Dig It

Dig It
  • 4.5 (2)
  • Home & Garden
  • Updated Biweekly

Bill Malins and Peter Brown from Buckingham Garden Centre talk about their gardening experiences, what to do in the garden, seasonal gardening advice and interviews with horticultural experts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 3h ago

    Rain, Myths, Truths and Fibs

    In this episode Bill and Peter talk about the small amount of rain we have had! We then move on and discuss some gardening tales and myths. From ideas about companion planting which some think put off pests to slugs not being deterred by egg shells or copper strips. What is true and what is an AI myth or what just doesn’t work? Send us your comments and thoughts to podcast@hedging.co.uk Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. Aug 18

    RHS Sandringham and Summer Pruning

    With the summer holiday season well underway the village of South Stoke, Oxfordshire is opening some of its Garden to the public on Bank Holiday Monday the 31st August, Admission is £6 for Adults. The Bell tower of the church will be open and there will be plant sales, tea and cakes in the village hall, Alpacas and funds raised will go to a community project. Hughenden, Benjamin Disrali’s country manor, near High Wycombe is a National Trust Property that neither Peter or Bill have visited. Nestled in a valley in the Chilterns, there are a variety of landscapes to explore. The building also played a highly secret part in World War 2 which has only come to light in recent years. With the drought Lawns have stopped growing but don’t worry hopefully they will come back once we start getting some rain. Once moisture levels have returned to normal if you do have bare patches you can reseed them. It is also a good time of year to trim back lavender if it has finished flowering, but only trim back this years growth. Roses can also be trimmed back. Dead head your bedding plants and trim back Jasmine. Some hedges can be trimmed back if there are no birds nesting in it. Photinias and Laurel are good examples of hedges that might be suitable to trim. Regular annual or biannual trimming is better than leaving it to grow and then cutting it back hard after a couple of years as you will get a fuller and denser hedge. Depending on the type of hedge and how much time you have you could use a hedge cutter or secateurs, but always clean them and sharpen if needed after use so they are sterile and ready to use again when you need them.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. Aug 11

    Drought

    In this Episode, Bill and Peter Chat about the weather and the lack of rainfall. Some veggies have done well but others not so well. Hose pipe bans are expanding over more areas so check your local area and water supplier. The most important thing with the lack of rain is trying to replace the moisture in the ground so keep up your supplemental watering with watering cans. Bill has got round to digging up his first row of potatoes, Peter’s also need harvesting as all the foliage on his had died back as he has been away for a couple of weeks and nothing on his allotment has been watered for a couple of weeks. We also discuss the benefits of successive planting as it gives you a more regular supply of vegetables over the summer. We still have time to plant more lettuce, beetroot and carrots which should be ready to crop fairly soon if the weather forecast is correct as we have lots more warm days in the forecast.   Pauline Brown one of the Garden Centre’s Partners was interviewed for ITV news about the affects of the lack of rainfall this year and the impact to our industry, gardeners and our reservoirs. If you are looking for some plants that are drought tolerant Good Housekeeping published a great article with some great suggestions for drought tolerant plants. We love Thyme as it is great as a herb for cooking and also a lovely low growing creeping plant, Lavenders are also a good suggestion as they do well in dry areas, Sedums, Pelargoniums, trailing Begonias and another couple of plants that if you like cats or don’t like cats have a listen to our suggestions!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  4. Jul 27

    Semi ripe hardwood cuttings

    Bill teaches Peter the way to create Semi ripe hardwood cuttings. Cuttings are a great way to propagate certain types of plant like for example Photinia, Forsythia, Berberis, Hebe, Laurels, Brooms, Cistus, zonal geraniums and Camelias. There are also lots of other shrubs and trees which can be propagated like this. Peter has a tea bush (camelia) which is what we are going to try and propagate.   Equipment: Bypass Secateurs, Sharp knife, dibber or something to make a hole for the cutting, a p9 pot or cell pack, John Innes Seed compost, perlite, ideally a propagator, or cover to help keep the cutting in a humid atmosphere, somewhere ideally around 19C with moderate light. We need material which is shoot with material from last year and fresh growth from this year. Make sure your knife or secateurs, pots and propagators are clean and sterile before starting the job. You need the tip and a couple of leaves or a pair of leaves, then cut the shoot just below the node and take the leaf off by pulling the leaf down, removing the leaf and the petiol. Using a dibber, stick or a pencil push a hole into your pot of compost, and push the cutting into the compost and firm the compost up to the cutting. The cutting needs to be held firm and supported by the compost. When watering, make sure you water very gently or use the dunking method so pop the pot into a bowl of water and allow the compost to take water in from the bottom of the pot. The compost needs to be kept moist, not over wet or allowed to dry out. Keep the pot of cuttings in a propagator so they are kept in a humid atmosphere, but do try and keep the cuttings away from dripping condensation. A good temperature is around 18 – 19C. If a cutting does not take then remove them from the propagator. To check the cutting has taken look for new white roots emerging from the bottom of the pot. You shouldn’t need to feed the cuttings to start off with, if you have used a proprietary seed and cutting compost. It is also important to make sure if you are taking cuttings of plants that grow in a low pH soil to use a low pH cutting mix. For pictures of the process please click on this link Lots of plants can be made to send out roots just by putting a stem in the ground and keeping it in contact with the soil. If you want to propagate Willows you can probably get them to root just by putting them in a well oxygenated bucket of water, or pop a stem into the soil where you want it to grow, these are called ripe cuttings. Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  5. Jul 21

    No Water

    In this episode Bill and Peter discuss the latest Hosepipe Ban, most of the NGS gardens scheme gardens have finished now, but there are a few RHS shows to go and see and all the other wonderful National Trust and British Heritage Gardens to visit. The Chelsea Flower Show may have problems next year as it’s drive to go peat free before the industry is ready is causing growers to pull out as they don’t feel the alternative peat free composts are quite ready yet to grow show winning plants. Bill puts the idea of using oasis forward that is often used in flower arrangements, as one option, and Peter suggested trialing the same growing medium currently being used in Hydroponics as another idea. The Channel Islands have had some bad news about their cut flower industry as the postal service plane is no longer going to take the cut flowers which leaves growers needing to find a different way to fly the flowers out. Wildlife trust has been given a new 6 hectare Wild flower meadow near Earls Barton Northamptonshire which is also a flood plain so they will be able to help even more native plants and animals. Due to the lack of rain this year there is a Hosepipe ban in lots of areas of the UK now, which means lots of people will have to stop using irrigation on their lawns. There are lots of things you can do like using your old bath water to irrigate the garden, or use water from your water butt to fill your watering can or hosepipe. There are types of irrigation you can use but it’s best to check with your water supply company. Peter has also learned that lots of organic material is great for water retention and Bill points out that having stone free soil can also help grow great vegetables without blemishes on their roots. Bill also suggests a few vegetables we can plant at this time of year on your vegetable patch and get a crop off, and it’s nearly time to plant Christmas potatoes. If you do plant Christmas potatoes aways grow them in a frost free environment in a couple of months time when the days get shorter and the nights cooler. Our thanks to Chiltern Music for providing the Music Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  6. Jul 14

    Reportable pests and diseases

    In this episode Peter and Bill chat about their allotments, when a plant is ready for planting out and some tips on how to make sure it gets off to a good start and has enough water. We then open a discussion about reportable diseases as a local customer has what we think may be Oak Processionary Moth a notifiable disease reportable to the forestry commission who can be notified at  TreeAlert , we also mention other historic problems like the recent issues with Olive trees and Xylella a bacterial infection that has wiped out many olive groves across Italy and Europe and why lots of responsible Garden Centres and plant suppliers have stopped importing them. Dutch elm disease wiped out thousands of Elm trees in the 70’s but now we have elms that are not affected by it. The Government has a website where you can find information on issues, signposts to where you can report potential problems and fact sheets with useful information on. With modern phones and the ability to take and send pictures it is much easier and safer to take pictures of the problem and then get the issue identified and confirmed without moving the plant or plant material and possibly transferring the issue to other areas. Peter spotted an area of hedgerow on the Radclive road covered in a web which makes it look like a Halloween display. This is caused by the Ermine moth. A lot of plants now have passports which means they are traceable. Plants sold through Mail order need them, imported plants need them, and there are a lot of other reasons why they might have them. With a plant passport you should be able to feel more confident that the plant comes from a reputable supplier who is happy to share its traceability. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  7. Jul 7

    Summer Houseplants and gardening news

    On the 12th of July Shrivenham, on the Oxford Wiltshire border opens some of its gardens to the public, as are the gardens of Bozeat and Cold Ashby. We are enjoying the Garden Centre temperature indoor climate but it has been very warm recently without much rain, so watering is very important to help plants. An Antirrhinum ‘Shiryu Kiss’  has won the Peter Seabrook award and Best in Show at the BBC Gardeners World Live show. We have a new Semi Hardy Gerbera in at the Garden Centre. The Greenfingers team who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro have raised a staggering £234 000 so far for the Charity. Bill explains to Peter how much water hanging baskets need and he doesn’t think Peter has got it quite right yet, and also suggests a feeding regime for them and also tells us the best time to water. London Parks and Gardens has a new director Philip Barnes. He comes from an impressive 15 years with the National Trust. Durstons the compost manufacturers have upgraded their site to a larger site where they will be able to create more compost to help them keep up with demand. Bill’s favourite is the Ficus Benjamina or the Weeping Fig. The plant comes from Australia and Asia and can get quite big if well cared for. Peter likes Spider plants or Chlorophytum comosum, as it is a really tough plant which can survive a little forgetfulness when it comes to watering and Bill shares how to propagate it and how to use it as a bedding plant. Orchids are still very popular and easy to care for and you get a great long living plant that can flower for weeks on end. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  8. Jun 30

    World Cup Grass and Summer Gardening

    In this episode Bill and Peter suggest a visit to Toddington Open Gardens on the 4th and 5th July and also if you are passing they both like Poplars Garden Centre as a great place to visit or pop in for tea and cake if you are going past on the M1. In Northamptonshire we have Irthlingborough and Drayton Parslow in Milton Keynes. Hanging baskets are looking good now, but are food hungry so feed them with a high potash feed (K) like Tomorite The Hertitage Seed library was at the NEC for Gardeners World live and at the show they were asking people to bring in seeds and plants that they think might be heirloom varieties. You can get seeds from them which you won’t find in most Garden Centres. Grass is on the telly a lot at the moment with the World Cup on. Bill shares some of the methods of commercial turf cultivation and growing. With our lawns at home in the summer experiencing less rainfall ideally they need to be watered but it’s best not to aerate in dry spells as this opens up the ground and will cause evaporation. Granular fertilizer as well can cause issues if it doesn’t rain after application, if you want to use a fertilizer then a liquid one is probably best. If you have bedding geraniums cut the flower stalks off once the flowers start going over, deadhead surfinias to encourage more flowers. If you are feeding your plants it’s best to do it in the morning, and if possible do it on a cloudy day so there is no chance of water droplet magnification which can cause leaf burn from the sunlight. Bill also tells us of other plants we can trim back to encourage more flowering next year and a great recipe for a winter fat ball for your birds. Make sure you keep your bird baths filled up with fresh clean water. If you have Strawberries try Slug gone pellets to help keep the slugs from eating them. Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Bill Malins and Peter Brown from Buckingham Garden Centre talk about their gardening experiences, what to do in the garden, seasonal gardening advice and interviews with horticultural experts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Dig It
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    155
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Buckingham Garden Centre
  • Show Website
    Dig It