Innholdsfortegnelse for 06-Jan-2018 i Amateur Gardening

ALTHOUGH the garden takes no notice of our human calendar, we like to make a fresh start when January rolls around. This usually involves planning a ‘perfect’ year ahead when we will do all the things we neglected last year and avoid repeating the same mistakes. One of my main pledges is to keep the shed tidy. As the hub of the garden it starts off OK, but by the end of autumn it has become a no-go zone with toppling towers of dirty pots, encrusted tools, discarded plant labels and tangled twine. I daren’t even look in the drawers. It’s shameful, and as I’m the untidy gardener around here the onus is on me to keep it neat this year. I also need to spend more time on my…

JANUARY 6 is traditionally the day when the last of the Christmas decorations should come down, leaving the house looking unbearably bleak and empty. The festivities are officially at an end and if your household is anything like ours, they leave behind a lot of mess. There’s the Christmas tree for starters, plus mountains of packaging, paper, uneaten food, cards and envelopes. So what to do? A lot of it will end up at the local recycling centre, but a fair amount can be put to good use in the garden. Your tree can be shredded if you have the equipment and used as mulch on borders or incorporated into the compost heap. Pine needles also make a great acidic mulch for lime-hating plants including rhododendrons, azaleas and blueberry bushes.…

• If you have bought bare-root trees but the ground is too wet or frozen for planting, heel them in until you’re ready. • Dig a trench somewhere sheltered, with one side at a steeper angle than the other. • Place the trees in, making sure their roots are below the ground, and in-fill the trench with soil. • Tread the soil to firm it and water the roots well. The trees will be safe here for up to a year until you are ready to plant them properly.…

“Things are changing so fast now” IN the past, the first AG of the new year has been my opportunity to do a bit of stargazing; to forecast what gardeners might expect in the next few years. Quite honestly, things are changing so fast now it’s difficult to keep up with what has happened, let alone think about the future. For example, Husqvarna has a video of an autonomous lawn-mowing system for the future with two drones. A small one goes out to assess and measure up lawns, the other carries nine robotic mowers and flies to the already measured up areas. On arrival, it drops off the mowers which, with military precision, set off mowing the grass, steering around obstacles and even recording fallen branches to alert tree surgeons…

• Decking looks wonderful in sunny climates, but can be hazardous here in the damp UK. • It retains moisture, becomes perilously slippery when wet (especially if it acquires a coating of fallen leaves or algae) and harbours fungal growths. • If replacing it is not an option, sweep and pressure wash it regularly to keep it clean and prevent a build-up of algae and fallen leaves. • You can also paint it with a an anti-slip sealant such as Watco Decksafe or Decksafe Advanced. • Alternatively, replace it with a widely available non-slip product such as Gripsure or GripDeck.…

1 Sort out your garden shed… go on, you know it needs it. And make your greenhouse clean and tidy too. 2 Go through your seed packets and sift out all those that are well out of date, seal them in a container and bury as a time capsule. 3 Scratch then paint your post code in several places – some hidden – on each of your most valuable tools and machinery. 4 For a green table decoration, slice the top off a big carrot, stand in water and it’ll soon grow an attractive tuft of feathery leaves.…

IF you’ve ever seen a peach, nectarine or almond tree affected by peach leaf curl you’ll know what a destructive fungus this can be. Every affected leaf becomes grotesquely distorted, blistered and bright pink. Sadly, the leaves then dry up and fall prematurely, which can severely weaken a tree – especially when attacks come year after year (which they often do once established). With no fungicides available to control the disease it sounds pretty disastrous, but all hope is not lost. The fungal spores will only germinate if the tree is wet. Moving patio pot-grown plants into a cold greenhouse is one solution. Larger fan-trained trees can be covered now with a clear polythene sheet to prevent infection. The cover needs to be in place until April, so make it…

WHEN I was first discovering hot chillies a couple of decades ago, we’d habitually quote ‘Bird’s Eye’, ‘Scotch Bonnet’ and ‘Habanero’ as the most scorching you could get. Their heats, measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), were 100,000SHU, 350,000SHU and 500,000SHU respectively. How things have changed! It’s a testament to their popularity that we now not only have a whole different set of different chilli varieties to choose from, but also a new, more accurate method for measuring their heat, too. ‘Bhut Jolokia’ (1,000,000SHU), ‘Trinidad Moruga Scorpion’ (2,000,000SHU) and ‘Carolina Reaper’ (2,200,000SHU) are presently the top three. SHUs, which were measured by a tasting panel, have now moved aside for ASTA (American Spice Trade Association) pungency units, which are measured via liquid chromatography. What does all this mean for gardeners?…

Caring for Paperwhites after they have flowered Q My Paperwhite narcissus are flowering and smell beautiful. What should I do afterwards? I assume that they won’t flower again next Christmas as they have been forced. Mark Walling, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria A Narcissus Paperwhite – there are several wonderfully scented varieties – is not as hardy as most other varieties and, as your bulbs have been forced, they will take a year or so to recover before flowering again. For the moment, remove leaves when they wither, but leave plants in good light indoors and continue watering to keep the compost damp but not soggy. Then, in spring, when temperatures rise, move your plants to a warm, sunny and well-drained border. Feed them with fish, blood and bone meal in August to…

FREEZING water can be a very powerful destructive force. Water expands as it freezes and can easily lift paving slabs, crack roof tiles and burst water pipes. Garden taps – by their very nature exposed to the elements – are particularly vulnerable to freezing temperatures and need protection. We’ve looked at four different types of garden tap insulators. You might see them with different branding but, in essence, all the ones on the market seem to be based on these four particular designs. Delivery cost of these low-value items often almost doubles their price, so it’s always cheaper if you can pick one up from a store or garden centre. But remember, if fiercely cold conditions are likely then just insulating the tap won’t be enough – it’s best to…

1 Get into the habit of regular weeding. Do a little bit on a regular basis and you won’t need to use weedkiller, which will benefit your entire garden immensely. 2 Keep on top of pests by nipping potential infestations in the bud – literally! – practising good garden hygiene and attracting beneficial insects and creatures. 3 Deadhead regularly. It prompts plants to produce more blooms, means they won’t waste energy on making seeds and keeps them compact and neat. 4 Install a butt (rainwater is better for plants than tap water) and water wisely, especially in summer and during dry spells at other times.…

I SOWED a batch of green manure in the autumn to help replenish the soil in our raised beds after their contents – onions, shallots, broad beans – had been harvested. They grew vigorously – I may have sowed them a little too generously – and needed digging in so I could prepare the beds for springtime planting in a few weeks’ time. After digging in the plants I covered them with a thick layer of compost and will leave the soil to break down and settle for several weeks before planting any crops. Green manures are an easy way of improving the nutrients and structure of your soil. Depending on the variety, they are usually sown on empty soil between March and November and left to grow. Most green…

Disease resistance is being bred into plants, and garden pea ‘Terrain’ (T & M), for example, is resistant to mildew and is the cultivar to sow in July for late crops. Optigrow (Mr Fothergill’s) are pre-germinated seeds of 20 different kinds, which will grow more quickly. Early sowings of parsnip and carrot with this treatment are recommended. (Pictured above) the longer carrot is from Optigrow seed, the shorter from untreated seeds. Expect more compact growing of edible ornamentals for patio containers such as runner bean ‘Jackpot’ (Marshalls).…

6 Jan-25 Feb: Women in Horticulture exhibition: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 01423 565418, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 8 Jan-25 Feb: Bath House Gallery – Japanese Gardens exhibition: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 01423 565418, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 10: Tree Identification – Winter Twigs and Conifers: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 020 3176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 11: Social media for Gardeners: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 020 3176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 12: Winter Walk and Talk: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 020 3176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 17: What Now? Your Garden in Winter: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 020 3176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 17: Make Your Own Natural Beauty products: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane,…

THERE is no fruit to match the intensity of flavour of a blackcurrant. The whole bush is literally bursting with fragrance and you can release the distinct aroma just by brushing past a plant. Robust, trouble-free and prolific, the bushes are so simple to grow. Happy in sun or shade, one bush is all that’s needed because plants are self-fertile. If you have room, the vigorous and lofty ‘Ben Hope’ is very abundant and worthwhile growing. For those with tiny plots, compact ‘Ben Sarek’ is for you, and it grows happily in a pot. Blackcurrants crop best on vigorous two and three-year-old wood, so an unpruned mature plant will ultimately become less and less productive. Here’s what to do (see right).…

WITH all but the hardy winter crops finished, and your plot suitably cleared and tidied, it’s likely that your compost heap is burgeoning during these chillier months. Composting garden waste is a great way to relieve pressures on landfill sites, creating useful organic material in the process that has great benefit as a soil improver. Larger heaps can generate greater heat, which in turn gives speedier, more thorough decomposition and better compost as a result. Passing your garden waste through a shredder or chopping it up finely with shears produces more surface area on which microbes can work, and a thorough mix of woody and sappy materials offers the best blend of ingredients. But what about the container you put it in? Well, there are three standard types – a…

“I saw hundreds of tiny wild bees” THERE’S a tradition in gardening of counting the number of flowers out on New Year’s Eve. Some are lingerers: the cosmos that refuses to give up; the salvia defying the elements; the soggy rose clinging to life. I salute their resilience but find them slightly annoying, because it’s fresh flowers I desire now – the ones that declare a new gardening year is upon us. I’m afraid I don’t buy flowers. All mine come from my garden and celebrate the season. In sheltered south-facing spots the Algerian winter iris (Iris unguicularis ‘Mary Barnard’) will send out single cobalt-blue flowers. It picks perfectly in bud and unfurls in the kitchen. Add some sprigs of acid-yellow winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) and the shrubby ivory-white winter…

IMAGINE how dull the garden would be if plant foliage came in just one shade of green? Thankfully,there is a wonderful collection of variegated plants to ring the changes, helping to transform a border by adding contrast and interest. Variegation is the result of different amounts of pigment in leaves and can be a natural anomaly. Plants display spots, stripes, freckles and splashes of white, gold, red, pink, yellow or silver. Lucky for us, then, that this dramatic foliage means we can plant large collections of the same genus and enjoy the contrast. The most useful of the variegated plants are those that grow in shade, completely transforming a dark corner of the garden – as if the lights have been switched on. With a plethora of different variegated hostas…

An old favourite is back I HAVE been gardening on my present plot for 55 years and have always grown early and maincrop potatoes. ‘Arran Pilot’ was my favourite early back in the 1960s, but this was superseded by newer varieties with ‘Maris Bard’ becoming my choice as a first early and ‘Kestrel’ as a second early, which I allowed to grow to full maturity. The latter suffered from blight for the last three years, and when I couldn’t find ‘Maris Bard’ seed locally last year I went back to my original ‘Arran Pilot’. We had lovely new potatoes in July. The last two roots were lifted in August and produced, among others, this misshapen monster potato, which spanned 6in and weighted just over 2lb! I have never seen anything…

Nesta table/hanging planter ceramic pot £45 free p&p 01889 502716 black-by-design.co.uk With its white speckled ceramic pot, black metal frame and the versatility to be hung from ceiling or displayed on a table, this design is bound to be a talking point. The pot inside can even be tilted at an angle so there are a variety of looks to be had. Overall diameter of the pot is 4in (11.4cm). Includes hanging ring but not rope or plant. Hammered-effect copper planter £24 p&p £2.75 0203 318 5115 notonthehighstreet.com A stunning hammered finish isn’t the only thing this aluminium and copper-plated planter has going for it. As well as holding hanging plants (requires a macramé hanger), the flat base of the planter allows you to turn it…

DON’T pretend you haven’t done it – pricked your finger on a cactus while checking to see if the spines are sharp. You shouldn’t feel foolish, though, as like a tiger’s tail or a siren’s song, thorns on plants are hard to resist. Some of my all-time favourite plants have spikey characters. Rosa sericea pteracantha is a shrub with such an aggressive set of barbs its briars wouldn’t look out of place in a medieval torture chamber. Each thorn is shaped like a miniature Mount Fuji, being 2cm tall, twice as wide and clustered in spiky ranges along the stems. In winter especially, when backlit by the low winter sunshine, the blood-red thorns seem to glow and come spring make a fabulous contrast for the fern-like foliage. Then there’s Rosa…

1 Pruning: By starting with the removal of dead, damaged and diseased wood, good pruning helps you create neat and healthy plants with prolific blossom and fruit. Get to grips with the tools you need, swot up on the best time of year to prune different trees and shrubs, and see what a difference 12 months can make. 2 I want to improve my luck with seed-grown plants, especially those sown outside. It takes patience, protection and time, but is worth it! 3 We’ve wanted a wildlife pond for ages. Not only do ponds attract amphibians, insects and wildlife, but they also increase the variety of plants you can grow and are fascinating to study. 4 A good garden has year-round interest. Ours is glorious between spring and autumn, but…

1 Dig a planting hole as deep as the tree roots and slightly wider. Break up any hard rocks at its base. 2 Add a thick layer of well-rotted compost or manure so the tree roots have initial access to nutrients. 3 Start lifting the tree, making sure you don’t damage the roots and that they have plenty of soil around them. 4 When moving, wrap plastic or a tarpaulin around the rootball to protect the roots from drying out. 5 Once in its new home, hold the tree straight and in-fill around it with soil and well-rotted organic matter. 6 Firm the soil, water it very well and mulch afterwards. Don’t let the soil dry out while the tree gets established.…

WE had a relatively mild autumn here in the south and my strawberry plants have kept on growing and, amazingly, producing flowers and even fruit. These needed to be removed now so the plants didn’t expend all their energy on flowers and fruit that will never ripen in winter temperatures. I also cut away old tatty foliage and removed leaf litter and debris that had accumulated around the base of the plants. It is important to practise good garden hygiene around your plants because low-growing strawberries offer easy sanctuary for all sorts of pests and fungal diseases. While clearing away dead foliage and tree leaves that had blown onto the strawberry patch, I also found some new plantlets growing off runners sent out by the mature plants. These had rooted…

IF your garden is looking a bit winter-worn and bedraggled, and the soil is too cold or wet to work, you can make an instant improvement by clearing up your hard surfaces. Drives, paths, patios and decking accumulate all sorts of muck and debris in winter, even long after the last leaves have fallen, and a quick spruce-up improves the appearance of the whole garden. On a practical level it helps to keep patio drainage channels clear, reducing the risk of clogged drains and flooding. Sweeping up also removes damp places where pests and fungal spores shelter. Leaving them littering the patio or banked up against walls simply stores up potential problems for the future. Pressure washers are a brilliant tool, but be selective where you use them. They are…

“There’s a right time for everything” I’M sure you’ve heard the saying “Failing to plan is planning to fail” and this is certainly true in gardening. I hate wasted effort – worse when it’s my own fault. You know the situations: getting to the top of the steps with the hedge-trimmer to find you’ve not turned the power on, or realizing after something big and heavy has been moved with a great deal of effort that it’s in not quite the best place. I’ve even seen people setting a wheelbarrow down and then carrying heavy things over to it! I endeavour to think through every task, choice or change several times… sort of walk it out in my mind over and over again. My wife maintains I simply procrastinate, putting…

1 If you are faced with a severely neglected plant that is congested but otherwise healthy, begin by cutting all the stems back to 2in (5cm) above soil level. Loppers are the best tool for this. It may sound drastic, but vigorous plants will respond well to such treatment. 2 Most established plants simply need the older wood removed to make way for new stems. Using loppers, cut out any dark-barked stems to the base – these are the oldest. Two-year-old wood tends to be grey, whereas new shoots are rusty brown. 3 The remaining grey and brown-barked stems will crop well so can be largely left in place. The only task now is to remove any weak or low-lying stems. These will produce berries that will dangle on the…

THERE’S something satisfying about writing out a white plastic label for your latest sowing. Named and dated, it’s like a pat on the head for your precious seedlings once they’re safely tucked up in their seedbed. Needless to say, keen growers can accumulate quite a few of these over the year. So with your recycling head on, now is a great opportunity to clean them up, ready for sowings to start in earnest next month. The ink from permanent markers is a nuisance to remove so I use pencil, which is just as long lasting. A quick run under a hot tap then a gentle rub with a scourer and they’re as good as new. Job done.…

What’s the best way to take grapevine cuttings? QI’ve been offered some pruned stems of outdoor dessert vines. What is the best way to root them? James Archer, Trowbridge, Wilts A Home-grown grapes tend to be smaller and often contain more pips than those sold in the shops, but they have more interesting flavours. ‘Siegerrebe’ and ‘Regent’ are suitable for making wine or eating fresh, and the strawberry grape is sweet and tasty. My indoor/outdoor grape ‘Madresfield Court’ is a muscat, producing black grapes of rich, raisin-like flavour. Pot-grown and trained as a standard, it is easily moved into the greenhouse after pruning. Even without heating, the extra spring warmth brings it into growth and flower earlier, enabling developing grapes to enjoy the long season they need. Our plant is…

THE multi-branching floricanes of Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’ bear superb yields of deliciously sweet berries. Thornless stems and a short stature make harvesting quick and easy. Being low to the ground, they can be netted with ease to protect the crops from greedy birds and the sturdy stems won’t need supporting either – perfect for the low-maintenance garden. Height: 39in (100cm). Spread: 20in (50cm). Supplied as a 3½in (9cm) potted plant. • Buy 1 for £9.99 • Buy 3 for £14.99 – Saving Half Price How to order TELEPHONE ORDER LINE 0844 573 2021 please quote AGT360Z. 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 9am to…

pyracantha, bind the stems together with soft twine to make them easier and safer to handle. Snip this away once they’re in the ground. A similar trick works when potting on cacti, but instead of string use folded newspaper as a protective ‘clamp’ to hold the plants while you work. Plastic cut from an old compost bag also makes an excellent clamp, especially for hairy cacti and outdoor plants like the colourful but keep-your-distance wall shrub fremontodendron. If touched, its fine hairs pierce through gardening gloves and into your skin.…