In the first episode of the new series of Two Good Gardeners, Dan and Julia debate whether it's worth saving your own seeds and throw a spotlight on wool, the secret ingredient our gardens have been crying out for. Julia shares her top tips for growing lemongrass to fill your kitchen with oriental flavours, and Dan waxes lyrical about hostas, the foliage plant we'd all love to love if slugs and snails didn't love them more! As always, your hosts round off with a list of things to do in your garden over the next fortnight and news of where you can find or hear them next.

Jobs for your garden this fortnight:

1. Plant out hardened-off sweet peas.
2. Deadhead daffodils and other spring-flowering bulbs.
3. Put in supports for perennials and climbers before they get too large.
4. Lift and divide hostas and other perennials you’d like more of.
5. Protect fruit blossoms from late frosts.
6. Feed citrus with summer feed.
7. Plant out second-early potatoes.
8. Sow carrots, beetroot, chard, spinach, salads, radish & peas.
9. Watch out for box moth caterpillars and treat them if necessary.
10. Ventilate greenhouses on sunny days.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch

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In the final episode of Series 2, Dan & Julia reflect on the many highlights of a busy and eventful year and share their New Year's resolutions.

They'll return with Series 3 in spring 2024. If you've enjoyed Series 2, then click follow on your favourite podcast platform, so you're notified when new episodes are launched. Leaving a rating or writing a review will help us know what you like and how we can do better in future.

The book 'The Secret Gardens of Cornwall', which Dan talks about, is available from Waterstones. Sussex gardens are covered in 'Secret Gardens of the South East' by our friend Barbara Segall (which we really should have remembered!), also available from Waterstones.

Your hosts wish you a very Happy New Year and look forward to entertaining you again soon.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses

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

Christmas is a frenetic season when time and budgets are often overstretched. With less time to focus on living sustainably, how can we make the best environmental choices, especially when they're not always obvious? Talking as amateur gardeners, Dan & Julia discuss some of the options and reveal surprising facts - did you know, for example, that burning a real Christmas tree on a bonfire is far more sustainable than putting it out for collection and composting?

Julia shares how much of her Christmas lunch she grows herself (prepare to be impressed), while Dan divulges how he keeps his dinner candles upright using a flower frog - watch him do it here.

Your hosts wish all their listeners a very happy Christmas and a fruitful New Year 🎄 They'll be returning soon with a review of 2023, when they'll also share their resolutions for 2024.

Useful links:

Dan's guide to choosing the perfect real Christmas tree (and disposing of it!)

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses

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

Owning a greenhouse is a luxury and privilege many gardeners dream of. In this special episode, recorded at Torberry Farm in Hampshire, Dan and Julia meet Nelly Hall, Brand Director at Alitex, to discover how to make the most of a greenhouse all year round. As the year draws to a close, Nelly explains how to use a greenhouse to prepare plants for Christmas and get an early start on spring, learning the importance of light and heat. Moving on to summer, we learn about ventilation, maintaining humidity and keeping pests under control before coming full circle to autumn for Nelly's tips on good glasshouse hygiene.

Nelly's top greenhouse gardening tips

1. Good light in a greenhouse is as essential as heat to keep plants compact and healthy.
2. Buy the biggest greenhouse you can - no one ever wishes they'd bought a smaller model!
3. Think carefully about how you want to use your greenhouse to maximise the space and create the right growing conditions.
4. Instal power in your greenhouse, even if you have no immediate plans. It gives you options in future.
5. Consider using solar power to reduce energy costs.
6. Make space for a chair and table so that you have somewhere to take time out and enjoy.
7. Keep sacks of compost in the greenhouse over winter so it doesn't freeze and remains usable in cold weather.
8. Play with a greenhouse to bring forward flowering and cropping to extend the growing season.
9. Use the winter months, when there's less to do, to experiment by taking cuttings and making compost.
10. Be vigilant and don't allow pests to take control - good hygiene is essential in an enclosed space.
11. Don't over-sow and stagger your seed planting to avoid waste.
12. Vents between a greenhouse and a cold frame can help keep a cold frame warmer.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses

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

As the days get shorter and the nights colder, it's time to bite the bullet and protect your tender plants from the cold, wet and wind. Dan explains how to tackle different groups of plants, from annuals to evergreens, and Julia shares advice on keeping herbs, citrus, ginger, chillies and pineapples happy until spring.

Your hosts anticipate the outcome of the Garden Media Guild Awards, where Two Good Gardeners has been shortlisted (see below if you want to know the result) and look forward to visiting their sponsor, Alitex, so record a special episode which will air before Christmas.

Julia offers advice on growing garlic from shop-bought or own-grown cloves, and Dan reveals a new Christmas trend - including seeds in your Christmas cards.

Dan's guide to overwintering tender plants: https://www.dancoopergarden.com/blogs/advice-inspiration/how-to-protect-tender-plants-over

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses
• Alitex Events

*our congratulations to Gardens Illustrated, who won the category for best podcast or radio broadcast.

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In episode 4, Dan and Julia offer advice on filling your home with plants and flowers this Christmas, including how to force bulbs and buy and care for seasonal plants such as poinsettia and cyclamen. Julia explains how to grow a crop of spuds for your Christmas dinner, and Dan shares his favourite garden-inspired Christmas decorations. Julia champions the humble beetroot (pickling recipe below), and Dan is elated that others are finally joining his crusade to revive the much-maligned chrysanthemum.

Julia's recipe for pickled beetroot, adapted from a recipe by Clodagh Mckenna 

Ingredients

• 6 small beetroot 
• 4 sprigs of thyme 
• 160 ml white wine vinegar 
• 150 ml cold water 
• 110 g caster sugar ( Suggest adding 90 g, then taste if you want it sweeter, add the rest) ½ tsp mustard seeds 
• ½ tsp black peppercorns 
• ½ tsp sea salt 

Method

1. Cook the beetroot in a saucepan covered with cold water for 30-40 mins or until tender. Drain and refresh under cold water. 
2. Peel the beets and cut them into small wedges. 
3. Place in sterilized jars 
4. Put the thyme, vinegar, caster sugar, mustard seeds, peppercorns, sea salt and 150ml cold water in a saucepan and heat until all has dissolved. 
5. Pour this vinegar mixture over the beetroot and allow to cool completely. 
6. Seal and store in the fridge for up to one year. 

Dan's favourite chrysanthemums:

• 'Dixter Orange' - very early, starting late June / early July and over by September - completely self-supporting and makes a terrific low hedge.
• 'Percy Salter' - the colour of a well-baked custard cream, pretty and long-lasting.
• 'EH Wilson' - produces delicate sprays of butter-yellow single flowers.
• 'Breitner's Supreme' - lax form with white daisy-like blooms - use to flop over other plants.
• 'Burnt Orange' - fiery orange quilled petals that are yellow inside.
• 'Dulwich Pink' - neat and smothered with cranberry red flowers in November.

Dan's Christmas decorations - https://www.dancoopergarden.com/collections/christmas

Dan & Julia's jobs for the next fortnight

1. Start planting tulip bulbs and indoor bulbs to be forced.
2. Keep gutters clear of leaves and moss.
3. Gather fallen leaves and store them in hessian bags to break down into leafmould.
4. Clean bird feeders thoroughly before filling them with fresh seed.
5. Sow sweet peas, broad beans, peas, radishes and rocket.
6. Cut away the old stems of autumn-fruiting raspberries, blackberries and loganberries.
7. Reduce excessive top growth to prevent wind damage.
8. Plant up, tidy and wash greenhouses and clear benches.
9. Continue to mow lawns but on dry days.
10. Visit arboreta to enjoy the blazing autumn colours.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses

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

In episode 3, Dan and Julia mull the merits of putting your garden to bed for winter, sharing tips on preparing for windy weather and making space for tender plants that need protection from the cold. Julia chooses chillies for her 'top of the crops' slot and explains how to take cuttings from herb plants, while Dan offers advice on choosing and planting tulips, throwing the spotlight on three of his favourite bulb-planting tools.

Julia's top chillies: 'Cayenne', 'Longhorn', 'Basket of Fire' (bush and yellow-green and red small chillies), 'Sigaretta di Bergamo' (suitable for decoration and it's not too hot), 'Habanero', 'Tokyo Hot'.

Dan's most perennial tulips: 'Apeldoorn' (red), 'Golden Apeldoorn' (yellow), 'Apeldoorn's Elite' (yellow and orange), 'Pink Impression', 'Apricot Impression', 'Spring Green' (white and green), 'Flaming Spring Green' (red, white and green), 'Artist' (peach and green), 'Queen of Night' (inky purple) and 'Negrita' (smoky purple pink), Tulipa kaufmanniana, Tulipa greigii, Tulipa tarda, Tulipa turkestanica and Tulipa praestans.

Dan's top bulb-planting tools: Dutch trowel, Tulip trowel, Barrel bulb planter

Dan & Julia's jobs for the next fortnight

1. Order and plant onion sets and garlic bulbs
2. Order tulip bulbs for planting next month
3. Remove spent tomato plants - burn them if you spot any signs of blight
4. Sow more salads, fennel and beetroot for late crops in a greenhouse or undercover
5. Take cuttings of herbs and salvias
6. Clean greenhouse benches and glazing as crops die back
7. Make space in sheds and garages for plants that will need winter protection. Don't wait until the evening before the first frost
8. Last spray of the season for box moth caterpillars; you won't see them until next May with any luck.
9. Pick dahlias regularly, as they'll soon become pale and feeble.
10. Take cuttings of plectrathus and coleus while the weather is still mild.
11. Pick and store apples when they're dry and blemish-free - many varieties will keep for weeks or even months
12. Keep an eye out in the hedgerows for sloes that can be steeped in gin to make a delicious winter warmer.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses

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

In a break from their standard format, Dan & Julia chat about how they began gardening, reminisce about their first gardens and recall the gardens and gardeners that inspired them.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Middle-Sized Garden You Tube Channel
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses
• Alitex Adventures In Flowers Workshop

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

As summer eases into autumn, our gardens reach a colourful crescendo. In this episode, Dan & Julia share their favourite flowers and crops for extending the season, taking inspiration from their gardens and visits to Great Dixter, Sussex Prairies, East Ruston Old Vicarage and Doddington Place.

Julia offers advice on autumn sowing and shares her top of the crops - delicious, juicy figs. Dan describes his new range of flower bowls and explains how to keep dahlias healthy and blooming for as long as possible.

Find Julia's favourite fig recipe here.

Explore Dan's collection of flower bowls here.

This fortnight's jobs to do in the garden:

1. Order onion sets.
2. Order tulip bulbs.
3. Keep watering and feeding pots and containers.
4. Harvest courgettes regularly.
5. Remove leaves on grape vines and figs, allowing more sunlight to ripen the fruits.
6. Sow salads, fennel and beetroot for late crops in a greenhouse or under cover.
7. Take cuttings - it's an ideal time for figs, hydrangeas, lavender, rosemary, salvias and coleus.
8. Order indoor bulbs for Christmas forcing.
9. Remove shading or netting in greenhouses as the light starts to diminish.
10. Keep looking for box moth caterpillars and spray or pick them off.

Dan & Julia's top plants for early autumn colour:

1. Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm’
2. Rudbeckia triloba' Prairie Glow'
3. Rudbeckia laciniata 'Herbstsonne'
4. Helianthus' Monarch'
5. Helianthus 'Velvet Queen'
6. Heliopsis helianthoides ‘Bleeding Hearts’
7. Cosmos bipinnatus 'Double Click Cranberry'
8. Ratibida columnifera ‘Red Midget’
9. Eutrochium maculatum (Atropurpureum Group) 'Riesenschirm'
10. Althaea cannabina
11. Aster x frikartii 'Mönch'
12. Eurybia divaricata
13. Vernonia arkansana 'Mammuth'
14. Anemone japonica
15. Hydrangea "Annabelle"

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Parker's Patch
• Alitex Modern Victorian Greenhouses
• Alitex Adventures In Flowers Workshop

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

The gardens at Great Dixter are famed across the globe for their exuberance, colour and intimacy. Driven by a sense of adventure and a mission to help others get involved in horticulture, Fergus Garrett has built on the legacy of his friend and mentor, Christopher Lloyd, never allowing Dixter to stand still and delighting thousands of visitors every season.

In mid-August 2023, Julia and I were lucky enough to grab half an hour with Fergus to get his tips on late summer colour, discover his desert island plants and understand what he looks for in a plant when choosing what to grow. We cover a lot of ground, and Fergus is as generous with his knowledge as his time. Make sure you listen right to the very end, as there are gems throughout!

If you enjoy this episode, be sure to follow us on your favourite podcast platform and leave us a rating and review. We'll be back in September with a brand-new series!

https://www.greatdixter.co.uk/

https://www.dancoopergarden.com/

https://www.parkers-patch.com/

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