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Home > Programmes > Dig It! > Dig It! Garden Doctor makes a house call...
Friday, 14 May, 2010

Dig It! Garden Doctor makes a house call...

Hester Macdonald, also known as the Garden Doctor on the first episode of every month, makes a house call to a small garden at the foot of the Jura:

Download mp3 (12.7 MB)

Have a look at the plan to better understand the triangular garden, and the photos to see what it looks like before the renovations!

Suitable fruit:
Strawberries, try Mara des Bois as it will tolerate some shade.  Both Botanic (in France) and Migros Do-It in Switzerland do nice mixed packs of strawberries with a selection of different varieties to keep cropping over a long period.
Raspberries, if you have space, try planting both some summer-fruiting varieties (I love “Malling Promise”) and a couple of autumn-fruiting varieties.  The Swiss-bred “Zeva” is really excellent, and loves the climate here, and “the yellow-fruited “Fallgold” is very pretty for a contrast.
Cherry - go for a dwarf cherry, and make sure it’s self-fertile, such as the superb “Stella.”

Climbers for the wall:
Lonicera x italica is very vigorous and will tolerate happily sun or shade.  It has very fragrant pale pink and purple flowers, followed by red (inedible for humans) fruit.  Almost any honeysuckle will do well here and will quickly romp over the wall.
Clematis armandii is an evergreen clematis, with white very fragrant flowers in late spring.
Climbing roses - there are hundreds of varieties to choose from, and there is a distinction in the stiffness of the stems between climbing roses, such as the beautiful “Gloire de Dijon” and “Zéphirine Drouhin” and the much laxer stems of the ramblers, such as “Albertine” and “Rambling Rector.”  Both groups are very vigorous, easily reaching 4m, both are suitable for training along walls.  As this rose is going to be chosen for fragrance, try to buy in summer when you can smell the flowers.

Plants for shade:
Luckily there are lots of great plants that will be very happy in the shady part of the garden, and if you’re stuck, there are lots of books, such as Beth Chatto’s “The Shade Garden” or the RHS Practicals Guide “Plants for Shade” to give you inspiration.  some of my absolute stalwarts are suggested below.
Sarcococca humilis, S. confusa or S. hookeriana var digyna are all excellent evergreen shrubs terrific for shade.
Ribes sanguinem “Brocklebankii” is a slow-growing flowering currant with golden-green leaves, and pale pink flowers in late spring.
Hostas, if you can keep an eye on the slug population, are terrific for shade, and there are so many beautiful varieties to choose from! I love Hosta “Francee”, “Frances Williams”  and the lovely grey-blue leaves of “Halcyon” but there are new varieties appearing every year, which are well worth a try.  I planted two new varieties, “Slugproof” (which does actually seem to be) and the delightful little “Mouse Ears” (a dwarf form, sadly chewed by slugs) last year and they are just lovely!
Ferns are also an absolute must for a shady border, and you can choose from the enormous Royal Fern at 2m tall and up to 4m wide, Osmunda regalis, down to the delicate maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum at only 30cm tall.

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Total comments: 1 | Add to the discussion.

antoinette
Thursday, 27 May, 2010 12:37 [ 1 ]

Hi Hester Me again! Your avid webmeister! On this edition you seem to be missing promised plans and photos! Is it me who is crazy or are they really not there… hope you are enjoying Chelsea (and with some sunshine - I hear the weather plummetted)

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