Innholdsfortegnelse for 5-Aug-2017 i Amateur Gardening

PERENNIALS are, by and large, trouble-free and low-maintenance members of the horticultural community. Apart from regular health checks and watering when first planted, they should return year after year with little fuss to provide a framework around which you can plan the rest of your garden. There is, though, a small ‘however’ at this time of year. Early-flowering and mid-summer varieties will be past their best and looking a bit tattered and sad. Some will need cutting back to the ground while others, such as spire-flowering lupins and delphiniums, simply require deadheading, or a gentle chop in the case of hardy geraniums. This is done to encourage secondary blooming and keep beds looking neat. Continue to add plants to the garden with the proviso that they need thorough and regular…

WHY should my patio have all the fun? It is currently dotted with containers packed with fruit bushes and healthy flowers – and is even home to a few houseplants enjoying a summer break. As a result, the house has been denuded of most of its plants and is looking rather bare. It’s time to do something about it! Garden centres sell houseplants all year round, but in summer there are plenty of garden plants to choose from that work equally as well indoors. I wanted to create a container that combined different textures of foliage with a colourful mix of flowers. I started with a maidenhair fern (Adiantum fragrans) that I combined with a Streptocarpus ‘Cariad’, two little dracaenas and a bright red pot gerbera. Gerberas are often grown…

WOULD you like your sweetcorn to be sweeter? Of course you would. You can be disappointed by corn cobs from the shops. They do their best, but sweetcorn is one of those crops that’s only really good when really fresh. And despite often ludicrous claims, they cannot sell fruit and vegetables as fresh as you pick yourself. Any crop needs picking and transporting, first to the wholesaler then on to the supermarket, so it can never be truly fresh! What I call fresh is picking a cob then running indoors to throw it into a pan of already-boiling water. I joke not. Try this test: pick a cob, wait half an hour then pick another and immediately drop both into boiling water. Ten minutes later compare them. I guarantee you’ll…

IF your garden reaches its peak in early summer, running out of steam before the sunny season comes to an end, then don’t despair. Plug some gaps with agapanthus, or grow them in pots, and you’ll be rewarded with a spectacular display that will last well into autumn. This tribe of architectural perennials are highly prized for their rounded heads of long-lasting flowers that come in many shades of purple, blue, pink and white. The blooms are hoisted into the air on slender stems that emerge between dense clumps of foliage from July to September. I’ve long been a fan of these plants, which are sometimes called African lilies or lily of the Nile. Last autumn, I lifted, divided and transplanted a clump that was in the front garden when…

Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ Silvery-grey, fragrant, fern-like foliage forms substantial low-growing clumps. It lasts more than 10 days in the vase, and works particularly well with flowers in pastel shades. Plant in full sun and free-draining soil. Physocarpus Another of Becky’s favourites, this underutilised shrub has superb currant-like leaves in a good range of foliage colours – from almost black through purple and rusty orange to lime green. ‘Diabolo’ (above) is a reliable dark purple variety. Eucalyptus Has aromatic, blue-grey leaves that look great with pastels as well as deeper colours. Can grow into a large tree, so cut back hard each year for a bush that produces new stems with dainty young leaves. Try E. gunnii (above) or E. pauciflora. Ferns With their fresh green hues and interesting shapes, fern…

Is this vine a friend or foe? QCan you help me identify this vine that is growing rapidly over my shed? Might it damage the roof? Should I cut it off entirely or cut it back, or is it something benign that I should learn to love and just trim it if it gets too tall? Isabel Liu (via email) AThe rampant interloper is old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba). A British native – it flourishes on chalky soils. If you like it and trim it regularly to keep it within bounds, its blooms will attract a wealth of bees, hoverflies and other beneficial insects. Pleasingly, in autumn and winter when flowers have finished and feathery seed heads festoon its slender shoots, it becomes a thing of great beauty. But it…

Got a story? e-mail: marc.rosenberg@timeinc.com Ivy, honeysuckle and jasmine climbing up your walls could be an eco-friendly way to cool your home, according to the Government’s Committee on Climate Change. Climbing plants are increasingly being viewed as a green alternative to air conditioning as global warming kicks in. In a report published last month, the committee warned that our transition to a low-carbon economy is in danger of being derailed by a lack of action. The UK is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. At a press briefing on the report, committee member Baroness Brown of Cambridge, who leads its work on adapting to climate change, revealed she was a passionate gardener. “I was hugely impressed by data from the University of Sheffield. If…

How to order Cardholders call direct on 0844 573 2021 quoting AGT306Z or AGT307Z if you’re a subscriber. The order lines are open from 9am to 6pm, seven days a week (voicemail at other times). Minimum order £10. Alternatively, please complete the coupon in BLOCK CAPITALS. Remittance may be made by MasterCard, Visa, Maestro, postal order or cheque (name, address and AGT306Z/AGT307Z if a subscriber) on the back of cheque, please), crossed and made payable to T&M. Delivery to UK addresses 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. Order lines are open from 9am to 6pm, seven days a week. All correspondence concerning this offer should be sent…

THE worst meals I’ve ever eaten have been made by men-friends, under the influence, and standing over a disposable barbecue. The same men struggle to boil an egg, but the act of flipping a burger makes them feel like an alfresco Michel Roux! I was once the same but after years of practice and close calls with food poisoning, I now consider myself to be a pretty good barbecuer. And to be fair, anyone who can cook anything on a tintray grill bought from a petrol station forecourt deserves a medal. The food sits so close to the coals it’d be easier and less intense to cook on a volcano. Control is key, and starting meat over searing heat to lock in the flavour is important. It then needs to…

ROSES are the pride of many summer gardens, but can be tricky plants to keep healthy. They are susceptible to a wide range of pests, problems and diseases, but with dutiful care and attention you can keep them looking their best. However, there is one aspect of rose care you can dispense with now, and that is feeding. Although roses are hungry plants you should stop feeding them by mid-August because it will promote soft new growth that is in danger of being killed off by winter’s chill. This doesn’t mean you can stop mulching them though and they will appreciate a thick layer of well-rotted manure or compost applied around their roots. Make sure you have weeded the area first, removed and disposed of any fallen diseased leaves and…

PEOPLE often ask during the third week of May whether I enjoyed going to Chelsea Flower Show. They have little idea what hard work it is, especially in the run up to this show, attending through the week and then the sell-off and pull down. The half lorry load of specimen plants returned to my back garden have at last been re-potted, pruned where necessary, given some feed and all but one of the invoices incurred received and paid. Don’t ask me why, but plans are already being put in place, seeds sown and cuttings taken for next year! The real difficulty, however is the timing. Several weeks away from the garden in the critical May period creates a backlog from which it is very difficult to recover. Now I…

YOU say broccoli… and I say calabrese, to paraphrase the Gershwin classic. But whatever you call this veg, one thing’s for sure, it’s incredibly popular with adults and children alike. I sowed these ‘Ironman’ plants in May and they’re now heading up beautifully. Because I’ve just sown one variety of calabrese, it will all mature at once. It doesn’t matter though, because this summer brassica freezes incredibly well so a glut is easily managed. You can get around it by growing a range of different varieties such as the early (‘Aquiles’), mid (‘Fiesta’) and late (‘Spiridon’). Or you could grow ‘Atlantis’ which produces a long succession of smaller shoots after the main head has been harvested. Me? I’ve got a huge freezer so bring on the glut! How to freeze…

I KNOW gardeners who hack all of their tree fern fronds off in late autumn, so they can thoroughly wrap up plants to protect them from frost. Fortunately a big bonus of living in a city by the sea is that my garden rarely gets frosts, so my tree ferns (Dicksonia antartica) sailed through winter with just a handful of straw stuffed into the crown. As a result they retained all of last years fronds. I did consider cutting them off when the new ones started to unfurl in spring, but decided against it as they were still in good shape. This has meant the ferns have looked cracking due to a really big, full canopy. Sadly, as the season has progressed, some of the older fronds have started to…

Cutting gardens tend to be filled with annuals and biennials, those cut-and-come-again plants that supply you with buckets of blooms all summer long However, raising all these plants from seed takes time and space, so if you love the idea of growing your own but are too busy, don’t have enough room, or want more of a balance between highly productive annuals and more long-lived plants, then perennials – including flowering shrubs, foliage plants, herbs and grasses – are the answer. Of course, a dedicated cutting patch is ideal, but if you haven’t got the space for one, don’t be put off as you can plant perennials for cutting in your borders. And by doing so, you’ll be able to intermingle them with annuals, either sown directly into the ground…

FOR digging out, potting up, potting on, splitting, weeding, aerating soil around plants and general, light, close-quarter duties the hand trowel is an essential garden tool. But when they can range in price from ?1 to nearly ?20 how much should you pay for a decent tool that’ll do the job? Will cheap equate to cheap and nasty? And does pricey mean overpriced? We got digging with six very different trowels to see how they performed, how comfortable they were to use, and whether or not they offer good long-term value. KEW Stainless Trowel £12.99 SSP 0114 281 4242 spear-and-jackson for stockists Features Mirror-polished stainless steel blade welded to stainless steel tang, stainless steel ferrule and weatherproofed ash handle. Leather loop for hanging. L. 123?8in (31.5cm), blade L. 6in (15cm),…

Win £30! This word search comprises gardeningrelated word that all begin with the letter ‘J’. The words are listed below; in the grid they may be read across, backwards, up, down or diagonally. Letters may be shared between words. Erroneous or duplicate words may appear in the grid, but there is only one correct solution. After the listed words are found there are eight letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s KEY WORD. HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 376, Amateur Gardening, Westover House, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1JG, to arrive by Wednesday 16 August 2017. The first correct entry chosen at random will win our £30 cash prize.…

Write to: Wendy Humphries, Amateur Gardening, Westover House, West Quay Rd, Poole, Dorset BH15 1JG or email: amateurgardening@timeinc.com Star letter REGARDING your article about shop-bought carrot seedlings (AG news, 15 July), here is my tip. A couple of years ago, in desperation, I bought some parsnip seedlings from a well-known home and garden store. (Previously I had struggled to get parsnips to germinate in the garden.) As your experts reported, these bought seedlings grew but with multiple distorted roots which proved to be inedible. Now I sow seeds into newspaper pots and allow them to germinate in a propagater. I then transplant the pots into the garden for growing on. This has given just about 100 per cent success. I also do this with beetroots and turnips with similar success.…

WE inherited a rockery when we moved house and it has become an on-going project as we try to turn it from a neglected part of garden to an area of interest and beauty. Many of the larger plants, particularly the sun roses (Helianthemum), have become straggly and woody-stemmed and need replacing, so I have taken cuttings of my favourite ones. I also decided to propagate a rock hyssop, which is a favourite due to its attractive upright habit and spires of deep blue flowers loved by insects. The best time to take cuttings is early morning when plants are still turgid, or full of moisture, from the night before. Choose healthy, non-flowering stems and don’t remove too many as this can damage the plant. Hopefully the cuttings will have…

TopTip Potatoes grown in the ground should be dug up and stored in compost or sand, as this reduces the risk of attack by slugs and eelworm IF you grow fruit and veggies you will be extremely busy right now, feeding and watering and protecting crops from pests and disease I have been harvesting the second early potatoes I grew in bags on the patio and will be unearthing the maincrops soon. Earlies are best eaten within five days of harvesting, though you can store them somewhere cool for a few days longer. The best way to store all potatoes is to leave them under the soil or in the compost. Remove the foliage and they should stay healthy underground. The only problem with this is that the skins of…

New series! THE first thing I can tell you is that it is possible to garden organically without your plot being ravaged by slugs. The evidence is before us in HRH Prince Charles’s Highgrove House garden in Gloucestershire. He holds a Plant Heritage Collection of large and giantleaved hostas and most are grown close to The Stumpery. If you visit this organically run garden in August his hosta leaves are barely touched. Two ladies at a gardening talk I gave put this down to the number of gardeners. I believe there are 15 acres of garden and 10 gardeners, so they’re actually quite thinly spread, and they certainly don’t stake out the hosta patch at night. They’ll be tucked up in bed when slugs appear. The Highgrove hostas are slugfree…

GYPSOPHILA, which is also known as ‘baby’s breath’ thanks to its delicate white pretty flowers, is a staple of florists everywhere and is particularly prevalent in traditional bridal bouquets. However, it also looks stunning grown in garden borders, which is why we are giving away a free packet of Mr Fothergill’s Gypsophila ‘Monarch White’ on the front cover this week. Its name derives from the ancient Greek for ‘lover of chalk’ (‘gypsum’ means ‘chalk’), so it should do very well in my garden’s alkaline soil! The plant grows to a height of around 12in (30cm) and is bushy in habit. Its explosion of white flowers held on slim stalks will attract plenty of bees and butterflies and also look fantastic in flower arrangements. Sow the seeds now in full sun…

Primula vulgaris Despite their fragile appearance, primroses make fantastic long-lasting cut flowers – and the short stems are perfect for tiny jars and vases. Established plants are very floriferous, can be easily divided and may flower as early as December in mild winters. Use to edge a partly shaded border. Achillea millefolium Fine, feathery green foliage, sometimes with hints of silvery-grey, accompanied by flat-topped flower heads available in a fantastic range of colours. These blooms will last for ages – both on the plant and once picked. Plant in free-draining soil in spring so it can establish before winter. Dahlias Their dazzling array of colours and styles make dahlias a cut flower must. And with milder winters it’s becoming easier to overwinter them in the ground in many parts of…

What can I grow in a conservatory? QOur conservatory has hit over 40°C (104°F) this summer and can get as cold as 5°C (40°F) in winter. What plants will survive such temperature extremes? Janet Baraclough, Exeter A Many conservatories are attached to the south or west-facing sides of buildings, with no thought to temperature control in summer. There needs to be ventilation, designed so that air can enter, rise and leave through vents higher up while blinds provide shade. Many people feel that leaving vents open will compromise security and fixing blinds is beyond budget. Some plants are better able to survive extreme heat than others but even these will blanch at 40°C (104°F). Hot, dry air also provides an ideal breeding ground for pests like red spider mite, mealy…

Prize Draw Every Week in Amateur Gardening Westland Water Saving Gel is a slow release moisture control for pots, containers and hanging baskets. It’s great for summer when holidays mean pots are often left and vulnerable to drying out. This advanced water retaining gel has the capacity to hold 400 times its own weight in water – which is then released back into compost as plants require it. We have five 250g packs to give away, each worth £4.99. See below for details of how to enter the prize draw. How to enter Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Westland Water Saving Gel Draw, Amateur Gardening, Westover House, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1JG. Or you can email your details to ag_giveaway@timeinc.com, heading…

*just pay £5.65 postage FILL your beds and containers with quality pansy plants which will grow to display fabulous colour. The blooms of this pansy mix will not fade, are very weather tolerant and will flower from January through to May. Also included is a 100g pack of Incredibloom fertiliser to help get the best performance from your plants along with five packets of Thompson & Morgan flower seed for extra flower power! Pansies suppled as plug plants. Worth £2 1 .93 Other special offers: Polyanthus eliator ‘Crescendo® Mixed’ Fragrant blooms OFFER 1 The flowers are longlasting, fragrant and produced in abundance upon strong stems which are held above neat rosettes of foliage. With excellent winter hardiness and superior disease resistance, you can expect repeat performances year after year. Supplied…