NIGEL – MEMORIES OF A GOOD LIFE N July 2020
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Welcome D
oes anything taste sweeter than a tomato you’ve grown yourself, nurtured and brought to full ripeness under the sun – then enjoyed within moments of picking? We don’t think so! Thousands of you are discovering this joy for the first time this year, reaping the rewards of a springtime spent lockdown gardening. So we’re celebrating summer’s finest and freshest flavours in this issue, with our guide to picking produce at its peak and enjoying it simply, within minutes – to let the taste sing out. You’ll find recipe ideas for all our favourite crops – and we want to hear your tips, too, so do share them with us on email, and social using #freshlypicked. And we celebrate Nigel’s life and good times in these pages, led by Monty’s moving reflections on how joy and sadness are all part of life with pets. We know how many younger fans of the show were first drawn to watch by Nigel’s antics, effortlessly stealing every scene from Monty. He was such a special dog, with a gentle manner and visibly deep bond with Monty, and we all miss him hugely. We’ve made our video of Monty’s memories of Nigel easy to find and watch by printing a QR code for you to scan with your phone that takes you directly to it – you’ll find it on page 19. Memories, old and new, lie inside – as we’re looking forward to harvests we’ll savour and share, family projects to create and many glorious gardens reopening their gates again. Summer in the garden gives us so much to feel good about – let’s enjoy it!
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Contents
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July
6 We love July 12 Expert’s choice: cosmos 17 Full Monty: a tribute to Nigel 18 Nigel: a life in pictures 20 Have your say: reader letters 22 Clippings: news for gardeners 24 2 for 1 experts’ advice: tomatoes 29 Win! A Waltons summerhouse
Be inspired
30 Monty’s advice for water features 40 Carol shows how to grow tasty herbs 59 A to Z of houseplants: Cactus opuntia 75 Homegrown is the new eating out 89 On test: trowels
Do it now
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84
775
offers
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64 40
Su Summer ummer leaves and edible d flowers, photo by Getty Images/Maika 777
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These easy-to-grow pansies will bloom until next summer
FREE 14 30 winter-flowering pansies worth £24.95, plus other offers
Grow & Eat
Subscribe today!
Wildlife
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36 Nick Bailey’s container masterclass 46 20 family projects for summer fun 55 Adam creates a brick terrace 70 From plot to plate on Rekha’s allotment 83 Crops to start now 84 Stop pests eating crops – naturally
18 46
Offers for you
We love...
PHOTOS: MARSHA ARNOLD; SARAH CUTTLE; JASON INGRAM;REKHA MISTRY
On the cover… …
26 Subscribe to get two years of issues for the price of one 136 Treat a friend to a subscription to get 3 issues for only £5
62 What to watch out for in July 64 Alan explores wildlife on his doorstep
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Lift a shady spot with the right container
59
The bunny ears cactus is cute, but not cuddly
Q&A
111 Look out for rose leaf-rolling sawfly 112 Problem-solving for new gardeners 116 Gardeners’ Question Time
Last words
122 Crossword 137 Coming up next month 138 Tales from Titchmarsh
45 75
Enjoy feasts straight from your garden
Pack your borders with alliums
Plants 45 OFFER Get 100 allium bulbs for just £20 – while stocks last
ON TEST
89
We reveal our best buy trowels
73 HALF PRICE cosmos collection 81 SAVE 10% on plants and garden goodies with our online partners
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July 2020
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Alan spends lockdown getting to know his garden wildlife
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Rekha reaps the rewards of her hard work on the plot
Your 11-page July planner
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Carol grows her favourite herbs to perk up summer meals
18
Monty pays homage to his four-legged friend, Nigel
50 things to do this month Monty’s month 99 Flowers 102 Fruit & veg 104
Alan’s job of the month 107 Around the garden 108
Month 2020
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The summer looks out from her brazen tower, through the flashing bars of July Francis Thompson
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July 2020
We
We love July
July
Oh, hello there July, here you are again. The month that is the fulcrum of summer. It sits in the centre of the seesaw – on one side are the soft months of late-spring bulbs, the full blowsiness of roses and the scents of June. On the other side are the hot, dusty days of August and the sweet, cool, calm of a glorious early autumn. This is the month when the greens darken as the leaves become more leathery, and the colours drift from pastels into the strident vividity of late-summer scarlets, pokey oranges and yolky yellows WORDS JAMES ALEXANDER-SINCLAIR
In May, we were awash with alliums: white ones, purple ones and pink ones. Some with flowers like sputniks, others with blooms as big as a bundled lemur. They are a big part of our early-summer gardens, but by July, they have faded to handsome but less colourful seedheads. Except they haven’t all gone over, as in July we have the pleasure of the drumstick allium, so called because, if Ginger Baker was ever caught short of a stick, he could conceivably use them for a bit of a paradiddle. Wouldn’t last that long though, so best keep them for a bit of extra colour instead. Plant as bulbs in autumn. Best in company with other plants as they need a bit of support. H x S 90cm x 8cm July 2020
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PHOTO: JASON INGRAM
STAR OF THE MONTH Allium sphaerocephalon
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FLATHEADS AND FLUFF
The bold, flat heads of achilleas are really useful at this time of year. These gardenbred varieties are descended from the yarrow, a native grassland plant, so they go well with ornamental grasses. As here, they give a soft meadow effect, with a bit of zingy colour as an extra benefit. Achillea ‘Terracotta’ Lots of newer varieties, like this one, in shades of red and yellow. Good on poor, free-draining soil. H x S 110cm x 40cm
Achillea ‘Moonshine’ Quite short lived, so remember to propagate. Divide plants in spring. Tolerates most things except winter wet and shade. H x S 60cm x 60cm
Stipa tenuissima Cut back in early spring. Grow from seed in a cold frame in spring. Good in any soil. H x S 60cm x 30cm
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July 2020
July WeWe Month
TOTALLY NUTS To keep some order in our gardens, all plants need to be named (in Latin) according to the Linnaean system. This may sometimes seem confusing – especially when old favourites are suddenly renamed. However, sometimes those wise folks who name plants get it absolutely spot on and here is a fne example. You take one look at this sanguisorba and you get it – of course it looks like a lilac squirrel, what else? Sanguisorba hakusanensis ’Lilac Squirrel’ Best in full sun with moist but free-draining soil. Divide plants in either spring or autumn. H x S 120cm x 120cm
SPOTLESS DOMINO I have never seen a red domino. In my limited experience, they tend to be rather conventional – sticking to black and white – so I considered this plant an oddity, until I grew it and was captivated. I had it in a border, and its longevity, striking colour and alluring scent – a bit like a sun-warmed sylph – made me forgive the breeder’s lexicographical hoo-has. An excellent annual. Nicotiana alata ’Domino Red’
PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; JASON INGRAM
Easy to grow and attractive to pollinators. Good in borders or containers. Propagate from seed sown in spring. H x S 30cm x 30cm
July 2020
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July
WATERSIDE WAVERING This is a great combination for the edge of a pond – the yellow spires provide good contrast for the squatter, flatter hydrangeas. The ligularia will grow on the muddy edge of the pond, while the hydrangea needs to be a bit higher up the bank – drier but not too dry! Clever bit of deceptive perspective in this photo! Ligularia przewalskii Best in water-retentive ground in full sun. Divide plants in spring or after flowering. Watch out for slugs and snails. H x S 1.8m x 90cm
Hydrangea ‘Lanarth White’ Lacecap hydrangeas have small flowers in the middle, with a fringe of showier (sterile) flowers. H x S 120cm x 120cm
GIVE US A KISS While thinking about this plant, may I just conjure up for you the vision of the very young Lauren Bacall. That scene in To Have and Have Not with Humphrey Bogart, where she walks towards the door and says, “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” Then she walks out of the door, leaving both Bogart and the audience gobsmacked. That scene is this plant.
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PHOTOS: PAUL DEBOIS; JOE WAINWRIGHT
Salvia ’Hot Lips’ Long flowering (May until about October). Easy to grow from cuttings. Deadhead to prolong flowering. H x S 100cm x 75cm
PHOTOS: TORIE CHUGG; SARAH CUTTLE; PAUL DEBOIS; GETTY/KONGXINZHU; JASON INGRAM
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’Xanthos’
Cupcakes Series
A neat variety with pale yellow single flowers and sometimes with white tips to petals. Height x Spread 60cm x 30cm
The petals are fused at the edges into a pink or white cup, often with a few stray petals in the centre. H x S 1m x 50cm
‘Antiquity’
’Sonata White’
Two-tone single flowers open deep red, then develop paler tips and a coppery haze in maturity. H x S 70cm x 30cm
Short prolific plants , neat enough for pots, with bright white petals and a golden centre. H x S 60cm x 40cm
Cosmos Jan
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July 2020
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E xpert ’s ch oi ce
Cosmos bipinnatus
Whatever the variety, and there’s a dizzying range, these are all very easy to grow, says Graham Rice They’re like big daisies, right? Well, yes and no. Wild Cosmos bipinnatus from Arizona and Central America is tall, up to 2m in height, its divided leaves cut into thread-like leaflets and big yellow-eyed daisy flowers with white or pink petals. After it arrived in Britain from Mexico in 1799, the seed companies started reducing the height to a metre or a little more, separating the flower colours and bringing forward the flowering time from late to early summer. A hundred years later there were double flowered varieties. Then it took another hundred years for ‘Sonata White’, just 60cm tall, to make cosmos suitable for the smallest gardens. The last thirty years have brought new colours, at least three different kinds of bicolours, three kinds of double-flowered varieties and new flower shapes. The latest innovation is the lovely Cupcakes Series, originating in a private garden in California, in which the petals are fused into an elegant bowl. But the elegantly simple single-flowered types retain their appeal, with traditional colours, antique shades and peachy bicolours, mixed with prolific flowering. And the one thing that has remained constant all this time is that they’re easy to grow. You can even sow them now for autumn flowering. M Happy in any reasonable soil in full sun, though avoid extremes of drought and waterlogging. M Sow seeds inside in March or April, outside in May or even in June or July for later flowering. M Frost tender, so only plant them out after the last frosts in your area. M Taller varieties will usually need support, a single cane supporting the main stem is often enough. M Regular picking or deadheading will keep the flowers coming into autumn. M Where to buy mr-fothergills.co.uk, 0333 777 3936; nickys-nursery.co.uk, 01843 600972; thompson-morgan.com, 0333 400 0033.
‘Double Click Cranberries’ Each flower is crowded with cranberryred petals rolled into frilly tubes, often hiding the yellow eye. H x S 1.1m x 45cm
July 2020
PLANT DIRECTORY Choose varieties of cosmos to suit your garden by using our plant fnder at gardenersworld.com/search/plants gardenersworld.com
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The Fu ll Monty
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July
Monty recalls his much-missed golden retriever Nigel and reflects upon what we can learn about ourselves from the devotion of a good pet I once had a dog called Nigel. From day one he was part of the family. He soon grew into a big strong dog, bounding with energy. The image of Nigel in his latter years, quietly plodding around is only half the story. For the first three years of his life he was astonishingly athletic, able to leap and run and swim as well as any dog I have ever had. His reaction speeds were incredible, but this was to prove his undoing. In 2012, when he was just four, he snapped his back leaping for a ball. The vet, the great Noel Fitzpatrick, said that it was not unknown but very rare. To create the force needed to cause your vertebrae to explode in that way you needed to be exceptionally strong, slim and dynamic. That was our Nige. He did heal, thanks to Noel’s miraculous care and some patience: six weeks on a lead at all times when outside; four twenty-minute walks
Nigel represented a basic decency that we all crave... he was a symbol of goodness
PHOTO: MARSHA ARNOLD
a day; no running or jumping – though in his head, Nigel was still a fit dog in his prime, he itched to leap and bound and resume normal service. He never quite regained his full youthful exuberance, but instead, he devoted his life selflessly to two things. The first, and greatest love of all, was the fetching and depositing into pots, baskets and wheelbarrows – of yellow tennis balls. Other colours were occasionally allowed but yellow was better, and yellow and squeaky, best of all. Thanks to the hundreds that were given over the years, he accumulated a large selection that lived in a basket by his bed. Every time we went into the garden he would go to the basket and choose the current favourite. All of them – over 50 – are now buried with him in the coppice. His other career was in television. There was never a plan to have him on Gardeners’ World. It just happened. He would be around me in the garden and the film crew would notice that he seemed to naturally find the perfect spot where the composition and light worked. After a while, he’d come to work on a filming day as a signed-up member of the crew, staying with us for the entire ten hours,
and, without any prompting, striking exactly a pose that best suited the shot. He’d often steal the scene by placing his ball down in the least opportune moment. Worked every time. And Nigel became famous. Really famous. Everywhere I went people would always ask, ‘Where’s Nigel?”. On aeroplanes, in royal palaces, in hospitals, in Japan, America – even, most weirdly of all, during my brief visit to Iran in 2017. Nigel was known everywhere. When I gave talks, I knew that really people wanted to see him, not me. The One Show had him on as a star guest with his own dressing room, hairdresser and a limousine home. Hay Literary Festival had a sold-out event that was an hourlong interview with Nigel. I came along as the interpreter. At Christmas he had many more cards than the whole family combined. He became A Star. This was strange and funny and lovely but, actually, something more serious was going on. Yes, he was handsome, incredibly photogenic and his guide dog genes meant he was ideally suited to the patience needed for the snail-slow process of filming. But it was more than that. I think that the genuine love and affection that people felt for Nigel was based on something deeper. He had an innocence and dignity that shone out. He had life stripped down to the things that mattered to him and he pursued them with a quiet focus. He was loyal and affectionate and, for such a big shaggy bear of a dog, very gentle. For those of us privileged to share our domestic lives with animals of any kind we know the extra level of humanity that this brings out in us. The loss of a much-loved pet involves real grief, real sorrow. But the benefits of sharing our lives with them far outweighs that. In an age of trivia, uncertainty, duplicity, inequality and anxiety, Nigel represented a basic decency that we all crave. In the garden, at home with loved ones, he was a symbol of the goodness that we all know is there and which matters more than any amount of wealth or worldly success. He reminded us of our better selves.
Turn the page for our Nigel gallery
Monty on Nigel Watch Monty as he shares with us his memories of Nigel, recorded for the programme’s 50th anniversary in our dedicated page at gardenersworld.com/news/monty-on-nigel/ Follow Monty on Twitter at @TheMontyDon
July 2020
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Nigel: a dog’s life We share memories of Nigel from our archives – a true pro in front of the camera, and a gent off screen, too
WATER LOVELY DAY
d few months ol Nigel at just a
SCENE STEALER
A thick golden coat and endless patience meant Nigel always caught the light – just how photographers like their stars! 18
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Nigel was a symbol of the goodness that we all know matters more than wealth or success Monty Don July 2020
PHOTOS: MARSHA ARNOLD, MONTY DON, LUCY HALL, JASON INGRAM
A strong swimmer, floods held no fear for Nigel, as water poured into the Orchard Beds, last autumn.
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ON PATROL
An unintended star of the show, Nigel’s early appearances were accidental but soon, where Monty went, so did Nigel – to viewers’ joy.
BEHIND THE SCENES B
N Nigel graced many covers – but we can now reveal that a little biscuit bribery no was the way to get his full attention. w
PARTY TRICK!
Nigel always belied the old adage of never working with animals...
A PERFECT BOND
His love of tennis balls and stray snacks was matched only by being part of the action with Monty.
THROUGH MY EYES
Our star turned cameraman last year when we fitted him with a GoPro for Nigel-Cam.
Scan this QR code with your phone to watch our video of Monty remembering Nigel
July 2020
WATCH Nigel-Cam for a dog’s eye view of Longmeadow, and see more from the archives, at gardenersworld.com/news/monty-on-nigel/ gardenersworld.com
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Have your say
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July
The view from
your side of the fence
Nigel was a national treasure and will be sorely missed by all
Comforting words
HOT TOPIC
Nigel: everyone’s best friend Nigel’s passing touched so many across the world, not just the nation, with hundreds of emails and social media messages reaching us that shared your condolences, love and sympathy. Here is just a small selection: We wanted to say how sorry we were to hear that Nigel had died so suddenly. We cried when we heard the sad news. We know from experience how devastating the grief of losing a beloved pet can be. They become part of the family and the loss is great. The bond and love between Nigel and Monty was a joy to behold. He was a real character and was adored by so many Gardeners’ World fans across the globe. Nigel obviously had a good life at Longmeadow and it is so nice that he remains in the garden he so loved and enjoyed. Stuart and Cath Mitchell, by email Just a wee note to say how sorry I am to hear that Nigel has died. He was a great dog and we shall miss him. He always made me smile, and I really enjoyed it when Monty said to him
Write to us at
on one programme, “What is it Nigel? I am talking to the nation.” It was almost as if he was replying... “So am I.” He was a dog with patience, a definite sense of humour and a love of the garden. Thank you for sharing him with us. Gloria Potter, by email Sorry to hear about Nigel, seeing him on TV and in the magazine really did give me a boost. I noticed over the past season he didn’t show a lot of interest in his tennis ball – maybe he was keeping an eye on Nelly. He was a great pleasure to watch and had a lovely temperament. I hope you are able to name a plant after him, if so I’d like to suggest a yellow-tinged rose or something pink. God bless Nigel, and all of you. Clint Gibbs, Blackpool
I have just reread, for the umpteenth time, The Full Monty (May issue). I can almost hear Monty talking in his calm way about coronavirus. Monty has made me feel that life at the moment is not as bad as it seems. He has given us hope and the reassurance that we are all needing in these worrying times and for that I am truly grateful. Thank you Monty. Sheena Obrien, by email
Greener fingers Carol Klein’s article on environmental gardening Gardening for Changing Times (May issue), has really got me thinking; particularly concerning the environmental impact of having a lawn. Mine has dandelions strewn throughout it and plenty of early spring bulbs planted to feed the bees. I use no chemicals on it and have, until now, felt quite smug that I was a responsible wildlife gardener. Having read Carol’s article, I’m less smug and thinking of ways to reduce my environmental impact further. I wonder if planting a chamomile lawn would be an alternative to a full re-landscaping? Helen de Georgio, Kent We say: While chamomile does offer food for pollinators, the dandelions and bulbs in your lawn will already be helping a wide range of wildlife. We recommend as much diversity as possible to support the natural life in your plot.
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CROSSWORD ANSWERS (see p122) ACROSS 1 Dahlias 7 Tatton 8 Anemone 9 Larvae 11 Hosta 13 Papyrus 16 Aspera 18 Nursery 19 Abies 20 Ovate 22 Filament 23 Scald DOWN 1 Deadhead 2 Hoe 3 Ixora 4 Stella 5 Star 6 Hoya 10 Variegata 12 Sap 13 Pansies 14 Parrots 15 Sky 17 Ericas 19 Acid 21 End
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