Innholdsfortegnelse for 13-Jan-18 i Amateur Gardening

THE secrets to successful growing are healthy, nutrient-rich soil and crop rotation, so this week I have been preparing and warming my soil and thinking about what crops to grow where. Alternating which varieties grow in a space is called crop rotation, which I look at on the opposite page. Warming and enriching your soil gives your crops the best chance in the months ahead. Start by digging it over and removing weeds. When you tackle perennial weeds such as dandelions, make sure you remove every last piece as they can regenerate from the smallest piece of overlooked root. Turning the soil also exposes overwintering pests and their larvae, and brings them to the attention of hungry birds. You should then add a generous amount of well-rotted manure, compost or…

I HAVE a row of pots standing outside the dining-room window and most of them are looking a bit sad at present. The hardy banana has been cut back and is swaddled in fleece, the cherry and blueberries have lost their leaves, and a pot of bedding is refusing to do much until it warms up a bit. I can’t afford to neglect them though, as pots are the perfect hideouts for overwintering pests, and plant material that is damaged by the weather needs removing before it attracts diseases. As well as these pots, I need to check the ones I moved undercover or into more sheltered areas of the garden. If they are in the rain shadow of a fence, or under the eaves of the house and are…

It is worth getting seed potato tubers as soon as possible and setting them up in egg trays on a cool, light windowsill to sprout (what is called chitting). Plant the chitted tubers in a 13cm pot first and get them well established before potting on into the much larger final container. This allows growing on window sills in the warm for longer and gives heavier early yields. After harvesting the first earlies, save the compost and plant Potato ‘Maris Peer’ in July/August for new potatoes in late autumn and pretty flowers.…

CLEANER, less polluted air is surely going to be as beneficial for our plants as for us. At first thought there seems little we as individual gardeners can do about this – other than avoiding smoking everything out with smouldering bonfires – but there is actually plenty we can do. Obviously, when everyone stops using polluting vehicles this will make a huge difference to air quality, but that may take some time to come about. However, I have seen otherwise very ‘green-minded’ gardeners walking behind decrepit lawn mowers belching blue haze all over their meadows. When did your machine last have a proper service? Out-of-tune mowers and hedge-trimmers can be particularly dirty, and any pollution they churn out will tend to be concentrated inside your garden with you and your…

BY the time you read this the days will be getting longer and lighter. However, without wishing to depress you, the likelihood is that the coldest days of the year are almost certainly to come, especially if you live in a place with a name like Cold Aston, as I do! It’s all right for me, though. I can go to the supermarket or make my favourite winter warmers like porridge with brown sugar, homemade leek and potato soup and lashings of tea. I can also don the thermals (not a nice thought, I know) and just carry on regardless. Wildlife is not so fortunate and farmers don’t help these days. Most of my nearby hedges have been cut back to sticks, so there are no berries, hips and haws…

LET’S face it, very few gardens smell good in winter. A combination of damp air, soggy soil and decaying plant matter make an unsavoury cocktail that results in many keeping their back doors locked until spring. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of wonderful shrubs that will freshen the air outside, thanks to their perfumed flowers, helping to cheer up the most forlorn winter’s day. The blooms of some of these shrubs are large, attractive and colourful, brightening up the garden at a time of year when there’s very little else going on. Others are scarcely discernible to the eye or hidden under leaves, yet make up for their lack of size by releasing a potent fragrance that hits you on the nose long before…

Time for a Tea Break MY husband died last May after a long illness and I had quite a big task (at the age of 83) bringing our garden up to scratch with very little gardening knowledge. AG has been my salvation, telling me what is important along the way. Fortunately, things were not too bad by autumn when I had an accident while gardening and broke my wrist on my dominant hand. However, again AG came to my rescue with Gardener’s Tea Break, giving my something to fill the long evenings without my usual occupations of knitting and sewing! I didn’t do too well on the crosswords through lack of gardening know-how, but I could manage the wordsearch – even though the lines were very crooked. Elizabeth Harris, Redruth,…

SOMETHING evil is lurking in the gardens of Britain. I first heard of the ‘beast’ on my Sunday morning radio phone-in, when Barbara, from Exeter in Devon, called in to report that her bumper crop of ‘Conference’ pears had been stolen from her tree. My first thought was that birds were to blame, but apparently there were none of the usual signs of antisocial avian misdemeanour. There were no stalks, no partially pecked fruit, no feathers – nada. Could it have been badgers? I’ve seen these black and white burglars shake trunks to rattle fruit down from above, but mess is quite literally their calling card, left in a newly dug hole near the scene of their crimes. Stumped, I frantically researched but found nothing even on the Federal Bureau…

• If you moved tender container plants into the greenhouse in autumn, don’t forget about them. • Check plants regularly for pests and disease, and treat accordingly. • Keep feeding and watering large plants, such as olives and lemons. • I also use a foliar feed on my lemons, and feed them as they are fruiting. • Make sure the greenhouse is adequately ventilated on milder days, remembering to close it up at night.…

THE latest RSPCA figures suggest there are 8 million dogs and the same number of cats in households across the UK, which means there are millions of gardens that need to be safe spaces for the pets and their owners. Cats and dogs will have different requirements in the garden, but there are a few basic common sense suggestions for keeping them safe. Watch your tools, and keep sharp and pointed blades out of the way. Slug pellets won’t discriminate between their intended victim and other animals, so don’t scatter them widely where they can be eaten by your treasured pet. Similarly, store chemicals where they can’t be knocked over by a wagging tail or inquisitive cat paw. It may also be worth re-considering the products you use to feed…

WE had a bumper crop of raspberries last year and I’m hoping to get the same result in 2018. The summer-fruiting canes were cut back after they cropped, and January and February are the best months to give your autumn-fruiters a trim. It’s so easy – simply cut the fruited canes back to ground level, then mulch around them with well-rotted compost or manure. If you don’t have enough room to grow both summer and autumn varieties, you can maximise fruiting by double-cropping once your autumn plants are established. Instead of cutting back all the fruited canes now, select up to eight of the most robust plants every 3ft (1m) and just remove their tops. Cut the rest of the canes back as usual. The half-pruned canes will fruit earlier…

FLAMBOYANT pink stems, packed with flavour, no stringiness and ready way before outdoor clumps start growing – there’s not much to put you off forcing your own rhubarb harvest. My husband can’t stand outdoor rhubarb, but he loves the forced stems, which is testament to how sweet they really are. Crowns can be encouraged into early growth now, either with or without gentle heat. Warmth will speed up growth considerably, so you’ll be pulling your first stems in four or five weeks from now. I’m using large forcing pots (I also find old chimney pots just as effective and far less costly). I don’t have a heated greenhouse so these stems will be ready by early March. Here’s what to do (see right). Watch out for bitter pit on apples…

How do I stop grey mould forming? Q Last year we put up a new greenhouse. We can’t afford to heat it, so we fixed bubble wrap polythene to the inside to act as insulation. Now the plants inside are turning mouldy and dying off. What can I do to prevent this? Denise Small, Kettering, Northants A Congratulations on adding a greenhouse to the garden. I was given my first 8x6ft at the age of 11 (half a greenhouse, actually, as I had to share with dad’s tomatoes) and have never looked back. Every home and garden has its own set of variables and you have to decide how the greenhouse fits in with this. As you’ve found, plants are better protected from frost, but encasing the interior with polythene…

1 Blight is a fungal disease that affects tomatoes and potatoes Once it arrives, there is little defence against it. 2 Bean rust affected my broad beans, although I still had a decent crop. Improve airflow around the plants to reduce the risk of it developing. 3 Blackfly and aphids can seriously weaken plants. Squash small gatherings before they become infestations. 4 Someone remind me to net my brassicas this year! Last year’s crop was turned to ribbons by cabbage white caterpillars.…

1 When you are deadheading container plants, also remove damaged and diseased leaves and check for pests. 2 Mulch around the base of container trees outside. It helps insulate the roots. Wrap pots in fleece if very hard frosts are forecast. 3 Make sure pots are raised on feet to let water escape so it is less likely to freeze and crack the container. 4 If you are planting up a patio container in winter, help insulate the pot and plant roots with a lining of bubble wrap.…

POTATOES were the mainstay of our diet during World War 2 and pretty well every bit of spare land was dug to grow them. Now the priority is quality rather than quantity and we have a much greater range of cultivars from which to choose. There’s also been a switch from the open ground to containers, where there is much less chance of keel slug attack and, if grown as earlies, the avoidance of blight disease. The Potato Council Grow Your Own Potatoes Campaign for schools has also put the focus on pots for potatoes over the past nine years. They have had some 16,000 schools growing spuds. When you think how many families that has involved, it means that literally millions of people are now aware of this way…

17 Jan: Make Your Own Natural Beauty products: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 17: What Now? Your Garden in Winter: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830; rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 17: Traditional Orchard management and Winter Pruning: Thornhayes Nursery, St Andrews Wood, Dulford, Cullompton, Devon EX15 2DF. 01884 266746, thornhayes-nursery.co.uk 18: Apple pruning: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830; rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 19: Growing Orchids as House Plants: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 19 Jan-March 2: An Introduction to Garden Design (course): RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr • Please send details and images of…

1 Use a quick-maturing variety of rhubarb such as ‘Hawke’s Champagne’ or ‘Grandad’s Favourite’ for the earliest stems. Crowns should be healthy and must be exposed to frost before being forced. Remove any debris or old leaves covering the crowns. 2 Before covering up your clump, lay some form of slug control around the crowns, such as organic slug pellets or sharp grit. Then place a forcing pot or large tub over each clump to exclude all light – this will result in the most tender, stringless stems. 3 As the weeks pass, your rhubarb will begin sprouting. Check under the forcer regularly for progress. Pull individual stems once they’re 18-20in (45-50cm) long, topping up slug control if needed. Allow the forced crowns to rest for at least one year.…

Where are the berries on my holly? Q A few years ago I bought a holly. It is supposed to be self-fertile, but has shown no sign of berries. It is planted in a large pot and growing well. What should I do? Roy Bristow, Bradford-on-Avon, Somerset A Has your holly flowered yet? You might not be able to answer that as the flowers (which appear in May and June) are quite small, dull white and relatively inconspicuous, but without flowers there won’t be any berries. If your holly tree is quite young it may not have reached sufficient maturity to produce flowers. Some plants take just weeks to reach flowering maturity, whereas others take decades. With holly it can be anywhere from 4-12 years. I should think your plant…

HAVE you ever considered investing in a boot bag for your wellies or garden boots? A boot bag will keep your gardening footwear neatly together in one place. And for those who enjoy visiting gardens or travelling to the allotment by car, these bags will also prevent mud from messing up your upholstery. Many of the bags in our test have shoulder straps, so if you walk to the allotment you can carry your boots easily. All are good quality and fit for purpose. The choice will be very much down to the style you prefer. Do you want to stand out from the crowd with a floral option or do you want your bag to go unnoticed? If you want to be discreet, there are plenty of dark-coloured versions…