Discover the Explorers Garden with Caroline Bavey | S12 E1 Scotland Grows Show

Because of all the different planting in the garden and because it is predominantly a woodland shady garden, it's quite inspirational for people to come along if they have those conditions in their garden because they can see what's thriving and what's growing really well there.

So what have you learned growing in that shady woodland aspect in the Explorers garden that you could pass on to listeners? What tips do you have for growing in those conditions?

I would think about the type of shade that you've got.

There's so many different types where even in the explorer's garden itself, you get down into the Himalayan glade that I just mentioned.

And when you go down our serpentine path, you feel a temperature drop.

It's like you've been transported.

And it really does encapsulate coming down from the mountain and into the woodland space.

And that's our cool damp and what you would say is deeply shaded part of the garden.

There's not much light that gets down there at all.

But we've got some great things growing and a space that I really like because it's mystical, it's magic.

It's the colors of the green that are all different structures and textures.

Having texture and having that all different types of shapes of plants as well is really important.

So shade isn't just one growing condition.

So you would look at, do you have dappled shade? Do you have dry shade? Do you have light shade? And depending on what type of shade, so look at your garden.

I would probably say when I first came into the explorer's garden, I took a year and I watched where the light was coming from, where the water was running to.

Is it damp? Is it wet? Before I started moving things and changing things.

I really wanted to see where the sun was flowing and where it was actually kind of coming and filtering through the trees.

So that's really important in the garden.

I've moved a lot of plants around.

So whereas before it was quite structured in this is South Africa, this is the South African plant, this is North America, and this is your North American plants.

I did notice that some of the plants weren't doing particularly well because now we're 20 odd years into a canopy that's grown and it's hugely changed.

So things are slightly moving around the garden.

What is really important, because we are a charity and we don't have a lot of money.

We need to be careful where we are planting plants.

So be careful at home with your own money as well.