With warmer weather on the horizon, Monty makes a start on getting some tender veg underway, recommends plants which thrive with very little water and gives tips on the spring maintenance of houseplants.
With the increasing popularity of houseplants, Nick Bailey spends the day at Kew exploring their cacti and succulent collection to find out more about how we should take care of them, Adam Frost is in Lincolnshire helping a family transform their front garden into a more interesting and usable space, and
There’s also a visit to a nursery in West Sussex to get expert advice on how to get the best results from growing citrus in pots.
The programme starts at Long Meadow in the Dry Garden. Monty adds a Verbascum which should be able to tolerate the dry, drought type conditions. They tend to be biennial but he’s adding a variety that’s a perennial (so it will come back year after year), it’s called Christo’s Yellow Lightning, it was discovered by the late great Christopher Lloyd from Great Dixter
Arit Anderson visits Faversham in Kent to look at the plastic pot problem and solutions.
PosiPots – made from unbleached
Nick Bailey visits Kew to look at their cacti and succulent collection
Sales of cacti have increased by 50% in the last year in the UK. Succulents are inexpensive and easy to grow.
Likes a room of 21 degrees in summer but in winter likes to be cooler so keep it away from the central heating.
This looks like a cactus but is actually a succulent from the Canary Islands.
This looks like a good plant to grow with the children, Lithops is a succulent called Living Stone.
How do you know when to water a cactus?
Put your finger into the soil in the pot, about an inch deep. If the soil is at all moist then don’t water.
When the soil is dry then thoroughly water and then leave again until the soil is dry.
Visit to the Citrus Centre, Pulborough, West Sussex.
Over a 150 varieties
Only prune hard in the spring. Citrus fruit on old and new growth so pruning is more about maintaining shape and bringing some vigour back to the plant. They will take a light pruning at any time of year.
They like being outside in the UK over summer and just need a light frost free home in the winter.
The plant must be left to almost completely dry out between watering and then a good watering. Also, feed with nitrogen fertiliser when you water.
Three recommended citrus plants for beginners:
Use like a lemon or a lime and makes delicious marmalade. This plant produces a lot of
Back at Longmeadow, Monty is sowing tender vegitables
Squash
Monty sows in potting compost rather than seed compost as they are so greedy. They will need heat to germinate.
Sweetcorn
Use plugs – don’t use a seed tray because you’ll upset the roots.
Climbing Beans
Jobs for the Last weekend in April
- Sow Parsnips – they can be slow to germinate
- Plant some radishes
- Weed your borders
- Sow Sunflowers – Monty plants Velvet Queen for the jewel garden, to be planted out at the end of June.
That’s it for this week. If you would like to see notes from previous Gardener’s World programmes click here, or
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