Video Documentaries

At Longmeadow in Gardeners World episode 21 2015, Monty Don's box hedges are still riddled with blight, so it's time to call in an expert to decide on the next course of action. He also has a go at growing some mushrooms in the hope of picking a bumper crop in the autumn. Meanwhile, Rachel de Thame visits the garden at Highclere Castle in Berkshire - the filming location for Downton Abbey. Gardeners World episode 21 2015:   Grow your own mushrooms Mushrooms are virtually fat and calorie-free and packed full of vitamins and minerals – an 80g serving counts towards your 5-a-day vegetable target. Several companies sell complete mushroom growing kits and instructions on how to grow your own are available online from various sources. Remove the lower leaves of tomatoes Tomatoes benefit from having their lower leaves removed once the fruit trusses have developed. This helps to ripen the fruit and improve ventilation around the plants. Sow parsley There are two types of parsley, flat

Gardeners World episode 18 2016 - As summer gets into full swing, there is plenty for Monty to be doing at Longmeadow, and this week he gets to grips with summer pruning as he tackles his espaliered pear trees. Nature's bounty is very much in evidence at Lord Rothschild's garden at Waddesdon Manor, where we get an exclusive look behind the scenes, and Joe Swift ponders ways of putting a contemporary twist on traditional bedding plants.  In Gardeners World episode 18 2016: Yellow rattle This pretty little annual sends out roots that grow into the roots of neighbouring grass plants, and steal nutrients (that is, food) from them. It will produce many tiny seeds that rattle around in the papery brown calyx – hence the common name – and it can spread itself year by year, weakening the poor, hard-working grasses that it grows among.  Wild flower area maintenance Wildflower meadows require an annual maintenance programme to allow the more desirable species to flourish and to reduce th

In the Beechgrove Garden, Jim is growing tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers side by side in his domestic-sized greenhouse. They shouldn't work together, but with limited space you have to make it work, and Jim is determined to find a way. With pruning saws at the ready once again, Carole and George take the Woodland Garden in hand as, at the moment, you can't see the wood for the trees. Brian visits the meticulous Pitmedden Gardens in Aberdeenshire to find out how head gardener Susan Burgess tackles the problem of box blight, with the six miles of clipped box hedging to maintain. In Beechgrove Garden episode 12 2017:  1. Decking Garden In September 2015 Chris and Carole sowed a border full of seed which had been collected around the Beechgrove Garden. The range included: Aquilegia – black seeds in brown seed heads - Red campion – an early flowering plant with magenta flowers - Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder) - Thalictrum - Digitalis (foxglove) - Astrantia Aquilegia vulgaris Astrantia