Giant Abyssinian Banana Planted + RHS Chatsworth Highlights

At Long Meadow, a giant Abyssinian banana goes in the ground to kick off summer. Then it's off to RHS Chatsworth and tiny Peckham front gardens for inspiration. After heavy snow split a weeping pear, our host fills the space with a dramatic Abyssinian banana, sharing soil prep, firming and watering tactics to stop it toppling and help it surge in size. He dots in tender annuals like Cosmos Purity, plus sunflowers, zinnias and leonotis, and shows how pinching encourages bushier growth and more flowers. At the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, the team hunt for practical planting ideas: calamagrostis as a living hedge, foxglove Sugar Plum, and thalictrum for airy height. We dive into the blue with delphiniums, Himalayan meconopsis and Salvia Blue Note, including an easy cutting method for making new plants. The Master Grower alpine stand spotlights linaria Neon Lights, saxifraga and pulsatilla with long-lasting seedheads, plus potting tips for cool, free-draining roots. For instant impact at home, see a polished-bark cherry adapted into a multi-stem planting from three whips, and learn the Hot Cross Bun topiary technique to shape box with confidence. In the Living Laboratory, an aquaponics setup shows a smart closed-loop way to grow food. Community spirit blooms at Abel's Acre rockery on Forbes Road in Kent, revived by volunteers Sandra Todd and Hazel Burford in memory of Walter Abel. We also explore 46 tiny front gardens in Peckham, where water bowls, pot-grown trees and foliage-first combos create wildlife-friendly character in the smallest spaces. Back at Long Meadow, courgettes Gold Rush go into water-catching depressions, and greenhouse tomatoes are planted deep and trained on string for simple, secure support. Dahlia cuttings are potted on for strong plants next year, and we wrap with weekend jobs: lightly trim hedge openings, earth up potatoes, brew comfrey feed and deadhead roses to keep the display going. Every Space Counts voting opens too. #GardenersWorld #RHSChatsworth #AbyssinianBanana #SmallGardens #GardeningTips #Tomatoes #Topiary