live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
This video explains how to plan productive gardening time and which important jobs to prioritise before planting.
The guide covers preparing beds, checking plant health, organising planting areas, watering correctly and getting ready for sowing and transplanting. It also explains how good preparation improves plant establishment and growth.
If you want to make the most of your gardening time, these simple practical tips will help you stay organised and keep your garden healthy.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
hello and welcome to gardening with
0:03
Ben's awardwinning podcast as voted by
0:07
grow your own magazine and by my
0:09
followers and listeners so if you're new
0:12
to the podcast make sure you click that
0:14
subscribe button to stay up to date with
0:15
all our podcasts listen back to all our
0:18
previous episodes sit back grab a brew
0:21
and let's enjoy today's
0:24
episode hello and welcome back to
0:27
gardening with Ben well it's Friday
0:30
we've got that feeling of the weekend is
0:34
finally here and I'm looking forward to
0:37
going back to the alotment tomorrow and
0:39
enjoying my time off there as I've got a
0:43
few days off so it'll be a case of
0:46
getting down there and continuing with
0:49
those winter jobs yes we're still in
0:51
winter it's not spring yet spring
0:54
officially starts on Sunday and I so
0:58
can't wait for spring even though the
1:00
weather has just turned nice again for
1:02
this weekend so hopefully we will get
1:05
some beautiful weather to spend at the
1:07
alotment and hopefully I'll spend some
1:09
long hours there as well because like I
1:11
said the mornings are a lot lighter now
1:15
and that means I can get to the plot a
1:17
lot earlier because I don't like staying
1:18
on too late I don't mind going down
1:20
early like half 6 Etc but I just don't
1:24
like staying down there too late to be
1:26
honest I like to be home relaxed and
1:29
settled
1:30
for the afternoon so what are we getting
1:34
up to on the allotment this weekend well
1:38
my main job is my parents have managed
1:41
to find me some orange raspberries which
1:46
is one of the things on my list that I
1:48
have been wanting for a while the
1:50
formless black pris one which I've got
1:53
and they're in the ground and hopefully
1:55
rooting and taking germination and
1:57
growing so next up is to get these
2:02
orange raspberries in and I can't wait
2:05
to taste them I've never tasted them so
2:06
I don't know what they taste of or taste
2:09
like but they're orange in color and
2:12
they're a different variety so let's see
2:15
how well they get on so yeah when I've
2:18
uh got them off my parents at the
2:19
weekend I'll certainly be taking a
2:21
picture of them and sharing them on
2:23
Instagram with everybody and showing you
2:25
what they look like we just need to find
2:27
somewhere to plant them now but like I
2:30
said I'm hoping to have raspberries all
2:32
the way down my other side of my plot
2:34
I've got them down one side which is a
2:36
mix between summer variety and Autumn
2:40
variety of raspberries I do prefer the
2:41
Autumn variety of raspberries they're
2:43
the best ones what I've found so far but
2:46
now that we've got these orange ones
2:48
we'll be continuing those down the side
2:50
of the plot as they send out the runners
2:53
each year so I'm looking forward to
2:56
those addition to my plot because I've
2:58
had my Autumn raspberries on my plot
3:00
since I first got it 16 17 years ago and
3:04
I've kept them growing for the years
3:05
that I've been down there so it's a good
3:08
new addition to the plot and I've added
3:10
so much new things to this plot this
3:12
year um it's going to look phenomenal in
3:15
a couple of years time when it's all
3:17
taking hold and growing well um I've got
3:20
my obviously my new raspberries I've got
3:23
two new Victoria plum trees I've got my
3:25
formless black Brees I've got my grapes
3:29
I've got my red
3:31
gooseb and yeah it's going to be
3:34
absolutely amazing so next on my list
3:37
are the honey Jew berries uh if that's
3:41
what you call them what I saw on alenti
3:43
Marsh the other week last week but yeah
3:46
they're next on my list so I'll be
3:48
getting those from Amazon or wherever
3:51
from the garden center when I get paid
3:54
so I'm looking forward to them I keep
3:56
adding these extra things on my list as
3:58
I see them um uh but I'm just
4:01
transforming my allotment into the best
4:03
it can be and the most proliferant uh
4:08
producer of fruit the best that I can
4:11
get it and I'm just looking forward to
4:13
the few years that's coming and how much
4:16
produce I'm going to get from it so the
4:19
best things to be doing this weekend on
4:22
the allotment is if you've not done it
4:24
already make sure you've sorted out all
4:27
your fruit areas as we're getting into
4:29
to spring now and it needs to be ready
4:32
and sorted ready for the month ahead and
4:35
the main thing will be is to make sure
4:38
that your fruit trees are pruned back
4:41
don't prune your plum trees yet we need
4:44
to wait for it to get warmer to prune
4:45
your plum trees and your cherry trees
4:47
anything that's got a stone in them you
4:49
wait until the middle of Spring end of
4:52
spring before you prune them but your
4:54
apples your pears they all need pruning
4:57
and if you've not tided up your
4:59
strawberry yet they need tidying up
5:01
sorting out cutting off any of the
5:04
old waste leaves on them trim them back
5:08
tidy them up and make them look good and
5:10
put mulch down if needs be put some
5:12
chicken pallets down to give them the
5:14
food that they need for the year ahead
5:16
and stuff like that so you need to get
5:19
all that bit sorted and tided up if
5:23
you've not sorted your Sumer raspberries
5:25
out they can be pruned back prune all
5:28
the ones back which
5:30
had fruit on them last year and leave
5:32
the new growth which grew this year as
5:34
they will be the ones that produce the
5:36
fruit I've been told that you need to
5:38
trim the tops off them so that they Bush
5:41
out and they produce a lot more fruit on
5:45
The Raspberries so that is my job for
5:47
this weekend because I've certainly not
5:49
done that I need to prune all the tops
5:51
off to make them Bush out and produce
5:53
more fruit on them it's stuff like that
5:57
that you constantly learning you new
5:59
tips and advice from people like I knew
6:02
about pruning the old growth from the
6:05
year before back but I didn't know about
6:07
pruning the tops off the new growth to
6:10
help them Bush out so with gardening
6:12
you're learning new things all the time
6:15
new tips and advice and it's constant
6:17
reading of like Facebook groups and
6:21
magazines and books that learn you all
6:24
these tips nobody knows all the advice
6:27
or anything like that it's just trial
6:29
and error through different methods that
6:32
learn you all these gardening tips so
6:35
we've got that to do this weekend uh
6:38
another job which obviously needs doing
6:40
around this time of year is getting all
6:42
your beds prepared getting all your
6:44
Gardens sorted if you've not dug it over
6:47
yet keep digging it over keep hoing it
6:50
keep pulling out all them Roots out of
6:53
those beds because the more you keep
6:55
weeding on a regular basis at the moment
6:58
the less chance of getting many weeds in
7:00
your beds throughout the year because
7:02
the seeds will have settled and gone
7:04
dormant and the now that the warmer
7:07
weather is coming they'll start
7:08
producing all them Wheats what may have
7:11
settled in the soil over the winter and
7:16
yeah it's keeping on top of that job
7:18
really and my main job which I always
7:22
class through winter is all my
7:24
maintenance work go around check your
7:28
green houses all standing well make sure
7:31
that there's no clips missing from
7:34
Windows make sure that your poly tunnel
7:37
is secure that if it has got any rips in
7:39
it order some poly tunnel tape like I
7:42
did and man came from Amazon and repair
7:46
them rips on it because if the wind
7:48
comes it will pull it apart and rip it
7:50
apart so doing all them winter jobs now
7:53
will prepare it for the months
7:56
ahead and one job that I do not enjoy
7:59
doing every year but it's something that
8:01
I do is I repaint all my wooden beds
8:05
every year it just adds that protection
8:09
to the wood and stops IT rotting over
8:12
the winter uh and it protects it just
8:16
for that bit longer and some of the
8:17
wooden beds that I've got down on the
8:19
plot they've been down 16 years because
8:22
I paint them every year and it protects
8:24
them yes some have gone a bit rotten but
8:26
I just keep painting over them and they
8:28
keep protecting
8:30
and keep lasting just that little bit
8:32
longer um year on year and it's great to
8:36
see that my plot is still looking
8:39
fantastic all these years to come
8:42
and if you've not done it yet draw a
8:45
plan of your alotment make sure you've
8:48
drawn a plan
8:50
because you're going to struggle to find
8:53
places to put everything or you might
8:56
want to grow too much stuff and you've
8:57
not got enough room to grow it so draw a
9:00
plan of your garden draw a plan of your
9:02
allotment make a list of all the
9:05
vegetables and fruit you want to grow
9:07
this year in the plot and try and work
9:10
out where exactly you're going to grow
9:12
it and don't be over too over ambitious
9:16
like I plant absolutely loads of seeds
9:19
and sometimes I've got loads of seeds
9:21
left over and I just end up handing them
9:23
all out to everybody
9:25
because I've got too much stuff growing
9:28
and I just can't fit it all in so
9:31
remember to leave you don't want to grow
9:33
too much because you need to leave space
9:35
in between each plant so that you can
9:38
get in and keep them weed free uh
9:40
because if you're fighting with the weed
9:43
then the weed will take all the
9:45
nutrients all the water from the soil
9:48
and they
9:50
will
9:52
keep a lot of the nutrients from the
9:55
actual vegetables from the fruit and you
9:57
won't get as good a crop so so keeping
10:00
the space in between the plants really
10:03
does help so think about that have a
10:06
think as well about trying to grow
10:09
something new on the allotment each year
10:11
I like to try and grow something new
10:14
something that I've not grown before or
10:16
tried it before and trying something new
10:20
is exciting because yes you've tried
10:22
other stuff year on year but when you
10:25
try something new and it's ready to
10:27
harvest you get so excited because you
10:29
want to try it and see what it actually
10:31
tastes like see how much nicer it tastes
10:34
than the shop bought produce see how
10:37
much nicer it has grown yes it may be
10:40
wonky yes it may not be straight but it
10:44
may taste more delicious than you've
10:46
actually bought from the shops and that
10:48
goes for brussel sprouts they might
10:50
taste nicer than they do in the shops so
10:53
why not have a try at growing brussel
10:54
sprouts if you don't like them in the
10:56
shops just try growing some and see if
10:58
the taste any nicer than the actual shop
11:01
bought produce and see how well you get
11:04
on with them but yeah it's a good time
11:07
to start planning and one of the main
11:09
things what I'm going to concentrate on
11:11
this year is my melon plans uh I've
11:14
tried growing a variety before I had
11:16
success one year another year I didn't
11:18
have success so I'm trying melons again
11:21
but I'm going to try lots of different
11:22
varieties this year I've got a massive
11:25
poly tunnel and some years I'd grow too
11:28
many tomato plants and I can't look
11:31
after them so I'm going to concentrate
11:32
more on growing melons this year and
11:35
trying different varieties and seeing
11:38
how we get on with them and obviously
11:40
trying different varieties you can see
11:42
which ones grow best and if you have a
11:44
fantastic crops on one you can keep
11:47
growing them year on year afterwards
11:49
last year I tried different varieties of
11:52
squashes I had some great results from
11:54
some of them some of them are rubbish so
11:56
I won't grow them again I'll stick to
11:58
the ones that through well so it's a
12:00
good thing to try like maybe try
12:03
different varieties of beans there's
12:06
lots of different varieties of beans out
12:07
there yellow ones black ones green ones
12:10
red ones lots of different varieties for
12:13
to give a try so have a look around and
12:16
try something new this year if you think
12:19
about trying something new on your
12:21
allotment send me a message let me know
12:23
what you're going to try growing and let
12:25
me know how you actually get on with it
12:27
because I do love hearing feedback from
12:29
you all and the amount of messages I
12:32
receive a day off Instagram it's
12:33
brilliant uh from the listeners and I'm
12:35
really pleased with those that do get in
12:37
touch with me cuz I do like keeping in
12:39
touch with you all and seeing how you
12:41
get on and this is the best thing about
12:43
the gardening Community it's staying in
12:45
touch with one another and keeping
12:48
things moving and I just wish I could
12:50
set up like a little gardening club and
12:54
where we have regular chats with one
12:56
another but it's just thinking about how
12:58
to do it because obviously work shifts
13:00
so I couldn't dedicate it to a night on
13:02
a regular basis but I do want to do that
13:05
little bit extra towards helping people
13:07
so if anyone's got any suggestions how I
13:10
can Branch out better with my uh help
13:13
with people uh or how I could do this
13:16
full time please do let me know because
13:19
I would love to do this full time I'd
13:21
love to be able to just do my podcasts
13:24
full time do my allotment full time do
13:26
tutorials full time and stuff like that
13:30
so if you're in the knowhow of how to
13:32
get me to do this fulltime please do let
13:35
me know because it's good to know and I
13:37
would love to do this fulltime as this
13:40
is my passion uh turning your passion
13:42
into reality is something that you
13:45
really should try and do if possible uh
13:47
and it's just taking that Plunge in
13:49
doing it sometimes and yeah I'm getting
13:52
absolutely loads more listeners on these
13:54
podcasts more people are clicking that
13:56
subscribe button more people are
13:58
clicking that follower button on my
14:00
podcast and I do appreciate all the
14:02
people that have done that and it's just
14:06
growing fast now and I'm aiming to have
14:10
1,000 subscribers on Spotify by the end
14:12
of the year it's going to be a real
14:14
challenge because I'm at 360 at the
14:16
moment on Spotify but I want to get to
14:18
1,000 so if you've not clicked subscribe
14:21
yet please do click that subscribe
14:22
button and follow button and please do
14:25
help me reach that
14:26
Target and obviously I've got my other
14:29
podcast which is called gardening and
14:31
allotment tips podcast if you've not
14:34
listened to that yet that is in the link
14:37
in the description of this podcast and
14:40
you can find it on Spotify on all
14:42
podcast platforms but it's called
14:43
gardening and allotment tips podcast
14:46
you'll be able to see a picture of me in
14:48
the picture it's a green image so have a
14:51
listen to them there's lots of episodes
14:52
on there we're going to be putting a lot
14:54
more on over this weekend I seem to
14:56
upload them in bulk they're just like
14:58
short episodes talking about one
15:01
specific topic uh rather than this
15:04
podcast we talk about many things but on
15:06
that podcast we just talk about one
15:08
specific thing and that's getting so
15:10
many listens as well I really can't
15:12
believe how well that one's doing as
15:14
well so thanks for those that have
15:16
subscribed to that podcast and stay up
15:18
to date with that one as well it does
15:20
mean the will to me and yeah I do love
15:23
doing these podcasts because people do
15:25
seem to love listening to them and I
15:28
just enjoy talking
15:29
even if it's just to a microphone but I
15:31
really do enjoy talking and sometimes I
15:34
find it hard to actually make them
15:36
longer episodes but I am trying to get
15:39
them a bit longer so I do hope that you
15:42
do still enjoy them and I do hope that
15:44
you enjoy following gardening with Ben
15:46
and all my tips I will be back at the
15:49
allotment tomorrow so expect me to do
15:53
podcasts about talking about what I've
15:55
been up to on the allotment and sharing
15:57
my advice from what I've been doing on
15:59
the plot so until next time everybody
16:03
remember keep smiling keep gardening and
16:06
keep listening to gardening with Ben's
16:08
podcasts so thank you for listening to
16:11
today's episode of gardening with Ben we
16:14
hope that you've enjoyed this episode
16:16
remember to do click that subscribe
16:18
button to stay up to date with all our
16:20
podcasts feel free to share them on your
16:22
Instagram stories so that it spreads the
16:24
word about my podcast and we get lots
16:26
more listeners feel free to check out my
16:29
social media sites Facebook and
16:31
Instagram as well gardening with Ben and
16:33
also my YouTube channel to stay up to
16:36
date with all my handy videos how-to
16:38
videos and sharing my tips and advice
16:42
and feel free to check the link as well
16:44
in the description for my gardening with
16:46
Ben t-shirts lots of funny gardening
16:49
design t-shirts in there for you to
16:51
purchase at great prices too so thanks
16:54
again and as always remember keep
16:57
smiling and keep God
#Home & Garden
#Home & Garden