Gardeners' World Blog - Joe Swift

No grounds for gardening

2009-03-20T11:39:16Z

Tonight my GW 1 hour special, 'No grounds for gardening', goes out.

]]> I filmed it last summer, zooming around the country as well as visiting Paris to see Patric Blanc's spectacular green walls or 'mur vegetal' as he would have them called. It loosely follows on from my special last year on the subject of garden grabbing - it's simply a sad fact we're all going to have to get used to smaller gardens, with many of us not having any private outside space at all. But does that mean we have to live without plants and miss out on all the hugely beneficial effects they have on us? Well the programme explores just how important it is to grow and come into contact with vegetation especially in the harsh city, even if we have very limited space.
I meet many passionate people and look at their varied, often inspirational and stunning projects (a mixture of both professional and amateurs). It demonstrates how the imagination can often transcend the issues of space, budgets and lack of official collaboration.
I hope the programme will go beyond appealing to keen gardeners (the converted) who already value these spaces and that it will also inspire those less horticulturally interested who might have a go and simply grow what they can wherever they can for the benefit of us all. Please watch, and hope you enjoy!

Raring to go

2009-03-16T12:26:48Z

I'm hoping this year all the basic hard work I put in last year at the allotment is going to pay off.

]]> I've been up there a couple of times in the last week or so to really get stuck in, in preparation for what is surely going to be a bumper year. Positive thinking, positive thinking! I've got a good feeling about the weather too, dunno why, I can just feel it coming after two lousy summers. I know it's tempting fate and important not to be complacent, as Arsene Wenger always says, but surely my allotment is also going to be a little easier in 2009?
Last March I was running round like a headless chicken trying to put in the raised beds, dig the soil over, weed, put up my shed and build paths all at the same time - it was crazy looking back on it.
This year, however, I'm onto the proper gardening already. The soil has greatly improved due to the digging and weeding, and all the council compost I used to mulch with over the winter has made a huge difference. I already have my garlic and the autumn-planted Japanese onions are coming along nicely. Plus I've dug my bean pit ready for the big day in spring. I've pruned back the autumn-fruiting raspberries to the ground. Potatoes will go in soon.
I want to really cram it with plants this year and am looking to increase the produce we get back. Lately the weather's been rather cold at night so Connie and I have started some brassica, leeks, spring onions and loads of sunflower seedlings off at home to get them going. Wish I had a greenhouse, but who knows, forget the new wooden floor in the kitchen, maybe that's my next big thing?!

Getting stuck in

2009-03-10T17:44:03Z

The intent and desire to get up to the allotment this weekend was certainly there, but logistically it proved an impossibility. Sunday was out as I worked (giving a talk), but Saturday was packed full of cricket practice, drum lessons, 10 year old birthday parties, wool shopping (for knitting) and football games. On top of that there were the things the kids wanted to do! (Yeah right!- I am a taxi service, I am a taxi service). I did however get a good dose of gardening in as I took advantage of the sunshine for a few hours in between pick ups and drop offs to give the garden a late winter blitz, or is it now an early spring blitz? I quickly warmed up, got down to a tee shirt and it felt great. The winter blues I was moaning about (thanks to those for your encouraging comments) immediately disappeared. I tied in some unruly climbers including roses, Vitis coignetiae and my wall-trained garrya (which is looking particularly fab). I pruned my Salix exigua tree to keep it in shape, thinned out my black bamboo, split some grasses (late winter/early spring is far better than autumn for this task), divided and re-planted a large clump of hardy geraniums and cut back the Clerodendron bungei hard to the ground. This both keeps it at the perfect height and checks root growth to stop it taking over the world. I then tidied up and lightly dug over some of the beds. My new best friends - two sweet little robins - followed me round and chirped as they picked over the newly turned soil looking (and successfully finding) many a tasty snack. I did well too as I completely lost myself in my passion. I now feel re-energised, up for it, and this week I'm heading up to my other plot to really kick start the allotment year. Can't wait.

Waiting for spring

2009-02-24T14:56:26Z

I fear that you may have come to my blog for a little cheering up. But this week it's a dark, gloomy place.

]]> I'm generally an upbeat, positive thinking chap, but this time of year really gets to me. I know it's coming. Maybe I've got that S.A.D (seasonally affective disorder)? But come on - doesn't everyone in the UK?
I've worked out what it is from the technical angle. It's not the credit crunch, which I think is a recession, or is it now a depression? No, the nub of the problem is in fact the way the Earth rotates and where I live on it in relation to the sun. It's extremely scientific of course, and I could show you the spreadsheets but what it boils down to is that the winter bit between Christmas and Spring is just too bloomin' long! You've gotta agree with me?
I could bear it if a month after Christmas things jollied up, but in reality Jan, Feb and March are all grim and a quarter of the entire year. When the sun occasionally comes out, it's sharp and bright - my favourite weather, and I make sure to get out in it, but in London these days are few and far between and tend to be grey, cold, lifeless months where very little happens. Sorry - I told you to click away!
I've planned a trip up to the allotment with the kids at the weekend as I reckon some good old fashioned aerobic exercise (that'll be digging then) may bring me out of the doldrums and kick start some excitement about spring. Here's hoping anyway, otherwise I'll just have to go to the beauty shop at the end of the road (obviously I don't actually need any beauty treatment- what would they do?) just to sit under a sunlamp of some description and hope it makes a difference! Roll on spring, and please make it an early one. The sooner the better I say.

I heard it on the grapevine...

2009-02-20T11:05:51Z

Well I'm away on half term with the family and by the wonderful technology we have these days I'm writing this blog sitting outside a cafe in St Emilion, south west France. Can't be bad eh!

]]> The weather is glorious - sunny, 10 degrees and quite warm out of the breeze. I have a cup of coffee, (of course it's too early for the local brew) but this whole region of France is famous for its wine and completely covered with the latticed grapevines. Apparently there are more vines in this area than the whole of the new world put together.
In the UK we still see grapevines as warm climate plants that need mild winters, but in reality they are tough and some grape varieties grow in very cold regions. Even here it can get to 10 below during a cold winter. Many of you will know that we have some pretty good vineyards at home too, but for some reason we domestic gardeners still get hung up about pruning - the right technique and the right time.
Here they are looking for both quantity and quality of grapes and as there are literally millions of vines, they start pruning in autumn as soon as they drop their leaves and just keep going right through and are still going now just to get them all done. They cut them hard back to one or two stems with four or five buds. The buds are quickly forming and almost bursting so the race is on, but it just goes to show that grapevines, like so many other plants, really don't really mind when they are pruned as long as it's during the dormant period. They've being doing it like that round here for hundreds of years and the proof of the pudding is in the erm.....drinking. This afternoon I may just have to put that theory to the test! Salut.

Winning garden visits

2009-02-06T15:52:16Z

I've had a busy couple of days helping to launch the 2009 Yellow Book for the National Garden Scheme (NGS). I do hope you've all heard of it, but it sometimes worries me how many haven't.

]]> It may still be one of Britain's best kept secrets so help me spread the word. This is how it works: people open their private gardens to the public who pay a small amount of money to look around. After snooping around, getting ideas and talking to like-minded folk, the visitors then buy a cup of tea and slice of cake (this is very important and some say the best bit!My favourite's lemon drizzle). There may be some plants on sale too and most of the proceeds raised (at least 80p in the pound) go to charity.
I see it as a win, win, win situation. The garden owner gets some satisfaction by letting others in to experience their garden (not in a show off way, but in an unselfish 'I-don't-just-do-all-this-work-just-for-myself-and-it'd-be-nice-for-others-to-see-it' kind of way). The visitors have a good morning or afternoon out for a few quid (extremely good value and hopefully it's recession proof), and ultimately everyone's doing the right thing by raising money for charity. Win, Win, Win! Brilliant.
There are gardens of all types and sizes, urban, suburban and rural totalling 3,600 with 600 new ones this year, and I'm pleased to say there are more and more community gardens and allotments too. Over the year all those £2 and £3 really add up - in fact in the last 10 years over £2.5 million has been raised. You can find out more on thehttp://www.ngs.org.uk website and start planning your gardening year nice and early.

Digging again

2009-01-21T14:21:25Z

Well fortunately the sun came out yesterday and I took the kids up to the allotment to start the year off in earnest.

]]> Cathy was tucked up in bed with the lurgy and we were all going a little stir crazy stuck in the house. When we got there, the first thing I saw was that the pigeons, not content with ruining my brussels, had now had a right go at my purple sprouting broccoli! They obviously just sit on top of the net to weigh it down and then peck at whatever they can through it. I wasn't the only one that suffered, but reckon mine should just about be OK.

We cleared out some of the beds that still had remnants of calabrese etc. in them, which went straight on the compost heap and I started digging. Although digging's always hard work, compared to this time last year it was a breeze. I've decided that I'm not going to use a rotavator again on the plot. Although I needed it to help break up the soil the first year, it's now easy enough to dig and I can take out whatever's left of weed roots by hand. It felt good getting stuck in and Stanley and Connie, although they mucked about a lot, came good in the end as they forked and barrowed a few loads of the highly prized council compost which was quickly disappearing. Can't wait till spring.

In search of winter gardening

2009-01-12T11:07:37Z

Well belated happy New Year to you all. I was in France for Christmas and the New Year and yup - it's cold over there, but not as bloomin' cold as it's been here! I was planning on going up to the allotment to start digging and getting things in order for 2009, but frozen solid ground is not the best to dig;although now it's a little milder I'll start turning over the rougher areas and then hope another sharp frost will help to break it up further. I can't wait.

]]> It's this time of year, the weeks after Christmas that really drag for me and like many others I'm sure I just wish spring started in Jan/Feb!
I did manage to get my hit of gardening however as, when we were in Paris, we stopped by the museum Quai Branly (a fabulous modern building on the Seine). The gardens are imaginatively landscaped in a contemporary, naturalistic yet ordered fashion and give you a taste of the wonderful collection of art from indigenous Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas inside. There's also one of Patrick Blanc's first, 'Green wall' or 'mur vegetal', which may have been an experimental exercise when he first made it 10 or so years ago, but I have to say it looks lush and mature now, and on a cold winter's day it certainly warmed our spirits!

A decade of champions

2008-12-05T10:59:01Z

I see that the build up for Gardener of the Decade starts on BBC2 this week. Believe it or not, I've been involved with most of the competitions over the last 10 years either as a presenter or design judge (I know, I know - I don't look old enough!).

]]> Although GOTY has changed format over the years, it has always been a tough competition looking to test the competitor's horticulture to the max. Gardener of the Decade invited all the past winners to take part. Five of them took up the challenge to go head to head in the wonderful setting of the Eden Project. Let's just say its tough - really, really tough! Well it is BBC's Gardener of the DECADE after all and it was never going to be easy.
I like to think that the format was spot on with the challenges being a great blend of knowledge, practicality and flair. It has all the drama of X factor, but hopefully those keen gardeners will also learn plenty from the comfort of their own sofa too, with a mince pie in hand (the best way when it's freezing outside). Of course I could tell you all who wins it, but then I would probably have to shoot you. You'll just have to watch. I just hope you get caught up in it. If you do, you won't be disappointed!

Catch the pigeon

2008-11-28T11:04:53Z

We all went up to the allotment yesterday for the first time in a while; it's been cold and wet and I've been pretty busy. Only to find the pigeons have had my brussel sprouts. I had them netted originally but took the net off for a spot of weeding and mulching and stupidly thought they'd be OK till my next visit as there was surely other stuff still around for the pigeons to eat- how wrong. They have been stunted by plenty of pecking and I reckon are past resuscitation. Keith did tell me: "If you don't net it, you don't get it", and how right he was.

It's at times like this though, that others come to the rescue. Ken gave us a whole stalk packed with Brussels, and Keith gave us eight fabulous eggs from his chicks plus some parsnips and turnips. Thanks chaps. I had one of the eggs on toast for breakfast this morning and it was in a different class from most you buy - absolutely delicious.

I forgot how wet the soil gets up there and am glad that half my raised beds are full to the brim with compost and I'll get onto the others when the next delivery turns up. They'll drain freely and warm up quicker in spring. I'm looking forward to some dry days to dig over the soil, build a frame for the summer raspberries and make some more structures for climbing plants with off-cuts of wood I've been saving up. Things are fortunately slowing down, which for me is a very good thing!

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Gardening with the family

2008-11-20T11:15:42Z

Being a gardener means that you can be extremely useful to people. If I'm at a friend's house or even down the pub I often get asked gardening questions or problems to solve so I'm used to it, and generally don't mind. Working for friends or family however, is a completely different kettle of fish. In fact these days I don't work directly for friends or family. I put them onto my company, and we do them a good deal, but to remain professional I stand back, keep an overview from a distance and let others deal directly with 'the client'. Now, having said all that, my Mum has recently asked me to sort some things out in her garden. She is of course my mum, not just any client, but just as important she just lets me get on with it. I went over last week to prune an ancient lilac and try to sort out some of her overgrown climbing roses and really enjoyed myself. The large lilac needed thinning and the crown lifting to let more air and light into its dense framework and I've had to get really serious with the rose with a view to reconditioning it over a year or two. The day went well and everything looked good at the end. You'll be relieved to hear that we're still talking! ]]>

My front garden

2008-11-05T12:13:13Z

Well I've finally got round to it. My front garden may have made up half a page of tittle tattle in one of my least favourite tabloids this year for looking a bit of a mess, but I've finally got round to sorting it out.

]]> The procrastination was actually due to the possibility of creating more space in my house by digging out the basement which would have created a couple more rooms, but meant that we would have had to excavate through the front garden. Having found out how much a good basement job actually costs however (answer- far too much!), and in turn deciding against it, I've redesigned the front garden and have a couple of my landscapers digging out the old wall and paving as I write this. The problem is that overall it has to house 4 bikes (which are currently in the hall and living room), two large wheelie bins (one for green waste and one for rubbish) plus two other recycling boxes! It's only about 4 metres by two metres, so it's a tall ask and all down to clever design. I've hit on the idea of building a wall with a return which will have a large metal tray sitting within it above bike level. This will be planted up and both visually hide the bikes but also act as a mini green roof, meaning I can get some planting into the scheme. I bet the tabloids won't be round when I've finished saying how lovely it is, but hey ho- there you go, they only want bad news and gossip.

Pumpkin power

2008-10-21T09:05:34Z

Last week Stanley and Connie came up to the allotment after school to meet me and help to pick up our two (rather huge) pumpkins. I was slightly worried they'd get nicked as it's getting close to Halloween.

]]> Keith gave us a single 'Atlantic giant' plant in a pot back in the spring which Stan planted directly into a couple of barrow loads of compost. Other than water it a couple of times, limit it to two fruits and cut back some wild growth which was trying to take over the whole plot we have literally done nothing to it. It has however done amazingly well (must have been the wet summer...) and we had two really nice big pumpkins on it.

There was a friendly competition between myself, Manuel and Keith. You know the sort of thing- who can grow the biggest, most macho pumpkin in the World. All in good spirits though. Well Keith certainly won it with around 39 Kilos, we came second with 34 k and Manuel brought up the rear with 32 k (although he said he had one at home which weighed over 60 kilos- yeah right Manuel!) Once it had been weighed I scooped out the insides (saving some for soup and pies, but not all as there was just far too much so the extra went on the compost), and then Connie got here chance to get arty with it and draw a scary face on it so that I could carve it out. Well, even though I am her proud Dad I have to say that Connie did an absolutely fabulous job on it and once we lit and placed the tea lights inside, it looked the absolute business. Really scary-just as it should be. So Stanley grew it, I scooped it and Connie carved it. That's what I call wholesome family fun and that's what the allotment is all about. We'll definitely be growing some more next year. Joe

Pond life

2008-10-14T16:11:36Z

I took advantage of the wonderful weather over the weekend and sorted my pond out.

]]> The sides and bottom had dried out so I got a wire brush onto it to clean all the old dried algae off it and then applied three coats of pond sealer. It's really good stuff, and now I'm just waiting a day or two to let it go off completely before refilling, replanting and letting the fish loose again. I'll take the kids up to a water specialist nursery next weekend to get some new oxygenating plants and some extra fish, which is always fun.
Yesterday I went up to the allotment to dig up my sweet potatoes as the foliage had turned. Now I have to admit I was more than disappointed with the crop, as I only had a trug full at the end. OK there's enough for a few meals for us, but I wanted to have plenty so I could give them to the other plotholders. It's strange as RHS Hyde Hall who came and planted them apparently had a bountiful harvest. All they had done was plant them, water them 3 times during the driest of spells and wait. That's pretty much what I did. The only thing I can think of is that the depth of topsoil on my plot isn't that deep and they hit a hard clay pan underneath. Some of them had curled up, indicating that this could have been the problem. I don't want to put anyone off growing them as Hyde Halls trials have proved that they can be grown extremely successfully in this country with the uninspiringly named T64's the most prolific. I'd be interested if any of you have grown them and if so what results you've had? Let me know.

Muddy waters

2008-10-08T09:21:43Z

We had a bit of a disaster at home over the weekend with the pond.

]]> For the last five years it has done wonderfully well. It's full of life with plenty of oxygenating plants as well as some ornamental plants, various fish; and this year we had some visiting frogs too, for whom we built a ladder as it's a raised pond.

The water quality of any pond always takes a while to get right, often a year or two, which means plenty of patience. I knew it had a small leak as it needs topping up occasionally which was something I was planning to fix in the spring.

Well I was out of the house for a few hours and I returned to five kids (two of the older ones were mine) with a net churning all the water and sediment around into a muddy mess. I think my kids knew it was big 'no no' but just couldn't help themselves and got caught up in the frenzy brought on by some sugary fizzy drinks. I went mildly ballistic at them, they looked mildly apologetic and then we let the churn settle. Well by Sunday there was an evil smell as whatever they had done had disrupted the fine balance. The water had gone greeny grey and some fish were on the top of the water gasping for air, a sure sign of poor water quality.

I had to act swiftly so started netting the fish and putting them in an old dustbin full of rainwater from our water butt. Sadly we lost a couple of the smaller ones, but after a few minutes of looking startled the rest picked up nicely. I emptied the pond entirely including the old silt (apologies to the neighbours due to the horrendous smell) and am now letting it completely dry out before re-sealing and then filling up again. It was a job I had been planning to do, but due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g unruly children) it was something I had to get on with far sooner than I'd thought!