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.

What’s on

3 - 8th September RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show, Wisley, Woking, Surrey.

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).

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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 – 28th April: 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.

Plants mentioned: Comfrey (for tea), Hebe, Narcissi, Muscari (grape hyacinths), Tulips, Hydrangea ‘Cherry Explosion,’ Rose ‘Munstead Wood’, Magnolia ‘Stellata’ (Star magnolia), Primulas and Polyanthus.

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.

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.

Global tree of the year winners announced.

Sycamore gap tree update

Californian Redwoods make it big in the UK

Government dashes hopes for horticulture with underwhelming reforms

More Scottish gardens open under the SGS to help the Perennial charity.

Finalist of the RHS Britain in Bloom competition announced.

International Orchid Show moves to Gardeners’ World Live.

Glow-in-the-dark Petunia ‘Firefly’ launched in the United States.

A new Rose ‘With Courage’ in conjunction with RNLI from rose breeder Peter Beales.

A change in shift of food production with wider diversification of crops.

The NHS could save £6.7 billion a year if everyone ate plant based food.

New Backyard Biodiversity Report from Garden Organics.

Top RHS plant diseases ranked from results in 2023.

Dig It Top 5: This month Grass seed best sellers.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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.

Guinness World Records declares Pepper X as world’s new hottest chili pepper.

A garden axe would be Jason’s essential castaway item.

The latest Guinness World Chilli eating record.

Useful links

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.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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.

Products mentioned: Garden hoe, Compost mulch, Hotbin Composter and potato polybags.

What’s on

Tuesday 2nd March The Woodland Trust, our charity of the year will be joining us at the Garden Centre.

Tuesday 2nd - 10th March: Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Centre, Philadelphia, US

Sunday 17th March: Rare Plant Fair at The Bishop's Palace, Wells, Somerset, 10am - 4pm.

20th -24th March: Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, Royal Exhibition Building & Carlton

Wednesday 20th March: Orchid Day at the Garden Centre with Manos Kanellos, 11am-3pm.

Saturday 23rd March: Digby Hall Plant Fair, Sherborne, Dorset. 10am-2pm. Free admission.

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.

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

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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.

Plants mentioned: Cymbidiums, Phalaenopsis ‘Sogo Yukidian’, Kalanchoe, Echeveria, Streptocarpus, and Saintpaulia (African Violets).

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.

How dyed blue orchids are created on YouTube.

Peter’s Orchid accessories website.

Desert Island mentions: Phalaenopsis and a decent Swiss army knife with plenty of gadgets!

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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 over 60 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 2023 1st Charlotte (2nd early) 2nd Desire (main) 3rd Kestrel (2nd) 4th Cara (main) 5th Arran Piot (1st).

Plant mentions: Arbutus unedo, Betula (Himalayan birch), Broad beans, Dogwoods including ‘Midwinter Fire’ (Cornus) Hardy orchids, Fargesia (clump forming bamboo), Hedera (ivy), Mahonia, Mentha (mint), bedding Geraniums, Garlic, Sweet peas, Lettuce, Chinese money plant, Sansevieria Cylindrica Braided and Witch Hazel (Hamamelis).

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.

News

Dormice under threat from wetter weather and climate change.

Bamboo is the new Japanese knotweed.

Kew experts predict horticultural trends

Grapes in, apples out – RHS predicts garden trends as climate changes

Bumper year for British wine growers as output almost doubles.

Dutch growers benefit from increased energy subsidies.

The Dutch Flower Association acknowledges peat-free growing medium for the first time.

First skatepark incorporated into a Chelsea Flower Show garden sparks debate

A Tasmanian garden wins the world’s ugliest lawn competition (video)

DEFRA launches Forest of the National competition with the overall winner receiving £10m to fund their project.

The RHS launches an AI chatbot called Chatbotanist to provide advice for members through their phone or PC

Oldest fungal plant named after children’s book author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter.

Biochar start-up Earthly Biochar has come up with a government-funded project that’s setting out to help save Britain's ash trees.

New Mr Fothergill’s wildlife seed mix launched by BBC Children in Need.

New findings suggest flowers are evolving to self-pollinate

2023 was a record year for the National Garden Scheme

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music

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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.

Plants mentioned: Agapanthus, Artemisia, Antirrhinums, Aquilegia, Aster, bee orchid, Daphne Bholua, Camassia, Cosmos, Foxgloves, flowering cherry trees, Dahlia, Dierama, Lonicera fragrantissima (winter honeysuckle), Hellebores, hardy ferns, Narcissi, Nasturtiums, Paeonia, Pears, Penstemons, Rose Champagne Moment, Rose Wildeve, Red trefoil, Yellow Rattle, Phlox, Snowdrops, Trilliums, Whitebeam, Winter sweet and Zinnia.

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.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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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.

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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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.

Desert island tool: A Swiss army knife.

Alan Sargent’s website

Landscape Library (educational resource)

The Association of Professional Landscapers (APL, Find a Landscaping Professional)

The Professional Garden Consultants Association

The Chartered Institute of Horticulture

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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Dig It hosts Peter Brown and Chris Day look at the latest news, views, and gardening tasks to keep you busy, plus the Dig it top 5, and some ideas for getting out and about this month.

What’s on

7 – 11 December Winter Flower Week at the Garden Museum, London. Five floral designers transform the Garden Museum into an environmentally friendly floral winter wonderland.

Friday 8th December, 12 noon – 4pm at the Garden Centre we have a wine tasting event with our good friend Tim Chafor from Chafor Vineyard Estate, Gawcott.

The RHS are running Glow Events at their gardens at Wisley, 4pm - 9pm, Hyde Hall (5-9pm) in Essex and at RHS Rosemoor (4.40- 8.30pm). Visit the RHS website for details.

Dig It top 5 - spring flowering bulbs

No 1 Narcissi 'Tête-à-tête, No 2 Amaryllis ‘Dancing Queen’, No 3 Narcissi Mixed 1.5kg bag, No 4 Hyacinth ‘Early Forcing’ and at No 5 Tulip ‘Purple Rain’.

A ‘lunar halo’ was spotted in the night skies in late November and Peter managed to capture the phenomenon which is caused by the refraction of moonlight from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. // LINK TO PETERS PHOTO //

News

Adam Frost will be at the Gardeners World Live Show in June 2024 with his Chef’s Table Garden.

Greenpeace freedom of information request highlights the huge waiting lists for allotments.

Nearly half of species are threatened according to new Kew research findings.

Peat not mentioned in the King’s Speech.

The RHS publish a list of peat-free nurseries.

A new chilli Pepper X is now a new Guinness world record breaker.

A new chapter at Hillier Nurseries.

Treadstone wins the GIMA Award in the Category Sustainability Champion for their Treadstone Rope Trellis

Candide, a dedicated social networking app for plant and garden-lovers, closes on the 7th December.

A taster of the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show Gardens.

The RHS open their first standalone shop, The Plant Space at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent.

Gardeners’ World presenter Sue Kent highlights specific Garden Heritage Seed varieties from Garden Organic. Sue visited Garden Organics earlier this year.

Horticulture sector needs urgent safeguards, reports House of Lords committee

Sir David Attenborough donates Easter Island seeds to Kew

‘Darwin’s oak’ to be felled to make way for Shrewsbury bypass

East Anglian Fens were covered in yew trees 4,000 years ago, study finds

The entire population of Kenya has been given the day off to plant trees

Mentions: Sir Harold Hillier Garden, famed winter garden, in Romsey in Hampshire is well worth visiting. The Garden Centre will be donating 50p per Christmas tree sold this year to the charity Ripple Africa who actively promote sustainable tree planting in Malawi.

Product mentions: Winter wash fruit trees and bushes with Growing Success Winter Wash, tree ties, tree shelters, check your stakes, insulate outdoor taps against frost, Secateurs Eversharp, Wolf Secateurs or Felco. WD40, Blade sharpening tool/stone. Christmas tree stand with a water reservoir.

Plant mentions: Abies nordmanniana, English Oak, Bluebell, Dandelion, fruit trees and soft fruit.

Our thanks for Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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The trend for terrarium gardening grows each year, with more people than ever creating miniature enclosed indoor growing spaces to enjoy at home. Terrariums are simple to make, easy to care for and rewarding to have. In this episode Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Dr Manos Kanellos who takes us through the history, the selection of plants and planting to create your own display.

Main pointers: Location, terrariums (open or closed), types of plants best suited to light levels and careful consideration to the way you place your plants. Plant in layers starting with height and then choose plants to bulk out the display as well as covering the soil. Try and theme your display – all green, variegated or add splashes of colour in the way of plants or props.

Plant mentions: Open terrariums Cacti and slow growing succulents, where possible try and use the same group of plants, plus air and carnivorous plants. Flowering plants such as Saintpaulia and Kalanchoe are better in open terrariums.

Closed terrariums: Adiantum, Pteris and Nephrolepsis ferns, Fittonia, Helxine soleirolii, Begonia rex and Peperomias. The only orchid Manos would suggest for growing in a terrarium is the Jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor).

Product mentions Any glass containers are suitable as long as they are large, grit, gravel or clay granules provide the drainage, an escape for water, activated carbon charcoal helps with the filtration and absorption qualities of the compost, peat-free potting mix, BBQ tongs for handling cacti, special tools come into play if using the old fashioned thin necked carboys or green bottles, a small watering can with a rose or large spoonful of water to help settle in new plants. Houseplant Focus plant feed. Decorative stones, slate, or moss to provide a terrain to your plants. You can add characters likes decorative animals, Buddhas, fairies, dinosaurs or even LEGO characters to help create a story. Fungus gnats (sciarid flies) control - use small yellow sticky traps or carefully spray with SB Plant Invigorator and Bug Killer.

Desert Island plant and tool: A palm maybe Beaucarnea recurvata, the elephant's foot or ponytail palm and a mobile phone!

The book, Terrariums: A Beginners Guide is an authoritative and detailed guide to terraria by Manos Kanellos and is available from all good Garden Centres.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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Summer gardening reaches it’s peak this month as Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest stories in the world of horticulture, must-visit events and a run-down of those essential tasks to keep your garden productive and colourful in the weeks to come.

What’s on

31st July - 4th August: RHS Garden Hyde Hall Flower Show, Essex.

2 - 3rd August: Taunton Flower Show, Somerset.

Until 4th August: 2024 Big Butterfly Count – have you got involved yet? There’s still time!

3 - 11th August: Singapore Garden Festival at Suntec, Singapore.

9 - 10th August: Shrewsbury Flower Show, Shropshire.

15 - 18th August: Southport Flower Show at Victoria Park, Southport.

16 - 18th August: RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show, Devon.

30th August - 1st September: BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at Audley End House & Gardens, Essex.

News

New YouTube short film filmed at the RHS Urban Show in May featuring Cloudscape and creating 7 amazing gardens.

Trees for bees at Wakehurst Wakehurst is using citizen science to help discover the trees most favoured by pollinators.

A unique flower shaped Cyclamen Illusia picks up top New Houseplant Award.

RHS Tatton Park Show celebrates its 25th anniversary by actively promoting awards for new designers, plants people and contractors aged 31 or over.

Scottish topiary artist wins major award for their Moby Dick inspired design.

Gardeners urged not to plant or purchase Rhodendron ponticum as The Woodland Trust says its invasive nature is creating problems.

Native vegetation does no impact insect biodiversity in small urban gardens.

Rare ‘Puya sapphire tower’ blooms outdoors in Scotland for the first time.

Dianthus breeding specialist Whetman Pink changes hands.

War against poaching succulent plants in South Africa.

Manchester’s Castlefield aerial garden Viaduct gets green light to develop from National Trust.

OBE awarded to Horatio’s Garden founder Dr Olivia Chapple.

Rittershausen family orchid nursery celebrate 75 years.

Dr John Grimshaw appointed Editor-in-Chief of Curtis’s Botanic magazine.

Head of horticulture at Garden Organics and former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins has been named a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture.

Natural History Gardens are now open and free to visit.

Olympic Dahlias shine at Paris 2024 games.

The 2025 rose of the year is announced.

Plants, and product mentions: Hardy geraniums, Chrysanthemum, Lavender, Lupins, Delphiniums, Blueberries, Strawberry, Wisteria Amethyst Falls, Leeks, Potato/Tomato blight proection, Taylors Seed Potatoes for growing for Christmas, Sow the seeds of Basil, Borage, Dill and Fennel, Mint. Summer pruning top fruit trees, dahlias, Lilies and Gladioli staking and feeding. Children seed sowing projects for the school holidays. Cut flowers from the garden. Continue with slug, snails and earwig control. Miracle-Gro, Tomato fertiliser, garden twine and canes.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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After an incredibly wet, windy and mild autumn in many parts of the UK, November beckons with a hope of more settled conditions. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day bring us up to date with the latest gardening news, a couple of events celebrating apples, and the joy of garden visiting, as well as plenty of gardening tasks to be getting on with, plus the return of a very special guest to Dig It, houseplant aficionado Jane Perrone and her latest gardening project – Houseplant Gardener in a Box.

Plants mentions: Apple Granny Smith, Comfrey, Sweet Chestnut, Sycamore, Loofah, Tulips, Winter pansies, Wallflower ‘Sugar Rush’, Broad beans, Onions, Shallots and Garlic. Narcissus ‘Paper White’ and bare-root raspberry canes.

Product mentions: Empathy RootGrow, Melcourt SylvaGrow Multi-Purpose Compost, Levington Organic Blend Topsoil, wheatgerm fish food, greenhouse bubble insulation, horticultural fleece, garden furniture covers, grease bands for fruit trees, Gro-Sure Repair Kits, Autumn lawn food and pot feet.

What’s on

27th October – 28th January 2024 The Museum of Cider in Hereford is hosting an exhibition called A Variety of Cultures. The event explores how cultures across the globe have taken the apple and made it their own.

Thursday 23rd November, Annual Lecture – What Garden Visiting Does for Us with Robin Lane Fox. Venue the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR, or watch it live-streamed online at 7pm.

This month’s Dig It top 5

Soft fruits 1. Strawberry ‘Red Gauntlet’ 2. Strawberry ‘Cambridge Favourite’ 3. Blueberry ‘Sunshine Blue’ 4. Strawberry ‘Hapil’ 5. Blackcurrant ‘Big Ben.’

News

The Sycamore Gap tree in Northumberland felling incident.

Wrexham’s 484-year-old Sweet Chestnut Tree has been voted Tree of the Year 2023.

The UK’s largest collection of comfreys has been made a National Collection by the conservation charity Plant Heritage.

Eight Guinness World Records achieved at Great Autumn Malvern Show.

A 10,000 collection of pumpkins and squashes set a new Guiness World Record at Sunnyfields Farm in Southampton.

Amateur Gardening magazine saved from cancellation.

The results of this year’s Big Butterfly Count are in, and more than 1.5 million butterflies and daytime months were recorded.

Losses of specimen yew trees at King Charles’s Sandringham residence as staff remove 14 dead trees in a new Topiary Garden.

Gardeners’ World has paid tribute to Monty Don's golden retriever, Nellie, following her sad passing.

Therapy garden at King’s Heath, Birmingham is awarded thousands of Lottery money for major revamp.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In this month’s Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Adrian Bloom about his iconic Garden – Foggy Bottom in Diss, Norfolk. Adrian tells the story behind the garden and how he’s captured it for his new book, Foggy Bottom - A Garden to Share. In the podcast we discover how the Bloom brand developed over the years and the influences of Adrian’s father, plantsman Alan Bloom.

Plant mentions: Heathers (Erica and Calluna), x Cupressocyparis leylandii, Cotinus coggygria (smoke bush), Stipa tenuissima, Miscanthus, Cornus, Viburnum, Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant redwood), Hydrangea ‘Annabelle,’ Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’, Pampas grass and Platycladus orientalis (Thuja).

Desert island plant: Buddlejas and hybridising them.

People, places, and product mentions: Alan Bloom and his helper Percy Piper were responsible for raising and introducing over 150 perennials, and the tradition has been continued by his son Adrian, son in law Jaime Blake, and grandson Jason. Percy Thrower, Richard Bloom (photographer). The 1960 Winter Olympics held in the Squaw Valley Resort in Squaw Valley, California. Pershore College, Bressingham Hall, Cambridge Fen Tongue End skating. Books: Perennials For Your Garden by Alan Bloom, A Year Round Garden by Adrian Bloom.

Origins of the name Foggy Bottom, Washington DC.

You can order a signed copy of Foggy Bottom - A Garden to Share book here

To find out more about Adrian Bloom, the Gardens, Books, and Plants, visit the website.

Blooms of Bressingham YouTube channel

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There’s plenty to be getting on with this month in the garden, despite the clocks going back in the UK. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day help to put some of the garden to bed, plant spring bulbs and get border prepared. There’s the usual round-up of topical news from the world of gardening as well as a few important diary dates if you’re planning to get out and about this month.

What’s on

Sunday 1st October, 10am-4pm, The second day of our Apple Weekend event at the Garden Centre and we will be joined by top apple fruit identification expert Gerry Edwards, apple pressing featuring The Mid-Shire Orchard Group, Garden Organics with Chris Collins, and the local wildlife trust.

Sunday 8th October Orchard Open Day at Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire, 10am - 4pm.

Thursday, 12th October Ryton Demonstration Garden Tour 10:00am - 11.15am at Garden Organic, Ryton Gardens, Coventry. https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/ryton-garden-tour-12oct

Tuesday 17 October Horatio's Garden Stoke Mandeville (National Spinal Injuries Centre), designed by Joe Swift. Private Tour in aide of the Horatio's Garden Charity, 10.00-11.30am. Booking is essential.

All October Looking for local gardens to you for autumn colour then check out the Great British Gardens website

Dig it Top 5 Hedging Plants As next month we officially start the hedging season, here’s a reminder of our top sellers last season Top seller at No 1. Quickthorn 2. Hornbeam 3. Green Beech 4. Photinia Red Robin 5. Green Privet.

News

The world’s oldest gardening magazine Amateur Gardening magazine closes after 139 years.

Interflora and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust join forces to introduce a bee-friendly Beequet!

Top chef Raymond Blanc continues his passion for growing and preserving many of the Heirloom veggies from Garden Organics at his Oxfordshire restaurant.

The new RHS Urban Plant Show is set to open at the Depot Mayfield in Manchester on the 18th-21st April 2024.

Reduced peat growing of UK houseplants.

Nursery growing peat-free houseplants from seed.

Be more sustainable by taking cuttings from your own plants says Tony Le Britton.

Sculpture garden scoops top accolade.

First sensory garden for pets opens in Devon.

New study on growing homegrown food is looking for volunteers to help with research. To take part, contact urbanharvest@sheffield.ac.uk

Teenager finds seed from world’s largest bean pod on beach.

Plants mentioned: Holly (Ilex), Potatoes, Tomato, Catnip, Plant garlic (available instore), Stocks, Winter hardy Pansies and Violas, 6-pack Wallflowers, Fuchsias, Pelargonium (geraniums), Alliums, Crocus, Daffodils, Tulips. Indoor Hyacinths and Amaryllis planting time. Nature Love’ colour themed bulb packs. Primrose and mini cyclamen for centre bowl planting.

Products mentioned: Compost bins, Vitax Greenhouse Fumigator (Insecticide smoke for greenhouses) and greenhouse disinfectant. Horticultural fleece for winter protection. Larger plant labels.

Our special thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In this edition of Dig It, Peter Brown, and Chris Day chat with winemaker / vintner Tim Chafor, who runs the 8-acre Chafor Wine Estate featuring over 10,000 grape vines, set in the heart of the Buckinghamshire countryside and just a stone’s throw from the Garden Centre.

Grapes grown at Chafor Wine Estate are Champagne varieties of ‘Chardonnay’ (white), ‘Pinot Noir’ (red) and ‘Pinot Meunier’, (red) alongside ‘Bacchus’ (white), a variety which is widely becoming recognised as England’s signature grape. This variety is a true dual-purpose variety.

Other grapes mentioned: ‘Merlot’ (red), ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ (red) and ‘Sauvignon Blanc’ (white).

Grape rootstocks, including the stock Tim recommends SO4.

Bernwood Forest and Buckinghamshire’s County Council Coat of Arms inspired the stag logo used by Chafor Wine Estate.

If you fancy grape stomping (feet pressing) then you might have to look further afield in the UK, as Tim said these would be experiences and we did spot one on Airbnb Tip: Google search ‘grape stomping’.

Accolades Tim’s wines have collected major awards from such esteemed bodies as the International Wine Challenge, Decanter, and the UK Wine awards. Tim’s 2014 Chafor Wine Estate Vintage Rosé received 91 points from leading wine advocate Robert Parker.

Desert island luxuries: A grape vine, either ‘Bacchus’ or if that’s unavailable the variety ‘Pinot Noir’ and a wine press!

Useful links

Chafor Wine Estate website

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After a soggy July and mixed fortunes weather wise in August, Peter Brown and Chris Day look forward to the prospect of an Indian summer in this month’s Dig It. A pick of the best events, news, and garden trade stories, plus those essential gardening tasks for the month ahead.

What’s on

1st- 30th September Garden Organic are promoting 30 thrifty biodiversity projects, one for each day of the month through Organic September and across their social medial channels #ThriftyThirty

1st - 3rd September BBC Gardeners' World Autumn Fair, Audley End House and Garden, Saffron Walden.

5th - 10th September RHS Wisley Flower Show, Surrey.

16th - 17th September Cactus at the Castle event at Lullingstone Castle & The World Garden in Kent.

17th September Rare Autumn Plant Fair at Borde Hill Garden, Haywards Heath.

22 - 24th September Malvern Plant and Garden Fair, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire.

30th September / 1st October Apple Weekend at Buckingham Garden Centre, 10am-4pm.

It’s time to celebrate the Apple at Buckingham Garden Centre's popular Apple Weekend event featuring RHS apple expert Gerry Edwards, The Mid Shires Orchard group, plus Chris Collins, Garden Organic's Head of Organic Horticulture, and former BBC Blue Peter Gardener.

Dig It Top Five Sellers - Perennials (in 1-litre pots) 1. Lavender ‘Hidcote,’ 2. Lupinus ‘Gallery Mixed’, 3. Delphinium ‘Black Knight’, 4. Penstemon ‘Pensham Wedding Day’ and 5. Leucanthemum ‘Snow Lady’.

News

Sweetpea species offers future food potential.

Blenheim Palace gardens to get major revamp.

The National Garden Scheme launches five new community-based projects.

Growers told to be vigilant as Colorado beetles are spotted in the south of England.

Squire’s Garden Centre electrifies its fleet.

Blue Diamond buys four nursery sites.

Pitcher plants can go peat-free says RHS.

London’s Garden Museum to expand gardens into public realm.

Home and garden chain Wilko files for administration putting 12,000 jobs at risk.

CEO Dave Carey leaves Mr Fothergill’s.

Calls to use native grasses rather than ryegrass in our lawns.

Quarter of Brits think artificial grass should be banned.

Plants and products mentioned Amaryllis, autumn flowering bulbs Colchicums, Crocus and Cyclamen hederifolium. Prepared hyacinths. Cerinthes, Ammi, Scabiosa and Cornflowers. Dahlias, Heuchera, ornamental grasses, hardy Pansies, and Violas. Propagate Fuchsia, Salvias, Rosemary Prune cropped Raspberry canes. Houseplant Tradescantia. Maxicrop Original Seaweed Extract, Aftercut Autumn Lawn Food, lawn seed, pea netting to cover ponds before leaf fall and garden vax for leaf shedding for composting.

Our special thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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Chris Collins is a gardening legend – winning a legion of fans from his early days working in amenity horticulture to his big break on Blue Peter, presenting on the QVC shopping channel and being the ambassador to the national charity Garden Organic. In this edition of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day chat to Chris - the globetrotting author; TV broadcaster; lecturer and horticultural consultant.

Plants mentioned: Ulmus angustifolia (Cornish elm), David Austin Roses, Borage, Poppies, tomatoes, aubergines, spinach, bedding plants, chillis, peppers, micro-greens in a salad bar and bulbs - Alliums, Crocus, Snowdrops, and Tulips. Houseplants: Cycads, Crotons, Ficus benjamina, Pelargoniums, and terrarium gardening.

Products and people: David Austin Roses, Whichford Pottery, Trowels, Honda Mower, Percy Thrower, hanging baskets, Obelisks, Maxi crop Seaweed Extract, Q4 pellets, spouts with water bottles. Lawrence Hills, founder of Garden Organics. Horticulture Week magazine, The Plantsman (BBC 2 programme), and QVC Shopping Channel.

Places mentioned: Graduate of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Apprentice gardeners at Brighton Parks Department, Limbe Botanic Garden in Cameroon, South arboretum at the Royal Botanic gardens in Kew, Head gardener at Westminster Abbey Gardens, college garden / medicinal garden. BBC Media City, Salford, home of the Blue Peter Garden, and Balcony gardens at Chelsea Flower Show.

Desert island luxuries: Felco 8 secateurs and Betula (birch tree), one of the most relaxed ‘unstressed’ trees to grow.

Chris’s gardening book, Grow Your Own For Kids

Chris Collins’s website Facebook and Instagram

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After a damp and cool July, we look forward to a productive, colourful yet relaxed August. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day provide a round-up of the month’s gardening what’s on’s, a look at the stories making the gardening headlines and a round-up of those essential gardening tasks.

What’s on

2 - 6th August: RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show, Chelmsford, Essex.

4 - 13th August: Shropshire Petal Fields, Newport, Shropshire.

11 – 12th August: Shrewsbury Flower Show, The Quarry Shrewsbury.

12 – 13th August: The Great Comp Summer Show, Platt near Sevenoaks, Kent.

17 – 20th August: Southport Flower Show, Victoria Park, Southport.

18 – 20th August: RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show, Great Torrington, Devon.

Until 13 September: RHS Garden Wisley. A new exhibition Growing Up in the Garden, showcasing the way children use gardens as a place to connect with and explore the natural world.

NEWS

First King’s birthday honours for landscaper and designer Tom Stuart-Smith (OBE) and Kew’s Director of Gardens Richard Barley (MBE).

Renowned rosarian Michael Marriott awarded the Dean Hole Medal by Colin Squire, chairman of The Rose Society UK.

Top accolade the Brickell Award went to Adrian Young’s National Collection of 900 Saxifraga as part of Plant Heritage’s Hampton Court display.

Carol Klein named the RHS's 'Iconic Horticultural Hero' for 2023 and Carol’s comments about the lack of female representation on Gardeners’ World.

Hemlock warning: the deadly plant found in UK gardens.

Rare pink grasshopper spotted in North Wales.

Use of peat is falling according to latest HTA report.

Scottish farmers lead research to revive lost linen industry.

Salisbury City Council scraps hanging baskets and sparks division.

Top plants named at HTA Plant Show - Curcuma ‘Skyline’ overall winner. Other winners include Agapanthus Orientalis ‘Black Jack,’ Ball Colegrave Ltd’s Dahlia ‘Dalina® Maxi Starburst Pink’ and Fatsia Japonica ‘Camouflage.’

Dig It Top Five Roses: 1. ‘The Queen Elizabeth II’, 2. ‘With Love’, 3. ‘Cutie Pie’, 4. ‘Precious Ruby’ and 5. ‘Mary Berry’.

Plant mentions: Plant seed potatoes for Christmas, Leeks, Brassicas and Spinach. Sow Basil, Marjoram, Borage, Chives, Coriander, and Dill. Propagate lavender and rosemary. Divide Chives. Propagate and plant new strawberry runners including ‘Cambridge Favourite,’ ‘Elsanta,’ and ‘Honeoye.’ Continue sowing early-flowering biennials - like honesty and wallflowers. Sow Cress and compact sunflowers with the children.

Product mentions: Bamboo canes, Garden twine (Jute). Plant feeds - Tomorite, Doff fertilisers. Miracle Gro, Phostrogen, Seaweed Extract, Westland Tomato Food and Comfrey tea.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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In this episode of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day talk national plant collections with Gill Groombridge, who is Plant Heritage’s Business Manager. We find out some of the background history of Plant Heritage and the diverse ranges of National Plant Collections and why 2023 is a special year for this charity.

We also chat with Jonathan Shepherd, who is a holder of not one but two plant collections – Hollyhocks (Alcea) and Cosmos bipinnatus - in his 2-acre Lincolnshire garden and polytunnels where he grows his plants in a very sustainable way. Jonathan describes his journey into growing and how he has become an advocate to these two important plant species. He also shares his growing tips on raising them for the garden and for staging at the prestigious Hampton Court Flower Festival held earlier this month.

Plant Heritage is the world's leading garden plant conservation and research charity – celebrating 45 years. The charity’s mission is the conservation of cultivated plants in the British Isles and a milestone of 700 national plant collections has been reached.

Gill’s favourite plants: Australasia beauties including Callistemon, Leptospermum and Eucalyptus (gum trees).

Hollyhocks are short-lived non-native perennials. Varieties mentioned: ‘Charters,’ ‘Purple Rain,’ Blackcurrant World, ‘Creme de Cassis’ and ‘Nigra.’ ‘Halo’ varieties bred by Thompson & Morgan include single colours - ‘Halo Apricot,’ ‘Halo Blush’ and ‘Halo Cream.’

Cosmos are short day flowers and need to be kept hungry as too much feed often results in much taller plants. Jonathan sowed over 3000 seeds for the 17 planters of Cosmos he took to this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. Varieties mentioned: ‘Cupcake Blush,’ ‘Gloria,’ ‘Dazzler’ (Monty Don’s favourite), ‘Apricotta,’ ‘Pink Mosaic’ and ‘Sonata.’ Check out our seed range here

Desert Island item: Jonathan’s grandad’s galvanised watering can - he wouldn’t be without it!

Product and people mentions: Melcourt SylvaGrow Peat-Free Compost (for seed sowing), Westland New Horizon Peat-Free (for planters). TV gardener and designer Adam Frost. Sweet Peas: An Essential Guide by Roger Parsons. Rosa Persica staged by Daniel Myhill, Jonathan Hogarth for his educational display of small and miniature hosta.

Jonathan’s website, Twitter, and Instagram

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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Our gardens are growing apace this month and there’s plenty to be getting on with as Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day tackle those essential tasks, plus a round-up of July events and garden stories around the UK.

What’s on

4th - 9th July: RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, Surrey. Shop for plants from specialist nurseries and be inspired by gardens.

15th & 16th of July: Belvoir Castle Flower and garden Show, in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

19th - 23rd July: RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire.

News

King Charles and Queen Camilla open the Coronation Garden in Hazelbank Park, Newtownabbey, Ireland.

The secret Italian Garden in Great Ambrook opens in Devon.

Perennial’s garden The Laskett opens to the public.

Record stag beetles this summer.

The Scottish government may not be following the same timeline for peat-free ban than England.

Globetrotting rare Ghost orchid flowers at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Peat free test trials featured in Amateur Gardening showing positive results on two major products.

B&Q says don't dig your garden - it's bad for your soil and the environment. Listen back to Charles Dowding’s Dig it podcast.

Lincolnshire beans could provide British solution to imports.

Dig It Top Five 6-pack bedding 1. Geranium White, 2. Geranium Deep Red, 3. Lobelia trailing – all colours, 4. Petunia Mixed, and 5. Antirrhinums.

Plant mentions: Allium seed collection and drying the head for decoration, Borage, Eucalyptus, Rose 'Peter's Persica', butterfly attracting plants such as Buddleja, including the newer dwarf varieties, B ‘White Profusion’, Foxgloves, Verbena, Marjoram, perennial wallflowers, Courgette ‘Eight Ball’, Heirloom seed varieties from Garden Organics, Wisteria (summer pruning), Wisteria ‘Amethyst Falls’, Spiraea, Philadelphus (mock orange), Marginal, Water Lilies and Oxygenating plants for ponds, Sweet Peas, Box Moth Caterpillar, Ermine moth webs affecting native hedging, Runner beans, Comfrey, Wallflowers. First early potatoes for Christmas.

Product mentions: Dalefoot Peat-free Compost, SylvaGrow Multipurpose Compost, Baby Bio, Tomato fertiliser, barley straw (to help reduce blanketweed), dichlorination (water changes), Smart Garden solar water features and Root trainers.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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In this edition of Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Nick Hamilton, son of Geoff Hamilton, who for 17 years presented the BBC gardening programme Gardeners’ World. Nick continues the legacy at Barnsdale Garden, in Rutland, where back in the 1980s over 30 TV gardens were created. In this fascinating episode we discover how Barnsdale has developed over the past 40 years, chat peat-free and organic and how Barnsdale’s 38 amazing TV gardens of average size have enticed visitors under Nick’s careful and dedicated curation.

Plant mentions: The houseplant, Ficus benjamina, weeping fig, plant perennials plants for less work. Box (Buxus sempervirens), Lavandula augustifolia ‘Arctic Snow’ and Berberis darwinii ‘Nana’, Euonymus ‘Jean Hugues’ and E. ‘Green Spire’, Apples, Pears, Cowslips (Primula veris), Bluebells and Snowdrops, Spirea and Rose ‘Geoff Hamilton’.

Desert island luxuries: Penstemon – lots of varieties including ‘Geoff Hamilton’, these plants are great for pollinators, plus garden knife, the gardeners’ essential tool says Nick.

Product mentions: Westland New Horizon peat-free compost, Melcourt SylvaGrow Multi-Purpose Compost and Melcourt Propagation Bark, artificial turf, slate aggregates, tap into the knowledge of like-minded gardeners, nurseryman and ask questions! Geoff Hamilton’s Cottage Garden Book features the design of the beehive compost bin.

People and places mentions: Barnsdale’s head gardener Jon Brocklebank, Nick’s brother photographer Steve Hamilton John Kenyon, Gardener’s World Producer, Writtle University College, Essex and Hampton Court Palace.

Barnsdale Gardens website, includes garden details, restaurant, events and gardening courses.

Barnsdale Gardens will be celebrating 40 years at this month’s Gardeners’ World Live Garden Show

Books: The Right Genes by Nick Hamilton, plus Nick’s gardening books, Organic Gardening and Grow Organic Fruit and Vegetables are available here

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In this edition of DIG IT Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with special guest Andrew Mikolajski. Andrew, a well-known horticulturalist, and prolific author of over 40 gardening books, including his latest, ‘Who Ate My Plants’. Andrew discusses the ongoing battle gardeners have with garden pests and diseases.

Plant mentions: Grow as many varieties and species – native and non-native from the Northern Hemisphere as you can to increase insect biodiversity of wildlife to help attract predators. Marigolds as a companion planting with Tomatoes and the pairing of alliums with roses. Check vegetable seed packets for disease resilience. Lavender, Penstemon, Fuchsias and Hebes would benefit from a dose of a high potash fertiliser to help toughen them up. Use vine weevil nematode control for Heuchera, Heucherella, alpines and Fuchsias.

Product mentions: Slug pellets (use the jam jar method mentioned). Sand, Garlic wash, Box Tree Caterpillar Biological Control, Provanto Fungus Fighter (for Box Blight), Pheromone Traps (codling moth and plum moth), Organic pesticides, fleece over cabbage, good drainage essentials, include sand, potting grit, or Perlite to avoid overwet compost, Potassium (K) High potash fertilisers such as Sulphate of Potash, Tomorite, to help harden growth for the winter. Nematodes for slugs and vine weevil. Ladybird larvae and adults can be introduced.

Pest / Disease mentions: Aphids, Slugs, Snails, Muntjak, Deer, Rabbits, Oak Processionary Moth - a notifiable pest, Xylella fasidiosa, Box Blight, Box Tree Caterpillar, Rose Black Spot and Rose Mildew.

No Mow May, or maybe simply mow less often to encourage more flowers and diversity.

Look for the RHS Plants for Pollinators logo.

Make friends with your fellow allotment holders, or join a gardening club / society to learn about local growing conditions if you move into a new area.

Judging at RHS show.

Andrew’s desert island essentials: A ball of garden twine and a pair of scissors and the Rose ‘Nostalgia.’

Find out more about Andrew on his website

Andrew’s book, Who Ate My Plants? is published by Michael O’Mara Books Limited.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In the latest Dig It podcast, Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest gardening news stories, events in the gardening calendar and take a look at some of the gardening tasks to be getting on with through the month of June.

What’s on

27th May - 4th June National Children’s Gardening Week featuring The World of Peter Rabbit.

1st - 5th June: Bord Bia Bloom Ireland's largest gardening event.

15 - 18th June: BBC Gardeners' World Live at the Birmingham NEC.

23 - 25th June: Blenheim Palace Flower Show.

30th June - 2nd July: Jekka's HerbFest at Jekka’s Herb Farm, Alveston, Bristol.

News of the show gardens and plants at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Catch up with the BBC RHS coverage (Please note BBC Iplayer is not available outside the UK and requires a TV license).

Photo RHS Garden The Nurture Nature Garden designed by Sarah Price, Gold Medal winner.

DIG IT Top 5 fertilisers Top slot at 1. Doff Seaweed Extract 2. Westland Fish, Blood, and Bone 3. Vitax Organic Potato Fertiliser 4 Miracle-Gro Chicken Manure 5. Levington’s Tomorite.

Product mentions: Levington Seed and Compost (Peat-free), Lawn Feed and Weed Fertilisers, Blood, Fish and Bone, Chicken manure and Vitax Q4. New sustainable one-use CasusGrill™ BBQ.

Plant mentions: Propagate Carnations and Dahlias. Plant Courgettes, Fuchsias, Lobelia, Pelargoniums, Petunias, Sweet Corn, Runner bean ‘Enorma,’ Tomatoes and Pumpkins. Sow seeds of Lettuce, Radish, and Spring Onions. Sow seeds of Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves, Polyanthus, Primroses, and Sweet William.

News

Blue Diamond has acquired Fosseway Garden Centre.

Farmers asked to send in slugs for feeding analysis.

Restoration of the Bridgemere show gardens with TV’s David Domoney.

How lining your pot with coffee filter paper may help save your houseplants.

Time to vote for your favourite Historic Houses ‘Garden of the Year’ at this link

New chair Rupert Tyler for Garden Museum.

The first collection of Royal Mail Special Stamps to feature the King’s head will depict illustrations of gorgeous garden flowers to recognise his passion for gardening.

Scientists urge tax breaks for sustainable gardeners.

The famous East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden is bequeathed to the Perennial Charity so securing its future.

Royal Horticultural Society criticised over products that kill bugs and wildflowers.

Wildflower brand Seedball is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is launching a range of bee tines to raise awareness of 3 British species that are in decline.

Who will win the first Peter Seabrook Award at Gardeners World Live?

Plant Heritage relocate to world-renowned RHS Garden Wisley.

Mark’s 700-mile journey to buy gas BBQ from Scots garden centre.

Our next guest is Nick Hamilton from Barnsdale Gardens.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In this edition of Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with celebrity gardener, social media influencer and TV presenter Michael Perry. From the introduction of new plants with the famous Ipswich-based Thompson and Morgan seed company to writing, hosting podcasts, books and tv appearances including the QVC shopping channel, Michael enjoys nothing more than sharing his extensive knowledge. Michael loves searching out the new and unusual in the plant world and sharing them with his followers which he does with passion and unbounded enthusiasm.

Plants mentioned: Eucalyptus, Runner beans, Mustard, Cress, Herbs, Pelargoniums (traditional Geranium), Hyacinth ‘Midnight Mystic’ (Black), Lavender, Petunia, TomTato ® (Ketchup and Fries, US name), tomato and potato grafted onto one plant), Egg n’ Chips Plant (aubergine and potato grafted onto one plant) , Rubus cockburnianus (white stemmed bramble) and tradescantia zebrina.

Products / Places / People mentions: Jekka McVicar’s Herb Books, Easton & Otley College, The Perennial Charity, Thompson & Morgan Seeds, greenhouses (link with Malvern), Seedball, Garden Tags, Gardeners’ World, Urban Herbs,  GLEE, Amigra grass nursery in the Netherlands and the IPM Trade Show. Geoff Hamilton, Anne Swithinbank and Pippa Greenwood.

Michael’s favourite plants; All members of the Iris family and Mints.

To find out more about Michael Perry visit his website for all social links and more. The Plant Base Podcast

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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Join Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day and catch up with the latest garden news, views, events and tasks as we enter one of the busiest gardening months of the year.

What’s On

1st – 31st May No Mow May

2nd-8th May: RHS National Gardening Week.

6th May: King’s Coronation. Turn Your Garden Red, White and Blue – Patriotic Planting for The King's Coronation.

Sunday 7th May: Specialist Spring Plant Fair at Borde Hill, Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

11th - 14th May: RHS Malvern Spring Festival.

14th May: World Topiary Day.

23rd – 27th May: RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London.

30th May – 2nd July: Tree Listening. Visit Exbury Gardens in Hampshire to find out what happens beneath the bark of trees.

Plants mentioned: Antirrhinums, Basil, Broad beans, Cosmos, Courgettes, Hyssop, Kinder Plant Drop-in / Pop-ins, Lobelia, Mints, Petunia, Photinia Red Robin, Potato ‘Swift’, Runner beans, Rhubarb, Rosemary, Sweet Corn, Thyme, Tomatoes, Tulips,

Products mentioned: Malvern Garden Buildings at the RHS Chelsea Flower show with their Houseplant Studios, Levington Seed and Cutting Peat-Free Compost, Agralan Plum Moth and Codling Moth pheromone traps, yellow sticky traps, Slug traps, Provanto Veg & Fruit spray, Poppy Forge plant supports, Perlite and Vermiculite.

News Houseplant books: Legends of the Leaf by Jane Perrone and Not Another Jungle by Tony Le-Britton.

NEWS

London’s Natural History Museum survey focusing noise pollution and insect life.

Research by The New Scientist suggests Plant Ident Apps are not particularly accurate.

A new crowdfunded sensory garden ties a strong bond with the Ukraine in Liverpool.

A new 1.2-mile-long railway park to connect Camden Town and King’s Cross gets a green light and it will be designed by Piet Oudolf.

The Victorian Palm House at the Royal Botanic gardens in Edinburgh undergoes a major structural restoration.

Newby Hall in Yorkshire celebrates its 75th anniversary with a special royal theme.

Tesco have become the first UK retailer to go peat-free in its British-grown bedding plants.

Government backtracks on commercial peat ban with professional growers to continue to use products until 2030.

Melcourt SylvaGrow® Multi-Purpose 100% peat-free compost has been recognised as a top performer and a Which? Best Buy, earning it the right to use the prestigious endorsement. It is stocked at the Garden Centre.

Orchid grower Marius Grzelik has taken on Geoff Hands’ National Plant Collection® of Dendrobium after Geoff Hands passed away in November 2020. www.plantheritage.co.uk

Boyd Douglas-Davies to leave British Garden Centres and will be setting up his own consultancy business.

Blue Diamond acquires its 43rd Garden Centre - Beckworth Emporium.

RSPB birdwatch 2022 results announced.

Dig It Top 5 KINDER PLANTS 1st Nepeta hederacea. Joint 2nd Petunia ‘Tumbelina ‘Diana’ and Bacopa ‘Megacopa White’. In 3rd place Petunia ‘Tumbelina Anna’ and in 4th Fuchsia ‘Voodoo’.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In this edition of Dig It we chat with freelance garden writer and broadcaster Steve Bradley. Steve and wife Val (also a qualified horticulturist) have worked for The Sun newspaper since 2002, writing the gardening column with the late and legendary Peter Seabrook. Peter Brown and Chris Day share Steve’s many memorable moments of a full and brilliant gardening career.

Media mentions: Books Propagation Basics (winner of the Garden Media Guild Award for Best Practical Book), The Pruner’s Bible, Winter Gardening, The Fragrant Garden and What’s Wrong With My Plant? and The Grafter’s Handbook. Consumer testing in Amateur Gardening magazine, RHS The Garden magazine and Gardeners’ World magazine. BBC Radio Kent. TV Channel 4 series: Plant Life and Garden Doctors and BBC’s Ground Force.

Plant and product mentions: Lettuce ‘Iceberg’ Tomato rootstocks (variety Submarine), grafted tomatoes, grafting clips, Managing honey fungus and Rootgrow.

Steve’s desert island essential: Alan Titchmarsh

College mentions: Askham Bryan College, Cannington College (Bridgwater and Taunton College), Pershore College, Merrist Wood College and Writtle University College.

To find out more about Steve and The Sun gardening visit this website

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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April, as they say, can be one of the cruellest months with sun one minute and frosty mornings and bitter winds the next. In this edition of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day look at some of the current news stories, provide a round-up of popular events coming up and those pressing gardening jobs that need to be done this month.

What’s on

1 - 2 April: Cornwall Garden Society Spring Flower Show

Plant Fairs at Great Dixter 1-2nd April, Evenley Wood Rare Plant Fair on 2nd April and the Spring Fair Roadshow at Arundel Castle on 23rd April.

20 - 23rd April: Harrogate Spring Flower Show

28 - 30th April: BBC Gardeners' World Spring Fair in Beaulieu, New Forest, Hampshire.

Product mentions: BBQs, RHS seeds, Tomorite Tomato food, Doff Tomato food, Vitax Q4 fertiliser, propagation cell trays, peat-free seed sowing compost, Vermiculite, Perlite, Fleece, Root Trainers, Lawn feeds, scarifiers and overseeding with lawn seed.

Plants mentioned: Apples ‘Flower of Kent’ and ‘Bramley’s Original.’ Antirrhinum, Cosmos, Marigolds, Sweet Peas, and Zinnia. Broad beans, Mustard and Cress, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squashes, Marrows and Sweet Corn. Buddleja, Dahlias, Rosemary, Root wrapped Roses, English Bluebells and Thyme.

News

Alan Titchmarsh: ‘I tend not to follow my own gardening advice.’

Plants in Peril Plant Atlas Report.

Blue Diamond / National Trust tie in.

National Trust Manchester’s Victorian Sky Park.

Rare Moonflower blooms at Cambridge Botanic Gardens.

Frank Mathews wins the Stanley Lord Bowl award for the best RHS fruit display in 2022.

RHS Flower Show organisers move towards being greener with more sustainability in the briefs in all garden designs and show operations.

Lindengate rehomes RHS Chelsea garden.

Floating islands made from plastic bottles to grow crops in Singapore.

King Charles III Sandringham West Lawn eco-garden makeover.

Windowsill gardening campaign.

Tackling damping off when germinating seeds.

Dig it top 5 Spring potted bulbs 1 1-litre pots of Narcissi 'Tête-à-Tête' 2 Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop) 3 Winter Aconite 4 Narcissi 'Tête-à-Tête' (6-pack) 5 9cm English Bluebell.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music.

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Over the past few years there has been a massive resurgence in growing flowers and vegetables from seed. Fuelled by the pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis more of us are looking to raise plants from seed for our gardens, allotments, and containers. In this Dig It podcast Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with David Turner, the Marketing Services Manager at Mr Fothergill’s Seeds Limited to find out more about the history of Mr Fothergill’s, their unique innovations, seed terminologies, seed packeting, trial grounds and how we can get the best from growing plants from seeds.

Vegetable mentions: Broad bean ‘Aguadulce’, Carrot ‘Nantes’, Courgettes, Beetroot ‘Bolthardy’, Blight tolerant tomato varieties include ‘Cocktail Crush’, ‘Mountain Magic’, ‘Merrygold’, ‘Red Bodyguard’ Paoline’ and popular varieties ‘Moneymaker’, ‘Gardeners Delight’ and ‘Tigerella’,  Peppers, Runner bean ‘Enorma’, Squashes, Tomato 

Flower mentions: Dahlias, Sunflowers ‘Early Single’, Dwarf Sunflowers, ‘Evening Sun’, ‘Magic Roundabout’ and ‘Teddy bear’, Sweet Peas and Snowdrops. 

Product mentions: Garden tools brand Darlac include loppers, snips, secateurs, and shears and soil thermometer (both available in-store).

David’s desert island items: Darlac Hori Hori - the Multi-Purpose (dig, cut, chop) Trowel. Fast growing Radish and highly productive Runner beans.

Mr Fothergill’s website, FACEBOOK and Instagram

Buckingham Garden Centre’s range of Mr Fothergill’s Seeds

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The first blossom, bulbs are coming into their own and there’s a bit of welcome warmth to the sunshine -spring has officially sprung! Peter Brown and Chris Day delve into March with this month’s busy podcast, including what’s on, topical news, the Dig It top 5 and much more.

What’s on

Saturday 11th March is Orchid Day at the Garden Centre with Dig It’s favourite Orchid expert Manos Kanellos. The event runs from 11am until mid-afternoon.

TV garden designer and Gardeners’ World presenter Adam Frost is out and about on a nationwide tour this spring entitled An evening with Adam Frost.

Sunday 19th March 10am-4pm: Rare Plant Fair at The Bishop’s Palace, Wells, Somerset, BA5 2PD.

In the news

Floral soakaways are coming to towns and cities near you.

More than 574 new gardens opening for the first time are opening under the National Garden Scheme this year.

The government are cracking down on illegal plant importers.

Welsh leeks finally become officially Welsh.

The Newt gardens in Somerset are the official sponsors of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, have the national collection of all-counties apples in their unique designed parabola garden.

National Allotments Society report on 21st Century Allotments in new developments.

RSPB suggests stricter garden hygiene controls to help combat avian flu.

Publisher DC Thompson announces the closure of Grow Your Own magazine.

Bridgend Council fined for knotweed invasion in a landmark case.

Dig It top 5

Roses root-wrapped 1. Rose ‘Flower Carpet Pink’ 2. Rose ‘Margaret Merril’ 3. Rose ‘Flower Carpet White’, 4. Rose ‘Hopes and Dreams’ 5. Rose ‘Rambling Rector’.

Plant mentions: Shallots, Garlic and Onions, Broad beans, Kinder plants, Potatoes including ‘International Kidney’, Berried trees and shrubs for birds. Snowdrops, winter aconites and later English Bluebells ‘in the green’. Primroses, Bellis daisies and Violas. Sow Parsley, Chives, Coriander and Basil in warmth. Strawberries, including alpine types.

Product mentions: Baby Bio, Bloom Orchid Feed, Bonemeal, Fungus Fighter for Box Blight, Composters, RootGrow, Houseplant compost, Canada Green Lawn Seed, Lawn weed and feed and Jekka Herb seeds.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music

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The National Garden Scheme (NGS) open exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands raising money for charity through admission fees, tea and cake. Over the past 96 years the NGS has raised over 67 million pounds for charities. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with the Chief Executive of the NGS, George Plumptre and discuss the huge impact opening over 3,500 gardens has had on the charities the NGS supports. We also delve into George’s favourite gardens, his passion for writing about cricket and gardens and we discover what cake Dame Mary Berry, the president of the NGS, baked for George on a special garden visit.

Plant mentions: Winter aconites, snowdrops, hardy cyclamen, viticella clematis and wildflower meadows.

Garden mentions: The Queen Mother’s private garden: Birkhall part of the Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire, The Royal Lodge on the Windsor Great Park Estate, Berkshire and Castle of Mey, Caithness in Scotland. Royal gardens at Frogmore House and Highgrove Gardens.

National Trust properties at Hidcote Manor Gardens in Gloucestershire and Hatchlands Park in Surrey. Arley Hall, Northwich, Cheshire, Ramster Gardens in Surrey, Hodnet Hall Gardens, Shropshire. Horatio Garden in Salisbury. Goodnestone Park in Kent.

Reports mentions: Gardens and health - The King’s fund 2016 report and Gardens and Coronavirus 2020 report

Desert Island plant and gardening luxury: Plumbago capensis and desalination plant with brass antique water sprinkler.

NGS beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Research, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Carers Trust, The Queen’s Nursing Institute, Parkinson’s UK, Horatio’s Garden, Maggie’s and Greenfingers. Support and training English Heritage, Perennial, Working for Gardeners Association, National Botanic Garden of Wales, Professional Gardeners’ Trust and Garden Museum.

George Plumptre’s books

The Garden Visitor’s handbook 2023 (The Yellow Book)

NGS Website with links to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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In this month’s Dig It podcast Peter Brown and Chris Day look at how the gradual change in seasons is beginning to affect what we plant, prune and plan ahead in our gardens.

Thursday 2nd February Chasing Plants talk with Dr Chris Thorogood in Oxford, 7-8pm. 

Saturday 4th February, 10am-4pm. Our Graft & Grow Event at the Garden Centre with The Mid Shires Orchard Group and grafters Andy Howard and Steve Oram from PTES

Saturday 4th February – Sunday 12th March  Houseplant Takeover at RHS Gardens, Wisley 

Thursday 16 February: Winter and Snowdrops Walk from 9.30am. Breakfast and a Guided Walk with Nick Hamilton at Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, created by his father Geoff. 

In the news

David Austin Roses retires three rose varieties.

Redesign of the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother garden at Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. 

RHS partner garden numbers increase to 221, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Powis Castle and Bridgemere Show Gardens.

The Windlesham Trophy awarded to the HM Prison Thorn Cross for its creative gardening efforts. 

Petal patterns found to attract bees, the latest from Cambridge University.

New laws to help protect illegal landscape tree felling comes into force.

Scottish tea grower success in London.

Predictions of garden trends for 2023 from the RHS.  

Kew Science spotlights 10 species of plants and fungi that it has named as new to science in 2022.

NGS biggest ever charity donation in 2022.

Dig It Top 5 Potatoes: From 5 to the number 1 spot Potato ‘Arran Pilot’ (1st early), ‘Desiree’ (maincrop), ‘Rocket’ (1st early), ‘Charlotte’ (2nd early) and at number 1 ‘Kestrel’ (2nd early).

Plant mentions: Asparagus, Garlic, Onions, Grapes, Roses ‘Munstead Wood’, ‘A Shropshire Lad’ and ‘Lady Emma Hamilton’, Phormium, Cordyline australis, Camellia sinensis (tea), cooler houseplants such Kentia palm, Fatsia japonica and Spathiphyllum; Snowdrops, Raspberries (‘Heritage’, ‘Autumn Bliss’), Strawberries, date palm, hedging, ornamental trees and fruit trees.

Product mentions: Swimming pond pumps from Oase, Secateurs, fleece, Baby Bio, Miracle-Gro feed, Phostrogen Plant Food, compost bins, and water butts.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music.

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In this episode of Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Charles Dowding, a leading champion of no-dig gardening. Not only does he have a huge following, but his advice is born out of more than 40 years of growing, analysing, comparing, and recommending. We learn about the process of his No Dig philosophy from soil preparation, weed control, plant nutrition and how this method could work for you.

No Dig pointers: Bed sizes: 1.2m (4ft) wide beds and any length to suite your garden size. Adding 1in of compost to the beds per year. Practise intercropping and successional plantings to maximise your cropping space. No crop rotation is necessary by having good, healthy soil. Do have weed-free pathways between your crops. Pathways between beds need to be around 40cm (16 inches) wide and again use cardboard and wood chip. Think about the orientation of your beds and if necessary, run them up and down if your site slopes. Be realistic - start small to stay in control so you can enjoy it and have fun growing. Making a bed in winter is usually best. Compost on clay soils work well with No Dig. Weeding ‘little and often’ is key to avoid weeds going to seed.

Plant mentions: Garlic, Broccoli, Beetroot, Brussel sprout ‘Evesham Special’, Onions, Carrots, Kale, Potato varieties ‘Nicola’ and ‘Charlotte’. Weeds - dandelions, chickweed, couch grass, bindweed, mare’s tail and groundsel.

Product mentions: A dibber or trowel, horticultural fleece or Enviromesh coverage, cardboard, mushroom compost, home compost, green waste compost, animal manures and wood chip. Hoes, compost bins (Dalek type) as well as home-made pallet compost. Coffee grounds, rock dust, charcoal and wood ash used sparingly make good compost additives.

Professor Elaine Ingham is an American microbiologist and soil biology researcher and founder of Soil Foodweb Inc. She is known as a leader in soil microbiology and research of the soil food web.

Dr Shewell-Cooper MBE, was a British organic gardener, a pioneer of no-dig gardening and a prolific writer of 37 gardening books!

Charles Dowding’s website, courses videos and books

Socials Twitter @charlesdowding Facebook @CharlesDowdingNoDig Instagram charles_dowding

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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This month on DIG IT Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest gardening news, what’s on’s and as the peak gardening season is well underway, a look at those tasks to keep your garden looking its best this month and beyond.

What’s on

2 – 7th July: RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is held in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, Richmond.

12th July and 4th August: The Big Butterfly Count 2024.

17 – 21st July: RHS Flower Show Tatton Park in Cheshire.

20th July: Great Dixter Summer Plant Fair at Great Dixter Gardens, Rye, East Sussex.

News

Plant Heritage will showcase a range of its National Plant Collections, including Kniphofia, Rubus and Hosta (miniature and small) at Hampton Court.

New 4-year project by the University of London is evaluating prescribing social pursuits like gardening to children.

New garden around the Natural History Museum opens this month.

The BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don will be out on tour to share tales from his garden at Longmeadow and gardens he has visited around the world.

Belinda Howell has been appointed chair of the Peat-free Partnership to establish peat-free legislation across the UK and NI.

Susan Raikes is appointed the new Director of Wakehurst at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Nick Bailey, Gardener’s World presenter is appointed director of the University Leicester’s botanic garden.

Percy Thrower’s greenhouse, which once featured Shrewsbury’s main park, The Quarry, is to be restored by Shrewsbury Men’s Shed.

Bumper year for Box Tree Caterpillar reveals RHS.

Be alert for toxic oak processionary moth caterpillars.

How to take part in the Great Stag Hunt to help record the UK’s largest, and endangered beetle.

Asian Hornets: help needed to irradicate imported bee-killers.

The winning plants at last month’s BBC Gardeners World Live Show, include Hydrangea Eclipse and Apple Peter’s Gold. New plant awards annouced at the HTA Show including Digitalis Apple Blossom and Prunus Crystal Falls.

This month’s DIG IT top 5: Strawberry varieties. 1st Strawberry ‘Symphony’ 2nd ‘Cambridge Favourite’ 3rd ‘Hapil’ 4th ‘Honeoye’ and in 5th ‘Elsanta’.

Plant mentions: Apples (variety Scrumptious), Cherries, Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, Delphiniums, Euonymus Jean Hugues, Euonymus Green Spire, Pears, Plum, Sweet corn, Yew, Lonicera nitida, fuchsias, Dianthus, Carnations, Purple loosestrife, and Salvia Hot Lips. Sow Foxgloves, Sweet Williams, Wallflowers and Forget-me-nots and veggies including Round Carrots, Beetroot, Radish, Lettuce, and Spring Onions. Continue to plant Tomatoes and Peppers.

Product mentions: Bug Clear Ultra 2, Box Tree Caterpillar Killer Nematodes, Poppyforge plant supports, bird food, straw and terracotta pots for earwig control.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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There’s plenty to chat about in the garden this January as Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day look at the gardening stories making the headlines, the Dig It Top 5 as well as tackling those gardening tasks.

What’s on

Snowdrop gardens and snowdrop days https://www.greatbritishgardens.co.uk/seasonal/snowdrops.html

Monday 16th January: Small is Beautiful, a talk by Alys Fowler www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on

27-29th January RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch www.rspb.org.uk

Until 31st January: Winter Sculpture Exhibition at RHS Rosemoor www.rhs.org.uk

In the news

Welsh announce peat ban

Wentworth House in Yorkshire wins Historic Houses Association competition.

Plant Heritage, the conservation charity, has approached the Government in a bid to become part of the UKs commitment to conserving the country’s genetic diversity.

Charity Greenfingers opens its new children’s garden at St Oswald’s Hospice in Newcastle.

The 500-year-old ancient Waverley Abbey yew has been named tree of the year by the Woodland Trust.

Vertical farmed trees grown under lights could help solve shortfalls in UK tree-planting targets.

Restaurant fire hits Alton Garden Centre

The Garden Centre Association Christmas Display Winners announced

Clover lawns on TikTok become a massive hit with over 62 million views!

Defra letting down country over ‘plastic grass’ debate, claims The Lawn Association.

The National Allotment Society has unveiled a new service encouraging housing developers and local government to include space for allotments in new developments.

The Garden Media Guild awards for 2022 have been announced, including the Lifetime achievement award to rosarian Michael Marriott.

The Pantone colour of the year for 2023 is Viva Magenta!

Dig It Top 5 - bird food

No 1 spot Wild bird, followed by bird peanuts at no 2, Henry Bell Fat Balls at no 3 with Wild Bird Mix (3kg bags) at no 4 and 20kg large sacks of Wild Bird Mix in 5th position.

Plant mentions: Alfalfa, Apples, Brussel sprouts, Clover, Chamomile, Pears, Potatoes, micro greens, Hellebores, Rosa rugosa and Yew

Product mentions: Secateurs, garden gloves, rhubarb forcer, large dustbin or trug.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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A passion for houseplants

In this episode of Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Tony Le-Britton, passionate houseplant professional and owner of Not Another Jungle shop in Northampton. From humble beginnings growing houseplants in a greenhouse in the house (yes, really!) a childhood ambition fulfilled by appearing on the Gardeners’ World to developing his own special style and flair in helping everyone get connected with indoor plants through his social media channels and brand. Tony chats about his favourite plants, we get to grips with spider plants, top tips on growing indoors and more.

Plants mentioned: Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis), Aroids (members of the family Araceae and include many common houseplants like Aglaonemas, Monsteras, Philodendrons, Pothos and ZZ plants).  Spider plant (Chlorophytum). Avoid Dutch-grown colour sprayed succulents and cacti or plants pinned with dried flowers or stick on googly eyes. Newer forms of Monstera have become popular with much smaller leaves and those with variegated leaves like Monstera Thai Constellation. Variegated plants are favourites of Tony as many of them are rare. Stephania erecta. 

Products mentioned: LED lights, Sandwich bags, sphagnum moss and rooting hormone. Dale Foot wool-based seed peat-free compost. Not Another Jungle specialist Houseplant Super Food. Empathy RootGrow.

Tony’s desert island plant: Anything from the alocasia family as they produce big leaves which you can shelter under and you can eat the tubers!

Luminaries who have inspired Tony: Geoff Hamilton and Monty Don 

You can find Tony on Instagram TikTok and Facebook

Tony’s shop: Not Another Jungle, 9 George Row, Northampton NN1 1DF.

Not Another Jungle: Comprehensive Care for Extraordinary Houseplants, book is available to pre-order from Amazon. Publish date 6th April 2023.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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December 2022 in the Garden (short notes)

Dig It hosts Peter Brown and Chris Day delve into the stories affecting gardeners and the gardening trade, plus jobs to do in the garden.

In the news

The RHS move their gooseberry and rhubarb national collections from Wisley to Bridgewater, near Manchester.

The 5,000-year-old Newlands Corner Yews are highlighted as part of the Conservation Foundations 40th anniversary celebrations.

Bumblebees less likely to land on flowers sprayed with fertilisers, says Bristol University report. 

Blue Diamond acquires Van Hage Garden centres.

Hilliers grows to 22 garden centres with the acquisition of Rosebourne and increases tree production after buying a 200-acre farm in Liss, Hampshire.

Toxic Ricinus communis (castor oil) found growing in council flower beds in North Wales.

UK butterfly numbers drop to an all-time low says Butterfly Conservation

Celebrate the King’s Coronation on 6th May 2023 by planting red, white and blue flowers and bulbs.

Plant mentions: Bare-root hedging, Norway spruce and Nordmann fir, Poinsettia, lasagna planting red and white tulips and winter hardy pansies and violas, blue and white forget-me-nots and grape hyacinths. Yew and the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Poplars for pollarding and Hazel for withies. Scented Sarcococca and Daphne. The Ball Colegrave introduction Glimmer ™ mildew resistant double busy lizzies will be available next year.

Product mentions: Reservoir Christmas stands, Hang Scentsicles on your artificial Christmas tree to give a festive smell, Bird feeds and fat balls, horticultural fleece. Pot feet for lifting your pots. Greenhouse cleaners - Jeyes Fluid or Agralan Citrox.

Houseplant expert Jane Perrone shared her poinsettia thoughts on our podcast last year. 

Burnham Beeches is a National Nature Reserve famous for its ancient pollards; many are several hundred years old.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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Alan’s down-to-earth world of gardening

Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with horticultural supremo Alan Down in this latest Dig It podcast.

Alan has been incredibly active in the gardening trade from early days in commercial growing in

Germany, developing skills in germinating tree seeds and in Somerset to setting up a very successful

garden centre and most recently taking on a new role - President of the Horticultural Trades

Association. Alan is an accomplished gardening writer and broadcaster, who also enjoys worldwide

travel, photography and even deer management!

Plant mentions Wildflowers, pot chrysanthemums, spray chrysanthemum, tomato, bedding plants,

Japanese maples, hellebores, hardy ferns, ornamental grasses, and native trees.

Alan’s desert island plant: Apple tree or a citrus lemon or lime if the island was in the tropics.

Product mentions and useful links

Two recommended peat-free composts Melcourt SylvaGrow Compost, Westland New Horizon

Compost

The popular gift vouchers from the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) available from all Garden

Centres and Nurseries who are HTA members.

Hilliers Nurseries (container growing unit)

Edible Bus Stop Group

Cannington College

Pershore College

Royal Horticultural Society education

British Deer Society

International Plant Propagator’s Society

Luminaries: Sir Harold Hillier, Roy Lancaster, Stewart Chambers and Stewart Brookfield, head of

horticulture at Somerset College of Agriculture and Horticulture in the 1970s.

HTA toxic plants list https://hta.org.uk/potentiallyharmfulplants

You can follow Alan on these platforms

You can read Alan’s Blogs on gardening and travel on his website www.down-to-earth.co.uk

Gardening Candid app

Alan on Instagram @alanedown Twitter @AlanEDown Candide UK: @AlanGardenMaster

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The mild weather continued into November but plenty of rain and wind brought the garden to a colourful if damp end to autumn. Peter Brown and Chris Day prepare for the bare-root planting season, delve into some of the popular news stories making the headlines, plus a look at some of those pressing jobs in the garden and with our beloved houseplants.

What’s on

Monday 7th November: Wilding Rural Enfield is an online talk by Ian Russell, principal engineer at Enfield Council’s Watercourse Team. Open 6-7pm. More details here

Thursday 17th November: Gardens in My Life is the title of the 2022 annual lecture of the National Garden Scheme given by garden designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd.

In the news

Amersham in Bloom crowned overall winner of this year’s RHS Britain in Bloom UK finals.

Are gardener’s losing their parliamentary voice, asks Matthew Appleby? Featured in Amateur Gardening magazine, 23rd October issue.

Garden Organic fighting for the future, plus their excellent Heritage Seed Library.

Our Houseplant department at the Garden Centre has received a fantastic makeover. Look out for Beautanic Lifestyle range of hydroculture plants from Javado.

Garden visiting remained as popular as ever this year with increased visitor numbers including Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (top spot), RHS Wisley, in the third spot and Trentham Gardens in fifth spot.

Do not forget to look for the spectacular magical illumination shows over the next couple of months at Waddesdon Manor, RHS Glow Gardens and the beautiful lakes and gardens at Leonardslee in West Sussex.

A reminder about checking for hedgehogs prior to lighting a bonfire in the garden, plus The British Hedgehog Preservation Society are encouraging schools and colleges to take part in their ‘Pick litter to help hogs’ campaign.

British Garden Centre group increases numbers to 62 with the acquisition of Mirfield Garden Centre in West Yorkshire.

Plants mentioned

Bare-root planting season begins, including native hedges, roses, ornamental and fruit trees.

Dahlia, Leylandii, Spotted Laurel, English Yew and Hollies. Plants suitable to take as hardwood cuttings include Willow, Dogwood and Hazel. Continue spring bulbs planting - Tulips, Narcissi and Crocus if you plan to create lasagna bulb displays

Sow a few Broad beans (varieties such as ‘Aquadulce’ and ‘Super Aquadulce’), pot up bare-root strawberries for an early crop and sow Sweet Peas for earlier flowering next summer.

Product mentions

RootGrow (Mycorrhizal friendly fungi). Potting or horticultural grit for soil improvement. Use a net over your pond to clear any leaves and use a wheatgerm feed for your fish. Plants that create aerial roots such as Monstera may need support so install a moss pole, which must be kept moist.

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In this edition of Dig It Chris Day chats with the editor of Garden Trade News (GTN) Trevor Pfeiffer. Trevor examines how the massive garden trade, suppliers of both products and plants help spread news and information as well as analysing the sales across the trade in the Best Sellers Charts. Trevor gives us some of his personal insights into the garden centre trade from sustainability and global warming to the massive ongoing peat-free compost debate! Trevor’s mantra is that growing plants gives you an optimistic point of view on life and we couldn’t agree more!

Big breaking news stories The Wyevale sell off and the passing of Peter Seabrook

Garden Heroes Guy Topping, MD of Barton Garden Centre located between Preston and Garstang. The garden centre set up includes a marina and an entertainment complex The Flower Bowl, which includes a cinema amongst other activities! Mike Burks, The Gardens Group of Garden Centres in Dorset and Somerset. Great ethos of getting garden centre teams motivated as well as plenty of communication through their proper tea breaks complete with a huge tea pot at 10am and 4pm every day! Floral Thursday world record for Greenfingers charity. The idea was fostered by Neil Grant, Managing Director of Ferndale Garden Centre in Sheffield to wear something flowery and it’s become popular as well as fun for fundraising opportunities.

Awards New products at GLEE, a trade show held annually in Birmingham and the GTN Greatest Awards, teams are nominated for specific categories such as Best Christmas merchandising and Best Grotto.

Garden magazines mentioned Garden News, Garden Answers, Gardeners’ World and Practical Gardening (no longer produced) and RHS The Garden magazine. 

HTA global warming news.

Plants mentioned Apples, Poinsettias, Petunias, Pelargoniums (Geraniums), Taylors Autumn planted for Christmas potatoes and Trevor’s favourite,  Squash Mashed Potato and Squash ‘Baked Potato’.

Favourite garden centre Poppies Garden Centre, Saulmore Shore, By Oban in Argyll.

Desert island luxury Trench digging shovel. Go for one with a metal shaft and handle which makes it extra strong, great for getting underneath roots when having to move plants!

Products mentioned Garden lighting, both solar and low voltage. Westland Boost All-Purpose Plant food . Fito Orchid drip feeders .

Discover more about Garden Trade News website

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Peter Brown and Chris Day start preparing for winter as well as providing us with a roundup of the latest news and views from the world of gardening.

What’s on

Saturday 1st – Sunday 2nd October: Buckingham Garden Centre’s Apple Weekend with Gerry Edwards, The Mid Shires Orchard Group, CPRE The Countryside Charity, BBOWT, Chrissie’s Owls (Saturday), plus Junior Gardening Club’s children’s best dressed apple competition. The North Buckinghamshire Beekeepers Association Honey Show is on the Sunday.

Saturday 8th – Sunday 9th October: Waterperry Gardens Apple Weekend.

Saturday 15th October, 10am-5pm: Autumn Fair at Harcourt Arboretum, Oxfordshire.

Thursday, 20 October, 13:00 - 14:15: Garden Tour at Garden Organic, Ryton Gardens, COVENTRY, Warks, CV8 3LG.

In the news

Plants named after the late The Queen Elizabeth II, include Clematis montana var. rubens 'Elizabeth' was bred by Jackmans in the 1950s.

The list includes Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth' bred by Lammerts Rosa 'The Queen's Jubilee' was launched to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.

Rosa 'Queen Elizabeth II' was bred by Harkness Roses

Our Dig It top five apple maiden varieties

1 ‘Discovery’

2 ‘James Grieve’

3 ‘Cox’s Self-Fertile’

4 ‘Arthur Turner’

4 ‘Egremont Russet’

In the news

Ball Colegrave announce the top varieties voted by visitors to their trade event back in the summer.

Last year was the Year of the Courgette and Fleuroselect in conjunction with Royal Horticultural Society grew some 70 different varieties at two of their gardens at Bridgewater and Rosemoor. The plants were judged by the RHS technical committee and these new varieties were awarded the top Award of Garden Merit (AGM) Cucurbita ‘Color’, ‘Lorea’ and ‘Brice’.

RHS Hyde Hall reveals people’s choice Viola winner

Updated - Plants and their toxicity the HTA Guide to Potentially Harmful Plants and now includes pets. You can access it at this link

Product mentions

Homebase Peat Free, Aldi Peat Free, Westland New Horizon Peat Free (best of the bunch so far) and Miracle Gro Peat Free.

Vine weevil Control– opt for Bug Clear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer as a soil drench or look at natural nematotode control.

Plant mentions

Spring bulbs including Alliums, Crocus, Daffodils, Snowdrops and Hyacinths for planting now. Tulips often benefit from being planted a little later into the autumn and early winter. Don’t delay get your ‘prepared’ hyacinths and Narcissi ‘Paperwhite’ established if you are looking for Christmas colour. Available in store. Heuchera and Heucherella plants with their decorative foliage work well with bulbs in borders and in containers.

As the soil becomes more workable, think about getting your autumn onions and garlic established before the weather turns cold.

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For the past 33 years Kathy and her husband Simon have created a simply amazing Manor House Garden in Stevington, just north of Bedford. It’s a garden full of inspiration, buoyed by Kathy’s keen use of colour and structure as well as plenty of great plants. In this episode of Dig it, Peter Brown and Chris Day discover more about how the garden evolved, advice on growing plants in containers using recipe-style plantings, the crocking debate, tales of a donkey, opening a garden to the public and using edible flowers in baking.

Plants mentioned: Beech hedging, Eucalyptus, Pine trees, avenues of Betula jacquemontii, Metasequoia glyptostroboides and Ginkgo biloba. Wisteria, Weeping Cedrus, xeriscape plants such as succulents. Perennials Agapanthus, Alliums, Japanese anemones, Gladiolus callianthus 'Murielae' (Abyssinian gladiolus, RHS AGM), Sedum, Hellebore Gold Collection (outward facing blooms perfect in pots) Helleborus ‘Frosty’ is a good one, Verbena bonariensis, ornamental grasses including Calamagrostis ‘Overdam’, Echinaceas. Hyacinths, Dwarf and species Tulips, Tulip clusiana 'Lady Jane' and Dwarf Narcissi like ‘January Gold’ (early) and ‘Pipit’ (later flowering). Good flavours to use with cake bakes include scented rose petals as these provide the most flavour as well as lavender.

Kathy’s desert island plant: English lavender – wonderfully versatile, you can cook with it and use it in a wide variety of ways as well as producing a wonderful tea to enjoy.

Products mentioned: White Himalayan birch plantings at Anglesey Abbey. National Garden Scheme (NGS). Solardome ® greenhouse. Beth Chatto’s dry garden – a converted car park to a gravel garden. Piet Oudolf, a Dutch garden designer, plant nursery man and author who practices a more naturalistic approach to gardening. Composts: Dalefoot Wool Compost and Jack’s Magic All Purpose Improved Compost (reduced peat) and New Horizon Peat-Free Compost. Broadleaf p4, using John Innes Compost as an additive. Kathy likes to use Evergreen Compost , who offer peat-free, peat-reduced and a traditional compost containing sphagnum moss peat. Water retaining granules such as Broadleaf P4 and Swelgel, which can be added to compost and soil to help retain moisture around the plant’s roots. Garden photographer Clive Nichols and the early morning photo shoot.

Kathy Brown’s Books The Edible Flower Garden, Container Gardening, Kathy Brown's Recipes For Easy Container Gardening and A Bulb for all Seasons

To find out more about Kathy’s Garden, opening details, Kathy’s lectures and how to book a visit click here

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After a challenging hot and dry summer in the garden we enter the month of September and a change in season. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day tackle some essential tasks for the month, plus they look at the latest garden news and events coming up at the Garden Centre.

Wednesday 21st September: Orchid Day 11am-3pm at the Garden Centre. We will be joined by Manos Kanellos, top orchid guru and a previous Dig It podcast guest and he will be talking at 11am and 2pm as well as providing MOTs for orchids in need of a re-pot.

23rd – 25th September RHS Malvern Autumn Show.

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October, 10am-4pm both days. Our Apple Weekend featuring RHS fruit expert Gerry Edwards, who will be helping to identify apple fruits for our customers and the Mid Shire Orchard Group making delicious apple juice and offering apple growing advice, plus BBOWT and much more. On Sunday we host the North Bucks Beekeepers' Association's Honey Show.

Our Dig It top 5 perennials (in 1-litre pots)

In joint fifth position Lupinus ‘Gallery Blue’ and Dianthus ‘Tickled Pink’, 4th spot Rudbeckia ‘Goldstrum’, 3rd position Penstemon ‘Pensham Laura’, in 2nd Verbena bonariensis and at number 1 Coreopsis ‘Early Sunrise’.

Plant mentions

Vegetable plug plants and sowing vegetable seeds including winter brassicas, chicory, endive, Chinese cabbage. Crocosmia, spring bulbs, Lavender, Teasle seeds and Caladiums. Bare-root apple varieties

Product mentions Compost bins, Bokashi kitchen composters. Orchid products from Growth Technology Clip Gloves are available in store.

News links

Chatsworth historic gardens revealed by heatwave and Chatsworth’s new alpine garden reimagined by top garden designer Tom Stuart Smith.

Futuristic ‘flower design’ greenhouse at National Trust Woolbeding Gardens

The new RHS Wisley Clear Lake and ways to save water in the garden.

Rosebourne Weyhill opened by horticulturalist and TV presenter David Domoney and the young 14-year-old entrepreneur with his dog pampering range

Palladian Bridge reopens after 8 years at Prior Park Landscape Gardens and is very similar to the one at Stowe Landscape Gardens.

Historic wall gardens at Blenheim Palace Gardens goes no-dig and organic.

Dr Amir Khan is the new patron of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

A retirement home for gnomes at Amelia Trust Care Farm in Glamorgan.

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In this edition of Dig It, Chris Day chats with Pauline Brown, Partner at Buckingham Garden Centre and Nurseries, to discover more about the history and evolution of the business looking at the changes in the way we garden, the development of the site over five decades and how trends have impacted on the business from sustainability to new plants. We also chat to Pauline about her own passion for plants and gardening for wildlife, growing food for the kitchen, the art of composting and the importance of gardening for the future.

To see how Buckingham Garden Centre has developed over 50 years check out this photo gallery

Core gardening is key – garden tools, fertilisers, compost bins, water butts, solar lights with timers, and seeds. Over recent years Buckingham Garden Centre has become a destination garden centre together with hugely popular The Gardeners’ Retreat Restaurant.

Plant mentions: Apples (including the variety ‘Ashmead’s Kernel’), Amelanchier, Cordylines, Hedging, Helianthemums, Phormium, Potatoes, Ornamental trees, Sedum, Lettuce, Chard, Pea ‘Alderman’. Look for disease resistance in the new varieties if you can.

Sustainability on the site water conservation (reservoir), solar panels, recycling (include taupe plant pots and trays), FSC certified timber, peat-free composts and in the restaurant waste coffee grounds are collected, sent for recycling to be turned into coffee logs.

Seeds from Garden Organic’s Seed Heritage Library

The RHS Plant Finder Book 2022 and online

The RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

RHS Plants For Pollinators logo on labels.

Helping wildlife: Products such as hedgehog houses, bird feeders and bug hotels.

Learning about gardening by talking to family and friends, visit your local library, tap into staff knowledge when visiting the Garden Centre and books such as the RHS Dictionary of Gardening provide invaluable reference information.

The Mid Shires Orchard Group Promoting older regional apple varieties and establishing community orchards

Find out more about Medical Detection Dogs

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Flowers are big business in Britain over 50% of British households bought cut flowers in 2022. However, according to Defra, only 14% of cut flowers sold in the UK are grown in Britain. In this edition of Dig it Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Jessica Naish who runs a successful local flower farm in Buckingham. In the podcast we discover how Jess has developed her flower farm, plus the practicalities of growing a wide range of cut flowers from the field to the vase.

Flowers mentioned: Amaranthus caudatus (Love Lies Bleeding), Centaurea cyanus (Cornflowers), Cosmos, Dahlias, Godetia, Larkspur, Nigella damascena (Love-in-a-mist), Perennial and annual Phlox, Strawflowers (Xerochrysum bracteatum), Roses (including the Timeless range of roses), Sweet peas, Sunflowers, Ten Week Stocks and Wallflowers.

Fragrant foliage: Apple mint, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, and scented Pelargoniums to add fragrance to bouquets.

Bulbs mentioned: Alliums, Gladioli, Lillies, Narcissi and Tulips.

Buckingham brew: Nettles and Comfrey tea combo to feed plants organically.

Jessica’s major influence is Gill Hodgson, who set up Flowers From The Farm back in 2011. From humble beginnings, its membership is now more than 1,000 independent British growers, of which Jess is a member. The website allows you to search for your nearest local flower farmer.

Peach Fuzz, Pantone Colour of the year 2024.

Jess’s desert island essentials: Tool - the versatile Hori Hori Knife, plus a couple of plants one of the velvety purple mophead hydrangeas and Geranium ‘Attar of Roses’ famed for its amazing rose scented fragrance.

Find out more about Jessica’s flower farm, workshops and pick-your-own here

You can also follow Jessica on Facebook and Instagram

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Make sure you’re ready for August in the garden with Dig It’s round-up of garden news, events as well as a look at those essential tasks to be getting on with top advice from Buckingham Garden Centre’s Peter Brown and Chris Day.

What’s on

3rd-7th August RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show, Chelmsford, Essex

4th August Summer Cycle at the Royal Botanic Kew Gardens, Richmond, 5.30-8.30pm

Wednesday 17th at 4pm and repeated Saturday 20th August at 3pm at Buckingham Garden Centre FREE Masterclass talk: Growing Your Favourite Hobby plants

12th and 13th August Shrewsbury Flower Show, Quarry Park, Shrewsbury

19th - 21st August RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show, Torrington, Devon

In the news

Cost and availability of allotments

Ball Colegrave Open day (garden trade only) highlighting the new double flowered impatiens walleriana 'Glimmer Appleblossom', recently recognised as Best in Show at the HTA’s New Plant Award. The latest trend of using perennials to mix with seasonal bedding plants in displays, including containers.

Peter Seabrook’s Sweet Pea

Kew’s giant waterlily news story in full

Spalding Flower parade set to return in 2023

Anti-plastic lobby get turfed out. Plastic grass stays!

Terry Walton’s story on the safe use, storage and disposal of pesticides from PestSmart

This month’s Dig It Top Five pest controls: At no5 Provanto Ultimate Fruit and Vegetable Killer, no4 Toprose Bug Killer, at no3 Bugclear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer, in 2nd place Provanto Ultimate Bug Killer and in top slot goes to Bugclear Ultra Gun! for edibles. Available at the Garden Centre.

Plant mentioned: Maize (Zea mays), Taylors Summer Planting Seed Potatoes for Christmas new potatoes, seeds of Japanese onion ‘Senshyu Semi-Globe Yellow’, spring cabbage, carrots – round varieties such as ‘Paris Market 5’, Chinese cabbage, corn salad, winter lettuce and radish seeds can be sown this month. Summer-fruiting and autumn raspberry plants.

Products mentioned: Bio-Bean, who manufacture Coffee logs, a popular product at the Garden Centre has been named a Best for the World ™ B Corp ™ . Miracle-Gro for higher nitrogen feeding and for encouraging improved flowering use Phostrogen or Tomato feed.

Liquid lawn weedkillers such as Weedol Lawn Weedkiller

Composts Westland New Horizon, Miracle Gro Peat Free,and Dalefoot Wool Compost for Potting. . Homebase Peat free Multi-Purpose Compost has fared well in our trials so far this season.

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July is traditionally the start of the cherry season so in this edition of Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Vikki Grainge from Horwood Cherries, to discover more about growing these delicious fruits famed for their wonderful flavour despite the short of season of cropping.

Plants mentioned: Flowering ornamental cherries including ‘Amanogawa’ and ‘Kanzan’, Prunus avium (wild cherry, bird cherry) and Prunus cerasifera (the myrobalan or cherry plum).

The cherry varieties ‘Morello’, ‘Stella’, ‘Summer Sun’ and ‘Sunburst’ are available as bare-root trees from November onwards from the Garden Centre or through Mail Order.

The cherries are grown on the trellis system using the Upright Fruiting Offshoots (or UFO) method of growing cherry training by Dr Greg Lang, a very intensive method which could be adapted by the home gardener. There are five cherry varieties grown at Horwood Cherries spanning the whole season providing around five weeks of cropping. The varieties are ‘Merchant’ (early), ‘Bellise’ ® (early), ‘Kordia’ (mid to late season, RHS AGM), ‘Regina’ (Late) and ‘Lapins’ (late and self-fertile).

Products mentioned: Clearweave Cherry Cover, Cherry colour chart , Dosatron, a liquid feeding system we use at the Garden Centre. Annual top dressing of potassium, phosphates and nitrogen are applied to help cherry growth.

Spotted wing drosophila (fruit flies). Yellow traps for monitoring all year round. Traps and lures are available from Agralan and some other suppliers or similar traps can be made at home. Consider insect proof mesh to keep the flies out.

Aphids can be troublesome; botrytis and mildew are avoided by good pruning to keep the trees open.

Never prune cherries when it is wet – it needs to be dry for at least three days and disinfect secateurs between trees. March-May is the best time to prune.

Useful links

Find out more about Horwood Cherries website

Cooking with cherries? Cherries in brandy, Cherry Crumble, Cherry Ice Cream and can be roasted with lamb. Some good cherry recipes here

Japan’s famous cherry parks

Vikki’s desert island plant is the sunflower, especially the variety 'Mongolian Giant'. Seeds available from Chiltern Seeds

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Make sure you’re ready for July in the garden with Dig It’s round-up of garden news, events as well as a look at those essential tasks to be getting on with, with top advice from Peter Brown and Chris Day.

What’s On

4th - 9th July RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. The world’s largest flower show.

Wednesday 6th July at 4pm at Buckingham Garden Centre - FREE talk Tom Gadsby’s Garden Design Masterclass.

16th - 17th July The Belvoir Castle Flower and Garden Show

20th – 24th July RHS Tatton Park Flower Show

In the News

A national scheme to encourage homeowners to rent out their spare land is being organised by www.allotme.co.uk

Going abroad this summer? Learn about plant health and helping protect our biosecurity, including a great activity download for children at www.planthealthaction.org

Eden Project’s Pollinator Pathmaker design website

Nigel Dunnett’s Tower of London ‘Superbloom’ project.

The Chelsea Flower Show 2022 Plant of the Year is Semponium 'Destiny' from Surreal Succulents

Rosarian and top rose breeder Colin Dickson is awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee honours.

This month’s Dig It Top Five: Our best-selling plant liquid fertilisers from Doff. Best seller is Liquid Seaweed, 2nd place Rose fertiliser; 3rd slot Tomato feed, 4th Ericaceous and Container and Basket Feed in 5th place. Available at the Garden Centre.

On the traditional boxed / straight fertilisers top spot belongs to Blood, Fish & Bone, followed by Vitax Organic Rose feed, Vitax Q4, Bonemeal and Sulphate of Potash. Available at the Garden Centre and online

Plants mentioned: Citrus plants, sow seeds of French and Runner beans, Peas, Brussels Sprouts ‘Evesham Special’ (open pollinated) or the F1 hybrid variety ‘Green Marble’ and winter brassicas. Lavender ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’.

Laurels showing symptoms of bacterial shothole and aphids attacking the growing tips.

Take leaf cuttings from houseplants including Begonia rex, Streptocarpus and African Violets. Stem cuttings from Penstemon, Dianthus, Star Pelargoniums, Scented pelargoniums cola, lemon, 'Attar of Roses' and orange varieties. Hardwood cuttings of Salix (Willow).

Products mentioned: Pizza oven, The Kindling Cracker, a clever wood kindling splitter device designed by a 13-year-old school girl from New Zealand.

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The Queen of Herbs – Jekka McVicar

Jekka McVicar talks with Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day about the popularity in growing herbs, tips on growing them, plus a fascinating insight into her RHS show work Jekka shares her passion for growing and propagating herbs, organic growing, meeting the Queen and Jekka spills the beans on her exciting new herb garden project which opens next year.

Plant mentions: Numerous Basils including Basil ‘Red Rubin’ for infusing to create pink gin, Coriander, Convallaria (Lily of the Valley), Cress, Digitalis (Foxglove, medicinal herb), Dill, French Tarragon, Lemon Balm, Lemon Verbena, Laurus nobilis (bay leaves), Mints including Peppermint and Spearmint, Murraya koenigii (Curry tree), Nasturtium, Oregano, Red Amaranth, Rosemary, Salvia lavandulifolia (lavender-leaved sage), Szechuan (Sichuan) Pepper, Turmeric, Thymes, including Jekka’s Purple Haze, Tomatoes, Wild Rocket and Winter savory.

A range of herb plants are available at the Garden Centre and online

Kew Gardens research into herbs

Product mentions: Jekka’s Mr Fothergill’s herb seeds, Maxicrop Seaweed Extract, available at the Garden Centre (feed on Friday).

Medicinal herbs resources: Medical herbalist Anne McIntyre and herbal practitioner Simon Mills.

Borage the gnome news story

Jekka’s Books see website, plus available at the Garden Centre, A Little Book of Herbs. An A-Z.

Peat-free compost, Jekka has her own formula based on coir. If potting herbs always use a Peat-free ‘Potting’ compost rather than a multi-purpose mix.

2009 RHS Lawrence Award, for best floral display. The Medal was special as it was the first for herbs and a first for organics.

Notable luminaries: Garden designer and writer Noel Kingsbury, RHS show organiser Mavis Sweetingham, horticultural legend Beth Chatto, national treasure Delia Smith, top TV chef Jamie Oliver, top fish chef Nathan Outlaw.

Jekka’s Desert Island plant: The entire Lamiaceae family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family and includes culinary herbs like Basil, Mint, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Marjoram, Oregano, Hyssop, Thyme, Lavender, and Perilla.

To find out more about Jekka’s story, the specialist herb farm containing over 400 culinary and medicinal herbs from all around the world and online shop.

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