Original subtitles

Hello and welcome to Gardeners' World.

I am taking some cuttings. Because this is a very good time of year to

take cuttings because a lot of the new growth has ripen. That means it

is going to dry out and basically die back more slowly which gives a

time for the rich to develop. Because it is new shoots, they have

got bigger. We need new shoots that don't have a flower bud.

don't have a flower bud. This is salvia, but it is not hardy, so I

always take cuttings. We will put it straight into a polythene bag. The

reason you do that is to reduce the pace at which it dries out. Taking

cuttings is something that you do to plan for next year. I always think,

October the 1st is New Year's Day for the gardener. All our gardening

should be about preparing for next spring and summer to look as good as

it possibly can.

On today's programme...

We find out how one man's obsession with colour and shape

has filled his garden with bold architectural plants.

Whether there is a problem or not with collecting, I am not sure yet.

It is nice in some ways, but one is never enough of something.

Adam and Advolly head to North Yorkshire to uncover

the work of two celebrated designers born centuries apart.

This, the original dipping pond. By all accounts, it's about nine feet

deep. They would have had watering cans and dipping it in the dipping

pond and running around and watering four and a half acres.

And I'll be sowing garlic to harvest next year.

We normally take cuttings from the plants we like the best because it

is a good way of increasing our stock without spending any money.

But sometimes you can find a healthy plant that doesn't have a single

flower on it. And this penstimon is a perfect example. It is what we

know best as penstimon garnet. But it has had a name change. If you go

and ask for penstimon Garnet, they will give it to you. Anyway, it is a

lovely plant. But they are a problem because they don't like heavy soil

and wet winters. They like good drainage, so taking cuttings is

almost essential. What you are really looking for is growth that

doesn't have a bud. Nice, straight, strong growth. You can see the

leaves coming out from the stem. It is called a node. Cut below it, just

like that. We want to reduce the rate of transpiration from the plant

before it gets roots before it can take up more water, so that means

taking off leaves. We want to leave some leaves, so when the route do

appear, they get fed by photosynthesis. It is a bit of a

balance. The easy way to do it is with a sharp knife. Cut one like

that. And then take apart. I am using a free draining compost. There

is a lot of perlite in this. For cuttings to phone, they need two

things only, they need oxygen and they need water. They don't need

nutrition, that comes later once the roots have been formed. If it is too

solid and too dense, it won't have enough oxygen. If it drains too

quickly, there won't be enough water. This absorbs water and once

it is saturated, the rest drains away. And then the water is

released. Use some kind of

released. Use some kind of dibber, so you don't crush the stem. OK,

let's push the other one in. Water it, don't let the soil dry out and

if

if you can, mist it. You know the roots have formed if you see new

growth. You can bring them out in about March, grow them on and they

will be ready to plant after the last frost. The thing I love about

cuttings is it is completely democratic. It doesn't matter what

kind of garden you have, but sometimes it is nice to go and visit

a garden that is quite unlike your own, that is big, dramatic and grand

and full of history as well as modern inspiration. Which is exactly

what Adam did when they went to scamps Tom Hall in Yorkshire.

This is packed with history, famous designers and, some lovely planting.

. It has a massive 4.5 acre walled garden that has been redesigned by

Pete Orloff into a series of distinctive and artful rooms. And

the parklands around the house was designed by the masterful capability

Brown. With his exquisite eye for lakes, views and very beautiful

bridges. The estate and the House have been handed down the same

family line for over 300 years. So there has been lots of stories and

quite a few challenges to keep evolving this garden to modern

times. We are here to look at the tail is on the triumphs. I will be

rolling up my sleeves. I am discovering ancient rooms. That is

just downright dangerous. As we get let loose on this glorious, historic

estate.

estate. Scampston Hall was built in the 16 90s. It was built by an MP

who was in office for 11 terms, and as was common at that time, was

guaranteed his post by paying the local voters. Over the years, it

cost him nearly £11,000. That is over £1 million into day's money. I

wonder what it would have meant to be an MP back then. Lots of goodies,

I'd expect.

I'd expect. Subsequent generations have been much more productive with

their money. The walled garden was an early edition next to the house

and grew the usual cut flowers and veg. While the conservatory would

have had exotics and fresh fruit. It has been recently restored, but

there are some untouched treasures tucked away in the garden's yard. If

I am honest, as a gardener, I would be happier here in the engine room

than anywhere else in the garden. Back in the day, this would have

been buzzing with people. There are four gardeners, how many roughly

that there have been then? At least 20, easily. At least 20, because you

needed somebody to do every single little job. You would have your part

boys, boys watering the pots and you might be a specialist in a

glasshouse, gaining all this knowledge as he went along for the

sole purpose of being the head gardener. I know some of this has

not been done up, but these presumably look like hot beds? I

think these are melon pits. What they would do is David Tutt tanner's

bark that would create the heat as it was fermenting and then you would

put soil on top and then you would use them to grow pineapples as well.

My version, modern day, four pallets on their sides tied together, horse

manure or something that will create the heat. Soil on top and then any

crops. Bob's is your uncle. Exactly. But definitely for me, this would

have been a happy place. Scampston has worked hard to preserve and

respect its history. This glasshouse is next to be renovated and there

are lovely details, like this bell at the walled garden gate which

summoned the gardeners when visitors arrived. Then, when the designer

arrived just over 20 years ago, he honoured the history.

honoured the history. This, the original dipping pond. By all

accounts, it is about nine foot deep. Really? Yes, it would have

been spring fed and they would have used this, the water and everything

out the back. You need a lot of water, because they would have had

watering cans, coming in and dipping it in the dipping pond and running

around and watering 4.5 acres. It is a lot of water. It is crackers. What

I love is the fact he has kept that and must have designed the rest of

the garden from that. It has a lovely sight line through and he

started to build the rest of the rooms. This place, I have seen so

many pictures over the years, because this is quite a famous

garden in the design world. To get onto the skin of it, I think would

be really good. Talking of water, I have heard there is a plunge pool, a

lady top two -- lady's plunge pool. They are capability Brown's. He is

garden designer and engineer but every now and again he dabbled in

architecture. It is a small space where the ladies could go in there

and get their little knees wet. I can't wait. You have got that look

in your eye, you can't wait, can you? Oh, dear.

We'll re-join Adam and Advolly later in the progamme.

There is a lot more to see. A few weeks ago I suggested you might

like, as a job for the weekend to take runners from your strobe is. I

have got some here. I tend a runner into the soil so it would take root.

All I have to do now is cut it free from the parent and just take that

there, cut and now I have a strawberry plant. I would say the

time to plant that out is in about three weeks, into the garden. You

could leave it in the plot over winter and supplant it in spring but

if you can get into the ground when the soil is still warm, it will

establish quicker. This one has put out another runner. That should be

removed and I will just take that off. I think all of us gardeners

share the thrill of growing any plants, new vegetable, fruit or even

creating a new border. But, tackling a brand-new garden from scratch is

daunting for anyone and particularly as you get older. However, for one

of our viewers in Swansea, this is a challenge that she is embracing with

enthusiasm.

Hello, my name is Anne and welcome to my garden.

to my garden. It is a fairly new garden. I moved here about four

years ago. It is the first time that I have started a garden conscious of

pressure of time. Since I was nearing my 80th birthday, I felt a

sense of my own mortality. A person in their 80s may not have the energy

to spend on the garden. For instance, I would have had in my

40s. I think one of the things is to have an awareness that if you cannot

maintain it, it needs to be something that is easily maintained

by someone else.

by someone else. I certainly was aware that I couldn't start with

very young trees. I wanted to have trees which were mature enough to

have an impact, but not so big that I was unable to care for them as

they got established.

It is essential to me to have a garden. Even if it was a very small

one, to just be able to handle plants. I like getting my hands in

the soil. I just like spending time outdoors talking to the plants.

I think that's really inspirational, not just for those of us whose youth

is in a dim and distance past, but for anyone that it is never too late

to start something new. And for Anne to make a wonderful garden when she

could be forgiven for taking things easy and looking back more than

forward, I think is a lesson for all of us and long may she enjoy her

lovely guarden. I had her growing courgettes and they were really good

this year. Now that is over, I have a free bed and I'm going to plant

some garlic. Garlic needs winter cold. They should be planted by

Christmas at the latest. I like to get them into the ground as early as

mid-September sometimes and certainly in October. If you don't

have cold weather and plant them in February or March, they will grow,

but just make one bulb like an onion. To get them to divide you

need that cold period. As you will know, I'm a fan of elephant garlic

and it is milder and easy to handle. Each Clovis that big. They're

whoppers. Each garlic should be planted pointy end up. Work on

getting three or four inches of soil above the top of the pointy tip. And

you grow it exactly the same as any other kind of garlic. I allow for

elephant garlic about 18 inches between each clove. A normal garlic

about nine inches. It does best in quite rich soil. Add fresh compost,

whether in a container or a bed. It does need plenty of water as it is

growing. It does like sunshine. It is no good growing garlic in the

shade.

Well, I hope that in allotments all over Britain garlic will be planted

out. Except for one. Because I can guarantee in Andy Gladman's

allotment it is a plant that will not feature.

I think now look at the allotment as it is, I think there is something

special when you're sat in a garden where everything you see is because

of your work and you're the master of your own little domain. It is a

sense of pride as we sit in the allotment now. As you can see around

me, my allotment is dedicated ornamental plants. It is different

to what everyone else is doing, growing vegetables. By day I'm a PhD

researcher working on the control of aphids on brassicas. I'm doing

trials. When I come to my allotment, I don't want to see any brassicas.

People in my family have always been fond of growing plants. I can

remember being dragged around the garden centres as a child. I would

be drawn to the cacti. That is often the case with children. They're so

different. That is the impact of the plants I like to grow now. It is the

forms that stand out, they're almost statuesque in their shapes. There is

a lot of tall plants here. This is the third year I have had the plot

and the plants have settled in. I added some organic matter. Like

planting taller plants to the front and it gives you a much more

interesting look and adds the height to make it more interesting. I think

I'm just a big fan of the architectural shape of the plants

and I'm always getting in trouble for putting them too close to the

front of the borders. When you grow spiky plants you have to get used to

pulling prickles out of your fingers. But I think it is

worthwhile for the plants that I love.

This allotment has been set up for creating the ideal habitat for the

plants and the design has come in sort of second to the plants.

So these in front of me, these are a wonderful plant which I grown from

seed. It is a plant I suspect very few people would recognise. But

they're very spiky. I have had people describe them as a mace in

the flower form. Or a firework. This is one of my favourites, this is a

south African spiky Daisy and it is not one people would want to put at

the front of border. But they will always stand out as feature plants.

This is a wonderful sea holly. It is covered in bees. You've to be

careful touching it. But it stands out in the allotment. I think that

there is no doubt that I have a, whether it is a problem or not with

collecting, maybe it is nice in some ways, but one is never enough of

something. I think with plants it is a nice thing to be able to collect,

because you end up with a garden with diversity in the different

forms, which adds to the sort of dramatic look of a garden like this.

One of the plant groups that I love and had loads of was red hot pokers.

As I have been growing more, I started to make a collection now.

You've this huge range that flower June until August. We have one which

is Kniphofia painted lady. It is an orangey red down to a cream. Another

nice variety are smaller American cultivars that have been bred to

have grassy leaves. Often people think of huge brash plants, but they

are supposed to be more dainty. I think my first experience with red

hot pokers was in my Nan's garden. I was drawn to them, because of how

difficult they are and how tactile the flowers are. You almost want to

reach out and grab the plants. When I took on the allotments I knew it

was a type of plant I wanted to get as many different types to enjoy

seeing the different flowers throughout the season. One of the

groups along with the spiky plants that I like are thistles.

that I like are thistles. Usually plants in that group. The first one

is a UK native and a classic purple thistle. It is a nice tall one and

it is airy and you can see through it. This is native to central

Europe. The flowers are much more cream in colour and still very good

for pollinators. In eastern Europe and China this is grown as a edible

crop. When the plant is young you get leaves that are used as a salad.

I haven't tried it yet, but maybe next year! I think having an

allotment where everyone around me is growing a lot of vegetables, the

second they find I'm researching aphids I gets about what should I do

about aphids. The best advice I give is immediately rubbing them off.

You're causing a stress response in the aphids and releasing a chemical,

the release of that has been proven to attract in predators from other

plants. I think when I took on the allotment I had in mind it was

almost like a practice garden for a future house. Perhaps I got carried

away, but I can't imagine my life without a lot of these plats now. I

think that in some way these plants will always be with me and there

will be new ones that will get added to the collection, but I think that

is probably a nice thing, if anything else.

It is quite unusual to see an allotment devoted to flowers. Andy

had to have special permission to do that. But I thought it looked great.

Now, at this time of year, I'm relishing the colour while it lasts.

For the next couple of weeks there is still plenty of colour here in

the jewel garden for the oranges and purples and strong reds. But

actually as the light gets lower, the colours get darker and richer

and more opulent and I cling on to them for every day they last. Now

Still to come on today's programme...

Adam and Advolly dig deeper into the grounds

and gardens of a historic home in North Yorkshire.

They used to use it as a viewing mount. So they could look out over

the garden and they could look over the walls and the hedges to the

wider landscape. That is the clever bit to me.

And I'll adding to the new sloping border on the mound

with herbaceous perennials.

First we go to London to visit the roof garden of Debbie Friedman. This

is our garden. It is a roof garden. From the outside it looks like a

sort of slatted wooden box. We have what we call an intensive roof

garden system. You only have about 12 inches of soil, that is 30

centimetres of soil, which is made up of very light weight recycled

bricks and clay and a bit of composted bark. It is light weight,

because it is sitting on top of a roof. Also because the garden is

built on a slope for the drainage, all the water drains to the left.

all the water drains to the left. So the things we have been able to grow

reasonably well are this plant that was really tiny and they have grown

incredibly quickly. In is in bed, which is the dry bed, we have some

Russian sage and some Salvias. Also some zebra grass and some rosemary

and other perennials and they have done well, provided we keep watering

them. Something that is amazing is as soon as you put down a bit of

earth and put in a few plants, how quickly the space gets colonised by

insects, ants and wood lice, bees and even we have had the occasional

dragon fly passing through. All in all, it has been a most beautiful

experience. Really enjoying watching this garden take shape, watching it

thrive.

I don't know about you, but I was convinced initially that the garden

was on the ground. It is very clever. I have been making big

changes as part of evolution of the Mount, I started to plant up these

borders with shrubs a few weeks ago. And now on to the next stage, which

is adding herbaceous plants. October is a good plant to herbaceous plants

and to move them, because the roots will get into the warm soil, grow

and get established before the cold weather comes.

weather comes. Now I'm starting with some these. The great thing about

these plant is they're very adaptable and cope with good

drainage and even drought, which of course is what the slope is all

about. A sloping border is one that drains well. Just start by placing

them where you think they might work. Just thinking like that.

This is cheating a little bit because this is Russian SAGE. And it

is technically a shrub. It doesn't die right back. But I have never

unable to grow it successfully here at Longmeadow because the soil is

too heavy and too wet for it to thrive. It likes good drainage,

sunshine and will cope with relatively poor soil. To have a

slope means that for the first time I can give this a go. If we can put

one there, I think. That will grow up three or four foot tall with

rather lovely, delicate foliage. This is the last of the larger

herbaceous plants. This is tapped to Zia australis. This has got blue

flowers and needs good drainage. I quite like the idea of it being high

up here. As you can see, I've got more to plant. This is just the

beginning. But it is time to get back to Scampston, where they are

exploring its 18th-century history.

When capability Brown took on an estate like Scampston, he didn't

just tackle the garden, he redesigned the entire parklands

around the house.

around the house. In the 1700s it was all the rage to look out onto a

designed landscape with big lakes and avenues of trees.

and avenues of trees. Brown came to Scampston in 1773 and he was paid

the grand sum of £100 to do his stuff.

stuff. There is 80 acres of parkland which was flat. So he planted copses

and contoured the land to make new lakes and new bridges.

lakes and new bridges. Scampston got a very, very special one.

a very, very special one. Isn't this wonderful? This is the Palladium

bridge with tellers that nod to classical architecture. It is an

immensely elaborate and beautiful way to cross the water.

way to cross the water. Brown's lake was originally a stream, so while

the view is wide and lovely at the front, it is much less majestic

round the back. As a result, garden historians have a special name for

it. It is known

it. It is known as a sham bridge, which is harsh for something so

gorgeous. Especially as this one comes with extras. In the stream is

a tiny dam with a little cascade and at the back of the bridge, he built

an extra room with a half-moon window, all rather mysterious. I

have got the key and it is really exciting.

exciting. That is just downright dangerous. This is incredible, there

is no floor, no steps. It looks very, very deep and the water comes

from the lake in front of the bridge. It is absolutely amazing.

While men could swim in the lake, it was unseemly for women, so this is a

plunge pool. It would have had steps, painted walls and probably

some pretty drapes overhead. This would have wafted gently, because it

was a really small space. But here, small is special. You don't see

these very often. In fact, this is the first one I have ever seen as a

garden historian, which is why it is so exciting.

Out front, Brown's beautiful Lake bends around a corner, lowering

visitors to explore. And it is worth it for the spectacular new view of

the bridge. Isn't that lovely, with its reflection. The next feature,

you can almost hear it, before you see it. It's another classic brown

technique, tantalising visitors by the sound of water. It is made by

the big cascade he built at Scampston. This is another leg and

it was remodelled in the 1960s when the original stonework collapse. The

water rushed down at such a rate, if flooded some houses on the estate.

So the cascade was rebuilt using concrete to make it stronger.

concrete to make it stronger. Some of Brown's stone is still visible

just under the water. And the lake above is huge. To make it, he

re-contoured the land completely, but that wouldn't have fazed him. It

was common practice to divert entire roads around your design, just like

this one. And then put in a cleverly angled bridge. It meant that passing

carriages caught a tantalising glimpse of the house.

Moving tonnes of earth and the old road is exactly why Lancelot Brown

was given his middle name. When Brown visited houses he rode around

surveying the landscape, spotting what he called capabilities in

different areas, so he would say, that has capabilities, that has

capabilities. And so the nickname stuck. He was no fool and if a

lovely feature was nearby, he incorporated it, like the elaborate

field shelter. All this ice house, which was packed with ice and straw

to keep food cold.

to keep food cold. Both would have helped stretch the budget, because

his 100th is a fee is about 8000 into day's money. Not much for a

whole parklands. Brown was a master of illusion, creating beautiful

landscapes that have impressed the visitors for almost 300 years. But

maybe he hadn't banked on an nosy Adam Frost. This is rather lovely,

isn't it? It is, absolutely. I love stonework and brickwork, I started

doing that and I thought, it doesn't feel quite right. And then it

doesn't sound right. They are hollow. When the owners for having

these restore, they discovered they were made of wood. Obviously, it was

cheaper than stone. In a way, so much of it was about show?

Absolutely, totally. Showmanship. What I really want to know, I want

to know if you went in the plunge pool? Did you? No, I didn't, because

it was really cold. It is really deep and I hadn't brought my

swimming costume with me. I am disappointed, I was certain he would

have gone in the pool. But there you go.

I think she was wise not to take the plunge, I don't think I will be

overly keen either.

Adam will be back later with a look at some contemporary design

in the grounds of the house.

You can see, I have put the plants in the ground. The next stage is to

look at the lower level. Eventually, I don't want to see any bare soil at

all. When you are planning a border, think of it as three levels, ground

floor, mid-flow and the top. The ground floor plants, are hardy

geraniums. What I have got is a really well-known tried and tested

with this Johnson is blue. Really good flower, lovely blue and that

will make an mound that is that sort of size and that sort of spread. We

put it near the front. As well as Johnson's blue, we have the hardy

geranium, which has become the most popular, Roseanne. It will start

flowering in June and even mid-May and carry on right through the

summer, well into autumn. One of the many virtues of hardy geraniums,

they are very flexible. They will grow in almost any soil and take

semi shade. Most of this is geared towards the display from late spring

into late summer. But I have got some herbaceous plants that start

flowering early in the year. I have two spring plants which are amongst

my favour. The same family, the primulas, but they behave

differently. I have Primula vulgaris, common primrose, probably

my favourite plant, which is essentially a woodland plant. These

have evolved to flower before the full eligible of them appears. I can

put this around the corner. -- foliage. The other Primula, Primula

virus, is very different. It is the cowslip. They like to grow in open

grassland, they like good drainage and they like lots of sunshine. I

have got them here because I intend to plant these up at the top of the

slip, underneath here where they get maximum sunshine. The drainage will

be good and they will flower around May. We have the makings of a

border. I will add some bulbs later in autumn and in spring I've also

some annuals and I will add those, too. It all comes down in the end to

that old adage, the right plant in the right place. If you give at

length the conditions it wants to grow in then it will be trouble

free, happy and beautiful. For the last visit to one of your gardens, I

think we certainly have a case of the right plant in the right place.

It's just that place is probably not where you would expect it to be.

Hello, I am one of the doctors at Epsom General Hospital in Surrey. We

have been very busy in the last 18 months, as you can can imagine with

Covid and we have taken some seeds and planted them in a hospital

garden in the office. These are the two large windows we have in the

office. We have been growing a variety of vegetables. He is a

tomato plant which is providing us with lunch. There are several

varieties of chilis, some short ones, some longer ones. We have been

growing more tropical vegetables, because it is very hot in this

office. Over here we have a tiny green basil plant, which is growing

really well. And you can see that we have a cucumber that is doing rather

well in the window. I am most proud of this particular plant, it is an

unusual vegetable, it is a Chinese bitter, which is very tender. It is

growing beautifully. We have harvested lots of this already, and

it is prized by our Filipino nurses. And we have some of the chilis we

harvested this morning, for making pickle. I hope that you like seeing

our garden, the garden that made us very happy and provided us with lots

of vegetables.

very happy and provided us with lots of vegetables. I loved Dr Guan Lim's

garden. What a brilliant use of space and I bet it tastes great too.

There is an empty space where my outdoor tomatoes were, but a week

ago, tomato blight appeared with a vengeance and as many of you know

when it hits it is devastating. They turn brown and soggy and it looks

disastrous. But if you have a fruit that is unaffected it is perfectly

edible and safe. And the plants should either be bagged up to be

take away or burn them. To protect our indoor tomatoes, we stripped all

the leaves off. And that does two things. It dramatically improves

ventilation and ventilation is the best way of countering blight. But

by taking the leaves off, we are improving ripening and by October

the ripening days are diminishing and any tomatoes that are too small

to eat, forget them and certainly any flowers won't produce fruit. So

you could cut off any growth above the top ripe tomato and hope the

others will ripen in the next week or so. Now back to Scampston to see

their walled garden, that 20 years was redesigned by the Dutch

designer, Piet Oudolf. In 1999 Scampston brought in designer Piet

Oudolf to redesign their four and a half acre walled garden. Starting

from scratch he embarked on a massive planting project, creating a

series of superb garden rooms. Some with flowers and others with form

and structure. Over 20 years later it has really marched on. But

nothing ever goes quite as planned. Managing something on this scale is

a mammoth tasks, but we have got the head gardener that is up to the job.

Andy came here in 2020 with the came to bring the garden back to its true

order. What's it been like coming into this, which to me already looks

like a gorgeous garden? Yes it is exciting and walking in, beautiful

colours, but it felt as if the colours were going and it wasn't

quite Piet Oudolf any more. So putting plants back that have been

outcompeted and then take it from there. Andy is noun as the grim

reaper and has takened out tangled perennial beds and re-creating the

original layout. And it is not just the herbaceous plants. There is the

formality of the garden, it wasn't sharp. It uses formal structure to

accent wait the softness and there has been a lot of hedge cutting, not

just with hedge cutters, but with chain saws to get to the height that

is needed.

is needed. This trees will be coppiced. In the spring garden the

cubes have been managed for blight and left to grow. So shape-wise,

you've these sort of, well... The fluffy bits. The idea of the fluffy

bits it is meant to be a dome. A blacksmith will make us a dome and

we can use cutters to cut around it. I think he would be chuffed that

you're taking it back to this detail. It is important and these

domes mirror with the dome of the house that is hidden behind the

trees. Andy found the dome detail on original plans and found cut outs on

the edges at either end. He has made a start already. All you've got to

do is cut that? I thought as you're with, as a guest it is your honour

to cut it. What you were going to say, I think it might be funny. Yes

it could be funny. I cored hear you say it and if it goes wrong, you

don't get sacked. Exactly. That is the plan. What is great about you...

Is it is really forgiving. It grows. Exactly. If we get this wrong. It is

like a bad hair cut. It will grow back.

back. Let's see if it works. This is the moment of truth. It does work.

That shape as you get that domes right, that will bounce down to the

house. Amazing. Brilliant. The rest of the garden is work in progress.

But a very beautiful one. This garden is a series of rooms and you

can feel when you walk in that they will carry slightly different

atmosphere and here this is waves garden. It does what it says on the

tin. You've waves of plants across the site. And you can see people

will walk in and say, actually it is just a load of grasses, but in

reality it is not. I think it draws you down and in. I love that

simplicity and the big bold blocks that work well against the

horizontal of the lawn.

Just next door is another garden. And another incredible atmosphere.

Wow! This feels complete my different. There is an eeriness. I

have that slight shivery thing going on. Moving from one space to the

other, there is a calmness in here, which is incredible.

Straightaway you're drawn to this central pool. And you look, it is an

ever-changing picture, the sky is reflecting, there is a dark cloud

there at the moment and it is moody. It is called the silent garden and

you can see why. You have this big columns of plant there is a don't

move through the space, because they're static, but they're big and

very bold. So, how could you distil this calm in front of me. It is

amazing that scene that is going on, but it doesn't have to be that big,

it could be a container this big, cup of coffee, wonderful light and

cloud in the sky and you've got yourself a changing piece of art.

This is a fabulous garden, being returned almost to living history.

As one of Piet's earlier design, the last section is masterful, a modern

mound created from spoil and a nod to the past. This has been

incredible, because even though in reality, compared to what you have

been walking around, this landscape is only 20 years old. But it sits

really comfortably and this, as a finishing spot, to come and have a

look, it is wonderful isn't it? It is fabulous, because he has created

this wonderful Elizabethan feature. They used to use it as a viewing

mount, so they could look out over the garden and they could look over

the walls and the hedges to the wider landscape. That is the clever

bit, because you wall something in, you enclose it, but you give

yourself that opportunity still to connect with what is going on

outside. To look over. Absolutely. It is lovely the way all of, it is

all about this, there are so many details that connect this place to

the past. Yeah. But it still feels modern and I love it. I totally

agree. Yeah.

To combine a really important historical garden with a wonderful

modern one is inspirational. I think anybody who possibly can should go

and see it.

The wind falls are beginning. The apples this year, not so much a

disappointment, as a much smaller harvest than last year. Last year

was a bumper crop. It is common to have a small crop in the year

following an extra large one. If that is happening to you don't

worry. When you pick apples, treat them like an egg, handle them

carefully, the test to see if it is ripe. If it doesn't come away in

your hand, lower it back and leave it. Having picked it, store it

somewhere cool, dark and slightly humid. A cellar is perfect or a shed

or garage. If you can find the right conditions, apples will store for

months and months. Now this is a job that I do daily throughout October.

But here are some jobs you can do now, this weekend.

A few weeks ago, I suggested that you sow hardy annuals for next

spring. If you did, like mine, they will be ready for pricking out. Take

each seedling by a leaf, not the stem and just easily it out of the

come post with as much root as possible and replant them into

individual plugs or small pots. They can be stored in a cold frame until

next spring and they can be put into their final position.

Although we are coming into autumn, weeds will go on growing for at

least another month or so. So try and get as many of them out now as

you possibly can. And then if you can mulch on top of that, so much

the better. Either way you will make your life next spring a lot easier.

Autumn onion sets fill the gap in early spring, long before the

spring-planted ones are ready for harvest. If you haven't got room or

your soil is wet and heavy, it is a good idea to put them into plugs to

develop root and shoots and when you're ready, plant them out into

the soil.

What has become a feature of the garden are the few pots I've got on

these which are a cross. Put them together and you get a more robust

plant. But something with a bit more style and elegance than your average

amaryllis trumpet. That is all for this week. We are back next week a

special one-hour programme devoted to trees. Until then, goodbye.