Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-May-2018 i Amateur Gardening

IT’S hotting up out there and with the arrival of better weather, out come the pests. Fewer things are more frustrating than seeing all your hard work and plant nurture ruined in one fell swoop, so on these pages I take a look at the worst offenders, as listed by the RHS, and suggest ways of tackling them both with and without chemicals. And don’t forget that the garden isn’t alone in being vulnerable. Greenhouses and indoors are a perfect sanctuary for pests – warm, safe from most predators and with a ready supply of food. Biological controls are a good way forward in the warmth of summer – they are readily available online and can be ordered from most garden centres. Encarsia wasps and a predatory mite can be…

THE popular summer bedding plant busy Lizzie vanished in 2012 after stocks were wiped out by the fungal disease impatiens downy mildew. But now they are back thanks to intensive research and work by global horticultural breeders Syngenta Flowers, based in the Netherlands. The new ‘Imara Bizzie Lizzie’ has been bred to be more resistant to downy mildew, which causes leaves to yellow and drop, leaving just a naked stem. Native to East Africa, it is named after the Swahili word for ‘strong and resilient’ and will be available in B&Q from this month in six different colours. Steve Guy, market director for Outdoor at B&Q, said: “We are extremely proud to be launching the new Imara Bizzie Lizzie. There has been a pent-up demand for the plants within the…

“It is the web builders we should most encourage” IF you are an arachnophobe, then it’s probably best to turn the page now. However, spiders are undoubtedly a gardener’s best friend. Not one of the many hundreds of spider species damages or eats plants – they are all carnivores looking for a tasty morsel to feast on, which, usefully for us, is likely to be a garden pest. Apart from spinning webs, spiders have other ways of hunting, such as building pit traps or jumping on their prey with incredible speed. However, it is the web builders we should most encourage as they trap flies and other flying insects – most of which are pests. The trouble is, we gardeners tend to get in the way, stumbling through their webs…

Plant the divisions at the same depth as their rootballs and mulch well to retain moisture and suppress weeds. 1 Split the lifted clump, making sure each division has lots of healthy roots and top growth. 2 Wash the roots and check they are healthy. After dividing, leave to stand in water before planting. 3 Trim the roots back to 4in (10cm). This removes older ones and boosts the growth of fine feeder roots. 4 Remove large, old and battered foliage as it can cause the plant to lose moisture after replanting.…

“I fear I have far more cabbage whites than I used to” I’M sure that I must have told you that I’m an organic gardener for all the wrong reasons. The truth is, as I was a noisy child my grandmother would whisk me out of my cot before I woke everyone else up. She was born in 1881, so only knew organic methods. One of my first jobs was collecting cabbage white caterpillars in my fingers and I remember watching as the green slime trickled into my hand. I’m still wrestling with cabbage white caterpillars today, although I’m better at picking them up! We have to net all our winter brassicas at Spring Cottage to prevent eggs from being laid on the undersides of the foliage. The large cabbage…

Mr Fothergill’s celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Tamsin Westhorpe shares the story behind the Suffolk-based company MR Fothergill’s started life in a stable block in Newmarket, Suffolk. Founders Jeff Fothergill and Brian Carey, who met while working in the seed industry, set up their company in 1978. Now in its 40th year, their sons, David Carey and John Fothergill, are joint managing directors. The Mr Fothergill’s name was chosen as they felt it was a good old-fashioned British name. This soon became synonymous with the logo of the friendly old gardener leaning over the fence. The business quickly outgrew the stables, so Jeff and Brian acquired land on the opposite side of the road. “This site is still home to Mr Fothergill’s today,” explains product manager David Turner. Optigrow…

Calendula ‘Orange Flash’ – new and exclusive to Mr Fothergill’s. Set to be popular thanks to its bicoloured blooms and dwarf form. Soft apricot petals at the front and red behind. Height 1ft (30cm). Cosmos ‘Double Dutch White’ – perfect for the cut-flower garden. Large double and semi-double, pure-white blooms that will continue throughout summer. Height 3ft (1m). Ideal for pots and borders. Sweet pea ‘Lady Salisbury’ – a white-and-cream picotee bloom ideal for the cutting garden. Fragrant blooms that are at their best in a sunny spot. Reaches a height of 6ft (180cm). Can be sown direct in April or undercover in January. Verbena ‘Scentsation’ – new and exclusive to Mr Fothergill’s. A highly scented hardy annual ideal for container or bedding displays. A mix of white, blue and…

Q Can you tell me how I can give up using slug pellets, yet still protect vulnerable plants and seedlings from slug and snail attacks? Andrew Joinson, Nottingham A For many gardeners, attracting, watching and accommodating wildlife is as satisfying as growing plants. Our gardens are important refuges and help link natural habitats that have shrunk or become fragmented. We also want our family and pets to enjoy and use the garden safely. All these are strong motives for being careful with pesticide use or making the decision to give them up. What we think of as pests are usually food for other creatures and are only a threat to certain plants at vulnerable stages. The first step with slugs and snails is to stop thinking of them as pests…

QI’ve noticed this pretty plant in the garden – is it a weed? Michele Ransom, via email A This weed – a very pretty British wild flower beloved by bees – is green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens). Flowering April-July, it has great charm, but is a thug and tends to colonise rapidly if left unchecked. It is ideal for a wild garden where it is ‘managed’, but is too invasive for growing among garden plants. Q Why don’t manufacturers/ suppliers of garden compost give the pH value? If we don’t know what to add to our compost, how can we get it right? Kathy Greaves, Virkie, Shetland Isles A It would be helpful if companies gave the pH value of their products. Luckily, proprietary composts are scientifically formulated so it shouldn’t…

Floral history of royal weddings Fans of the royal family will be in raptures this Saturday, as Prince Harry marries Meghan Markle. The nuptials will be given worldwide coverage, but we thought we’d get ahead of the rest by looking at the floral history of royal weddings across the generations. Flower power rules – bouquet! Rumour has it that Harry and Meghan have chosen white garden roses, peonies and foxgloves for their wedding day. Locally sourced foliage will also be used, including plants from the gardens of the Crown Estate and Windsor Great Park. London’s Royal Parks will also supply some pollinator-friendly plants from their wildflower meadows. They will use flowers and plants that are in season where possible, including foliage from branches of beech, birch and hornbeam. London-based florist…

AS well as the rosemary, thyme and basil that I grow at Buckland Towers, I also raise herbs for my chef friends Sam and Meg who have a catering business and a passion for fine ingredients. Every year I plant some unusual leaves like tangy Vietnamese coriander and the bitter chard-like callaloo for them to experiment with, along with more recognisable herbs just in case they don’t like the more unusual varieties. Last summer I majored on coriander, but what a disaster that was. Left unpicked and unwatered, the plants ran to flower giving the leaves a bitter taste and turning their soft stems stringy. When I asked what herbs from last year went down well, to my amazement my chef friends thought the coriander was fantastic! Instead of the…

1 Box tree caterpillar: The grubs cover plants in webbing. Pick them off, use a pheromone trap or nematodes, or try a chemical such as Bug Clear Gun, Defenders Bug Killer or a chemical from Provado or Westland Resolva. 2 Fuchsia gall mite: Causes galls and distortion, and is resistant to most chemicals. Remove, burn or bury infected shoots. Fuchsias with some resistance include ‘Baby Chang’, ‘Space Shuttle’, and F. thymifolia. 3 Viburnum beetle: Chews holes in foliage, though plants survive. Grubs are often too numerous to pick off ,so treat when they emerge (April-May) with pesticide (Bug Clear Gun for Fruit or Sprayday Greenfly Killer). 4 Tortrix moth: There are almost 40 species and the caterpillars bind leaves together with silky threads to shelter and feed inside. Crush the…

David Austin’s first handbook appeared in 1962 and it has evolved from a simple booklet into this latest edition – an authoritative yet charmingly simple 258-page guide featuring nearly 600 varieties of rose. Much more than a catalogue, the handbook explains rose types, bloom styles and information on every way you can grow roses. Split into sections for each style so you can easily find climbers, ramblers, floribunda and so on, the handbook is easy to navigate and richly informative. There are articles on rose care and an easily searchable index. This is a highly informative and lavishly produced book about roses, which gives you the knowledge to buy with confidence. And best of all it is entirely free. You can request a copy online at davidaustinroses.co.uk or Freephone 0800…

1 Before planting out your most tender plants, warm their planting holes a little with hot water and let it soak away. 2 Place folded sheets of wet newspaper or cardboard between rows of vegetables, then weight them down to suppress weeds and save moisture. 3 As flowers appear on potatoes, give the tubers as much water as you can as this will boost your yields hugely. 4 Don’t forget the bird bath. Keeping this clean and full means hydrated birds are less likely to feast on your fruit.…

ONE of the most eye-catching floral spectacles of a typical English summer is a field of scarlet poppies. Wild poppies are evocative not just of November’s time of remembrance, but also of hot summer days with deep-blue skies and ripening fields of wheat ‘bloodied’ by the popular flower. This week’s free seeds from Mr Fothergill’s are for wildflower poppies, so you can create a vivid scarlet splash at home. Leave the heads intact after flowering and they will also self-seed for repeat colour next year. Sow them thinly now, in arcs and curves to create a natural, flowing display, or save them until next spring. The seeds are tiny and are easier to sow thinly if you sprinkle them off a dampened fingertip. Poppies don’t like to be disturbed once…

FISH with dill, new potatoes with mint, basil with tomatoes – these stalwart combinations are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to culinary herbs, and I haven’t even mentioned the medicinal ones yet! The more herbs I try in my kitchen, the more amazing flavour combinations I come across – so it’s no surprise that I can’t be without a collection of plants. Garden centres have a great range in at the moment, so now is the perfect time to stock up. Because they are such a large group of plants it’s tricky to generalise their growing needs, so I’ll stick to promoting my favourite group – culinary herbs that can easily be grown in pots. Certain herbs (especially mint) are invasive when in open ground, so…

Raising plants in containers gives them a head start against molluscs. Harden them off (accustom them gradually to outdoor weather) so they are tougher when planted out. Place traps between slug and snail hideouts and target plants. These could be beer traps (rims proud to stop ground beetles from pitching in) or half grapefruit skins cut-side down. Surround vulnerable plants with a generous barrier of slug-resistant materials. They have trouble crossing copper, sharp or moisture-absorbing materials including sheep’s wool products (above). Remember ‘the best fertiliser is the gardener’s shadow’. Be aware, patrol by torchlight, observe, pick off slugs and snails. Underground keel slugs infiltrate potatoes and carrots. Control these (and others) by watering in Nemaslug. Nematodes (microscopic worm-like creatures) enter the slugs, release bacteria to break them down and eat…

LAWNS don’t have to be hard work to keep in good shape. Regular cutting plus a combined feed, weed and moss treatment a few times a year from April until August will give you a sward to be proud of. Ten years ago most combined treatments were based on chemicals. They work quickly and effectively, but demand from gardeners for a greener approach has resulted in a range of organic alternatives. Organic treatments (which can be smelly!) generally work on the basis of promoting grass health and strong growth to out-compete weeds and moss, so their effect on these undesirables is likely to be slower. However, they will save you the job of raking out dead moss, which is a feature of fast-acting chemical treatments. With organic treatments there’s also…

■ 16 May 1846 Henry Elwes, tree expert and plant collector, and after whom the snowdrop Galanthus elwesii (pictured) was named, was born. He died in 1922. ■ 17 May 1935 William Robinson, the Irish journalist and practical gardener, died. He is credited as an early practitioner of the mixed herbaceous border, and of creating ‘cottage’ and ‘wild’ garden styles. ■ 18 May 1830 Inventor Edwin Budding signed an agreement with John Ferrabee of the Phoenix Iron Works in Gloucestershire to make the world’s first lawn mower. ■ 20 May 1845 Richard Cox, brewer, and after whom the apple ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ was named, was born. ■ 20 May 1913 Chelsea Flower Show opened its doors for the first time. Organised by the Royal Horticultural Society, it is held at the…

Going organic is a great way to garden, but it takes a lot of time and effort to do it properly. However, even if you can’t do away with chemicals altogether, you can reduce their use by keeping plants healthy and encouraging predatory insects into the garden. Healthy plants are stronger and more robust, and are therefore less susceptible to pests and more able to withstand any attacks. Make sure your plants are fed and watered regularly, and have plenty of air circulating around them. Many insects, including ground beetles, ladybirds, hoverflies and lacewing flies, predate aphids and other pests, so make them welcome. Hedgehogs, amphibians, slow worms and birds will also tuck into pests, including slugs and snails. Some snail deterrents such as wool pellets also double as a…

PRIMROSES, named after the Latin for ‘first rose’ even though they aren’t members of the rose family, are one of the year’s early delights. Their buttery flowers herald the promise of warmer days and these sweet little plants will grow happily in most conditions. They love our sheltered garden with its light, free-draining, chalky soil. As a result, each year sees new self-seeded plants popping up in borders, under walls and even in the lawn. However, their prolific growth can cause individual flowers to turn into unwieldy unproductive clumps with a lot of tatty foliage and few flowers. Luckily, because primroses are so easy-going, this is an easy problem to remedy by dividing the plants. Do it every few years and you can expect two or three new plants from…

May 19: Festival of Plants: Cambridge University Botanic Garden, 1 Brookside, Cambridge CB2 1JE. 01223 336265, cam.ac.uk 19: Photography morning: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 0203 176 583, rhs.org.uk 19-20: Wildlife Weekend: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 20: Rare Plant Fair: Winterborne House, 58 Edgbaston Park Road, Birmingham B15 2RT. 0121 414 3003, winterbourne.org.uk 20: Plant Fair: British Ironwork Centre, Oswestry, Shropshire SY11 4JH.planthuntersfair.co.uk 20: Spring Walk and Talk: Dyffryn Fernant, Dinas, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, SA65 9SP. 01348 811282, dyffrynfernant.co.uk 20: Plant Fair: HPS Clwyd and invited nurseries, Holywell Community Centre, Flintshire, CH8 7TQ. hardy-plant.org.uk 20: Shadwell Plant & Cake Sale: The Grange, 400 Shadwell Lane, Leeds LS17 8AW. 0113 2738821 20: Clavering Country Open Gardens, Clavering, Essex…

THE runner bean is the classic grow-your-own vegetable. All over the UK, in allotments and back gardens – even in containers – wobbly wigwams support luxuriant foliage, colourful flowers and, often, more beans than we can use. And the good news is that you don’t have to start them until May, when even the most reluctant gardener is happy to be outside. There’s probably half a packet of seeds left over from last year in the back of the kitchen drawer; sow them in the next week or two and those old seeds will usually germinate fine, producing a crop later in the summer. But while older seeds will work, using them means missing out. In recent years there has been a quiet revolution in runner beans – yes, really…

The company’s emphasis for the future will be to continue to find exciting new varieties, and Mr Fothergill’s aims to encourage new and novice gardeners to grow more from seed. It has already launched numerous kits designed to supply everything people need to get started. Although seed is the focus of the company, this year sees the introduction of a new and exclusive Seasol Organic Seaweed Concentrate. The natural plant tonic can be used to promote healthy lawns, flowers and vegetables. David emphasises that the trend continues to be for organic products and plants that attract beneficial insects to the garden.…

Plants for a maritime garden Q What flowers will grow the best in a seaside garden? Mrs S Ridley, Rochdale, Lancs A The three main challenges faced by plants growing near the sea are strong winds, salty spray and sun. The soil is often sandy and free-draining, so plants have to be robust and adaptable to survive. However, there are many plants suitable for this situation. • The shrubs include: Escallonia, tamarisk, Buddleia globosa, Fuchsia magellanica, Hydrangea macrophylla, hebe, daisy bush and Rosa rugosa. • Suitable perennials include oriental poppies, valerian, chicory, evening primrose, fleabane, red-hot pokers and dierama. Many annuals and biennials grown as bedding will also be able to cope with maritime conditions, as they are only there for a short time. Look at what neighbours are growing…

ORGANIC Safelawn natural lawn feed £7.99 RRP 01480 443789 for stockists or visit gardenhealth.com Features This 2.8kg pack with built-in spreader contains 100% natural lawn feed with added grass seed and friendly bacteria. Claims to thicken grass and prevent weed and moss growth. Coverage 80sq m. Can be applied every 3-4 weeks. No restrictions on clippings, no need to exclude children or pets. Performance Simple tear-off cover on side of box reveals applicator holes. Walking forward holding the box with two hands and gently shaking it delivered a steady, even stream of product. Not easy to reseal box if you don’t use all the product. Value Keenly priced, easy to apply and a handy pack size for smaller lawns. Added grass seed in this product should save you…