Gardens

RHS Gardening Podcasts
'Gardening with the RHS' offers seasonal advice, inspiration and practical solutions to gardening problems. Trusted gardening professionals give you the latest horticultural advice, scientific research and tried and tested techniques to bring out the best in your garden.
https://rhs.podigee.io

Grow Your Own

Go to https://www.u3a.org.uk/learning/national-programmes/grow-your-own for more information. There is so much choice to plant vegetables or fruit during Springtime. Cucumbers, beetroots, tomatoes, carrots, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to name a few.

Get planting! Please send in your photographs showing the journey your produce has made. We will publish some of the photographs on this page.

Any information about your planting tips would be a lovely addition too!

Monthly Garden Tasks Calendar
This Monthly Garden Tasks Calendar helps you keep track of your garden's needs. There are handy reminders for , e.g, when it's time to chit your potatoes, harden off bedding plants, prune fruit trees, and more. If you've wondered why some jobs are best done at certain times, the calendar explains it all.

Go to https://www.vanmeuwen.com/what-to-do-in-the-garden-calendar

Virtual RHS Garden Tours
Bringing RHS gardens to you

If you’re unable to visit, take a virtual trip and enjoy video footage, virtual tours and images. The virtual tours also include the newest garden, RHS Bridgewater in Manchester, which only opened on May 18th, 2021.

Kew Gardens Virtual Tour
Kew Gardens is just one example of gardens that are doing a virtual tour to allow visitors to see the 320-acre site without having to leave the safety of their own homes.

Visit their website https://www.kew.org/ and click Read and Watch, scroll down and click on a video of your choice.

National Garden Scheme
During the lockdowns of 2020/21 NGS garden owners created films of their gardens. There are 190 gardens to visit virtually, which we will be regularly added to so that whatever the time of year you can go on a virtual garden visit.
Go to https://ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits

Virtual Chelsea Flower Show 2020
The world’s greatest flower show went digital and we brought you a new line-up every day, with world-leading designers, plant experts and practical gardening advice .
Go to https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/virtual-chelsea

Gardeners' World

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mw1h

A gardening show packed with good ideas, tips, advice from experts and timely reminders to get the most out of your garden, whatever its size or type.

Famous Garden Tours
The House Beautiful website gives 8 tours of famous gardens and there are more if you google virtual garden tours. https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/g31913008/best-virtual-tours-garden/

The gardens involved are :

  • Kew Gardens

  • Claude Monet's Garden at Giverny

  • Waddesdon Manor

  • RHS Wisley

  • Chicago Botanic Garden

  • Keukenhof, Amsterdam

  • Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden Try also https://htbg.com/tour/

  • US Botanic Garden, Washington

National U3A Facebook Gardening Group

National U3A has a private group on Facebook, which aims to bring together all gardeners around the country.

It describes itself as a group :

  • for U3A members who like gardening;

  • for people who would like to like gardening;

  • for people who would like to know more about gardening; and

  • for people to pick each other's brains about plants and identification of plants.

If you would like to join the group, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/837676779927352

Beginner Gardening

Start with a few tasks – the RHS gives you step-by-step guides and tips to help you. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/beginners-guide
Examples of some of the guides are :

Identify Common Pests https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/Common-Pest-Identification-Guide
Make A Raised Bed https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/How-to-make-a-raised-bed
Identify Beneficial Insects and Bugs https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/beneficial-insects-and-bugs
Make Your Patio Party-ready https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/How-to-get-your-patio-party-ready

Inverewe Gardens Tour
Situated not far from Ullapool in the NW Highlands and run by the National Trust for Scotland. Amazing species that simply shouldn’t grow there are thriving, aided by the effects of the Gulf Stream.
https://youtu.be/Qv_2jFmOXS8

Singapore - Gardens by the Bay Cloud Forest Dome Tour 1 of 5
Building the Gardens
https://youtu.be/HuWu22MFBMo

Singapore - Gardens by the Bay Cloud Forest Dome Tour 2 of 5
Cloud Forest
https://youtu.be/IkzJlZpG66Y

Singapore - Gardens by the Bay
Cloud Forest Dome Tour 3 of 5
Climb A Plant Mountain
https://youtu.be/XZQ0NHdK63E

Singapore - Gardens by the Bay
Cloud Forest Dome Tour 4 of 5
Head Above the Clouds
https://youtu.be/ZKiCxnReZPg

Singapore - Gardens by the Bay
Cloud Forest Dome Tour 5 of 5
Secret Lair of Plants
https://youtu.be/bPNR9upHtUM

Gardens By The Bay Walking Tour
https://youtu.be/ZDuNHYhOqx0

Gardening Tips from the National Trust

In their latest gardening video, Rebecca Bevan, the author of The National Trust School of Gardening, visits Fenton House in London to find out about pruning wisteria. She asks Head Gardener, Andy Darragh, how he keeps this vibrant climber looking its best during the summer months.
To see the video go to https://t61.emails.nationaltrust.org.uk/r/?id=h4481354a%2C894208c4%2C88525963&p1=ENG02&s=dB7zphh6IjrMmH1W78lkC_M8Wm7YkoMkvyG7uXMLQHE

Also included on the same page are articles on :

  • roses

  • tackling blackspot

  • growing wildflowers

  • helping to protect pollinators