Innholdsfortegnelse for 27-Jan-18 i Amateur Gardening

IT’S the time of year when we take stock and replenish our sheds with the essentials needed for the gardening year ahead. For most gardeners, one of the most important – not to mention bulky and expensive – repeat purchases each season is compost. Before I started gardening I assumed that a compost was a compost was a compost – and how wrong I was! Choosing the right composts for your plants and soil, remembering that container plants will have different requirements to those in the ground, realising that the beautiful azalea you’ve just been given actually needs acidic soil and you garden on chalk – all these things and more may need to be taken into consideration. And what about your houseplants? Should you risk repotting your moth orchid…

Some plants have fussy roots and fail to thrive in lime-rich (chalky) soils. These include rhododendron, azalea, camellia, acer, magnolia, heather and blueberries. These plants need ericaceous compost, which is more acidic and usually has a high peat content. If your soil is almost white with chalk (as mine is), grow ericaceous plants in containers. Soils with a more neutral pH can be enriched with ericaceous compost when planting acid-lovers in borders and used to mulch them.…

LIKE everything else, compost manufacturing moves with the times and each year sees new launches and improved product recipes. These come as the result of months, sometimes years, of hard work and research and have one aim – to give gardeners everywhere the best in fruit, flowers, trees shrubs and vegetables. Houseplants, cacti and succulents are currently en vogue and this has prompted Westland, one of the UK’s largest horticultural companies, to revisit its indoor products. Company spokeswoman Jo Wilkinson said: “We have relaunched our range of indoor composts for 2018 as the massive trend in houseplants has spurred us to really get behind this range and give it a new lease of life. “We have reformulated our Houseplant Potting Mix, adding in Seramis water-retaining granules, wood fibre for airflow…

1 Lift the parent plant from the ground, keeping as much soil around the rootball as you can. 2 Choose healthy, pencil-thick roots and remove no more than one-third of the entire system. Remove thin ends and fibrous lateral roots. 3 Cut each root into 2-4in (5-10cm) lengths with a horizontal cut at the top end and an angled cut at the lower end. 4 Insert into pots of gritty compost so the flat end is just below the surface. Pot up in spring when there are signs of growth and the roots have developed.…

“Why not change small trees?” CURRENT thinking leads us to believe that avenues and street planting of trees should be of mixed kinds rather than just one cultivar. Then, if some virulent disease or pest arrives, only a few will be wiped out at any one time. When I view the row of horse chestnuts in full bloom at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, and the avenues of limes at stately homes, this move appears a great shame. It is a pity more effort is not directed at protecting our plantings, such as collecting up leaves from the horse chestnuts and either sealing them in bags for two years or burning them to reduce the incidence of over-wintering leaf miner. When it comes to our gardens, many of which are…

1 Create an asparagus bed. Order crowns now for planting in early March, and in the meantime dig, enrich and prepare the site. 2 Sow all-female disease-resisting indoor mini cucumbers on a warm, light windowsill now and they can crop by Easter. 3 Spread garden compost generously in thick layers under fruit trees, bushes and canes to hold moisture and slowly become incorporated into the soil. 4 Sow batches of leaf salad mixtures densely in trays of sowing compost kept under cover and in the warmth for fresh greens really quickly.…

“Some plants stop others growing” I’M not terribly good at pronouncing long words, so when the Best Beloved excelled himself and gave me a rain gauge for my birthday – yes, a rain gauge, ladies – I tried to beg him not to give me an anemometer for Christmas. The problem was I couldn’t get further then ‘anem’ before spluttering. Another ‘A’ word that also causes me problems is allelopathy, which is defined as “the chemical inhibition of one plant (or other organism) by another, due to the release into the environment of substances acting as germination or growth inhibitors.” In other words, some plants can stop others growing by exuding a chemical either above or below the ground. I first noticed this effect more than 20 years ago when…

27 Jan: RSPB Big Garden Bird Walk: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 27: Hedge Laying: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830; rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 27: An Introduction to Monoprinting: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall FEBRUARY 2: Wedding and Bridal Flowers: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 2: Close-Up Photography Masterclass: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 9: Butterfly Photography: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley • Please send details and images of any events happening in your area to ruth.hayes@timeinc.com or address them to What’s On, Amateur…

Gooseberry ‘Hinnonmaki Yellow’ Delicious yellow berries boasting an aromatic flavour with a hint of apricot. Once established in the garden or a large pot, 4ft (1.2m) bushes will produce 61/2lb (3kg) of fruit each season. From £9.99; thompson-morgan.com Blackberry ‘Black Cascade’ Three plants of this naturally compact, thornless variety will fill a 16in (40cm) hanging basket, producing 2 1/2lb (1.3kg) of berries each summer for three years or so. Simply cut back after fruiting. £9.95; mr-fothergills.co.uk Blackberry ‘Triple Crown’ Named for its three standout qualities: virtually thornless stems, upright habit, and late ripening. Produces fairly large fruit with a strong, juicy, sweet blackberry flavour through August and September. £19.99; suttons.co.uk Blueberry ‘Bluegold’ Many blueberries need a pollinating partner to boost production, but not this one. It’s a self fertile mid-season…

Betula utilis var. jacquemontii This is the best of the white-barked birches, with some impressive award-winning varieties – plant three together in the same hole for the most dramatic effect. Happy in most soils, it will thrive in a sunny site. H: 23ft (7m). Camellia ‘Donation’ This classic camellia has double, bright, rose-pink flowers set against dark and glossy foliage. It dislikes lime and prefers a humus-rich soil in partial shade, but will grow in full sun with extra humus in the soil. H: 6 1/2ft (2m). Elaeagnus pungens ‘Maculata’ Bold, yellow-centred foliage creates a sunny splash all winter as the plant develops into a striking focal point. It makes a good host for purple or crimson summer clematis. Remove any all-green…

What’s the best way to use my new electric propagator? QI received a thermostatically controlled propagator case for Christmas and would like to know the major do’s and don’ts of using it. I want to make an early start sowing flowers and veg this year. Can you provide any advice? Maria Gilbert, Dover, Kent AA thermostatically controlled propagator case is a great piece of kit that first and foremost relies on a safely installed electricity supply. The most convenient place for a propagator case is the greenhouse, but you’d need a special waterproof fitting installed and have it certified by an electrician. A well-used case will see a rapid turnover of pots, modules and seed trays, so having the potting bench, propagator and staging lined up like a conveyor belt…

• 24 January 1684 Diarist and horticultural writer John Evelyn wrote that the sea and the Thames at London were frozen, with “the fowls, fish and birds and all our exotic plants and greens universally perishing”. • 25 January 1990 A Great Storm, often referred to as the Burns Day Storm, raged in southern England. Casualties were higher than those of the Great Storm of 1987, because it hit during the daytime. Three million trees were downed. • 27 January 2006 Christopher Lloyd, gardener and author, died. He owned Great Dixter in East Sussex (above), and was arguably the greatest advocate over the past century for the labour-heavy, heavily planted country garden. • 28 January 1993 Arthur Hellyer, the fourth editor of Amateur Gardening (a post he held for 21…

SOME of the most popular and recognised packaging on the compost shelf belongs to John Innes’ loam-based compounds. Mr Innes was a 19th century land developer who left his fortune to horticultural research. This resulted in the establishment of the John Innes Horticultural Institute (now the John Innes Centre, based in Norwich, Norfolk). It was here that scientists William Lawrence and John Newell developed a consistently reliable growing medium in the 1930s. The recipes for the varying strengths of product were released nationally as part of the Dig for Victory campaign in the Second World War, and to this day large horticultural companies make and sell their own-brand compounds. The three main John Innes compounds are: John Innes 1: For pricking out and potting-up seedlings and rooted cuttings. It meets…

Turn your compost bin regularly as good airflow helps the process along 1 Ideally, have one bin for rotting down and another bin for adding to. In this way you have a continuous supply. 2 Kitchen peelings and used coffee grounds can be composted. 3 Woody matter takes longer to break down – be patient! 4 The end result is wondrously rich and loamy ‘black gold’.…

THERE’S enough to do in spring without having to carry out emergency lawn renovation, so this week I have been doing some remedial work to keep things ticking over. Being able to carry out winter lawn work is extremely weather dependent. If the ground is sodden you risk turning the grass into a mudbath and compacting the soil, wrecking its structure. The other main cold-weather danger is that walking on a frozen lawn damages and can kill the grass, leaving you with blackened patches in the shape of your footsteps! The ideal day for carrying out lawn maintenance is dry and slightly windy, as this will help to dry out any residual moisture left by rain or frost. My main focus has been an area around the washing line where…

Pines are best pruned by snapping off the top half of new growth (called “candles”) in spring. The Japanese do this very skilfully with a U-shaped notch cut in the end of a thick bamboo cane. Forsythia and lilac used as cut flowers provide pruning at the right time and encourage new growth for next year’s flowering. Evergreen junipers respond well to pruning, both trimming like a hedge and thinning out branches. Thuja and Taxus (yew, see above) can be pruned really hard back and will sprout from old wood, while Leylandii will not.…

STEPPING onto the bathroom scales in January is not a good idea! After a blow-out month in December diet-wise, I always like to make sure I’ve got a steady supply of lettuces to bulk out healthy winter salads. It gives my indigestion some welcome relief from all that pastry, icing and chocolate, too. Winter lettuces are fully hardy, so they’ll happily grow in cold weather. I set mine out in the greenhouse border, but they also suit a cold frame or rigid tunnel cloche (a cover of some sort is a good idea, just to keep the leaves tender and palatable). Plants mature slowly in this chilly season, but it’s always good to ensure supplies don’t run dry. Keep sowing a few seeds in batches – I show you how…

SOME gardeners simply glaze over when I suggest growing plants purely for their winter twigs. But then, when they actually see the plants in all their glory, their eyes light up and they wonder why they never grew them before. The plants I am referring to are shrubs whose bare winter twigs are revealed in bright and attractive colours once their leaves fall in autumn. Chief among them are the dogwoods, cornus, whose winter colour comes in many shades of red, orange, yellow and even green. New growth made in spring and summer displays the best colour in winter. There are other dogwoods, flowering ones that make small trees with attractive summer flowers. However, the stems of these are unremarkable. All the twiggy dogwoods, meanwhile, feature clusters of small white…

‘NEW year, new you’, ‘five ways to make your life better in the new year’ and ‘top resolutions to make you look and feel better’. These are just three of the headlines I’ve seen encouraging us to ditch bad habits and make changes to our health, relationships and working lives. Well, I’d like to throw another motivational mantra into the mix that will make a big difference to our outdoor spaces – ‘new year, new garden’. The start of a brand new year is a great time to reflect on how our gardens have performed over the past 12 months, especially as poor weather now often restricts our activity outside. Start by jotting down notes on what you are happy with, whether it’s a lawn or border display. And then,…

Petunia Amazing colours and sun-loving fragrant single, double or striped blooms on bushy, sprawling or trailing plants. Calibrachoa are similar but with daintier blooms. Bidens Bright, usually yellow, daisy-like flowers on long springy stems that weave between other plants. ‘Hot and Spicy’ has burnt-orange and honey-hued flowers. Sun loving. Begonia Fabulous cascaders for light shade containers include ‘Apricot Shades’, shell-pink ‘Million Kisses Elegance’ (above) and warm-toned ‘Belleconia Soft Orange’. Mimulus Moisture-loving monkey musk thrives in a lightly shaded container. Flowers are beautifully patterned, in warm tones. ‘Magic Blotch Mixed’ has super colours.…

A force of nature I FANCIED sharing my first cherry tomato of the year with you and your readers! The plant is on the windowsill of my living room and I have been turning the pot twice daily to maximise the light – and it seems to have worked. The plant was sown in September 2017 using seed from last year’s crop. It was just a bit of fun, but I am seriously hoping the fruit tastes better than the forced ones for sale in the supermarkets at the moment! Sue Bates, Downham Market Norfolk Wendy says: Fascinating to see and I hope it will pass muster in the tasting. Snowdrop surprise FOR health reasons I had not been in the garden for several days during a week in…

Celebrating Celandines One of the most celebrated of wild flowers found in British poetry is the lesser celandine (Ficaria verna). • William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was inspired by the plant to write three poems, including his ode to the celandine. Upon his death, it was proposed that a celandine be carved on his memorial plaque inside St Oswald’s Church, Grasmere, but unfortunately the greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), a completely different plant, was used in error. • Edward Thomas (1878-1917), one of the so-called First World War poets, wrote a poem called Celandine. Encountering the flower in the field, the poet is reminded of a past love, now dead. • D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) writes of celandines frequently in his autobiographical novel Sons and Lovers. They are a favourite of the book’s…

IVY has a dual personality. Its good Dr Jekyll side attracts wildlife and it industriously grows where little else does, but it can also be a monstrous Mr Hyde, clawing over old brick walls and pulling out the pointing. The fact that our native ivy ( Hedera helix ) has a mean streak shouldn’t come as a surprise. The plants that turn up in our gardens have a rough start. They arrive via the bowels of blackbirds, thrushes, starlings and wrens, turning up wherever birds take a “comfort break”. However, if you think you know ivy, then think again as there are hundreds to choose from and not all ivies come from humble beginnings. Some have the breeding of aristocrats, having been hybridised to be upright, large leaved, or delicately…

PATIO containers and hanging baskets are a quick, easy and reliable way of creating long-lasting colour and interest, whatever size garden you have. The type of compost you use is important to help plants reach their optimum health and beauty. I use nutrient-rich John Innes No 3 for long-term planting of trees, shrubs or greedy, container-grown veggies. But for seasonal patio planting I turn to compost specifically designed for containers, such as Gro-Sure Easy Containers compost, Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix or GroWise Tub and Basket Compost. These have been developed to contain enough nutrients for several months, are moisture-retentive yet drain well to avoid waterlogging, and aren’t too heavy and dense – important when planting up hanging baskets. They also contain special water-storing gels that hold onto moisture and…

IF you tot up how much you spend each year on compost, the resulting figure will make your eyes water. It’s expensive stuff, which is why I always make the most of 3-for-2 offers when I see them and offset expenses further by making my own. We are lucky enough to have room for a two-bin compost heap, but you can do just as well with a plastic Dalek-style bin. Composting is a great way of using up green kitchen waste, garden trimmings and lawn clippings. Chop items into small pieces – this is particularly important with harder stuff such as woody prunings – and make sure you don’t add too much of one element in one go. Fork it over regularly to mix the ingredients together and let in…

THERE’S still a risk of winter storms over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on the forecast and don’t let your guard down. Here in the relatively mild south we have so far escaped the worst of the snow, but have experienced damaging gales. Whenever one is forecast I make sure that patio pots are clustered together somewhere sheltered, and check that our trees are securely staked and supported. This is particularly important for young trees as they are more vulnerable to root disruption in stormy weather. I use rubber tree ties on larger trees, and thick twine on younger, whippy ones. Both are tied in a figure-of-eight, which acts as a buffer between the tree and the stake and allows some movement. Check your trees and shrubs…

1 Your lawn will keep growing when the temperature is 5°C/41 ° F and above, so keep the edges of your border neat by trimming overgrown grass. I like to use a half-moon trimmer, but you can also use angled lawn shears. • Alternatively, line your borders with one of the many widely available lawn edgers. 2 Another way to take the strain off well-trodden areas of lawn is to lay a simple stepping-stone path using paving slabs. • Lay out a line of paving slabs on the grass, making sure they are a comfortable stride apart. Cut around and remove the turf under each one and add a layer of sand, then replace the stone. • Infill around the edges of the slabs with removed soil and make sure…

“Make essential spring preparations right now” IT’S irritating when you set your mind to do something, but find that loads of other things need be done before you can get started. One cure is to make as many of the essential preparations for the spring as possible right now, in comfort, sitting down under cover, rather than later when everything needs doing in a rush. For example, undoubtedly we will need labels as we make each and every sowing, so write these now and put them with the seed packets ready to go. And naturally you’ll already have washed and sorted last year’s pots, trays and containers, the hanging baskets are refilled waiting for replanting, and the tools all oiled, sharpened and in place where they can be found. Well,…

1 It’s important to sow only hardy lettuces at this time of year – some of the other more delicate varieties will rot off in cold weather. Good choices are ‘Vailan’, ‘Winter Density’, ‘Salad Bowl’, ‘Red Salad Bowl’ and ‘Marvel of Four Seasons’. 2 Because germination can be erratic in colder weather, I start my seeds off in modular trays that can then be planted out into their final bed later. Fill modules with seed compost, water well and sow three seeds per cell, covering them with more compost. 3 Place the sowings in a heated propagator set at 10-15°C. Keep them lightly watered and, once germinated, thin to the strongest seedling per cell. Once large enough to handle, transplant at 15in (38cm) spacings into your greenhouse border, cloche or…

IF you love rhubarb and are looking for tender, tasty stems, now is the time to force your mature plants. It is so easy to do; if you are a stickler for tradition, place a terracotta forcing pot over the top of the plant’s emerging crown, making sure no light can get through. Alternatively, a large pot or bucket can be used, but make sure it has no holes as even a small amount of light will disrupt the forcing process. The plant’s stalks will grow up, searching for the light, and can be harvested when they have reached the top of the pot. They are paler and more tender than unforced stems, and should be ready for harvest around eight weeks after forcing – roughly three weeks earlier than…

Is it still too early to re-start dahlias? Q My dahlias have overwintered in my shed, but when should I start thinking about helping them to start sprouting again? Is it still too early? Geraldine Parker, Skegness, Lincs A Well done for overwintering your dahlias in a frost-free shed. It is still too cold and early to encourage them back in to growth – the best time to ‘reawaken’ them is in March or April. Simply set them in pots of potting compost, adding, by volume, a quarter part grit to improve drainage, and water them in. Then set them to sprout in a warm, light place with the temperature around 61 ° F (16 ° C). Alternatively, put them in a heated propagator. When new shoots, which appear around…

Poetical garden celebration of Burns Night This Thursday evening is Burns Night, celebrating the birth in 1759 of Robert Burns, the person widely regarded as Scotland’s ‘national poet’. His most famous poem with a gardening connection is A Red, Red Rose. Many think he is also responsible for the ditty “Roses are red, Violets are blue, Candy is sweet, And so are you”, but the origins of this have been traced back as far as 1590, and although the author isn’t known, it can’t be ‘Rabbie’ Burns! Most Famous Gardening Poem The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden Than anywhere else on Earth. English poet Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858-1932) is credited for writing arguably the…