Dig It

Chris Collins is a gardening legend – winning a legion of fans from his early days working in amenity horticulture to his big break on Blue Peter, presenting on the QVC shopping channel and being the ambassador to the national charity Garden Organic. In this edition of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day chat to Chris - the globetrotting author; TV broadcaster; lecturer and horticultural consultant.

Plants mentioned: Ulmus angustifolia (Cornish elm), David Austin Roses, Borage, Poppies, tomatoes, aubergines, spinach, bedding plants, chillis, peppers, micro-greens in a salad bar and bulbs - Alliums, Crocus, Snowdrops, and Tulips. Houseplants: Cycads, Crotons, Ficus benjamina, Pelargoniums, and terrarium gardening.

Products and people: David Austin Roses, Whichford Pottery, Trowels, Honda Mower, Percy Thrower, hanging baskets, Obelisks, Maxi crop Seaweed Extract, Q4 pellets, spouts with water bottles. Lawrence Hills, founder of Garden Organics. Horticulture Week magazine, The Plantsman (BBC 2 programme), and QVC Shopping Channel.

Places mentioned: Graduate of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Apprentice gardeners at Brighton Parks Department, Limbe Botanic Garden in Cameroon, South arboretum at the Royal Botanic gardens in Kew, Head gardener at Westminster Abbey Gardens, college garden / medicinal garden. BBC Media City, Salford, home of the Blue Peter Garden, and Balcony gardens at Chelsea Flower Show.

Desert island luxuries: Felco 8 secateurs and Betula (birch tree), one of the most relaxed ‘unstressed’ trees to grow.

Chris’s gardening book, Grow Your Own For Kids

Chris Collins’s website Facebook and Instagram

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a damp and cool July, we look forward to a productive, colourful yet relaxed August. Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day provide a round-up of the month’s gardening what’s on’s, a look at the stories making the gardening headlines and a round-up of those essential gardening tasks.

What’s on

2 - 6th August: RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show, Chelmsford, Essex.

4 - 13th August: Shropshire Petal Fields, Newport, Shropshire.

11 – 12th August: Shrewsbury Flower Show, The Quarry Shrewsbury.

12 – 13th August: The Great Comp Summer Show, Platt near Sevenoaks, Kent.

17 – 20th August: Southport Flower Show, Victoria Park, Southport.

18 – 20th August: RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show, Great Torrington, Devon.

Until 13 September: RHS Garden Wisley. A new exhibition Growing Up in the Garden, showcasing the way children use gardens as a place to connect with and explore the natural world.

NEWS

First King’s birthday honours for landscaper and designer Tom Stuart-Smith (OBE) and Kew’s Director of Gardens Richard Barley (MBE).

Renowned rosarian Michael Marriott awarded the Dean Hole Medal by Colin Squire, chairman of The Rose Society UK.

Top accolade the Brickell Award went to Adrian Young’s National Collection of 900 Saxifraga as part of Plant Heritage’s Hampton Court display.

Carol Klein named the RHS's 'Iconic Horticultural Hero' for 2023 and Carol’s comments about the lack of female representation on Gardeners’ World.

Hemlock warning: the deadly plant found in UK gardens.

Rare pink grasshopper spotted in North Wales.

Use of peat is falling according to latest HTA report.

Scottish farmers lead research to revive lost linen industry.

Salisbury City Council scraps hanging baskets and sparks division.

Top plants named at HTA Plant Show - Curcuma ‘Skyline’ overall winner. Other winners include Agapanthus Orientalis ‘Black Jack,’ Ball Colegrave Ltd’s Dahlia ‘Dalina® Maxi Starburst Pink’ and Fatsia Japonica ‘Camouflage.’

Dig It Top Five Roses: 1. ‘The Queen Elizabeth II’, 2. ‘With Love’, 3. ‘Cutie Pie’, 4. ‘Precious Ruby’ and 5. ‘Mary Berry’.

Plant mentions: Plant seed potatoes for Christmas, Leeks, Brassicas and Spinach. Sow Basil, Marjoram, Borage, Chives, Coriander, and Dill. Propagate lavender and rosemary. Divide Chives. Propagate and plant new strawberry runners including ‘Cambridge Favourite,’ ‘Elsanta,’ and ‘Honeoye.’ Continue sowing early-flowering biennials - like honesty and wallflowers. Sow Cress and compact sunflowers with the children.

Product mentions: Bamboo canes, Garden twine (Jute). Plant feeds - Tomorite, Doff fertilisers. Miracle Gro, Phostrogen, Seaweed Extract, Westland Tomato Food and Comfrey tea.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day talk national plant collections with Gill Groombridge, who is Plant Heritage’s Business Manager. We find out some of the background history of Plant Heritage and the diverse ranges of National Plant Collections and why 2023 is a special year for this charity.

We also chat with Jonathan Shepherd, who is a holder of not one but two plant collections – Hollyhocks (Alcea) and Cosmos bipinnatus - in his 2-acre Lincolnshire garden and polytunnels where he grows his plants in a very sustainable way. Jonathan describes his journey into growing and how he has become an advocate to these two important plant species. He also shares his growing tips on raising them for the garden and for staging at the prestigious Hampton Court Flower Festival held earlier this month.

Plant Heritage is the world's leading garden plant conservation and research charity – celebrating 45 years. The charity’s mission is the conservation of cultivated plants in the British Isles and a milestone of 700 national plant collections has been reached.

Gill’s favourite plants: Australasia beauties including Callistemon, Leptospermum and Eucalyptus (gum trees).

Hollyhocks are short-lived non-native perennials. Varieties mentioned: ‘Charters,’ ‘Purple Rain,’ Blackcurrant World, ‘Creme de Cassis’ and ‘Nigra.’ ‘Halo’ varieties bred by Thompson & Morgan include single colours - ‘Halo Apricot,’ ‘Halo Blush’ and ‘Halo Cream.’

Cosmos are short day flowers and need to be kept hungry as too much feed often results in much taller plants. Jonathan sowed over 3000 seeds for the 17 planters of Cosmos he took to this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. Varieties mentioned: ‘Cupcake Blush,’ ‘Gloria,’ ‘Dazzler’ (Monty Don’s favourite), ‘Apricotta,’ ‘Pink Mosaic’ and ‘Sonata.’ Check out our seed range here

Desert Island item: Jonathan’s grandad’s galvanised watering can - he wouldn’t be without it!

Product and people mentions: Melcourt SylvaGrow Peat-Free Compost (for seed sowing), Westland New Horizon Peat-Free (for planters). TV gardener and designer Adam Frost. Sweet Peas: An Essential Guide by Roger Parsons. Rosa Persica staged by Daniel Myhill, Jonathan Hogarth for his educational display of small and miniature hosta.

Jonathan’s website, Twitter, and Instagram

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our gardens are growing apace this month and there’s plenty to be getting on with as Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day tackle those essential tasks, plus a round-up of July events and garden stories around the UK.

What’s on

4th - 9th July: RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, Surrey. Shop for plants from specialist nurseries and be inspired by gardens.

15th & 16th of July: Belvoir Castle Flower and garden Show, in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

19th - 23rd July: RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire.

News

King Charles and Queen Camilla open the Coronation Garden in Hazelbank Park, Newtownabbey, Ireland.

The secret Italian Garden in Great Ambrook opens in Devon.

Perennial’s garden The Laskett opens to the public.

Record stag beetles this summer.

The Scottish government may not be following the same timeline for peat-free ban than England.

Globetrotting rare Ghost orchid flowers at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Peat free test trials featured in Amateur Gardening showing positive results on two major products.

B&Q says don't dig your garden - it's bad for your soil and the environment. Listen back to Charles Dowding’s Dig it podcast.

Lincolnshire beans could provide British solution to imports.

Dig It Top Five 6-pack bedding 1. Geranium White, 2. Geranium Deep Red, 3. Lobelia trailing – all colours, 4. Petunia Mixed, and 5. Antirrhinums.

Plant mentions: Allium seed collection and drying the head for decoration, Borage, Eucalyptus, Rose 'Peter's Persica', butterfly attracting plants such as Buddleja, including the newer dwarf varieties, B ‘White Profusion’, Foxgloves, Verbena, Marjoram, perennial wallflowers, Courgette ‘Eight Ball’, Heirloom seed varieties from Garden Organics, Wisteria (summer pruning), Wisteria ‘Amethyst Falls’, Spiraea, Philadelphus (mock orange), Marginal, Water Lilies and Oxygenating plants for ponds, Sweet Peas, Box Moth Caterpillar, Ermine moth webs affecting native hedging, Runner beans, Comfrey, Wallflowers. First early potatoes for Christmas.

Product mentions: Dalefoot Peat-free Compost, SylvaGrow Multipurpose Compost, Baby Bio, Tomato fertiliser, barley straw (to help reduce blanketweed), dichlorination (water changes), Smart Garden solar water features and Root trainers.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the latest Dig It podcast, Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest gardening news stories, events in the gardening calendar and take a look at some of the gardening tasks to be getting on with through the month of June.

What’s on

27th May - 4th June National Children’s Gardening Week featuring The World of Peter Rabbit.

1st - 5th June: Bord Bia Bloom Ireland's largest gardening event.

15 - 18th June: BBC Gardeners' World Live at the Birmingham NEC.

23 - 25th June: Blenheim Palace Flower Show.

30th June - 2nd July: Jekka's HerbFest at Jekka’s Herb Farm, Alveston, Bristol.

News of the show gardens and plants at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Catch up with the BBC RHS coverage (Please note BBC Iplayer is not available outside the UK and requires a TV license).

Photo RHS Garden The Nurture Nature Garden designed by Sarah Price, Gold Medal winner.

DIG IT Top 5 fertilisers Top slot at 1. Doff Seaweed Extract 2. Westland Fish, Blood, and Bone 3. Vitax Organic Potato Fertiliser 4 Miracle-Gro Chicken Manure 5. Levington’s Tomorite.

Product mentions: Levington Seed and Compost (Peat-free), Lawn Feed and Weed Fertilisers, Blood, Fish and Bone, Chicken manure and Vitax Q4. New sustainable one-use CasusGrill™ BBQ.

Plant mentions: Propagate Carnations and Dahlias. Plant Courgettes, Fuchsias, Lobelia, Pelargoniums, Petunias, Sweet Corn, Runner bean ‘Enorma,’ Tomatoes and Pumpkins. Sow seeds of Lettuce, Radish, and Spring Onions. Sow seeds of Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves, Polyanthus, Primroses, and Sweet William.

News

Blue Diamond has acquired Fosseway Garden Centre.

Farmers asked to send in slugs for feeding analysis.

Restoration of the Bridgemere show gardens with TV’s David Domoney.

How lining your pot with coffee filter paper may help save your houseplants.

Time to vote for your favourite Historic Houses ‘Garden of the Year’ at this link

New chair Rupert Tyler for Garden Museum.

The first collection of Royal Mail Special Stamps to feature the King’s head will depict illustrations of gorgeous garden flowers to recognise his passion for gardening.

Scientists urge tax breaks for sustainable gardeners.

The famous East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden is bequeathed to the Perennial Charity so securing its future.

Royal Horticultural Society criticised over products that kill bugs and wildflowers.

Wildflower brand Seedball is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is launching a range of bee tines to raise awareness of 3 British species that are in decline.

Who will win the first Peter Seabrook Award at Gardeners World Live?

Plant Heritage relocate to world-renowned RHS Garden Wisley.

Mark’s 700-mile journey to buy gas BBQ from Scots garden centre.

Our next guest is Nick Hamilton from Barnsdale Gardens.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition of Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with celebrity gardener, social media influencer and TV presenter Michael Perry. From the introduction of new plants with the famous Ipswich-based Thompson and Morgan seed company to writing, hosting podcasts, books and tv appearances including the QVC shopping channel, Michael enjoys nothing more than sharing his extensive knowledge. Michael loves searching out the new and unusual in the plant world and sharing them with his followers which he does with passion and unbounded enthusiasm.

Plants mentioned: Eucalyptus, Runner beans, Mustard, Cress, Herbs, Pelargoniums (traditional Geranium), Hyacinth ‘Midnight Mystic’ (Black), Lavender, Petunia, TomTato ® (Ketchup and Fries, US name), tomato and potato grafted onto one plant), Egg n’ Chips Plant (aubergine and potato grafted onto one plant) , Rubus cockburnianus (white stemmed bramble) and tradescantia zebrina.

Products / Places / People mentions: Jekka McVicar’s Herb Books, Easton & Otley College, The Perennial Charity, Thompson & Morgan Seeds, greenhouses (link with Malvern), Seedball, Garden Tags, Gardeners’ World, Urban Herbs,  GLEE, Amigra grass nursery in the Netherlands and the IPM Trade Show. Geoff Hamilton, Anne Swithinbank and Pippa Greenwood.

Michael’s favourite plants; All members of the Iris family and Mints.

To find out more about Michael Perry visit his website for all social links and more. The Plant Base Podcast

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Dig It’s Peter Brown and Chris Day and catch up with the latest garden news, views, events and tasks as we enter one of the busiest gardening months of the year.

What’s On

1st – 31st May No Mow May

2nd-8th May: RHS National Gardening Week.

6th May: King’s Coronation. Turn Your Garden Red, White and Blue – Patriotic Planting for The King's Coronation.

Sunday 7th May: Specialist Spring Plant Fair at Borde Hill, Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

11th - 14th May: RHS Malvern Spring Festival.

14th May: World Topiary Day.

23rd – 27th May: RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London.

30th May – 2nd July: Tree Listening. Visit Exbury Gardens in Hampshire to find out what happens beneath the bark of trees.

Plants mentioned: Antirrhinums, Basil, Broad beans, Cosmos, Courgettes, Hyssop, Kinder Plant Drop-in / Pop-ins, Lobelia, Mints, Petunia, Photinia Red Robin, Potato ‘Swift’, Runner beans, Rhubarb, Rosemary, Sweet Corn, Thyme, Tomatoes, Tulips,

Products mentioned: Malvern Garden Buildings at the RHS Chelsea Flower show with their Houseplant Studios, Levington Seed and Cutting Peat-Free Compost, Agralan Plum Moth and Codling Moth pheromone traps, yellow sticky traps, Slug traps, Provanto Veg & Fruit spray, Poppy Forge plant supports, Perlite and Vermiculite.

News Houseplant books: Legends of the Leaf by Jane Perrone and Not Another Jungle by Tony Le-Britton.

NEWS

London’s Natural History Museum survey focusing noise pollution and insect life.

Research by The New Scientist suggests Plant Ident Apps are not particularly accurate.

A new crowdfunded sensory garden ties a strong bond with the Ukraine in Liverpool.

A new 1.2-mile-long railway park to connect Camden Town and King’s Cross gets a green light and it will be designed by Piet Oudolf.

The Victorian Palm House at the Royal Botanic gardens in Edinburgh undergoes a major structural restoration.

Newby Hall in Yorkshire celebrates its 75th anniversary with a special royal theme.

Tesco have become the first UK retailer to go peat-free in its British-grown bedding plants.

Government backtracks on commercial peat ban with professional growers to continue to use products until 2030.

Melcourt SylvaGrow® Multi-Purpose 100% peat-free compost has been recognised as a top performer and a Which? Best Buy, earning it the right to use the prestigious endorsement. It is stocked at the Garden Centre.

Orchid grower Marius Grzelik has taken on Geoff Hands’ National Plant Collection® of Dendrobium after Geoff Hands passed away in November 2020. www.plantheritage.co.uk

Boyd Douglas-Davies to leave British Garden Centres and will be setting up his own consultancy business.

Blue Diamond acquires its 43rd Garden Centre - Beckworth Emporium.

RSPB birdwatch 2022 results announced.

Dig It Top 5 KINDER PLANTS 1st Nepeta hederacea. Joint 2nd Petunia ‘Tumbelina ‘Diana’ and Bacopa ‘Megacopa White’. In 3rd place Petunia ‘Tumbelina Anna’ and in 4th Fuchsia ‘Voodoo’.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition of Dig It we chat with freelance garden writer and broadcaster Steve Bradley. Steve and wife Val (also a qualified horticulturist) have worked for The Sun newspaper since 2002, writing the gardening column with the late and legendary Peter Seabrook. Peter Brown and Chris Day share Steve’s many memorable moments of a full and brilliant gardening career.

Media mentions: Books Propagation Basics (winner of the Garden Media Guild Award for Best Practical Book), The Pruner’s Bible, Winter Gardening, The Fragrant Garden and What’s Wrong With My Plant? and The Grafter’s Handbook. Consumer testing in Amateur Gardening magazine, RHS The Garden magazine and Gardeners’ World magazine. BBC Radio Kent. TV Channel 4 series: Plant Life and Garden Doctors and BBC’s Ground Force.

Plant and product mentions: Lettuce ‘Iceberg’ Tomato rootstocks (variety Submarine), grafted tomatoes, grafting clips, Managing honey fungus and Rootgrow.

Steve’s desert island essential: Alan Titchmarsh

College mentions: Askham Bryan College, Cannington College (Bridgwater and Taunton College), Pershore College, Merrist Wood College and Writtle University College.

To find out more about Steve and The Sun gardening visit this website

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

April, as they say, can be one of the cruellest months with sun one minute and frosty mornings and bitter winds the next. In this edition of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day look at some of the current news stories, provide a round-up of popular events coming up and those pressing gardening jobs that need to be done this month.

What’s on

1 - 2 April: Cornwall Garden Society Spring Flower Show

Plant Fairs at Great Dixter 1-2nd April, Evenley Wood Rare Plant Fair on 2nd April and the Spring Fair Roadshow at Arundel Castle on 23rd April.

20 - 23rd April: Harrogate Spring Flower Show

28 - 30th April: BBC Gardeners' World Spring Fair in Beaulieu, New Forest, Hampshire.

Product mentions: BBQs, RHS seeds, Tomorite Tomato food, Doff Tomato food, Vitax Q4 fertiliser, propagation cell trays, peat-free seed sowing compost, Vermiculite, Perlite, Fleece, Root Trainers, Lawn feeds, scarifiers and overseeding with lawn seed.

Plants mentioned: Apples ‘Flower of Kent’ and ‘Bramley’s Original.’ Antirrhinum, Cosmos, Marigolds, Sweet Peas, and Zinnia. Broad beans, Mustard and Cress, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squashes, Marrows and Sweet Corn. Buddleja, Dahlias, Rosemary, Root wrapped Roses, English Bluebells and Thyme.

News

Alan Titchmarsh: ‘I tend not to follow my own gardening advice.’

Plants in Peril Plant Atlas Report.

Blue Diamond / National Trust tie in.

National Trust Manchester’s Victorian Sky Park.

Rare Moonflower blooms at Cambridge Botanic Gardens.

Frank Mathews wins the Stanley Lord Bowl award for the best RHS fruit display in 2022.

RHS Flower Show organisers move towards being greener with more sustainability in the briefs in all garden designs and show operations.

Lindengate rehomes RHS Chelsea garden.

Floating islands made from plastic bottles to grow crops in Singapore.

King Charles III Sandringham West Lawn eco-garden makeover.

Windowsill gardening campaign.

Tackling damping off when germinating seeds.

Dig it top 5 Spring potted bulbs 1 1-litre pots of Narcissi 'Tête-à-Tête' 2 Galanthus nivalis (snowdrop) 3 Winter Aconite 4 Narcissi 'Tête-à-Tête' (6-pack) 5 9cm English Bluebell.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.