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Hello, lovely isn't it?
Fuchsias, trailing geraniums, labelia make up this lovely colourful summer basket, and
in the autumn you can put in crocus, ivy, pansies to give colour right through the year.
Fancy having a go?
Well, in the next 60 minutes or so, we'll be showing you some of the secrets of window
boxes, hanging baskets and tubs.
Provided you follow a few simple rules, it's amazingly easy to get some very good results.
This is Arlington nursery near Fair Oak in Hampshire.
It's a family business run by Angie and Steve Goodrich.
Steve carried on from his father and grandfather before him, and now more than a million plants
are grown by Steve for sale each year.
He also makes up more than 2,000 hanging baskets for Easterly council.
So what better place to come and learn the tricks of the trade?
Steve, when it comes to choosing plants for hanging baskets, it's a wide choice these
days, isn't it?
There's a very wide choice of hanging baskets, now you've got something besides your fuchsias
and your geraniums now, approximately about 38 other varieties now that you can actually
can use.
Yeah, I mean the verbena here for one thing.
You've got your verbena, which come in five or six different colours.
You've got your cricums, you've got your yellow, your silver, your variegated, plectranthus.
Good old busy lizards.
And the good old busy lizards, of course, they never change at all.
Form a great ball of flour, can't they?
That's right, yes, they do.
What would you say are the points to look out for, really, when you're choosing plants
for hanging baskets, to get good specimens?
I suppose, first of all, come to a good nursery like this.
That obviously, if you start with good plants, obviously then you start off on actually on
the right foot.
Plants that aren't too small, they're nice, bushy, obviously the nice cut of green, not
yellow, where they've dried out in the past.
They're one of these straggly specimens.
That's right, that's the last thing you want is the straggly specimens, you'll never get
a nice result at the end of the day.
Well, you've got some good, sound ones in there.
Yes, you've got your petunias, your plectranthus, which some people might not know.
As you say, your good old fuschias, your upright geraniums, and of course your ivy geranium.
And that'll trail over the side, of course.
That will trail down over the side.
We make our baskets in a cross effect.
Then you can plant your busy lizzies, your verbinas, and your other bits and pieces in
the side, and of course your labelia, which you mustn't forget, which some people do.
Ah, yes.
Yes.
A light blue or a dark blue?
I personally like the lighter colours.
Yeah, shows up better at the distance.
Shows up better at the distance, and of course with summer, sunshine, the lighter colours
makes you feel better at the time of the year.
Oh, marvelous.
Well, I'm going to pick up a few plants for Helen.
Okay.
Now, I'll have a couple of busy lizzies, a nice white one, a helichrysum with this lovely
yellow foliage, another busy lizzie.
And a couple of verbina.
So don't forget Steve's advice.
Look for healthy plants which are bushy and a good green colour.
I'm going to show you how to do a traditional hanging basket using either fuschias, geraniums,
labelia, hanging geraniums, everything helichrysum.
So the first and most important thing to do when you've chosen your basket, and this is
a 12-inch wire basket, fit it firmly on a pot, must be nice and firm, very important.
Then start with your moss.
Now, this has to be really damp.
If it's not, give it a good watering with your watering can.
It certainly won't sit in your basket properly if it's dry.
Try and gather moss the day that you're actually going to use it, and don't forget, green side
down.
Once you've got some moss in here, it's a jolly good idea to put an old saucer in because
that really keeps everything very firm.
And you can leave the saucer in if you want to because it does prevent soil going through
the bottom.
So tuck it in really tight.
This is so important.
Here we go.
If you're going to do it properly, it does actually take quite a long time.
You want to cover up all those green wires.
This is actually quite a small basket for a traditional, but you can of course use something
very much larger.
And afterwards, when you've got all the moss in and you think it looks a bit ragged, well,
take your scissors and give it a jolly good trim.
I always think it's fun to be able to go out and gather your own moss, but it soon goes
brown if you don't use it immediately, and that does rather spoil the effect.
There we are, we're nearly there.
Press it down nice and hard.
You're bound to get a bit coming out at the sides.
Now you have to moss right to the top.
That's fine.
We'll trim it up in a minute.
There's the saucer.
You can either leave it or take it out.
In this case, I'm going to leave it.
Now, another very important thing is to line the basket again.
You'd be surprised how important this is, especially when you have these long, dry, hot summers.
But don't forget, pierce the polythene so you get extra drainage.
There we are.
And if, then that again can be trimmed up afterwards.
If you're really worried about watering, then do use a foam liner as well.
That's fantastic for holding the water.
Now the compost, this is slightly dry.
I would think it's too dry, so give it a jolly good watering when you've got it in the basket.
Now the compost, you don't take it right to the top.
Get it in nice and firmly.
About two inches, in fact.
And of course, when you've watered it, we'll go down even further.
Now I think it's time to trim.
You certainly don't want to see bits of black plastic all over the place.
And then, of course, the most exciting bit, choice of plants.
I'm going to use a standard geranium for the center.
There we are.
And that's how it should look.
Lovely red geranium, everybody's favorite.
Pop it in there.
And then I'm going to have a look and see where I'm going to put my labelia.
Now there's masses to choose from nowadays.
You can have the upright labelia or you can have the trailing labelia.
And this is the sapphire, which is a trailing one.
Now you'll have to make that into a tight ball to get it through the moss.
And hopefully through a slit there in the polythene.
There we are.
Now if you do this all the way around,
it's quite difficult actually.
Don't forget you can stab a hole if you haven't actually got a slit in the polythene
at the particular place that you want to put them in.
Make sure too these are nice and damp because again,
soil will fall out.
These scissors are very useful.
There.
You can carry on doing that all the way around and then
I would suggest you use some more geraniums, the trailing varieties.
And you have to put those along the edge at an angle
so that they do fall right over.
Of course there are other plants to use besides geraniums.
Fuchsias are also very popular.
You need stacks and stacks of water though in a very hot summer.
Certainly geraniums are more tolerant of the weather.
Don't be afraid to take a bit of soil off.
There we are.
Now one of my favorites is Helichrysum.
And I think that looks gorgeous with the red geranium.
So maybe a few of these.
And again, they are too big to go in the side of the basket.
Nice and damp.
Don't be afraid to put plants at an angle.
You don't want to overfill it but you certainly want to give a good display.
And then you can finish up by actually just finishing off the labelia.
All these plants at a perfect stage for your hanging basket.
Now that needs a really, really good watering.
And then sit it in your greenhouse if you are lucky enough to have one
just to get it settled.
And they can go out as soon as there are no more frosts.
Well, Helen, that's looking good.
And this is the final job, Harry.
Jolly good soak.
It does need it.
And then I shall hang it in the greenhouse for a week or so to really get it established.
This watering really is the biggest bugbear of baskets, isn't it?
Absolutely.
I've got something to show you over here.
Okay.
Now we've got all these baskets here of different kinds
but here's one, you only need water once a week, would you believe?
That's a wonderful idea, isn't it?
Especially if you're working all day to get this off.
There's this floor here with capillary matting on it
and a little tongue underneath that dips down.
And in the reservoir at the bottom you can get four pints of water.
So when you're watering it, Harry,
how do you know you're not flooding the whole basket?
Ah, well, that's a clever thing.
Around here there are three holes, right?
And once you get to that level, the water comes out.
So once you see the water coming out through the holes, you know it's filled up.
What a good idea.
And of course you can feed at the same time.
Exactly.
Great.
And of course these hold water very well too, don't they?
They're excellent for herbs, aren't they?
Very good indeed.
And you can keep them nicely trimmed too.
That's it.
It's still a place for the good old galvanise.
Still my favourite, but probably not the easiest to use.
No, when it comes to pushing things through the side,
I like this one because it's plastic.
I think that's such a simple idea, but brilliant.
Because there are some liners about these days, aren't there? All sorts.
Well, this one, coconut.
Well, something new every day.
Must retain the water well, I would imagine.
Just like a coconut matting, it's rather good, isn't it?
Very simple to use.
Just like a doormat.
How's she got that?
Well, this actually does come with one of the hanging baskets all ready to use.
I've used this for greenhouse shading, but never thought of using it for liners.
It's nice and easy to chop and cut too.
The same with a foam liner, actually.
You can cut it, and of course you've got these wonderful slits in it
to push your plants through.
They don't look very pretty to start with, but...
No, they don't.
You don't see them, and of course they do hold the water well again.
They're better than a plain black polythene.
And of course this comes complete.
That's a plastic liner.
And then of course you've got the peat liners.
Of course, again, holding the water well.
I like these legs on the bottom.
Stop it rolling about when you're doing it.
Lots of good ideas in hanging baskets now.
Oh, coming on all the time.
But whatever sort of basket or liner you use,
it must be well supported, mustn't it?
You must have a decent sized bracket for a very big basket
because they're very weighty.
Good sturdy ones like these.
That would only take quite a small basket.
Well fixed into the wall, too.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yes, if you've got a big basket.
That's the size.
How about that?
That's the size you've got to have for a 14-inch basket, at least.
I do know somebody who put one of these upside down ones.
For this basket, I'm going to use a peat-based compost.
It is packed full of nutrients to keep the plants happy throughout the summer.
And it does have a water retaining agent in the form of granules.
And now the basket.
This is plastic.
It has a built-in saucer, little legs to stabilize it when you're planting up.
And as Harry said, springy sides for ease of planting.
Now the net mesh, which is your liner, is placed in the basket.
You'll probably have to make a few folds and try and get it right to start with.
And then fill the basket with about a third of this compost.
That's just enough to plant the first few plants.
Now actually, I'm going to take a bit of this netting off
because it could get in the way of planting.
Very easy to cut.
And the final trim can be made when the basket is complete.
So much easier to be able to see what you're doing without this hanging over the edge.
There we are.
Now for planting.
The first thing is to make a diagonal cut in the side.
Just like that.
There we are.
And your plants.
These are Futonias.
And I'm going to do the whole basket with them
because this will look really effective and cover all the mesh.
Push it in from the outside.
And now for the rest of the cutting.
I think this will take about eight plants.
You do need plenty for effect.
Don't make the holes too big
because you don't want your compost slipping through.
It's a good strong plant.
Plenty of root.
And that's going to get away very quickly.
There we are.
You can always make them bigger, but you cannot do anything about it
if you cut them too large.
Maybe a little bit fiddly to start with
because this has got a lot of root on it.
Being a perennial, it's slightly more difficult than putting little annuals in.
There we are.
There's the second one in.
So that's the first layer of planting finished.
And the roots are sitting very comfortably on that soil.
Now for the next layer.
You do exactly the same.
A couple of really good handfuls of compost.
Press it down lightly so those roots below are nice and firm.
And now for the second layer.
Do place your plants in between the eight that are below there.
So therefore you would cut just about there.
Now obviously we're going to need more plants
because the basket is a lot wider.
Plenty of lovely root on it.
And push it through just as before.
The further up the basket you go, the easier it all becomes.
As again, laying the roots which are nicely formed on top of the compost.
And the last plant going in.
Now it may look as though there are masses of plants, maybe too many,
but not at all to get the all round effect in a basket like this,
which is large. You must use plenty.
And now for the final trim.
Your mesh liner.
Take it right back to the curve of the basket.
Be careful not to cut the leaves.
There we are.
And of course, as always,
a really good watering before you hang it up.
Of course there are many things you can use in a hanging basket nowadays
and one of our particular favorites are strawberries.
And you must get them planted really early, February or March,
and you must make lots of growth.
And then you get flowers and you get fruit.
Well the fruit on this one will be ready easily in May.
And I've also put lots of ivies in it.
So when the strawberries are over, I take those out,
I leave the ivies in and then I put my autumn and winter plants
in such as pansies, polyanthes, heebies, heathers.
And you really don't have to disturb the basket at all.
Music
Winter flowering pansies planted in a hanging basket in the autumn
will flower throughout the winter.
It will give a splash of color outside your kitchen window
to brighten the dullest days.
Now maybe you've already grown your pansies from seed,
but if you haven't, don't worry, there are plenty about.
And you don't necessarily have to buy them with flowers on.
Then we've got a 14-inch basket here
and you'll see it's standing on a good wide plastic pot.
Now there's a reason for that because if you take it away
and try and do it there, it rocks all over the place.
So a bucket or a good stout pot like that.
And then it's lined with good damp moss
and in the middle I put a piece of black plastic
because there's nothing worse later on
when you go to water your hanging basket
and it goes straight through the middle
and it's just a waste of time.
And then on top of that, some good compost.
Good multipurpose compost.
You'll be filling this up later as it goes along,
but there's enough there to start with.
Then in can go the plants.
One of my favorite jobs this is,
but it's hard to see things taking shape.
One there.
Another one worse pretty about there, I should think.
Because these will grow, don't forget that.
And one, two, three.
One, two, three.
Another one in here, all right.
So we go on all the way around the pot.
But that's all the plants in
and now it's time for another layer of moss.
This must be put down really tight around the edge.
It's worth taking your time with this, you know.
Don't rush it.
Firm down the moss well.
And then it's time for another good portion of this fine multipurpose compost.
Lovely stuff, isn't it?
I feel you could eat it almost.
Then another layer of plants.
And if any of them, by the way, have got their roots a bit, you know, tied together,
then do take a bit of time just teasing them out a little bit.
So when they're put down, they make a much better contact with the compost.
One in there.
Another nice one.
Tease out his roots a bit.
There's the compost off the top there.
I wonder if there's a bit of a neck to come through, don't we?
After all.
There we are.
So there you go.
Get that down well into the compost.
And you notice I'm fitting the top layer so they're in between the ones underneath.
That's coming on very well now.
Just a few more bits to ease in around the top.
And these want to be nicely rounded, and it does help to keep the water in.
Another one there.
Last bit in there.
I'll just clean these off with a pair of scissors afterwards.
There we are.
Now it's time for a bit more compost.
I don't want to overdo the compost because there are plants going in here,
and they take up a bit more room as well, remember?
And now we plant up the top layer.
It's rested on the rim, but do make sure the roots come down into the compost.
And the next one.
Same applies.
And it's really coming together well now, isn't it?
One in about there.
And so we go on.
Well, once the top rim's done, there's a little bit of compost needed in there.
It doesn't want to be too far up, an inch below the edge.
And then we can start putting the top ones in.
Resting it on the surface.
Yep, looking really good this is.
Look at that.
Now, a little bit more compost just to go around, fill up the gaps.
And that's about it.
Now, I can't stress too much the importance of leaving that gap at the top
so that when you water it doesn't run all over the side.
We'll be doing that watering later on.
But first of all, of course, this is a hanging basket.
So you've got to hang it up.
Now, they're quite a weight, these things.
I didn't do it with a chain on because they always get in the way.
Hook it on there.
You all might have to change this a bit later on.
One there.
And the third one over here somewhere.
Very, very good.
Now.
Quite a weight, this is.
Good, strong bracket.
There's a wasp up there.
Right, he's gone.
Of course, the last thing is the watering.
And I want to do this in a couple of goes.
Have a go, then let it soak down a bit, then have another one.
And the other thing is regular deadheading as the season goes on.
And that'll encourage more flowers.
Once the things start setting seed, there won't be so many flowers.
Now, this is another rather smaller basket.
The same idea pans this.
And it's a plastic basket, perhaps easy to do in a way.
It's hanging here at the moment because there's a hook.
But it'll go outside and stay there right through the winter.
Here's a basket anyone would be proud of.
With a little tender, loving care every day,
it'll stay in tip-top condition for months.
There's no magic formula.
Feed and water regularly,
and remove all the dead flowers and leaves
as soon as they pass their prime.
And this colourful display will continue to bloom
all through the growing season.
For more information, visit www.mooji.org
www.mooji.org
One of the nicest things you can grow
in hanging baskets or pots are herbs.
This one has a rosemary.
Looks very good because of the height of feverfew
and nasturtiums, which you use the flowers for garnishing your salads.
And finally, a very pretty silver thyme, which is in flower.
I always like to have a herb basket hanging outside of the kitchen door
or window or somewhere close anywhere
where I can just grab a bit when I want it.
So, this is an ideal basket because of these pockets here.
And you can plant it from the inside, which is the correct way.
So, a few ideas.
First, your hanging basket compost in the bottom.
And then I would have something that spreads nicely.
A thyme may be, and this is a silver thyme.
And this will come out quite undamaged through the pocket.
And that will spread nicely.
And don't forget when you're doing herbs,
you're constantly chopping at them,
so that keeps them nice and compact.
Now, I'm rather like marjoram, so a golden marjoram.
I think this basket's going to be mainly golden anyway.
And again, you do exactly the same thing.
There we are.
Spread the roots out so they've all got a jolly good chance.
And then feverfew.
Also very pretty.
Good for headaches, I believe.
So, maybe worth having one in the basket.
And now, I think we've got one more pocket,
and I will go for savoury.
You can have a winter savoury and a summer savoury.
And this is the winter variety.
Summer savoury is so easy to raise from seed.
There we are.
Spread the roots out.
And now, all the pockets are filled,
so we fill almost to the top
with about an inch and a half with your compost.
And I think we ought to have some sage.
There we are.
And parsley, without a doubt.
And that's better sitting on the...
Gosh, that's a well-rooted parsley.
And we must have parsley.
This is really well-rooted, just how it should be.
Just tease some of those roots,
because they're really jammed in there.
And that will go in there.
And if I use a peppermint,
that doesn't become so invasive as the ordinary mint.
And it does keep the flies away, or so they say.
And one of my very favourites, the coriander,
really well-rooted.
If you can buy plants like that,
it really gives them a good start in life.
As I say, just tease out the roots a bit.
There.
Make sure they're all well and truly firm then.
A little bit more compost.
Smells delicious already.
I can smell the coriander.
But if you really want a cheap basket,
which will give you a glorious display all through the year,
nasturtiums, they're wonderful.
Also sweet peas.
And now, of course, the final watering for our herb basket.
A really good watering.
And then that would hang straight outside the kitchen door.
And it doesn't mind lots of sun.
And it won't worry quite so much about getting dry.
Well, hanging baskets are one way of brightening up the scene outside,
but another way is to use window boxes.
And they're becoming very popular these days.
You may be lucky enough to have a stock-sized one.
And, you know, there is a range in terracotta, plastic, stone.
If you have one of those, you really do need strong fixings.
And check your window frame.
Make sure that'll take the strengthening as well.
Or, if you like, you can make your own from good old tree wood.
If you craft it, you can make a jolly good window box from a standard plank like this.
It's about 2.7 meters long, about nine feet.
Now, you mark out your front, your back, the base of it, the two ends.
And with any luck, you've finally got a bit left over it down here.
Don't throw it away. You'll need that for the feet and any brackets and so on.
So it's jolly useful.
Then, once you've cut it up, you put the bits together.
But before you do that, do it.
Give it a coat of a jolly good wood preservative.
We've used a wood stain one here, or we could use a clear one and paint it.
But whatever you use, do make sure it'll not harm the plants when it's dry.
Now, we've made it this size just to take this standard 24-inch plastic insert.
Because there's nothing worse than having to take all the plants out
and replant in one window box.
It can be backbreaking old work.
But with this, once one's done, as you'll see,
we can change it later on.
Now, the front here goes on.
But you see, it leaves a gap.
Now, that's not my bad measurement.
That's done for a purpose.
You can make holes in the bottom, of course.
But that's a boring old business.
I like this slot here because it lets the rain run over any water that comes out.
It comes out through here.
It doesn't go down the wall.
It goes over the edge of your windowsill if you've got one.
So put the front on.
Now, if you've got a sloping windowsill, it's no bad idea to have a couple of wedges like this.
Then you can put them on the windowsill, and that'll make up the slope so it stays good and level.
If you haven't got a windowsill, what do you do then?
Well, you fix brackets to the wall, of course.
You can use shelf brackets like this.
Now, if you've got a windowsill, you can use a shelf bracket.
Well, you fix brackets to the wall, of course.
You can use shelf brackets like this.
If you do, they do really need to be very firmly fixed.
And I think, perhaps, a little more decorative,
especially if you haven't got a windowsill or much sticking out.
They're all right, but these wrought-iron ones are better.
It gives quite a bit of clearance at the back.
But whatever sort of brackets you use or whether you've just rested on the windowsill,
you must fix the window box firmly to the wall,
because if it falls down and falls on somebody's head, you've had it.
So, good stout screw eyes, another one in the window frame,
and some good, tough wire between them to make sure it's really well fixed.
Because, after all, if you use these inserts,
you don't need to be taking them backwards and forwards very much, do you?
It stays put.
That looks splendid, Harry.
Oh, it'll look even better in a minute, my bird.
You've been busy there.
Lovely.
All done in yellows.
Yes.
I thought that's most effective.
I do like self-colours and window boxes.
Green and gold, yes.
Hanging baskets.
You've got them right here, too, haven't you?
And I started with a basket fuchsia.
All to trail over this night.
Most attractive.
Then a Swedish ivy that spreads and also goes over.
And the ordinary ivy.
What's an ordinary ivy?
A pot of that is really good value,
because you get so many little plants for a pound or two.
And then a creeping jenny,
something you don't really expect to see in a window box.
No, but it's creeping over the side now.
Very effective.
And the little bedding begonia again with the white flowers.
That's very nice.
And ending up with a castle area.
They're becoming very popular.
Great balloon-shaped flowers later on.
Be marvellous.
That's right. It's going to be glorious.
Great.
Because if you're not into DIY,
how about these Rolls Royce of the Window Box,
made in hardwood by Trevi Smith,
an old family firm up in the Black Country.
Again, made to take these inserts, you see.
So you've got a constant change of flowers as the seasons go by.
And drainage this time because it's got an insert.
Just these slats in the bottom.
And what's more, you get good sturdy brackets you can put together.
Don't hold anything. Certainly hold this.
If you'd like a permanent display in your window box,
then buy pots like this and just plunge them.
They can put some gravel in the bottom or a bit of rough compost.
But don't forget the drainage holes, even though they're in pots.
And place them in.
And then if you want to remove them, if they die or they get too big,
it's so much more simple.
This is Elwood's gold, but there are masses of cupresses to choose from.
And heebies. This actually is a dwarf one.
And then the ever-useful ivies.
They'll last all through the winter as well.
And heathers. There are many to choose from,
but this is one of my favourites.
That's Jack Brummidge. Looks good all the year round,
but particularly in the winter.
Many people are quite happy to garden on their patios or maybe a balcony
or just a patch outside the back door.
But what sort of pot would you recommend, Steve, for this purpose?
Well, you have this new terracotta pot now, which is becoming very popular.
The only disadvantage is a little bit on the heavy side.
Frostproof?
To a certain extent.
It's not an ideal pot to leave out all winter.
If you've got a slightly protected area conservatory,
best to bring it in for the winter.
But this certainly is frostproof.
This is the new one now that's obviously just arrived onto the market.
Very lightweight, a little bit more expensive,
but very, very good value for money.
Not forgetting, of course, holes to be drilled into the bottom.
And, of course, the upturn crocs two to three inches deep in both of them.
Yes, even though it looks like clay, it doesn't act like clay, does it?
No, it doesn't.
And you'd soon get your plants waterlogged.
But there's a massive range, wall pots, from even tinier space.
They're very attractive, aren't they?
You can make your walls look very, very nice,
your fuchsias, your ivydraniums, libidias, et cetera,
a walker that may look very, very attractive.
Yes, I think they're wonderful.
And, of course, when you go to the top of the range,
you've got the strawberry pot there,
but it doesn't necessarily have to have strawberries growing in it.
It can look very, very effective with fuchsias, draniums,
busy lizzies once again.
As you say, a bit more expensive, but it looks very, very nice.
It's very classy.
But what's your most popular selling container?
The one we sell mostly is the modern-day white plastic
or whatever you'd like to call it.
Once again, of course, must be drilled with holes.
And once again, as you say, though, it's cheap and it's very effective.
But do choose trailing plants to break up that hard white.
Yes, yes.
Once you've lost the whiteness, it can look very, very effective.
Or for the people with a very limited budget,
you've got the new compressed peat.
Well, that's very good, because not only could you grow flowers in that,
but you could have a mini vegetable garden.
Yes, as you say, you know, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers...
A few radish, spring onions.
The list is endless, isn't it?
As you say, it's cheap, it's economical in everyone's pocket range.
Pansies look great in containers too.
Give you a colour right through the winter.
Now, you might think that's a terracotta one there, but it isn't.
There it is, very light.
Made of plastic, a lot cheaper.
Maybe not last as long, but well worth it.
Now, about this.
Now, you might look at that and think that's made of cast iron
and be worth a pound or two, but they're really quite cheap.
And again, you can see it's quite light plastic.
Just imagine these primulars in here,
and some miniature narsesite,
look really great in the spring.
Marvelous.
Richford Pottery specialises in the production of top-quality terracotta pots
by traditional methods.
The pots are formed by throwing or hand-mouldings,
decorated, fettled, turned and dried prior to firing in the kilns.
The largest pots take up to six weeks to come through the whole process.
These handmade pots in a variety of designs
mellow beautifully with age and carry a guarantee against frost damage.
Here are some imaginative and unusual plant combinations
in the selection of whichford pots.
For more information, please visit www.mooji.org
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The only problem with a nursery like this one is that it's just spoilt for choice.
Oh, there's a nice one. Strong and healthy, but not too big.
Just the job.
Hello, Helen, how's that?
I do love Japanese asalis, and that's a beautiful colour,
and it's going to match beautifully with the pots there.
Which one?
Oh, I don't know. They're so subtle, aren't they, in design?
Yes.
Very subtle.
You want to get one of those for a fiver?
No, they're top of the range, but they're quite beautiful, aren't they?
Gorgeous, yeah.
But I guess you'd have to take them in during the winter.
I take them in every night.
They must be expensive, then.
But, you know, they don't have to be expensive, are they, these patio pots?
Oh, no, certainly not. You've got this here.
Oh, if you've got a big display, yes.
It looks pretty authentic, too, doesn't it?
Yes, almost.
And you get a lot of stuff in there.
Oh, my word. Almost have a bath in it.
And then again, it's plastic, I know.
It doesn't look it. That's a great thing.
No, it's a choice of plants that's so important.
There's another?
Yeah.
This is made by the same people who made those lovely window boxes, you know.
Yes, it's very attractive.
Oh, heart would.
What I like about it is this water indicator here.
You see a little filler.
It's the lid. Pour the water down.
Tell when it's full.
When it comes complete with the supply of oil to keep the teeth in goodness.
This sort of thing will never spoil and last you for years.
That's it.
But, of course.
This will last you for years.
I'm grateful for putting geraniums in and things like that.
Well, yes, all sorts of cascading plants.
I think they're most attractive.
Yeah, and you must have filled it with water, you know, and used it for the plants.
It's your purpose.
That's it.
You must stand outside for the whole of the winter.
Now, this is a plastic pot.
And do make sure it is well-cropped because they do waterlog very easily.
But they certainly won't crack if you get a hard winter.
So the last of the ivies, pretty trailing ivies and a dwarf conifer and multi-purpose compost.
And you won't need to feed it at all till at least next spring.
And if you do want a splash of color, a few crocus bulbs, muscari, do keep them dwarf, though.
And finally, I'm going to plant up one of my favorites, this wooden tub.
Now, the most important thing about planting up a tub for the winter
is to make sure it has really good drainage.
So first of all, some crocs.
And place this one over the main drainage hole concavely
and then finish filling it with all the other bits of croc.
And you can never put too much croc in because plants I'm going to put in are all acid-loving
and love really good drainage.
There are always plenty of broken pots around most people's gardens.
There we are.
And that's ready for planting.
Now, you must use an ericaceous compost.
This is so important because I'm going to use a miniature rhododendron.
And I'm going to put some heathers around it, too.
And of course, you can use camellias.
And there are many, many other things that you can't grow in lots of gardens.
So here we are.
This is the miniature rhododendron going in.
You've got to get the height right.
There's a little more compost.
Make sure your plant is damp before you put it in.
Give it a good soaking.
It's amazing how much compost these plants really need.
And again, if you want a really good splash of colour in the spring,
there's so many bulbs that you can choose.
But don't forget, do keep them dwarf.
You don't want to hide this lovely plant.
Right.
That's the rhododendron sitting quite happily.
There's a massive choice of heathers in the garden centres nowadays.
And so I'm just going to put a pretty mixture in.
Some will fly in the winter, some in the spring.
Because these rhododendrons do have quite a long life of blooms.
Lovely foliage here to contrast.
I think five will be ideal.
I hate to see tubs with very little in.
And there's plenty of compost to keep them going.
Now fill up.
And this is ready to sit on your patio for a bright splash of colour in the winter.
The final level of the compost should be about an inch to an inch and a half below the rim.
And this applies to any container so that it makes it easy for watering and feeding.
And as with all pots, hanging baskets, any type of container,
they do need a thorough but gentle watering so you don't disturb the soil too much.
And to help you, we've compiled a list of all the plants we've used on our hanging baskets, pots and containers,
plus many, many more suggestions.
And you will find that inside the video sleeve.
Bye for now.
From early September and over, the shops and stores, garden centres and nurseries
are full of a wonderfully appetising collection of bulbs.
You can put them in the ground of course, and a lot of us do.
But what about other containers?
Clay containers like this, window boxes, or how about a hanging basket?
Now this is one we made up earlier.
It's got three primrose in at the moment, some ivy to go over the side.
And it's nicely packed with moss with the compost in the middle.
And we're going to put some daffodil bulbs in first of all.
Pressing them down nicely.
So the tips will just be on or below the surface.
And now for a bit of compost.
Not a lot, just enough to get the tips just about covered.
Should do very nicely.
I'm going to take it off the leaves as we go along.
And in the top there, I'm going to put some of these crocuses.
Imagine how they'll look when they come up later on.
Really brilliant.
Press them in there.
You've got to remember, of course, all these bulbs, they point side upwards.
Otherwise they do take just that little bit longer.
There's the last of them around there.
Pointed side up again.
That'll look really treat when they come up.
There's a little more compost on the top.
Daffodil leaves, of course, nicely even.
When that's out of watering, that'll be ready.
Now, how about a container like this?
Nice terracotta container guaranteed against frost damage.
And these are forget-me-nots here.
And we're going to put some of these tulips in.
Nice bulbs these are.
Again, reasonably deep.
The last three in.
And all we need here is a nice bit of watering
and there'll be a way.
And don't forget all those lovely spring flowering plants you can get as well.
Like the polyanthes, the orbretia, the bellies, and the pink and white shades.
And in the front there are the lovely little viola.
Quite howdy.
That's Blue Princess, that one.
Looks a real picture, doesn't it?
So don't use your baskets and containers just in the summertime only.
Use them in the spring and winter as well.
There are many more plants than the ones I've shown you here.
So have a go and really get some color right through the year.
Well, that's it.
I hope you've enjoyed it as much as we've enjoyed showing you.
Have fun.
Bye-bye.