Innholdsfortegnelse for 26-May-2018 i Amateur Gardening

MAY is book-ended by bank holidays and don’t we just love them! Hopefully by the time the Whitsun weekend rolls around the mercury will have risen and it will be actually starting to feel like early summer… Although the unseasonal start to 2018 knocked the plants back by a few weeks, they should have soon caught up and be looking glorious by now. A few days of warmth is all it takes to encourage robust growth – which is why mowing the lawn always seems to be an essential bank holiday task! The extra day gives you space to do the things you’ve been meaning to do but never quite got round to. Why not build a raised bed or take part in this year’s Great British Bee Count? It’s…

Bees are under threat – and here’s your chance to help them. The Friends of the Earth Great British Bee Count, sponsored by Buglife and Ecotalk, runs until 30 June and is a great opportunity for us to find out more about the state of these essential insects. A FoE spokesman said: “We rely on bees for a healthy environment and economy – they pollinate many of the plants around us. But bees are under threat from pesticides, habitat loss and climate change. “Since 1900, the UK has lost 13 species of bee, and a further 35 are under threat of extinction.” There are 270 species of bee in the British Isles. Last year, 320,337 bees were seen during the count. To take part this year, visit greatbritishbeecount.co.uk or call…

• Houseplants need summer holiday care too, especially if you are away for a fortnight or more. • Feed and water them before you go and move them away from direct sunlight to slow down moisture loss and prevent scorching. • Close the curtains almost all the way so rooms are kept cool with just a little sunlight coming through. • Standing plants on a strip of capillary matting that has one end in a sink of water keeps a continual source of moisture around their roots. • Placing plants in a shallow bath of water stops them drying out.…

CHELSEA Flower Show is finally upon us, which means it’s time to subject some of your plants to their annual Chelsea chop. This simple technique helps keep sprawling varieties in check and can encourage a second flush of flowers later in summer. I have cut back a large clump of nepeta (catmint) that was starting to collapse outwards, leaving its woody, bare centre on show. It has several benefits; not only does cutting back make the plant tidier and restores its shape, but it should also encourage a second flush of flowers in a few weeks’ time. If you have several clumps of the same plant dotted around the garden, aim to stagger the chopping (as well as leaving some uncut) so you get a longer display of blooms. The…

THE plant equivalent of London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks for clothes has to be the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show, which is the focus of attention for all sections of the media. Each exhibitor there is allowed to enter five new plants into the Chelsea Flower Show Plant of the Year Competition and no more than three of any one genera, so if you are, say, an iris specialist only three of your new irises can be entered. There are more than 20 novelties on the Container Revolution display alone in the Great Pavilion, including flowers, fruit and vegetables, which makes choosing pretty demanding. Twenty finalists are selected by an RHS panel and the breeder for each speaks for 90 seconds on the Monday before the show opens…

• Our onions are growing well, but we have are a couple of problems to contend with. • Their thin, upright leaves throw no shade so weeds soon spring up and can swamp them, so hoe regularly between the rows. • We also have a problem with cats using the raised bed as a toilet – a new cat on the block is trying to gain territory from our two. • Deter them with a harmless chemical deterrent, which may need to be reapplied every couple of weeks.…

May 22-26: Chelsea Flower Show: Royal Hospital Chelsea, London SW3 4SR. rhs.org.uk 26-27: Children’s Gardening Weekend: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 26-June 3: Family Gardening Festival: All RHS gardens. rhs.org.uk 27: Plant Fair: Pottertons Nursery & Garden, Caistor, Lincs LN7 6HX. planthuntersfairs.co.uk 27: Plant Heritage Spring Plant Fair, Helmingham Hall Gardens, Helmingham Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 6EF. 01473 890799, helmingham.com 28: Plant Fair: Carsington Water, Ashbourne, Derbys DE6 1ST.planthuntersfairs.co.uk June1-30 Sept: Floral Fantasia: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0845 265 8071, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 2: Iris Summer Show: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 2: RHS Gardening Advice: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830,…

WHEN we moved to Spring Cottage 12 years ago, the old shed contained a cocktail of chemicals, including DDT – an organochlorine pesticide that was banned in Britain in 1984. This chemical was widely used in agriculture as a seed dressing from the late 1940s onwards. By the 1960s it was known to be poisoning and killing small birds in large numbers, and this partly led to a sharp decline in birds of prey. It wasn’t just a question of supply and demand, though – fewer songbirds, therefore fewer birds of prey – as the real reason was far more complex. “More chemicals are applied to lawns than to any other part of the garden” Scientists working at the now defunct Monks Wood Experimental Station in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, realised that…

1 First, choose the right spot. Your tomatoes will thrive in a sunny, sheltered location, ideally against a wall or fence. Growing them in the earth will make them less reliant on you for water, but they can happily grow in large pots or growing bags, too, provided you keep them well watered. 2 Next, are you growing a cordon or bush variety? Cordons need regular tying to a permanent 6ft (1.8m) stake or cane, whereas bush types can be loosely secured to a 4ft (1.2m) one. If your soil is light and sandy or chalky, add plenty of compost to the planting area to help retain that all-essential soil moisture. 3 Cordon types can be positioned 1ft (30cm) apart, whereas bush types are more sprawling and must be sited…

IF you grow fruit and veg in small spaces, you may well have come across a technique known as the ‘three sisters’. Developed by Native Americans, it allows you to grow climbing French beans, sweetcorn and trailing squashes all in the same patch of earth, with the corn providing support for the beans and shade for the squashes. However, there are plenty of other opportunities to combine different veg in this way – a technique known as intercropping. You can grow quick-maturing salads between space and time-hungry crops like winter brassicas, for example. Slow-germinating parsnips can be inter-sown with radishes, and deep-rooted sweetcorn can be underplanted with shallow-rooted lettuce. Provided you match your plant partners well, the yield of each shouldn’t be noticeably affected. By waiting for onions and garlic…

Climbers will romp away when planted correctly. Start by digging a hole that’s twice the width, but slightly deeper than the rootball. Prick the sides and base with a garden fork so roots can penetrate easily. If possible, dig the hole about 1ft (30cm) away from supports. Gently tease out some of the roots to help them spread out readily in the soil. Place the rootball in the centre of the hole, so the top is more or less flush with the surface. Slowly backfill the hole with soil, firming it down with your fingers as you go to eliminate air gaps. Water well. Plant clematis deeper than other climbers, so the top of the rootball sits 2in (5cm) beneath the level of the soil – this keeps roots cool,…

■ After planting, pinch out the tips to encourage branching from low down on the plant. ■ Water well in the early weeks; this will enable plants to establish more quickly. ■ Water in summer drought. ■ Mulch with weed-free compost in the autumn, to provide the roots with an extra layer of frost protection. ■ Help prevent wind rock by cutting back taller types by half in autumn. ■ When growth begins in spring, cut out all dead stems and cut back surviving shoots to 6-20in (15-50cm) (how much will depend on the eventual size of the variety chosen). ■ In spring, feed with a general fertiliser to spur new growth.…

Bednall Beauty (AGM) A popular dahlia with dark-red double flowers and bronze foliage. Reaches around 2ft (60cm) in height, making it ideal for brightening up containers on the patio. HxS: 2ftx20in (60x50cm). Exotic Dwarf (AGM) The small single blooms – pink with a yellow centre – really stand out against this diminutive option’s green foliage. Has an upright growth habit and plenty of flowers. H&S: 16in (40cm). Ellen Huston (AGM) Really compact, reaching just 1 1/2ft (45cm) high, with flowers less than 4in (9cm) wide. What it lacks in size it makes up for in colour, pairing rich-scarlet flowers and dark-bronze foliage. H&S: 1 1/2ft (45cm). Roxy Not a dwarf, but compact enough to be well suited to container growing. Foliage in red to green tones offsets magenta-pink flowers from…

W. florida ‘Foliis Purpureis’ An old favourite – compact and low-growing, with bronze-purple-toned leaves and attractive dark-pink flowers on arching stems. Flowers appear in early summer (May-June) and are attractive to bees. HxS: 39inx5ft (1x1.5m). ‘Red Prince’ (AGM) Pretty bright-red to dark-pink flowers are set against dark green leaves on this neat weigela. Appearing from May to June, the flowers also have a good fragrance that will attract butterflies and bees to your garden borders. H&S: 6 1/2ft (2m). W. florida ‘Wine and Roses’ For a weigela that stands out, try this dark-leaved option. The perfect foil for rich-pink flowers that appear in early summer (May and June), the foliage is a deep shade of purple that grows even darker in the autumn. H&S: 6ft (1.8m).…

Cotinus coggygria ‘Young Lady’ This is a neat, slow-growing smokebush at 5-6ft (1.5-1.8m), but with a voluminous display of flower panicles in summer that are tinged with pink. Green leaves turn fiery red and orange in autumn. Cotinus ‘Flame’ Arising from the same cross as ‘Grace’, ‘Flame’ bears oval, light-green leaves in summer and plants will reach 20ft (6m). There is a lot of purple-pink ‘smoke’ as well as bright autumn tints.…

Q Please could you identify this clematis? Hazel Dodgson, via email AI feel sure that your clematis is ‘Sylvia Denny’, which produces double blooms from May to June and single flowers from August to September. Raised by Vince and Sylvia Denny in 1980, its blooms light up a wall or fence. It can also be trained to grow into a small tree or bush. Q What is this plant? I photographed it in southern France last year. Jan Terry, via email A It is trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), a climbing plant native to south-east North America but often seen in a Mediterranean climate. It is certainly frost-hardy in Britain, though it does appreciate a sheltered wall to grow against. Q Please can you identify the white flower? It grows like…

Supporting Chelsea! Comic writer and performer Armando Iannucci once wrote that Chelsea was the only London football team to have its own flower show! It raised a giggle from the Radio 4 audience, but it also gave awareness of the most prestigious horticultural exhibition on the planet to a largely non-gardening crowd. This week the Chelsea Flower Show is open to RHS members and the public, so there is no better time for us to look at some of the weird facts and amazing statistics connected to the show over the years. First flower shows The RHS was founded in 1804. At that time it was just the Horticultural Society, as it didn’t get its ‘Royal’ approval until 1861. A year after its launch, in 1805, member Charles Minier turned…

The holiday is on hold I PLANTED over 1,000 daffodils, narcissi, hyacinths, bluebells and tulips over a 35m-long border in my garden. I enjoy encouraging people to experience the joy of gardening, and I have already got more than 10 neighbours started. I planted the bulbs in late December and lots of people were saying I had planted them too late and they would not develop, but I persevered and, as you can see (above), they did! My tulips and daffodils are still developing and flowering to this day (25 April), which I believe was down to the cold weather and snow. I put my photos on Facebook and received many wonderful comments, such as “smashing”, “beautiful” and “gorgeous”. Wow! It made all my hard work worthwhile. When I was…

ONE of the lovely things about gardening is that it’s a good way to make feathered friends. Robins have shared the fillings from my sandwiches, even taking the cheese from my hand; blackbirds have serenaded my digging, chirping hopefully from the greenhouse ridge, and even one blackbird took to mimicking the ringtone of my mobile phone, like a kookaburra. My New Best Friend, though, has the best song of all – a male wren that chirrups from a post outside the BBC studios where I work every Sunday. His song is a marvellous mix of trills and soaring scales, interspersed with a sound best described as the rattle of an alarm clock being smothered by a pillow. It doesn’t sound musical, but it is! Classified as Britain’s shortest bird –…

1 Dig out the area of turf where you want your bed to go and hammer tree stakes in the corners and halfway down each long side. 2 Start laying the boards, using a spirit level and nailing them to the posts to keep them steady. Three boards make an ideal height. 3 Cover the bottom of the bed with rubble and the removed turf, laid upside down. This will all help with drainage. 4 Fill your bed with soil, well-rotted compost and manure. It will settle over time and need replenishing annually.…

1 This houseplant has completely filled its container and is in desperate need of a new pot so it can feed properly and grow well. 2 Carefully cut away the pot with sharp scissors and tease open the protruding roots that are tangled around the base. 3 Free up the congested rootball so the roots will grow into the fresh compost, rather than around each other. 4 Repot the plant into a container just one size larger. Plants aren’t happy with their roots in a large pot of cold, empty compost. 5 Infill around the roots with houseplant compost, as this is developed to offer good drainage and several months of nutrients. 6 Give the plant a good soak and then return it to its pot or saucer that should…

1 Technology has developed gadgets that irrigate according to daily needs, and smartphone apps that let you change watering sequences according to online weather reports. 2 Irrigation systems linked to timers and apps are relatively easy to install and can be used to water a large number of patio containers. 3 More simple are reservoir pots that you can fill with water that is gradually dispersed around the container over a period of time. 4 Micro-irrigation kits can also be used in the greenhouse. Solar kits are available that you can link to your greenhouse water butt.…

• As well as catmint, there are several other plants that respond well to being hard pruned mid-season. • These are helenium, echinacea, phlox, achillea and solidago. • Strong-growing forms of sedum such as ‘Herbstfreude’ will bounce back well, as will Anthemis tinctoria , also known as ‘dyer’s chamomile’. • Asters and campanula bounce back after a Chelsea chop and will reward you with a second burst of blooms that will encourage all sorts of pollinators into the garden.…

Begonia ‘Chloe’ is an indoor/ outdoor candidate, which will be grown as a house and garden plant. It is very weather-resistant. Thunbergia ‘Arizona Rose Sensation’, a pink-flowering black-eyed Susan, suited to growing up tripods and in hanging baskets. Dahlia ‘Lubega Power Tricolor’, a fully double flowered with red, yellow, orange and white-coloured petals that are really eye catching. Verbena ‘Scentsation’ is worth growing for the scent alone in hanging baskets and to cut to bring a posy indoors. Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes…

GROWING plants from seeds is an economic and satisfying pastime, but it can go wrong extremely fast. Unless they have the right growing conditions, seedlings are vulnerable to pests and diseases. They can be demolished overnight by slugs and snails, or become infested with greenfly that feed on their sap. They are also prone to fungal problems such as damping off, which can kill off an entire batch of young seedlings in one go. Sow seeds thinly, water from the bottom, and avoid wetting the leaves as this can cause rotting. When you prick out seedlings, lift them from their compost using a teaspoon or the end of a plant label, and hold them by their leaves – never their delicate stem. Seedlings sown in situ should be thinned so…

WE’RE often encouraged to do most of our gardening tasks at the first opportunity, but this may not always be the best advice. Unless you garden in the very warmest parts of the country, the next fortnight becomes a better time for planting out your tender crops and bedding than earlier this month. Hard frosts are infrequent once we get into May, so we feel encouraged to plant out sweetcorn, courgettes, tomatoes, squash, runner beans, French marigolds, petunias and so on. However, the soil can still be cold in many areas of the country, even by the middle of May, so if you can hold off until later in the month your plants will be safer. Planting into cold soil can be just as damaging as frostbite, as it can…

SLICED into a summer salad, stored for winter soups or oven-dried for stirring through risottos, home-grown tomatoes can be put to a multitude of tantalising uses in the kitchen. Being a tender crop, tomatoes revel in warm weather and sulk if exposed to chills. While many of you will have already planted up your greenhouse tomatoes, the time has only just arrived for outdoor tomatoes to be set into their final positions. Hanging-basket varieties like ‘Gartenperle’ and dwarf patio types such as ‘Romello’ can simply be planted into containers of good-quality multi-purpose compost, but what about the more conventional cordon and bush types like ‘Gardener’s Delight’ and ‘Roma’? Here’s what to do, step by step (see right). Tip Top Acclimatise your tomatoes to life outdoors before planting them out. Harden…

SPEAKING from experience, it can be thoroughly disheartening to lose your plot to a smothering of weeds as summer develops. My advice? Learn from my mistakes! Casting a blind eye to a rash of groundsel seedlings, or the first few sprigs of bindweed, is lining yourself up for disaster – you literally must grasp the nettle. Nipping problems in the bud is the secret, so how do you deal with the different types of weeds? Here’s what I’ve discovered: Hoeing off small seedlings is an excellent way to control annual weeds such as chickweed, groundsel, fat hen, annual nettle and bittercress. Choosing a dry, sunny day with a slight breeze encourages them to wither rapidly. Once you’ve achieved bare earth, rake it over every week or two – this kills…

I HAVE a confession to make: when I travel by train I like to have a peek in the gardens of houses that back on to railway lines. Call me a nosy parker, but I consider this research for my job as a garden writer. Some gardens are beautiful, while others leave a lot to be desired, but one thing that most have in common is that their vertical spaces are underused. This is a crying shame. Walls, fences, screens and similar barriers around the perimeters of plots, along with the walls of houses, sheds and other garden buildings, offer so many opportunities for gardeners to be creative or to grow some amazing plants. And there’s scope for making more of arches, arbours, pergolas and similar. Self-clinging climbers The most…

GROWING wild in Central and South America, you probably wouldn’t expect fuchsias to be hardy in Britain. However, two factors combine to confound that (perfectly reasonable) expectation. For starters, one species – Fuchsia magellanica – grows in the mountains of Chile and Argentina, down at the very tip of South America, where the climate is quite similar to ours. All forms of this species are hardy here – in fact, they are some of the best of the hardy varieties. Second, over the years fuchsia specialists have created new hybrids involving the hardiest of existing varieties, thus increasing the range available. Consequently, hardy fuchsias now come as large or small plants, with large or small flowers – even double ones – and in a wide range of colour combinations. How…

I’VE grown ‘Versicolor’ for many years – plants develop into broad specimens that integrate well with many perennials and annuals. But I find that while certain parts of a plant can survive well – with woody shoots 2-3ft (60-90cm) high sailing through the winter – others are killed almost to the ground. So, when my ‘Versicolor’ starts to grow in spring, I cut back the whole plant very hard, sometimes all the way to ground level. The surge of growth that results makes a very impressive specimen.…

‘Eveline’ Measuring around 6in (15cm) across, the creamy-white blooms feature a splash of lilac at the centre and at the tips of the petals. Elegant but a bit different, this decorative type blooms from July to September. HxS: 39inx1½ft (100x45cm). ‘Carolina Wagemans’ Florists often use waterlily varieties in their wedding arrangements, and this is an excellent option thanks to its small flowers in an apricot shade – always eye-catching but never garish. HxS: 39inx2ft (100x60cm). ‘Wizard of Oz’ Ball-shaped blooms in a soft pink that mix very well – you can either go subtle with similar pastel shades or ramp things up with brighter pinks. The flowers will last well after cutting. HxS: 32inx1 1/2ft (80x45cm). ‘Jescot Julie’ A more vibrant choice for anyone who wants to embrace bright shades.…

■ May to June is the best time to plant tubers directly in the ground, as the risk of frosts has passed. ■ Choose a sunny spot with good drainage and fertile soil. ■ Dig a hole 1ft (30cm) across and the same deep. ■ Plant tubers 2 1/2ft (75cm) apart. ■ Add a layer of compost to the bottom of the planting hole, water well, then plant your tuber and water well again. ■ Feed dahlias once a fortnight with a liquid feed. ■ Position stakes so that plants can be tied in as they grow.…

1 Use loppers to cut through thick older stems. Cut either back to the base or a healthy bud pointing in the right direction. 2 Some lower stems may have layered themselves into the ground. Dig up the roots, sever from the parent and you have a new smokebush. 3 Tackle the thinner stems using secateurs. Remove weak or damaged ones, then those causing tangles or that need shortening. 4 The end result is a lighter, more balanced shrub with room to grow. Plenty of mature growths are left behind to flower.…

THE blades of some gardening knives are curved inwards to make some pruning jobs easier. The curve does seem to help when slicing through tough, woody stems but nowadays most gardeners use secateurs for pruning. A concave curved blade makes other jobs, like cutting down onto a flat surface, more difficult, but it can help when harvesting veg. For today’s gardeners a pocket knife is a universal lightweight cutting tool for taking cuttings, deadheading flowers, cutting string, harvesting veg and more. It needs to be easy to open with a strong and secure blade, which is sharp and holds its edge well. It should be comfortable in the hand, easy to resharpen, and made from strong, long-lasting materials. We try six different models in a range of prices and styles.…

■ 22 May 1909 British botanical artist and environmentalist, Margaret Mee, was born. She specialised in working with plants from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. She died in 1988. ■ 23 May 1707 Carolus Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and the individual who devised the binomial (genus/species) system for naming plants and animals, was born. He died in 1778. ■ 25 May 1965 Joe Swift, TV gardener and garden designer, was born. ■ 26 May 1863 W.J. Bean, who wrote the invaluable Trees & Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles (essential reading for horticultural students in the 20th century), was born. ■ 27 May 1985 The longest daisy chain was made, in seven hours, by 16 villagers from Good Easter, Chelmsford, Essex. It measured 2.12km (1.31 miles). ■ 27 May 1991 Paul J…

Before planting, make sure the ground is completely clear of perennial weeds, especially ground elder and couch grass. These are easy-going plants, asking only for a well-draining soil. Full sun is preferred, but light shade is also tolerated. Set plants 12in (30cm) apart and water them during droughts for their first year. Mulching with gravel or shingle helps keep weeds down. Choose containers with adequate drainage holes and mix a 50:50 John Innes No2 compost and soilless mix 4 parts to 1 with potting grit. Water as the surface dries out and apply a well-balanced liquid feed monthly. Prune by shearing back by about half after flowering to keep plants dense, especially on richer soils.…

1 Keep an eye on feeding stations in spring and as soon as all the food stops being taken, reduce the amount you put out. Never feed with fat balls at this time as in hot weather they quickly become mouldy and can harbour harmful bacteria. 2 Move feeders regularly so that waste doesn’t build up and wash feeders with dilute bleach every few weeks. Do this using a bucket out in the garden rather than bringing the feeders into the house, as they may bring diseases indoors. Clean and top up birdbaths, too.…

THE holiday season is here, but not everyone is lucky enough to have neighbours happy to carry out watering duties when they are away. Luckily, there are many technological gadgets and kits available as well as common-sense solutions. Plants in containers (and plants waiting to be planted) are the most vulnerable to drying out as they have a finite supply of water. Greenhouse plants are also at risk as they are growing in a warm environment without access to rainwater. Lessen water loss in pots by clustering them together somewhere cool and shady. Stand containers in saucers of gravel and water well before you go away, making sure some trickles through and dampens the grit to boost humidity, keeping plants cool and reducing moisture loss. Another option is to cut…

• With May well under way it’s tempting to think it’s the time to move tender ornamental and edible seedlings outside, but please hold fire for a few more weeks yet. • Although the days have a pleasant warmth, night ground frosts are not unusual in more exposed areas. • Make sure you have some fleece to hand on chilly nights and remember to remove it first thing the next morning, before condensation can form and cause moulds and rotting.…

ONE of the joys of the long Bank Holiday weekend is having the time to mooch around garden centres, open gardens, markets and car-boot sales. Of these, gardens, markets and car boots are the perfect places to pick up reasonably priced homegrown plants. I popped down to my local car-boot sale and picked up several pots of good-looking plants, none of them costing more than a couple of quid. The one I’m most excited about is a pink-flowered sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis). These are gorgeous cottage-garden plants that can grow up to 39in (1m) tall and 17in (45cm) wide. They carry a riot of flowers that are either white or many shades of pink and purple, and will self-seed well. They are also ideal for attracting insects into the garden.…

• Aubrieta is a tough little plant that brings masses or low-growing colour to rockeries and walls. • Mr Fothergill’s ‘Rich Rose’ is a beautiful shade that will also look fantastic at the edge of a border. • Sow thinly in a pot or tray of seed compost. Water well, cover and place in an unheated greenhouse or cold frame. • Seedlings take 3-5 weeks to germinate ad can be potted on when large enough to handle. • Harden them off, plant out in late summer and await gorgeous blooms next spring.…

1 Thin gooseberries and apricots really hard to leave fewer – and thus bigger –fruits. You can even turn the thinnings into delicious sharp jellies. 2 It’s not too late to plant early and second early potato varieties, and with luck, even some maincrops. 3 Carefully deadhead shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs that have finished flowering to prevent them from wasting energy making seeds. 4 It’s too late to sow most seeds except biennials, so put packets away somewhere safe until next spring or autumn.…

YOUR very first home-grown strawberry harvest is something to savour, especially if it’s from plants you forced into growth. This is when you can be chuffed with yourself for braving the cold way back in February, when you moved a few potted early strawberries (such as ‘Christine’ or ‘Sweetheart’) into a frost-free greenhouse. Having eased the plants into premature growth, pollinated the flowers, kept aphids and red spider mite at bay, and patiently watched the developing fruits swell and ripen, now comes that decadent moment – harvest. It deserves a big bowl of sugar, a tub of the finest clotted cream, and nobody but yourself to share it with. Enjoy!…

WITH sunlight levels strengthening and summer marching on, it’s just a matter of days before fruits such as redcurrants and cherries begin to ripen. With birds being especially attracted to red-coloured fruits, if your crops aren’t netted there’s only one outcome – red beaks! Walk-in fruit cages are the ultimate luxury, but they’re far more expensive than a bundle of bamboo canes and netting. If, like me, your purse warrants that you’ve got the latter, make sure you construct it correctly because not doing so can lead to accidental killing of our feathered friends. Essentially, do not just throw nets over your plants. Instead, push canes into the ground and then tie the netting securely to it so that it remains taut. In this way, birds won’t become entangled in…

Campsis radicans f. flava (AGM) Sometimes sold as ‘Yellow Trumpet’, this sun-loving trumpet vine has bright-yellow flowers and holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit Schizophragma hydrangeoides A self-clinging Japanese hydrangea vine for shade, with green leaves and large, flattened heads of white flowers Trachelospermum jasminoides Star jasmine is a fast-growing evergreen climbing for a sunny spot with masses of heavily scented white flowers in summer Espalier fruit tree Apples and pears are easy to grow in a small space by planting an espalier – a tree with tiers of horizontal branches – against a wall or fence. Rosa ‘Compassion’ Growing to 10ft (3m), this climbing rose is perfect for the front of a house and has 5in (13cm)-wide salmon-pink flowers with…

■ Late spring and early summer are the best planting times, giving plants plenty of time to establish before winter. ■ If your new fuchsia plants arrive as plugs, grow them on in 9cm pots before planting out. ■ Always plant a little deeper than you would most shrubs. In that way, if top growth is killed, there will be buds below ground ready to burst. ■ Choose a planting position in sun, or with morning shade. ■ Ideally, the soil should be well drained, but help keep it moist in summer by working in plenty of weed-free soil conditioner.…

FUCHSIAS suffer from two problems of their very own. First, they are prone to a specific rust disease, which also attacks closely related plants such as willowherbs. It shows itself as red pustules on the undersides of the foliage, and yellow marks, turning purple, on the upper surfaces. Ultimately, the leaves will drop off. There is no non-chemical control, although ruthlessly weeding out willowherb helps. Sprays such as Bayer Fungus Fighter Plus and Scotts Fungus Clear Ultra Gun should work, although fuchsias can be sensitive to the spray, so treat a few leaves first to check that it does not damage the plant. Fuchsia gall mite is a new pest – first seen just 10 years ago but spreading – that dramatically distorts shoot tips. At present, there is no…

QI love smokebushes and recently bought a Cotinus ‘Grace’. The foliage is beautiful, but it has grown into a very large, ungainly shrub. Can I prune it while still retaining the ‘smokiness’? David Ansell, Dundee A There are just two species of smokebush, both highly ornamental from mid-spring until autumn. Cotinus obovatus is the American smokebush or chittamwood, a small tree capable of reaching 30ft (10m). Cotinus coggygria, often known as the Venetian sumach, is smaller at 15ft (5m) and native to an area from the Mediterranean to China. Smokebushes once shared the same genus with sumach (Rhus) and, like these, their stems will bleed a potentially irritant sap when pruned, so take care to keep this away from eyes and sensitive skin. Cotinus ‘Grace’ is a hybrid made in…

Opinel No8 Garden Knife £9.95 033 0300 0400 heinnie.com Features Stainless-steel straight-edge blade with convex curve towards tip. Indented thumbnail catch and twist-ring blade lock. Cylindrical, slim and tapered, varnished beechwood handle drilled for lanyard. Weight 1 3/8oz (41g), overall length 7 1/2in (190mm), blade length 31/4in (84mm). Performance Blade (not sprung) opens smoothly and easily. The twist blade-lock at top of handle is a bit stiff, but locks blade rigid with no lateral play. Sculpted handle nestles neatly into the fingers offering a firm, comfortable grip and encourages safe cutting away from the body. The blade, longest of all on test, is very sharp along its whole length. Slices through string, cardboard and woody stems over 1/4in (6mm) thick with ease. Value It looks good, it feels…

Campanula cochleariifolia Fairy thimbles makes a wandering colony of low leaves from which flower stalks bearing dangling blue bells appear in summer. Rises to 3in (8cm) and can spread up to 12in (30cm) or more. Iberis saxatilis An evergreen subshrub smothered with heads of pretty white flowers in late spring. Grows to 3-5in (8-13cm) high and 12in (30cm) wide. Gypsophila repens ‘Dorothy Teacher’ This pretty semi-evergreen must have good drainage. Mats of bluish-green are joined in summer by airy white flowers, turning pink. Reaches 2in (5cm) high and spreads to 12in (30cm). Phuopsis stylosa Rounded heads of small, pink, funnel-shaped flowers opening over long periods during summer on plants 6in (15cm) high and 20in (50cm) or more wide.…