大象传媒

With autumn now in full swing, Toby Buckland looks at a planting style that really sings out in the borders at this time of year; prairie planting. By combining ornamental grasses and hardy flowering perennials, gardeners can create a low-maintenance border that will look as good coated with frost in December as on these bright autumn days. No wonder this style of planting has been the gardening story of the last decade.

Prairie planting is also a style that allows gardeners to create an amazing display quickly and cheaply. With thrift in mind, Toby is extending the border at Greenacre in the same way that it was created; using seeds and cuttings.

Toby also visits a garden which has recently spent years perfecting a traditional means of growing exotic fruit. The restored Victorian pineapple pit at Heligan in Cornwall is heated by rotting straw and horse manure, and shows just how much effort and expense our gardening ancestors were prepared to spare in order to impress the neighbours!

Back at Greenacre, we are planting some rather easier, but no less tasty, fruit. Now is the time to plant strawberries if you want a bumper crop next summer, and, in a quest for the ultimate strawberry, we have invited some top horticulturalists, chefs and the Gardeners' World team - Toby, Joe, Alys and Carol - to nominate their very favourite variety. We will plant them all and next year will reveal which variety produced the tastiest, sweetest, most succulent crop.