Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club – Season 1 Episode 6

Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club – Season 1 Episode 6
Alan Titchmarsh and a diverse team of experts shine a light on the latest horticultural trends and innovative gardens across the UK, providing a wealth of practical gardening tips for both aspiring and experienced gardeners. Alongside Alan, the expert team includes David Domoney, horticulturist Camilla Bassett-Smith, community gardener Tayshan Hayden-Smith, eco-friendly gardener Anna Greenland and houseplant expert Sarah Gerrard-Jones.
Categories: Reality
Stars: Alan Titchmarsh

places that make gardening special right
across the UK and I’ll be right here in
my own garden swapping notes with my
gardening club joined by a team of
passionate experts and we’ll meet those
at home and in the community who are
breathing new life into forgotten spaces
so whether you have sprawling Acres a
cozy balcony or even just a sunny window
sill get ready to roll up your sleeves
and dig in with us together we’ll
uncover tips tricks and techniques to
transform our spaces into vibrant
thriving sanctuaries that nourish the
soul and Inspire the spirit so pour
yourself a copper and get comfy welcome
to my gardening
[Music]
club welcome back to my gardening club
and to my very own garden over the next
hour
our goal is to provide you with all the
hints tips and tricks to add a touch of
brightness to your life this April and
our gardening club team has been hard at
work to support your aspirations Eco
Garder Anna Greenland returns to help
you enhance biodiversity in your green
space house plant expert Sarah Gerard
Jones offers a masterclass on Orchids
and taan Hayden Smith visits an
inspiring Community Garden project in
London providing support for those
without access to a garden but first
it’s time for our weekly visit to David
domin’s Garden today he has some budget
friendly tips for those starting
[Music]
out this is one of my most favorite
plants in the Garden this Rosemary it’s
been with us for years in fact it
originally was planted in the previous
house and I dug a section of it up and
took it here when we moved a couple of
years ago and it’s taken and grown I’ve
taken a sprig from this very plant over
the last decade for my Sunday roasts
when the family are sitting down there
at the table tucking into a leg of lamb
this plant has embellished the gravy and
also I love it when it gets a bit
crunchy when it’s cooked on the top and
it’s incredibly good for you vitamins
inside it but taking cuting is very easy
which leads us on to our question from
Zoe in Southport how do I save money
gardening and plants well they grow and
if you take cuting you get free plants
from them so I’m going to take you
through the process of how you can take
an exact copy of an existing plant and
grow it
yourself so I’m going to take some
cuting not where the flowers are I’m
looking for a little bit of growth
here’s one down here very healthy sprig
that we’ve got I’m taking quite a large
cutting there there’s another one just
on the side there all of these will make
completely brand new plants all for
free they’re back to the greenhouse to
turn them into little plants of their
[Music]
own here we are in my favorite place the
greenhouse and I love it best when it’s
just raining outside and I can hear the
plinking of the raindrops on the glass
it makes you feel all cozy as I’m in
potting and tending my plants but here
we go here’s the cuting that I’ve just
taken from there and the first thing I’m
going to do just to remove some of the
lower branches cuz I don’t want those to
be rotting in the compost leaving plenty
of leaves because the the plant will be
photosynthesizing and producing energy
to initiate root I’m cutting it and I’ve
got a little cut at an angle through
that now it’s got natural rooting
hormone in there but you can buy rooting
hormone powder which you just dip in
it’s like talcon powder but it contains
a a natural support for the plant to
initiate Roots through its hormone and
then that will give it a better chance
to grow so literally get my pot put some
of the peak free compost in make sure
it’s firmed down cuz you don’t want any
air pockets where the the uh the base of
the cutting sits in there we are up
there’s a little cutting in there so
once you’ve got it potted up put it in a
brightly lit spot you know just let
nature do the rest when it starts to
grow I just pinch out the top so the
little side branches grow and it’ll end
up looking something similar to this
I’ve poted this one up and by this
constant pinching of the tops here we
are something like that you just take
the the top section off like that and
they’ll start to shoot underneath and
eventually it grows something like this
so there you have it that’s a natural
progression and just think all you’ve
spent is money on the pot and some pete-
free compost and there you’ve got it
free Rosemary from your own garden and
taking cuting is incredibly easy and
there are lots of different varieties of
plants you can take cuting
from there’s something quite magic about
seeds these little ones here are little
climbing beans and do you know the first
experience we get with plants as kidss
is in a science experiment at school do
you remember when you had a bean in a
jam jar pressed against the side and you
watched it as it sprouted and there was
a a bead of excitement you know I still
get that same excitement when anything
germinates in my Greenhouse it’s
incredibly
uplifting patunas beautiful looking
plants now when you open a packet of
seeds you end up with a little foil
sachche so the first thing I do I give
it a shake so all the seeds fall down to
the bottom and then I rip the top off
and then you’ve got a small pouch so let
me just tap tap a couple of seeds onto
my hand look at that see just how small
those seeds are and each one is a little
plant what I’m going to try and do is
just to drop by tapping my palm here
drop a couple into the center like that
and then give it a little cover over and
another pot that I’ve got here little
bit of Peep free seed and cutting
compost in and I’m just going to tap my
hand again couple of seeds in there and
finally there’s another one here it’s
great fun it’s mindfulness really and
it’s dealing with life every seed I’m
putting in is a living thing give it a
water put it into quite a light position
in the greenhouse here and wait and then
when you get the the first sight of the
greenery as it comes through you know it
uplifts the heart it nourishes the soul
and eventually they they start to
germinate and what you end up with is a
is a lovely little is a little Bia plant
a lovely little petunia plant that’s
growing and then it eventually grows
into into a bigger plant from bedding
plants to shrubs a bous perennials
vegetables fruit there’s so much you can
grow all you need is a window
[Music]
sill when you go to buy your plants the
Temptation is to buy quite big plants
like this to put them into position and
then let them establish themselves when
really you are spending quite a bit of
money because the plant has already been
growing on the nursery so this plant
here I bought at
$12.99 there is a cheaper way of doing
it
you can buy these multi packs now this
one here was £8 and in it it’s the same
plant a lovely Evergreen uus so what I’m
going to do is a lovely terra cotta pot
here some peep free compost if you try
to get if you’ve got plants that you’ve
got that’s roots are coming out the
bottom the secret is is try not to
damage those roots squeeze your bottom
that’s what you’ve got to do is squeeze
the bottom of the pot like that it
enables you to gently be able to remove
it like that and then into your
container your pot and then just add the
compost around the outside and let that
grow into that container and pretty soon
within the season you’ll get a plant
very similar to this by the end of the
year but let’s do the math 8 for the
pack six in a pack that’s
£133 a plant this one here already
pregrown is
$12.99 and of course you’ve got quite a
few other plants in that pack as well
it’s incredibly good value if you’re
growing your own and you get to enjoy
the process and you’ve saved yourself a
fortune now all I’ve got to do is start
planting some out into the garden
[Music]
from cuting making free plants from seed
making plants at a very low cost or even
a little bit of Cy buying enables you to
have more plants for
[Music]
Less thanks David and here’s another tip
for you plant your daffs and tulips in
Autumn obviously in aquatic baskets like
this and sink them into containers why
why don’t you just plant them in the
container around world because you’d
have to root them all out then when
these fade I ho that little basket out
replace them with tulips I’ve planted in
aquatic baskets and then the same
happens with summer bedding you can use
a pot but there’s great drainage from
these aquatic plant baskets and um it
means that soon as these go over who and
go the Tulips with barely a pause now
earlier in the series we met Williams an
award-winning Gardener passionate about
maximizing small spaces With His
stunning balcony Garden in Manchester
and he work showcasing a local Alleyway
Garden he’s proved that there’s
opportunity for beauty even in limited
areas today he returns to tackle five
gardening queries in our gardening in
five
[Music]
if I was to describe gardening in three
words I would probably use stressful but
at the same time relaxing but also
nurturing my favorite plant is the ccia
black magic I absolutely love the
heart-shaped black leaves and because I
have a south facing Garden they also
absorb quite a lot of sunlight and they
do fantastically well in my
space as a small space Gardener
sometimes you can be under a lot of
pressure to try and grow everything from
seed but it is okay to go to a store and
buy a plug
plant now I don’t quite use tools on my
garden but I do use my fish pond I use
the fish pond water to fertilize ize my
garden and I keep everything
[Music]
organic my top spring gardening tip is
take your time sometimes when it comes
to Spring things get a bit overwhelming
slow things down plan your garden out
and just do one little task at a
time great work Jason I love the diverse
answers that emerge each week in our
gardening in five it shows that we all
have approach gardening uniquely and
tailor it to our preferences a good
reminder that gardening is for anyone
even if you’ve only got one container
like this one this by the way is a
little narciss is called eat and song
pretty little thing is it multi-headed
and with plenty more inst store you on
today’s show after the break Anna
Greenland returns with her top tips on
boosting biodiversity in your green
spaces and amate G Alex’s Journey
Through the growing season has reached
summer with crops becoming real
productive see you after the
break watching them
Blossom with Alan titch Mar’s gardening
club brought to you by Green Thumb Lawn
Treatment
service regular
watering with Alan Marsh’s gardening
club brought to you by Green Thumb Lawn
Treatment service
[Music]
Gardens aren’t just for us we share them
with a whole range of wildlife from
insects to fungi birds and mammals it’s
what makes our garden so interesting
Anna Greenland reminds us now of the
importance of that thing we call
biodiversity and shows ways in which you
can increase the natural richness of
your garden
whatever its
size hi I’m Anna Greenland and I’m an
Eco
Gardener an eco-friendly Garden is one
that encourages biodiversity so by
growing a whole range of different
plants you end up encouraging beneficial
insects Wildlife the pollinators into
your garden and this all helps with
natural Pest Control It All Leads to a
thriving productive Garden
[Music]
this is a bug hotel that my daughter’s
been working on and it’s full of all of
these little nooks and crannies which
are perfect for bees and beetles and
butterflies to hide a away in a lot of
our vegetables need pollination to
produce anything so it’s important that
we create a really lovely welcoming
environment for all of these beneficial
insects
[Music]
plant choices also play a key part in
attracting wildlife and beneficial
insects into the garden with diversity
being the key so flowers can attract
things like hoverflies lady Birds which
in turn keep on top of your pest
problems like aphids try letting some of
your edible plants go to flower like for
example this rocket here which has
beautiful delicious flowers great for
the insects as well and I’ve also let
some dill go to flour in here as
well I let a lot of flowers self set
through my vegetable beds so this is
Cula Mar gold here in amongst the
vegetables things like borage California
poppies are great and they will bring in
beneficial insects but they also look
really beautiful
too and rather than harvesting all my
cardoons I let them go to flow which the
bees absolutely love and then I let them
go on to se seed and you get these
lovely soft seed heads which the birds
pick out for their
[Music]
nests ponds are another way to increase
your Garden’s biodiversity so I’m lucky
to have a nice big pond but it really
doesn’t matter the size any water source
is good but you could make a pond out of
a half barrel you could just have a bird
bath the key thing is is that you have a
water source that will attract things
like birds Birds NES toads frogs and
they’ll all help to keep on top of your
pest
[Music]
problems Hedges provide a safe sanctuary
and great habitat for a whole host of
different animals so things like
hedgehogs and birds can hide in here and
they in turn will start to eat the Slugs
and snail populations in your garden and
make it more productive so try planting
a range of different native plants that
means you’ll get lots of benefit of the
berries and the nuts as well and then
they’re there for the animals
[Music]
too as an eco-friendly Gardener I sort
of accept that I’m going to lose some of
my crops to Wildlife but I feel like we
enter into a bit of an agreement there’s
a bit of a pack that they can have some
as long as there’s enough left for me as
well having said that I do have to
prepare myself so I have my Arsenal here
of protective covers which help to keep
the pests at Bay I’ve got this butterfly
netting which is actually brilliant at
keeping birds off as well so this keeps
the Cabbage White Butterflies away from
any Brasa crops I’ve also got this
envira mesh which is a very fine mesh
still lets the air through um but this
will protect crops from things like flea
Beetle which can be a real problem on
anything Brassica related as well and
then I’ve got my trusty flee similar
thing this will keep off the flea Beetle
and birds and just acts as a really
light use for cover as well these are
really simple to use they’re a
protective barrier to drape over your
crops as and when you need
them by working in collaboration with
the natural world around you you’re
getting a productive healthy garden but
you’re also doing your bit for the
planet and Anna spot on there’s truly
nothing more rewarding than witnessing
all the forms of life that thrive in
your garden yes I know about slugs and
snails I’ve got them here as well but
it’s a reminder that Gardens have such
an important role to play in enriching
the Earth’s ecosystem all these little
patches join together make a big
difference now let’s check in with
amateur Garder Alex from meticulous
planning to diligent cultivation and now
to monitoring we’ve been following
Alex’s Journey as he strives to grow as
much food as possible in a year as we
catch up with him today his crops are
flourishing at an impressive pace
my name is Alex and this year I decided
to grow a vegetable garden I started
doing the odd bit of gardening about 3
years ago and I’ve realized it’s one of
the most rewarding feelings being able
to harvest and cook with fresh food that
you’ve grown yourself and when I moved
back in with my parents at the beginning
of this year I asked my dad if I could
dig up part of his garden and plant some
vegetables thankfully he let me do so
and in January I started making plans
for this year’s Garden project
[Music]
I’ve actually been away from home for
the last 5 days but I returned home
after my time away to see that
everything has
grown crazy amount the garden is looking
pretty overgrown right now and there’s
quite a lot of jobs that I need to get
on
[Music]
with it’s about 4 months since I sewed
my spring onions but they are ready to
pick and because I sewed them with about
5 to 10 seeds in each module tray I
Harvest them as a clump ready to take
into the
kitchen but the ones I leave in the
ground will keep on growing they should
swell up a little bit more so as you can
see these are quite small still but so
tasty the green B very mild in fact they
might store better i’ put them in water
I guess they’ll probably keep growing
actually and I can just use them as in
when I need them nice another Harvest
from the garden it’s going good going
very
good we’ve got peas that need harvesting
this plant has been flowering for the
past 2 weeks and we’ve finally got some
pea pods these are sugar snap peas but
there are loads more flowers appearing
and each of those flowers will turn into
another PE pod my coriander plants have
shot up and started flowering so what
I’m actually going to do is I’m going to
clear all these coriander out as well as
this uh chard as well cuz the Chard is
also starting to flower but every plant
their aim is to grow lots of leaves and
then to flour cuz when they flour they
can produce seeds and then create more
plants which is good for the plant but
for a gardener you you want them to put
energy into the thing which you want to
eat and in this case we don’t want to
eat the flowers or the seeds really I
want to have the the foliage so they are
not much used to me now but I’m really
happy with how the coriander has gone
this year I haven’t had to buy coriander
for most of the year which is amazing
cuz I use it almost every day put on
something or
other can put all of that on the compost
now unlike the coriander and CH we
actually want the flowers on these
Tomatoes the flowers are where we get
the tomatoes from and I’m currently
seeing the first few flowers appearing
on each plant but what I’m going to do
with these Tomatoes is cut off the lower
leaves apparently you good air flow with
tomatoes and so cutting off the lower
leaves it doesn’t harm the plant the
plant doesn’t need those ones uh it uses
these new fresher leaves uh so I can cut
them off and also tomato plants produce
these side shoots now these side shoots
will eventually uh make the plant bushy
but with these I want them to grow tall
um and put all that energy into one stem
and the fruits along that one stem so
I’m going to remove all these side
shoots let’s do some trimming
looks a lot neater and tidier
bamboo the tomatoes that I’m growing are
an indeterminate variety which means
that they can grow up quite tall and
will need some support I pushed in some
bamboo posts and throughout the season I
would tie the stems to the support to
keep the plant upright the bird netting
that we put up has done its job and
we’ve got some right strawberries they
look amazing there’s a couple look at
that one
that is
beautiful that was amazing these ones
are ready to harvest as well look at
that plant is still flowering so we
should have plenty more strawberries
coming soon carrots and parsnips are
coming along nicely onions are actually
swelling so I can see the bulb is
actually getting larger and larger and
it seems like my corn plants are also
enjoying the hot weather a lot cuz also
shot up everything’s watered so that’s
all good and this cucumber plant is just
incredible I love how they grow and
these huge leaves look it’s like a
jungle in here when all of these plants
when these melons and cucumbers get
right to the ceiling and there’s fruit
hanging down it’s going to look so cool
anyway I’ve got the first cucumber to
harvest this is a small cucumber variety
I’m going to put this in the fridge cuz
I I prefer cucumbers when they’re cold
actually when they’re warm I’m not so
keen on them let’s hope there’s many
more to come this
year ah keep up the good work and when
your food’s growing in the summer just
as it is for Alex it’s important to
remember to stay on top of watering and
provide adequate protection from pests
and diseases this is your greatest
friend in the veg patch the Dutch hoe
just for skimming off weeds but this is
one of my greatest friends too this is a
dessert spoon an old one swn off at the
top and it
becomes the greatest tool cleaner you
will ever know tell them I told you that
don’t go anywhere after the break we
welcome Cottage Gardener Ramona Jones
into our gardening club and our house
plant expert Sarah offers up a handy
guide to orchids see you in a bit
feeding al fresco with alen Marsh’s
gardening CL brought to you by Green
Thumb Lawn Treatment
[Music]
service growing
outside with Alan tich Marsh’s gardening
club brought to you by Green Thumb Lawn
Treatment service
[Music]
all that rain we’ve had has meant that
moss in the lawn has really thrived now
if you’re an organic Gardener like me I
don’t use chemicals I don’t use MOS
killer but I do rake a bit of it out
where it’s really severe and then with
blood fish and Bone an organic
fertilizer a good sprinkling over the
lawn just before a shower so it gets
washed in will re forc grass growth and
it then Smothers out the Moss during the
summer because it’s too dry for the Moss
to thrive anyway and that’s how I keep
my Lawns looking good it’s as simple as
that no chemicals whatsoever just the
occasional rate to get the Moss Out and
blood fish and Bone lovely and have
smell good as well and Lawns do make the
rest of the garden look good they show
it off don’t they really that’s it for
outdoors but inside orchids have become
hugely popular s Geral Jones is going to
show you how to keep them
going my name is Sarah Geral Jones also
known as the plant rescuer so whether
you’re starting out or have house plants
at home to rescue with a little bit of
TLC anyone can enjoy the beauty of house
plants at home all year
round I think plants have become a
little bit like Fast fashion we buy
orchids and treat them a little a little
bit like a bunch of flowers once they
finished flowering we Chuck them away
when actually we shouldn’t be doing that
we should be keeping those plants for as
long as possible they’re still alive
they can bloom year after year but I
think a lot of us don’t know how to look
after them properly I’m going to show
you in three simple steps how to care
for your orchid so that it will rebloom
year after
[Music]
year light is the most important thing
you can give your Orchid if it doesn’t
get enough light it will never have the
energy it needs to rebloom so putting
your orchid close to a window is really
important but be careful which direction
the window faces you don’t want to put
your orchid on a south facing window in
summertime as that’s way too intense and
can burn the leaves but in winter time a
south facing window is a great place to
put your fonops orchids because that
drop in temperature in the winter which
you get beside a window can encourage it
to rebloom
in the summer months the best window
sill you can put your orchid on is an
east or west facing or even North facing
window sill because it will get a little
bit of direct sunlight but not too
intense to burn the
[Music]
leaves there’s a simple way to know if
your orchid needs watering if you look
at the color of the roots if they’re
green it doesn’t need watering if the
roots have then turned from Green into
silver that that’s your cue to water a
silver colored root is dry and thirsty
and needs water so that’s when you need
to soak your orchid so another tip is to
add feed to your orchid’s water maybe
once a month that will also help
encourage blooming it gives it just that
extra boost of energy it needs to
[Music]
Reflow so sometimes I go around to my
friend’s houses and they have an orchid
sat there that’s just got leaves and
these sticks coming out of the pot and I
just think why are you doing that well
actually those sticks you don’t need
them at all you can Chuck away those
sticks the sticks are basic used for
transportation and to make sure that
that flower Spike doesn’t break when
it’s being transported to and from the
shop but if you take those steaks out
the flower Spike can actually regrow in
the most beautiful way and they can
Cascade down like they would in the wild
and it looks far more attractive and
natural I sometimes grow them in hanging
pots and they can SK downwards and it
creates the most beautiful
effect with these simple tips I hope
your orchids will rebloom year after
year see you soon Alan and I hope your
orchids
Thrive thanks Sarah and my window sill
Orchid is certainly thriving there’s
nothing better than seeing your plants
rebloom it’s a sort of Testament to all
your care and nurturing throughout the
year isn’t it I bought this moth Orchid
phenopsis at Christmas to decorate the
kitchen it’s still flowering with lots
more to come care of moth orchids don’t
overwater them running water through
that pot with the roots in once every 10
days or two weeks is quite enough no
more than that they absorb moisture from
the atmosphere which helps a lot and
then when it comes to cutting back faded
stems be very careful this one here is
definitely dead it’s gone Brown all the
way down to the bottom and if you just
cut it out that will at least tidy the
plant up but don’t do it unless that
stem has died look at this one here if I
cut this back when these flowers have
gone I’d miss out on this a new side
shoot which is going to carry more Bloom
so only cut them off as far back as they
have died this will go on for weeks yet
now time to welcome a new member into
our gardening club Ramona Jones has her
very own Cottage Garden out in the
country which over the past few years
she’s turned into a living and thriving
green space that’s blooming marvelous
today we’re celebrating the fruits of
her labor with a spring
tour my name is Ramona and I’m from
Somerset I’ve been gardening for 5 years
and my dream is to create a Cottage
Garden with a mix of edible and
ornamental plants it’s April so let me
give you a tour of my progress
in the first bit of our garden I wanted
to show you around briefly because the
forget me knots are looking really good
and those have spread like crazy and
they’re really really big and they’re
one of the first things you can see as
you’re looking at the cottage so I think
those are really lovely and one of my
favorite signs of
spring we’ve also got the native
daffodil in the grass so that’s um
narcissist Pudo narcissist I think it’s
called you can correct me on the
pronunciation if I got that wrong but
I’ve planted a line of those and they
are flowering later than they usually
would cuz I planted them so late but a
line of them opposite the cottage so
they will be one of the first things
that I see when I look out the window in
the morning which is
lovely this is such a nice time of year
and the Tulips look amazing they are
probably at their best and almost about
to go over and we’ve had a couple of
really sunny days and when the sun’s out
it kind of shortens their lifespan a bit
the pink ones especially haven’t been
flowering for very long and you can see
they’re looking a little bit singed so
really wanted to get out here and show
you these while they’re still looking
good the ones that you can see at the
moment are called design impression and
ivory florale so design impression is
the tall pink one and then Ivory florale
is the small yellow one and these I
added last Autumn and they should be
varieties that come back every year so
after they finished flowering I will
dead head them and feed the borders um
probably with a seaweed feed just to
feed the leaves which will in turn feed
the bulbs but I really love them and I
was a little bit taken back by how
bright they were um in the Sun but when
it’s overcast they look quite soft and
muted and warm almost like a kind of
Tutti Frutti kind of Sweet Mix and once
the two lips have gone over we’ve got
peanes that are very close to flowering
we’ve also got aliums that are coming
back from last year and we’ve also got a
daffodil in this bed called stainless um
narciss is stainless it’s this really
pretty white one and these have been in
for a couple of years now and they come
back every year and I just think they’re
so pretty they’re really clear and the
shape of them is stunning um they’re
probably my favorite variety to grow in
the garden and I love the way that they
kind of mute the color palette of this
bed a little bit when things feel a
little bit too colorful for my liking so
that’s one that I really love and
probably will add more of to the other
side to make it more symmetrical next
year there is still a lot of unfilled
space in these two borders and I’m
trying to fill these up with um
perennials and annual flowers that I’m
growing in the
greenhouse the main thing in here is
flowers that have grown from seed and
this is quite a thing for me to grow
this many at least but everything in
here is either from cutting or seed and
it’s a perennial so I’m trying to build
up what I’m growing in the borders on a
budget um by growing things from seed
and it does take a while um so these are
things that I seed last spring and they
will probably go in the ground this year
um but we’ve got the Hol Hawks here
which look like they will want potting
on soon they’re starting to get quite a
big tap route so I don’t want to disturb
that too much this is ailia and this
one’s Called Love parade and when when I
sewed this I did not expect it to be so
successful from seed and I think I must
have about 20 plants of this um so not
sure what I’m going to do with 20 of
these but they have really been doing
well um I always over SEO just in case
things don’t do as well as I would like
but they’ve done amazingly the sneeze
wart that I took as cuttings are doing
amazing and I potted these on yesterday
just so they’ve got a bit more space
again I think I’ve got about 20 plants
of that so that’s going to be another
thing that we’ve got loads of in the
garden and I know it spreads quite well
too so that will be good to help fill up
the borders and then I’ve also got loads
of Cosmos and this is just the white one
which is called Antiquity um but it got
loads of this and I love growing Cosmos
cuz it has such a long flowering season
um we get flowers almost up until the
first Frost so it can be flowering into
October and November um when not much
else is so I’m really Keen to get some
more of that in the
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garden I just thought we’d stop in the
orchard briefly to show you the blossom
we’re a little bit early for the Apple
Blossom but this is the Blossom on our
pear tree and the cherry trees are
currently in flower as well at the
moment and they look amazing that one
behind me is absolutely huge and we’ve
never harvested any fruit from it cuz
it’s so big the birds can reach it more
easily than we
can so there you go I hope you’ve
enjoyed having a look around today and
seeing our tulips and spring flowers it
feels like there’s a bit of a shift now
where we’re going to move from spring
flowers to really focusing on growing
food and vegetables so that’s going to
be something that we’re focusing on over
the next few weeks and coming
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months Ramona you’ve created a beautiful
garden there and lovely to see so many
glorious Cottage Flowers why is it that
Cottage Gardens are so comforting bit of
escapism to gentler times I suspect
after the break tan Aiden Smith delves
into a community garden that provides
much needed outdoor space for local
residents in need soaking up the
sunshine with Alan titch Marsh’s
gardening club brought to you by Green
Thumb Lawn Treatment
[Music]
service digging the weekend with Alan
titch Marsh’s gardening club brought to
you by Green Thumb Lawn Treatment
service
[Music]
now we’ve seen Gardens of all shapes and
sizes today but one in eight of us don’t
have any Garden at all but there’s a
growing movement to create spaces for
those desperately in need of nature
these community garden projects are
popping up in inner cities Alleyways and
everything in between taan Aiden Smith
celebrating the people and the places
themselves as he looks at these projects
right across the country today day he’s
returned to London to discover a
community garden created to benefit
older local residents desperately in
need of outdoor
[Music]
space today I’m at the auk hammer and
filam Center in London which Garden has
seen a recent renovation and
demonstrates the calm healing power that
green spaces can provide and I can’t
wait to speak to the volunteers who have
made this all happen and the individuals
who are now enjoying their time Closer
To
Nature Susie was one of the main
volunteers that made this Garden
transformation possible and today she’s
going to tell me a little bit about that
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Journey hey TAA lovely to see you thank
you so much for coming now pleasure what
a lovely day for it as well it is come
on son it’s got to come out a bit more
sunbeams we need them that’s it I need a
bit of you know sun in my life
absolutely would you want to show me a
little bit around the garden yes so
Susie tell me how this Garden has come
to be like it is today so I was on the
telephone call with a friend and she
said got to stop Susie I’m going Garden
but Mary you haven’t got a garden so she
told me that she worked for huk she had
five Gardens down in oad and then she
goes into people’s houses who can’t
Garden anymore or would like somebody to
garden with and this was before Co and I
thought oh that’s a great idea looked
around found Hammersmith here and put in
my application form but then covid
happened so immediately after covid they
said to me would you like to take over
this Garden which was completely
overgrown because you can imagine of
course no one was allowed in so it’s
really been a work in progress and still
is a work in progress well lock down s
all places around the UK unmaintained
and you saw this kind of wilderness
creep into everyday life it really was
wild wasn’t it so completely I can
imagine a space like this left kind of
unmaintained for a while I can’t imagine
there would have been any paths you
could walk there were no flowers in the
garden to start with at all and I
thought that had to be a priority so I
did like a quick thing for that first
summer of putting flowers in and now
slowly we’ve been cutting back some of
the trees
and making room like over there we’ve
got the lovely
roses um but that was just one big hedge
so it’s really transformed in that short
space of time yeah see I thought that
this was a project that might have been
a decade or two going but this is a few
years it’s just a few years which I
think could give other people
inspiration about what they could do too
in their own Gardens
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Emily is the volunteering manager at
Hammer Smith and filam and she’s going
to tell me about the center and the
services the charity
provide so how many people use this
space I would say each day we have
approximately 80 to 100 clients um come
to our Center they come for a variety of
reasons we have um exercise classes we
have raiki we have well-being we have it
lessons we have lunches so many things
are going on but knowing that there’s
this Garden space here means that can do
what they came to do enjoy that and then
come out and enjoy the garden as well so
you kind of like build that bridge
between the indoors and the outdoors
yeah it’s kind of a an oasis a Haven in
this area it’s the sixth most densely
populated area in the whole of the UK so
as you can imagine a lot of our clients
live in Flats without access to outdoor
space or they maybe have mobility issues
or other challenges which mean that they
don’t feel safe going to a local park or
can’t physically get to a local Park so
it really is a gift to them to have
somewhere that they can go in such an
urban area and feel safe Gardens are
amazing places to be able to pull people
together absolutely and I think in
essence that’s really what we’re about
connecting with one another we bring
people together we connect people who
are otherwise isolated and lonely and
improve well-being it’s a beautiful
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thing I come to the club every day of
the week five days a week I do um
exercises four days a week and I have
lunch every day and then we have Bing
UPA Friday that sounds like you’ve got a
busy schedule oh we yeah and how
important that is that for you well
that’s very important for me and is I’ve
got polio and I have got my two hips
done and I have to my knee my knee done
so I have to keep walking and it’s very
important to be able to get here and to
be able to talk to people we’re so lucky
to have this place we’re so
lucky how important is this Garden to
you there is something lovely about
simply watching the sky and the movement
of the birds and we get lots of birds in
the trees here and even watching the
daisies growing so that’s what I really
love about it I think and my father was
always in the garden and rearing fruit
and vegetables and lovely flowers as
well yeah and so this brings back it
brings back all kinds of memories one
thing we haven’t got here that we I had
at home was a pond so maybe maybe
there’s future plans there now let’s see
if we can get anybody interested in
building a pond here that would be
lovely yeah how does being in this
Garden make you feel well I always feel
happier if i’ be out here yes
so what’s your favorite part of this
Garden then there’s nowhere that’s my
favorite I mean what I really really
like to do is encourage the people um
who come for lunch maybe before to come
out walk do a couple of rounds of walk
and then go and get lunch yeah or come
out and have their coffee afterwards and
what would be the benefit in them doing
that well you know just I think because
then they talk to each other it’s it’s
become a real sort of little meeting
place and then they’re getting fresh air
and then maybe they’re giveing you a
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plant it makes a day you feel as if
you’ve been out for the day you’ve had
your entertainment and then you come
into the garden relax and just finish
off a day perfect it feels like it
definitely has become an extension of
the building but also an extension of
the people and their lives and their
everyday life yeah lot of people come
first thing in the morning they’re
dropped off and then they’re picked up
at
4:00 it’s comfortable very comfortable
and for mental health it’s um you know
there’s no better pill than having fresh
air the gardening Bloom and people just
enjoying the environment it’s a real
cure absolutely better than any medicine
[Music]
today’s proved to be another beautiful
reminder of the healing powers of
nature no matter what your age is it’s
really just got to be all about
connection collaboration and coexistence
isn’t that just what we all
need a thriving Garden in inner city
London benefiting hundreds of people
every week certainly something worth
celebrating eh and with that we’ve come
to the end of another gardening club
spring is in full swing and we’ve been
chuffed a bits to have you join us once
again I hope you feel inspired and have
gleaned some wisdom for the week ahead
remember whether you’re indoors Outdoors
or out in the local community if you
look closely gardening is just waiting
to enrich your life I’ll see you next
week for more tips tricks and insights
from our gardening club till then
whatever the weather enjoy you go