In this episode Bill and Peter discuss the latest Hosepipe Ban, most of the NGS gardens scheme gardens have finished now, but there are a few RHS shows to go and see and all the other wonderful National Trust and British Heritage Gardens to visit.

The Chelsea Flower Show may have problems next year as it’s drive to go peat free before the industry is ready is causing growers to pull out as they don’t feel the alternative peat free composts are quite ready yet to grow show winning plants. Bill puts the idea of using oasis forward that is often used in flower arrangements, as one option, and Peter suggested trialing the same growing medium currently being used in Hydroponics as another idea.

The Channel Islands have had some bad news about their cut flower industry as the postal service plane is no longer going to take the cut flowers which leaves growers needing to find a different way to fly the flowers out.

Wildlife trust has been given a new 6 hectare Wild flower meadow near Earls Barton Northamptonshire which is also a flood plain so they will be able to help even more native plants and animals.

Due to the lack of rain this year there is a Hosepipe ban in lots of areas of the UK now, which means lots of people will have to stop using irrigation on their lawns. There are lots of things you can do like using your old bath water to irrigate the garden, or use water from your water butt to fill your watering can or hosepipe. There are types of irrigation you can use but it’s best to check with your water supply company. Peter has also learned that lots of organic material is great for water retention and Bill points out that having stone free soil can also help grow great vegetables without blemishes on their roots.

Bill also suggests a few vegetables we can plant at this time of year on your vegetable patch and get a crop off, and it’s nearly time to plant Christmas potatoes. If you do plant Christmas potatoes aways grow them in a frost free environment in a couple of months time when the days get shorter and the nights cooler.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music for providing the Music

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In this episode Peter and Bill chat about their allotments, when a plant is ready for planting out and some tips on how to make sure it gets off to a good start and has enough water.

We then open a discussion about reportable diseases as a local customer has what we think may be Oak Processionary Moth a notifiable disease reportable to the forestry commission who can be notified at  TreeAlert , we also mention other historic problems like the recent issues with Olive trees and Xylella a bacterial infection that has wiped out many olive groves across Italy and Europe and why lots of responsible Garden Centres and plant suppliers have stopped importing them. Dutch elm disease wiped out thousands of Elm trees in the 70’s but now we have elms that are not affected by it. The Government has a website where you can find information on issues, signposts to where you can report potential problems and fact sheets with useful information on. With modern phones and the ability to take and send pictures it is much easier and safer to take pictures of the problem and then get the issue identified and confirmed without moving the plant or plant material and possibly transferring the issue to other areas.

Peter spotted an area of hedgerow on the Radclive road covered in a web which makes it look like a Halloween display. This is caused by the Ermine moth.

A lot of plants now have passports which means they are traceable. Plants sold through Mail order need them, imported plants need them, and there are a lot of other reasons why they might have them. With a plant passport you should be able to feel more confident that the plant comes from a reputable supplier who is happy to share its traceability.

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On the 12th of July Shrivenham, on the Oxford Wiltshire border opens some of its gardens to the public, as are the gardens of Bozeat and Cold Ashby.

We are enjoying the Garden Centre temperature indoor climate but it has been very warm recently without much rain, so watering is very important to help plants.

An Antirrhinum ‘Shiryu Kiss’  has won the Peter Seabrook award and Best in Show at the BBC Gardeners World Live show. We have a new Semi Hardy Gerbera in at the Garden Centre.

The Greenfingers team who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro have raised a staggering £234 000 so far for the Charity.

Bill explains to Peter how much water hanging baskets need and he doesn’t think Peter has got it quite right yet, and also suggests a feeding regime for them and also tells us the best time to water.

London Parks and Gardens has a new director Philip Barnes. He comes from an impressive 15 years with the National Trust.

Durstons the compost manufacturers have upgraded their site to a larger site where they will be able to create more compost to help them keep up with demand.

Bill’s favourite is the Ficus Benjamina or the Weeping Fig. The plant comes from Australia and Asia and can get quite big if well cared for. Peter likes Spider plants or Chlorophytum comosum, as it is a really tough plant which can survive a little forgetfulness when it comes to watering and Bill shares how to propagate it and how to use it as a bedding plant. Orchids are still very popular and easy to care for and you get a great long living plant that can flower for weeks on end.

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In this episode Bill and Peter suggest a visit to Toddington Open Gardens on the 4th and 5th July and also if you are passing they both like Poplars Garden Centre as a great place to visit or pop in for tea and cake if you are going past on the M1. In Northamptonshire we have Irthlingborough and Drayton Parslow in Milton Keynes.

Hanging baskets are looking good now, but are food hungry so feed them with a high potash feed (K) like Tomorite

The Hertitage Seed library was at the NEC for Gardeners World live and at the show they were asking people to bring in seeds and plants that they think might be heirloom varieties. You can get seeds from them which you won’t find in most Garden Centres.

Grass is on the telly a lot at the moment with the World Cup on. Bill shares some of the methods of commercial turf cultivation and growing. With our lawns at home in the summer experiencing less rainfall ideally they need to be watered but it’s best not to aerate in dry spells as this opens up the ground and will cause evaporation. Granular fertilizer as well can cause issues if it doesn’t rain after application, if you want to use a fertilizer then a liquid one is probably best.

If you have bedding geraniums cut the flower stalks off once the flowers start going over, deadhead surfinias to encourage more flowers. If you are feeding your plants it’s best to do it in the morning, and if possible do it on a cloudy day so there is no chance of water droplet magnification which can cause leaf burn from the sunlight.

Bill also tells us of other plants we can trim back to encourage more flowering next year and a great recipe for a winter fat ball for your birds. Make sure you keep your bird baths filled up with fresh clean water. If you have Strawberries try Slug gone pellets to help keep the slugs from eating them.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music.

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25 Gardens are open in Stony Stratford over the weekend of the 27th and 28th and there are also gardens open in Stonefield where 11 gardens will be open.

We also share the sad news of the passing of Matthew Biggs the old Gardener’s World presenter and life-long horticulturalist, and garden designer.

Bill and Peter also chat about Roses, the different types and where to use them, how to grow them and a few uses for the hips. Pruning is important as is care, keeping them tidy, feeding and looking out for pests and diseases. As with so many prickly plants we always recommend wearing gloves when working with them.

It’s also that time of year when Strawberries are very popular. Bill shares a tip on how to sweeten them and how many litres of cream Wimbledon goes through! We have a large selection available at the moment but you can propagate them from the runners or stolens they send out. The British season has been extended and extended with the use of selective breeding and sometimes the supplemental use of LED lighting. Often Strawberries are now grown off the ground making picking easier and fungal problems less likely. 

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In this episode Peter and Bill chat about Bedding, Bokashi, and fertilizer.

Bill suggests a few places to visit starting with Goring on Thames, Fritwell and Hanslope who have open garden weekends.

 We chat about bedding for flower beds and how the fashions have changed. We used to do 3 plantings a year but now we mainly do just summer bedding. Bill talks us through ways to plant, numbers to get a nice balance and some suggestions as to what will make a good display.

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In this Episode Peter Talks with Chris Hepburn, Senior Sales Manager of Hozelock.

Chris has been with Hozelock for many years and worked his way up through the company and gained a fantastic knowledge of the Horticultural Watering Marketplace. We chat about where the company first started and why, and where the first ideas for the first products came from.

Hozelock has a great reputation as a British manufacturer and we learn how this has happened and their drive to always be an attainable, reliable and ecological product in the garden watering sector. Without them we would still be putting our thumbs over the end of our hosepipe, some of our range can be found online or for the full range, come and visit the Garden Centre

Hozelock has brought to England some Market leading products and some ideas from further afield, we learn about how across the world the Male to Female ½ inch hose connector has become a standardised fitting, and also a brief history of hoses, their makeup and their fittings. We also get an insight into the amount of product testing and large number of different materials that go into their products.

We also hear about how Hozelock is evolving as a manufacturer to keep pace with the changing marketplace and how it is growing and diversifying its range to stay abreast of new ideas and additions to the watering range and also how its range now encompasses products that don’t just fit on a hose and spray water, like its range of composters.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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Chelsea Gold medals decided. We like the new Hosta red ninja, the beautiful Red Greenhouse by Malvern Garden Buildings and various phallic houseplants on the sex toy manufacturer’s sponsored garden. The ‘Lady Garden’ was designed with fantastic sculptures, manicured bushes and beautiful coloured planting and will hopefully start conversations focused on female genitalia cancers and open up discussions on the subject. Peter liked the Contain the Rain Garden as it highlights the fact that water is a limited resource and we should do more to make our gardens more ecologically friendly.

It’s that time of year to get planting hanging baskets and shortly we will have Kindergarden Pop Ins back in stock. We like their great selection of styles and colours and the simplicity of using them to create fantastic hanging baskets or planted containers, the only trouble we ever have with them is we can’t get enough and they sell out too fast!

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for creating the music.

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Peter and Bill chat about some news items. Chelsea is sold out and opened to the general public Tuesday 19th May. Our friends at Malvern Garden Buildings have a stand and are exhibiting again. It may be a controversial year as one of the designers is getting criticised for using an AI app to design gardens. Peter has found a new range of pencils from Sprout World that have seeds in the end so you can grow things from your old pencil.

Bill suggests writing labels from the top down and put a date on it so you know when you started them. It is also very important to protect your young seedlings from late frosts. Young plants still need protection.

If you fancy visiting a Garden, Aspley Guise has many houses with open gardens on 24th May. Ramsden near Witney Oxfordshire also has 15 gardens open on the 24th. On the 30th gardens are open in Moggerhanger Bedfordshire and Carterton in Oxfordshire. If these aren’t local to you have a look at the NGS website, Pumpkins Beth’s website or the Open Gardens website.

Sir David Attenborough has had his 100th birthday.

Taylors bulbs have won a Gold medal at the RHS Malvern show, next for them is the Chelsea Show, could it be another Gold Medal?

Peter learns the fact that his Tomatoes are too cold as the undersides of the leaves are going purple and the fact that he might be overwatering his Courgettes. If you have lost seedlings in the recent cold spells, you still have time to replant seeds or pop in to your local Garden Centre and buy some young seedlings.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

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