Gardening With Charlie Dimmock

Britain's gardening goddess Charlie Dimmock has been in New York City with the BBC's Ground Force, a wildly successful prime time gardening program, which has made stars out of its hardworking gardeners. They are working with the New York Restoration Project to transform a derelict lot in the East Village.

At the same time, Charlie has visited The Early Show on the Fourth of July to share how to design a beachside garden. On Friday she shows how to maintain the plants.

Maintaining your Garden:

Has the bloom gone off the rose and if so, what are you supposed to do about that. And everything else that's out of control in your garden? On Friday, Charlie looks at climbers and demonstrate how to tend the plants: staking, cutting back, dividing and pruning.

She cuts and prunes trachelospermum (jasmine), mandevilla (pink tropical plant) and honeysuckle. As well as how to plant a clematis to prevent clematis wilt, and how to stop the flowers from climbing too high up the stalk by cutting them back. Then she demonstrates how to stake delphiniums and dahlias and when to use twigs or a hoop brace to support herbaceous plants. Find out how to divide a plant with two forks and how to prevents slugs and snails with coffee.

Seaside Beach Garden:
On the Fourth of July, Charlie Dimmock shows which plants will do well at the seaside. She demonstrates how to design a garden with plants and decorations that you would naturally find at the beach. So transport yourself to the ocean even if you are on a balcony or roof terrace in the middle of a city.

What to keep in mind:

Harsh wind, salt spray and sun and sandy soil affect seaside plants.
Plants need to be both robust and adaptable, as well as, have leaves and stems that stop water loss. Look for thick, hairy, succulent, glossy, a little like Mediterranean plants, which can be identified by blue/silvery leaves. Such hardy plants will happily live their whole lives in containers.

The most popular are:

• Grasses of all kinds
• Pampas grass (tall with standing cattails)
• Festuca ovina (silvery blue semi-evergreen foliage in dome shaped clumps)
• Pennisetum - (crimson fountain grass)
• Beach roses - with their flat petals, and wrinkled leaves
• Yuccas - tall and spiky
• Yarrow- lacy flowers in several colors on blue green stalks and stems...
  Dusty miller (daisies)
• Aster
• Evergreens - pine, juniper,
• Sedums and succulents
• Buddleia (butterfly bush)

Charlie has been in New York City with the BBC's Ground Force to work with the New York Restoration Project to transform a derelict lot in the East Village. Bette Midler is the founder of said project.

Traditionally the BBC Ground Force crew is summoned to secretly look over an uninspiring garden or undeveloped site. Then they raze it, carry away the rubble and rubbish, and rebuild an oasis complete with a new structure, lawn, landscape, pergolas or trellises, trees, shrubs and plants, all within the space of two days (if a home) or as in this case, three days to rebuild a community garden. Charlie was discovered on Ground Force.