Easy June | Step-by-Step Gardening at Blue Diamond's Bridgemere Show Gardens | Episode 15

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]In this episode, beating the weeds, my guide on how to keep them at bay, how to take cutings and my top tips for tomatoes.

[00:00:14]Welcome to Stepby-Step Gardening with me, David Dominion Show Gardens.

[00:00:25]Our plant of the month is a climber. One of my favorites. It's clatus. And the thing you think about clatus is all about the flower, but it can be about the foliage as well. Because although many of the summer ones are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves during the winter, there are evergreen varieties as well.

[00:00:50]Just behind me here, this is an evergreen. It's called Avalanche and it's a spring flower and as you can see almost a beautiful cascade of pure white flowers just lovely. We're over here this clemetus here called this is an evergreen but it's a winter flower from January through to March and there are varieties that can grow really big just here with the larger clatus leaves that can completely cover an area. Certainly, if you want something hidden all year round, they're a very good choice. But they're also good because they flower during the winter time, which is perfect for any pollinators that are about that need food. And in springtime, because of the evergreen nature, certainly amandi, it makes really good nesting for very small birds like little rens.

[00:01:41]Now on to the deciduous clatus. Starting from one of my favorites, the fast growing clatus Montana.

[00:01:50]It's great if you want to cover something pretty quickly like a bit of trellus on the back of the fence or even a shed because it does grow pretty rampantly. Beautiful flowers in spring.

[00:02:01]They're single flowers, quite small. Uh this one's a pink one, but you can get them in white. Then there are the summer flowering ones. So just take a close look at the blooms here. almost a blue moonshine outer petals, really flashy in the center. Then there are nice striped flowering varieties. Then there's some deep red varieties and these can be grown in the ground to grow up against supports or can be planted in containers as well. The clatus has a quite a unique way of being able to climb. Now these are ples. Now ples is the the the little section here, the little stem here that joins the leaf really to the branch. And what they do is they latch on like a couple of pairs of arms to be able to climb. So if you are planting a clatus, you do need to give it some support.

[00:03:00]Anything for the plant to latch onto and grow and cover. They can hide things that you may wish not to see, like the shed or the back of the garage. Or it can bring height and beauty to the side of the property, the front of the house, an arbor, anywhere there is a space to climb. You'll get the beauty of both the foliage and the flower. And once you've chosen your clatus, let me show you how to plant them.

[00:03:27]Now, the first thing you need to do is choose the right aspect. They prefer either full sun or partial shade, south or southwesterly aspect. This is a southerntherly aspect. So this side of the post is pretty good. I've already fixed up a small bit of trellis work just to get it started. When it's up to this sort of height, I'll then start putting more training facilities for the plant at the back. Soilwise, they like quite a well drained, rich soil. They're not too fussy other than that. But the one thing about clatus, they prefer their head in the sun and their roots in the shade. So, I've I've dug a hole in here. I'm now going to just turn the plant upside down. Give the pot a light squeeze and guide it into the hole.

[00:04:14]Now, normally you put plants the same level at the surface of the soil as they were on the surface of the pot. But with a clatus, you actually plant the crown roughly between five and seven cm deep underneath the ground to encourage basil rooting. And I've planted it slightly out and it'll lean back and start to uh to spread. So now I'm just back filling with the compost and firm round.

[00:04:45]Bit more compost around there too. And at the back as well. I've left the little bamboo cane in here just to connect into the one I've got on the wall. And there there is one small shoot I'm just going to move into position and that'll just be ready to start climbing up here. Now at the bottom it's always best to have a little bit of coverage around the roots. They prefer the roots in the shade. You can do this in in several ways. one, you can actually plant some ground cover to grow around the base, or you can put some pebbles or stones. But here, I'm just going to add a little bit of extra bark chip around there just to keep it a bit cooler.

[00:05:33]Then I'm going to give it a really good water and still water on dry days until the roots get established.

[00:05:45]The lovely thing about this time of year is that your plants start to romp away.

[00:05:49]But that also means your weeds will romp away, too. So, here's how to keep your weeds at bay.

[00:06:03]Take a look at this. Every gardener's nightmare.

[00:06:08]Weeds. They spring up all over the place. How do you really tell the difference in between a plant that's classified as a weed from what is a normal plant? Well, the classification of a weed is a plant in the wrong place.

[00:06:24]So, let me give you a master class on weeds and how you can control them in your own garden.

[00:06:32]There are two main types of weeds. The first is perennials. If you've got weeds that just seem to keep coming back in the same spot every year or after you've hoed them down, the chances are that they are perennials and the only way to remove them is by taking them out. Roots and all.

[00:06:55]Now, here's a perennial weed that can be a nightmare. It leaves its roots in the soil and just keeps growing back again and again. It's a climbing weed, binew weed, and it climbs up through all of your shrubs, up your fences and your walls, and it can be an absolute nightmare. Now, the secret is is to get as much root out as possible because any root you leave, even if you break some in half, it will regrow. Let's just show you what you've got underneath the surface.

[00:07:28]Now, this root here has all these little shoots. Look at them. all ready to grow up. That's a That's a nightmare. And you've got to keep taking Look, here it is. Follow the root as much as you can.

[00:07:42]I don't use a tel because it can sever the root. But what you're trying to do is to remove as much as that as you go.

[00:07:50]Get right down in cuz you naturally think most of the plant is above the ground and it's not. It's underneath the ground. Now, you're never going to get it all out. It's a it's a war of attrition. But if you keep digging up the root, slowly you tire the plant out and it dies off.

[00:08:10]Different perennial weeds have different types of roots. And another type is a dandelion.

[00:08:17]And unlike the bineweed that has these roots that spread and creep under the ground, the dandelion itself has one single tap route that goes all the way down. And the secret is is to take the whole route out. Don't break it off because the bit that's left in can regrow. So, I'm not going to use the hand fork on this one. I'm actually going to use the tel and try and get in and lift the whole root up. So, loosen it again on the other side because I don't want to damage this tap routt. I want to take it completely out. There we go. I'll show you what the root is.

[00:09:01]See, there's a bit that's broken off there. I need to get right down and see what I can get the other end of it.

[00:09:10]Look at that.

[00:09:13]You've got to try and get all of this out. That way, you know it's gone for good.

[00:09:20]They may have different types of root system, but there's only one way to get rid of them, and that's root no. My advice is to keep at them and you'll succeed.

[00:09:33]The second type of weeds are annuals.

[00:09:39]Now, these are weeds that only live for a year. They germinate, they grow, they produce flower, they produce the seed for more weeds, they spread them, and then they die. Uh here's some examples of them. This is bitter crest. Generally speaking, you can spot a seed dispersal pattern. And here you have lots of small individual plants all in one area here.

[00:10:01]So, they've obviously come from one main plant, which is a bit of an indicator.

[00:10:05]Soon as it comes into flower, when you touch it, poof, they spread all over the place. And that's what's happened here.

[00:10:11]Now, the next weed. Oh, I've got sticky grass. Remember this grass? This is what you used to pull and throw and stick on your dad's back. That's another one. You can tell that it's sticky as you hold it. The small hairs almost hold on to your fingers. And over here, this one's ground saw. Very characteristic leaf here. It's worth getting to know them.

[00:10:32]And then there's the flower there as well. Now, the secret of all of these is to cut them off very early on their life before they start to produce seed.

[00:10:45]To tackle these annual weeds, I'm going to use a hoe. There are many different types of hoe. This one's an oscillating one. And what you want to do is to stand upright and let the hoe do the work. You just really want to cut in between the top of the root and the top of the plant. Uh you don't really need to pick them up either because the heat of the day will just dry these plants out.

[00:11:13]Now, if some of your weeds have gone into flower and into seed, it's a completely different game. You shouldn't hoe because effectively what you'll be doing is spreading more of the seed around as you're hoing and moving these plants about. Just take a look here.

[00:11:29]This ground has already produced seed.

[00:11:32]One year seeding, seven years weeding.

[00:11:35]That's what we said in the plant nursery trade. So, what I do, get hold of a plastic bag, lift up all the weeds, trying not to disperse any of the seeds, and putting them straight into the bag.

[00:11:48]Then, I'll close it up and dispose of them carefully.

[00:11:54]Sometimes you may find that the whole bed is run over with weeds. Here's how I tackle a weed takeover.

[00:12:02]Now, the issue with an area like this, there's a combination of perennial weeds and annuals as well, and you can't go through individually. So, I suggest you use a hoe like this and get right in there and start hoing the surface. Now, when you see some perennial weeds, usually you can get the corner of it right in there just to dig some of the roots up. But don't worry too much because the perennial reads, although you're scraping the tops off, in a couple of weeks you'll come back and you'll see them starting to poke through again and then you can dig out the complete route. But at the minute, I'm just trying to clear the space so I can see what's what.

[00:12:46]The other thing is is you'll end up with quite a lot of plant material. I wouldn't necessarily put them into the compost heap. put them into your green wheelie bin or brown wheelie bin that the council removes. And with a little bit of hard work and a few weeks, an area like this will start to look a lot better.

[00:13:06]But really, the trick is to stop the weeds growing in the first place. And here are two easy tips.

[00:13:13]First, plant densely. If your flower beds are packed with plants that you do want, the weeds can't compete. so the established plants will win. Or if your beds are more sparse, find ways to starve your weeds of the light. Here I'm using some bark mulch. So what happens is we've chopped them down. If there's any seeds left in there, they start to germinate. They can't get any light because there's all the mulch over the top of them and they will die.

[00:13:42]So plenty of bark chip.

[00:13:50]So to win against weeds, step one is to identify what type of weeds they are, perennial or annual, and tackle them in the right way. And once they're out, take action to make sure that they won't be able to grow back. And with those tips, hopefully you can get on top of your weeds.

[00:14:14]In the previous episode, I planted up both potatoes and strawberries.

[00:14:19]And look at them now. My potatoes have grown to the top of the bag, but I won't harvest them until they begin to flower.

[00:14:26]And my strawberries are also doing well and beginning to bear fruit.

[00:14:34]The seeds I sewed at the beginning of May have all germinated. So, I'm thinning out the carrots while they're very small, leaving them to grow about 5 cm apart. And I'm also thinning out my radishes, some of which are almost big enough to eat already.

[00:14:55]Look at that. Told you they sprouted quick.

[00:15:06]Now my sweet peas are fully grown in these containers. It's time to get them into the ground. But take a look. You can see the root system through the container there. How well they've developed. And I'm now just going to open them up. So the whole tray opens like that, which makes it easy for me to take each sweep out and put into the ground.

[00:15:30]Look at them here. You can see where I pinched them out. It's really bushed up nicely.

[00:15:35]As far as planting distance is concerned, you can be a bit flexible with sweet peas. They're they're pretty good rampant growers. I've got quite a few of them. So, I'm just spreading them out evenly around this uh this frame I created.

[00:15:59]In fact, one of those containers where we propagated these uh sweet peas is really going to be enough. I think going to put a few more in, but now I'm placing them into position. Four, I think, will comfortably do it. I'm planting them the same height in the soil as they were in their containers.

[00:16:18]Just loosen the soil up there.

[00:16:22]What you want to do at the beginning is just help them by training them around the uh the support that I've got here.

[00:16:29]See, these are little tendrils and they'll be latching on to the side of the string and the stem. I don't really want them to end up getting mixed up with the beans and the bean supports next door. So, I'll just lightly guide them as I come to check them in the mornings. Just help them on the way.

[00:16:48]Well, that's this bed fully planted.

[00:16:50]Think about it. One square meter. It's got eight broad beans, loads of lovely maragolds, and now a tower of sweet peas. It's amazing what you can do in just a small space.

[00:17:18]One of the most feel-good experiences you can do in gardening is taking cutings. Other than being fun to do and easy to do, you're getting new plants for free. And at this time of year, softwood cutings are incredibly easy to do and very highly successful in rooting. Now, this is a geranium here.

[00:17:41]And I just look for a branch like this one here that's young, fresh growth, no flowers on it. And I'm going to make this into a completely new plant. I follow the cutting down until it reaches a leaf joint. We call that a node. And I'm going to make a cut just above the leaf joint. And because I have cut it just above a leaf joint, a little bud will grow out from there into a new chute. If I was to leave it a little bit higher, so there's a bit of stem before the leaf joint, there is the possibility of that rotting. So I want to look after the plant. I'm taking cutings from the mother plant. And then I'm taking a cutting like this to be able to produce a brand new plant.

[00:18:32]Always use a clean sharp blade for cutings to prevent infection or damaging the plant.

[00:18:41]Now to make the cutting. Now I've taken it bigger than I actually need it cuz I'm going to do a bit of trimming up and and cutting back. The first thing I do is I don't need some of these lower leaves. So I'm just going to pull them down and they just pop out of position.

[00:18:57]and it's a little bit easier to see what I've got here. Now, the cutting originally is about 10 cm, something similar to that. And the cutting I'm going to finally make will be anything between 5 and 7 cm.

[00:19:11]And with the knife, I'm going to cut at an angle through the node or the swelling where the leaf joined the stem.

[00:19:19]That effectively is a cutting. Now, I think it's a little bit congested. So, I'm going to remove this leaf as well.

[00:19:28]uh just to make it clearer. And then in between the two leaves at the top, I'm just going to pinch out the center piece. The energy then goes into the uh the growth of side shoots rather than one individual shoot. Now, to really enhance its chances of rooting, I'm going to add in some rooting hormone powder. It's formulated to give the uh the plant a little extra stimulation when rooting. So, what I do is tip some into a separate ramkin. If you dip into the main container, you can do a bit of crosscontamination, of course, with different cutings. And now I'm just going to dip the base. Usually the moisture from the sap helps it adhere to the bottom of the cutting. Now, I've got a pot here with some Pete free compost.

[00:20:19]This particular compost is formulated for seeds and cutings. And I've also added a little bit of perlite and mixed it in because that helps it with a bit of extra drainage. Now, if I was just to insert this in to the compost, I could damage the base and certainly wipe off a lot of the uh rooting hormone powder.

[00:20:37]So, with a pencil, I'm dipping little hole in there. Put the uh the cutting in about a centimeter, 2 cm depending on the height of the cutting because you want a bit of stability around there.

[00:20:51]And then just lightly firm it in.

[00:20:57]And finally, give it a good water. Never let it dry out and never let it sit in water. And there you have it. On a brightly lit window sill, not in full sun. This cutting will root within two to four weeks time. And you can tell when it's rooted, not only because you can see the roots coming out the bottom of the pot if you lift it up, but you'll also start to see growth in the foliage.

[00:21:22]And there you have it, a completely brand new plant that you have grown and it's free of charge.

[00:21:30]Next up is rosemary. And the method is the same.

[00:21:38]Take a 10 cm cutting from above a leaf joint. Ideally taking the cutings in the morning when your plant is most full of water.

[00:21:47]Cut the stem just below the leaf joint and clean off the lower leaves. And after dipping in rooting hormone powder, they're ready to plant.

[00:22:14]And don't forget to water.

[00:22:17]Now I'm covering these cutings over with a propagator lid to prevent uh water loss whilst they're rooting. And in a couple of weeks time when they've rooted, they'll be ideal to pot on.

[00:22:35]It's not just bedding plants and herbs that you can take cutings from at this time of year. You can do it with your shrubs as well. This is a forsytheia and you'll know this lovely plant from the beginning of spring for masses of golden flowers. But it produces what we call greenwood cutings. Let me just show you.

[00:22:54]So last year's growth is this woody bit just here. And this year's growth is this stem here. Slightly soft at the top but starting to firm up at the base. And that is the perfect cutting. So, I'm just going to give it a cut where it joins the woody stem. Just like that there. Try and find another one. What you're looking for is something with no damage or disease in the leaves themselves. And cut them off. Another one just there.

[00:23:28]Another one here.

[00:23:30]Plenty of cutting material.

[00:23:38]You'll have the idea by now. Just cut below a leaf joint and take off the lower leaves.

[00:23:47]You don't want to take all the leaves off because you need some for the plant to photosynthesize to produce energy, but you don't want to leave on too many leaves because there isn't enough root system down there yet to service all of them.

[00:24:04]Now, I'm putting three in a pot. And uh don't put them all in the center. Put three just slightly in from the edge.

[00:24:13]And what that does is cuz they're closer to the edge, the as the container warms up, it'll add heat quicker around the base of the cutting. And that heat will help accelerate the rooting process. In a couple of weeks or more, they will have rooted. Now, there is one option of just planting it straight out into the ground as a as a clump, or I could split and separate them. Well, there you have it. three different plants and the way to do cutings. Join me in a future episode and I'll let you know how they're getting on.

[00:24:49]Just last month, I planted my tomatoes in the greenhouse. One in a grow bag, one in a raised bed, and another in a hanging basket. And they're all thriving. So, it's time to give them some support and TLC.

[00:25:07]These have done very well very quickly.

[00:25:10]Look how strong that is from when we first planted it in. And already we've got some flower buds and some flowers opening. Now I'm growing this one as a cordon. And the term cordon means one straight stem that I'm going to support on this cane here. So what I'm going to do is to remove some of the side shoots.

[00:25:32]If you take a a look here, there's the center stem and there is a branch where the leaves are. Yet, right in between them, it almost looks like a little young tomato plant has grown. And the secret here is just to get your fingers in and pinch it out. There we are. You can get a closer look to see what it is because it's got branches either side and then a center piece there. So, working my way down. There's a very big one just here. Take that out. There it is. That goes in the compost heap. And uh as the plant grows, you keep doing this. Just check for little side shoots.

[00:26:14]There's one here at the moment. And then the center stem will grow up. Now, look at that. That's much tidier. Now, as the plant grows, if you just think it's one single stem, it's moving a bit now, but when it's got heavy fruit on it as well, there's going to be a lot of pressure on the stem. And the main reason for having the cane here is to give it that extra support. But of course, you've got to tie the tomato to the cane to gain that benefit. There's a couple of options.

[00:26:43]one, you can buy little plastic or even metal clips and you can put it either side of the stem to the cane itself.

[00:26:54]There's not much wiggle room, especially if the stem starts to grow, it can cut in. Um, but I always believe that the best ties are firmly secured to the cane and loosely secured to the tomato. So with that in mind, I am going to actually use my old favorite, the garden twine.

[00:27:18]Just loosely tie the stem so there's a bit of movement for the stem to actually grow. See that?

[00:27:27]So where it needs it, it can gain support. That's obviously just one there. There's no real guide to how many ties you have, but more the better really. It's all about support. These tomatoes here are in fact the uh the beef steak variety. Look at that. See the size? I mean, they're really big tomatoes. So, there's a bit of weight on these. So, I'm putting a few extra ties as they grow to give it that extra bit of sturdiness. Don't skimp on your ties.

[00:27:59]That's the rule.

[00:28:01]I'm also going to train the tomatoes in the raised beds as cordons, and they're already getting a bit bushy.

[00:28:10]Now, this is what happens if you don't remove the side shoots. It becomes incredibly congested. And this is still a very young plant. Just imagine in a few weeks time, especially when you start feeding it, it's going to be an absolute block of foliage all in together. You know, all the energy is going into leaf, not necessarily into fruit production. The weight that's going to be on that. And of course, there'll be no air movement through the tomato, and that's going to encourage disease. So, I'm gonna first of all take the biggest competitor to the leader out. Now, this one is the leader, the more dominant one. You can see it's bigger than this one here. It's also got fruit attached to it as well. And if I follow down the stem, I can see this one is coming out between the dominant upright and the leaf uh uh branch. So, it's quite a thick one. So, I'm actually going to use the snips, get in there, and cut that out. See the difference already?

[00:29:13]Once the plant is cleaned up, it'll also need support. And the best way to do that with this arrangement of canes is to create a sort of twine cage around the plant to keep it central. I think it looks pretty good, too.

[00:29:30]Now, I'm going to tell you two simple ingredients when you're looking after your tomatoes that'll give you bumper yield, but also increase the flavor of the tomato. And the first one is easy. A constant regular supply of water. Never let them dry out. If there's plenty of moisture, you're going to get very juicy and flavorsome tomatoes. And the second is to feed. And you feed it as soon as the flowers and fruit start to grow. And of course, the fruit sets. Now, to feed them, it's high potassium. So, tomato food, it's a bit of a giveaway, is the best one to use because it's got all the ingredients to help the production of fruit. And all you do is you put it into your watering can following the instructions on the bottle and regularly feed.

[00:30:20]And guess what? Nature will do the rest.

[00:30:27]And with my hanging basket tumbling tomato, well, that's not going to need any support cuz it's just going to cascade down the side, but it will need feeding.

[00:30:41]So, that's it. Tidy, support, and feed, and you should get a bumper crop of delicious tomatoes.

[00:30:50]A few months ago, I sewed some cosmos seeds, then pricricked out the seedlings to grow on. And now the risk of frosts have gone. It's time to plant them out.

[00:31:05]Now, with the two cut flower beds the plants have already put in are doing pretty well. Gladioli are very up, looking really smart. And just behind me here, we've already got the first bud coming on the peony. But I've got to add some new plants into this bed as well.

[00:31:21]And that's our cosmos.

[00:31:24]Look at these. Now, equally spaced, I'm going to put in six of these.

[00:31:35]If you've been growing cosmos inside or undercover, you will need to harden them off to a climatize them to cooler temperatures. If you're in an area that is slightly colder, put them out in a shelter spot during the day and bring them in at night for a couple of weeks before planting them outside if there's risks of chills in your area.

[00:31:57]Now, what I'm about to do now will probably shock you.

[00:32:04]I'm going to cut them in half. So, what I'm doing is going down to where the leaves come out and just above that, taking the top out. So, what'll happen is these branches here and the ones underneath and the ones underneath that will all start to grow up to try and take over as leader because the leader has been removed. And that's how I'm getting a bushier plant. And all of those will have flowers on rather than one just going up where they are with just a flower on top. So reducing them by half thickens them up, makes them much more stable. More flowers, too. You could even turn these snippings into cutings.

[00:32:49]Sometimes you got to be cruel to be kind.

[00:33:00]I have a prize draw for you. A chance to win a Kadai Tula garden fire pit. And entering is completely free. Click on the link in the description and leave a comment below on the gardening topic you'd like me to cover in a future episode. Open to UK residents only.

[00:33:15]Closes on the 18th of June, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Terms and conditions apply.

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