As some plants complete their life cycle in the garden, it's the perfect opportunity for the gardener to reap a bountiful seed harvest. Toby Buckland explains which plants to go for and how to collect and store them. For Carol Klein, late summer is the time when some plants are looking their most spectacular and, at Glebe Cottage, it's the Japanese anemone which is shining out from her borders. Joe Swift offers design tips for seating areas, and Toby joins him to make one with a contemporary edge at Greenacre. Plus, the garden of the first of the five finalists in the BBC Gardener of the Year competition is revealed.
September is the month when exotic plants reach their exuberant best, and in the tropical border at Greenacre Toby shows us which plants have performed. Carol's favourite plant this week is the fiery crocosmia and she shows us the best ones to grow to set our borders ablaze. Now is the perfect time to get new lawns growing, and Toby gives us the lowdown on laying turf while Alys chooses the less expensive option of growing a lawn from seed. And Radio One DJ Sarah Cox invites us into her own garden to see how she and her family have benefited from her first year of growing vegetables.
Toby Buckland, Carol Klein, Joe Swift and Alys Fowler give a few professional pointers to help you groom your garden to perfection. Toby finds himself up to his waist in water lilies at the RHS gardens at Wisley, and shows us what water plants we should be adding to our small ponds. He also gets inspiration for Greenacre from their glasshouse, which is packed with exotic plants. Carol focuses her students' attention on the care of seedlings, shows them how to pot on plants and shares her in-depth knowledge of the most flamboyant plant in the summer garden - the dahlia. Joe is back on his allotment catching up on his crops, and in Design Made Easy, he gives advice on the best colourful climbing plants for pergolas. Alys joins Toby at Greenacre and, as well as catching up on all the seasonal gardening tasks, sows oriental vegetables.