Innholdsfortegnelse for 31 October 2015 i Amateur Gardening

CAN WE compost the foliage and fruits or tubers of blight-infected tomatoes and potatoes? When I started gardening 30 years ago the established wisdom was to burn it or send it to the tip where it would be buried. I follow another bit of old wisdom about growing spuds – plant earlies late, and lates early. That means most tubers go in at the same time in late February to early March. Early growth is at risk from frosts, but it’s fairly safe in the south if you keep a bit of fleece handy. The benefit of early planting is that first and second earlies, and quick maturing maincrop spuds like ‘King Edward’ can be harvested by late June, before blight takes hold. This year I also grew bight resistant…

IF YOUR border has been lying empty since the end of the summer bedding season, it will need weeding and raking over to break up and level off the soil, and remove stones and debris. Dig in some compost or apply it as a mulch, to give new plants a boost, but avoid strong fertilisers. When weeding, remove the roots of tough perennial weeds such as dandelion and cinquefoil, or they will keep coming back. If you have already planted spring-flowering bulbs, and want the bedding plants to provide colour before they flower, plant carefully to avoid disturbing the sprouting bulbs.…

Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ Slow-growing, compact, evergreen and with red flower buds in winter, ‘Rubella’ ticks all the boxes for a perfect winter-interest shrub. Solanum pseudocapsicum Often called the Christmas cherry, this hardy mini shrub bears bright-orange berries until March. You can pick these up for a couple of quid each. Cyclamen ‘Metis Mixed’ Perfect for sun or shade, these tough mini cyclamen have brightly coloured flowers and marbled foliage. They prefer well-drained soil. Winter-flowering pansies Traditionally referred to as Universal pansies, they’re tough, weather-hardy and come in a host of cheery shades. Deadhead to prolong flowering. Hedera helix ‘Gold’ As with summer pots, ivy does a wonderful job of ‘softening’ the edges of a container. The hardy, evergreen foliage of ‘Gold’ provides interest all winter.…

AT THIS time of year I am often cruelly captured by a spider’s web that has been spun across the door of the greenhouse. I don’t like spiders. I can deal with the eviction of small ones from inside my house (although it is preferable to demand that my husband actually catches and releases them outside). The thought of a spider in my hair, and a mouthful of web gives me the urge to perform some spiky dancing around the garden to shake off any eight-legged creatures. I am told that my actions rival my husband’s infamous ‘wasp dance’, which he involuntarily performs at BBQs and school sports days. My neighbours could have a good laugh at our groovy moves, but having heard the screams, I know that the spiders…

• SOW BROAD bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ on a warm day, in soil that’s been weeded and raked • PLANT WINTER onion, garlic and shallot sets into well prepared and lightly limed soil • LIFT ANY remaining maincrop potatoes, dry and store them in hessian sacks in a dry, dark and well ventilated place. Burn any blight infected foliage • CLEAR THE remains of runner beans and other harvested plants to the compost heap • SAVE A few bean pods to use for seed next year. Store them in a cool, dry shed over winter • TURN THE compost heap if not done recently, mixing unrotted bits into the middle, then cover it carefully • STORE CANES from bean wigwams, in the dry or at least off the ground to avoid…

“I can always wrap them with fleece” PLANTS ARE on the move this week, until each finds the best position for winter. The greenhouse won’t be heated, so tender cacti and succulents are weeded and moved to south-facing windowsills in the house. Haemanthus, ginger lilies (Hedychium gardenerianum) and pelargoniums will snuggle up in the porch. Having cleared the greenhouse, this makes space for potted plants on the patio, which could benefit from winter protection but will hopefully manage without heat. I can always wrap them with fleece if we hit a very cold spell. I looked at the container of steely-leaved honeybush (Melianthus major), lemon verbena, heliotrope and agapanthus and felt they could all stay together and I’d move the whole pot inside. The heliotrope was dead-headed and long stems…

IT IS a question that show visitors may have wondered, but few dare to ask: have show gardens lost their sparkle? Now, garden design expert Andrew Fisher Tomlin, director of the London College of Garden Design, has suggested that some RHS show gardens may have become “boring” and “safe”. Andrew, who chairs the Chelsea selection committee, was speaking at a Young Hort conference for teenage gardeners. TELL A STORY Andrew later told AG: “I encouraged young designers to stand out; not to default to what everyone else is doing, and to tell their own story through their work. “A good example was the planting designs at Hampton and Chelsea this year. “With little exception, the gardens exhibited the same planting, such as wildflower turf used as a frame around a…

THE CRUCIAL role played by allotments during the two World Wars is being remembered. The Mirfield Allotments in West Yorkshire still have a vivid reminder of those dark years: two Anderson air-raid shelters are still in use as garden huts. They are highlighted in a new booklet, written by David Thompson to mark the centenary of the Mirfield Allotments and Gardens Society. It has three sites in the town and around 170 members. RABBITS AND FISHING David, who gardens with his wife Carol, said very little has changed. “The rules now are pretty much the same as 100 years ago.” Twice one site has been devastated by river flooding. The waters spread knotweed, but curbed the rabbits and washed in snowdrops. One plotholder even landed an 11lb pike! This centenary…

BEE BRICK £27.99+ P&P £3.95 01344 578 811 waitrosegarden.com Freestanding or as an integral part of a wall, cavities in the bee brick provide a home for non-swarming solitary bees to lay their eggs before they seal the entrance with mud or chewed vegetation. Offspring then emerge the following spring. Made from polished cast concrete, bee bricks should be positioned in a warm sunny spot, preferably south-facing, around 3ft 3in (1m) from the ground with no vegetation in front of the holes. The standard brick measures 8½ x 4 1/8 x 2½in (21.5x10.5x6.5cm). Other sizes are available. FLIP TOP LOG STORE £269.99 forestgarden.co.uk  for stockists Keeping your logs dry and ready to go in the log burner is easy with this large capacity store that’s got enough space to…

1 MILLION people live in Birmingham 6 MILLION trees grow in Birmingham’s parks – the city has more parks than any other centre of population in Europe 2.2 MILLION plants are grown on at the Cofton and Coleshill plant nurseries for the city’s parks and open spaces 100 hanging baskets a day are produced by the nurseries team £1.5MILLION was spent on new glasshouses at the Cofton Nursery, installed in 2015 and funded by a self-financing loan…

Spot the difference Tree ferns became hugely popular in the UK during the Ground Force years, and judging by high stock levels at nurseries they’re still in demand. These plants can survive outdoors all year in the UK, but you’ll need to wrap the trunks with straw to protect from frost and snow over winter. Can you spot the FOUR differences between these two pictures of tree ferns on sale at a nursery? (Answers at the bottom of the page) True o false? American businessman and philanthropist Horace Hagedorn brought a new water-on plant food to the UK in 1989. It was called Phostrogen. (Answer at the bottom of page)…

WITH A little thought gardens can take on a wonderful, magical atmosphere in the darker afternoons and evenings. There’s no better illustration of this than 42 Falconer Road, Bushey, Hertfordshire. Featured on Alan Titchmarsh’s Britain’s Best Back Gardens and in Amateur Gardening, it’s the creation of Suzette Fuller, who has designed a Victorian style space full of hanging bird cages and solar lighting that becomes a winter fairyland when the sun sets. The next evening opening is Saturday 7 November from 4-8pm when admission is £3 in aid of the NGS. For further details see The Yellow Book 2015.…

YOU’VE BOUGHT the treats, you’ve carved the pumpkin (see page 9), now for the finishing touch: the Halloween container! With the summer bedding a distant memory, this is the perfect time to inject a bit of colour into the garden – as well as welcome visitors to the front door. Be inspired by the official colours of Halloween and choose plants that are in the purple and orange spectrum. All of the plants shown here are readily available at good garden centres and will look great right into winter, brightening dark winter days long after 31 October has passed. The usual rules of container planting still apply: add a thriller (the feature plant), some spillers (trailing plants) and fillers (low-growers). However, this display is going to be sitting outdoors in…

BIRDS ARE guaranteed to go nuts for Peckish Daily Goodness Peanut Boost! Suitable for year-round feeding, this mix of kibbled nuts and beans packs an energy-filled punch that will see garden birds through the autumn. We have five packs to give away. To enter the draw, send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Peckish Daily Goodness Draw, Amateur Gardening, Westover House, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1JG. Or email your details to ag_giveaway@timeinc.com , heading the email Peckish Daily Goodness. The closing date is: 4 November, 2015…

COLOURS LEACH out of the garden as the summer flowers fade, so thank goodness for the glowing, gorgeousness of autumn squashes nestling under their rambling, scrambling greenery. Pumpkins are the most visible, due to their size and bright orange skins, but creamy-coloured butternut and spaghetti squashes are also readily available and popular. Autumn squashes have harder skins than their summer-harvested counterparts, which means they can be stored for longer, given the correct storage facilities. However, they need to be harvested correctly to prolong their capacity for storage, and here I show you how to do it – and also take you through the steps used in carving the perfect Halloween lantern. top tip You can use virtually every bit of a pumpkin. When you have hollowed yours out to make…

IT’S BEEN a bad year for my celeriac – a cold spring, mid-summer drought, then a dull and miserable August. Celeriac likes it wet but warm. It’s my favourite winter root too, with its celery-like flavour and versatility in the kitchen. It can be shredded raw, added to casseroles or soups or – best of all – cooked and mashed with butter and pepper. Delicious! I do all I can to encourage the aboveground roots or ‘knobs’ to swell. They need to be large otherwise once you peel off the bumpy skin and fibrous roots, little is left. Starting plants off early helps. I sow the seed in a heated propagator at tomato-sowing time, covering them with only a fine layer of compost, and keep them warm until they can…

Celeriac-Slaw Turn your homegrown celeriac into a tasty salad coleslaw with this recipe! Serve it up in a sandwich with cheese or cold meats, or with smoked mackerel and oatcakes. Prep time: 10 minutes Serves 2 Ingredients • ½ celeriac • ½ lemon, juice of • 2 tbsp creme fraiche • 3 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise • 2 tsp whole grain mustard, plus more to taste • salt and pepper Method 1 In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, creme fraiche, mustard and lemon juice. Add a generous sprinkling of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Taste to see if it needs any extra mustard or salt. Adjust accordingly. Set aside. 2 Next, peel and quarter the celeriac, then grate coarsely and stir into the mayonnaise mixture until evenly…

QI am determined to grow my own fruit and veg next year. But have I left it too late to choose the right patch of garden? And how can I prepare the ground? Beryl Sharpe, Dungeness, Kent A It’s never too late to start, and the autumn is a good time to begin preparing your land for next spring. If you are on a light sandy or silty soil, I would leave any soil preparation until the spring, as digging in the autumn can result in the soil compacting and the surface tilth being destroyed. If the soil is heavy, I would mark out the plot now, dig it over, and incorporate as much organic matter as possible, ensuring you remove all the perennial weeds as you work…

Pumpkins and winter squashes need plenty of elbowroom for their trailing stems to spread out. They are hungry and thirsty plants, so dig in plenty of rotted manure before planting. Some people even plant them on the top of the compost heap! Sunshine and moisture are must-haves – especially when plants are in flower and, later, when the fruits start to swell. Plants are tender and take around 20 weeks to grow to full size. Don’t plant out until May (at the earliest) before putting plants in the ground. Pinching back the main stem once it’s 3-4ft (90-120cm) long will help to encourage early ripening. The fruit is ready to be picked when the stem cracks and the skin is tough. Harvest fruits with a 6in (15cm) stalk (or ‘handle’),…

“My late sowing of salad onions is yielding a tasty crop” PRODUCTIVE PLANTS weren’t immune from the great Swithinbank plant migration as chilli peppers strung with fruits were borne from the greenhouse to the house, where warmer temperatures in the kitchen should keep them alive and productive. They might even overwinter in good enough condition to be pruned in spring and grow on for another year. Tomatoes can often stay productive right up until Christmas, with fruits continuing to ripen on the withering vines. This is fine, as long as you don’t need the space for other plants. I’d like to use our raised bed for winter salads, so the tomatoes are coming out. First, any usable fruits are picked and then the vines removed. If there are lots of…

TWINS IAN and Stuart Paton have done it again and won top prize at the Autumn Pumpkin Festival, with a 1861lb (844kg) monster. Sadly, it was 23lb (10kg) shy of the British record – also grown by the twins last year. Presenting the Patons with a first prize cheque for £500, show sponsor Thompson & Morgan’s Paul Hansord said: “I lost count of the photos being taken of the pumpkin on the truck as I drove it back to [our HQ in] Suffolk. The Patons invested in a new greenhouse at their Hampshire base for their 2015 attempt, and there were several promising pumpkins by mid-summer. But disaster struck when three of them split as they piled on 35lb (16kg) a day, and had to be destroyed. Their winner was…

IT IS a wise man who knows when he has had enough, they say, and I’m not sure extending my garden by 30ft and having a polytunnel erected on some of the extra space is very wise at my age. I do remember the late Bill Sowerbutts, one of the original BBC Gardener’s Question Time team, telling me a heated greenhouse was the best place for a retired gardener. Getting out of the cold wind and rain, under the protection of a polythene tunnel, is certainly to be recommended. While my tunnel’s metal framework is second-hand, all woodwork and polythene is new with a five year guarantee on the poly. I am advised the life should be 10 years, and if I avoid puncturing the skin it can last for…

OUR ANCESTORS might have held all sorts of strange ideas about how and why everything worked, but they were also very good at observing the regular cycles of the lunar month and solar year. From the time of ancient Babylon we made records of the cycles’ movements. Monuments such as Stonehenge were built, embodying that knowledge and demonstrating it on the ground. (Apparently Stonehenge was built to mark the winter solstice on 21 December, when the days start to lengthen again, not for the summer ‘shindig’.) The year was divided up, with special days signifying points of change, the days lengthening and shortening, and equinoxes when the daylight time exactly equaled the length of night. Over time, the most important change of all – that of mid-winter – was replaced…

NEXT TO my veg patch I have a border filled with late season ‘prairie’ perennials and sunflowers that, since July, has provided constant colour and enough blooms to spare for armfuls of cut flowers. Every week I’ve gathered bundles of bright orange heleniums, electric-blue asters and coral persicaria that even when amateurishly bunged in a vase can’t help but look fantastic. It’s only now that this abundance is near the end that I realise how much they’ll be missed, so I’m keenly planting more flowers for cutting for when spring comes around again. Bulbs are my blooms of choice. Not only do many look lovely in a vase, they also dovetail nicely with the new season’s perennials, adding colour above the perennial foliage as it wakes up, and being hidden…

1 Start by standing your plants in water, or giving them a good soaking, so the roots are able to get a good drink before planting. 2 Place the plants in their pots, tallest ones at the back, until you have an arrangement you are happy with. 3 If you are looking for a more precise arrangement, measure between each plant, either with a ruler – or by using a trowel! 4 Gently remove the plant from its container, and hold it carefully by the rootball to avoid damaging the delicate stems. 5 Plant it in a hole as deep as its rootball, and slightly wider. Infill around the plant and gently firm the soil to get rid of air pockets. 6 Water using a watering can without a rose.…

SQUASH PLANTS sprawl over a wide area, and it can be hard to distinguish which fruit belongs to which plant. Luckily, the fruits can be left in situ until the leaves die back, so they are easier to find.  DON’T WORRY if your plants are affected by mildew, especially as the weather gets damper. The fact that leaves have rotted away will not spoil the squashes, and they should be left to ripen on the plants. Pick them too early, and they will be lacking in flavour and are more likely to go mouldy. Always pick before the first frost, as frost-damaged squashes will not store and need to be cooked as soon as possible after harvesting.…

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? • Until 31 October, Sat-Sun and Weds Guided Walks – The Wonders of Westonbirt; Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Glos, GL8 8QS; 11am and 2pm (11am only Weds) 0300 067 4890; forestry.gov.co.uk • 26-31 October: Spooky Halloween Half-Term Fun; Squires Garden Centres (venues in Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, Berkshire, North & West London); squiresgardencentres.co.uk • 29-31 October: Enchanted Illuminations Family Fright Night; Abbotsbury Sub-tropical Gardens, Bullers Way, Abbotsbury, Weymouth, Dorset DT3 4LA; 01305 871387; abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk • 31 October: Fungus Foray; Batsford Arboretum, Batsford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos, GL56 9AB; 07725 843414; batsarb.co.uk • 31 October: Stunning Trees for Smaller Gardens; Mallet Court Gardens, Higher Street, Curry Mallet,…

1 Sow seeds thinly on the surface of a shallow pot or tray in a propagator at about 68°F (20°C) 2 Prick out seedlings into modules. Keep in cold frame or greenhouse. Pot on if necessary 3 Plant out 15in (38cm) apart each way in soil improved with compost/manure. Fleece if cold 4 Keep watered in dry spells. Top-dress with chicken manure pellets to boost growth as the bulbs swell 5 Harvest roots before severe frosts; remove the leaves and store in sand in a cool place…

ANNA TOEMAN has 20 years’ experience working in historic gardens JOHN NEGUS trained at the RHS and is a specialist garden writer DR JANE BINGHAM has a plant science PhD and a MSc in plant ecology Q We have just pruned and cleared the ground beneath our beech hedge to recreate one we saw at The Eden Project this year. Can you recommend planting under this new ‘tree-line’? Maria Hart (via email) A This is a challenging habitat for plants. Not only is it shady, but the soil is likely to be dry and low in nutrients, and full of roots. Start by gently forking in old potting compost (from your summer tubs) or well-rotted compost or leafmould, into the surface of the soil and, in late winter,…

Ingredients • 1 pumpkin • 2 eggs • 225g soft brown sugar • 1 tbs plain flour • ½ tsp salt • ½ tsp each of ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground nutmeg • ¼ tsp ground cloves • 350ml evaporated milk Method Cut the pumpkin in half, remove seeds then bake at 200°C for one hour. Scrape out the softened flesh and puree in a food processor. In a large bowl beat the eggs and add the brown sugar, flour, salt, 500g of the pumpkin puree, spices and evaporated milk. Stir well after each addition. Pour the mixture into a 9in (23cm) unbaked pastry case and put a thin strip of foil around the edge of the crust to prevent over-browning while it’s in the oven. Bake for 10…

WYEVALE GROWS FAST Wyevale Garden Centres made it into the Sunday Times’ Grant Thornton Top Track 250 chart of private companies that are growing fast. T&M CATALOGUE 2016 Stringless and tender runner bean ‘Firestorm,’ features on the cover of T&M’s 2016 catalogue. thompson-morgan.com thompsonmorgan.com for more information. WINTER-INTEREST PLANTS Hayloft Plants’ autumn 2015 catalogue has just been unveiled, and features rare hellebores and winter-flowering perennials. hayloftplants.co.uk.…

• Pumpkins require warm day temperatures of 18-30°C (64-86°F) and prefer a min night temperature of 16°C (61°F) until they are planted out. • In cooler areas, sow indoors from April to mid May for transplanting outside later on, when temperatures rise. • Plant each pumpkin plant on top of a mound to ensure good drainage and keep well watered until established. • T&M are selling seeds of Pumpkin ‘Paton Twins Giant’ at £9.99 for two seeds. Call 0844 573 1818 or thompson-morgan.com .…

PRUNINGS, CLIPPINGS, dead plants – gardening can generate a lot of waste material. Most of the soft stuff can go straight onto the compost heap, or to the local recycling facility, but woody material takes years to break down. That’s where shredders come in. Shredding breaks up the plant material, increasing surface area so it rots more quickly. Large volumes of twiggy waste can be reduced to fit more easily into the compost bin - or bags for trips to the tip. In big gardens, where there is no electric supply, and for true freedom of movement, a petrol machine is a good solution. Petrol power allows you to shred where the waste is generated so there’s less fetching and carrying. We’ve tested four combination shredder-chippers designed to tackle herbaceous…

• Water and feed regularly for floriferous hanging baskets all summer long. “So many people don’t water enough. Watering should take place at least once a day, even if it’s raining.” • Pick over displays once a week to remove spent blooms and encourage new growth and flowers. “The job is a labour of love, but unless people do it they won’t have a good display and will lose interest.”…

It's a matter of choice! SO SCRAPPING the Sunday trading laws ‘would cause significant harm to families who will have less time to spend together’, according to the Keep Sunday Special campaign ( AG News 10 Oct). What a narrow-minded and selfish view. Some families, out of financial necessity, don't have the luxury of that choice. Some families don't have the support of grandparents to babysit while both parents go out to work just to pay the bills. Nor can they afford childcare costs. For them the chance of a few more hours doing a Sunday job can mean the difference between just scraping by and having a little extra to pay for a few treats. Choose to spend time with your families if you want…

OWNER Hazel Griffiths ADDRESS 47A Wandsworth Road, London N17 6DB GARDEN SIZE 60ft x 20ft (18m x 6m) ASPECT South-west facing SOIL Clay base with fairly good loam; regularly composted to improve drainage VISITED June SPECIAL FEATURES Informal planting favouring Mediterranean natives and drought-tolerant species, plus self-seeders. Well-established quince and bay trees. Patio seating shaded by vine-covered pergola, rill pool with waterfall, raised herb bed and pots. Sculptures by resident artist Andy D’Cruz. Hazel opened her garden to visitors earlier this year, helping to raise money for NGS charities. For similar gardens open in aid of the scheme see ngs.org.uk…