Innholdsfortegnelse for 02/01/2016 i Amateur Gardening

THE CORNER has been turned! A new growing year has started, and even if the garden does look pretty depressing languishing in winter’s icy grip, there is new hope. The days are already getting longer, so the keen among us with frost-free greenhouses can start sowing flowers and veg that need a long growing season, such as chillies and pelargoniums. I sowed my onions over the Christmas break, as tradition (and impatience!) demands, though you can sow them later. It’s an amazing feeling when you fill the first tray with compost, lightly tap it to settle the contents, water it then carefully drop seeds onto the surface. A sprinkling of vermiculite to cover, a label, a place in the heated propagator… and you’re off! Like so many hobbies there’s a…

Chilli ‘Bulgarian Fish’ Excellent for pickling, eating raw in salsas and salads or cooking, this mild-flavoured and thick-fleshed traditional Bulgarian chilli is now available in the UK. Supplier: seaspringseeds.co.uk Pea ‘Blauschokker’ Peas that have beautiful purple flowers and pods. These seeds from the new Rob Smith’s Heritage Veg range can be harvested as mangetout or mature peas. Supplier: dobies.co.uk Cabbage ‘Gumma’ F1 This disease-resistant cabbage is flat-topped and compact, making cultivation and harvesting easy. The leaves make a great gluten-free alternative to tortilla wraps. Supplier: marshalls-seeds.co.uk.…

PECKISH WINTER Warmer ready-to-use feeder is full of seeds to give your garden birds health and energy through the winter. It hangs from a bird table or feeding station, and is easy to refill. We have five to give away. To enter, send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Peckish Winter Warmer RTU, Amateur Gardening, Westover House, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1JG. Or email your details to ag_giveaway@timeinc.com , heading the email Peckish Winter Warmer RTU. The closing date is: January 6, 2016.…

IF YOU want to grow crops properly, the thought of crop rotation can be rather daunting, whereas it can actually be successfully used on even smaller areas of land. There are two main time-frames for rotating crops. The four-year system includes legumes, brassicas, and potatoes, with onions and roots as a separate category. The three-year rotation works the same way, but grows onions and roots with the legumes. If you want, you can grow green manures (see top tip, above) in the fourth plot as part of your three-year plan, to help rest and rejuvenate the soil. top tip Green manures are fast-growing plants that are sown to cover bare ground, fix nutrients in the soil and improve its structure. The seeds are sown and germinate, and when the soil…

THE MAIN principle of crop rotation is to keep plants of the same family together, to meet their growing requirements. Arrange it so you have the longest possible length of time between potatoes being grown again in any one piece of ground. The same applies for brassicas, the cabbage family. Do not grow potatoes in lime-rich soils, as this increases the chances of scabs, fungal and bacterial diseases that damage the surface of the tubers. However, brassicas like a limey soil, so plant them in the year after potatoes, adding lime to the soil in the autumn. Root crops such as carrots and parsnips do not want soil that has been manured the previous autumn, as it will cause them to bifurcate, or fork.…

WINTER IS a tough time for garden birds, as many of their natural food supplies have vanished. Replenish bird feeders and bird tables regularly with a mix of foods. Seeds are a good source of fats and energy, and you can buy assorted varieties to tempt different species of bird, such as niger seed for goldfinches, peanuts for bluetits, and sunflower hearts for everything. Fat balls and mealworms are also worth buying – but remember to take down fat balls when the weather warms up as they can become rancid. Birds need to drink and keep their feathers clean, whatever the weather, and will appreciate a source of fresh water. Clean your bird bath weekly to get rid of bird muck, dropped seeds and other debris, as these can spread…

1 Fill a small seed tray with good quality seed and potting compost. Crumble any large lumps. Water well and let it drain. 2 Sow the seeds thinly onto the compost, well spaced (about ½in/1cm apart) so they won’t be crowded when they germinate. 3 Cover with a thin layer of compost, or use vermiculite, a granular, sterile substance that lets light and air circulate. 4 Label and put in a heated propagator, or put in a clear plastic bag on a warm windowsill – 20-25°C (70-75°F) is ideal.…

• If the weather is very wet, stay off the soil. Tramping all over it will either churn it into a muddy mess, or compact it. Wait until you’ve had a couple of dry days so it can drain before venturing back onto it. • In the meantime, wash pots, seed trays, propagators and hand tools in preparation for the big seed sowing push starting in February. • While you’re at it, check stocks of seed and cuttings compost, potting compost, labels and pencil, seeds, vermiculite (for covering up sown seeds), and Bayer Fruit & Vegetable Disease Control to spray on seedlings to prevent damping off disease. • If your veg plot is bordered by grass, it’s a great time to cut and redefine the edges. Stretch a garden line…

Go to facebook.com,  create a free account if needs be, search for Amateur Gardening and you’re ready to join in the chat! Johnny Gilday when I sow biennials and am advised to overwinter in a greenhouse, do I give plants extra protection? Dr Jane Bingham Your biennials are hardy and will be fine in an unheated greenhouse, cold frame or even underneath a makeshift plastic cover. They benefit from having shelter from cold, wet weather, wind and frost and snow. When you plant them out in spring, remove any damaged leaves and give them a boost with a liquid seaweed feed.…

JANUARY SHOULD be a crisp month in the garden, enabling details of paving, clipped evergreens and fragrant winter blooms to show up. John’s west-facing border along the house had grown cluttered, so we decided to remove some of the Stipa tenuissima along the front. Tufted with dead leaves, these grasses looked less like fine tresses and more like matted locks. Once you start working, it’s amazing how much rotting stem and clogging leaf is jamming a border solid. My kit for this kind of work is a wheelbarrow, bucket, fork, secateurs, edging shears and a wooden board. On a heavy soil, the latter is invaluable because otherwise turf edges are trampled into muddy slopes. Soon, I’d grubbed out grasses, reduced the dead stems of tree lilies and made space for…

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY biological pest controls, popular with gardeners, could be harming bumblebees, a new study has claimed. Two nematode products (see panel, below) caused 80 per cent mortality in four days when bees were exposed to soil containing them at the recommended concentration, the study concluded. Bee deaths were evident after only 48 hours. The research, in the online journal PeerJ, was written by Sally Williamson, senior lecturer in neurobiology at Liverpool John Moores University, with colleagues. Nematodes are watered-in to control garden pests such as slugs, vine weevil, caterpillars and carrot root fly. “The research showed that the native British bumblebee is remarkably susceptible to two commercially available entomopathogenic nematode pest control products,” claimed the study. It said such findings had never previously been reported. A concern was that…

A NEW website aims to raise the profile of gardening clubs. Garden Club Listings was set up by “passionate gardener” and garden club chair Justine Dixon, of Hook in East Yorkshire. It allows gardening club speakers from across the UK to list their services, and also helps gardening clubs to promote themselves to potential new members. Justine said: “We are constantly on the lookout for new speakers to keep our programme fresh and interesting, but where do you find new speakers? “That was when the idea of launching a website for speakers to promote their talks came to mind. I set it up and before long we had 70 speakers signed up,” Justine added. Go to garden-club-listings.webnode.com for details.…

HEATED TOE WARMERS £0.99APAIR+ P&P £4.99 NO MATTER HOW MANY ORDERED 0118 903 5210 primrose.co.uk Toasty toes aren’t just to be had by the fireside. Peel off the adhesive backing, stick these disposable warmers to your socks, then pop on your boots or wellies for up to six hours of warmth while you’re out and about. They can reach up to 50°C and are just as useful for sticking to the inside of a jacket or coat. WRIST AND HAND WARMER £21+ P&P FROM £1.50 01638 428771 storm-chase.co.uk Perfect for providing warmth and support, soothing any aching muscles and joints. The water and wind resistant fabric around the hand is attached to a water repellent wrist with micro-fleece backing. Use them alone or slip under a pair of gardening gloves.…

Waste not, want not CONGRATULATIONS TO Tim Rumball for his Editor’s Letter in AG 5 December about Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘War on Waste’ programme. Brilliant stuff from both of them. It’s common sense that if producers are able to sell all their crops, regardless of uniformity, not only would they be able to make a decent living, but food waste would be minimised at source. More importantly, prices would go down for the consumer because there would be more produce on the shelves rather than being ploughed back into the ground. Supermarkets should be competing on the basis of the eating qualities of fruit and veg, not on whether carrots are all the same size and shape. In support of this belief, I refuse to buy fruit…

AS ALWAYS in the New Year, a plethora of arbitrary celebrations vie for our attention in the hope of making it onto our newly hung calendars. This week alone has 10 pointless anniversaries including a ‘National Drinking Straw day’ and the opportunistically timed ‘Personal Trainer Awareness Day’ – an event that makes me so cross I’m wishing for ‘Anger Awareness Week’ in distant December. Among all the rubbish, 2016 has some great celebrations too, including the ‘Year of the English Garden’, a campaign being run by Visit England. It will give extra marketing oomph to the major flower festivals plus a coordinated effort to promote some of the best gardens in the UK. From Alnwick in Northumberland to the Eden Project in Cornwall, the history and work of gardeners is…

NEW YEAR is traditionally a time of fresh starts and good intentions. But how many of us make resolutions to be tidier, more punctual, kinder, eat less, and exercise more, in the heady aftermath of the festive season, only to fall by the wayside within weeks? I’m like that with the garden. Every year I look at it and vow that this will be the year that I create a beautiful, bountiful, weed-free Eden. And then Christmas ends, ‘normal’ life resumes and before I know it, the garden is looking neglected. So I have set myself some accessible horti-targets for 2016. Hopefully I’ll manage to achieve them! My resolutions for the next 12 months: 1 Keeping things tidy: The shed is a disgrace, and it’s largely my fault. So this…

THE FIRST week of January can be a lacklustre time. With Twelfth Night looming, and the decorations coming down, there suddenly doesn’t seem much colour in the world, after the bright lights and bonhomie of the festive season. So this is the perfect time to cheer up the garden, and one way to do so is by planting up a colourful container. I scouted out my local garden centre and came home with a sweet white hellebore, a scarlet cyclamen and a deep red primrose. To add structure and texture, I also bought an Escallonia ‘Golden Ellen’, a Euonymus ‘Emerald and Gold’ and a Cordyline australis ‘Torbay Palm’. I placed the completed pot outside my front door to welcome visitors. top tip Don’t use water-retaining granules when planting a winter…

LIKE MANY things in the modern world, the Romans practiced (and wrote about) some form of crop rotation, although it probably pre-dates this time. In the UK, a three-year system of growing crops was widespread from the Middle Ages until the 18th century, when Jethro Tull invented the seed drill. He also helped usher in the four-year rotation, which is still used today. Its benefits include: Soil fertility: Different crops need different things from the soil, and by rotating them you prevent any one plant leaching a particular nutrient over the years. Rotation helps preserve the correct balance of nutrients in the soil. Cultural requirements: Crops in the same group will have similar needs in terms of feeding, soil, watering, pest control and other day-to-day care. Grouping them together makes…

IF WE find winters tough going, even with the luxury of warm homes and hot water, spare a thought for garden wildlife that has to carry on regardless. As natural habitats continue to shrink, gardens are becoming important refuges for birdlife and wildlife, and it is up to us to make them as hospitable as possible. Even though several ‘gardeners’ friends’ – hedgehogs, toads, frogs and slow worms – are hibernating at the moment, there are things we can do to keep them sleeping safe and sound. Garden birds also need our help to see them through the coldest weeks. Here are some ideas for things to do: top tip Some creatures become pests, and need to be deterred. If foxes are targeting your bin, buy one with a simple…

PELARGONIUMS, OR tender geraniums, are the popular heroes of summertime borders, containers and windowboxes. Their cheerful heads come in a range of colours, from pristine white, through a whole spectrum of pinks, to the brilliant scarlets that brighten the traditional whitewashed Spanish villages. They flower from June right through to autumn, when you can lift and store them somewhere frost-free and dry, until it is warm enough to replant them the following year. Many people buy pelargoniums as plugs and young plants, but it is cheaper to grow them from seed. I’m giving it a go this year – here’s how I started off: RUTH SAYS: Turn the seed tray daily so the seedlings get equal amounts of light and don’t start to lean towards one source. top tip Watch…

YOU COULD be forgiven for wondering why there is so much fuss about lamb’s lettuce. It is a sought after salad in high class restaurants, and the French adore it. Yet the thumb-sized leaves are just an ordinary green and have no real distinctive flavour. However, this delicate-looking plant is amazingly hardy and comes into its own on the midwinter vege plot. The most productive time to sow lamb’s lettuce is in early autumn. At other times of year the rosettes of harvestable leaves turn rapidly to spikes of pale blue flowers. It will grow in any ground cleared of a summer crop (although a bit of winter sunshine is an advantage). Unlike most other winter salads, Lamb’s lettuce ( Valerianella locusta ) is from a different plant family to…

QI HAVE lots of plant bulbs around my garden, but am never sure what to do with them once they have flowered. Do I leave them – or should I dig them up and store them until the next season? Colin Douglas, Alnwick, Northumberland A If you don’t need to move your bulbs to make room for other plants, I would leave them in situ . This generally means they will perform better each year, and you will have saved yourself the task of digging them up, storing them, and making sure they remain plump and healthy until they can be replanted. The exception is bedding tulips, which perform best if replaced each year, or lifted, cleaned and dried, and stored in trays or netting somewhere warm, dark and well…

A LARGE four draw filing cabinet, ‘rescued’ for me by my brother from a skip, provided the stimulus to start a major sort out in the office during the Christmas and new year break. How do you decide what to keep and what to send for recycling from an accumulation of letters, cuttings, hand written notes, manuscripts, books, photographs, files (including every AG column since 1986)? Some even date back to my college days in 1954. A stack of 15 blue plastic trays, used originally for mushrooms and salvaged from the farm shop, held all the paper work (and a fair bit of dust) for all the Chelsea Show exhibits and many other flower shows since 1993. What memories are held here – seven Sun Flower Street Front Gardens, vintage…

KEEPING DETAILS of when crops were sown and planted is important if you want to learn from successes and failures. Guidelines for sowing should be viewed as suggestions, as only by trial and error can gardeners learn what works best given the climate, soil and orientation of their own plots. You could be making direct sowings two months earlier on a south-facing site with light soil than a north-facing plot with heavy clay. During our visit to Rosemoor, we spent time in their productive garden and learnt a lot from detailed labels giving sowing and planting dates for crops like Brussels sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli. They had a good bed of ‘Claret’ with plants around 3ft (1m) high set about 2ft (60cm) apart. They’d been sown on 26th May…

THE NEMATODES used in the study at Liverpool John Moores University came from the Nemasys range, marketed by BASF. They are called ‘Grow Your Own’ and ‘Vine Weevil Killer.’ A spokeswoman for BASF told AG: “Our team takes the research findings, like all new research findings, very seriously. “However, we are concerned by the interpretation of the findings and the extrapolation to real world scenarios. “As previously published studies show, under laboratory conditions entomopathogenic nematodes are commonly known to infect a significantly wider range of insects than is possible under field conditions. “It is a given, that at BASF, we always follow the regulation processes and requirements of the countries in which we operate.” The spokeswoman added that BASF products have been approved by regulators after “rigorous evaluation” and said…

TELLY GARDENER Chris Beardshaw has described his Chelsea plans as “one of the most significant and poignant gardens of his career”. Speaking at the launch of The Morgan Stanley Garden for Great Ormond Street Hospital last month, Chris told how his courtyard-style plot would appear at Chelsea before being relocated to the hospital in the summer. Chris said: “Lushly planted areas will feature some species of plants which only open when hit by direct sunlight which, in the final relocated garden, will be for brief periods of time.” Chris said the garden would support families of children being treated at the hospital: “This makes it, to my mind, one of the most important projects of my career.”…

To claim your FREE Hellebores: Cardholders call direct on 0844 573 2021 quoting AGT230 or AGT231 if you’re a subscriber. The order lines are open seven days a week, 9am-8pm (Mon-Fri) and 9am-6pm (Sat-Sun) (voicemail at other times). Alternatively, please complete the coupon in BLOCK CAPITALS. Remittance may be made by MasterCard, Visa, Maestro, postal order or cheque (name, address and AGT230/ AGT231 if a subscriber) on the back of cheque, please, crossed and made payable to T&M. Offer available to readers on the UK mainland only. All orders will be acknowledged by letter or email, advising you of the expected despatch date. This offer is subject to availability. Offer enquiry line 0844 573 2021 (9am-8pm, Mon-Fri and 9am-6pm Sat-Sun). All correspondence concerning this offer should be sent to: Amateur…

THERE ARE some plants that simply aren’t meant to be grown in a particular way. The books may tell you that it’s ‘also useful as a hedge’ but the reality is somewhat different. Forsythia is one of those plants. It’s valued for its dazzling yellow single blooms, which appear in early spring – sometimes earlier if the weather is mild – usually before the leaves. Some species are semi-evergreen and it tends to grow at a fair old rate of knots, which explains why some homeowners use them to form a hedge. The trouble with this is that you get a none-too-subtle wall of yellow each spring, which then declines in splendour as the years go by because it’s difficult to prune properly when grown en masse. Most examples are…

It’s surprising what you can force for tasty shoots, says Bob “Set roots in trays of just moist sand or compost” MANY IMAGINE there is little they can be growing during these dark winter days and that we must subsist on stored vegetables or imported fare. However there are a few crops that are remarkably different to all others, and they are those we can force. Their roots are brought into the warm and dark when they sprout fresh, nutritious shoots and leaves. These don’t need large pots, or special compost or even watering. Everything comes from the stored reserves in the roots, which become exhausted and are discarded and put in the compost afterwards. Rhubarb, seakale, asparagus and chicory are traditional favourites, but you really needed to start growing…

1 Stand the plants in water for at least an hour before planting, as this allows moisture to reach all the roots. Place crocks in the base of your container. 2 Fill your container with compost. I’m using a mix of multi-purpose with John Innes No 2, to add weight. This will be free-draining and also nutrient rich. 3 Plant the pot, starting with your central plant. Remove it gently from its pot, tease out the roots, and set in its new home at the same depth as the rootball surface. 4 Plant your remaining selection of flowers and foliage around it. Firm the compost around each one to knock out air pockets and give support to the roots. 5 Water the container well. Even winters can experience dry spells,…

IF YOU are at a loose end over the next week or so, why not visit one of these gardening events taking place around the country? • 7 January: Pruning Shrub Roses and Wisteria Workshop; RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon Common, Chelmsford CM3 8ET; 00845 2658071; rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall • 9 January-12 March: Capability Brown’s Lost Sussex Garden – Hills of Horsham (Mon-Sat); Horsham Museum & Art Gallery 9 Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1HE; 01403 254959; capabilitybrown.org • 10 January: Orchids in the Spotlight; RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH; 01805 626800; rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor • 12 January: What Now? January and February; RHS Garden Wisley; Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB 0203 1765 830; rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley • 16-17 January: Great Gloucestershire Potato Weekend; Dundry Nurseries, Bamfurlong Lane, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire…

Lamb’s lettuce, plum and couscous salad Serve this colourful salad as a light meal or as a healthy packed lunch. Preparation time: 10 minutes Serves: 2 Ingredients: Method 1. Put the couscous in a small bowl, and just cover it with boiling water. Leave to stand for five minutes, then scrape over it with a fork to separate grains. 2. Remove the stones from the plums and cut into quarters. Wash the lamb’s lettuce, peel and crush the garlic clove. 3. Toss plums, salad leaves and pumpkin seeds together in a large bowl. Then mix in the cooked couscous. 4. In a small bowl whisk together cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic and oregano. 5. Pour the dressing over the salad…

QI am housebound, and was given several bowls of hyacinths and narcissi to brighten my home for Christmas. What should I do with them after flowering? Bill Waters, Glasgow A What lovely gifts at this time of the year, to bring colour and scent indoors. After flowering, remove dead blooms, leaving the stems, and then they can be planted straight out into the garden, and may flower again next year, depending on the variety of the plants. I understand that you are housebound, but do you have a garden? Hyacinths never do that well dried off in their pots, so if you do not have a garden, you could give them to a gardening friend to brighten their beds.…

FOR US gardeners, January is the time to plan. It is now that we sit gazing at the garden through the window, notebook in hand, and dream; we look forward and let our imaginations run free. Over the next few weeks, whilst the garden sleeps beneath the freeze, we have the chance to think of exciting new ways we can improve our plot and plan the practicalities of making those changes happen. Every gardener will have a different outdoor space to negotiate and different priorities in it. For some, the January planning will entail addressing one or two adjustments, such as livening up a dull border, hiding an ugly fence or luring more butterflies. But other gardeners may feel the need for a complete overhaul. It’s helpful to decide on…

SEEDS FIT FOR ROYALTY Suffolk firm Mr Fothergill’s presented The Princess Royal with a range of its seeds during a royal visit to Capel Manor in Enfield last month. CHRISTMAS CARD RECYCLING For every 1,000 Christmas cards dropped into M&S stores for recycling during January, the retailer will fund the Woodland Trust to plant a tree. GARDENERS’ QUESTION TIME BOB FLOWERDEW, Pippa Greenwood and Chris Beardshaw join Eric Robson at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. BBC Radio 4 at 3pm on 1 January (repeat: 2pm on 3 January).…

FRIENDS OF the Earth (FoE) has called on the government to “get off the fence” and permanently ban neonicotinoid pesticides that greens claim are a factor in honey bee decline. Just three neonic sprays are subject to a two-year EU-wide moratorium and campaigners want the ban to be expanded. FoE says that the “science on the threat they [neonics] pose to bees and other wildlife is stronger than ever”. Opponents of the neonic spray ban warned that there would be widespread crop losses in their absence – a claim that FoE has dismissed as “proven unfounded”. Bee neuroscientist Dr Christopher Connolly of the University of Dundee said: “For the past four years I have been involved in research that demonstrates clear negative effects of imidacloprid and thiamethoxam on bumblebees and…

Easy gardening kits THIS SPRING sees the launch of Scotts Miracle-Gro’s ‘Groables’. They’re seed pods for direct planting: a mix of compost, fertiliser and seed in a biodegradable pod that goes straight into the ground. A gimmick? Look to America. Around 10million of the pods were sold in their first year of launch in the States. Scotts’ rivals are bringing out similar kits for beginners. Westland’s new Gro-Sure Sow Smart and Green Digit’s Seedcell are also following the trend. Tomatoes & cosmos LAST YEAR was the Year of the Sunflower. Now, 2016 has been designated the Year of the Tomato and the Year of the Cosmos, so that edibles and flowers both get their fair share of attention. Tomatoes and cosmos were chosen by the European seed industry, so watch…

NOW THINGS are quieter in the garden, it’s the ideal time to start planning for the year ahead. Using a dedicated journal allows you to keep all your ideas and inspiration in one place. Gardeners keep a journal for different reasons. For some, it’s a place to record their experiences and provide a handy reference for years to come. For others, it may be a place to prioritise jobs, write down ideas or plan projects. What a good journal needs is a sensible amount of space to manage all your horticultural happenings. Ideally it should have lined, plain and graph paper and some kind of storage wallet to keep snippets and photos. As many are cellophane wrapped when new, it’s difficult to thumb through in the shop and decide if…

WITH UNDERPLANTING TO ACHIEVE this goblet shape you’ll need to cut out any spindly stems to ground level, only keeping the strong ones, and prune any side shoots that appears within 18in (45cm) of the ground back to a main stem. This will allow you to underplant with, for example, erysimum. UP A WALL CHOOSE THE weeping forsythia ( F.suspensa ). Select strong stems and tie them in at intervals to create this fan effect. Remove all other stems at ground level and don’t forget to prune back stems by about a quarter after flowering. WITH OTHER BLOSSOM PLANTS BRING OUT forsythia’s natural elegance by allowing its branches to retain their unruly shape and growing alongside other spring shrubs with delicate blossom, like Prunus spirea…