This month on DIG IT Peter Brown and Chris Day discuss the latest news in the world of gardening, what’s on’s and as the winter kicks in, a look at those gardening tasks to keep your garden looking its best this month and beyond.

Friday 8th November Final Gardeners’ World programme of the season.

15th November RHS Glow 2024 Rosemoor.

20th November RHS Glow 2024 Harlow Carr Garden

22nd November RHS Glow at RHS Wisley and at RHS Hyde Hall

26th November NGS Annual Lecture ‘Gardening for the future with Fergus Garret, Garden Museum, London. Fergus reveals how vital biodiversity can thrive in anybody’s cultivated garden patch, using evidence gathered from the world-famous garden he looks after. Go in person or available live streamed.

Plant mentions: Lotus (water lily), Sea buckthorn, Magnolia, Dianthus, Violas, Wisteria, Picea, Pinus, dog friendly plants, sunflowers including the variety ‘Teddy Bear’, Tulips, Narcissus, Crocus, Alliums, Snowdrops, planting of bare-root hedging, shrubs and trees, Philadelphus, Dogwood, Hazel, Raspberry canes, Strawberry runners, garlic, Padron peppers, Wild service tree (sweets and beer tree), Microgreens, Cress and Amaryllis.

Product mentions: Sainsbury’s peat-free mushrooms, electric heron fence for ponds, Woughton Orchard in Milton Keynes, lawn blower, secateurs, loppers, composted bark, autumn lawn food, grease bands for fruit trees, cloches, horticultural fleece and clay pebbles in saucer,

News

RBG Kew scientists crack down on illegal sale of ornamental plants.

Edimentals see rise in popularity.

Sainsbury’s becomes first UK supermarket to introduce peat-free mushrooms

Nick Hamilton’s new book, The Right Jeans is published.

The new Government’s All-Party Parliamentary Gardening and Horticulture Group

LibDem MP Sarah Dyke seeks to speed up ban on peat farming with 10-minute bill

Roger Ward from Golden Grove Nurseries champions the use of slow growing and compact forms of conifers in new build gardens

Monty Don to design a dog-friendly garden at Chelsea 2025 in conjunction with the RHS and BBC Radio 2.

National Trust appoints Sheila Das as Head of Gardens and Parks.

Will Armitage appointed as the new HTA President.

Beechgrove Garden presenter Jim McColl dies aged 89.

Capability Brown’s Berrington Hall gets a floral makeover including a wisteria walk.

Climate revamp for Great Fountain Garden at Hampton Court Palace.

RHS issues call for urban planners to take garden provision more seriously.

Otters raiding garden ponds becomes a problem in Cumbria.

The Orchard Project celebrates 15 years restoring 700 public orchards.

Sunflower trials at RHS Hyde Hall’s Floral Fantasia.

North Wales bid to bring back rare ‘sweets and beer’ tree.

DIG IT Top 5: Top selling Herbs of the year

No5 Coriander, No4 Curly Parsley, No3 Chives, No2 Common Rosemary and at the top spot Garden Mint (spear mint).

Our special thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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In this episode of DIG IT Peter Brown and Chris Day chat with Jonathon Jones, OBE and managing director of Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall, home of the amazing Garden, Camellias, magnificent trees and a Tea plantation stretching 29 miles long!

People mentioned: Tea expert Chris Bond, authors Peter Blake and John Shepherd. The Ken Thomas Charitable Trust, a bursary opportunity set up for agriculturists to help fund their trips. Lord and Lady Falmouth, Plant hunter William Lobb, Dr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward (Wardian Case inventor), Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Tremap Partners, Conifer Conservation, Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, Country Life magazine tea column. London Tea Auction and Sarah Raven.

Plants mentioned: Camellia sinensis (tea), Camellia japonica, early flowering Camellia sasanqua, Growing salads out of seasons under home-made cloches, Japanese Musa (Banana), Magnolias, Eucryphia is a genus of evergreen shrubs and trees with several species native to Chile. Giant Redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum), Rhododendrons, Black Poplars (Populus nigra) and the recording breaking tallest Rhododendron.

Places mentioned: Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, Darjeeling, North India, Cornwall Garden Society (they also have a bursary scheme), Eden Project, Jonathon’s scholarship to travel to Japan and it’s great gardens, Falmouth University Japanese Gardens, Myerscough College and the Smithsonian Institution.

Tremap® is an easy-to-use free app on your phone which allows people to map and locate trees and shrubs anywhere in the world. It also means that Botanic gardens, parks, large and small private gardens don’t necessarily need to label their rare plants as this can be done virtually. Search ‘Tremap’ on your favourite APP store.

Jonathon’s castaway essential: A tried and trusted garden spade!

Tregothnan Estate, including Tea, Experiences, Holiday Cottages and Discover.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

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October is a wonderful month in the garden - crisp blue skies and fantastic autumn colour to enjoy. DIG IT’s Peter Brown and Chris Day look at the month as far as places to visit, what’s in the world of gardening news and timely tasks to be getting on with - so not quite the month to take your foot off the pedal!

What’s on

5th & 6th October, 10am-4pm: Buckingham Garden Centre’s Apple Weekend. Apple identifying with Gerry Edwards, apple pressing and juicing with the Mid Shires Orchard group, a Heritage Apple Display featuring over 100 varieties, Jessica Naish from the Buckingham Cut Flower Farm, a fantastic Tombola, plus The Woodland Trust and BBOWT.

Saturday 5th October: Autumn Plant Fair at RHS Garden Bridgewater, Manchester.

Saturday 12th October, 11am-4pm: National Alpine Garden Show at RHS Harlow Carr Gardens.

26th October - 3rd November: Scarecrow Hunt at Painswick Rococo Garden Trust in Stroud.

News

Giant mosaic made from apples at National Trust Cotehele in Cornwall last month.

Weather concerns could see tulip bulb prices rise by as much as 20% in 2025, Dutch growers warn.

Britain’s rarest orchid discovered after one man’s 15-year hunt.

New rare and endangered plant exhibition opens at Kew Gardens.

Plea to use less herbicides and pesticides in our towns voiced by The Pesticide Collaboration.

Tulip trees as well as storing more carbon are no longer hardwood they are now Midwood! It’s all about the cells, says new study.

Vegetable and flower seed merchant Dobies celebrates 130th anniversary.

‘Delphinium Dad’ efforts rewarded with National Plant Collection status.

Artists set to champion ancient plane tree.

A new garden commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth II is to be constructed in London’s Regent’s Park.

Upcycling facemasks left over from the pandemic to cradle developing melons by the team at Bluebird Care in Stroud and Cirencester.

Butterfly numbers drop disastrously reports Butterfly Conservation.

Blenheim Palace introduces bee swarms to its nine new woodlands.

Huge restoration for parklands at Crystal Palace.

New report sheds light on why many plants have prickles.

Dame Mary Berry joins 40th anniversary celebrations of the Macmillan & National Garden Scheme partnership. During the last 40 years the NGS has raised more than £19 million for Macmillan through private garden openings.

David Austin launches Bring Me Sunshine ® as Climbing English Rose.

DIG IT Top 5: Climbing roses

As we approach the root wrap and bare-root season learn about our bestselling roses.

Product mentions: Long handled bulb planters, greenhouse disinfectant, bubble insulation, hedgehog houses, lawn rake and leaf grabbers, bird feeders ready and primed with wild bird mix, sunflowers, peanuts, and fat balls. Evergreen Autumn Fertiliser, and lawn seed for overseeding and patch repair.

Plant mentions: Allium ‘Rosy Dream,’ Taylors Bulb of the Year and Daffodil ‘June Allyson,’ Daffodil of the Year, Dogwoods, Hostas, Salix (Willows), planning for hedges, Garlic, Onions, and Shallots to plant now, pumpkins to harvest and rhubarb propagation - remove healthier outer sections to create new crowns.

Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for supplying the music.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.