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Last broadcast yesterday, 20:30 on BBC Two (except Northern Ireland (Analogue), Wales (Analogue)) (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
August is the time to not only enjoy the flowers and fragrance in the garden but also revel in the wildlife that they attract. To increase the numbers of butterflies and their equally beneficial cousins, moths, Toby Buckland comes up with a palette of plants which will both look beautiful in your garden and also provide them with the nectar-rich diet they need.
The much maligned moth also comes under the spotlight when Toby, after dark and with the help of an ultraviolet light, a white sheet and a moth expert, discovers the array of moths that visit Greenacre by night. To extend the enjoyment of the garden in the evening for gardeners too, Alys Fowler plants out pots of night-scented flowers that really come into their own at dusk.
At Butterfly World in Hertfordshire, Carol Klein meets Ivan Hicks, who has designed and planted the meadows there on a vast scale. She finds out from him which key annual flowers provide food for our native butterflies and how we can plant them to achieve the same effect in our own gardens.
Expert vegetable gardener Sarah Wain, from West Dean gardens in Sussex, visits the trial grounds at RHS Wisley and gives us her recommendations for the top performing veg to grow in our gardens and allotments next year.
Toby's compost turning
Tools:
Fork
Materials:
Fresh urine
Method:
Remove the lid from the compost bin. Use a large garden fork to lift out the material on the top of the heap. This is the most recent so it will be relatively fresh and not yet rotted. Deposit it into the bottom of an empty compost bin (this is easy if, like Toby's, it is next to the full one).
When about half way through the process add the 'special' ingredient – fresh urine! This boosts the composting process because compost needs to be damp in order for the breakdown organisms to survive and also because they 'feed' on nitrogen. The nitrogen contained in urine will give them a kick-start when they begin to exhaust the nitrogen which was originally contained in the fresh plant material.
Nitrogen occurs in urine as it is a waste product, excreted by our kidneys, as part of the process of keeping our bodies fit and well. It is only present at low dilution so is perfect for the micro-organisms present in the compost heap to get their teeth into (although they are too small to actually have teeth!) and therefore speed up the breakdown of the woody, nitrogen-depleted matter at the bottom of the heap.
Continue lifting out the compost from the full bin to the new one until you reach the bottom. This bottom material will have been in the bin for the full three months and therefore will have rotted down to make compost for use in the garden. Fully composted material is crumbly brown and has no unpleasant smell.
Finish by sprinkling more fresh urine on top of the newly transferred heap so that it is moist and re-activated by the nitrogen in the wee.
Replace the compost lid to conserve the heat, keep out excess rainwater and maintain the right amount of moisture.
If you don't fancy weeing on your compost heap then proprietary 'compost accelerators' are available from garden centres or online. However, wee is free.
Growing a giant pumpkin
• Toby started growing his giant pumpkins three months ago by digging a big hole in the ground, adding half a ton of manure and planting out seedlings from a former European champion pumpkin (a form of 'Atlantic Giant'). One plant, from a seed the size of a 50 pence piece has produced foliage to cover half a tennis court, in 90 days.
• He trained 5 stems across the ground so the plant basks flat in the sun.
• The plant is not allowed to set fruit until it is a decent size (100 leaves); all flowers or embryonic fruit are removed as they form.
• On this plant he is only going to allow 3 fruits to set. The spare couple are to help with 'buffering' water uptake to reduce the chance of the main one splitting.
• Whether you are growing large pumpkins, or just courgettes, the key to success is watering.
• You've got to water in a specific way. Aim the water low and keep the foliage dry to reduce the risk of mildew infecting the leaves.
THE CHOSEN PUMPKIN
• This is the biggest and best pumpkin so far. Now's the time to move it so it doesn't sit on its stem; the stems that run out from the plant are like umbilical cords. The weight of the swelling fruit, if it sits on top of the stem, will crush it and stop any more goodness coming down to the growing pumpkin.
• Pack underneath it with straw and that stops slugs from holing up in the damp soil beneath and prevents any stones pushing through and scaring the skins.
• For potential prize pumpkins, which are going to be exceedingly large, slide a wooden pallet underneath at this stage so that the mature fruit can be lifted to be weighed for competition.
RHS Wisley Vegetable Trials
... with Sarah Wain of West Dean Gardens
Varieties recommended in the item:
Dwarf bean 'Ferrari'
Courgette 'Jemmer'
Asparagus 'Backlim'
Tomato 'Shirley'
Tomato 'Rosada'
Cucumber 'Cucino'
Chilli 'Demon Red'
Garden visited: RHS Garden Wisley
RHS Garden Wisley
Woking
Surrey
GU23 6QB
Opening times (to 31 October):
Mon - Fri: 10am - 6pm
Sat -Sun: 9am - 6pm
Garden featured: Butterfly World Project
Butterfly World Project
Miriam Lane
Off Noke Lane
Chiswell Green
Herts, AL2 3NY
Plants mentioned:
Verbena bonariensis
Onopordum acanthium (Scotch thistle)
Extending the bee border
Toby extends the bee border with bee friendly nectar rich plants which should bring in the butterflies as well. The first one is Buddleja lindleyana (a species buddleia or 'Butterfly Bush') which has the most delicate purple tubes for flowers produced in long spikes. The flowers open along the spike from one end to the other so the butterflies have food over a long period of time. They open at the base of the spike first and then work their way up, like a firework, to the tip.
Another cracking plant is Vitex agnus-castus var. latifolia (Chaste tree). Like the buddleia it has clusters of stubby little tube-like flowers. Butterflies just love it and against the fence it will do really well.
Other plants for bees which Toby plants include:
Achillea 'Moonshine' (Yarrow)
Hebe 'Caledonia'
Parietaria judaica ('Pellitory-of-the-Wall') - a good substitute for our common nettle as it is a good food plant for native butterflies and moths but has the distinct advantages of being less invasive, more attractive and unable to sting!
Other wildflowers, which are both good nectar sources and larval food plants, are our native 'Birds-foot-trefoil' (Lotus corniculatus) and 'Common Fleabane' (Pulicaria dysenterica).
Moth trapping at night
....with Dr. Zoe Randle of the Butterfly Conservation Society
The moths featured were:
Opisthograptis luteolata - Brimstone
Abrostola tripartita - The Spectacle
Noctua pronuba - Large Yellow Underwing
Cosmia trapezina - The Dun-bar
Lymantria monacha - Black Arches
Alys plants a pot with exotic jasmine and nemesia
Pots planted with flowers that have an evening scent are pleasing both for us, especially when sitting in the garden on a summer's evening, and also for those moths which fly at night. Light coloured flowers glow in the low evening light and scented flowers tend to have the strongest aroma at the end of the day when the warmth of the day has built up their perfume. Tender plants need to be planted in pots so that they can be brought into a frost free space during the winter.
Alys used:
Jasminum grandiflorum 'De Grasse' (highly scented plant used for perfume making)
+ Nemesia Aromatica White (x 5)
The jasmine needs housing in a cool greenhouse or conservatory over winter and likes to be kept on the dry side. The companion Nemesia will survive given the same conditions.
Alys added one part grit to three parts potting compost to improve the drainage. The pot had a generous layer of grit and crocks at the bottom to ensure excess water drains away and not make the compost too soggy.
The jasmine does not like to be 'overpotted' so cramming in the extra plants will actually keep it happy. When growing on a young jasmine plant only ever pot it into a pot one size up. Keeping them on the dry side helps too – and is essential during the winter rest when they prefer to be kept a few degrees above freezing. Remember to 'pamper in the summer/neglect in the winter'!
A hardy climber which will survive outdoors is the common summer jasmine (Jasminum officinale).
Jobs for the weekend 1: Help tomatoes to ripen
If the leaves of tomato plants are shading the fruit trusses it is a good idea to remove them to allow the sun to get to tomatoes and aid ripening. Heavy trusses can be supported by tying string around the stalk and securing it further up the cane.
Jobs for the weekend 2: Sow quick veg crops
Any quick to mature leaf crop will do (lettuce, radish, salad leaves, spinach and baby beetroot) . Alys sowed Radicchio (leaf chicory) for leafy greens in late autumn.
Jobs for the weekend 3: Keep harvesting runner beans
Keep cropping beans to ensure a succession of tender new pods. At this time of year they come thick and fast but you can freeze the surplus if you blanch them for a couple of minutes in boiling water first.
Credits
- Series Producer
- Liz Rumbold
- Presenter
- Toby Buckland
- Presenter
- Carol Klein
- Presenter
- Alys Fowler
- Producer
- Louise Hampden
Broadcasts
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Fri 20 Aug 201020:30
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Fri 20 Aug 201020:30
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