The resource I was short on 20 years ago was patience. I wish I'd chosen to install some type of irrigation before I planted a single plant. Then had exercised patience and spent my budget on backbone plants--evergreens and shrubs, and lived with some gaps covered with mulch for a while, instead of being in a rush to cover the ground and blowing my budget on annuals. For a home gardener, a border isn't built in a year.
Agreed! You took the words right out of my mouth! However, back when I first started I was renting, so the way I see it, is I wouldn't still be at tue same house anyways, so at least I had a beautiful garden whole I was there. 🤷♀️ but now that I'm buying my home, I'm working on the bones- planting an arbovitae hedge around the perimeter, investing in shrubs & perennials, etc. The first couple years I focused on building our food gardens & structures like trellis' & things, & then year 3 we began to work on the rest of the bones, the more expensive bones... 😂
This is the best video I’ve seen from you. Especially since I’m now landscaping my entire front yard which is very large. This will be a really big help as I design and plant. Very nice selection of plants! Thank you so much.
90% of the time I’m sensible and buy the plants I need, right plant right place style, but occasionally, invariably, something stunning will seduce me and it’s utterly inappropriate for my garden but I shove it in anyway and it either buys the one-way ticket to oblivion or gets dug up and given away. Will I EVER learn…? 😂🥴 I garden on heavy clay that I’m systematically improving with leaf mould, some grit and so on, but this means delicate fancy flowers certainly aren’t my focus, they can’t take the soil. I tend to have a few fancy fussy flowers in pots but my borders are primarily flowering shrubs. Once you get into shrubs, you realise the right ones can give you a fabulously interesting plot even in the depths of winter. So I’m really not sorry that my soil has forced me NOT to be one of those flower obsessed gardeners who then only have bare soil and stumps to look at in the winter. Roses love my soil, however. I have a rose my grandfather planted in 1950 that’s still alive and seems to be getting even better in recent years. It always gets a little blackspot but it never harms the blooms and it doesn’t seem to care about it!
Absolutely agree on all points. And a little blackspot seems to land on all roses at some point every year, it never seems to affect their flowering, as far as I can see.
Gypsum powder is great for reducing clay in your soil. A few handfuls, pitchfork for aeration and watering...give it a few weeks, add compost and you will begin to have more manageable soil. Jo.😊
I try and just buy what I'm looking for but love to come across something new as I can find a place for about anything. I enjoy seeing what new plants mature into. Started buying more native plants for my area and growing from seed.
Easily one of the best and most informative videos iv seen on gardening 👏👏packed with tips and useful advice. Iv even saved it for future reference. you always ask the pertinent question Alexandra and give solid practical advice yourself. 👏
I’m in zone 10a on the Northern California coast. The way I choose plants is what will the deer not eat to the ground or the gophers destroy! I have to plant everything in underground cages, where the gophers will either eat the roots or undermine the plant. Even if the deer don’t demolish the plant, they will eat the flowers of coreopsis, calendula. Shasta daisy… they’ve even eaten my rhododendrons! I love all of your videos and I’m so inspired by the beautiful gardens and all the amazing information. I had 5 1/2 acres of gardens and managed them all well with all of the same critters and no fencing except my vegetable garden. But on the coast, I’ve struggled much harder in a tiny garden with the deer and gophers. I found gardening rather easy with a large garden. On some level I do like the challenge of gardening in a tiny space with difficult issues. That said, I would enjoy having my garden established without constantly performing triage! I would appreciate seeing how other gardeners deal with with challenges like deer, gophers, fierce wind, fog, and salty air. ❤❤
I have been back in my cabin home in Washington state for 16 months now. I can honestly say that using your videos like a library to answer my gardening questions has given my new garden time to take shape into something that feels good and belongs to the wildlife around me. I have had people tell me to get a professional in to organize it all. Yes, I think that would have been a great idea but for some reason I resisted it because I am finding satisfaction in learning, observing and placing plants and walk areas that seem natural to my style. More and more of my grass is disappearing and the increase in wildlife activity is increasing due to tips I am learning from you. Thank you for these easily accessible and enjoyable videos! Please thank all the professionals for their tips too! I am now a "no dig" gardener and I won't "tidy" my garden at the end of the season.
Das Video hat mir Mut gemacht, wenn es soweit ist meiner Rosen zuschneiden, dass ich nicht so zimperlich sein muss 😂 Herzlichen Dank für das lehrreiche Video!
Without a doubt, your best video so far, and that bar is pretty high! Fantastic questions and input from your very knowledgeable guests. Thank you so much! I am already mentally reworking my borders for next year!
One of the most valuable, insightful and helpful gardening videos I have watched! Thank you for sharing this knowledge with us. Definitely will re-watch many times again. Greeting from Denmark! ❤
I own a nursery in Northern California and I can say, after checking many times, that it's cheaper to buy from the nursery than buying online. Cheaper still is big box stores but you don't usually get the same level of expertise on the staff end as you would in a locally-owned nursery. Nurseries often have a discount section ours is half off which is a great source for less expensive plants. I've actually gotten many plants from our half off, and even our free section, take them home put them in the ground and they thrive. We have customers that come every week to buy from our half-off section and they're building their entire gardens that way.
Sometimes here it isn't necessarily cheaper to buy from local growers, but it is definitely better. The plants are healthier, the advice you get really improves the plant's outcome and the plants have been grown in the same climate as your garden! So yes, I agree.
I learned a lot today from your video. I always struggled with deciding what to add to the borders to fill up the empty spots waiting for the perennial to grow. Now I know you can fill it up with annuals, even spreading seeds there, and over time the perennial will naturally stomp them out and you wouldn’t have to worry about annuals growing out of control! I used to worry that the annuals are eating up the energy needed for the perennial, silly me 😅
Not silly at all! There is always a certain amount of policing to do in gardening - my cosmos got very big this summer and did look as if they might overwhelm some new perennials, but it was easy to snip them back.
Thank you so much, Jo, for sharing your beautiful garden with us. It means more than you know to those of us who miss being out in our gardens. It gives me inspiration to try a little harder to get out and play in the dirt again! I’m just north of you in Kingwood, so I like seeing what’s working for you so I can try it
Hello Alexandra, thank you; your compilation of the technical, architectural and artistic questions and advice from these experts is so comprehensive! This video will definitely be on my re-watch list . I recently discovered and purchased the “RHS Gardener’s Five Year Record Book” so that I can document all my notes and experiences in one place. I will now use your spreadsheet ! 🌸❄️❤️🇨🇦
For grasses, I like to grow them in containers so I can tuck them into open spots (instead of annuals). Plus I like to move them around. Great video, Alexandra. 💚
Very nice video with good tips and trics. Here in the Netherlands you can't find , most of the time, how wide the plants will grow. On the plant tags. . Only the hight. I whis they did.
Thanks for this great resource. I had to pop this on the big TV! And grab a pen and paper to remember new plants to track down.(After watching UK gardening videos, it took me two years to find verbena bonariensis.)
Thank you! In some ways, I made it for the big TV as TH-cam research shows that more people are watching TH-cam on their TV and longer programmes are more comfortable in that format - you don't want to be looking up a new programme every 10 or 15 minutes on a TV, whereas it's easy on a tablet or mobile.
I loved the cost saving tips. So many ideas here!! Now I’m trying to find out if I can curve the city owned sidewalk in front of my house without getting into trouble!!. I loved the idea of a 360 degree garden experience also: completely surrounded by greenery and gobs of flowers. Such encouragement here!!! Thank you!!
Hi. Excellent informative video. A wealth of great information. Love your channel and videos. Thank you so much for sharing . Happy Gardening! Take care. 👌👍💚
I’ve been experimenting with growing perennials from seed. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many one can find available. One really fun one is growing Dahlia from seed. They are extremely easy to start and bloom great. The downside is you don’t know what color they will be.
I grew dahlias this past year and now I have a ton of tubers😂. I will replant next spring and see how they do if they make it in storage. Going forward I may purchase a couple favorite colors and just have a few as they are work and expensive. Mine were mostly basic colors with a couple interesting variations. It was quite an experience. I tried penstemon also and hope they winter over. Growing from seed is a money saver and now I’m propagating as well.
Your videos are always so interesting and helpful. I always learn something. Does anyone know the name of the magenta/rose colored planted featured in Tom Brown's segment (time stamp 13:37)?
It's cirsium rivulare Atropurpureum - one of Tom's favourite plants and there's more about it in this Short: th-cam.com/users/shorts314yYxz4sWo?feature=share
Again, This is so helpful. I'm revamping something to include more drifts. I'm propagating and after the first frost is a real good time to find your "bones" of the garden. I am going to bump up the number of matrona sedums in front of my feather grass. Adding more soil to help them bulk up. My heath aster is intermixing with my feather grass so it makes it so beautiful. All coming together.
Don't forget that you can grow many annuals and perennials from seed for very little. If you're not prepared to start seed indoors, you can easily do it in jugs outdoors, in a method called winter sowing. I have grown more things than I can count from seed started this way outdoors. Perennials can also be divided and divided again and again. Not by cutting, but divided at the roots. I have done this with hydrangeas, roses, ninebarks, viburnums, heucheras, grasses, gardenias, nandinas, salvias, etc. etc. You can just buy one and multiply most relatively quickly.
When I moved into my place I had only 2 flower beds which very quickly got a bit crowded with the ornamental grasses i planted. I opened another area & transplanted several of these glasses. Well, in 1 year they’ve spread to over a meter each. Possibly winter will tame them? Spring time I want to divide them & plant other areas to create extra excitement in the communal garden where other residents are not keen gardeners.
Love your show and watch every issue starting from the beginning. When I look at these gorgeous borders with huge clumps of iris, I wonder what happens when the leaves go yuck? Will you do a presentation on the use of iris including what to do after the beauty fades?
Great tips! I wish I could plant freely without wildlife fencing. It’s hard enough to deal with views, sun and utilities, but then to have to view plantings through fencing is not the same. The deer would have your beautiful gardens mowed, I can’t afford that. Yes, look at the base of plants because I bought from an upscale center and it was fall sale, got them home and one perennial looked wonderful, but when I planted it half the roots were gone (salvia). So 6-9’ is great info for border depth and think I can do that in the fenced area. I find things get cramped for digging bulbs amongst perennials so think I will dedicate an area for them and add annuals. I found baby’s breath looked wonderful amongst annuals and perennials and alyssum and calendula are very hardy. I’m having a time containing poppies and I’m elated they are taking over, but they look tatty later on. Staking early would be smart. I’m finally successful with foxglove and they will bloom next year. They are a bit crowded and didn’t want to move for fear I’d kill them so they will have to tuff it out. Can’t wait to see them👏🏼👏🏼
wonderful program, as are they all. May i ask what is that stricking white plant, neara the statue at around 16.19 +/- , it looks vividly white. Well done. Thank you.
at 10:22 you see it just past the ?? fountain on the left in the front of the boarder. it a low growing mound?? of somethjing. I'm not sure that if is foxglove. thanks for looking.
@@charlesshene9036 I've had another look and you're right, it's not foxglove, but I don't know what it is. I will try to find out, but it may take a while.
What a great video, really useful for myself as we have the gardens new structure sorted but for the borders we are pretty clueless so this will be of great help. Thanks 👍
I think it probably depends on what your local plant shops are selling. Here there is usually a selection of both 9cm and 2L plants and there's not usually any difficulty in sourcing 9cm plants. If you buy plants online, there's often a choice in sizes, too. Sorry I can't be more specific but good luck hunting them down.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden well its back in fashion! My daughters would looove it too. Thanks for the wonderfully inspirational vids, happy hols from Ireland🎄
Video request: Techniques, knowledge and courage needed to plant things close to get that full English-style border look. The majority of landscaping around me involves a few shrubs in oceans of mulch. I want to convert my own home to have less bare earth but still not cause a fuss in the neighborhood-at least not in the wrong way 😅 Love the channel. Thanks for your content.❤
Thank you for another wonderful video. Sadly, in zone 8b Pacific Northwest, I don’t have the sun for a lot of perennial flowers, but I do use part sun flowering shrubs, and many Japanese maples in various stages of maturity. Evergreens for part sun are the backbone in winter. It’s surprising the color, height, and foliage differences that one can achieve in part sun. Sometimes I use an obelisk with clematis growing up for height too.
What do you use to underplant Alliums? Excellent ideas but I really don’t like looking at their yellowing leaves which look sad when the blooms are at their peak.
I heard this advice on a youtube gardener (can't remember who). The suggestion was to underplant with hardy geraniums which can interweave strongly when the alliums are fading. I'm going to try that next year among my allium Christophi. The geranium I like a lot is Rozanne. It's strong & blooms all summer.But there are many nice ones. I'm in zone 6a, U.S. upstate NY.
I know what you mean - I use them (a grand way of saying 'mine self seed...' alongside emerging perennials, so that as the allium leaves die back, the emerging dahlia, persicaria and other foliage is just coming out to cover it up. It slightly depends how fast everything is emerging, and I like the advice from janereel1903 below, too.
Wonderful advice! I wonder if anyone could tell me the name of the fantastic grass on the right at time stamp 44.34- the one that looks very feathery and light? I know the one on the left is stipa, but the one flanking it on the other side? Its gorgeous Thank you!
Thank you for this really interesting video, Alexandra. I have seen the grass with the long white flower heads a few times, mainly on Gardeners World, but I haven't got a clue what it is and would love to know as i really like it, and wuld love it in my garden. Can you please tell me what it is please? many thanks and happy gardening 😃PS.the grass is shown at around 8 - 8.13 minutes into the video
It's a pennisetum, but I don't have a record of which variety. You could google pennisetum available in your area to get the closest match available to you.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I thought it might be\ a Pennisetum but couldn't find anything the same on a search. Do you think it might be\ Hameln? Do you know if that is hardy or not? Thank you Alexandra x
Can u please talk about Agaphantus? How really hardy is? Or which varieties are hardier? Do u have them in ur borders or in pots? Thank u always for ur beautiful vlogs and interviews
Thank you! I will look into doing something on agapanthus, but in the meantime it's a good idea to find a grower or supplier in your area as they will stock the agapanthus variety most likely to grow in your climate and they'll also be able to give you the appropriate advice for your situation. If no-one in your area or just beyond sells agapanthus, it probably means that they don't do well in your conditions.
Thank u very much. I didn’t see any Agaphantus around here but this is an area heavy in agriculture and not so much on flowers. And Farmer Gracy have great bulbs and they describe them as fully hardy but I am not sure as rare we can have minus 15 Celsius. Appreciate ur help 🥰
I love your videos, I have watched so many of them and often more than once, I think that is why I feel a bit disappointed when they are mostly compilations of previously released footage. Even though there may be new footage added I don't want to sift through an hour long video to find the new content.
That's why I'm careful to say that it's a compilation in the description under the video and that to say in the intro that it's drawing together advice - broadly speaking the compilation videos are so that people can have all the information on a specific topic in one place, so they don't have to search for different videos but they're not new material, so if you see 'compilation' in the description under the video (and I promise I'll always put it there) then don't watch it unless you want all the material in one place. I'm also trying to emphasise compilations by using a different kind of thumbnail, so that they look different from the new videos, but broadly speaking if it's around an hour long, it's a compilation, but if it's 8-30 minutes, then it's new material. Hope that helps!
I have another question. When gardens have large swaths of daffodils how do you design around them to make it look lovely after the flowers fade? English Garden's this month said to leave a grass swath but that won't work in my garden.
You do have to leave the daffodils leaves to die naturally before you cut the lawn - if you mow too soon, you will cut off leaves which are working to create next year's flowers. It's a bit of a tricky one - if you've got daffodils in borders, you hope that perennial foliage emerges to cover up the dying leaves and if the daffodils are in the lawn, there's not much option - you just can't mow too soon if you want flowers for next year. But longer grass would cover up the dying leaves somewhat.
OMG! Koko Loko is on my wishlist! I’ve never seen a standard Koko Loko and I have the new 2024 #HeirloomRosesCatalog . That is a prize . I don’t blame you one bit for buying it. I definitely would have used a credit card for that baby.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Well actually it’s quite simple. “Fuchs” is a rather common German family name, meaning “Fox”, pronounced as (for you English speakers) “Fooks”. Just add the “ia” to that and there you go.
A real gardener is a bit of a garden thief. I'm being very honest here. It's due to the passion we have to make the world a better place. I've often asked first, but at public gardens that have clumps of the same plant, I tend to take a very small snip. I'd say 80% of my gardens are from propagation and seed saving. I've bought the odd bulbs, interesting shrub and perenial, but most are from cuttings. As money is tight, I also mix veges in with my flowering borders....rainbow chard, cucumbers, Tom's and capsicum like to be set amongst the po,linators like cornflowers, salvias, penstamons and dahlias. I also grow beans up my sunflowers and tie string to my wash line to give beans more support. I'm only growing a few large sunflowers this summer, as the dwarf have plenty of flowers and are much more manageable. They only seeds that haven't germinated this summer, as astrantias, which I was so looking forward to. They are like miniature tiaras and I just adore them. I have managed to grow verbena bonariensis but they're so tiny as seedlings. Oh I just love all the surprises and learning from all the diverse gardeners knowledge. Jo from New Zealand.. .with the most beautiful scented rose named "Aotearoa", named after our country in Maori.. .land of the long white cloud. Check it out if you love large, strong scented pink, peach and sunrise looking roses.
To make matters worst WRT weeds, we've developed desirable plants from the weeds. eliminate the weeds, and then talk about insect "pests" eating our plants!
Yes, it's invasive in California, Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Hawaii, but not in some other US states, such as Georgia, and not invasive in the UK where this was shot.
They're all OLD videos. It says so in the introduction! It's pulling together a compilation so that people don't have to hunt around for related videos.
I could not handle all the dead in the last garden you showed!!! Not yours. I would HAVE to either cut them back or just not have them if I'm looking at something dead during the growing season! That garden WAS messy and not pleasing at all!!
I started creating a border in July - it looked lovely in the summer but now is a bit bedraggled 🙄 I'm forward thinking to Spring now planting lots of bulbs but also trying to make sure I plant lots of evergreen plants so that next autumn although there will be gaps there'll also be some kind of structure there 🌿🌱🌷🪻
Making a border seems to be an endless process of learning and adjustment, but that's the fun of it. What about adding some grasses for late season interest?
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I just bought 3 ornamental grasses - I repotted them today am going to see how big they get and put them in the gaps in the border - it's been extremely windy here today I just put my hat coat and gloves on - and my flip flops 😆 and got on with it everything was flying everywhere 🙄 but I got it done 👍👏
The resource I was short on 20 years ago was patience. I wish I'd chosen to install some type of irrigation before I planted a single plant. Then had exercised patience and spent my budget on backbone plants--evergreens and shrubs, and lived with some gaps covered with mulch for a while, instead of being in a rush to cover the ground and blowing my budget on annuals. For a home gardener, a border isn't built in a year.
Absolutely. Gardening really teaches us patience
Good advice. I'm 71. It is never too late to start, I've always adored growing plants.
Such good advice!
Agreed! You took the words right out of my mouth! However, back when I first started I was renting, so the way I see it, is I wouldn't still be at tue same house anyways, so at least I had a beautiful garden whole I was there. 🤷♀️ but now that I'm buying my home, I'm working on the bones- planting an arbovitae hedge around the perimeter, investing in shrubs & perennials, etc. The first couple years I focused on building our food gardens & structures like trellis' & things, & then year 3 we began to work on the rest of the bones, the more expensive bones... 😂
I love seed heads in the Fall and Winter!
Me too!
I get the best advice from this channel. Thank you so much!
Thank you!
Magnificent video Alexandra. This was pleasing to watch and is jam-packed with valuable information. We appreciate your hard work! THANK YOU💚💚💚
Thank you!
Yes! Making videos like this takes considerable effort. This channel is a treasure. Thank you!❤
This is so timely. Now that the garden is put to bed it’s time to dream & scheme. Thanks for all your informative and inspiring videos!
Happy dreaming and scheming!
Amazing video- so appreciate the names of plants in some of the borders. Very helpful to learn about more plants! Thank you so much!
You are so welcome!
Excellent info! And guests! I will save this as it's a must rewatch again before the spring. Thank you!!🌺
Thank you!
This is the best video I’ve seen from you. Especially since I’m now landscaping my entire front yard which is very large. This will be a really big help as I design and plant. Very nice selection of plants! Thank you so much.
Thank you so much!
A slow firework display - love this 🥰
Thank you!
90% of the time I’m sensible and buy the plants I need, right plant right place style, but occasionally, invariably, something stunning will seduce me and it’s utterly inappropriate for my garden but I shove it in anyway and it either buys the one-way ticket to oblivion or gets dug up and given away. Will I EVER learn…? 😂🥴
I garden on heavy clay that I’m systematically improving with leaf mould, some grit and so on, but this means delicate fancy flowers certainly aren’t my focus, they can’t take the soil. I tend to have a few fancy fussy flowers in pots but my borders are primarily flowering shrubs. Once you get into shrubs, you realise the right ones can give you a fabulously interesting plot even in the depths of winter. So I’m really not sorry that my soil has forced me NOT to be one of those flower obsessed gardeners who then only have bare soil and stumps to look at in the winter. Roses love my soil, however. I have a rose my grandfather planted in 1950 that’s still alive and seems to be getting even better in recent years. It always gets a little blackspot but it never harms the blooms and it doesn’t seem to care about it!
Absolutely agree on all points. And a little blackspot seems to land on all roses at some point every year, it never seems to affect their flowering, as far as I can see.
Gypsum powder is great for reducing clay in your soil.
A few handfuls, pitchfork for aeration and watering...give it a few weeks, add compost and you will begin to have more manageable soil.
Jo.😊
@@jomassey4207Hi. Where do you buy this from? I’m in the UK.
Roses underplanted with Salvia stops fungal blackspot.
Great advice. I'll admit to being an impulse buyer. Your planning advice will help me greatly.
Thank you - I think we're all impulse buyers at heart!
Fantastic video! So much valuable information from top experts! Thank you so much! Learned a ton🍅
Glad you enjoyed it!
What a wonderful, comprehensive video! I will be saving this one to view again. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I try and just buy what I'm looking for but love to come across something new as I can find a place for about anything. I enjoy seeing what new plants mature into. Started buying more native plants for my area and growing from seed.
Always pleasure watching you, your channel helped me so much to make wise decisions thank you ❤
Thank y ou!
Easily one of the best and most informative videos iv seen on gardening 👏👏packed with tips and useful advice. Iv even saved it for future reference. you always ask the pertinent question Alexandra and give solid practical advice yourself. 👏
Thank you!
Amazing video and so inspiring! I'll be watching this video multiple times as I have a long border that I've been wanting to create. Thanks!
Thank you!
I don't think I'll ever get bored of watching a tree being installed, go camp Aaron!
I’m in zone 10a on the Northern California coast. The way I choose plants is what will the deer not eat to the ground or the gophers destroy! I have to plant everything in underground cages, where the gophers will either eat the roots or undermine the plant. Even if the deer don’t demolish the plant, they will eat the flowers of coreopsis, calendula. Shasta daisy… they’ve even eaten my rhododendrons! I love all of your videos and I’m so inspired by the beautiful gardens and all the amazing information. I had 5 1/2 acres of gardens and managed them all well with all of the same critters and no fencing except my vegetable garden. But on the coast, I’ve struggled much harder in a tiny garden with the deer and gophers. I found gardening rather easy with a large garden. On some level I do like the challenge of gardening in a tiny space with difficult issues. That said, I would enjoy having my garden established without constantly performing triage! I would appreciate seeing how other gardeners deal with with challenges like deer, gophers, fierce wind, fog, and salty air. ❤❤
I have been back in my cabin home in Washington state for 16 months now. I can honestly say that using your videos like a library to answer my gardening questions has given my new garden time to take shape into something that feels good and belongs to the wildlife around me. I have had people tell me to get a professional in to organize it all. Yes, I think that would have been a great idea but for some reason I resisted it because I am finding satisfaction in learning, observing and placing plants and walk areas that seem natural to my style. More and more of my grass is disappearing and the increase in wildlife activity is increasing due to tips I am learning from you. Thank you for these easily accessible and enjoyable videos! Please thank all the professionals for their tips too! I am now a "no dig" gardener and I won't "tidy" my garden at the end of the season.
That is lovely to hear, I'm so glad you found the ideas and tips helpful.
Das Video hat mir Mut gemacht, wenn es soweit ist meiner Rosen zuschneiden, dass ich nicht so zimperlich sein muss 😂
Herzlichen Dank für das lehrreiche Video!
Without a doubt, your best video so far, and that bar is pretty high! Fantastic questions and input from your very knowledgeable guests. Thank you so much! I am already mentally reworking my borders for next year!
Thank you, I'm so glad you liked it.
Thank you for sharing your expertise with us again. Nice presentation, lovely scenery, and excellent points for us to utilize. Cheers
Thank you!
The engagement is through the roof. Top content
Thank you!
One of the most valuable, insightful and helpful gardening videos I have watched! Thank you for sharing this knowledge with us. Definitely will re-watch many times again.
Greeting from Denmark!
❤
Glad it was helpful!
I own a nursery in Northern California and I can say, after checking many times, that it's cheaper to buy from the nursery than buying online. Cheaper still is big box stores but you don't usually get the same level of expertise on the staff end as you would in a locally-owned nursery. Nurseries often have a discount section ours is half off which is a great source for less expensive plants. I've actually gotten many plants from our half off, and even our free section, take them home put them in the ground and they thrive. We have customers that come every week to buy from our half-off section and they're building their entire gardens that way.
Sometimes here it isn't necessarily cheaper to buy from local growers, but it is definitely better. The plants are healthier, the advice you get really improves the plant's outcome and the plants have been grown in the same climate as your garden! So yes, I agree.
Great video - thanks a lot for all the effort that went into making this
Glad you enjoyed it!
I learned a lot today from your video. I always struggled with deciding what to add to the borders to fill up the empty spots waiting for the perennial to grow. Now I know you can fill it up with annuals, even spreading seeds there, and over time the perennial will naturally stomp them out and you wouldn’t have to worry about annuals growing out of control! I used to worry that the annuals are eating up the energy needed for the perennial, silly me 😅
Not silly at all! There is always a certain amount of policing to do in gardening - my cosmos got very big this summer and did look as if they might overwhelm some new perennials, but it was easy to snip them back.
Fantastic video as always. Thank you for bringing us to these wonderful places and providing such great information.
Thank you!
Thank you so much, Jo, for sharing your beautiful garden with us. It means more than you know to those of us who miss being out in our gardens. It gives me inspiration to try a little harder to get out and play in the dirt again! I’m just north of you in Kingwood, so I like seeing what’s working for you so I can try it
Thank you!
Hello Alexandra, thank you; your compilation of the technical, architectural and artistic questions and advice from these experts is so comprehensive! This video will definitely be on my re-watch list . I recently discovered and purchased the “RHS Gardener’s Five Year Record Book” so that I can document all my notes and experiences in one place. I will now use your spreadsheet ! 🌸❄️❤️🇨🇦
That's great to hear. I also used to use the RHS Five Year Record book, but in a way, my videos and blog posts have replaced it. Great diary, though.
For grasses, I like to grow them in containers so I can tuck them into open spots (instead of annuals). Plus I like to move them around. Great video, Alexandra. 💚
Thank you and great idea.
I don't usually know what what I want, mostly what's available and looks good, I am learning more what to plant and what time of year.
Love listening to Rosy Hardy!
Very nice video with good tips and trics.
Here in the Netherlands you can't find , most of the time, how wide the plants will grow. On the plant tags. . Only the hight. I whis they did.
That does sound annoying. I usually find there's advice online, particularly from the RHS, which although UK based, the information applies widely.
You are doing such a great job with these videos. I am very very grateful
Some gorgeous gardens and good ideas. Were those silver birches. In Rosie's nursery do you know? , stunning
@@annashieglif you click the 3 dots you can edit your comments to make corrections 👍
Yes, they are. And thank you!
@@helenagreenwood2305 oh thank you, you learn something new every day ☺
Thanks for this great resource. I had to pop this on the big TV! And grab a pen and paper to remember new plants to track down.(After watching UK gardening videos, it took me two years to find verbena bonariensis.)
Thank you! In some ways, I made it for the big TV as TH-cam research shows that more people are watching TH-cam on their TV and longer programmes are more comfortable in that format - you don't want to be looking up a new programme every 10 or 15 minutes on a TV, whereas it's easy on a tablet or mobile.
Love this garden, formal accents as well as natives and many great combinations .. and still kid friendly ❤😊
Fantastic video. Everyone is amazing especially Tom Brown. Thank you so much for posting
Glad you enjoyed it
I think your best show ever Alexandra.
Thank you!
Excellent Alexandra! A pleasure to watch!
Thank you!
This was extremely helpful. Thank you
Glad it was helpful!
I loved the cost saving tips. So many ideas here!! Now I’m trying to find out if I can curve the city owned sidewalk in front of my house without getting into trouble!!. I loved the idea of a 360 degree garden experience also: completely surrounded by greenery and gobs of flowers. Such encouragement here!!! Thank you!!
So glad you enjoyed it
Very good video. Many things to take away even though I don’t live in UK
Thank you!
Thanks!
Thank you so much - I really appreciate the support.
What a great idea to combine several great videos on the same topic. Thank you 🙏
Glad you liked it!
Such brilliant & comprehensive video & one that I will save to watch again & again. Thank you ❤
Thank you!
Really, really good! Thank you so much!
Glad you liked it!
Hi. Excellent informative video. A wealth of great information. Love your channel and videos. Thank you so much for sharing . Happy Gardening! Take care. 👌👍💚
Thank you!
Always enjoy watching these very interesting and informative videos. Thanks to everyone involved
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you so much for the plant list spreadsheet on your website!❤
You are so welcome!
I have been looking forward to this so much! Fantastic review as always..thanks for taking the time & effort to record this for us Ben. Loved it!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video!! So many wonderful ideas and advice. Thank you so much for posting!!
Thank you!
I’ve been experimenting with growing perennials from seed. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many one can find available. One really fun one is growing Dahlia from seed. They are extremely easy to start and bloom great. The downside is you don’t know what color they will be.
That's interesting and a good money-saving tip.
I grew dahlias this past year and now I have a ton of tubers😂. I will replant next spring and see how they do if they make it in storage. Going forward I may purchase a couple favorite colors and just have a few as they are work and expensive. Mine were mostly basic colors with a couple interesting variations. It was quite an experience. I tried penstemon also and hope they winter over. Growing from seed is a money saver and now I’m propagating as well.
Really helpful, thank you... we've recently moved to a new garden and have so much to do!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you, Alexandra! Lovely content.
Always inspiring and very practical ❤
Thank you so much!
Your videos are always so interesting and helpful. I always learn something. Does anyone know the name of the magenta/rose colored planted featured in Tom Brown's segment (time stamp 13:37)?
I'm looking for an answer too 🙏
It's cirsium rivulare Atropurpureum - one of Tom's favourite plants and there's more about it in this Short: th-cam.com/users/shorts314yYxz4sWo?feature=share
Cirsium rivulare - more about it in this short th-cam.com/users/shorts314yYxz4sWo?feature=share
Thanks very much. I hope to add it to my garden next season.@@TheMiddlesizedGarden
I think you are talking about the castor oil plant. Don’t know the Latin name.
Again, This is so helpful. I'm revamping something to include more drifts. I'm propagating and after the first frost is a real good time to find your "bones" of the garden. I am going to bump up the number of matrona sedums in front of my feather grass. Adding more soil to help them bulk up. My heath aster is intermixing with my feather grass so it makes it so beautiful. All coming together.
That does sound lovely
Don't forget that you can grow many annuals and perennials from seed for very little. If you're not prepared to start seed indoors, you can easily do it in jugs outdoors, in a method called winter sowing. I have grown more things than I can count from seed started this way outdoors. Perennials can also be divided and divided again and again. Not by cutting, but divided at the roots. I have done this with hydrangeas, roses, ninebarks, viburnums, heucheras, grasses, gardenias, nandinas, salvias, etc. etc. You can just buy one and multiply most relatively quickly.
What a great collection of plants grown from seed!
Thank you for another great video!❤
Glad you like them!
When I moved into my place I had only 2 flower beds which very quickly got a bit crowded with the ornamental grasses i planted. I opened another area & transplanted several of these glasses. Well, in 1 year they’ve spread to over a meter each. Possibly winter will tame them? Spring time I want to divide them & plant other areas to create extra excitement in the communal garden where other residents are not keen gardeners.
They sound rather gorgeous.
Thank you.
Excellent video as usual. :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Love your show and watch every issue starting from the beginning. When I look at these gorgeous borders with huge clumps of iris, I wonder what happens when the leaves go yuck? Will you do a presentation on the use of iris including what to do after the beauty fades?
Thank you! The sword-like leaves make quite a good sculptural presence in the border.
I took tip cuttings of hot lips sage and they rooted quite successfully in my greenhouse
Good idea.
Great tips! I wish I could plant freely without wildlife fencing. It’s hard enough to deal with views, sun and utilities, but then to have to view plantings through fencing is not the same. The deer would have your beautiful gardens mowed, I can’t afford that.
Yes, look at the base of plants because I bought from an upscale center and it was fall sale, got them home and one perennial looked wonderful, but when I planted it half the roots were gone (salvia).
So 6-9’ is great info for border depth and think I can do that in the fenced area. I find things get cramped for digging bulbs amongst perennials so think I will dedicate an area for them and add annuals. I found baby’s breath looked wonderful amongst annuals and perennials and alyssum and calendula are very hardy.
I’m having a time containing poppies and I’m elated they are taking over, but they look tatty later on.
Staking early would be smart. I’m finally successful with foxglove and they will bloom next year. They are a bit crowded and didn’t want to move for fear I’d kill them so they will have to tuff it out. Can’t wait to see them👏🏼👏🏼
Thank you! I do sympathise about the deer - I don't have them as I'm in town, but I know they devastate many gardens.
wonderful program, as are they all. May i ask what is that stricking white plant, neara the statue at around 16.19 +/- , it looks vividly white. Well done. Thank you.
The only white flower I can see roughly around that time is a white foxglove, could that be it?
at 10:22 you see it just past the ?? fountain on the left in the front of the boarder. it a low growing mound?? of somethjing. I'm not sure that if is foxglove. thanks for looking.
@@charlesshene9036 I've had another look and you're right, it's not foxglove, but I don't know what it is. I will try to find out, but it may take a while.
Thank you and no rush it’s winter here. We don’t have snow yet but it’s not far behind.
What a great video, really useful for myself as we have the gardens new structure sorted but for the borders we are pretty clueless so this will be of great help. Thanks 👍
Glad it was helpful!
Once again, a great video. When I can I buy 9cm plants. Firstly because of the price and secondly I get the joy of seeing them grow and develop. 😊
I think it probably depends on what your local plant shops are selling. Here there is usually a selection of both 9cm and 2L plants and there's not usually any difficulty in sourcing 9cm plants. If you buy plants online, there's often a choice in sizes, too. Sorry I can't be more specific but good luck hunting them down.
Your sweater is epic!😊
Thank you! Bought it in the 1980s!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden well its back in fashion! My daughters would looove it too. Thanks for the wonderfully inspirational vids, happy hols from Ireland🎄
Video request: Techniques, knowledge and courage needed to plant things close to get that full English-style border look.
The majority of landscaping around me involves a few shrubs in oceans of mulch.
I want to convert my own home to have less bare earth but still not cause a fuss in the neighborhood-at least not in the wrong way 😅
Love the channel. Thanks for your content.❤
Thank you, and I will definitely think of how to do that topic.
Thank you for another wonderful video. Sadly, in zone 8b Pacific Northwest, I don’t have the sun for a lot of perennial flowers, but I do use part sun flowering shrubs, and many Japanese maples in various stages of maturity. Evergreens for part sun are the backbone in winter. It’s surprising the color, height, and foliage differences that one can achieve in part sun. Sometimes I use an obelisk with clematis growing up for height too.
You're so right, there are some amazing evergreens.
What do you use to underplant Alliums? Excellent ideas but I really don’t like looking at their yellowing leaves which look sad when the blooms are at their peak.
I heard this advice on a youtube gardener (can't remember who). The suggestion was to underplant with hardy geraniums which can interweave strongly when the alliums are fading. I'm going to try that next year among my allium Christophi. The geranium I like a lot is Rozanne. It's strong & blooms all summer.But there are many nice ones. I'm in zone 6a, U.S. upstate NY.
@@janereel1903 great idea- thank you. 🙏🏻
I know what you mean - I use them (a grand way of saying 'mine self seed...' alongside emerging perennials, so that as the allium leaves die back, the emerging dahlia, persicaria and other foliage is just coming out to cover it up. It slightly depends how fast everything is emerging, and I like the advice from janereel1903 below, too.
Lovely advice
Great information.😊
Great video and information. What is the variety of bachelor button in Tom Brown's garden, at 22:54? Love the color.
It's one of Tom's favourite flowers - Cirsium rivulare. There's more about it here in this Short: th-cam.com/users/shorts314yYxz4sWo
Nice video sharing my friend 😮😮
Thank you very much!
Wonderful advice!
I wonder if anyone could tell me the name of the fantastic grass on the right at time stamp 44.34- the one that looks very feathery and light?
I know the one on the left is stipa, but the one flanking it on the other side?
Its gorgeous
Thank you!
I love the white-tipped vine beside you (time stamp 59:39) what is it?
Actinidia kolomikta or ornamental kiwi
Does somebody know what plant is behind the gentleman at 9:49. I want that lol and never seen it before.
It's cardoon. Very striking.
Thank you for this really interesting video, Alexandra. I have seen the grass with the long white flower heads a few times, mainly on Gardeners World, but I haven't got a clue what it is and would love to know as i really like it, and wuld love it in my garden. Can you please tell me what it is please? many thanks and happy gardening 😃PS.the grass is shown at around 8 - 8.13 minutes into the video
It's a pennisetum, but I don't have a record of which variety. You could google pennisetum available in your area to get the closest match available to you.
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I thought it might be\ a Pennisetum but couldn't find anything the same on a search. Do you think it might be\ Hameln? Do you know if that is hardy or not? Thank you Alexandra x
Can u please talk about Agaphantus? How really hardy is? Or which varieties are hardier? Do u have them in ur borders or in pots?
Thank u always for ur beautiful vlogs and interviews
Thank you! I will look into doing something on agapanthus, but in the meantime it's a good idea to find a grower or supplier in your area as they will stock the agapanthus variety most likely to grow in your climate and they'll also be able to give you the appropriate advice for your situation. If no-one in your area or just beyond sells agapanthus, it probably means that they don't do well in your conditions.
Thank u very much. I didn’t see any Agaphantus around here but this is an area heavy in agriculture and not so much on flowers. And Farmer Gracy have great bulbs and they describe them as fully hardy but I am not sure as rare we can have minus 15 Celsius. Appreciate ur help 🥰
I love your videos, I have watched so many of them and often more than once, I think that is why I feel a bit disappointed when they are mostly compilations of previously released footage. Even though there may be new footage added I don't want to sift through an hour long video to find the new content.
That's why I'm careful to say that it's a compilation in the description under the video and that to say in the intro that it's drawing together advice - broadly speaking the compilation videos are so that people can have all the information on a specific topic in one place, so they don't have to search for different videos but they're not new material, so if you see 'compilation' in the description under the video (and I promise I'll always put it there) then don't watch it unless you want all the material in one place. I'm also trying to emphasise compilations by using a different kind of thumbnail, so that they look different from the new videos, but broadly speaking if it's around an hour long, it's a compilation, but if it's 8-30 minutes, then it's new material. Hope that helps!
Brilliant questions from the Middle-sized Gardener! 🧍🏻♀👍🏻
Thank you!
I have another question. When gardens have large swaths of daffodils how do you design around them to make it look lovely after the flowers fade? English Garden's this month said to leave a grass swath but that won't work in my garden.
You do have to leave the daffodils leaves to die naturally before you cut the lawn - if you mow too soon, you will cut off leaves which are working to create next year's flowers. It's a bit of a tricky one - if you've got daffodils in borders, you hope that perennial foliage emerges to cover up the dying leaves and if the daffodils are in the lawn, there's not much option - you just can't mow too soon if you want flowers for next year. But longer grass would cover up the dying leaves somewhat.
20:04 WHAT is this gorgeous plant?? 😍
That's 2 different shades of astrantia, planted in big clumps
@@TheMiddlesizedGardenoh my god - now I know why they call these people Professionals. Thanks for the video! ❤
😇 Happy 🪔 Diwali 🙏
Happy Diwali to you too!
I cannot find information of yakap folium. Is is a tye of yarrow?
I think you may be referring to Eryngium yuccafolium? The white seedheads?
I busted out laughing when you said you spent hours making a list and then you go to the fair and you’ve forgotten the list 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
OMG! Koko Loko is on my wishlist! I’ve never seen a standard Koko Loko and I have the new 2024 #HeirloomRosesCatalog . That is a prize . I don’t blame you one bit for buying it. I definitely would have used a credit card for that baby.
Why, may I ask, do the English and Americans say "Fusha" instead of "Fuchsia"?? I've been wondering about that for some time
I wish I could answer that. I'm quite sufficiently challenged by spelling 'fuchsia'!
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden Well actually it’s quite simple. “Fuchs” is a rather common German family name, meaning “Fox”, pronounced as (for you English speakers) “Fooks”. Just add the “ia” to that and there you go.
👌👌✨
A real gardener is a bit of a garden thief.
I'm being very honest here.
It's due to the passion we have to make the world a better place.
I've often asked first, but at public gardens that have clumps of the same plant, I tend to take a very small snip.
I'd say 80% of my gardens are from propagation and seed saving.
I've bought the odd bulbs, interesting shrub and perenial, but most are from cuttings.
As money is tight, I also mix veges in with my flowering borders....rainbow chard, cucumbers, Tom's and capsicum like to be set amongst the po,linators like cornflowers, salvias, penstamons and dahlias.
I also grow beans up my sunflowers and tie string to my wash line to give beans more support.
I'm only growing a few large sunflowers this summer, as the dwarf have plenty of flowers and are much more manageable.
They only seeds that haven't germinated this summer, as astrantias, which I was so looking forward to.
They are like miniature tiaras and I just adore them.
I have managed to grow verbena bonariensis but they're so tiny as seedlings.
Oh I just love all the surprises and learning from all the diverse gardeners knowledge.
Jo from New Zealand.. .with the most beautiful scented rose named "Aotearoa", named after our country in Maori.. .land of the long white cloud.
Check it out if you love large, strong scented pink, peach and sunrise looking roses.
That is honest - but very true! and your garden sounds lovely.
To make matters worst WRT weeds, we've developed desirable plants from the weeds. eliminate the weeds, and then talk about insect "pests" eating our plants!
Pampas grass is invasive
Yes, it's invasive in California, Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Hawaii, but not in some other US states, such as Georgia, and not invasive in the UK where this was shot.
Hi! 991
A lot of these are OLD videos
They're all OLD videos. It says so in the introduction! It's pulling together a compilation so that people don't have to hunt around for related videos.
I could not handle all the dead in the last garden you showed!!! Not yours. I would HAVE to either cut them back or just not have them if I'm looking at something dead during the growing season! That garden WAS messy and not pleasing at all!!
I started creating a border in July - it looked lovely in the summer but now is a bit bedraggled 🙄 I'm forward thinking to Spring now planting lots of bulbs but also trying to make sure I plant lots of evergreen plants so that next autumn although there will be gaps there'll also be some kind of structure there 🌿🌱🌷🪻
Making a border seems to be an endless process of learning and adjustment, but that's the fun of it. What about adding some grasses for late season interest?
@@TheMiddlesizedGarden I just bought 3 ornamental grasses - I repotted them today am going to see how big they get and put them in the gaps in the border - it's been extremely windy here today I just put my hat coat and gloves on - and my flip flops 😆 and got on with it everything was flying everywhere 🙄 but I got it done 👍👏