Dig It - Discussions on Gardening Topics

As autumn approaches DIG IT’s Peter Brown and Chris Day provide a monthly round-up to the latest horticultural events, the gardening stories making the headlines and a look at those garden tasks requiring our attention.What’s on3 - 8th September RHS Garden Wisley Flower Show, Wisley, Woking, Surrey.13 - 15th September The Harrogate Autumn Flower Show, Newby Hall, Ripon, North Yorkshire27 - 29th September Malvern Autumn Show. One of the UK’s biggest annual harvest season celebrations, held at the Three Counties Showground, Malvern Hills, Herefordshire.5 - 6th October Buckingham Garden Centre’s Apple Weekend, 10am - 4pm each day.NewsJekka McVicar appeals to gardeners to participate in the RHS climate change survey in BBC Breakfast news.Most influential in horticulture by decade survey results: Titchmarsh beats Thrower, Hamilton, Don in vote from Horticulture Week magazine.Broad beans could improve our mental health new study finds.The search is on for the Tree of the Year and voting is open until 21 October.Plant breeder Ball Colegrave announced the winners of this summers showcase.World’s largest Titan Arum bloom in Meise Botanic Garden in Belgium.A new jade vine – Strongylodon juangonzalezii - is donated to Kew Gardens.Kew trees at risk from climate change.Historic allotments in Nottingham handed back to council due to rising costs.Almost 455,000 trees felled by UK councils in past 10 years. World-first project launched to track hedgehogs and reverse decline.Gardening aids better sleep new report uncovers.Knoll Gardens launch new Pennisetum Black Arrow.Dog backpacks used to help seed nature reserve.Sheffield’s love of figs helps create fig tree forests.Dutch campaign encourages reducing paving for greener gardens.Couple transform their garden into £27,000 Jurassic Park - complete with 10ft T-Rex.Our DIG IT Top Tulips 5th ‘Chocolate Orange’ 4th ‘Red Riding Hood’ 3rd ‘Peach Blossom’, 2nd ‘Queen of the Night’ and at number 1 ‘Purple Rain Fusion’ (a combination of different varieties from Taylors Bulbs).Plants mentioned: Acer drummondii, Crocosmia, Dahlias, Hosta, Penstemons and Roses. Apples, Apricots, Blackberries, Peaches and Strawberries. Veggies: Peas, beans, Carrots, Spring Onions, Winter and Spring Cabbage plug plants.Products mentioned: Compost bin, Wolf Fruit Picker, Rose and Autumn Lawn Fertilisers, Lawn seeds and lawn patch products. Control Vine Weevil and lawn chafers or leatherjackets with a biological control (nematodes).Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Spreading the gardening word with Dave The PlantmanDIG IT hosts Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with top all-round horticulturalist and internet sensation Dave The Plantman. Dave has been creating daily 90 second videos since April 2023 and has a huge 360k following, including a younger gardening audience on TikTok hungry for advice. Dave shares his knowledge in a unique style with his signature thumbs up and ‘interesting fact’ tagline. A lively chat filled with fun anecdotes and plenty of common-sense gardening is guaranteed! Plant mentions: Agapanthus, Astilbe, Buddleja (butterfly bush), Carnivorous plants, Coffee plant, Cordyline, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Dieffenbachia (dumb cane plant), Himalayan Balsam (Impatien), Potatoes, Dandelion, Skimmia, wildflowers, brambles (blackberries), Rose ‘Sheila’s Perfume’, Phalaenopsis orchids, Taxus baccata 'Standishii' (RHS AGM), Good scented rose ‘Chandos Beauty’ and Rose ‘The Chelsea Pensioner’, a charity rose launched at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. Willow (Salix) weaving. Alpines for gravel drive. People, Places and Products: Phillip Harkness, Harkness Roses. Myerscough College of Horticulture, Preston, Canal and River Trust, Barton Grange Nursery, RHS flower shows. Sulphur (coal smoke), Garlic infusion for controlling aphids – they don’t like the smell, good for roses and hostas. Tomato food is excellent for roses as is chicken manure and well-rotted manure. Uncle Tom’s Rose Food (Potassium phosphite).Desert island luxuries: Tomatoes (seeds could be saved for future crops). Tool: “A pair of secateurs in my holster.”Memorable quote: “My mum could put a root on a chair leg!”Dave’s socials: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Dave The Plantman’s Chatterbox on Facebook and  Instagram.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Summer gardening reaches it’s peak this month as Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest stories in the world of horticulture, must-visit events and a run-down of those essential tasks to keep your garden productive and colourful in the weeks to come. What’s on 31st July - 4th August: RHS Garden Hyde Hall Flower Show, Essex. 2 - 3rd August: Taunton Flower Show, Somerset.Until 4th August: 2024 Big Butterfly Count – have you got involved yet? There’s still time!3 - 11th August: Singapore Garden Festival at Suntec, Singapore. 9 - 10th August: Shrewsbury Flower Show, Shropshire. 15 - 18th August: Southport Flower Show at Victoria Park, Southport. 16 - 18th August: RHS Garden Rosemoor Flower Show, Devon. 30th August - 1st September: BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at Audley End House & Gardens, Essex.  NewsNew YouTube short film filmed at the RHS Urban Show in May featuring Cloudscape and creating 7 amazing gardens.  Trees for bees at Wakehurst Wakehurst is using citizen science to help discover the trees most favoured by pollinators. A unique flower shaped Cyclamen Illusia picks up top New Houseplant Award. RHS Tatton Park Show celebrates its 25th anniversary by actively promoting awards for new designers, plants people and contractors aged 31 or over.  Scottish topiary artist wins major award for their Moby Dick inspired design. Gardeners urged not to plant or purchase Rhodendron ponticum as The Woodland Trust says its invasive nature is creating problems.  Native vegetation does no impact insect biodiversity in small urban gardens.  Rare ‘Puya sapphire tower’ blooms outdoors in Scotland for the first time.  Dianthus breeding specialist Whetman Pink changes hands.  War against poaching succulent plants in South Africa.  Manchester’s Castlefield aerial garden Viaduct gets green light to develop from National Trust.  OBE awarded to Horatio’s Garden founder Dr Olivia Chapple.  Rittershausen family orchid nursery celebrate 75 years.  Dr John Grimshaw appointed Editor-in-Chief of Curtis’s Botanic magazine. Head of horticulture at Garden Organics and former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins has been named a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture. Natural History Gardens are now open and free to visit.  Olympic Dahlias shine at Paris 2024 games. The 2025 rose of the year is announced. Plants, and product mentions: Hardy geraniums, Chrysanthemum, Lavender, Lupins, Delphiniums, Blueberries, Strawberry, Wisteria Amethyst Falls, Leeks, Potato/Tomato blight proection, Taylors Seed Potatoes for growing for Christmas, Sow the seeds of Basil, Borage, Dill and Fennel, Mint. Summer pruning top fruit trees, dahlias, Lilies and Gladioli staking and feeding. Children seed sowing projects for the school holidays. Cut flowers from the garden. Continue with slug, snails and earwig control. Miracle-Gro, Tomato fertiliser, garden twine and canes.  Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

In this edition of DIG IT Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with special guest Andrew Mikolajski. Andrew, a well-known horticulturalist, and prolific author of over 40 gardening books, including his latest, ‘Who Ate My Plants’. Andrew discusses the ongoing battle gardeners have with garden pests and diseases.Plant mentions: Grow as many varieties and species – native and non-native from the Northern Hemisphere as you can to increase insect biodiversity of wildlife to help attract predators. Marigolds as a companion planting with Tomatoes and the pairing of alliums with roses. Check vegetable seed packets for disease resilience. Lavender, Penstemon, Fuchsias and Hebes would benefit from a dose of a high potash fertiliser to help toughen them up. Use vine weevil nematode control for Heuchera, Heucherella, alpines and Fuchsias.Product mentions: Slug pellets (use the jam jar method mentioned). Sand, Garlic wash, Box Tree Caterpillar Biological Control, Provanto Fungus Fighter (for Box Blight), Pheromone Traps (codling moth and plum moth), Organic pesticides, fleece over cabbage, good drainage essentials, include sand, potting grit, or Perlite to avoid overwet compost, Potassium (K) High potash fertilisers such as Sulphate of Potash, Tomorite, to help harden growth for the winter. Nematodes for slugs and vine weevil. Ladybird larvae and adults can be introduced.Pest / Disease mentions: Aphids, Slugs, Snails, Muntjak, Deer, Rabbits, Oak Processionary Moth - a notifiable pest, Xylella fasidiosa, Box Blight, Box Tree Caterpillar, Rose Black Spot and Rose Mildew.No Mow May, or maybe simply mow less often to encourage more flowers and diversity.Look for the RHS Plants for Pollinators logo.Make friends with your fellow allotment holders, or join a gardening club / society to learn about local growing conditions if you move into a new area.Judging at RHS show.Andrew’s desert island essentials: A ball of garden twine and a pair of scissors and the Rose ‘Nostalgia.’ Find out more about Andrew on his websiteAndrew’s book, Who Ate My Plants? is published by Michael O’Mara Books Limited.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

This month on DIG IT Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest gardening news, what’s on’s and as the peak gardening season is well underway, a look at those tasks to keep your garden looking its best this month and beyond.What’s on2 – 7th July: RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is held in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, Richmond.12th July and 4th August: The Big Butterfly Count 2024.17 – 21st July: RHS Flower Show Tatton Park in Cheshire.20th July: Great Dixter Summer Plant Fair at Great Dixter Gardens, Rye, East Sussex.NewsPlant Heritage will showcase a range of its National Plant Collections, including Kniphofia, Rubus and Hosta (miniature and small) at Hampton Court.  New 4-year project by the University of London is evaluating prescribing social pursuits like gardening to children. New garden around the Natural History Museum opens this month.The BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don will be out on tour to share tales from his garden at Longmeadow and gardens he has visited around the world.Belinda Howell has been appointed chair of the Peat-free Partnership to establish peat-free legislation across the UK and NI.Susan Raikes is appointed the new Director of Wakehurst at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Nick Bailey, Gardener’s World presenter is appointed director of the University Leicester’s botanic garden.Percy Thrower’s greenhouse, which once featured Shrewsbury’s main park, The Quarry, is to be restored by Shrewsbury Men’s Shed.Bumper year for Box Tree Caterpillar reveals RHS.Be alert for toxic oak processionary moth caterpillars.How to take part in the Great Stag Hunt to help record the UK’s largest, and endangered beetle.Asian Hornets: help needed to irradicate imported bee-killers.The winning plants at last month’s BBC Gardeners World Live Show, include Hydrangea Eclipse and Apple Peter’s Gold. New plant awards annouced at the HTA Show including Digitalis Apple Blossom and Prunus Crystal Falls.This month’s DIG IT top 5: Strawberry varieties. 1st Strawberry ‘Symphony’ 2nd ‘Cambridge Favourite’ 3rd ‘Hapil’ 4th ‘Honeoye’ and in 5th ‘Elsanta’.Plant mentions: Apples (variety Scrumptious), Cherries, Chrysanthemums, Dahlias, Delphiniums, Euonymus Jean Hugues, Euonymus Green Spire, Pears, Plum, Sweet corn, Yew, Lonicera nitida, fuchsias, Dianthus, Carnations, Purple loosestrife, and Salvia Hot Lips. Sow Foxgloves, Sweet Williams, Wallflowers and Forget-me-nots and veggies including Round Carrots, Beetroot, Radish, Lettuce, and Spring Onions. Continue to plant Tomatoes and Peppers.Product mentions: Bug Clear Ultra 2, Box Tree Caterpillar Killer Nematodes, Poppyforge plant supports, bird food, straw and terracotta pots for earwig control.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Flowers are big business in Britain over 50% of British households bought cut flowers in 2022. However, according to Defra, only 14% of cut flowers sold in the UK are grown in Britain. In this edition of Dig it Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Jessica Naish who runs a successful local flower farm in Buckingham. In the podcast we discover how Jess has developed her flower farm, plus the practicalities of growing a wide range of cut flowers from the field to the vase.Flowers mentioned: Amaranthus caudatus (Love Lies Bleeding), Centaurea cyanus (Cornflowers), Cosmos, Dahlias, Godetia, Larkspur, Nigella damascena (Love-in-a-mist), Perennial and annual Phlox, Strawflowers (Xerochrysum bracteatum), Roses (including the Timeless range of roses), Sweet peas, Sunflowers, Ten Week Stocks and Wallflowers.Fragrant foliage: Apple mint, Eucalyptus, Rosemary, and scented Pelargoniums to add fragrance to bouquets.Bulbs mentioned: Alliums, Gladioli, Lillies, Narcissi and Tulips.Buckingham brew: Nettles and Comfrey tea combo to feed plants organically.Jessica’s major influence is Gill Hodgson, who set up Flowers From The Farm back in 2011. From humble beginnings, its membership is now more than 1,000 independent British growers, of which Jess is a member. The website allows you to search for your nearest local flower farmer.Peach Fuzz, Pantone Colour of the year 2024.Jess’s desert island essentials: Tool - the versatile Hori Hori Knife, plus a couple of plants one of the velvety purple mophead hydrangeas and Geranium ‘Attar of Roses’ famed for its amazing rose scented fragrance.Find out more about Jessica’s flower farm, workshops and pick-your-own hereYou can also follow Jessica on Facebook and InstagramOur thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

June is here and with it brings the sun and fun in the garden! In this month’s Dig It, Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest gardening news stories, events, and those all-important gardening tasks, plus celebrating DIG IT’s inclusion into the Rephonic top 15 gardening podcasts!What’s On3 - 9th June British Flowers Week celebrating the variety and skills of the nation’s flower growers.8th June: Royal Windsor Flower Show in Windsor Great Park, Windsor.8 - 9th June: London Open Gardens event.13 - 16th June: BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC in Birmingham.21st - 23rd June; Blenheim Palace Flower Show, Oxfordshire.People, gardens, products and plants mentioned. Tom Stuart Smith, Val Bourne, Jonathan Sheppard - Cosmos National Collection and Dame Judi Dench plants the Sycamore gap seedling. Water Aid Garden, Octavia Hill Community Garden with the National Trust. The RHS No Adults Allowed Garden, Malvern Garden Houseplant Studios, Hanley Open Side Building from Malvern, and Taylors Bulbs win their 31st Gold medal.Miracle Gro, Tomorite Tomato Feed, Enviromesh or garlic spray to deter carrot fly. Slug copper tape, Slug Gone, beer traps and coffee grounds.Euonymus Green Spire and Euonymus Jean Hugues (good box alternative). Rose ‘Emma Bridgewater’ from David Austin and the ‘With Courage’ from Peter Beales.Make direct sowings of Peas, Beans, Courgettes, Sweetcorn, Lettuce, Carrot, Spring Onions, Radish and flowers Nasturtiums, cornflowers, and calendulas.NewsWinner of the RHS Plant of the Year Prunus ‘Starlight’. Runner up: Cosmos ‘Cherry Chocolate’.Bromeliads cultivated at Walton Hall in Cheshire.Growing plants should be on the curriculum.Kew ‘Carbon’ Garden created.Scientists eavesdrop the sounds from the soil.Long grass is benefiting butterflies says charity.RHS Garden Wisley opens Oakwood Summerhouse to pay homage to Ellen Willmott.National Trust revamps some gardens by future proofing with more resilient planting.Aviva issues flood risk warning as residents turn to artificial lawns.Jekka McVicar recipient of the Prince Edward Award.Oudolf landscape opens at Wisley.Lack of collective of nouns of trees.Auckland gardens regeneration in County Durham.Roses at risk from lack of genetic diversity.A UK first Tulbaghia National Collection at Eastwood Park Prison.25 years of research creates UK first for oak seeds.King Charles III to continue as Patron of the National Garden Scheme, and is the new patron of the RHS.Top 5 bedding plants 1 Geranium Zonal Mixed 9-pack, 2 Geranium Zonal, 13cm, 3 Hedera (ivy) Mixed, 9cm, 4 Geranium Ivy Leaf Mixed and at 5 Petunia Mixed carry pack.In our next podcast we chat with Jessica Naish from Buckingham Flower Farm about the growing cut flowers.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

In this episode of Dig It Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Huw Richards. Huw’s mission is simple - to help as many people as possible to grow their own food. He documents his productive garden through his hugely popular YouTube Channel. He’s just published a new book with Sam Cooper, The Self-Sufficiency Garden book, which focuses on the growing and cooking side of grow your own.Plants mentioned: Apples, Asparagus, Basil, Basil Mint, Beetroot, Beans, Blackcurrants, Carrots, Comfrey and Nettle Tea, Courgettes, Garlic, Gooseberries, Garden peas, Leeks, Nasturtiums, Onions, Pea shoots, Padron Peppers, Potatoes, Runner beans, Spring Cabbage, Sweetcorn, Squash, Tomatoes and Turnips.Products mentioned: BBQs, Chickens (for eggs and manure), Firepit, Raised beds, James Wong’s Grow Your Own Drugs: Easy Recipes for Natural Remedies and Beauty Treats book and Water Butts. Making Jadam Liquid Fertiliser video.Desert Island essentials: A Swiss army pocket knife and maybe practise the new art of ‘sand gardening’!Horticultural heroes: Huw’s Dad has been a major influence, who was in turn influenced by the hit BBC TV comedy The Good Life, No-Dig guru Charles Dowding, John Seymour, Percy Thrower, and James Wong.Follow Huw on Instagram @huwsgardenFollow Sam Cooper on Instagram @chef.sam.blackHuw Richards YouTube ChannelHuw has written four books with DK: Veg in One Bed (2019), Grow Food For Free (2020), The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook (2022) and The Self-Sufficiency Garden, written with good friend and colleague Sam Copper (2024).Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

May is the month our beds, allotments and containers explode with colour and energy.What’s on3rd - 4th May Toby’s Garden Festival at Powderham Castle, Kenton. 3rd - 5th May BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. 9 – 12th May RHS Malvern Spring Festival, Three Counties Showground, Malvern. 12th May Borde Hill Specialist Spring Plant Fair, Haywards Heath. 17th - 26th May Floralies Internationales, Vendee, France. 20th May World Bee Day 21st - 25th May RHS Chelsea Flower Show. 25th - 28th May Blenheim Palace Flower Show25th May - 2nd June National Children’s Gardening Week will again be partnering with THE WORLD OF PETER RABBIT™ this May half term.30th May - 3rd June Bloom at the Visitors Centre, Phoenix Park, Dublin. Plants mentioned: Aquatics - water lilies, marginals and oxygenators can be established now. Camellias, Cauliflowers, Cherries, Cucumbers, Chili peppers, Courgette, Daffodils, Dahlias, ‘Enorma’ Runner Beans, French bean ‘Cobra’, Forsythia, Gooseberries, Helenium, Hosta, Iris, Kale, Malus (crab apples), ‘Padron’ Pepper, Potatoes, Roses, Sedum, Sweet peas, Sunflowers, Sweet Corn and Tulips.Products mentioned: Fertilisers – Doff, Growmore and Tomorite, Tea for soaking bean seeds and Speedplanters.This month’s Dig It Top 5: Most popular liquid feedsNewsClimate change and verticillium wilt puts brewers hops under threat.Kew scientists assess extinction risk of flowering species using computer modellingReaders to the trade magazine Horticulture Week voted for Alan Titchmarsh and bagged compost as the most influential person and product impacting the gardening world over the past 50 years.A major revamp of Torbay’s 100-year-old Italian garden brings 1,600 new plants after 40 cabbage palms were felled.Yorkshire base, fourth generation rhubarb grower @ehubarbrobert is a social media hit.An OBE for garden designer and landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith. The RHS have awarded Neil Lucas of Knoll Gardens and Nurseryman Chris Young the prestigious Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH). The Elizabeth Medal of Honour was bestowed on non-dig guru Charles Dowding for his outstanding contribution to horticulture as a non-professional gardener.New initiative to revive railway hedges.Latest DNA fingerprinting could help identify lost apples that are resistant to climate change.International Women’s Day: 100+ Leading Women in Horticulture 2024 announced.University of Sussex launches The Big Bee Hotel experiment to discover more about bees that nest in artificially created habitats.New Tulip variety named after King Charles III unveiled at Keukenhof.Garden Organics says the Government isn’t moving fast enough on the peat ban.RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens go through ‘green audit’ for the first time.£12million Lottery Heritage Fund to restore Great Yarmouth’s historic winter gardens, the last surviving Victorian ironwork glasshouse on a seaside promenade.London’s Royal Parks have openings for ten apprentices.Weather causes concern with potato farmers. Discover how to take part in this year’s Henchman Topiary awards.Gardens start to bounce back visitor numbers wise with Kew Garden and RHS Wisley and the Royal Botanic Garden at Edinburgh taking the top spots.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.