The BEST episodes of Gardeners' World season 53
Every episode of Gardeners' World season 53, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Gardeners' World season 53!
Gardeners' World is a long-running BBC television programme about gardening that continues to this day. The first episode was filmed in 1968, presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Most of the episodes of the show are 30 minutes long, though there are many specials that last longer.
#1 - Episode 1
Season 53 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/20/2020
It is the first day of spring and Monty has sharpened his tools in readiness to open the gardening year, accompanied, of course, by Nigel and Nellie, in the first episode of the series. Monty reflects on how Longmeadow has fared during an extraordinarily wet winter and gets going on a few essential tasks to get the garden into gear for the seasons to come.
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#2 - Episode 2
Season 53 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/27/2020
Gardeners’ World celebrates the snowdrop and visits one of the world’s largest collections, lovingly nurtured in a suburban back garden and Monty gives tips on what to do once they have finished flowering. At Longmeadow it’s time to get dahlias into growth and, for inspiration, last summer we visited a field full of dahlias in Sussex to get tips from a professional grower. Nick Bailey revels in the beauty of magnolias and Monty has plenty of jobs for us all to be getting on with this weekend.
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#3 - Episode 9
Season 53 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/15/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty plants out some tender plants, takes cuttings from herbs and sows carrots. From her garden in Devon, Carol Klein goes back to the basics of propagating your own plants when she shows how to take cuttings. Advolly Richmond, whose love of garden history is reflected in her own garden, shares her passion for a flower with a surprising past. Joe Swift has a large plant in his London garden that is due for some timely remedial work, and the episode shows a garden in Brighton that is packed with exotic plants grown in raised beds and containers.
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#4 - Episode 10
Season 53 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/22/2020
Join Monty at Longmeadow for an indulgent, horticultural romp through the Gardeners’ World archives and a joyous riot of colour as the show celebrates some of the most beloved summer flowers. From delphiniums to clematis, irises, orchids and dahlias, expert growers share their passion, along with hints and tips. Carol Klein visits a garden in Shropshire, where she discovers picture-perfect plant combinations. Adam Frost travels to the Cotswolds and finds out what happens when plants are brought together with imagination and daring, and Nick Bailey guides us through the world of Britain’s favourite flower, the rose.
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#5 - Episode 30
Season 53 - Episode 30 - Aired 10/9/2020
As autumn gets underway, Monty fills pots with bulbs for spring colour, plants garlic and gives advice on autumn lawn care. Joe Swift visits presenter and journalist Kate Garraway in her London garden to discuss how it has been a sanctuary over recent months, and Nick Bailey shows the results of the design project he started in his own garden earlier in the year. In Kent, there is another chance to meet a woman who has filled her garden with exotic and tropical plants, and the team meet a nurseryman in Devon who specialises in growing unusual woodland plants from Asia.
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#6 - Episode 6
Season 53 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/24/2020
The team present seasonal highlights from across the country, visiting stunning gardens, meeting the gardeners and finding out their secrets of success. At Longmeadow, Monty, Nigel and Nellie discuss the essential gardening jobs for this weekend.
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#7 - Episode 12
Season 53 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/5/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty adds a variety of herbs that thrive in shade to the herb garden. Nick Bailey gives tips on how to plan and lay out a path, and Carol Klein celebrates the hardy geranium.
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#8 - Episode 11
Season 53 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/29/2020
If you have been growing tomatoes along with Monty, join him at Longmeadow as he shows how to pot them on to the next stage of their growth, and as well potting up tender vegetables, he is planting containers for summer colour. Adam Frost is enjoying the seasonal plants in his garden and has ideas of transforming a part of his plot into a seating area using a few logs and plants. In London, Arit Anderson and her family have been making the most of their time at home by filling a range of imaginative containers with a variety of plants. Frances Tophill explores spring flowering trees and their benefits for bees, and the episode goes indoors to discover how one man has designed his home around his love of houseplants. And there are also more viewers’ videos of what people have been getting up to in their own gardens.
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#9 - Episode 15
Season 53 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/26/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty shows how to prune spring-flowering roses. Adam Frost gives tips on helping plants cope with drought conditions and shows how to save precious water.
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#10 - Episode 7
Season 53 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/1/2020
Monty, Nigel and Nellie are at Longmeadow, providing inspiration for gardens and discussing all the essential gardening jobs for this weekend.
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#11 - Episode 5
Season 53 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/17/2020
The team present seasonal highlights from across the country, visiting stunning gardens, meeting the gardeners and finding out their secrets of success. At Longmeadow, Monty, Nigel and Nellie discuss the essential gardening jobs for this weekend.
Watch Now:Amazon
#12 - Episode 31
Season 53 - Episode 31 - Aired 10/16/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty prepares his pond for the season ahead, prunes a climbing rose and celebrates the garden as it moves into autumn. Adam Frost is in his garden, giving ideas and inspiration for a winter display of containers, and the show travels to Kent to visit Frances Tophill on her allotment to find out about her growing year. There is a second chance to enjoy an autumnal visit to Hidcote Gardens with Carol Klein, and the team meet a couple whose garden has been inspired by their travels in the Far East. And the show joins viewers in their own gardens to find out about their gardens and their gardening tips.
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#13 - Episode 16
Season 53 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/3/2020
Monty adds plants which give shelter to insects and invertebrates to his wildlife pond, and Carol Klein gives a comprehensive and seasonal guide to getting plants for free.
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#14 - Episode 8
Season 53 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/8/2020
Monty, Nigel and Nellie are at Longmeadow bringing inspiration for gardens and discussing all the essential gardening jobs for this weekend.
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#15 - Episode 17
Season 53 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/10/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty checks the progress of the potatoes he planted earlier in the year and recommends plants for dry shade under trees. The team travel to Somerset to get water-saving tips from a water scientist, who uses a variety of techniques to save as much water as possible in her own garden, and meet a head gardener, who manages a garden in Dorset dedicated to growing plants for their aromatic properties both in leaf and flower. Nick Bailey gives a masterclass on how to grow summer flowering clematis, and Arit Anderson takes a boat trip to meet a group of people who are planting up the Birmingham canal sides for both wildlife and the wellbeing of city dwellers. And there are a few more hints, tips and stories from viewer’s gardens.
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#16 - Episode 4
Season 53 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/10/2020
As the days get longer and warmer, the Gardeners' World team returns to guide enthusiasts through seasonal highlights from across the country visiting stunning gardens, meeting the gardeners and finding out their secrets of success. This week, Adam Frost heads into his garden to offer inspiration for viewers' own patches along with all the essential gardening jobs for the coming weekend.
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#17 - Episode 3
Season 53 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/3/2020
Monty has advice on what to sow and grow now for fresh vegetables, while Rachel de Thame introduces her plans for growing her own this year. The episode also celebrates the daffodil at the Daffodil Society’s annual show, held last year at Pershore in Worcestershire, and joins Carol, who is focusing her attention on a favourite seasonal flower – the primrose.
#18 - Episode 33
Season 53 - Episode 33 - Aired 10/30/2020
In the final programme from Longmeadow this year, Monty harvests his pumpkins and has plenty of inspiration for jobs we can be getting on with over the coming winter. Frances Tophill travels to Winkworth Arboretum in Surrey to celebrate the season and to explain the science behind the golden and red tones of autumn leaves. For winter inspiration, Adam Frost is at a garden in Doncaster where water, grasses and seedheads all add to the design. There is a second chance to meet twins Stuart and Ian Paton to find out what it takes to grow the biggest pumpkin in the UK. And the team revel in the films of the gardens and gardeners viewers have shared with us this year.
#19 - Episode 32
Season 53 - Episode 32 - Aired 10/23/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty gives tips on how to look after wildlife in the months ahead, shows how to look after and protect tender garden plants and plans ahead for next year’s harvest of fruit. Joe Swift finds out what it takes to look after a historic garden with a collection of heritage fruit trees in Hampshire, and Arit Anderson meets Fergus Garrett – head gardener at Great Dixter - to discover how the planting and garden management have increased biodiversity. The team meet a couple in Staffordshire with a particular fondness for Japanese maples and a man whose love of dahlias has taken over his back garden in Stockport. And the show catches up with what viewers have been doing in their gardens.
#20 - Episode 28
Season 53 - Episode 28 - Aired 9/25/2020
Join Adam Frost in his garden for a special programme celebrating some of the most glorious gardens the team have visited over the last few years, with plenty of seasonal hints and tips for what we can be doing in our own gardens this weekend. Frances Tophill visits a lochside retreat, Joe Swift finds lots of take home tips from a city garden, Carol Klein is inspired by plant combinations in West Yorkshire, and Advolly Richmond shows how a historical landscape was designed for fun and frolic. The team also meet a couple who let nature be their gardening guide and a gardener who makes containers her focus of attention.
#21 - Episode 25
Season 53 - Episode 25 - Aired 9/4/2020
A visit to Adam Frost's garden, catching up on his new patio project and finding out what his plans are for the autumn. Arit Anderson travels to Somerset to meet landscape designer Dan Pearson, to hear about the design and planting principles he has used to create his own garden. In London, film director and musician Don Letts and his wife reveal how they have combined their different tastes for plants and culture in their town garden. Plus, another chance to see Frances Tophill meet a gardener who grows most of the vegetable ingredients needed for Thai cooking in her back garden and the two enthusiasts with a passion for air plants at their nursery in Lancashire.
#22 - Episode 24
Season 53 - Episode 24 - Aired 8/28/2020
From giant gooseberries and growing the perfect sweet pea to flamboyant dahlias and plants pollinated by a single human hair, Monty Don celebrates the plant passions of some of the extraordinary people that the programme has met over the last few years. He also has plenty of hints and tips of his own to keep enthusiastic gardeners busy over the weekend ahead.
#23 - Episode 21
Season 53 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/7/2020
With the summer garden in full swing, Monty shows how to stake dahlias, sows seeds of perennials and celebrates an abundant vegetable harvest. The team meet a landscape designer in Cornwall who creates gardens that are not only sustainable but also beautiful and edible and go to Wales to meet a gardener whose garden reflects memories of her childhood home in Jamaica. There is a second chance to see Carol Klein visit Aberglasney Gardens in Carmarthenshire to look at their stunning collection of summer flowering thalictrum, and Mark Lane shows the adaptive tools he uses for planting and weeding in his garden in Kent. And there are more viewers’ videos showing what people have been getting up to in their own gardens.
#24 - Episode 14
Season 53 - Episode 14 - Aired 6/19/2020
Monty gives tips on growing tomatoes and has ideas of how to fill gaps in the garden once the flowers of spring are past their best. The team meet an extraordinary gardener from Swansea, whose upper limb difference has not deterred her from growing and creating a garden which is both productive and beautiful. On the eve of reopening, the show goes behind the scenes of Hestercombe Gardens in Somerset to find out how the head gardener has managed this historic landscape whilst the garden has been closed over the last few months. Joe Swift visits the small city garden of an interior designer, where some unusual plants have been used to add an element of surprise to the outdoor space, and in Kent, Arit Anderson meets a community of gardeners who have all been prescribed gardening as part of their recovery from physical and mental illness.
#25 - Episode 13
Season 53 - Episode 13 - Aired 6/12/2020
At Longmeadow, Monty plants out tender vegetables for late summer harvests and gives tips on plants that thrive on a minimum of water when he plants up a pot of succulent plants. Frances Tophill demonstrates an unusual method of reducing weeds in her allotment, and the team meet a gardener in Wales who has dedicated years to breeding some very special varieties of rhododendrons. Joe Swift is in Devon finding out about the design and planting challenges faced when creating a coastal garden, and in Staffordshire, a gardener has filled every inch of his garden with spectacular plants. And more viewers have their own gardening tips to share.