly round-up to the latest horticultural events, the gardening stories making the headlines and a look at those garden tasks requiring our attention.
13 - 15th September The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, Newby Hall, Ripon, North Yorkshire
27 - 29th September Malvern Autumn Show. One of the UK’s biggest annual harvest season celebrations, held at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern Hills, Herefordshire.
5 - 6th October Buckingham Garden Centre’s Apple Weekend, 10am - 4pm each day.
News
Jekka McVicar appeals to gardeners to participate in the RHS climate change survey in BBC Breakfast news.
Most influential in horticulture by decade survey results: Titchmarsh beats Thrower, Hamilton, Don in vote from Horticulture Week magazine.
Broad beans could improve our mental health new study finds.
The search is on for the Tree of the Year and voting is open until 21 October.
Plant breeder Ball Colegrave announced the winners of this summers showcase.
World’s largest Titan Arum bloom in Meise Botanic Garden in Belgium.
A new jade vine – Strongylodon juangonzalezii - is donated to Kew Gardens.
Kew trees at risk from climate change.
Historic allotments in Nottingham handed back to council due to rising costs.
Almost 455,000 trees felled by UK councils in past 10 years.
World-first project launched to track hedgehogs and reverse decline.
Gardening aids better sleep new report uncovers.
Knoll Gardens launch new Pennisetum Black Arrow.
Dog backpacks used to help seed nature reserve.
Sheffield’s love of figs helps create fig tree forests.
Dutch campaign encourages reducing paving for greener gardens.
Couple transform their garden into £27,000 Jurassic Park - complete with 10ft T-Rex.
Our DIG IT Top Tulips 5th ‘Chocolate Orange’ 4th ‘Red Riding Hood’ 3rd ‘Peach Blossom’, 2nd ‘Queen of the Night’ and at number 1 ‘Purple Rain Fusion’ (a combination of different varieties from Taylors Bulbs).
Plants mentioned: Acer drummondii, Crocosmia, Dahlias, Hosta, Penstemons and Roses. Apples, Apricots, Blackberries, Peaches and Strawberries. Veggies: Peas, beans, Carrots, Spring Onions, Winter and Spring Cabbage plug plants.
Products mentioned: Compost bin, Wolf Fruit Picker, Rose and Autumn Lawn Fertilisers, Lawn seeds and lawn patch products. Control Vine Weevil and lawn chafers or leatherjackets with a biological control (nematodes).
Spreading the gardening word with Dave The Plantman
DIG IT hosts Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with top all-round horticulturalist and internet sensation Dave The Plantman. Dave has been creating daily 90 second videos since April 2023 and has a huge 360k following, including a younger gardening audience on TikTok hungry for advice. Dave shares his knowledge in a unique style with his signature thumbs up and ‘interesting fact’ tagline. A lively chat filled with fun anecdotes and plenty of common-sense gardening is guaranteed!
Plant mentions: Agapanthus, Astilbe, Buddleja (butterfly bush), Carnivorous plants, Coffee plant, Cordyline, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Dieffenbachia (dumb cane plant), Himalayan Balsam (Impatien), Potatoes, Dandelion, Skimmia, wildflowers, brambles (blackberries), Rose ‘Sheila’s Perfume’, Phalaenopsis orchids, Taxus baccata 'Standishii' (RHS AGM), Good scented rose ‘Chandos Beauty’ and Rose ‘The Chelsea Pensioner’, a charity rose launched at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. Willow (Salix) weaving. Alpines for gravel drive.
People, Places and Products: Phillip Harkness, Harkness Roses. Myerscough College of Horticulture, Preston, Canal and River Trust, Barton Grange Nursery, RHS flower shows. Sulphur (coal smoke), Garlic infusion for controlling aphids – they don’t like the smell, good for roses and hostas. Tomato food is excellent for roses as is chicken manure and well-rotted manure. Uncle Tom’s Rose Food (Potassium phosphite).
Desert island luxuries: Tomatoes (seeds could be saved for future crops). Tool: “A pair of secateurs in my holster.”
Memorable quote: “My mum could put a root on a chair leg!”
Dave’s socials: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Dave The Plantman’s Chatterbox on Facebook and Instagram.
April '24 in the Garden
Saison 4 · Épisode 3
lundi 1 avril 2024 • Durée 55:26
Many of our gardens are enjoying much earlier blooms this spring due to the mild and damp weather conditions. Peter Brown and Chris Day bring us the latest gardening news, what’s on’s and topical gardening advice for the busy month of April.
What’s on
6th -7th April: Cornwall Garden Society Spring Flower Show at Royal Cornwall Show Ground near Wadebridge, features a Grow Your Own space and Tipi Talks as well as dazzling displays and exquisite exhibits.
Saturday 13th April: Hanami Blossom Day at Brogdale Farm, Faversham, Kent. Open 10am-3pm. Discover Japanese art and culture amidst the breathtaking blossoming orchards, plus so much more.
15th – 28thApril: A celebration of Spring: from blossom to bluebells at Hever Castle Gardens in Kent.
18th - 21st April: RHS Urban Show set in the heart of Manchester (Depot Mayfield), celebrates your own oasis in this new immersive gardening experience.
Sunday 21st April: Plant Fairs Roadshow at Arundel Castle in West Sussex. Open 10am-5pm. Expert nurseries will be displaying their plants in the grounds of Arundel Castle as part of the Plant Fairs Roadshow.
Monday 29th April: Rachel de Thame: A Flower Garden for Pollinators talk at the Garden Museum in Lambeth, London, by Rachel de Thame and botanical artist Lauren Lusk yours about her new book.
Seeds to sow: Cosmos, Cowslips, Gazanias, Geraniums, Marigolds, Nasturtium, Sunflowers and wildflowers. Veggies: Parsnips, Carrots, and salad crops.
Products mentioned: Lawn seed mixtures including Johnsons Any Time, Tuff Lawn, Shade and Meadow wildflower mixture, feed Vitax Q4, Empathy Afterplant, Sulphate of Potash, Fungus Fighter for preventative box treatment. Box alternatives - Euonymus ‘Jean Hugues’ and E. ‘Green Spire’, Evergreen honeysuckle hedging. Flowering hedges including Lavender and Hedge Germander. Garden hoe. Water retaining gel, Vitax Q4 and continuous (slow release) control fertiliser.
For the love of Chillies, with Jason Breed
Saison 4 · Épisode 2
vendredi 15 mars 2024 • Durée 58:19
The temperature rises in this edition of Dig It as Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with passionate chilli grower Jason Breed. Jason, a seed specialist from Moles Seeds, gives a full rundown of the growing of these popular fiery fruits, a look at what makes chillies so hot, plus some insightful advice on getting the best from your plants and using them in the kitchen.
Chilli peppers are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. Chilli peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add ‘heat’ to dishes. There are many health benefits associated with chillies too.
The Scoville Scale is a measurement of pungency (spiciness or ‘heat’).
Jason famously created a Chocolate Chip Chilli Cookie featuring Habanero chillies at the Garden Centre.
Products mentioned: Products derived from chillies including sprays for bears, elephants (using barriers of chilli plants) and as an effective squirrel deterrent. Use Vermiculite at seed sowing time. Use a decent seed and cutting peat-free compost such as Levington’s. LED plant lights to help growth. Hydroponic systems lend themselves to chilli production. Use Organic contact sprays for caterpillars, greenflies, flea beetles, sawflies and whitefly control. Fertilisers including Chilli Focus Premium Liquid Concentrated Fertiliser.
Chilli varieties mentioned: ‘Apache’, ‘Quick Fire’ (30k on the Scoville scale), F1 hybrid, is the fastest maturing chilli available from seed with the prolific fiery red fruits produced in as little as 50 days from sowing. ‘Red Air’ (Bird’s eye type, Scoville Scale 70-80k), ‘Red Flame’ (Cayenne type, 30-50k), ‘Rocky’, a Jalapeno hybrid, 8k and ‘Santana’ (hybrid Anaheim, 2.5-3.5k).
Open pollinated types include Scotch Bonnet, Habanero and Tabasco, where seeds can be successfully saved from these plants.
March '24 in the Garden
Saison 4 · Épisode 1
vendredi 1 mars 2024 • Durée 52:30
The traditional starting point for many gardeners - Easter - falls early this year, so there’s much to be getting on with. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day bring us the latest events, news and topical advice for the month.
Plants mentioned: Forsythia, Snowdrops, Winter Aconites, Narcissi, Ulmus wredei, Buxus, Euonymus Jean Hugues and Green Spire, Daffodils, Dahlias, Gladioli, Freesia, Tuberous begonias, Sunflowers, Zinnia, and Cosmos. Veg plug plants, seeds of Cabbage, Tomatoes, Runner beans, Courgettes, Squashes, Rhubarb varieties Timperley Early, Glaskin’s Perpetual and Victoria. Onion Stuttgarter Giant, Hercules F1 and Centurion F1.
Saturday 23rd – Sunday 24th March: Falmouth Spring Flower Show. This historic show features 100 classes, expert talks and activities.
Monty Don’s Spanish Gardens on BBC iPlayer
News
TV Dr Amir Khan's thoughts on gardening and mental health
A new study by the University of Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research highlighting useful evergreens which are best to clean the air.
The Orchid Expert Peter White
Saison 3 · Épisode 24
dimanche 18 février 2024 • Durée 58:10
In this edition of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with orchid supremo Peter White. Peter began growing orchids in 1980 and he has received many awards including RHS Gold medals for his orchid displays at RHS shows and he is a qualified judge of the RHS Orchid Committee. He is currently involved in the breeding of miniature Cymbidium and miniature Phalaenopsis. Peter White is a popular speaker on orchid growing and has supported Buckingham Garden Centre over many years.
People, places, and products mentioned: Peter took us back to the large orchid collection at Aynho Park House, with his mentor gardener and orchid enthusiast Ted Humphris. Between 1938 and 1965 Ted showed plants he had grown to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Shows at Westminster, and he won 25 awards. Ted’s most famous plant was an orchid, Cattleya Portia which Peter discusses. Ted tended it for almost 50 years, and the second time he exhibited it at Westminster in November 1948 there were over 520 blooms, making it the biggest orchid in the world (at the time). Ted wrote two books: Garden Glory about his life as a gardener, and Apricot Village, a more general book giving snapshots of life in Aynho during Ted’s lifetime.
Solihull Orchid Society.
Orchid Judging and The British Orchid Council.
RHS Orchid Committee.
The Dutch company Floricultura are the biggest propagator of orchids with the largest laboratories in the world.
The 23rd World Orchid Conference and the 20th Taiwan International Orchid Show.
Orchid Focus Repotting Compost and Orchid Focus Bloom and Orchid Focus Grow fertiliser. Make sure you use a fertiliser on your orchids which contains no urea (Uric nitrogen). Use clear pots for Phalaenopsis - so light gets to the roots and you can observe the roots easily.
For cymbidiums use Chempak® High Nitrogen Feed - Formula 2. A soluble rapid growth feed which gets leaves and stems off to a strong start in summer and then follow with a Tomato Feed in autumn. Houseplant Compost, Vermiculite, potting grit. Opti flora – producers of extra-large and special Phalaenopsis. Dibleys Nursery – streptocarpus specialists. The Dutch Flower Auction in Aalsmeer, Netherlands.
February '24 in the Garden
Saison 3 · Épisode 23
jeudi 1 février 2024 • Durée 52:10
It’s February and the garden is starting to awake. In this edition of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day bring us the latest events, plants and people making the headlines as well as some topical advice on getting the best from your garden this month.
What’s on
1st - 29th February: Snowdrop season at Waterperry Gardens featuring over60 different snowdrop varieties. Gardens open 10am - 5pm.
3rd February: Graft and Grow Day at Buckingham Garden Centre and held in conjunction with The Mid-Shires Orchard Group, 10am - 4pm. Scion wood swap, fruit tree grafting demos, rootstocks, and fruit trees to buy and much more.
3rd February - 10th March: Explore RHS Wisley's glasshouses for their annual Houseplant Takeover with the theme 'Plants Before Time'.
8th February - 1 May: Danger and Desire: The Seductive Power of Orchids. Exhibition at RHS Wisley.
Saturday 10th February: ‘Golden and Delicious - Edwardian Gardens’ A lecture by Caroline Holmes. Writtle University College, Writtle. 11.30am - 13.30pm.
Top selling potatoes in 20231st Charlotte (2nd early) 2nd Desire (main) 3rd Kestrel (2nd) 4th Cara (main) 5th Arran Piot (1st).
People, places and product mentions: Ashridge Forest, Gertrude Jekyll, Edwardian Garden style, Georgian Parks and Gardens Round-Up weedkiller, Kathy Brown’s Garden featured on BBC Gardeners’ World, Landscape weed-suppressing fabric, Melcourt peat-free composts, houseplants fill one of the Malvern Garden Buildings at the Garden Centre, Nest boxes, Tim Chafor, Composted Bark and Hot Bin Composting.
Val Bourne, a natural approach to organic gardening
Saison 3 · Épisode 22
lundi 15 janvier 2024 • Durée 01:06:04
In this episode of Dig It Chris Day and Peter Brown chat with Val Bourne - a lifelong gardener and award-winning garden writer whose name will be familiar to readers of The Telegraph, Country Life, Gardens Illustrated, Amateur Gardening and Saga magazine amongst others. As well as writing and lecturing, Val is an organic hands-on gardener and by her own admission a committed plantaholic.
People, places and products mentioned: Aphids, Buglife, Adam Henson, Ann-Marie Powell (garden designer), Long tailed bees, caterpillar control in salt water, earwigs, Blackspot, Hook Norton Brewery, Ground beetles, Thames Valley radio programme Dig It (no longer broadcast), ladybirds (two, seven spot, meadow species), Book English Pastoral by James Rebanks, Jennifer Owen (zoologist) and her book Jennifer Owen - Wildlife of a Garden: A Thirty-year Study (published by RHS). Andrew Halstead, retired RHS Principal Entomologist. Rothamsted Research Station, Cedric Morris garden at Chelsea, and No Mow May.
Val’s desert island tool - Cobra headed weeder tool. Castaway plant Amsonia, the eastern blue star plant.
Val’s book’s The Living Jigsaw, (Kew Publishing), The Natural Gardener: The Way We All Want to Garden, (Francis Lincoln) plus Val’s 10 Minute Gardener’s range of books covering vegetable, fruit, Grow your own and flower growing.
The month of resolutions, new starts, and big dreams for the coming year. Peter Brown and Chris Day take time to delve into some of the talked about trends of 2024, plus the usual mix of gardening news, events, and gardening advice for the month ahead.
What’s on
Monday 1st January Sir Harold Hillier Gardens Guided Tour. Romsey, Hampshire.
Thursday 18th January: Rose Pruning Masterclass with Michael Marriott at Borde Hill, Haywards Heath in West Sussex.
Saturday 20th January: National Tulip Day in the centre of Amsterdam, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm.
Saturday 27th January: Talk ‘Puzzle Pictures’, 2.30-5pm organised by the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust and to be held at Aylesbury Methodist Church and Centre.
26-28th January: RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.
27-28th January: Houseplant Weekend at RHS Garden Bridgewater.
Saturday 3rd February: Buckingham Garden Centre’s Graft and Grow Day featuring fruit tree grafting in conjunction with The Mid-Shires Orchard Group. 10am - 4pm.
Looking to get out and about? There’s plenty of great winter gardens around the UK to visit on the Great British Gardens website.
Dig It top 5 selling trees of 2023 Sharing the top slot Malus ‘Aros’ and Cotoneaster ‘Cornubia’, joint 2nd place with Malus ‘Red Obelisk’ and Prunus ‘Amanogawa’ and in the third place Acer ‘Brandywine’.
As we start the year, here’s our followers top most popular guest podcasts to date. Top slot is No Dig with Charles Dowding, in the second slot is Cottage Gardening with Rosy Hardy. In third position The Queen of the Herb’s Jekka McVicar followed by Cherry growing with Vikki Grainge and at the 5th slot Composting with Rod Weston.
News
End of the line for peat composts at Evergreen after 22 years.
Alan Sargent - Confessions of a Great Gardener
Saison 3 · Épisode 20
vendredi 15 décembre 2023 • Durée 54:34
In this edition of Dig It we chat with multi-award-winning Garden Designer and Landscape Contractor Alan Sargent, a Fellow of The Institute of Horticulture and Founder of The Association of Professional Landscapers. Alan Sargent is a proper landscape gardener who over the past five decades has won countless awards, including over sixty Royal Horticultural Society Show Garden medals at Chelsea, Hampton Court, Tatton Park and Gardeners’ World Live.
Alan’s latest book, Confessions of a Gardener, helps support the fantastic charity Perennial - the Gardeners’ Royal Benevolent Society. £4 will be donated to Perennial. You can order it here.
Product mentions: Consider a Hydrological survey which documents the source (inflow), route, and flow (outflow) of springs, brooks, streams, rivers, and culverts. The report also notes water depths, seasonal flooding, and the significance of surface water runoffs on your land and beyond. Lasers for levels rather than water levels. Butyl pond liner, Bradstone paving and stone, Porcelain, Indian sandstone paving, importance of permeable materials for drainage.
Plant mentions: Palm trees, wildflowers, and re-wilding to help attract birds, bee friendly plants for pollinators and Japanese maples.
People mentions: Alan Titchmarsh - mentor to Alan, Peter Seabrook, Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Alexandra, Patron of Action for Blind People as well as being President of Sightsavers. Garden designers Robin Williams, Mark Gregory, who has been involved with 99 gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show, with a total of 160 show gardens for the RHS, making him the most medalled garden builder within the RHS. Peter Rodgers, garden designer. TV presenter and botanist Dr David Bellamy. Peter Rodgers, garden designer.
Peter and Chris’s bluebell wood recommendations: Hazelborough Woods (Silverstone, Northamptonshire) and The Woodland Trust’s College Wood (Nash, Milton Keynes).
News
101 Charles Darwin lookalikes gather at threatened 550-year-old oak tree in record attempt protest.
Chillies available from the Garden Centre including Padron Chilli Pepper and De Cayenne, South Devon Chilli Farm and Chilli Ranch. Jason also mentioned a Bedfordshire commercial chilli grower.
Plant Heritage are asking gardeners across the UK to search for any rare or unusual plants in their Threatened Plants of the Year 2024 Competition.
New naturally resistant Elms are planted in Scotland.
Help for hedgehogs as robotic lawn mowers create a new safety concern.
Garden Centre highlights extent of current retail crime and violence.
A garden planned for Queen Elizabeth.
A call to arms from Monty Don encouraging shoppers to buy peat-free.
Lichens on the International Space Station.
Stink bug causes chaos Down Under.
Name your plants from Westland research.
Seiont Nurseries embrace peat-free production.
A new magnolia discovered in northern Honduras.
Garden resilience is set to change Sheffield Park and Gardens in major re-vamp.
Floral clock to be restored at Weston-Super-Mare.
Brogdale; One of the world’s largest fruit tree collections sold.
Blueberry blues as scientists reveal the secret of its colour.
Welsh gardeners are offered £20 vouchers to remove Cotoneaster horizontalis.
Time to get spotting with the RHS Bumblebee Trust survey.
Celebrating 125 years of the HTA.
Mr Plant Geek is the host for the new RHS Urban Show in Manchester.
Dig It’s top 5 top selling composts of last season. Top seller Jack’s Magic All Purpose Improved, 2nd The Gardeners Multi-Purpose from Westland 3rd Levington Multi-Purpose plus John Innes, 4th Miracle-Gro Peat Free Compost and 5th Westland New Horizon All Plant Compost
Arit Anderson, in her new book, highlights a range of garden trees that can stand up for our changing climate.
Scientist calls for new ways to understand plant durability in recent RHS talk.
Low-level offenders will clean up graffiti and plant trees instead of being sent to prison as ministers try to solve major overcrowding crisis in UK.
Global action to save Aussie ‘living dinosaur’ tree.
International conservation charity Plantlife secures £80,000 campaign target to increase lichen research.
UK bans giant rhubarb after study finds popular garden plant is invasive species.
Plant fossils are remains of ancient baby turtles.
The Young People in Horticulture Association (YPHA) reach a membership milestone of over 700 members.
Peach Fuzz is Pantone colour of the year. A velvety gentle peach whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and heart. Expect to see plenty of peach tones and hues this year!
2024 is the year for Edimentals.
Garden ornament turns out to be live bomb.
Plant mentions: Box, Cyclamen persicum (large florist cyclamen), Broccoli, Purple and white sprouting broccoli, Globe artichoke, Reindeer moss, Mixed Native Hedging, Gunnera maculata, Honeysuckle hedging, Pansies, Swiss Chard, Chinese lanterns, Lettuce ‘Lollo Rossa,’ ornamental grasses, Pea ‘Feltham First’ and ‘Meteor,’ Geraniums (from seed), Liliums, autumn fruiting raspberries, strawberry runners, and seed potatoes.
Product Mentions: Kelkay trends for 2024, terracotta pots, lawn aerator, mower service, Haxnicks Fleece jackets and organic winter wash.
Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.
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