SPEAKER_01 0:00

BBC Gardeners World Live is back at the NEC in Birmingham for another four fantastic days of well, all things gardening, really. And I'm delighted to be joined to talk about the show. Saul Walker, good to see you, Saul. And good to see you guys as well. Well now, Saul, you're always busy at these shows because you and your partner in crime, Lucy, are in the Floral Marquee. We are, yes. And you are where the biggest cue is where people come to you with their questions, their problems, their life stories, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Yeah, or just where the where the toilets are, or you know, where's the plant crash? Have you seen this rose? All that all kinds of questions, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

You've got to be multi-talented. You have to know things, yeah. But yeah, on the serious side though, people come to you with uh, as there as many do to the show, looking for help and advice. Yeah, they do. And they'll come with with things in you know, uh in um cigarette cartons or photographs and all the rest of it. What sorts of things have you been asked about this year?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

It's always there's always a mix, isn't there? And it's quite interesting because you get to see what people's problems are for the year. So one of the problem uh questions we had was a pest and it was a scale insect, but it leaves a particular sort of fluffy white mark on the back of leaves. And it's it's it's a relatively new scale. Um, it's quite visual. It I'm trying not to describe it, but it looks a bit like bird poo. Okay. You know what I mean? Nicely done. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so you know, people are a bit worried about it, uh, and it doesn't it doesn't make the bushes and the shrubs and the leaves look very nice. Is it a fungus or something? No, no, it's an actual pest, actual scale pest. Yeah, and it sort of leaves this trail behind it, white trail. So it looks, yeah, it looks a bit ominous. But um, it's one of the ones that we're seeing more and more because uh as our climate changes, as the seasons are getting warmer, as we're getting milder winters, um, more and more different pests are able to outride the winters, and they become more prevalent, and people are seeing them. And especially if you're in the south of the country, you're definitely seeing that change more prevalent than say maybe the north of the country, which is quite interesting in the show because it's such a national show. You're getting people from all places, and you get to see the differences between the regions.

SPEAKER_01 2:18

Absolutely, not just different soil types, but different issues because of different climates. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which raises an interesting question, doesn't it, about the use of pesticides, organic uh horticulture. I mean, I was talking to somebody recently who are very keen on the no-dig route as well. Uh is there a danger that that these changes, possibly because of climate change, are going to create almost insurmountable problems for the for the organic gardener.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Do you know one of the things I'm noticing is the speed at which this is all happening and the fact that we're not able to keep up with knowing the long-term outcomes of what this stuff is. So we're sort of trying to make snap decisions about stuff that we're not quite sure of where we're going with. I was talking to a lady this morning and trying to say to her that she wanted to know what plants she could plant to resist this pest. And I was like, we don't really actually know yet because we're waiting to see the long-term impact of this stuff to say if this stuff will work. So we're sort of we're readjusting all the time in gardening and we're and we're making assumptions about where we think it's going, but we don't really know. So yeah, it's um it's an interesting quandary for gardeners, expert gardeners at the moment, as to what advice to give practically. Um, it used to be very much if you went 20 years ago that we give definite eradication ideas and things like that. These days it's all about management, it's all about trying to limit the impact rather than trying to eradicate.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Yeah, I I guess there's a big philosophical debate about managing nature. Does nature manage itself perfectly well? Thank you very much, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

But it's interesting because of climate change, nature's changing really rather rapidly, whereas beforehand this stuff happens gradually and we can sort of suss it out, experiment our way through. So I I'm just finding it really fascinating when I come here every year to learn new things, see things happening, and they're probably testing my knowledge just as much as everyone else's. Absolutely. What else has caught your eye so far at the show? Well, I don't know if anyone really knows, but we've had a bit of a change in the floral marquee. There's a brand new building there, or a tent, you would say. It's a fan, it's a very fancy tent. And actually, what's been really nice is it's made it into the old-style flower shows that we all like as horticulturists. There's a really nice vibe in there. Feels like the exhibits, and they're all the same exhibits from last, you know, all the same styles, but it actually just feels very nice. There's a good vibe. So actually, we're quite enjoying just being in the tent with everyone. The orchid displays are amazing, I've got to say. Uh, the International Orchid Show is now in its third year, and uh, I think the quality is improving every year as people are getting used to being here and what they can get away with. So, yeah, fabulous orchids. And you know, I'm an orchid guy, so I'm always going to be uh sucked in by them.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah, absolutely. I've not ventured into orchids yet, but uh we might have a chat at uh at some point. The um show gardens, beautiful borders, the wheelbarrows, all of those things that are they just the crowds gather, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Because they're looking for beauty and brilliance, but they're looking for inspiration. One of the great things about the show is the timing. We're right sort of that middle part of summer, and actually the gardens here, like a few other flower shows, are actually a great reflection of what people's gardens are doing right at the moment. So you can get really great ideas, and even from the smallest things, like the beautiful borders, you know, there's um the Make a Meter Matter campaign, you know, a meter, uh, and it just shows you what you can actually do in a garden right now with actual plants that are flowering right now. So it gives people great ideas.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

The big thing that's that uh been I've been talking to lots of people, uh trying to find out what their best tips and advice is for a lot of the new gardeners who come to the show. Yeah, um, and the first thing they all say is have a plan.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

Yeah, absolutely. Uh one of the things, and I think we've discussed this before many years, is you come to these and it is a just a feast for the eyes. There's so many options, plants coming out of left, right, and centre. And you don't, if you're new, it's quite hard to know exactly where to go. Uh I always say, Yeah, just calm it down a little bit. Go and talk to the people that are the experts, the nurseries, the people that bought the plants, and maybe just experiment a little bit with one or two plants rather than buying a truckload. You see the you see the trolleys going around, they're full and full of plants. And sometimes I think, I wonder if they just chose a few of those plants, took the host here, they work, they'll save a bit of money, and then plan. You know, one of the great things these days, we've got the internet, and you know exactly what plants might work in your garden, and then you can go to one of a show like this with a uh like a list of plants that you're looking for, and you can talk about them, find them, and then grow them more successfully, and hopefully save yourself a little bit of money in the easy to max out your credit card here, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Very, very easy on fantastic things as well. Um Father's Day is coming up on uh Sunday, as it does every year when we're at this show. Many people uh will be coming to the show with their families and thinking, oh, we'll pick up something for Father's Day. What's a good Father's Day gift? Gizmos, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 7:20

It's gotta be gadgets. It's always gadgets. That's what's great. We're in the hall, so we're in the inside bit of the show, and there is so much, isn't there, from tools. I think I saw a load of battery-operated tools, and I was trying to work out what the all the attachments were for. So they look very ominous.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

I've just I've just bought an uh electric secateurs.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Oh, yes, yeah, lots of people have been swearing by those because it's a lot easier. It's good. You might have quite strong wrists if you're doing it manually. So yeah, but I've seen all sorts of different tools for doing different jobs here from weed eradication to uh easy painting your fence. You know, I paint my fence every it takes me hours, and you can do it in seconds with some of these things. So definitely, definitely gizmos. Um, but also just you know, this there are some fabulous plants out there, and I know that some dads like uh like the bigger sort of house plants, maybe a cactus or two. There's some really nice cactus nurseries in the in the in the tent uh that with some fabulous colour. So there's definitely something here for for all dads.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Absolutely. Um, do the usual thing that I I ask of you, Saul, and that's to look ahead. Yes. What are we gonna be talking about next year? I mean, what's on the horizon? You I mean, you work with with heritage, yeah, and therefore you're looking at the preservation of all of those things. Absolutely. But you must also be looking over that horizon saying, right, what are we gonna plan for?

SPEAKER_00 8:41

It is it is tricky to understand, but what I like to think is that the answers are already with us. They're in the plants that we have at the moment. They're gonna be the ones that we might use for the future. So we've got to look at these uh old plants and preserve them for future use, just in case. You never know what's gonna happen, what's coming around the corner. Uh, and it's like banking, you know, like uh saving your money for a rainy day, saving these plants for when we really need them is quite important. So I think there's gonna be a lot of more talk about conservation of cultivars and plants that are maybe not so popular. Um I was showing uh a group this morning, fuchsia. I think fuchsia are not having a vogue time at the moment, and there are some uh the fuchsia gourmite out there and a few other things that are wiping out collections, so people aren't growing them. But the problem is if they're not growing them, then people won't look after them, they could just disappear into the ether. So it's really important to look after these things for when they become more popular. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Uh so nearly day one over and done with, three more days to go. Yeah. Oh, you almost smiled down. Always good to catch up with you, so enjoy the rest of the show. Thank you very much.