BBC Gardeners' World September 2021

Discover… how to get the most from shady spots with our 132-page guide to Gardening for Shade. On sale now in selected stores for £7.99 or at gardenersworld.com/ gw-special-editions Tune in… Find our new podcast series, Tea-break Tutorials, on Apple Podcasts – bite-sized, practical guides from Alan Titchmarsh. See more at gardeners world.com/podcast Learn… New to gardening? Get to grips with the basics in our online 5-week course for beginners. Sign up for £36, with a free 7-day trial – go to gardenersworld. com/futurelearn Join Adam… Enjoy great gardens in good company by coming with us on an exclusive tour of the Cotswolds where Adam Frost will join the group at Michael and Anne Heseltine’s garden. Visit gardenersword.com/ adam-cotswolds-tour Save even more... Subscribe today and enjoy six issues for £24.50 plus get a free Almanac – see right Keep up…

As we bask in the last few days of high summer before plunging into autumn, it’s a feeding frenzy for bees and butterflies, their cycle of life turning with the season. Though the latest news is showing moths and butterflies have had a tough year, I’ve seen more variety than ever this year, possibly because I’ve actively grown with pollinators in mind. And we know you have, too. Throughout 2021, we’ve been sharing with you – through the magazine’s Put Pollinators First campaign – ways to make your garden part of the vital life support that our wildlife needs. From rating your garden’s features through to identifying monthly pledges everyone can make, our campaign has galvanised thousands of you to take action – as we know from your feedback. (Your favourite…

STARS OF THE MONTH Cosmos ‘Tip Top Picotee’ “By all these lovely tokens, September days are here. With summer’s best of weather and autumn’s best of cheer”Helen Hunt Jackson It is my duty here to occasionally furnish the readers with some unnecessary information: Picotee means that the petals have edges that are a different colour to the rest of the flower. It comes from the French ‘Vicoté’. Don’t thank me, it was my pleasure. Core importantly, cosmos are one of those indispensable annuals – the sort of plant that will always happily plug a gap. I try to have a few up my sleeve every year for when the early summer flowers (for example, in my garden we have a lot of poppies) begin to look a bit tired and need replacing. Sow seed…

There’s a rumour going around that zinnias are difficult to grow. I’ve been hearing it since I first started growing them, which was not, shall we say, recently. But it’s a myth. Plants like what they like. Grow marigolds on the soggy margins of your pond and they’ll die. You see what I mean? Zinnias are no different. If you give them what they like, and protect them from what they hate, then they’ll thrive. Simple as that. And what do zinnias hate? They hate root damage when they’re small, making them susceptible to rots. There are two ways to prevent it. Firstly, you can sow the seed in the garden where you need the plants to flower and thin them out without disturbing the ones you want to keep. Do this…

This summer, in my new greenhouse, I have grown 80 tomato plants and about 40 chillies, as well as 100 or so basil plants. When I have posted pictures of this on social media it inevitably provokes the response querying, with an undertone of disapproval, “What on earth am I going to do with all that harvest – do I sell it? Do I give it all away? What am I trying to prove?” In fact, every single leaf of the basil, every tomato and chilli is carefully harvested and over 90 per cent either processed into pesto or tomato sauce and frozen or, in the case of the chillies, frozen as they are. I’ve been doing this for the past 25 years and, as we’ve always eaten pasta at least…

Not-so-welcome wildlife In regard to the letter sent in relating to ticks in long grass (Have Your Say, August issue), myself and my husband have also encountered a problem with ticks in the garden. I planted large areas of the garden this year to encourage more wildlife but have now decided to reduce any areas of long grass near to walkways. We were horrified to find ticks attached to our shoulders and waists after spending time in the garden and hope they don’t prove to be infected with Lyme disease. Lyn Dugdale, by email We say: Ticks only live in long grass where there are animals to feed off, such as deer, which is why they are more common in certain areas of the countryside than others. To find out more visit: bit.ly/TicksInGardens The battle…