The 2026 Gardening Programme Thread

[NebulousSadTimes]

Welcome 🤗. Pull up a chair, or an upturned bucket, grab a handle-less mug of whatever takes your fancy, ignore the cobwebs in the corner, there are some seed catalogues on the potting bench for you to entertain yourself until someone else pops in to chat about whatever has taken their interest on the telly or radio in all matters gardening 🌻🐞🌿🐝🍄🐌

Thanks for this. I always thought that mole hill earth looked like good stuff! (And obviously leaf mould is absolute gold)

Way too much veg in tonight's Beechgrove!

Useful wee bit on heather tho.

And next week - the alpines at the Botanics in Edinburgh - yippeeee!

Yes, that episode didn't fill me with inspiration.

GW is 9pm on BBC4 tonight because of...snooker...! I didn't even know that was still a thing!

Again with segments on daffodils so late in the year...but I see some of the varieties shown flower until mid-May...I wldn't like that tho...feels wrong! No daffs after Easter, that's what I say!

Monty does have a heck of a lot of forget me nots! No wonder he looked fed up that time I saw him on vid pulling it all up once it had died off! I'm keeping mine in a pot so they don't take over!

Useful bit on thyme. I have one in a pot out the front (south facing) as they're allegedly indestructible. But noted Monty says they really need replaced every 3 years or so. I wonder how his got so big then!

I didn't realise GW had been relocated until half way through so I only saw the second half.

It's a cold day in hell that I pick flowers to bring inside but I did cut five Narcissus Pheasant's Eye yesterday to put in a wee jar for the scent. I do agree with you though @AntiqueVases , I'm over the daffs already.

I did like Monty's pink tulips with his forget me nots. I'm planning to look for rich red ones later this year to go with mine. I'm going to try and remove some of the outlying FMNs before they go to seed and keep them more confined. Ask me next year how that worked out for me

I enjoyed Gardeners World this week, only the Majestic Trees guy seemed to be banging on about mental health AGAIN 🤣 (Spoken as someone who absolutely recognises the importance of this fact - just not as the only possible commentary for gardening programmes 🤣)

Monty’s Longmeadow was looking glorious and the garden history from Advolly was fab 😊 I agree though @AntiqueVases It makes no sense to do a feature on daffodils this late. I want to enjoy the seasonality of spring daffodils in early spring or get inspiration for autumn planting in the autumn.

Carol’s tiny veg plot is going to be interesting. So much thought, planning and care for one little patch is very skilful and inspired me 😊

Just catching up with GW from Friday. What on earth is Monty going to do with all that parsley?
Agree about Carol’s veg plot. It’s about the same size as one of my raised beds (I have four) and so I will be watching that with interest. Let’s hope they remember to follow up

GW tonight - blah. I'm not interested in these flower show things.

But did like the section on hostas as I'm on my second year with mine and it's doing well. Interesting to see the minature/bonsai. Hehe liked the one in the thimble!

I largely cba with houseplants now that I have a garden. I just have 2 x cactii, some airplants, moss and a terrarium. As they are totally different from what I grow outside. As per the young lady on GW tonight, I do get a 1970s vibe from people with loads of houseplants and I HATE 1970s vibes! Sorry! HATE everything being orange and brown!

Will anyone ever invent a clay pot with lots of small holes in the bottom instead of ONE big hole that "needs to be covered with crocs"?!

I also cba with plants that need staking. Indeed I feel I have too many plants in pots outside and I am already dreading watering and repotting them. I am sooooo lazy! My ideal plant is one that is in a flowerbed and just looks after itself!

Beechgrove:

Noticing that they still have tulips in flower in the garden! So does Monty. Mine have long since gone in the brown bin!

Handy section showing us some tips for setting up a greenhouse

Alpines at the Botanics - I'm quite fascinated by this sort of thing. I see they used a plastic mesh thing instead of a crock in the bottom of that trough they planted up. I liked the look of that trough but probably don't have the room/it would be too heavy for me to deal with. Plus I'm pretty clumsy/useless so I don't fancy my chances of planting it up properly!

Clever bit on watering by planting a clay pot.

I haven't watched GW yet but did see most of Beechgrove.

I found a random tulip in my garden that I don't remember putting there the other day. I said hello to it

I heard a tip about fine mesh over a pot hole, maybe last year, can't remember where, it's to stop slugs and perhaps vine weevil from getting in through the bottom.

Is Brian very tall or was that greenhouse on the short side?

@Celiathebanshee I was going to say you can never have enough parsley but then watched the episode - he must either use it while the plants are still fairly small or have a parsley shop.

Yes, but blooming useless for us city dwellers!

Look up bonsai mesh - it's for the holes in bonsai pots, as they're small pots with fairly big holes. You don't want crocks taking up precious space, but are more likely to flush out the soil. I only have one bonsai tree, but I used the leftovers for succulents in sandy soil in small pots.

I think I'm two weeks behind in GW, last I saw it was daffodils still. I think my garden is about 2 months ahead of Monty's.

I used a piece from a kindling sack, it's a green fine mesh and I'd say it's working but I can't remember which pot I used it in.

I wonder if hessian would work too? It would be more natural.

I use layers of netting from oranges, lemons etc. Not perfect but stops them being single use? Agree hessian is best, use that for aquatic baskets in the pond!

I have bonsai trees too, and the mesh specifically sold for bonsai pots is silly money. For regular garden pots I cover the holes with the netting that comes with bags of oranges and lemons from the supermarket. It allows free drainage but prevents compost from falling out, and stops undesirables from getting in the pot via the drainage holes.

THANK YOU for this
I have spent the last 30 or so years trying and failing to find a use for those bags

Beechgrove - liked the HUGE flowers in that garden in Helensburgh - existed for 60 million years!

Not sure I like the idea of a "water bag". No offence George. I do personally like to go outside with my watering can and have a good look at the plant a couple of times a week. Also - the bag was bloody ugly!

I wish when they did random close-up shots of plants in the garden, they threw up a caption advising of the species. Like they do when they're actually talking about a plant and showing it.

Looking forward to a "meadow in a pot" next week - i've had no success planting wildflower seeds in pots. (Except forget me nots).

I agree about the watering bag, yet more unnecessary plastic (I just hope it's made from recycled plastic). What's the difference between watering the bag twice a week and watering the tree twice a week? I suppose the slower release but there are other ways of doing that. All of my trees have managed to survive being watered with a watering can. We need to stop trying to reinvent the wheel and be content with what we have.

The garden in Helensburgh reminded me of a garden that had been rediscovered or rescued, I think somewhere in Argyll, and they were going to film updates over the years as they progressed. I can't remember whether that was on Beechgrove or GW, but I haven't seen any updates and can't remember the name to google. Does that ring any bells with anyone?

@NebulousSadTimes yeah and also - I thought plants didn't necessarily like "little and often" in terms of watering. Monty says "a good soak once a week is right for most plants"

Wouldn't the watering bag actually keep some rain off the tree?

Foraging...you posh bird! As usual, an elitist activity. Go foraging round here and you'd get a dandelion that a dog has peed on.

Gardeners World

I avoid buying anything that will need staking as frankly cba
Ditto stuff in beds that dies back slowly leaving a big mess.

I don't like water and mud running out the bottom of my pots onto the patio so I always use saucers. I know they're not ideal for a few reasons (plants sit in water) but so far no issues with mine.

Liked Adam's big tree in the pot.

Sorry Monty but I consider cow's parsley to be a weed!

Hmmm...never considered munching on my hostas! Maybe I should dress as a slug whilst so doing!

Can definitely see Monty's garden is ahead of mine in Scotland.

Interesting bit on the "Auricula" experts. I can totally see myself becoming like that in future re something.

Not convinced by gardening according to the cycles of the moon! It's as much as I can do to organise myself round work and the rain! Frances was clearly skeptical.

Chesea flower show - hmm - I prefer Monty et al just doing their thing honestly!

@FuzzyPuffling re the foraging - I was put in mind of Erin Patterson, the Mushroom poisoner!

😂😂

I just went and had an experimental chew on a hosta stalk. Do not recommend - tastes like grass (not like asparagus) and extremely tough.