Colourful displays in Ballymena, sensory gardens and saving a Sarcococca

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1:13Gardner's Corner with David Maxwell on BBC Radio Loster and BBC Signs. Welcome to the program. This week, a colorful feast for the eyes in Balamena. I didn't necessarily design, but I think you do have to maybe if you're putting in plants, sort of get something that leads the AI, you know, don't work maybe with a massive number of type of plants, but maybe repeat. Also coming up, the hidden gem that's making a difference. You can't measure the things that happen here and the friendships, the relationships, the learning, it's good for you. It's enriching for you as a person. And finally, promise and potential bearing fruit. The guys, even though they've maybe grown up being told, oh, you have a learning disability or saying, well, that's fine, but you can still be a really good Gardner. You can be a really good team player. You can make a real contribution and people will appreciate the efforts you make. And we'd love to hear from you, email us anytime on Gardner's Corner at bbc.co.uk.

2:20Hello, I'm Helen Marks sitting in for David for today in the very good company of this week's Garden Expert, Claire McNally, head Gardner at the wonderful Ro Allen Garden. So a very warm welcome to you, Claire, to our programme today. It's good to have you with us. Do you know, I was thinking the other day that we're on that sort of cusp of seasonal change, you know, in our gardens and in the veg patch. And I'm thinking of my home situation, the beach nuts and their shells have completely masked the ground as the fallen. And when you walk over the top of them on the concrete crunch crunch crunch. To really feel them, can't you? Yeah, yeah. And then I look, uh, uh, uh, wasps and butterflies have completely feasted on the last of my lovely figs. And they leave the leave just like a rotten skin hanging there is very sadly. Yeah, yeah. And I have to say my husband's not cutting the grass so often, so that's a good sign. Well, that's yeah, well, I'm fairness with that little bit of rain has really pushed us to be. So we're still cutting and probably cutting slightly more than we were at the height of summer.

3:21So it just goes to show the weather. And the micro climate is so different. Yes, we're off in the northwest too. Obviously we're still, yeah, getting into different spaces. Yes. So when we have our garden experts, you bring color to the studio with a little selection of things that you've plucked from the garden. Yeah, tell me what you'd like to share first. We are absolutely spoiled for choice at the moment. There's so many beautiful things. So I'm going to start big with this monster, which is hydrangea, asperer, subspecies, strigosa. And it's strigosa because it's got these bristly hairs. You can almost hear it from the back. Yes, you can, yeah. Yeah. But it's got this massive, massive flower head. So it's a lace cap with little tiny purple fertile flowers in the middle and then the lovely white ones all around the edges. Yeah. But it is monstrous. It's the size of a dinner plate outhead of flowers. You need the space to be able to grow this one. To walk right underneath it is such a big, big bush. But that's obviously been there for a very long time. But there's so many gorgeous ones. In this weather, they look so beautiful. You can listen to the bees when you're sheltering from the rain.

4:22Yes. And then you get the lovely evening light of its sunny. It just shines straight into them. It's lovely. Should we go for something slightly smaller? Absolutely. So moving down every so slightly, this is probably my favorite small tree. This is one called haptocodium myconioides. And it's the seven suns flower tree. And you can see each of the little flowers. They were lovely scent. But they are in little clusters of seven. So they'll go for a long time. They're starting now and they'll keep going. And then they have these beautiful recurve leaves with three really strong veins down the middle. Really striking. It is striking. It reminds me of a Victorian print, you know, that an artist has sat and created. That is very classic looking. One, then treat us to something else. Okay. So if we go to something slightly smaller and have this tiny little one, this is the culture come across agrapinum. And it's, if you think of the speckledy snake's head fritilleries we get in the spring, this does the same thing, but it's a culture come. So it's an autumn crocus relative. And it's got these lovely little speckledy marks on the thing.

5:25So there are always a little bit blousey. They're like a fleshy crocus. But they, so they tend to fall over in if they get a bit too wet. But you can see sort of the gorgeous markings just inside them. And then the stamens in the middle as well. You know, or a feature part of it as well with the dark ends but the purple stems. That is very, very handsome. You know, you're saying, you know, there's a lot happening in the garden when you think to your place and I think to mine, well, what's doing so well? Well, I think there's quite a few things that have been doing really well. And I think seeing after that dry period and now we're getting the moisture, pushing things on really and things that we're kind of sitting a bit still. So, you know, for us, our asters and things have started a bit later than they normally would. But they are full of buds waiting to pop. So that's really exciting to see them come. And they are just such a good doer at this time of year. None a great for pollination. And you know, for feeding for the bees. So it's a really open place. Even the sort of the double forms tend to sort of open up.

6:25So you get to see the right into the center. This is a lovely bright pink one. It's not the most delicate of colours, but it's really magenta, strong magenta, double astro called Andenkin and Alma Pochke. Great name. It's quite a sturdy one. Like she's quite upright and strong stemmed. But you can see she's got loads of buds still coming and these gorgeous magenta flowers. Lots to come yet and a lot to come. And then to compare some of that, this one I have to admit is a bit of a thug. This is, they've changed the name. It's now Sinfiyotricum, but it's one called Vastroval. So it's got this gorgeous little, like it looks like a little daisy. Pink daisy. With a lilacy sped, but it's got these dark stems and really wiry. So it's very floatzy in appearance, but it will try and take over the world. Yes, well, keep an eye on that one. Okay, but they're worth having in your garden. Oh gosh, yes. And particularly this one here, they'll just go and go and go. That's lovely. And we are here to answer any of your gardening questions. So far, we have queries about tomatoes,

7:27blotchy damsons and delias. And if you've something you need help with, drop us an email anytime to gardenerscorner. at bbc.co.uk. Gardenerscorner with David Maxwell. Let's grow together. Now, about a mile outside a holl with a view out to Slemmish Mountain, is the garden of K Rainey. The family, they've been there for about 40 years. And in the early day, she had a small area of garden was bordered by very mature trees. Oh gosh, it was so shady. And it had the occasional plant in it that she had set there, but it was really used by her two boys as a play area. Then a short while ago, things changed. Basically, the old part of the garden wasn't really designed,

8:31but then whenever we bought the field on the other side, we took the edge down. And the new part, which we started, this is about three and a half years ago. And it is a really nice sunny garden and things grow so much easier. And we pass this beautiful, I mean, I see this around the garden quite a lot. Rubikia, I think the form is Goldstrom. It's a very good doer. It spreads. The flowers actually last for quite a long while. And I think it just is very cheery. I wouldn't propagate from stem cuttings or under other, you just dig a piece of out. And you've used the same plant again with this vivid yellow, but you have it in swathes of verbinabunance. Yes, well, I think this is really taken off like above a forest, because verbina, I remember once trying to grow it and it didn't grow so well. Sometimes I think verbina maybe isn't just as hardy if you had a very hard, hard frost, but I think what you'd find would be that it would have

9:31seeded maybe into other places. And then it would come up and it comes up maybe a wee bit later. So you have to be patient. And maybe I don't cut it down just too soon, although I think I'll have to cut it down this year so that I can see there's some grass in the back, which you can't really see. I think I'll have to root out some of these pieces because they're, they have seeded too much in a way, really, I think. But it is a beautiful swath of that vivid, glowing purple. The butterflies love it. And there's bees still on it, I saw one land or one of the flowers there. You have a couple of groups of Rebecca in the thick of that. Beyond the verbina, you have an even taller yellow and then you look and your eyes take into another one. And it's the way color helps your mind and eye travel around the garden. Yes, it's a Helianthus lemon queen. It is just humming with bees. People said they like the color of it because it wasn't too shocking, it's lemon. And it does flower for quite a wee while because it produces sort of a few flower heads on the one stem.

10:36Yeah, and they come out gradually into flower. I didn't necessarily design, but I think you do have to, maybe if you're putting in plants, sort of get something that leads the eye. You know, don't work maybe with a massive number of type of plants, but maybe repeat. Oh my goodness, we've walked into an area now which has two beautiful adjoining circles. I mean, big sweeps of lawn. Well, I think I decided on circles because I wanted the sun to get the garden. And I thought maybe if I do too many wee paths through it, then it would be too shady. The grasses are starting to come now as well. And the sedum, of course, is this time of year. But I think it can look quite nice as well, even in the winter time. If you leave the seed heads and then the frosts on it, the same with the grasses. In many ways, it's quite newly established, isn't it? This section where we are now, this section is about three and a half years. We probably took the hedge down about a year, we've prior to that. And then, of course, we had to plow this up, you know.

11:37And it was extremely wet whenever I first did this. And if you hadn't really been quite thrown and quite determined, you might have given up. It's understanding how in a garden space, how variable the conditions can be. But again, we're brought into the second circle. You have a path that goes all the way around the side and we go through arbor's in different sections. This sort of leads you on and round. And there are wonderful splashes of colour. I see that red over there catching my eye. A last-room area. Yes, that's what... A last-room area is actually a very good plant for people who like to pull flowers for the garden because they last quite a long while. And then if you pull it, you have to pull it right up, you know, from the whole sort of bit will come up. And then it'll regrow. So the more you pull, the maybe the more you'll get. But for three years or so, these borders are just, you know, so vibrant with growth. I have lots of ladies' mantel. I'm sure lots of people know about that and it seeds itself about.

12:38But it's actually very good. The flowers, the sort of greeny, yellowy, flowers are very good if you want for flower arranging because you just pick a bunch of that and put a few flowers through it. It's lovely. Do you buy in established plants or are you a grown from seed? What do you do? Well, it's really a mixture. I have grown quite a few things from seed. I've divided things up. I've taken some stem cuttings and bulbs. I would have some bulbs that will come maybe in the springtime, some daffodils. And also, this is a salvia that was grown from seed. But that flower is maybe early gin. Nice blue flower. When would you start your seed growing? Probably March. I have a polytunnel. But this year, actually, things were very slow and it was cold at night and I don't have any heat. You have to work with the weather. It's a bit like farming really, in a way. But slightly prettier. Yes, slightly prettier. We used telegraph poles to make the arbor. Great recycling. And what's the lovely pink rose that's

13:39on the first set of the arbor? That's James Goldway. But I'll need to chop that back quite a bit. I think roses need to cut back maybe around this time so that if the wind catches them, they don't rock on the ground. And then maybe in springtime, then you can take them down further. The plant at the very back there is common name is Joe Paiweed, Uptorium, Purpourria. And it quite likes a damp site. So if anybody wants something to grow in a damp place. A huge head of bloom at the top, isn't it? And it does stand above everything else. So we'll go under the arbor, under James Goldway. If you were looking at it to take a slip, what would you look for and what would you do? You wouldn't take one from that has had a flower on it. But you would go down and cut just below the leaf node. And you would have to strip off some of the leaves. You could dip it in a written hormone. But if I'm planting any of the slips of them, or other, I tend to put a lot of grit into the pot along with the compost.

14:39Because they don't want anything that's too rich. And plant them around the edge of the pot for they get more air. And just set them aside. And set them aside and forget about them. And when you see roots maybe coming out the bottom or a little shit or something coming from it, then you'll know. Rather than just taking one, a take about 10 or more. And then you'll be sure that you'll get one. At least one, very wise. Why did you want these deep, multi-planted borders? I just wanted to grow maybe a variety of plants and have big plumps of them so that they give an impact. And maybe I have quite like things that are quite tall, rather than very trimmed and neat and maybe a bit wide. I'd just gone over now, but you can maybe see a sort of daisy there. There's a lot of chastodaisy. Chastodaisy grows really easily from seed. And the tall plant behind it, that's Veronica Astrum. Maybe a spike of seed heads come up from it. I do have some supports in here and there, but I would probably need to make some more.

15:41They're very expensive to buy, so we just buy a piece of metal, thin metal and bend it around something to make your own supports. They don't look as attractive as those ones, because they're of course they'll rust a bit, but they're more cost effective. I love that you know, you've had in some ways the courage to make such a deep, deep border, because you can let the plant naturally spread itself a little bit. And I think that makes it maybe a little bit more natural. I don't tend to maybe just put everything tall at the back. I kind of mix it up a wee bit as well. And also to save myself weeding so much, if the things are quite close together, it kind of blocks out the weeds a bit. Not entirely of course, because weeds will always come. So background, past the red, painted gate. It's a lovely feature that isn't, just adds this another spark of color to the garden. To put the pond in here. It's got a little fountain in the middle. That's just a wee solar fountain, just in for a bit of fun. You've edged it with stone that slopes down into the water.

16:44The pond was redone last October, because prior to that it had been for about 30 years, and the liner was leaking, so we needed to replace it. And it was a bit overgrown as well. My son came with a digger on dugout on the most horrific wet day that you can imagine. We were soaked and dirty. But I didn't have any oxygenating plants to put in right away. So I ordered a few online, but they were so small that we're going to be in effect. And then I was talking to Sean Boyd, who has broken wood, and he said to come and get some, any time which I now have in across there. But the pond was already green, so I'm wondering, will it clear over the winter when it's a bit color, or will I have to sort of drain it maybe and start again, as regards the water. So nice lilies just popping their heads up there, see the pad, and then the lily head is coming up, so that's due to open soon. You obviously get a great deal of joy from your garden,

17:46which wraps all the way round the house. It's got a lovely atmosphere. Oh, well, that keeps me busy. And I like, it just makes the place look nicer, and a bit more interesting. And obviously, maybe if I want to get a bit older, or maybe I'm not able to do so much, but I don't know, we'll wait until that happens, and we'll see what we'll do then. MUSIC Thanks to K Rainey, all of such a great display of color, which at this time of year, it's so lifts this old. And she opens for the National Garden Scheme. She did this year, and she welcomes people in by appointment, and that can be booked again through the National Garden Scheme. And their website is ngs.org.uk. I have to say she's a very impressive veg garden as well, but I didn't have time to fit everything in. And while I was there, you'll have heard K mentioned that she would need to do some cutting back, particularly the Rudabekia, clear.

18:47But what other plants could be tackled in this way at this time? Well, you know, they'd used to be sort of this, was the list you did, and you cleaned off all the beds, and now we've gotten to be a lot more mindful of that nature and uses it. So for us, certainly, we're looking at things where things are gone brown, things like the verbasca, and seed heads and stuff that are going down, or things that, you know, when we have these heavy showers, things flop over, they're not going to get themselves back up again. So it's sort of like judiciously taking those back, pushing them, kind of not quite tidy in the garden, but giving it so it doesn't look like it's all skeletons too worried. You know, autumn is coming, and that's wonderful, but we're not quite there yet. Okay, so there is jobs to do in the garden without a doubt. This week is a positive one. Fun things to do in the garden. Now, Nicola, near Winborn, which is endorsing, she was doing very well with her sarco-co-co-co-co-co. The words you want to start and could never quite stop. Anyway, you can explain later. She has one of these, and it was doing well, but things started going wrong. She's on the line. Hello, hello, Claire, hello, Helen.

19:47Hi, by the time I got to the end of your email, I was ready to give you a gold badge for perseverance. Honestly, you do not want to give up. So as a final resort, you can chat to Claire. Now, she's had to look at your photographs and take it away. Yes, thank you so much, Nicola, for sending in the pictures. They're really are so useful to hear. So you have two that are sort of on either side of your north facing front door, which is lovely. And so you'll get those lovely, smelly flowers kind of from December onwards, but one of them is not doing so well. No, one of them was looking very poorly. So they were both doing okay. And then I sort of from mid August onwards, one of them has been sort of going downhill. I've got a number of things I think I might have done to it. But I, you know, I'm sort of speculating really. I don't really know why it looks like you've tried, like you repartured it. You've had a look at the roots. The roots look good. So that's really reassuring to see. So I think this is where if you think Sarka Kaka, Hukaryana, Vare, Dijonis,

20:51the purple stem form, which is a really nice dark stem on it. It's a beautiful, beautiful plant. It is, these are things that are native to China and kind of that end of the world. And they're usually in forests and pickets where it's moist and it's shady. And they are, so they can tolerate shade and they can tolerate dry shade. But they're not, that's always going to be sort of them, you know, tough and, toughing it out. And I think this is amazing to see the difference between one side of your door and the other because if you look at the other one, which is in the corner, so it's a bit more sheltered. It's a little bit more protected. Where is this one? And where it's obviously suffering. I think that's probably the trigger of what's going on, the difference between the two. I think that, and I think obviously we've had a very dry summer. You guys must have had just, even work, like we thought we were bad, which you guys must have had it so much worse. So I think that's, it's just slightly too stressed and slightly too far. So I think you can definitely try and rescue it. I really hope it'll come back. But I think that might be where you might look for next summer either, moving it into that corner with the other one.

21:52I know, you know, reduces the symmetry, but will still keep your, your plant alive. And then you'll have those flowers for winter. And maybe if you can get some big dishes, that you can put under those pots, so you can wash them in the summer. So you're not, it's not just running away. So, so you're trying to make it more sheltered. You're trying to kind of keep that moisture level up. But yet in the meantime, if you want to print it back, you can, it may do, it may not, it's, it's hard to know. Sometimes they'll just go because they're a suckering plant. Sometimes a branch will just go. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, looking at that picture that I sent you, which is three weeks old now, the stem that's going off to the left is basically the only one and like three stems that come off it at the very base that isn't well wilting. And that one has, I've just noticed it's got flower buds on it. Oh, that doesn't, the alive. All the rest of it is looking even sadder than it does in the pictures. Yes. Well, it's some of it is brown. Do I cut all the rest of that off? And how am I going to stop just having a long spindle bit in the middle?

22:58Well, I think you're going to have a long spindle bushing the middle. But I think you have all of that new growth coming from the base. So that will very, very definitely help. So if you think, sorry, Coco, it doesn't usually need much pruning. But, you know, to get the bits, they're not going to do any better. So you might as well cut those bits out and really let it focus its attention on the good bits there. Nicola, we... But not cut the big bits off. Just leave that looking straight. Yeah, anything that's looking okay. Yeah, so it keeps the life going. Nicola, there'll be other people who have similar problems with this with this plant. It's a lovely one to have with the scent and the evergreen foliage. It's lovely to have in the garden. So some really good tips for us all. And we, we say well done Nicola. Lovely to hear from you. Thanks so much for your question. All the best now. Thank you. With another question from Frank. He's a six-year-old damson tree. And it produced a small harvest last year. What a good crop this year. Problem is that the fruit has brown, blotchy things on the skin.

23:58I've got a photograph for you there. You can have a look. So the damson's, Frank, say that says that you know the quite firm. But he doesn't quite understand what's going on. So any help would be appreciated. Yeah, so I think I think what you've got is just a little bit of environmental stress because we've seen that with lots, you see a little lot of fruit. Sometimes in things like apples they generally call it like rustling. But it's just these marks. If you look, it's not a proper rot because you'll see it's not slimy. It's quite dry. And it's just genuinely the sort of these probably the heat. It's always the heat is the one that gets us. We're not used to this kind of conditions. It'll just mean as those they're forming, they'll be a little smaller damage. And then over time it spreads. And because it's really tight, it's sort of slightly misshapen, misshapes the thing and you think it cracks. So you can get other diseases coming in. But generally it just makes it look a wee bit unsightly. But they're completely fine to eat. You know, if you want to look just, you can cut it out if you really want to. But it's like for making a nice jam or some nice baking, they'll be fine. Nobody'll notice those scars because that's good to hear.

24:59Because I had some on mine and a one. I started slicing it off a bit. But I thought what a waste of fruit. Yes, so yes, it went into crumbles. And they're delicious. I should have. I should have. Lovely, lovely, free to have. Good, thanks for that question, Frank. Now at the Everton Day Centre in North Belfast, members of the Lorsch community have spent months transforming an unloved courtyard into a sensory garden. Now the centre supports people with learning disabilities, along with their families and carers through a range of services. And guided by garden designer Linda McEwan, participants have turned a space that was once dominated by weeds and concrete into a garden that could be enjoyed by everyone. Now Nicola Kenney dropped by as the group gathered to celebrate the completion of the first stage of their project. And she met Linda and Scott from Lorsch, as well as the gardeners whose enthusiasm and hard work has really made this transformation possible.

26:08This garden we started to develop it last year. And it was a bit of a blank canvas. It was just grass really and very witty grass at that. We're establishing it now. We had a bank here that was created because we dug out some of the garden to make the structure here in the patio. We banked it up and we just sewed some wild floor seats. In the centre the structure is circular here. And we have a patio in the middle with the pergola over the top and a nice seating area. And then there's a little bit more formal planting around the edge of that. More herbaceous, shrub-ey structures, some spider-eyes, some grasses. And then a bit of ground cover herbaceous with the lichness and the durinins and things like that. My background is horticulture and garden design. I've been a biote 3 years ago, I retrained and did a diploma in social and therapeutic horticulture. And that just brings this lovely therapeutic nature, therapeutic aspect to people

27:08who maybe are less advantaged. Adults with learning disabilities, people with mental health issues because it's extremely important to connect people with nature and also to connect people with other individuals. And I love designing spaces that work for everybody, that work for people and that people can use, almost like rail gardens really. I would be working pretty hands-on in the garden with our participants. And then here this was an opportunity to kind of branch out and work with other service users. That's the important part, getting other people involved with it. And then people who maybe have never gotten before, never thought of garden even would tell me that I don't like garden, but really, really, once they get into it it becomes a way of life for them too. So here we have the Shrubby Salvia. And this one is Salvia Jementis hot lips that's known as and it is a great plant because it's practically evergreen. And it's a good bit of structure in the garden

28:09and it has these really deep red flowers that kind of fade to white over time, but if sort of soft structure, it's not a really dense shrub. So it's quite nice in the garden and it kind of moves in this texture. The grass beside it, again, an evergreen grass, anamentally less o'niana. Now it is a brilliant grass, it gets quite big and it has a lovely flower on it this time of year. But it is a bit invasive, if you'll see it around. But as long as you keep on top of that in the garden, make sure you pull the seedling site that come out quite easily. So it's another great structural plant and comes in its own through the winter months. And then again, we've got the wild flowers here. And it's just a general mix and there's some cosmos here. And there's some corn flower. We've got some borage as well, which is great for pollinators, pollinators love borage. And it seeds around the place too. And it's the most beautiful, beautiful blue color. Do I also see is that a gourd of sorts? It is. We grew a lot of squashes for other gardener, large garden this year.

29:09And we had some leftover, so we thought we'd try it over the pergola. So you can see it now I'm starting to come up and it's just starting to take shape. The squashes do okay here. We mostly grow them in our tunnels, but we're hoping this one, I mean it looks like it's going to color up already. The tree in the pot is a olive tree and that was planted for today. We just wanted everybody here to make a wish, ride it on the little tag and then hang it on the tree. Just a nice little wish for the future. Large is an organization that provides services for people who've been diagnosed with learning disability. I don't really like that label if I'm honest. I AACR guys as being quite capable. I don't really see them as having a disability. They just have different abilities and they need a certain kind of support. But I need a certain kind of support myself. They guys even though they've maybe grown up being told, oh you have a learning disability. Or saying well that's fine, but you can still be a really good gardener. You can be a really good team player. You can make a real contribution and people will appreciate the effort to make.

30:12And I think that's been what they've received. It's been appreciated. You know, and the people see them. They see them work in hard. They see them making a contribution, creating a beautiful space. That's been a really positive aspect of this project. I've been involved with our garden project from the start because gardening is a passion of mine. And I really wanted to bring gardening into to Larsh. Tell me about the process of creating this garden you were involved from day one. I used to come to the Everton complex for different meetings just as part of my CEO role. And I would always look out the windows at this garden space and just, oh that has huge potential. I would really like to get my hands on that space. So when the opportunity came up to actually get involved here, I was like, yes, this is our chance to actually transform this space the way we would envision it. When we started here, the place was fairly overgrown. This area here that we're looking at, the weeds are probably, you know, knee high. So the very first thing we did is we taught the guys how to safely use streamers.

31:16And we set a couple of them to work. Like we have pictures of them that are just covered in green from the stream. Because it was that messy. And then the next thing we did is we really trained them up to maintain the grounds, because there's a lot of grass to cut. So that was kind of the first bit that we did. Let's see what's here. And then I suppose the next thing that we did is we started to dig the paths. There were no paths here when we started. So that was really Linda's vision as the designer she had it all mapped out. She spray painted where we were today. And so the guys we needed to dig it over. And it was hard going. We had a lot of stone and builders' rubble and roots like all kinds of things. We had to take out a couple of trees along the way. So we were like digging around the roots and pulling them out. And the guys absolutely loved that challenge. And then we cleared this space for the circle, the stone circle, the where we're sitting here. And then made the raised beds that you can see there. I think that what the guys like the most is seeing the transformation, you know, taking a space that was completely overgrown

32:18and watching the fruit of their labors. And you know, the day we finished the stone paths, there's a big celebration. And it's like we finally got there because it probably took us about six weeks to get all that done. And then seeing the seeds that I sowed with the wildflowers come up and grow. They really been involved with everything from the start. And I mean, that's what I really love about it is that it wasn't just my project. It was theirs. I was just here to facilitate it. And to do a lot of the weeding, which they didn't want to do, to be honest. But when I talk to the guys and I ask them, well, what do you like most about being here? And they say it's being a part of something bigger than ourselves before. This group was based at Colling Glen neighborhood partnership allotments, which is a beautiful place. They really enjoyed it. But it was very isolate and they didn't have a chance to mix much. And here people from the offices are coming out and saying hello. They meet people in the hall. They have chats. We have our lunch here in the cafeteria where they've gotten to know the people who serve the food and the people who work here.

33:19And it's just this lovely sense of community that's developed. And that does my hard good because community is what large is actually about, where people feel they belong. And they have something to contribute and they feel supported. I'm Mark Armstrong. And I am one of the participants that help with the building of this garden project. I'm Peter Thompson. We all build a structure here. We've done it for past two years. I've heard there was a lot of hard work. Is that right? That's correct. Yes. When we first came here, all of the land that we have here was all covered in grass and tree stumps. So it took about three different sessions. They actually get it removed. And we were also proud when we finally came out. Put down the gravel and the sand on underneath that took weeks.

34:20And for the amount of wheelbottle runs that had to be done. And now it's up and running. Peter, what do you make of the garden? A gris, I just enjoy being with the people and seeing things grow that I could imagine. Like you know, seeing plants, your own vegetables and getting the work with the other participants. And especially the members of staff, they're all brilliant. They're one of the most nice people that you could ever meet and talk to. Oh, that garden is much the tree we put the tag on the tree. It's the wishing tree. You make a wish. Have you made a wish piece here on the wishing tree? Oh, and Mark, did you make a wish? I did, yes. I just wish for things to keep on growing and to keep on getting bigger and better. From what it was when we arrived to what it is now, things can only just get bigger and better. Nickla Kenny with members of the LARSH community.

35:36And you can see how they have grown and developed and perhaps broken barriers where people might have put a limitation on what it is that they could do. And it's always wonderful to hear that. So congratulations to everybody involved. And we hear the groups going to be working on other areas within the courtyard, including a work-related space and ornamental zones, which will include a wildlife pond, a specimen tree, that would replace some of the ones that they had to take down and a glass house. And from all of the team, we wish them all the best with their endeavors. Definitely. We really love it. September is always busy. Whole Foods Market can help. Their September stock-up event makes it easy to load your pantry and freezer with flavorful nourishing food. Even better, there are hundreds of sales. Get dinner going with canned soups and veggies. Lean on frozen pizzas, pastas, and seafood everyone loves. They're build your own family meals feeds for for just $35. Stock up at Whole Foods Market.

36:37The best time to recommit to your gut health goals? Right now. Take charge of your gut with nature-made. Our clinically studied ingredients support digestive health. Digestive enzymes break down nutrients, probiotic and prebiotic fiber nourish good gut bacteria, and supergreens with probiotics empower daily digestive health. Try the full lineup of gut health support from nature-made. The number one pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Flee. Right. Now, the grout tomatoes are actually already there. And this fits in nicely with Richard. He got in touch from Aberdeen. Always enjoyed the programme on Sunday morning, he says. I wonder if you might be able to explain. Now, this is going to sound a bit strange. The orange shoulders on my tomatoes growing in his greenhouse. All right. Now you've seen photographs. So the ripe. Yeah. He's got Shirley Ilsa Craig, Ali Canty.

37:38But can you explain what we're talking about orange shoulders? Yes. It's just the very top kind of near the stem, just the little top bits are going. And they usually are the latest bits to ripen anyway. But this is actually a disorder. And at least he's got a very mild form of this disorder. So it's called yellow shoulders. Very aptly named, yellow shoulder disorder. And it's caused, it's a physiological issue, again, that's happening. But unlike with our damsons where it's not really affecting the fruit, generally, if you look at the underneath, it will be firm. It's often kind of a much paler, wider colour. And it won't ripen. It won't get any better really than it is. So you can just, but it's not going to hurt you. You can just cut it out when you think it just unfortunately makes it less fruit for your salads or for your food, whatever you want to eat it with. But there's a few things that cause it. So heat or intense sunshine can be one of the triggers for it. There can be, if your pH is too high, so if you're too alkaline, it can sometimes trigger it. It's one of these ones we don't really know everything about it.

38:38And if there's not enough potassium. So there's a few things you can do. You can sort of put up, if we have a really hot summer like we had, you know, put a little bit of shade netting, a little bit of sort of judicious. I'd move them so I would necessarily put tomatoes where you've had tomatoes before, just to see if that will help. We don't know exactly what causes it. And then watering is really keeping an eye on it and give it a really good mulch. And of course plenty of tomato food. Yes, all right. And that would be done across the season or do you only see it now? Whether. You'll see it as the fruit starts to ripen. But once it's there, you can't fix the ones that have already been there. But you could stop it taking hold of the juice. With that advice. Right, that is good. And there's some varieties that are less susceptible. So it's still okay for those. Good advice. And he was blaming himself because he said I sowed the seeds late this year. That's the same in my book. But no, yeah. No, it's one of those things. We're not quite sure exactly all the process that happened, but it'll trigger. Okay. No, this is Margaret from Glasgow. She sent us a voice note.

39:39Here it is. I've got a little question for you. I have been growing Adelia called My Love. And it produces beautiful, large, spiky white flowers with a greenish yellow centre. I bought the chubber in spring of 2024 and planted it in a pot. And I got the beautiful white flowers. The following year, 2025, I got no flowers, but plenty of green foliage. This year I divided in spring. And I had healthy overcrowded chubbers in the one pot. So I planted them separately in pots. Again, healthy foliage, but no flowers. So I'm just wondering why I'm not getting it to flower. I water it regularly. And I'm using a high potash feed liquid comfrey.

40:40So I'm just not sure what I'm doing. Thank you and I do love the programme with all your top tips. Bye bye now. Okay, over to you, Claire. Yes, so well, I suppose usually the first thing you think about with, you know, if you're getting leaves with no flowers, is it getting enough light? So that's always a question. Like has something changed? Is something growing a bit bigger? So it's shading an end a bit more? That's, you know, she'll know that she can have a look. And then, so she's talking about feeding with comfrey, which is great. Because those are hungry plants. There were plenty of potassium to get those flowers going. And so depending on whether she's making it at home or what, the amount of potassium is always going to be very variable in those. So I'd look at the back of the pack. Take a look if it's from a packet. See what the K number is. If she's making it from home, it might be a matter of feeding every time she waters adding some defeat. But she could also look at maybe kind of upping it. And if she wants to use something like wood ash or kelp seaweed meal, bone meal, banana peel extra, just to give that extra potassium to push it into flowering.

41:42Is it too late now or is this a lesson for Margaret for next time? Yeah. Yeah. They're coming towards the end. They will stuff flower. You can absolutely do it now. But I think the best good you'll get is for next year. All right. And disappointing when you have all the flowers and you're waiting and waiting and then nothing. But they're hungry. And if they're in pots, you really have to sort of give them everything. Right. Okay. Thank you for your voice note, Margaret. And good luck. This crossed. Reviving or improving your day. Lovely, lovely day. Yeah. Now, the BBC Make a Difference Awards are back for 2026, celebrating the people who quietly go above and beyond in their communities. Those everyday unsung heroes whose kindness, generosity and community spirit make a real difference here in Northern Ireland. Today, we're meeting one of the Make a Difference Environmental Award finalists. So, let's go to what was a lifeless patch of grass surrounding Anadale Community Centre, it's off the Ormore Road in South Belfast, where volunteers aged from primary school youngsters to almost 90 year olds

42:47have created a community garden where they learn not just to grow flowers fruit and veg, but have developed a strong sense of friendship and community. And I called in to meet some of the volunteers and centre manager Lindsay Boros. The community garden started just over a year ago when the polytonnel first got delivered, and that was a very exciting day. And so, in the area where we are, over 80% of people don't have access to their own garden. So, they're living in flats or they're living in a terrace house. We have quite a nice amount of space here, and it just seemed like a new brainer in a way to take advantage of that. And create something that is going to give joy to people at night and for the future as well. It's our volunteers who come in and really do all the hard work. Looking around you can see them, they're dead heading the cosmos, there's somebody else sorting herbs that are in one of the raised beds.

43:48And I can hear lots of chatter coming from behind the polytonnel, so it's quite a nice sort of community, but quite busy atmosphere at the same time. Yes, absolutely. We very often would have upwards of 20 people doing things. This was about a community garden for the community, so it's their decisions that have really got it to the place where it is. Are we looking at some fruits of your labour? Yes, this is a rather wonky looking courgette. It's sort of not the long slender, but a big fat, almost globe of a courgette. Yeah, he's a bit wonky, but I'd say he'll be utterly delicious. I had not long moved in and met a friend on the street and she comes here. And she recommended that I give it a go. And honestly, best move I've made in years. You know, everybody's so kind and supportive, and everybody sort of reaches out to you and makes sure you're all right. It's more than a garden group. It reaches your life in ways that you don't even think of to begin with.

44:48We're surrounded by flats, and it's just a small pocket of green in the heart of that. No, it's like a little oasis in the grey. So you've been given the wonky courgette to try and do something with? Yes, I was put in a pan, with a bit of butter and I'm putting it in doing the elm it, I think. I live just three blocks away, and I don't have a garden, we have pots and backyards, so it's great to have a spot in this good, forgetting no more people in your local community. It's very good. What tasks did they get you doing at this time of year? Well, we do have cats, and I think we're going to get some citrus sprays, spray around these raised beds with the moment. I'm just putting taxons and a network of cord, just cotton cords, and that does seem to give them ways, that's good. Yes, because you've got it on both sides, and you criss-cross here and everywhere. So it looks like some sort of amazing puzzle. It actually works, the cats don't like using this litter anymore. We've all been enjoying bits of microgreens and peas and chives and salad. Have you some new arrivals, Lindsay? So these are all new climbing plants that are going to be planted over there to give the community garden a little bit of a sense of privacy.

45:54You have a fence that separates you from the flats all around you, but to add greenery to that? Yes. So we have a couple of these, this is Striata, which are going to be nice and green all year round. We have these ones at the nickname Yellow Wall. That's going to be nice, and we have this one as well. Euphorbia. Ascot rainbow, it is lovely. We also got some new plants for our pond. We've only had the pond about a month and a half, and we have also put up a little frog path. So we're really hoping to get some frogs. And they've been spotted in the Ormopark as well, recently as well. In fact, one of our members of our youth club, one of the kids, came up with the frog recently that he had found on the street. And wanted to put in the pond. I had to explain the ponds not quite ready yet for frogs. And the pond, it's like a raised bed in itself, isn't it? You've sort of created a raised level pond. And then the growing beds are just, they're like sort of large wooden boxes above ground. So very easily accessible.

46:54Yes, exactly. And that's important to us, and it has been from the beginning of how we can design this in a way that's accessible, because this garden is for everybody, no matter their abilities and their needs. So we have people from three years old who have been in the garden. They planted some sunflowers, which they're very, very proud of. And we have all the way up to people in their 90s who've been out here and unpotent things as well. And we do a lot of interaction with other community gardens as well. So seeds, whopping, and things like that. At the beginning, we got a lot of help and support in terms of learning hard to garden. Now I'm a year on, and I'm seeing people have those skills themselves, which I think is really, really great. Hi, Ann Katzren. Hi, how are you? I've been gardening about a year ago. So I joined us, so I learned about gardening and that they really welcome in here. I'm really great at getting into all kinds of abilities, and I just do an account in the garden. They're in part of the group, and they're in part of the garden as great.

47:54And you can get round in your wheelchair. It's nicely accessible here. Yeah, and they've looked down some plastic matting. So I can get over and get into the polytunnel. What were the first things you learned? We learned about sewing seeds, what to plant, and the different seasons. Yeah, and just watching things grow, it's good for the soul. And I've come into the small polytunnel. You have, I can see where your wonky courgette came from. There's a mammoth amount of courgette growing and in flour still, which is lovely. On the workbench on the other side of the polytunnel, you have been very busy doing early seed sewing. We've started to do some sewing for like our salads and our cabbages, things that we could possibly overwinter. Also just simple things like chives and herbs and things. When they get to a certain height wheel, maybe put them right in our bed, and so it's in the garden. Now at the perimeter of the community garden and the centre itself, there's a black wire fence. We're just basically trying to create a bit of screen here, just about some foliage over the fence,

48:58and just give it a nicer feel. So Lindsay, you were explaining what do you have got? So are we going to set about the task of putting a few in the soil? Is this the right time, and have you decided on which species? Yes, that's what we're just looking at now, is about the space of the plants to make sure that we've got it right. I know, you can fath about for ages to try to sew it with a plant, and then it doesn't mean that it's going to be the right one. It's quite hard ground to break through, isn't it? It feels like gravel, doesn't it? So what's your plan now then? Some of those posts are prepared in both concrete, so you may be touching them in between the posts. I have a sailing program in the better. That's a good bit of information. And you're right, well done into the sod. You saved the day. Fair enough. Like the community garden, and there's lots of different knowledge level.

49:59You can't measure the things that happen here, and the friendships, the relationships, the learning. It's good for you. It's enriching for you as a person. It was lovely. It really was lovely to meet those volunteers at Anadale. And it's great, it's such a good group. It's such a good group. All ages working together, and we wish them all the best of luck, and to the three other finalists. That's Daniel McAfee, Alana Agnew, and E.Kuh Rangers' N.I. And the Make a Difference Awards, the final takes place on Friday 25 September. That's no time away. Hosted live on the Vinnie and Kate Show from 1030 to 12, so we wish good luck to all the finalists for everything that they are doing. Now, the thing is clear. We met a wee while back at the 40th birthday of Garner's Corner.

51:00It was a marvelous gatherup, wasn't it? It was so... It started, yes. And such fun, and you know, it was really lovely. And we were told, bring a plant, you know, that we can talk about and see. So I brought a strep to carpus. Yes. And it's not the trumpity-flourad one, but one that has most beautiful delicate flat flour, it's at the top of a delicate stem, in that nice, bluey violet. And I love it. It's a beautiful one. Yes. I didn't know its name. And you said, oh gosh, right. And I thought that was the last one. But you contacted me a few days later, and you gave me its name. Blue nymph. Blue nymph. Yes. And there it's on many windows, so I just love it. So, but I thought, it's going to look as if it's your birthday now. But in here, I'm just going to stand up a wee minute. I'm going to explain that. Wow. I know, this is very exciting. I've even brought a little pot of soil. We're going to make a terrible mess on the desk.

52:00But anyway, what I'm sorry. The thing is, on an earlier Garner's Corner, I went down to Ocantane, which is in County from Anna, to meet Ian Marshall, who's the head gardener down there. And he's a contributor at Garner's Corner over the years. And we were doing propagation. I just happened to have a blue nymph with me. And we used it as an example of leaf propagation. Yes. And he said, oh, good. I got excited. He says, oh no, I'm going to be like, you might get one or two. Well, look at this trough. I have seven, nine. That looks spectacular. Yeah. And what I would like to do is a way of thanks. You hand this over to you. It's just, you might have had his carrots in that tray. You know what I mean? For the mushrooms or something. Yes. So I would like you to show us how best to take a seedling, which has grown from that leaf cutting. He only did was slice the vein, pin it down. And, oh, yes, they've come up all little ways along it. So there's the pot of soil. I love that as well. So what do you need to think about it this stage? Because there'll be other than folk have this as well.

53:01Yes, also, like if you think the leaf that came from, it's sort of, it's done its thing. It's done the work. So you're not worried about that bit. What you're worried about is the little rosette that's forming. And then the roots. The roots are all the thing to be most protective of. So I think you have a fork and spoon. But from the cutlery straw. You have your cutlery and I have brought some chopsticks. So anything that you can kind of noodle in underneath and just gently. So if I could just gently tease it out and tease it up a bit. Now I think the reason for the reason for success is one in green fingers. Is that his mix of soil for those, that leaf cutting was a nice mix of compost and vermiculite. So the drainage was obviously very important. Now there you are. You've just sort of hooked out. So yes, I'm holding it by one of the roots because I don't want to dam it by one of the leaves. I'm sorry, beg your pardon. Yes, by one of those leaves. Thank you. So because I don't want to disturb that rosette or the roots underneath.

54:02And I've just hooked it underneath, just took, took, took around the edges of it. And it's come up. And so I will very make a little judicious hole in the middle. Stir around as if I'm turning my noodles to make a little hole in the center that I can then just pop that into. And then tuck the roots in very gently and pop the compost in around it so that it's just at the right level. Tucked in, hardly knows it's moved at all. So that can go and be watered in and it should fly. So this principle is the same for anything that we have maybe taken cuttings over that have grown out. So the principle is always the same. A little bit of water just now. Well, yes. So I'd water it in because if you think I've been one of the things I've been using my chopstick for is to make sure there's no air gaps. So there's no gaps where those little delicate root hairs could dry out. So I've tucked it in as much as I can. But if by watering it that will really kind of fill all those gaps. Make sure that it's in proper contact with the soil. So Claire, I would like you to keep that bloom in.

55:04Well, thank you very much. And I grew them in the just in the conservatory on the underlifts. The orange or even though it's very close to a species that one and it is full of flower. Yes. And it keeps on flowering as a streptocarpus does, but that is absolutely my favorite. Thank you so much. So how are we doing? Getting towards the end of the program. Can you suggest a few jobs that we might tackle in the next week while? Well, this is the golden, Goldilocks time for the garden. You know, it's not too cold, it's not too dry. We've got still plenty of warmth in the soil so you can be out, you can be dividing, you can be lifting, you can be moving. You can be planting. This is the fun time the garden is going to get out there and do what you can. I think you've starting a new bed. I'm having cut out, but it's just sitting now being very witty. So I need to work on that bare soil now to get ready to plant. Definitely. So get in there. Alright, so get in and do those sorts of jobs. Anything else that comes to mind? So if you haven't taken any of your semi-ripe cuttings for particularly things that are tender, this is the time to get them done so they'll be nicely rooted in your nice pearlite or grater,

56:05whatever you use and compost mix ready to be kind of overwinter. What lends itself well to semi-ripe cuttings? There's so many different things, but like we do a lot of pectranthus, we do a lot of fuchsias and I'm sorry, there's so many things that can kind of like pick. Whatever you can find material on that doesn't have a flower on it, go for it. That's the key point. Right, good stuff. And I think we're to get quite a nice weekend of weather. It's supposed to be glorious. Yes, so that'll be a good time to do those sorts of jobs. And thank you, As Ever for your wonderful, wonderful advice. But you have a busy day ahead actually. Yes. It's the first day of your plant. Very exciting. Yes. Love it. What time does it start? It starts at 10 o'clock this morning and runs through until four. And you'll be run off your feet I'm presuming. Be great. I love it. It's a fun catch up with everybody and see everybody's doing. Exactly. That's lovely. I do nice new things. Yes, that's all I know. I know that's the problem. That's all we have time for this week. But let's take a quick look at what's on. I'm going to do it.

57:05I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to go out and do the light. Yes, tell me that first, the dark circle. Say, once at length and face the sky. Let's do it. The choice oftable. And we will do it this week. But let's take a quick look at what's on in the diary today. Today to thirty. The ulster alpine garden society has its first meeting of the season. there to talk about buried treasure. Well, that's to say, you know, bulbs. We're talking bulbs there, yes. But he has a point. Oma Gardening Society will have their monthly meeting on Tuesday the 22nd of September at 730. They are in the Silver Birch hotel in Oma and the speaker is Avril Morton. And finally, Rove Alley Gardening Society, they kick off their Gardening year on Thursday, the 24th of September in Christ Church Main Street, Limavadi, that's 730.

58:07Now, if you have any listeners of anything for the diary or a question you'd like answered, or a suggestion of something that we should maybe cover for Gardening's corner, the email is yes, Gardening's corner at bbc.co.uk. For now, though, for me, Helen Mark, producer, Nikola Kenney, and the lovely Claire McNally, and everyone else involved in the program. Thanks so much for your company and enjoy your garden. You're welcome. Hi, I'm Gus. I'm a dog in an expert in speed. So when it comes to fast internet, I know what I'm talking about. That's why I recommend optimum, fiber-powered internet. It has fast and reliable internet speeds, starting at only $30 a month with a five-year price lock. So how can you fetch such an amazing deal by calling 8669 optimum or visiting optimum.com to switch? That's 8669 optimum.

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