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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