- 4 months ago
The Beechgrove Garden 2025 episode 21
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to this week's Beechgrove garden.
00:17Well, we're checking out these chrysanthemums. What beauties these are we've grown.
00:22Yeah, so, do you know what, I've never really been a massive fan of chrysanthemums,
00:26but I did read about these fantasy varieties, so spectacular flowers,
00:30long, slender blooms, and I really fancied giving them a go.
00:34So we ordered up a few, grew them on for a couple of weeks,
00:37and we pinched them out, and that's how it encouraged these lovely side shoots.
00:41Well, I suppose it's about patience, and it's going to give you that lovely late-season interest.
00:45And what we've been doing is feeding it with a high-nitrogen liquid feed,
00:49and that will help the foliage and the nice leaves to form,
00:52but then once we start seeing the buds and the flowers developing,
00:56switch to a potash liquid feed, and that will help promote flowering.
01:00I must admit, I'm getting a wee bit of nervous, though.
01:02Will I get a flower before the end of the series?
01:04This one here is a lovely coral reef.
01:06We're going to get a lovely coral colour out of this one.
01:08I just don't know.
01:09I think you just need to chill, because they are showy,
01:11and they take a bit of time to get going, but, you know, it'll be worth it.
01:15And here's what's coming up in the rest of the programme.
01:19Kirsty tackles some bog garden maintenance.
01:24What plants make the perfect pairing?
01:28We're off to leaving for the latest from Callum's allotment.
01:33And a great grass-cutting hack to tell if your mowing measures up.
01:38Well, Brian, it's a very hot day, and I've just been taking some water out the rain, but outside,
01:48it's a good idea to damp down the greenhouse,
01:50since that just lowers the temperature right in the middle of the day.
01:53Do you know what? That's the perfect conditions for these chillies to grow.
01:57If you cast your mind back, what, three months now?
02:00That's when you were just pricking these out. Look at them.
02:02They're looking amazing, eh? Lots of colourful fruits.
02:05I think this kind of emphasises, you know, growing your own.
02:09You get a lot more variety, a lot more colours to grow.
02:11A lot more choice, yeah. Yes, exactly.
02:14And they're looking great. They're looking great.
02:16What about this small one you've got down here?
02:18Yeah. So, just giving them a wee drink, but this one, this one looks quite innocent, doesn't it?
02:22This one's called Prairie Fire. Look at that.
02:24It looks quite sweet and innocent. Would you try that one?
02:27How hot is it going to be?
02:29Well, the heat of chillies is measured in Scoville's.
02:32Somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 Scoville units.
02:36If we measured a jalapeno, the one that you can pretty much buy in the shop,
02:39that's somewhere between 2,500 and 8,000, so...
02:42This one sounds small but deadly.
02:44Could be quite feisty, so we'll maybe just leave that one in there.
02:47Moving on, I quite like the look of this one.
02:50Quite unusual, like big fruits, but quite dark, isn't it?
02:54And this is the Hungarian hot wax.
02:56Well, if you've taken it off, that means you've got to eat this one later on.
02:59Maybe. I'll come back to that one.
03:01OK. Well, this one's another...
03:03Well, actually, it's not too bad.
03:051,000 to 15,000, so it's got quite a big range.
03:08And maybe that's got something to do with the growing conditions.
03:11So if we haven't got the growing conditions quite right,
03:14maybe they're not so hot and spicy when the fruits are about to be ready.
03:17And we've been feeding these and watering these all through summer, haven't we?
03:21You kind of grow them just like tomatoes.
03:23However you grow your tomatoes, you want to grow these as well.
03:25Etna.
03:26It's going to be hot, even the name is scaring me.
03:29But it doesn't look like it's quite ready yet, does it?
03:31Yeah, you would expect these to go like a much darker red.
03:35Yeah, it's going to look nicer, isn't it?
03:37I like the shape of that plant.
03:3930,000 to 50,000, so I think we're going into the medium hot range.
03:43I think this is the most attractive one.
03:45Look at that.
03:46I do like this one.
03:47Really nice.
03:48Beautiful shaped plant as well.
03:49OK, I'm from Fife, so I'm going to let you say the name of this one.
03:52Buena Matalala.
03:54Matalala.
03:55But it is stunning.
03:56That's a lovely purple.
03:57I can see that sliced up and put on a plate.
03:59It's got nice foliage too.
04:00OK, well, I might try that one.
04:02You're going for that one?
04:03But you've got to try one too.
04:04Well, I'll go for the last one.
04:06I'll go for the potluck.
04:07And what we've got here?
04:09Hockey Inn.
04:10It's quite a small, like, thin one, isn't it?
04:13Yeah.
04:14I was hoping that's going to be good for me.
04:16But, oh, do you know what?
04:17Fair's fair.
04:18It's exactly the same.
04:1930,000 to 50,000 Scoville units.
04:21Now, before we pop these in our mouths,
04:24is that the end of these once these are finished?
04:26Do you think we'll stick them in the compost heap or...?
04:28No, you can easily overwinter chillies.
04:31They can be perennial,
04:32so you just would take all the chillies off,
04:34harvest them and then reduce the foliage down to about here
04:38and then water it every two to three weeks through winter.
04:41Just a little bit of water when it dries out
04:44and then that actually gets you ahead of the game
04:47because chillies can take five weeks from seed to germinate,
04:50so that'll hopefully give you more chillies earlier next year.
04:53Yeah.
04:54Long growing season and overwinter them indoors, eh?
04:56Not outside your unheated greenhouse.
04:57Definitely.
04:58Frost protection.
04:59All right, all the best.
05:00Good luck.
05:01Good luck.
05:03Oh, yes.
05:05Yeah.
05:06Well, that one's hot.
05:07Oh, that one had a wee kick and it's not bad now.
05:10Well, that one's quite nice.
05:11How hot's yours?
05:12Water.
05:15Overwinter, yeah.
05:17There we go.
05:18Today we're in the bog garden and it's an area of the garden
05:29that we haven't been into for a while
05:31and it's certainly starting to show.
05:33But looking good right now is the purple lustriff,
05:37which is great for the bees, the ligularia
05:40and the estelbe at the front.
05:42But some things are starting to take over,
05:44so that's a good job for us to tackle today.
05:47Now, looking into the bog garden,
05:49I can start to see that there are tree sapling
05:52and seedlings coming up.
05:54So this is an alder that has blown in
05:56maybe from birds or other seeds
05:58and we've not planted it.
05:59So we want to be pulling them out
06:01at this small sapling stage when they're easy to get out
06:05and you don't want them to be turning into big trees
06:08like this sapling behind here,
06:10which you would then need a fork or a spade
06:12to try and get that out.
06:14We also have a bit of juncus,
06:17which has attractive sort of seed heads
06:20that has spread all the way through the bog garden here.
06:23But this is probably more a job for in the autumn time
06:26as we don't want to disturb too much of the wildlife right now.
06:29It can become a bit of a thug plant,
06:31so we might come and dig out sections of it
06:34so we'll be able to put in nicer perennials.
06:37But another task to do right now
06:39is many of you might have gunnera in your garden
06:42but it is recommended if you have this plant growing near natural waterways
06:47or a stream or a river
06:49is to take the pruning saw
06:51and cut off the flower spikes at this time of year.
06:54That stops it seeding out into more natural areas and spreading.
06:58So what we're going to do is take the pruning saw
07:01and just cut that flower spike off.
07:05And you can see it's not gone to seed yet
07:07and you don't want this to go into your compost or natural waterways
07:11so the recommended thing to do is to just place it in a bag
07:14or even burn the flower spike.
07:16So we've got an area over here which is a gap
07:26and we're starting to see weeds come in from the lawns.
07:29We've got lots of clover and it just looks a bit messy
07:32but if we're smart with our planting and putting a new hosta in this space
07:36it'll save weeding and it'll also complement the bog garden.
07:39Now hostas have these lovely big architectural leaves
07:43with the nice veining and this one is one called T-Rex
07:47so it's going to get big.
07:48It can be one metre tall by two metres wide
07:51and it's going to be a nice structural feature
07:54at the front of this border.
07:56So we're just going to take it out its pot
07:59there we go
08:00and just loosen up the roots
08:02and then place that in the planting hole
08:04and backfill around it.
08:06Now hostas you might worry about slugs and snails
08:10but you can use crushed eggshell
08:12coffee granules, wool pellets
08:15and even beer traps to help deter them.
08:17And also if you plant blue hostas
08:19they don't tend to be eaten as much by the slugs and snails.
08:23Now it's time to catch up with Colin Crosby
08:26with Back to Basics
08:27and this week it's how to tell if we're mowing our lawn too short.
08:31I've been away in a couple of weeks holiday
08:46when I come back I could have got a crop of silage from my grass.
08:50Earlier this week I cut it in high
08:52and this morning I'm just cutting it in medium not low.
08:56There's an easy test to know if you're cutting your grass too short.
08:59If you get your fingers and you put them under your boot
09:02and you put a little bit of pressure on them
09:04there should be a little bit of give
09:06because your fingers are sinking into the grass.
09:09If you put pressure on them and you go out
09:12you know you're actually cutting the grass too low.
09:16Unless you want it to be a tennis court or a bowling green
09:19there's no need to do that.
09:22And actually in really dry weather
09:24it's harmful to lawns cutting it too close.
09:27And if we look at my lawn
09:29it's probably 60% moss.
09:32There's no need to worry about it
09:34because after periods of dry weather
09:36the moss actually greens up faster than the grass does.
09:40So don't worry about it.
09:42Now a little tip for making your garden look sharp and tidy quickly
09:54is to edge the lawns.
09:56And I love edging lawns.
09:58But I'll let you into a little secret.
10:01The edging shear only has one cutting blade
10:05and it's actually the top blade.
10:07And when I was a young gardener
10:09and I was working at the garden
10:11at the west of Scotland College, Ochencroove
10:13I thought I knew everything when I was 18, 19 years old.
10:16I was busy cutting the grass.
10:18And the head gardener, a wonderful gentleman, stopped me
10:21and he said, you're doing it wrong.
10:23I was doing it with both arms
10:25but were going like that.
10:27I was trying to be as quick as I could.
10:30And as you do it like that
10:33you actually, it's like a saw edge.
10:36You don't get a straight edge.
10:38But if you go back and keep your left arm straight
10:42and just gently go along
10:45you get a much better finish.
10:47You don't get that ragged saw edge
10:50and you can just keep going to your heart's content.
10:53I find this a really therapeutic job.
10:56And it's always nice to do a job
10:59knowing that you're using your garden tools properly.
11:03So I've now got the edge of the lawn cut
11:07but I've got to pick up the clippings.
11:09Just going along, gathering them up
11:12it just makes it look tidy.
11:14You can actually see where I've been.
11:17And what a difference it makes to the garden.
11:21And it really is all ready.
11:23You can see that looks sharp and tidy
11:26rather than untidy.
11:32Now to finish the job
11:34there's two more tools you need.
11:35A spade and a border fork.
11:38You go along the edge, just tickling the edge.
11:42You can see already the difference in the soil colour.
11:45And then coming along with a spade
11:48just gently throwing the soil back.
11:51Because as you're working on a border all the time
11:54the soil tends to fall down to the edge.
11:57And when you've got it done
11:59doesn't that look so much sharper and better?
12:02I just love it.
12:04It really looks good using tools properly
12:07and leaving a good job in your garden.
12:18Now all summer I've been tickling the tomatoes
12:20and you can see the tomatoes starting to ripen now.
12:23But there comes a time when you need to allow more light into them
12:26to actually help them ripen.
12:28And this involves removing some of the leaves.
12:31Now the easiest way to do it
12:33is actually just to pull them upwards
12:35and they snap off.
12:37And I don't want to take too many off
12:39because that stops the flow of water
12:41going up to the fruits up the top of the plant.
12:43But if I take this one off
12:45you can see how it snaps.
12:47A little bit more light getting into those tomatoes.
12:49And I've got to do the same in here.
12:51You can see this leaf is actually covering this one here.
12:54So I'm just going to snap it up
12:56and just a little down
12:58and off it comes.
13:02And by doing that
13:03more light comes in to the tomato
13:06which will help them ripen.
13:08I might actually just pull this one off here.
13:13And of course the best thing about tomatoes
13:15is not the growing of them
13:17it's actually picking them
13:19and enjoying them.
13:22Mmm.
13:25It's like a sweetie.
13:26It's wonderful.
13:28Don't tell anyone.
13:29I've got to have another one.
13:30This week we're visiting a part of Beech Grove
13:43that we haven't been into for a while.
13:45This is the Alpine Garden.
13:47Alpines are mountainous plants.
13:49They grow in the toughest of conditions.
13:51They're clinging onto the rocks for dear life
13:54sheltering in cracks and crevices
13:56just for a wee bit of protection.
13:58And the gravelly conditions that they like to grow in
14:01that's created from the constant rock erosion
14:03that happens up in the mountains.
14:05But as you can see here
14:06there's lots of tough plants
14:08perfect for Scotland
14:09that can also be put in these areas
14:11that'll just give our gardens that wee bit of colour.
14:14We've got the likes of the Helianthemum
14:16Ben Nevis
14:17what wonderful tangerine flowers you have there.
14:19How small is that?
14:20It'll still be
14:21in sheer pink.
14:22And then of course you always know
14:23it's the end of summer
14:24when the Cyclamen Hederifolium come out
14:26of which there's loads of cultivars.
14:28But low maintenance doesn't mean no maintenance
14:31and if you take a wee step back and look
14:33this garden's been established now for about 10 years
14:36but some plants are starting to be a bit too happy
14:39and grow a bit too much
14:41taking over a few other plants.
14:43So in front of me I've got a Phlox here
14:45that's going to be growing
14:46and then also this Dryas octopetala
14:48a brilliant plant for an alpine garden
14:51lovely white flowers earlier on in the year
14:54and then as you can see
14:55you get these lovely fluffy seed heads
14:57and that's the kind of plant I like
14:59more than one season of interest.
15:01But it's grown so well
15:03as you can see
15:05there's a wee Oxalis that's also grown in here
15:07and it's starting to smother it.
15:09So it's time to do
15:11a bit of tough pruning in here
15:14but the Oxalis
15:16and all the other plants around it
15:18are going to benefit
15:19and then actually
15:20you start to reveal
15:22a bit of rock work
15:24and that too
15:25will be a bit of interest in itself
15:26over the winter months.
15:28We use walls
15:30and hedges in our gardens
15:32to create boundaries
15:33between ours
15:34and our neighbours gardens.
15:35This is an alpine wall
15:37it's not made with
15:38any mortar whatsoever
15:39it's just backfilled with soil
15:41and that's allowed us
15:42to create these lovely
15:43narrow crevice conditions
15:44that alpine's growing.
15:45So we've got Campanulas
15:47we've got Oxalis
15:48and even our native
15:50Asplenium fern
15:51is loving it in here.
15:52And then alpines
15:54they grow above the tree line
15:56so they're not used to
15:57our neighbours shrubs
15:58encroaching some of the light.
16:00So always make sure
16:02your alpine plants
16:05are getting the maximum of light
16:07just so they can grow
16:09at their best.
16:10And don't be afraid
16:15to experiment
16:16with different kinds
16:17and different colours
16:18of gravels.
16:19As well as the granite chip
16:21I'm also using
16:22a blue slate here
16:23and that's to mimic a river.
16:25But every now and again
16:26after a while
16:27you'll see little bear patches
16:29beginning to form
16:30so I always say
16:31about once a year
16:32it's a good idea
16:33to go around
16:34with some fresh gravel
16:35and that'll help
16:38prevent the weeds
16:39from finding a home
16:40in here.
16:41Now
16:42after you've done
16:43all that work
16:44a few planting opportunities
16:45are going to start
16:46to present themselves.
16:47Here I've got
16:48a cracking wee
16:49Campanula carpatica
16:50that I think
16:51will go well
16:52in my wee river here.
16:53I've peeled back
16:54the slate
16:55quite far
16:56because when I'm creating
16:57my planting hole
16:58I don't want it to get
16:59contaminated with the soil
17:00and make it look all dirty
17:01looking nice and neat
17:02when I'm finished.
17:03The soil that I'm using
17:05is nice and gritty.
17:07Now we did the whole
17:08area here
17:09before we started
17:10but if you're just doing
17:11little plantings
17:12then get some alpine grit
17:13and just mix that
17:14into a good part
17:15of the planting zone.
17:17And then when you're
17:18putting your plant
17:19in the ground
17:20we're just wanting it
17:21slightly proud
17:22of the soil.
17:23Only about
17:24a centimetre or so
17:26and that means
17:27when we peel
17:28the gravel back
17:29it's got room
17:32to sit under the plant
17:36and that'll help
17:38protect the neck
17:39from rotting
17:40in the winter wet.
17:41Now the last
17:42area I want to show you
17:43is a little
17:44experimental plot.
17:46Now you can't get
17:48any more free draining
17:49than pure sand
17:51and that's what
17:53all the plants
17:54in this little zone
17:55are planted in.
17:56So we've got iris.
17:57I actually can't believe
17:58a gentian does
17:59so well in here.
18:00Planting up's
18:02the same principles
18:03but actually
18:04you want to remove
18:05all the soil
18:06because we don't want
18:07to create a little
18:08planting pocket
18:09and then the roots
18:10aren't encouraged
18:11to go any further
18:12out into the sand.
18:13So gently
18:14wash all the soil
18:16off your plant
18:17and then as carefully
18:19as you can
18:20pop it in the ground.
18:24And then the last
18:27wee bit
18:28just make sure
18:31your little bits
18:32of gravel
18:33are slotted
18:34back in place
18:35just to create
18:38that natural look.
18:39OK.
18:41Now it's off
18:42to leaving
18:43where we're going
18:44to catch up
18:45in this allotment.
18:55Once again
18:56I'm trying to grow
18:57a giant marrow.
18:58Now,
18:59but what I'm about
19:00to do is to try
19:01and hopefully take it
19:02to the next level.
19:03So,
19:04I've got
19:05one marrow
19:06set here.
19:07Now I set that
19:08last week
19:09I had to do
19:10a bit of self-pollination
19:11marrow has set.
19:12Now it's great,
19:13the fact I'm doing
19:14this indoors
19:15is I can control
19:16the amount of water
19:17it gets
19:18because although
19:19we want to try
19:20and give it quite
19:21a bit of water
19:22to grow,
19:23too much water
19:24can actually cause
19:25your marrow
19:26or your pumpkin
19:27to split
19:28and we're no
19:29wanting that.
19:30The closer
19:31the marrow is
19:32to the main root
19:33system,
19:34the bigger the marrow
19:35or the pumpkin
19:36could get.
19:37that's about
19:38seven feet away
19:39from the main root
19:40system.
19:41So what I'm going
19:42to do is,
19:43if I come back
19:44here a wee bit,
19:45right under the vine,
19:46you can see here
19:47that we have
19:48a bit of a root
19:49starting.
19:50That's because
19:51that is touching
19:52the soil.
19:53So what I want to do
19:54is I'm just going
19:55to dig a wee hole
19:56just under the vine
19:58and then I'm going
19:59to add some
20:00composter manure
20:01just to give it
20:02a really good feed.
20:03Then,
20:04once we've got
20:05that in there
20:06I'm just going
20:07to take the soil
20:08that's round
20:09the plant
20:10and bury
20:11the stem.
20:12By burying the
20:13stem,
20:14that's going to
20:15allow roots
20:16to start forming
20:17so we've got an
20:18even bigger root
20:19system on this
20:20to hopefully get
20:21a bigger marrow.
20:22Just by covering
20:23that
20:24is going to
20:25allow
20:26more roots
20:27to grow.
20:28You can,
20:29if you want to
20:30take it to the
20:31next level,
20:32add a wee bit
20:33of mycorrhizal fungi
20:34and that's really
20:35going to help it.
20:36if I had
20:39maybe two or three
20:40marrows
20:41or pumpkins
20:42on the plant
20:43I would just
20:44cut that down
20:45to one
20:46because as I say
20:47if it's only one marrow
20:48all that energy is going
20:49to be producing
20:50one big one
20:51rather than two or three
20:52little ones.
20:53So I'm then going to
20:54come away
20:55about
20:56two feet
20:57from the marrow
20:58and then I'm just going
20:59to nip
21:00the top of the vine off
21:01because I'm not wanting
21:02it to grow
21:03anymore
21:04because I've already got
21:05my marrow set.
21:06Then
21:07we've got some side shoots
21:08coming out the sides
21:09I'm just going to cut
21:10them back.
21:11So really all the energy
21:12is going
21:13into producing
21:14one big
21:15giant marrow.
21:16Because I'm only growing
21:17the one marrow
21:18to each plant
21:19they're really precious
21:20and I'm not just wanting
21:21after all this effort
21:22to rot away
21:23so what I like to do is
21:25is I get some sand
21:26and as the marrow grows
21:30I just put some sand under
21:32it
21:33to create a nice sort
21:34of cushion for it
21:35just so it's not making
21:36contact with the soil
21:37so it doesn't rot away
21:40and also because I'm using
21:41the sand
21:42I can create
21:44little marks in it
21:46so I can see each day
21:48how it's progressing
21:49and how it's growing.
21:51We may sadly be getting
22:06towards the end of the season
22:08but there's still plenty
22:09of things we could be
22:10sowing right now
22:11and one of the things
22:12you could sow
22:13is poppies.
22:14Now you're probably thinking
22:15Callum shouldn't we be doing
22:16that back in the spring?
22:17Well if you think about it
22:18they've been flowering
22:19for quite a while
22:20the seed heads
22:21are just over the next few
22:22weeks going to start
22:23bursting open
22:24and then the wind's
22:25going to disperse them
22:26all over the garden
22:27so naturally in the wild
22:29they're sowing seeds
22:30right now
22:31so that's what we're going
22:32to do today.
22:33I bought a packet of seeds
22:34so we take the packet of seed
22:35and I'm just going to
22:36bang it against my fingers
22:37buy that
22:38if any seeds are stuck
22:39together
22:40it's going to loosen them up
22:41then just going to open it
22:43over where I'm sowing
22:45and I think this is great
22:47you can just sow these
22:48in a pot
22:49very lightly
22:50and this just shows
22:51you don't need a field
22:52to sow wildflowers
22:54then just very lightly
22:57put the packet seed down
22:59we'll just scatter these
23:00over the top of the pot
23:02now by sowing
23:03the poppy seeds
23:04the now
23:05it's going to allow
23:07the plant to establish
23:08itself better
23:09put down
23:10a really good root system
23:11just before
23:12the cold weather
23:13gets here
23:14and by doing this
23:15we're going to get
23:16earlier blooms
23:17and more flowers
23:18next year
23:19then
23:20once I've finished
23:21scattering the seeds
23:22over
23:23I'm not going to then
23:24cover it with more compost
23:25I'm just going to very
23:26lightly
23:27just tap in
23:28the top surface
23:30just to make sure
23:31there's a good seed to soil
23:32contact
23:33and then if I do this
23:34every two to three weeks
23:35we should have a long
23:36lasting poppy display
23:37next year
23:42well Kirsty
23:46aren't the summer containers
23:47just looking spectacular
23:48and
23:49do you know what
23:50quite often on Beech Grove
23:51we'll maybe
23:52talk about a
23:53specific plant
23:54or recommend
23:55how to care for a particular variety
23:56but this week
23:57we're going to be looking at
23:58planting combinations
23:59so that's
24:00lots of colour
24:01and texture together
24:02and using that
24:03to design
24:04whether that's a container
24:05or in the border
24:06and how they complement
24:07one another
24:08so here we've got
24:09nice pinks
24:10purples and blues
24:11and also you might have
24:12a really big border
24:14and you want that harmony
24:15of colour and texture
24:16moving along it
24:17and that's
24:18we've got quite a good example
24:19of that in the pots here too
24:20yeah and you know what
24:21doesn't matter what you taste
24:22is you can also throw in
24:23some fiery colours
24:24you know we've got that
24:25lovely cactus dahlia there
24:26we've got the orangey red
24:27coreopsis
24:29but what I like
24:30what the gardens team
24:31have done
24:32they've got the blues
24:33and the whites
24:34and the lobelia
24:35but they've got them
24:36in every single container
24:37so that's what holds it all together
24:38pretty clever
24:39well now that shows
24:40what you can use
24:41in a container
24:42but let's go round the garden
24:43split off
24:44and see what examples
24:45we can find
24:52so here I am
24:53in the calendar border
24:54looking at planting combinations
24:56and how we can use colour
24:57to really have full impact
24:59with our borders
25:00when we come to designing them
25:02I tend to like to use
25:03the colour wheel
25:04and the colour chart
25:05and pick sort of
25:06three colours
25:07to work with
25:08as you can see here
25:09we've got a lovely
25:10purple berberus
25:11a nice hydrangea
25:12that is kind of
25:13lime green
25:14but with elements
25:15of purple through it
25:16it's got the nice
25:17blue flowers
25:18and then a hypericum
25:19at the front
25:20which is a lovely
25:21lime green
25:22but will have nice
25:23purple berries
25:24and these colours
25:25all tie in together
25:26and work
25:27so what you can see
25:28on the colour wheel
25:29is the purple berberus
25:31is a colour
25:32that is close
25:33to the blue hydrangea
25:34so they are complementary colours
25:36but then we have
25:37the purple berberus
25:38that links
25:39to the nice
25:40lime green foliage
25:41of the hydrangea
25:42and the hypericum
25:43and they are
25:44opposite colours
25:45and they have
25:46a great impact
25:47for contrast
25:48and working
25:49with this colour palette
25:50and using them
25:51is a great way
25:52to make our borders pop
25:54We're up in the low maintenance garden
25:58where pretty much
25:59all the planting combinations
26:01in here are green
26:02but that doesn't matter
26:04because each plant
26:05grows to a different height
26:06and the foliage
26:07is a different texture too
26:08so down at the bottom level
26:10we've got the hostas
26:11and then next step up
26:12we've got the shuttlecock
26:13like foliage
26:14of the ferns
26:15and then sitting up at the top
26:17we've got the short, sharp needles
26:19of the pines
26:20and pines being evergreen plants
26:22are always brown in a garden
26:24because they just give you
26:25that interest over the winter months too
26:27but one of my favourite combinations
26:29in this area
26:30during the summertime
26:31we've got the green foliage
26:33on the acer ozakazuki
26:34then growing up on the fence
26:36in the background
26:37is the Virginia creeper
26:39but now
26:40as we're slowly creeping
26:41towards autumn
26:42you're starting to see
26:43the first glimpses
26:44in the foliage
26:45and both are starting
26:46to turn that touch of red
26:48so there we go
26:49a perfect combination
26:50in summer and autumn time
26:52now it's time for this week's handy hints
27:04now if your lavender's finished flowering
27:06in August is the best time to prune it
27:08so take the flower stems right down
27:10and then use shears or a pair of secateurs
27:13to just nibble into that foliage
27:15and that'll keep it in a nice shape
27:17and prevent it from becoming woody
27:23all summer long we've been asking you
27:24to deadhead your roses
27:26to encourage more and more blooms
27:28but there are some kind of roses
27:30like this Rosa rugosa
27:31that if you don't
27:32they'll go on to reward us
27:33with the most wonderful
27:34orangey red rose hips
27:36something for us to enjoy
27:38later on in the summer
27:39and a feast for the finches
27:41and blackbirds
27:52well just look at that buddleia
27:53covered in butterflies Brian
27:55I know and you're getting that sweet scent as well
27:57yeah love it
27:58well that's all we've got time for this week
28:00Lizzie's going to be joining me in the garden
28:03we're going to be pruning a laburnum
28:04and we'll also be exploring an exotic
28:07and tropical looking garden
28:08in Carnoustie
28:09wow
28:10well we'll also have a garden visit
28:11in the Scottish borders
28:12at Irene Berry's
28:14Japanese inspired garden
28:16and she'll be showing us
28:17how to place and plant acers
28:19don't forget
28:20tell all your friends
28:21you can catch every episode of Beech Roof
28:23so far on the BBC iPlayer
28:26but from the two of us
28:28it's bye for now
28:34so
28:35we'll be playing
28:48soon
28:49and I'm next time
28:50for now
28:51for now
28:52and I'm gonna give it
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