Gardeners’ World
BBC TWO, 8.00PM
BBC nature programmes are enjoying a bumper year when it comes to royal patronage. Her Majesty the Queen invited David Attenborough into her Buckingham Palace garden and the Countryfile team onto her estates for three royal episodes. Not to be outdone by his mother, the Prince of Wales welcomes awardwinning gardener Adam Frost to the grounds of Highgrove to admire the view and discuss the threats to his flora posed by pests and diseases.
Prince Charles talks Frost through his battles with Dutch Elm Disease and Ash Dieback and what he’s doing on the Duchy of Cornwall’s 53,000 hectares to cope with such blights. The Prince also appeals to Britain’s gardeners to do their bit by not bringing back non-native plants from their travels abroad because of the damage they can wreak to our greenery. Monty Don and Carol Klein appear in separate segments, the former demonstrating pruning and propagating in all weathers, the latter profiling the Agapanthus. But the chief reason to watch is for a glimpse of keen gardener Prince Charles on his home turf, showing us how he’s transformed Highgrove and discussing his love of the British countryside.