IT HAS been another busy week in the garden here and I was contacted by the National Garden Scheme about filming with ITV Meridian News.

Needless to say, I was very up for it. To that end a reporter and drone camera woman came to the garden and spent a few hours filming last Thursday. I hope the sequence will be shown on the evening news one day next week.

The National Garden Scheme isn’t just about opening beautiful gardens for charity – they are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens and gardening. They are celebrating their Gardens and Health week from today to May 16. Rachel de Thame, one of their garden ambassadors will introduce it this year and refer to how her garden supported her own personal battle with health. Watch out for news on this over the coming days.

A few weeks ago, I was able to order some bedding plants online. They were finally delivered and I have been busy this week planting them out. Because the garden will not open to the public this year, I have only bought, probably, a fifth of what I would normally acquire. The end result, much less colour this summer but probably nowhere near as much watering needed. Needless to say, it still looked pretty amazing for the ITV filming.

Don’t forget, I mentioned last week that tomorrow is Garden Day UK. Did you go online and look for possible activities you and your family could engage in to mark the occasion?

I’ve prepared a special virtual tour of Driftwood, filmed by me after getting the garden ready for the ITV cameras last Wednesday. If anyone wants to view it, it can be found via the You Tube page link on the homepage of my garden website.

I’ve already been finding quite a lot of greenfly in the garden, especially on the few roses I have. They always seem to be a prime target for sap sucking greenfly which hatch in the early spring. They feast on the tender shoots and buds, robbing the plants of nutrients and exuding honeydew, which in turn attracts sooty moulds.

If left the overall vigour of the rose will be affected and weakened flower buds may not open. Check plants often and either pick them off or use an insecticidal spray to remove them. I’ve got a couple of lavender plants in the back garden. Now is a good time trim them by carefully cutting off the old flower heads along with about 2.5 cm (1 inch) of the current year’s growth.

Read more of Geoff’s garden at www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk