B Brooks is the Managing Director and a Course Director at the English Gardening School, based at London’s Chelsea Physic Garden. Former students include Cleve West, Butter Wakefield, Rachel de Thame, Joe Swift and Manoj Malde, and the list goes on! Like many eminent gardeners, B's career began in a completely different field, and she began her transition to gardening 15 years ago at the English Gardening School. In this episode, Dan & Julia find out why B made the change and how she became one of the most prominent figures in garden design. Listen for advice on how to design your own garden, and elevate your gardening skills to a new level.

Jobs for the fortnight

1. Bring forced bulbs into warm, bright light to encourage flowering over Christmas and New Year.
2. Plant garlic this month; you need a cold snap to force the cloves to divide and grow.
3. Clean, sharpen and oil tools ready for the seasons ahead. Use white vinegar to remove surface rust; if that doesn’t remove it all, use a Crean Mate rust and sap eraser.
4. Don’t walk on lawns if they are frozen; you will snap the blades and cause damage. Wait for the temperature to rise before stepping out.
5. Continue to prune apples and pears. Use attractive prunings in Christmas arrangements to produce support for other flowers.
6. Make festive decorations and gather pine cones, etc., for the Christmas table. Pine cones can be encouraged to open by warming them gently in an oven.
7. Keep houseplants in a light, warm room; hold off on watering too much, and stop feeding until spring. Watch out for aphids, which can spread like wildfire in the right conditions.
8. If you are bringing a cut Christmas tree into the house, make sure you keep the base of the trunk in water.
9. Try to stop pond water from freezing by floating a ball in the water. Whatever you do, don’t attempt to break the ice manually as the impact can disturb pond life.
10. Prune grape vines, remove last year’s growth, leaving approximately 4 of the most vigorous canes, then prune these back to 15 buds per cane. Vines benefit from a hard cut. Using anvil secateurs will make this repetitive job much more bearable.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Dan's advice on choosing a real Christmas tree
• Parker's Patch
• The English Gardening School
• BB Garden Design

Expertly produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

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

Ben Cross is a 4th-generation flower grower and the proprietor of Crosslands Flower Nursery. Specialising in the cultivation of alstroemerias for the cut-flower trade, Ben is one of a diminishing number of commercial growers in the UK. Dan and Julia find out why the big supermarkets aren't supporting British growers and where our cut flowers really come from - you might be surprised! Along the way, they learn how easy alstroemerias are to grow in your own garden or greenhouse, so why not have a go?

Jobs for the fortnight

1. Many seed and bulb merchants are releasing their new catalogues and plant lists now. Place orders early for any unusual varieties that might sell out quickly.
2. Add a thick layer of nutritious compost to your vegetable beds. If you’re unlikely to be doing much gardening between now and spring, you might want to cover them with cardboard to stop weeds from germinating.
3. Get your tulip bulbs in any time between now and Christmas, but don’t forget about them. If you need to keep them for a while, make sure they’re somewhere cool, dry, dark and well ventilated, so they don’t go mouldy.
4. Protect and stake your brassicas - Brussels and broccoli are prone to leaning over or snapping in high winds. Support emerging broad beans sown outside and keep an eye out for peckish pigeons.
5. Check apples stored last month for signs of rotting, and remove any blemished ones immediately. Don’t worry if you still have apples to pick.
6. Tidy up strawberry plants and pot up any baby plants sent out on runners
7. Build new compost bins to accommodate the massive volume of leaves, weeds and cleared vegetation that need somewhere to go at the end of the year
8. Clean bird baths and top up bird feeders.
9. It’s the final window to plant autumn onion and shallot sets, and get ready for garlic next month.
10. Prune apple and pear trees from now until the end of February before new growth starts.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Dan's Calendar of Events
• Parker's Patch
• Crosslands Flower Nursery

To order Ben's alstroemerias, drop him a line at crosslandsflowernursery@gmail.com

Expertly produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

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

Dan & Julia talk to Niall McCauley, an Irish gardener, TV presenter and content creator, about how to plant a garden for year-round colour and interest, discovering in the process that Niall has more than one string to his bow! Later in the episode, Julia describes how to give a redundant Halloween pumpkin a new purpose, and Dan reveals what made his top 10 Christmas gifts for gardeners.

Jobs to do in your garden this fortnight

1. Continue to clear fallen leaves from lawns or paths.
2. Plant tulip bulbs in pots, and make sure you put squirrel deterrents over the pots —use netting, rose clippings, or chilli powder, anything that works for you.
3. Order and plant bare-rooted trees and shrubs.
4. Clear dead flowers, foliage and spent annuals.
5. Wrap tender plants and pots in bubble wrap or fleece to protect them from frost.
6. Clean, dry and oil any garden tools you don’t expect to use over winter and put them away carefully. This is an excellent job for a rainy November afternoon.
7. Continue to mow the lawn on a nice day, raising the blades higher than usual.
8. Raise pots off the ground to prevent waterlogging and eventual freezing. If they’re really old or precious, bring them into a shed or porch for extra protection.
9. If you live in a cold area, now is the time to lift dahlia tubers to store and dry over the winter. For help on this, here's a link to Dan's expert guide.
10. Plant asparagus crowns and rhubarb plants.
11. Pick holly with berries before the birds strip them, and store them in a cool place until Christmas.

Website links:

• Dan Cooper Garden
• Dan's Calendar of Events
• Parker's Patch
• Niall Gardens website
• Niall Gardens YouTube

Expertly produced by Scott Kennett at Red Lighthouse Local

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