Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2025 i BBC Gardeners' World

“InJuly’s embrace, the world comes alive”Dr Shamim Ali STAR OF THE MONTH Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ This is a pretty good representation of the spirit of July, the month of school holidays and full-blown summer. Gone are the refinements of June and we are into a riotous tumble of exuberance. Big leaves, bright colours: the early dahlias are just getting into their stride, the perennials are still going for it and that packet of marigold seed you planted just for the hell of it is paying off big time. This is the sort of planting that lifts the spirits, and sends you off to work in the morning with a spring in your step and a big grin on your face. This is the Ethiopian banana, so needs a frost-free location…

“You can gather armfuls of gorgeous flowers for the cost of a packet of seed, while knowing that the garden remains untouched” The best way to get an abundance of cut flowers, be it for a wedding or a bedside posy, is to grow them yourself. You can, as I often do, simply go outside into the garden and snip a handful of whatever is looking really good and bring that part of the garden indoors. This might be half a dozen little snowdrops or a great bunch of midsummer blooms, but inevitably it will be directed and inspired by two things. The first is what is looking good and catching your heart on that particular day and, critically, the second will be what the garden can spare. This is…

Saving and sowing your own seed is an enjoyable activity and it can save you a fortune in the spring. There is another really nice benefit to collecting your own seeds and that is in increasing the genetic diversity of the flowers you are growing. This can help a species to build resilience to problems like pests and diseases in the future. There are a few crucial things to remember when you are collecting and storing seeds to enhance your success. Make sure your seeds are actually ripe. It isn’t always easy to tell when they are ripe but generally the pod will turn brown. It might also rattle when shaken. If you collect seeds that are not yet ripe, they will not be viable and will not germinate. They…

■ California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) If you want to stop visitors in their tracks with colour and have a sunny dry site, the annual Californian poppy is fabulous. With the help of regular deadheading, the much-admired orange poppies by my back door flowered all summer last year and even though they can flop over as the season progresses, are worth it for the joy. ■ Roses Roses are colour heaven as they come in so many hues including the creamy-white shrub rose Summer Memories, which blooms throughout the summer and thrives in my mixed border. In my Gardener’s World Live border, I used pink shrub roses in many different shades that looked amazing in among flowers such as foxgloves, astrantias, and sweet peas. ■ Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) Airy, jewel-flowered love-in-a-mist,…

Use salvias to fill gaps Plant some long-flowering salvias now to fill colour gaps in your borders. These shrubby salvias come in shades of purple, pink and red through to pale cream, so choose varieties that suit your colour scheme. Select a sunny spot with enough room to dig the planting hole without disturbing surrounding plants. Water the salvia before planting to fully wet the rootball, and water the planting hole too. Firm the salvia in well, water again, then mulch the soil with garden compost. In a week or two they will have rooted out into the soil and will be more tolerant of dry conditions. 30 MINUTES TO SPARE Tidy up conifers now to reshape the plant and encourage thicker growth. They won’t grow back from old wood so…

ummer! The time of year when the greenhouse has accomplished most of its work, up to a point. But the great thing about your miniature Crystal Palace right now is that it can become a pleasure dome. During spring, with seed sowing and pricking out, the potting up of rooted cuttings and the potting on of plants as they grow, the greenhouse is a hive of activity – the hub of the garden where propagation is occupying most of your time and most of its space. With summer comes a different pace: the tomatoes and cucumbers, and the peppers and melons, will need care and attention, there are cuttings to be taken and rooted, but don’t overlook your house of glass when it comes to making it beautiful. There are…

David McFarline “I grew up in the countryside in Northern Ireland but now live in London. The garden allows me to live in a city but still have that connection to nature that I lost when leaving home” When David McFarline and his family moved into their 1960s home in 2018, the shady, sloping garden was just rubble and weeds. Turning it into a manageable wild-style garden was clearly going to take time and creativity. But with advice from a landscape designer, David has created a three-tier, green oasis that ties in beautifully with the Modernist-style house. There are areas for dining, children’s play and watching wildlife, plus space to potter with plants among the concrete-boarded walls and steps. It’s now a tranquil, subtly shifting sanctuary for the whole family.…

CITRUS GROVES I loved seeing the citrus orchards that are emblematic of the island’s agricultural heritage. Lemon and blood orange (Citrus sinensis ‘Sanguinelli’) thrive in Sicily’s warm climate. For UK gardens, consider dwarf varieties like C. x limon ‘Meyer’ or C. sinensis ‘Tarocco’ in pots. Plant in free-draining soil with added organic matter and position in the sunniest spot you can give it. They can be moved to a frost-free location during winter. FIG TREES AS FOCAL POINTS I loved seeing all the magnificent fig trees punctuating the streets and parks of Palermo. In the UK, a hardy variety such as Ficus carica ‘Brown Turkey’ or ‘Brunswick’ grown against a sunny wall would make an attractive addition to the garden. The distinctive lobed leaves of figs are useful for providing…

The harvests are now coming in thick and fast. A quick check of last year’s records show that we gathered 150 per cent more in July than June; a significant contribution being greengages on the allotment. The warmth of the city often means that crops ripen slightly earlier than in other parts of the country and as soon as we spot the squirrels starting to snack on them, it’s time to pick the lot. I have a net on a pole to help me reach the higher fruit and literally pick as much as I can carry home – a bucket of 5kg in each hand. While fruit and veg are on the up, eggs are on the down as several of our hens are broody. Believing it’s time to…

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Step by step By changing one letter each time to make a new word, can you transform LILY into PADS in six steps or less? Word wheel Make as many five-letter words as you can using letters from the wheel (excluding proper nouns), all containing the letter in the centre. Target: 7 Now use all the letters in the wheel to spell out a plant that blooms all summer Secret six Use each letter in the grid once to answer the clues Space invaders Here are six common garden weeds – but numbers have replaced the letters. Can you crack the code? Wild beauties Here are four plants you might see in a summer wildflower meadow – but they’ve got a bit muddled. Can you match the correct botanical and…

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Flowers look amazing in the garden, and they have the added benefit of attracting and nourishing pollinators, who badly need our help, so maximising our flower power is really good for us and the creatures who share our space. Deadheading blooms that have gone over, like repeat-flowering roses or cosmos, will keep more flowers coming. Staking or training flowers that are about to bloom can keep them standing tall when those heavy flowers open, and feeding our flowering plants with a high-potash feed, such as tomato fertiliser, will stop them running out of steam. This is also a good time to start planning next year’s flowers, to fill any gaps or add different colours. And while the weather is warm, it’s the start of the seed saving season, ready for…

The fashion for meadow-esque plantings with flowering perennials woven between grasses has been with us since the early nineties. But these apparently wild pieces of planting are actually carefully composed groups, grown through a grid or matrix of supporting species, often grasses. Once established these plant communities require less maintenance than traditional borders, while providing long displays and supporting wildlife. Back when we had just four TV channels to pick from, I was a student studying Landscape Design. I chose to write my dissertation on an emerging idea known as Matrix Planting. Skip forward several decades and that once sparkly new idea has become the mainstay of planting design through much of Europe, North America and beyond. Despite its longevity it could not be more in tune with modern thinking…

The degradation and loss of natural habitats is one of the most critical issues facing wildlife today. And while we don’t always think of the UK’s estimated 23 million gardens as providing vital habitats, they have the potential to make a huge difference if we consider them as part of the wider landscape. Collectively, our gardens contain around 3 million ponds and 30 million trees. But you don’t need a huge water feature or mature trees to provide shelter, nest sites and places for wildlife to feed in your garden – even the smallest plot can provide a series of micro-habitats. What’s more, if we work together with others in our local area, we can create networks of wildlife-friendly gardens that work rather like a community nature reserve. You can…

SAVE 15%* Go somewhere unique and explore a diverse history and the vibrant traditions across Albania’s Adriatic treasures. Still largely untouched by mass tourism, experience the rich religious and cultural heritage of one of Europe’s most overlooked treasures. From the country’s expansive history, complete with a wide variety of Ottoman landmarks and archaeological sites, to natural wonders, you’ll find no shortage of sights to see throughout a tour of the Adriatic coast. As you take in Albania’s classical monuments, you’ll also find a vibrant and unique modern culture thriving within its cities. Keep an eye out for colourful murals lining the walls of communist-era landmarks as you wander and enjoy the innovative galleries and installations that have sprouted from Enver Hoxha’s former ‘mushroom’ bunkers since the turn of the century.…

When I was growing up, we didn’t have much, but we always had a stunning garden filled with beautiful flowers, and our pots were a real highlight. Most plants were propagated by my mum, which later in life inspired me to create my garden and my pots in a sustainable and cost-effective way, by taking cuttings of plants that do well in our garden and growing them from seed. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a few stems taken as cuttings and some packets of seeds. We always treated ourselves to a few plants purchased from a small local nursery. A trip there was like a celebration for us. The gratification from buying a plant, mixed with a sense of accomplishment from our home-propagated plants, gave us so much…

Kirsty Wilson Kirsty is Head of Gardens at Balmoral Castle and is a presenter on BBC2’s Beechgrove Garden Bob Flowerdew Bob is an organic gardener and a radio presenter, as well as the author of dozens of gardening books Anne Swithinbank A keen fruit, vegetable and house-plant grower, Anne was formerly the glasshouse supervisor at RHS Garden Wisley Q Which shrubs can be planted under two large willow trees in clay soil? Terry Hoye, Essex A BOB SAYS You don’t specify weeping willows, so I assume they’re natives and large hungry and thirsty competitors. Willows, if self-sown, indicate a moist site, but they’re likely to have left the soil drier, poorer and shady. Plus, a clay soil will make it a hard place for many shrubs. First, prune the willows’…

ACROSS 1 Plant corms of this bloomer, also known as autumn crocus, in late summer (9) 7 Deficiency of this in plants causes yellowing leaves (4) 8 Take softwood cuttings now from shrubs such as __ or smoke bush (7) 9 Natural boundaries that could do with a trim (6) 10 __ bugs are sap-sucking pests (5) 12 Large, round, yellow-fleshed edible roots (6) 15 Example of 17 down (6) 18 Pretty summer bloomer popularly called love-in-a-mist (7) 19 Essential plant carbohydrates created by photosynthesis (6) 22 Burning love is a vivid name for the shrub __ coccinea (5) 23 Spiny shrub whose berries are loved by birds (8) 24 Dark, organic material in soil formed by decaying plants (5) DOWN 1 Feed these long green salad favourites weekly with…

Make it tropical! Turn up the heat with hot colours and bold planting ■ Be inspired by Adam’s summer holiday pots ■ Create and maintain an exotic vibe with Ashley Edwards ■ Visit a lush jungle-style garden for all the family WORTH £24.95 30 FREE* Winter Flowering Collection for every reader Collection comprises: ❶ Pansy Universal Mix x 12 ❷ Viola Waterfall Mix x 12 ❸ Pansy Frizzle Sizzle x 6 *Just pay £5.95 postage Monty shares why fragrant plants are so important in his garden Frances takes a no-holds-barred approach to summer problem-solving Find out how to grow more edibles in your borders with Nick Arit continues her sensory gardening series, focusing on the visual Four ways to display aquatic house plants with Sarah Gerrard-Jones PLUS ◼ Create Crops in…

LEADING THE WAY Content Director Kevin Smith Magazines Editor Kay Maguire Head of Content Adam Duxbury Head of Digital Catherine Mansley Head of Operations Gregor Shepherd CREATING QUALITY GARDENING CONTENT Horticultural Editor Emma Crawforth Digital Editor Blake Roberts Senior Content Creator Sonya Patel Ellis  Picture Editor Sarah Edwards  Audio/visual Editor Claire Vennis Strategic Projects Editor Oliver Parsons Social Media Lead Rachael Gibson  Video Content Developer Jordan Kelly-Linden  Editorial Assistant Sydney James GETTING THE DETAIL RIGHT Art Director Jo Cloke Art Editor Andrew Ellis Multimedia designer Emma Langschied Chief Sub Editor John Perkins Multimedia Sub Editor Shirley Accini PUBLISHING AND MARKETING Commercial Director Rachel Clare Brand Manager Emma Davis Commerce Manager Rita Baptiste Brand Marketing Executive Phoebe Elliott Commerce and Digital Marketing Executive Lois Elliott Brand Admin Assistant Sara Bhambra With…

In a warm and sheltered spot, this richly fragrant container makes the most of long, sunny days outside. The Corten-steel vessel (25cm wide) is a dramatic contrast to the luxurious nature of the plants it holds while picking up on their colours. Roses are wonderful in pots as long as you give them enough depth of compost to accommodate their deep roots. I’ve matched the dark-eyed, pink, single rose Rosa For Your Eyes Only with luminous Penstemon ‘Firebird’, a felty-leafed purple sage (Salvia officinalis ‘Purpurascens’) and a chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus), still in bud in this image. The four plants work well together due to their different shapes and all are super-long flowering, blooming throughout summer. Choosing the right position for a new container is part of the fun. Place…

WORTH £14 A duo of begonias in gorgeous citrus shades. Often considered the UK’s favourite summer bedding plant, begonias are perfect for planting in hanging baskets and containers. Your begonia duo contains: ◼ Illumination Apricot Shades (main image) ◼ Illumination Lemo (right) Height x Spread 60cm x 60cm Flowers Jun-Oct You will receive a mix of 12, supplied as young plants (8-15cm) For details of how to order, see opposite page Everlasting perennial collection Do you dream of a picture-perfect border bursting with soft colours, and boasting a perfect mix of height, form and texture? This specially curated collection of 10 must-have hardy perennials has been selected to offer a long, successional display from late spring until autumn. Loved by bees and butterflies, they are also perfect for creating a pollinator-friendly space.…

The great collaboration Hestercombe, in Somerset, combines Georgian landscape and Edwardian formal gardens. A collaboration between Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Edwin Lutyens, the formal garden is one of the best examples of their work. Enter through the pergola, dappled with sunlight on bright days, leading to the Great Plat, a sunken parterre designed by the duo. Elegant planting is neatly framed with stone, creating repeating shapes across the lawn, with views of the landscape beyond. While Lutyens focused on the design and form of the parterre, Jekyll chose the plants, for elegant colour all year. OFFER Garden: 2 for 1 £15.30. hestercombe.com Into the wilderness The Grade II* listed, 10-acre Castle Bromwich Historic Gardens, in the West Midlands, are a rare example of 18th-century formal English garden design. Peek through…

“I noticed how each plant heightened the colour of the other – this was an epiphany” A major part of my gardening joy is visual, and as my knowledge and observational powers have improved over decades of gardening, so has my love of experimenting with colour schemes. When I first came to my garden over 35 years ago, I looked at plants individually. I enjoyed the striking blue of the Ceanothus, the soft pink of my Deutzia and when I went shopping for plants, I was drawn to them by their colour. I knew nothing about gardening and this was just a gut reaction – I purchased the plants that caught my eye, not really thinking about how they would work with other plants in the garden. This all changed…

Deadhead your annuals Spend some relaxing time in your garden, ideally every day, deadheading your annual flowers. It’s a great opportunity for some gentle mindful reflection as you work. Deadheading also tidies up the flower displays, freshens the growth and stimulates more flowers to form. It prevents the plants from going to seed too. Simply snip off the spent blooms and add them to the compost bin. Deadheading also gets you closer to your plants so you can enjoy and monitor their progress. Although at the same time you may spot other issues that need to be added to your list of tasks! Sow foxgloves Collect and sow seeds from biennial foxgloves once the pods dry out. Fill a pot with peat-free seed compost, firm it gently and water well.…

1 Start with rain Understanding where water enters and exits our gardens, as well as how best to use it, is crucial. Treat rainwater as your garden’s main water source. Keep surfaces permeable, so rain can soak in rather than running off. Install water butts or tanks to capture water from roofs. Water early or late in the day, at the base of plants, to help retain moisture and provide extra humidity. If additional watering is needed in dry spells, use harvested rainwater or grey water from washing indoors. 2 Be resilient Put plants where they’ll naturally thrive without additional watering. Drought-tolerant UK and European plants should cope with both dry and wet spells. Improve soil drainage using recycled materials such as sand or crushed concrete. New plants need water…

Dos & don’ts ✓ Do make sure there are gaps in boundaries so wildlife can get in and out of your garden – hedgehog holes need to be at least 13cm x 13cm ✓ Do leave natural resources like dead leaves, twigs and moss for wildlife to use in nest building ✓ Do attach bee hotels securely to a wall or fence and situate them in a sunny spot ✓ Do encourage neighbours to join in, to make sure wildlife has access to a network of local habitats ✓ Do get involved with citizen science projects such as the BIG Hedgehog Map (bighedgehogmap.org) and Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, which runs from 18 July to 10 August ✗ Don’t feel you need a large garden to make space for wildlife…

A I have to admit that before visiting Sicily, my knowledge of the Mediterranean’s largest island was sparse. Of course, I knew about Mount Etna and had grown up with all the cultural cliches about Sicilian mafia families. But what really surprised me was just how green, fertile and picturesque the island was – even in November. Towering mountains leadto agricultural plains and much of what we saw seemed to be given over to vineyards, olive groves and orchards that were full of citrus fruits, nuts and peaches. My partner and I took a short trip to Sicily and found it an ideal getaway from the grey British weather, with pleasant temperatures that were even warm enough for a (very brief) dip in the sea. We flew into Catania, a…

Macplants is located near Edinburgh and offers a bountiful selection of carefully chosen, garden-worthy plants – good, robust varieties, as well as some slightly quirkier, unusual or newer options. These include ferns, herbaceous alpines, roses, ornamental grasses and perennials, available via the website or from the nursery shop. Macplants is particularly known for its autumn gentians, meconopsis, ferns and sanguisorbas. It’s early morning when I arrive to take a look around. I drive through the gently undulating East Lothian landscape and the sun appears through the clouds when I turn into the nursery between two high hedges. Beryl McNaughton established Macplants in 1979. Initially she grew and sold plants from her back garden and had a little residency selling plants at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which she would deliver…

In last month’s issue, I shared the 26 different varieties of salad crops that I trialled and gave my top tips for the best ones to grow. I also included my favourites for taste, yield and ease of growing. This month, I’m going to walk you through the best way to grow salad crops, including radishes and beetroot, to get the best harvests, showing you just how easy it can be to grow your own salad crops from seed. As a bonus, I’ll also share the results of another trial I did on growing pea shoots. They’re delicious in salads and as a topping for all kinds of dishes, but with so much choice of varieties, I wanted to narrow down which are the best peas to use for tasty,…

Be careful what you wish for, especially if you consider yourself a wildlife gardener. I mean, who doesn’t nowadays? To do otherwise would invite the wrath of anyone with the merest hint of respect for the natural world, not to mention the future of the planet. But there are unseen repercussions when it comes to being kind to our fellow creatures; in particular, the lack of available choice. You see, you can’t just make a list and hope that the Almighty will answer your prayers and send you butterflies like the Large Blue, the Camberwell Beauty, the Swallowtail and the Purple Emperor (all exceedingly rare). ‘Fraid not. You see, he has far more Large and Small Whites at his disposal – the kind that love your brassicas – and not…