Innholdsfortegnelse for 4-Feb-2017 i Amateur Gardening

BUYER beware is a caution novice gardeners would do well to heed when shopping for plants at this time of year. In mid January Gardening Editor Ruth bought a pack of young Canterbury bell plants from her local garden centre. These biennials would normally be started from seed in spring, grown on over summer and planted out in early autumn to acclimatise before winter sets in. An alternative might be to buy stout plants from a garden centre in spring, and harden them off carefully before planting out as the weather warms. But buying these young plants to set out in mid winter is risky even here in the warm south. Ruth knows her stuff, but a novice might not know that plants nurtured by garden centres need acclimatising to…

1 I started by removing all dead and damaged foliage, as well as a few leaves with the worst pest infestations. 2 I used a soft, damp cloth to wipe off the worst of the sooty mould, dust and scale insects. 3 I then sprayed the plant, and those nearby, with an indoor pesticide to deal with all the pests. Do this outside. 4 Finally, I watered the plant and gave it a feed to help boost it and restore any vigour lost to the pests.…

AT the roadside edge of our front garden is a very dispiriting border, partly overgrown with old shrubs, and with patches of bare soil so full of roots it’s almost impossible to dig. This week I decided to start livening it up with a compact shrub and some annuals for colour. I chose a Nandina domestica ‘Magical Sunrise’. Also known as Sacred Chinese Bamboo, these evergreen shrubs have white flowers in summer. Their young foliage is an attractive russet colour. I also added some biennial (best planted autumn/ spring but mine were well hardened-off) Canterbury Bells, which already grow happily in our back garden. I finished the job by adding a thick layer of mulch to feed the soil and lock in moisture. Top Tip   Adding multi-purpose compost or…

THE winter months are hard for plants, not just because of inclement weather, but also because of pests and disease. While prolonged freezes can knock out many potential problems, mild and damp winters are an ideal breeding ground for fungal problems, and won’t wipe out more persistent pests. If you keep your plants healthy, and maintain good hygiene around your garden and greenhouse now, you will get the year off to a good start and hopefully have fewer problems down the line. I started by giving my patio a good sweep to remove winter debris and remaining fallen leaves. If left, they would become a refuge for pests such as slugs and snails, and will also harbour fungal diseases. I then turned my attention to the roses growing around the…

• Summer cabbage, such as ‘Greyhound’ can be sown under cover now, or directly outdoors from late March. • I am sowing mine now, starting them off in trays of fresh seed compost, covered with a layer of vermiculite. This helps retain moisture and nutrients, and boosts airflow around the seeds. • Sow at a depth of 1/2in (12mm), place a lid on their seed tray, or seal the container in a plastic bag, and leave it somewhere light and warm. • When seeds germinate, remove the lid, grow on the seedlings, and prick out when they are large enough to handle. • They can be hardened off and planted out into sunny, fertile soil in spring as the weather warms up.…

1 Having removed the plant from its pot, use scissors to snip down and remove a rooted portion just the right size for colonising the bottle. 2 Trickle in a layer of small shingle, then a layer of small charcoal pieces to cover the base. Next, add 2in (5cm) of well-draining compost. 3 Use a fork wired to a long cane to dig a hole in the compost. Clamp the plant gently between a fork and spoon, lower it carefully into the hole. 4 Tamp the plant in using the long-handled spoon and then water-in using a hand sprayer. Let water trickle down the inside of the glass to clean it.…

HAVE you got a spot in your garden that’s just crying out to be filled? I had one, then I found this lovely little apple tree, ‘Pixie’. It’s the perfect time to get fruit trees in the ground – they can be planted any time of the year if pot-grown, but establish especially well if planted between October and March as long as the soil isn’t frozen or waterlogged. At this time the soil is moist and cool, and fruit trees are dormant. Plant now and come spring they make plenty of root growth for a stronger, more vigorous tree. Buying in winter allows you to choose a bare-root tree, which is often considerably cheaper than one grown in a pot. It’s where the trees are literally lifted from the…

“It’s mild weather that’s the threat to stored crops” DEPENDING on how mild or severely cold the weather gets over the next couple of months, our precious stored crops will start to expire. Not just because we are using them up but because they’ll start to go over. Ironically, the longer and colder the winter the better, as then many stored crops keep in good condition. It’s milder weather that is the threat as then things stop being held dormant and rot or start to sprout. Either way, the quality of our stored crops is never going to be improving from now on, so it’s opportune to convert some from fresh to preserved. Obviously anything that’s keeping well with no sign of deterioration can be ignored. However, it’s a fair…

“Strong seedlings lead to strong plants” THEIR ornamental looks, varied flavours and heat levels are just a few reasons why chillies and peppers are top of my sowing list every spring. Each year I grow my favourites (‘Padron’, ‘Numex Twilight’, ‘Scotch Bonnet’ to name a few) but I’m always on the lookout for new types to try. My search for the latest launches took me to the Mr Fothergill’s trial grounds last summer. There were over 100 hundred varieties on test across two polytunnels, but it was the quality of each and every plant that really caught my eye. Aiming for the same results myself, I tracked down trials manager Brian Talman for some insider tips. Successful Sowing Brian carries out the bulk of his chilli and pepper sowings in…

To train or not to train? There’s no need to pinch out growing tips – all pepper and chilli varieties branch strongly at some point in the growing process. Unripe fruits? Towards the end of summer, allow compost to dry out, and only offer a small amount of water to keep them ticking over. This will tricks plants into maturing sooner. After harvesting Add spent container or greenhouse compost to veg patches and border soils to improve structure, moisture retention and drainage.…

A GARDEN Down Under has built up one of the world’s biggest collections of smelly plants. The Botanic Gardens of South Australia has amassed over 100 Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) plants – better known as the corpse flower as its blooms stink of rotting flesh. The collection was started with just three seeds in 2006. In the past 13 months, three Titan Arums have flowered, attracting thousands of visitors to experience the awful pong. Corpse flowers take about a decade to bloom, and flowers only last for 48 hours. The Titan Arum relies on its foul smell to attract insects, which carry pollen and fertilise the plants.…

BIRDS are the gardeners’ friend, devouring pesky insects, slugs and snails that would otherwise be chomping through your veg patch or blighting your flower borders. They’re great fun to watch too, so it makes sense to attract birds by giving them somewhere warm and cosy to live and raise their young. We’ve looked at six readily-available bird boxes, checking them for sturdiness and ease of opening up for annual cleaning. Roosting pouch aside, all feature a 32mm hole suitable for a variety of birds including tits, sparrows, nuthatches, flycatchers and even lesser spotted woodpeckers. Whether the birds will like them depends more on situation than appearance: advice from the RSPB is that boxes for most garden birds should be mounted between 6ft 6in-13ft (2-4m) high, facing between north and east…

GRAB some bulbs that are in bloom (or about to bloom) at your local garden centre or nursery, for a swift injection of winter colour. Some of the most enchanting include Iris ‘Harmony’ (indigo blue), which loves neutral to alkaline soil in sun or semi-shade; Crocus ‘Cream Beauty’ (golden cream), which requires well-drained, moderately fertile soil in sun; and Cyclamen coum Pewter Group (pink) and Scilla mischtschenkoana (ice blue), which both like well-drained, humus-rich soil in semi-shade.…

“Promote humidity around your plants” WINTER is a relatively quiet time for plants indoors, as it is for most of those that live outside. However, that doesn’t mean you can forget about them. Christmas gift plants, including orchids, hyacinths, Narcissi ‘Paper White’, and Amaryllis, should be watered and fed while they are in flower. Later in spring, after flowering, forced hyacinth bulbs can be planted in the garden, where they look best in clumps, or lining paths and borders. ‘Paper White’ are not reliably hardy in UK soils, even in the warmest, most sheltered areas. After flowering, feed the bulbs, let the foliage die down, and store them somewhere cool, dark and dry until next autumn, when you can pot them up again. Feed amaryllis bulbs after flowering with a…

I DON’T know about you, but our garden is looking particularly grey and bedraggled. Even the winter pansies and violas, and robust little Cyclamen hederifolium, are doing little to cheer it up. However, the days are getting longer, and the temperatures occasionally hit early springtime pleasantness, and it won’t be long until life starts to stir again. Use this week to take stock of your beds. Look for emerging shoots, make sure they haven’t been smothered by fallen leaves and debris, and take measures to protect them from slugs, snails and rodents. Take time to check winter bedding, deadhead it, and remove diseased foliage – or entire plants if they are badly affected. Put in the dustbin, or burn, any leaves showing signs of disease. If you left any perennial…

• I sowed my second batch of sweet peas in the middle of January, and once they germinated I moved them somewhere cool and light. • However, the room obviously wasn’t cool enough, because they grew tall and spindly rather fast. • The answer is to move them outside to a cold frame, where their roots will continue to develop, but top growth will be halted by the cold. They also need to be pinched out, so they become more sturdy and bushy. • I have placed all my sweet pea seedlings a bed of gravel to deter slugs. Another option is to use slug pellets. Watch out for mice too!…

“Seeds need to be kept dry and cold” WHEN it comes to sowing saved seeds the best advice is: “If in doubt, don’t.” This goes for both old packets and home saved seeds. It’s not worth risking a whole season or year lost by starting out with seeds of questionable germination. Foil wrapped seeds will hold their germination for the length of time stated on the packet as long as the seal on the foil remains unbroken. Once opened the germination life is likely to be the same as for open air packets. Seeds need to be kept dry and cold to retain good germination, so an air-tight tin in the vegetable draw of a fridge is a good place. Germination is also dependent on genera – delphinium and parsnip,…

THIS week’s free seeds from Mr Fothergill’s are African marigold (Tagetes) ‘Kees Orange’, and they bloom with the vivid heat of a Serengeti sunrise. ‘Kees Orange’ will grow up to 2ft (60cm) tall, and carry large, circular flowers with deep orange, frilled petals. These bushy plants like well-drained soil in full sun, and are ideal as bedding. Half-hardy annuals, they can be sown between now and April, and will produce flowers this summer, right up until October if conditions are favourable. Sow the large, feathered seeds thinly, so that the developing seedlings have room to grow strongly. Remove the seed tray lids when seeds have germinated. Water seedlings from the bottom where possible, and don’t let their compost dry out. Avoid wetting the leaves, to prevent the fungal disease damping…

EVEN though the sowing season is beginning there’s still winter pruning to be done, and this week I’m tackling my blackcurrants. They crop slightly differently to redcurrants, and this difference is that blackcurrants crop predominantly on younger, not older wood. This means that they don’t lend themselves to being trained as fans and cordons as redcurrants do, because by encouraging a permanent framework of older stems you’re discouraging berry production. So normally a blackcurrant is shaped as your classic sphere-shaped bush. It’s then a case of jumping in with the loppers every winter to cut out the older wood, which then stimulates more young wood and therefore more fruit. Makes perfect sense, really! Top Tip Water blackcurrant bushes in dry weather, but stop watering just as fruits start to ripen.…

WHY is it that whenever I have broad beans in a restaurant they only give me about ten, artistically scattered around my dinner plate? That’s barely a forkful! I absolutely love this veg so consequently ensure I have a continual supply of fresh beans from May till late July – plus plenty for the freezer. I do this by making a first sowing in autumn, one in early spring in modules under cover, and a later one outside once the soil has warmed. The overwintering sowing is ‘’Aquadulce’ which is the benchmark autumn-sowing variety. The vast majority of broad bean varieties are marketed for their earliness, so you’re spoilt for choice for sowings this week. A classic would be ‘Witkiem Manita’ but there are plenty of others, such as ‘Turbo’,…

INVARIABLY among the most hated of garden pests, slugs and snails readily devour the leaves, flowers, stems and seedlings of many prized garden plants. I always turn to the advice of my early hero, the TV gardener Geoff Hamilton, who said that if you’re diligent in your slug controls in February, just before their breeding cycle starts, you’ll benefit for the rest of the year. You’re unlikely to ever have a completely slug- or snail-free garden, but it is possible to reduce the damage they cause if you control their numbers early on. As a wildlife enthusiast, my first endeavour is always to encourage other creatures into the garden that have slugs and snails as a key part of their diet. Chief among these are hedgehogs, newts, toads and some…

• Sow in potting compost early March at 25˚C/77˚F (start hot varieties in February at 30°C/86˚F). Use a heated propagator to achieve these temperatures. • Prick out seedlings when large enough to handle and set them in 9cm pots filled with good potting compost. Grow on at 15-16°C (59-60°F). • Once roots fill the 9cm pots, transplant into 3litre pots filled with good potting compost. Set the pots on grow bags once plants reach 10-12in (25-30cm) high. • Provide good ventilation once temperatures start to rise in April. Start to apply a weekly balanced feed once the first flowers show.…

Q I’d like to grow hellebores for their late-winter/early-spring flowers. What are good varieties and how should I plant and care for them? Judith Hardy, Melksham, Wilts A There are several common hellebores which flower over the winter giving displays of white, yellow, pink, purple, claret and green flowers. All enjoy well-drained, fertile, humus-rich soil out of cold, drying winds and will grow in semi-shade and full-sun as long as they don’t dry out over the summer. The most frequently grown plant for winter display is Helleborus x hybridus, known in the past as Helleborus orientalis. It sets seed and crosses freely, so it’s well worth growing these in your garden to see what can happen. Plants can flower as early as November but the main flowering period is February…

Bulldog Evergreen Hand Trowel 6in £6.26 RRP 01279 401572 bulldogtools.co.uk  for stockists A rugged trowel with 3in (75mm) wide blade made from high quality carbon steel with a heavy duty tang welded to the blade for durable long life. A soft grip handle makes it easy to hold and comfortable in use for planting bulbs, planting seedlings and general gardening work. Macadam Green Metal Folding Chair £10 instore or + £4.95 delivery 0344 499 4686 habitat.co.uk  for store locator Looking for something more stylish than the ubiquitous green plastic stacking garden chair, but that still won’t break the bank? This metal folding chair is made from robust powder-coated steel, it’s lightweight and can be folded and stored away to save space. Other colours are also available. Garden Trug Green 42-litre…

Not worth the effort! MAY I add an item to the Editor’s list (7 Jan issue of AG) of plants ‘not worth growing’! I like eating chickpeas, so for the past two years I’ve tried to grow them. I was delighted by the fact that slugs and snails didn’t seem to like them though they eat just about anything else on my plot because I don’t use slug pellets, and the copious amounts of beer I serve them only seems to increase their appetite! As for the fruits of my labour, well the plants flowered and produced pods, but not many. With only one or two peas per pod it also took an awfully long time to get a small handful of chickpeas, which when cooked still left me feeling…

1 Deadhead ornamentals when blooms start to fade, as this will encourage new flowers and a longer flowering period. 2 Water sparingly, when the surface of the compost is dry to the touch. Only feed if the plant is growing or flowering. 3 Place plants where they get the most light. Don’t leave them on windowsills at night, because of freezing temperatures. 4 Remove any dead, damaged or diseased leaves as they can provide an entry point for pests and disease. 5 Citruses are hungry plants, so feed and water carefully in winter – avoid waterlogging, and don’t deadhead flowers!…

A NEW plant that fails to thrive, no matter how much care and attention is lavished upon it, is one of the most dispiriting (and expensive) aspects of gardening. If more than one healthy specimen doesn’t grow as it should – or at all – then you need to look around for a possible reason why. One basic explanation is that the plants you bought are not compatible with your soil type. Make sure by testing your soil, especially if you have just moved to a new house, or are new to gardening. Basic soil tests are available from garden centres, and are cheap and easy to use. I’ll show you how next week. Once you know your soil’s pH, only buy plants that you know will thrive. The ideal…

1 Stand the shrub in water for at least 30 minutes to dampen the rootball, and make it easier to remove from its pot. 2 Always set your plant at the same depth as its container – most shrubs don’t like being under- or over-planted. 3 Tease out roots, especially any circling the rootball, to aid plant stability by encouraging outward root growth. 4 Water the plant well, even if rain is forecast, to help firm in the plant and encourage soil to fall all around its roots.…

I AM using this week to take stock in the vegetable and fruit garden, tidy it up, and look after the plants that need some TLC after the rain and cold weather of the past few months. The broad beans I sowed several weeks ago are developing into healthy plants, but grow slowly over the coldest months. They have been blown about by winter winds, and hit by some hard frosts, but they look healthy. This time of taking stock is a good opportunity to check them for pests – warmer spells can bring the aphids out – and stake any plants that need support. If you sowed onions and shallots in the autumn, check they are growing well, and catch up on weeding (something I am guilty of neglecting…

“ YOU like putting plants in bottles,” commented my son, as I showed off my latest effort. Indoor plants are enjoying a surge of popularity but this time around, there is a welcome emphasis on how they are displayed. Sometimes the plant arrives first and we look out for just the right glass, ceramic or plastic container. I no longer worry about drainage holes, because with a layer of pebbles and charcoal in the base, well- draining compost and with careful watering, many plants can survive well without them. This time, we bought the unusual glass bottle from an antique shop in Worthing and it has taken a few weeks to track down the ideal plant. Selaginella kraussiana ‘Brownii’ or pincushion spikemoss looks like a cross between moss and curly-leaved…

SEED potatoes have been appearing in garden centres over the past few weeks, ready for planting next month. We’ll chat about that more next week but for now, think of them as a timely reminder to check on your stored maincrop potato varieties. Lifted way back in September, they’ve hopefully been essential components of many a main meal during winter. As spring unfurls they will begin to emerge from dormancy. The ‘eyes’ start to sprout (much as seed potatoes do) but in the darkness of your shed or garage, these shoots will quickly elongate to create a spidery mass of white gangly shoots. Simultaneously the tubers will wither and become unpalatable. If ever you wanted an excuse to have chips every night for the next few weeks, there’s one right…

• 4 February onwards: Orchids Festival, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Giant floral displays inspired by the magnificent plant life of India. Opening times vary. 0844 995 9672, kew.org • 5 February: Cyclamen Society Early Spring Show, Hillside Events Centre, RHS Garden Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. A splash of colour plus expert advice on cyclamen growing. 0845 260 9000, rhs.org.uk • 8 February: Welford Park, Newbury, Berks RG20 8HU. Natural snowdrop woodlands including hellebores and winter flowering shrubs around Queen Anne House – familiar to viewers of The Great British Bake Off . Open 11am-4pm for NGS. 01488 608691, welfordpark.co.uk • 10, 17 and 26 February: Higher Cherubeer, Dolton, Winkleigh, Devon EX19 8PP. Winter opening of 1½ acre country garden featuring National Collection of cyclamen, hellebores and more than 300…

SLEEPING shrubs will soon burst into life and need a pick-me-up from us to get them going. This is because by late winter our soil can be lacking in nutrients due to incessant rain and the compost in pots will have been exhausted if container plants were potted up in the spring. Now, over the years, I’ve met some gardeners who never bother to feed their shrubs, maintaining that their plants still flourish without any attention. While I concede that they might be doing okay, I know their plants would be doing even better with a dose of nitrogen, potash and phosphate, along with smaller amounts of other nutrients. Plants actually require 17 different nutrients for normal growth. Fertilisers boost leaf, root and shoot growth, and give shrubs the energy…

Aribibi Gusano The caterpillar pepper. A very unusual compact chilli ideal for windowsill growing. Small lime-green, crinkled fruits cover the plant before maturing to red. This hot variety is ideal for homemade chilli dipping sauces. Aji Delight Offering depth of flavour without the heat. Cooler Aji chillies are gaining interest thanks to the rising popularity of Peruvian cuisine. Use as a replacement for sweet peppers to add an extra depth of flavour to any dish. Spangles This eye-catching variety stood out from all the others on trial. The fruits ripen through purple, white, orange and yellow before turning a rich red. A must-have for windowsill growers. Scotch Bonnet Not for the faint hearted! This very hot variety is used to give Caribbean dishes their unique flavour. Short, bushy plants produce…

Q My pear tree needs a ‘haircut’. When should I do it? M Emery, Ruislip, Middx A Now is a good time, when the trees are dormant. Open up the middle of the tree, removing crowded shoots that impede airflow. This will improve flowering and fruiting. Then concentrate on the branches. Trace them back to the tree’s crown, and shorten 1 in 3 branches that are rubbing or too close together, to 3 or 4 buds. Also cut back broken and diseased stems to healthy wood. Q What should I do with the alpine strawberry plants I bought last year? Pam Lynch, Leyburn, Yorks A Feed them in April, when the soil is warming up, with Vitax Q4. Apply it monthly until August, sprinkling it over the root area, and…

GARDENS and plants play a key role in tackling pollution and reducing the effects of flooding, an expert claims. Professor Nigel Dunnett said plants, nature and gardens have never been needed more in the UK’s towns and cities. “Gardens and plants are no longer an optional and decorative ‘nice-to-have’ – they’re essential,” the professor said. “With pollution dangerously high in cities like London, Glasgow and Southampton, and flash-flooding devastating areas of the country last year, we all need to embrace the fact that plants help mitigate against some of the biggest environmental threats.” While plants are proven to soak-up pollution, they are key to reducing flooding in cities. The trend for paving front gardens for parking has increased the risk of flooding in built-up areas. Urban gardens are vital to…

‘Flore Pleno’ Delightful, and inexpensive, this is the double-flowered form of the common snowdrop. Flowers January and February. Ideal for under deciduous trees and shrubs. ‘Magnet’ A classic-looking hybrid, the well-rounded flowers of this charmer dance at the slightest breeze, thanks to their long pedicels (the spur holding the flower to the stem). ‘S. Arnott’ This tall, super-sized vigorous form has a sweet honey perfume that hangs in the air where it is grown in large clumps, or when brought indoors. Flowers February to March. ‘Viridapice’ Discovered in Holland in the 1920s, this lovely late-flowering snowdrop is very reliable, and has distinctive green-tipped flowers atop strong, upright stems. ‘Atkinsii’ One of the best varieties – this tall, regal fellow has attractive elongated flowers, and grey-green foliage, and spreads around the…

WITH some clever planting the February garden can be an enchanting scene of colour and scent. When using pot-grown plants, you don’t have to wait to get planting. As long as the ground is not frozen, get out into the garden now, and dot some colour through those bland borders. If the soil is solid with frost, plant up some patio pots and windowboxes instead. In a small garden your main arsenal comes from early-flowering bulbs, such as dwarf irises, crocuses, and snowdrops, as well as small perennials, such as hellebores. Plant them in gaps at the front of borders, around perennials, and beneath deciduous shrubs and trees. Ensure that you’re planting up bits of the garden that are seen from the kitchen or living room windows, or in the…

“Winter light levels are growthstuntingly low” MY houseplant pride and joy is a dragon tree (Dracaena draco) which grows on a shelf by the front door in our hallway. I brought it back from a trip to the Azores where they grow into the most magnificent trees with shuttlecock-shaped crowns held above plump, succulent silver trunks. Of course, our juvenile specimen looks nothing like this and Lisa once rudely summed up its tangle of strap-like leaves as having appearance of a dead spider. I see beyond this temporary ‘ugly duckling’ phase and love it for its potential. If its Azorean parents are anything to go by, one day it will be a swan, albeit one that takes a few hundred years to hatch. Like all house plants my dracaena doesn’t…