hi Malcolm thanks for the touch of spring . as we await a blizzard here and possibly a few feet of snow .. like your dog it reminds me how my dog winds me around her paw lol...... good luck in the upcoming season looking forward to seeing how you prune the fruit trees against the wall . be well Ken
Thank you for taking the time to create and produce these videos. I'm sure it's a great deal of work. You share some extremely useful information and they are always a pleasure to watch. It seems like all the garden shows on the television these days (at least in the US) are trending toward flash and bang garden makeovers and the like, and these videos have filled a void for me in providing real useful horticultural knowledge in a way that is hard to get out of a book. Just yesterday I was looking at a maiden cherry tree I planted last year and cut to be a half-standard. The deer visited it just as it was getting its feet under it and now in the second year I have a tree with one useful branch as a crown. I may have to look at some creative alternatives like your festooning here if I can't coax any more branches this year. Best regards from Seattle, Washington! -Garrett
You can encourage a bud to turn into a branch Garrett (i hope that your name!) by making a small notch just above it....likewise you can do the reverse by making a nick just below....it may prove useful if you have dormant buds up the strm, its a technique known as notching and nicking.....I will perhaps make some footage of this later in the year......there are a lot of things rarely practiced these days....dont know why. I share your views on Gardening programmes....all to fast for me to cope with which is why we decided to attrmpt making our own information videos....I have tried to be more professional, smiley and enthusiastic.....sadly I just look like an idiot, so they'll have to stay slow paced. Thank you for your kind comments, they mean a lot to everyone here. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Malcolm, Please don't change a thing. I'm loving your videos. Here in the U.S. we have nothing like what you're doing, so the information you're providing is priceless. It's also obvious you know what you're doing first hand, a welcome change from slick and scripted TV presenters who likely never had to make a living running a nursery. Thank you. P. S. And, give my regards to those 4 legged bundles of trouble...they make me smile.
You are very welcome. There are many times I would love to be couped up in an office Suzi, especially in the pissing rain and snow......best wishes....Malcolm
Hello from Indiana in the US. Thanks for your videos. I'm so glad you are back. I can't get enough, it is so inspiring. One thing I'd be interested in seeing is how you plan out a new garden bed with perhaps perennials, ornamental trees, shrubs, etc. I have a blank slate at our new home and I struggle with what to plant and where. Anyways. Thanks again.
Hello Ashley, and thank you for your kind comments. You know there is much in gardening that is really just received wisdom, stuff we do because its always been done that way....in this case the layout of a garden. Tradition has it that you start with the backbone or structure, trees down to shrubs down to perennials, and it has much to commend it....but its not written in stone, considering light is most important, how anything you plant will effect plants that come after etc.....there are as i say standard rules...However.... I take absolutely no notice and plant what I want where I want within reason, I ttake no notice either of clashing colours, shades, or textures....I feel gardening has become over complicated by garden designers, most of who's gardens i find contrived and boring.....I like the old cottage haphazzard effect personally....most of all I like to "let the plants do the talking" and those that thrive look fantastic and those that dont i try moving (but only after a good period of time).....gardening should be fun, free from silly rules, a refuge from modernity, a little chaos is a wonderful thing you know and if anyone tells you you cant grow red next to yellow (if thats what you want) tell them to bugger off.......so dont get hung up on horticultural correctness....just look for a style you like and let your garden develop naturally with your own character, It will become a part of you, and something that will hold you in its arms when you need it and lift your heart when you dont expect it, which is why all ancient writings effectively refer to paradise as a garden. Make your own paradise the way you want it Ashley and leave convention in the wind....there is little that cant be corrected or changed, and most of all enjoy it, that way both you and your garden will thrive..... A bit long winded that answer.....sorry. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Malcolm, greetings from Arkansas USA. I really enjoy your videos. I appreciate the time it takes for you to produce these so thanks from a committed subscriber.
Thank you for your kind comments gbbaile (sorry I dont know your usual name). We seem to get a lot of folk from the US.......good luck for the future over there, I intend/hope to visit and walk some of your Appalachian Trail before I depart this earth. I dont know where it is of course but I've always fancied the job. You have a wonderful country to be proud of. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Some of the AT goes through amazing land and in other places it goes through people’s backyards. It stretches between Maine and Georgia. I heard that too many people go on certain sections and now you need to make reservations which is depressing. But there are many other places in the US for hiking that are amazing and unregulated. How tall should the pillars for the blackberries be?
Hi Malcolm, I just wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed your videos. I am learning so much and it is always fun to watch. I love your new assistant Pepper. I hate pruning roses always worried that I am going to kill the poor plants, Could you or have you made a video on rose pruning? Kind regards Sue
I will do that Sue, though it may be a little late for this year to include as its mostly done....I will pass on the best advice that was ever given to me...."better to prune too much than too little".....I'm not a fan of roses however, I love the flower but hate the plant as its always prone to disease, is fussy about food, the petals look like a litter trail when they fall, blooms are prone to damage, and after all that the bugger spikes you. But they are beautiful flowers and often their scent is exquisite. Thank you for you kind comments, and Pepper is a delightful dog and niece to the older pair.......she is just a bit of a handful. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Hi Malcolm, Commiserations re the rabbit damage. Shocking to see the devastation done in one night! I guess that I am one of the hundreds if not thousands of the silent majority of followers of your outstanding videos. Brilliantly informative, highly amusing and very professionally filmed. I dont know if this question has been raised before, but could I ask as to what camera is used to make these great videos? Kind regards, Gazza
Thank you for your kind comments Gary....I dont know how many followers we have.....I doubt its that many as I think we're an "acquired taste and too amateurish for mainstream veiwing.....sadly I cant do it any other way no matter how I try to be less miserable looking. We get what were given in life i guess.....even a grumpy face. No matter, its the content that counts not a gleaming smile! Gary, the films are made using a simple iphone (not that its really simple) in the early films an iphone 4....then an Iphone 5s....now an iphone 7plus....it is my one extravagance....I had initially disliked the iphone 6 or 7 because the larger size seemd a backwards step, but on the contrary you get used to the thing, and getting older and a bit shaky its actually easier to use. Editing is done through imovie. There are good tutorial videos available for imovie...one bloke has an even more boring and twaty sounding voice than me but is actually very informative and explains well. Your comments give us encouragment and we dont feel like fools, i just wish i could get more of my staff to go in front of the camera because they are very good and have been with me years. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Well I have to say that i'm staggered. I expected some make of sophisticated video camera or a Gopro camera at the very least. Even more so impressed now. I will see if I can borrow the wifes iphone 5s to have a little experiment with as I am not an iphone lover and stick with Android devices, currently Samsung. Just an aside, where I live in Solihull just south of Birmingham, I was very surprised to see daisies (the weed type) coming into flower in the lawns and grass verges this week. Surely this must be a record early event as we are only two weeks out of February. Cheers...Gary
Hello again Malcolm,In your video about layering (Daphne blagayana) you said there might be another video about air layering. I have searched but could not find it? I have a Magnolia doltsopa that I would like to try to propagate.Kind RegardsSue
I have not done one as yet Susan....I think its about time I did. I have so much to cover and so little time to do it in with the nursery to run and simply getting old and past my sell by date..... I expect there are plenty of others on the internet, but I promise we will do one in our own style this year. A magnoila is a good subject actually. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Jacob, thank you for the kind comment. I am starting to feel glad to be back after so many people took the trouble to write..... A lot depends on what magnolia you have......most of the deciduous ones can be treated similarly to the pruning in the video....well the same priciple applies....certainly the soulangiana and stellata types. I have many of these and regularly prune them back in winter to keep bothshape and size under control.....remember though that magnolias generally flower on the ends of the previous years shoots, so keeping it to an occasional task is best, though we do trim back the longer shoots on potted plants to encourage more shoots and more flowers....this is because plants with flowers sell better and i am a money grabbing capitalis pig!.......I'll be voting Tory next!.....only because i have a secret crush on Theresa May.......which is quite embarrassing really. Best wishes.....Malcolm
I have done this before as you say, very often some of the trees recover if not completely ring barked, but they never look good, they just look inferior and you cant sell them to customers so i usually give them to allotments societies or schools etc. Its funny that many years ago we would deliberately ring bark larger rootstocks in particular to encourage fruiting....or stress them into it....I get the feeling you would know what im talking about anyway, because it is heartbreaking.....pheasants and rabbits (of which we are surrounded by) haunt my dreams at times, I would rather it was an attractive female, Beatrix Potter has a lot to answer for with her bloody Peter Rabbit! Best wishes....Malcolm
Love your humor!! 😂😂😂
You're Merlin.... that's what you are. Your planting anecdotes are brilliant!
hi Malcolm thanks for the touch of spring . as we await a blizzard here and possibly a few feet of snow .. like your dog it reminds me how my dog winds me around her paw lol...... good luck in the upcoming season looking forward to seeing how you prune the fruit trees against the wall . be well Ken
I enjoy your vids, Malcolm. I know being a nursery man is not a job for the idle. Also love the 'personal twists' you add to it!
Thank you for taking the time to create and produce these videos. I'm sure it's a great deal of work. You share some extremely useful information and they are always a pleasure to watch. It seems like all the garden shows on the television these days (at least in the US) are trending toward flash and bang garden makeovers and the like, and these videos have filled a void for me in providing real useful horticultural knowledge in a way that is hard to get out of a book. Just yesterday I was looking at a maiden cherry tree I planted last year and cut to be a half-standard. The deer visited it just as it was getting its feet under it and now in the second year I have a tree with one useful branch as a crown. I may have to look at some creative alternatives like your festooning here if I can't coax any more branches this year. Best regards from Seattle, Washington! -Garrett
You can encourage a bud to turn into a branch Garrett (i hope that your name!) by making a small notch just above it....likewise you can do the reverse by making a nick just below....it may prove useful if you have dormant buds up the strm, its a technique known as notching and nicking.....I will perhaps make some footage of this later in the year......there are a lot of things rarely practiced these days....dont know why.
I share your views on Gardening programmes....all to fast for me to cope with which is why we decided to attrmpt making our own information videos....I have tried to be more professional, smiley and enthusiastic.....sadly I just look like an idiot, so they'll have to stay slow paced.
Thank you for your kind comments, they mean a lot to everyone here.
Best wishes.....Malcolm
Malcolm, Please don't change a thing. I'm loving your videos. Here in the U.S. we have nothing like what you're doing, so the information you're providing is priceless. It's also obvious you know what you're doing first hand, a welcome change from slick and scripted TV presenters who likely never had to make a living running a nursery. Thank you.
P. S. And, give my regards to those 4 legged bundles of trouble...they make me smile.
Many thanks Malcolm, you explained very well. Felt very jealous watching this before I headed off to sit couped up in an office all day.
You are very welcome. There are many times I would love to be couped up in an office Suzi, especially in the pissing rain and snow......best wishes....Malcolm
Hello from Indiana in the US. Thanks for your videos. I'm so glad you are back. I can't get enough, it is so inspiring. One thing I'd be interested in seeing is how you plan out a new garden bed with perhaps perennials, ornamental trees, shrubs, etc. I have a blank slate at our new home and I struggle with what to plant and where. Anyways. Thanks again.
Hello Ashley, and thank you for your kind comments.
You know there is much in gardening that is really just received wisdom, stuff we do because its always been done that way....in this case the layout of a garden. Tradition has it that you start with the backbone or structure, trees down to shrubs down to perennials, and it has much to commend it....but its not written in stone, considering light is most important, how anything you plant will effect plants that come after etc.....there are as i say standard rules...However....
I take absolutely no notice and plant what I want where I want within reason, I ttake no notice either of clashing colours, shades, or textures....I feel gardening has become over complicated by garden designers, most of who's gardens i find contrived and boring.....I like the old cottage haphazzard effect personally....most of all I like to "let the plants do the talking" and those that thrive look fantastic and those that dont i try moving (but only after a good period of time).....gardening should be fun, free from silly rules, a refuge from modernity, a little chaos is a wonderful thing you know and if anyone tells you you cant grow red next to yellow (if thats what you want) tell them to bugger off.......so dont get hung up on horticultural correctness....just look for a style you like and let your garden develop naturally with your own character, It will become a part of you, and something that will hold you in its arms when you need it and lift your heart when you dont expect it, which is why all ancient writings effectively refer to paradise as a garden. Make your own paradise the way you want it Ashley and leave convention in the wind....there is little that cant be corrected or changed, and most of all enjoy it, that way both you and your garden will thrive.....
A bit long winded that answer.....sorry.
Best wishes.....Malcolm
That is GREAT advice!!! Ikll take ot too plz.
Malcolm, greetings from Arkansas USA. I really enjoy your videos. I appreciate the time it takes for you to produce these so thanks from a committed subscriber.
Thank you for your kind comments gbbaile (sorry I dont know your usual name). We seem to get a lot of folk from the US.......good luck for the future over there, I intend/hope to visit and walk some of your Appalachian Trail before I depart this earth. I dont know where it is of course but I've always fancied the job.
You have a wonderful country to be proud of.
Best wishes.....Malcolm
Some of the AT goes through amazing land and in other places it goes through people’s backyards. It stretches between Maine and Georgia. I heard that too many people go on certain sections and now you need to make reservations which is depressing. But there are many other places in the US for hiking that are amazing and unregulated.
How tall should the pillars for the blackberries be?
Love the these videos very good information and a good laugh as well cheers mate! :)
Thanks for these!
Hi Malcolm, I just wanted to tell you how much I have enjoyed your videos. I am learning so much and it is always fun to watch. I love your new assistant Pepper. I hate pruning roses always worried that I am going to kill the poor plants, Could you or have you made a video on rose pruning? Kind regards Sue
I will do that Sue, though it may be a little late for this year to include as its mostly done....I will pass on the best advice that was ever given to me...."better to prune too much than too little".....I'm not a fan of roses however, I love the flower but hate the plant as its always prone to disease, is fussy about food, the petals look like a litter trail when they fall, blooms are prone to damage, and after all that the bugger spikes you. But they are beautiful flowers and often their scent is exquisite.
Thank you for you kind comments, and Pepper is a delightful dog and niece to the older pair.......she is just a bit of a handful.
Best wishes.....Malcolm
Thank you, I used to ask my mother for gardening
advice but she now has Alzheimer's so gardening and her family has been forgotten.
Thanks again Sue
Check out the Frog eggs 14:42 Excellent video as always..Thank You.
Hi Malcolm,
Commiserations re the rabbit damage. Shocking to see the devastation done in one night!
I guess that I am one of the hundreds if not thousands of the silent majority of followers of your outstanding videos.
Brilliantly informative, highly amusing and very professionally filmed.
I dont know if this question has been raised before, but could I ask as to what camera is used to make these great videos?
Kind regards,
Gazza
Thank you for your kind comments Gary....I dont know how many followers we have.....I doubt its that many as I think we're an "acquired taste and too amateurish for mainstream veiwing.....sadly I cant do it any other way no matter how I try to be less miserable looking. We get what were given in life i guess.....even a grumpy face. No matter, its the content that counts not a gleaming smile!
Gary, the films are made using a simple iphone (not that its really simple) in the early films an iphone 4....then an Iphone 5s....now an iphone 7plus....it is my one extravagance....I had initially disliked the iphone 6 or 7 because the larger size seemd a backwards step, but on the contrary you get used to the thing, and getting older and a bit shaky its actually easier to use. Editing is done through imovie. There are good tutorial videos available for imovie...one bloke has an even more boring and twaty sounding voice than me but is actually very informative and explains well. Your comments give us encouragment and we dont feel like fools, i just wish i could get more of my staff to go in front of the camera because they are very good and have been with me years. Best wishes.....Malcolm
Well I have to say that i'm staggered. I expected some make of sophisticated video camera or a Gopro camera at the very least. Even more so impressed now. I will see if I can borrow the wifes iphone 5s to have a little experiment with as I am not an iphone lover and stick with Android devices, currently Samsung.
Just an aside, where I live in Solihull just south of Birmingham, I was very surprised to see daisies (the weed type) coming into flower in the lawns and grass verges this week. Surely this must be a record early event as we are only two weeks out of February.
Cheers...Gary
Hello again Malcolm,In your video about layering (Daphne blagayana) you said there might be another video about air layering. I have searched but could not find it? I have a Magnolia doltsopa that I would like to try to propagate.Kind RegardsSue
I have not done one as yet Susan....I think its about time I did. I have so much to cover and so little time to do it in with the nursery to run and simply getting old and past my sell by date..... I expect there are plenty of others on the internet, but I promise we will do one in our own style this year. A magnoila is a good subject actually.
Best wishes.....Malcolm
In pruning a 3 year old magnolia tree, would it be correct to use this pruning method to develop branching? Glad your back posting Malcolm, Thank you
Jacob, thank you for the kind comment. I am starting to feel glad to be back after so many people took the trouble to write.....
A lot depends on what magnolia you have......most of the deciduous ones can be treated similarly to the pruning in the video....well the same priciple applies....certainly the soulangiana and stellata types. I have many of these and regularly prune them back in winter to keep bothshape and size under control.....remember though that magnolias generally flower on the ends of the previous years shoots, so keeping it to an occasional task is best, though we do trim back the longer shoots on potted plants to encourage more shoots and more flowers....this is because plants with flowers sell better and i am a money grabbing capitalis pig!.......I'll be voting Tory next!.....only because i have a secret crush on Theresa May.......which is quite embarrassing really.
Best wishes.....Malcolm
I'll for-go the flowers for a few years to get it going in the right. Thank you
Only option would be cut them down to the ground and reuse the rootstock when it regrows heart breaking though..
I have done this before as you say, very often some of the trees recover if not completely ring barked, but they never look good, they just look inferior and you cant sell them to customers so i usually give them to allotments societies or schools etc. Its funny that many years ago we would deliberately ring bark larger rootstocks in particular to encourage fruiting....or stress them into it....I get the feeling you would know what im talking about anyway, because it is heartbreaking.....pheasants and rabbits (of which we are surrounded by) haunt my dreams at times, I would rather it was an attractive female, Beatrix Potter has a lot to answer for with her bloody Peter Rabbit!
Best wishes....Malcolm
Miss your videos where are you hiding come out and play!
I hate all of the rabbits for you! I have groundhog issues in my area.
hello, we got 3 dogs here?
Bloody rabbits , pain in the ... hate them almost a much as a bloody wombat digs holes like a bloody excavator .