Innholdsfortegnelse for 8-Sep-2018 i Amateur Gardening

GARDENING can be an expensive and time-consuming hobby, but for excellent results that don’t cost a second mortgage you can do a lot worse than investing in a few packs of spring bulbs. These wonderfully versatile plants are relatively cheap to buy, and once they are in the ground you can forget about them until next spring, when they will delight you with a cheery fanfare of colour to blow away the winter blues. Garden centres and online suppliers are stuffed to the gunwales with spring-flowering bulbs now and this is the perfect time to get them in the ground, when the soil is damp and still warm from summer’s sunshine. It’s all very well going for traditional tulips and daffs, but there’s a whole world of bulbs out there…

Daffodils that grow with lots of foliage but no flowers are known as ‘blind’. If yours suffered last year, dig them up now, check them over and discard any diseased ones. Then replant the rest. Blindness can be caused by several factors – shallow planting, knotting or removing leaves loo early after flowering, pests and diseases, overcrowding or allowing seedpods to form instead of deadheading. Remedy the problem by replanting the bulbs at the proper depth in sunny, well-drained soil. Also, let the foliage die down naturally before removing it and feed the plants with liquid tomato food. If the clump looks overcrowded, lift and divide after flowering.…

Several EU countries have banned glyphosate or are discussing the chemical’s future: Germany has started the process of banning it and a resolution is being finalised to end its use in public parks and sports facilities. Belgium has forbidden its use by domestic gardeners. Portugal banned the use of glyphosate in public spaces in 2016. France intends to ban the chemical outright within three years. Denmark has banned farmers from blanket spraying arable crops with glyphosate before harvesting. This practice is used in the UK because it makes the grain ripen and dry more uniformly for storage.…

THERE’S just a week to go before Toby Buckland returns to Forde Abbey in Somerset with Toby’s Harvest Festival. The AG columnist has brought together a varied collection of speakers, experts, exhibitions and workshops to provide two days of top-notch entertainment on 15-16 September. As well as talks by gardening experts Alys Fowler, Matt Biggs and Lee Connelly (alias Skinny Jean Gardener), there are also demonstrations of jam-making, apple and berry preserving, photography, knitting and much more. Also on show will be Somerset artist Serena de la Hey’s giant willow head, which has been woven to raise awareness and much-needed funds to repair the famous M5 Willow Man. For further details and tickets, visit tobygardenfest.co.uk.…

The dry summer will have effectively stopped your compost heap from decomposing, but now we have had some rain things should start breaking down again. Fork it over every week or so to keep the contents well mixed and move damp material around so it’s evenly combined. Keep adding soft green prunings and woody pieces, plus kitchen peelings as they will help to remoisturise the mix. If you want to wet the heap use rainwater – and don’t forget that male urine is a top compost accelerator!…

1 The tulip bulb crop is down 20% this year due to the drought conditions early in the summer. If you want good-sized bulbs in specific cultivars, early ordering/ purchase is recommended. 2 Get top-size Darwin hybrid tulip bulbs (listed as 4-4½in/11-12cm, which refers to bulb circumference) if you want to plant and leave in the ground to flower every spring for many years. 3 The larger the corms of crocus, the more flowers each one will produce. 4 Camassia, which is available in blue and white, is a useful plant as it will flower in late May when most other spring bulbs have finished flowering.…

Many plants self-seed freely, but if you want some control over where seedlings will grow, collect and sow them yourself. Choose a dry, still day and collect the seeds in an envelope, tin or plastic box. Alternatively, cut off the seedpods and up-end them into a brown paper bag. Paper-like honesty seedpods can be peeled apart to reveal the seeds kept safe inside. Hardy annuals can be sown now, but more tender half-hardies should be stored somewhere cool and dry until next spring.…

ONE safety improvement we enjoy unseen is modern dwarfing rootstocks, keeping apple and pears trees small enough to pick without our clambering up steps. There are too many accidents in the home and garden involving steps. Unfortunately, most fruit trees in our gardens are on older rootstocks and have got much bigger. (If it’s really big, you can be pretty sure the tree’s a ‘Bramley’s Seedling’.) Anyway, we often have big trees – and need steps to pick them. So for safety, please use a well-made set and position these solidly in place each time. And don’t use steps when you are on your own: have someone with you. They can balance the steps and help handle the harvest. Of course, you do not need to pick: you can just…

1 If you live in a squirrel-free area, you can leave the nuts on the tree until they turn yellow (generally around mid to late September). If they are local pests, then it’s a trade-off: leave the nuts as long as you dare to ripen, picking them just as squirrels start hoarding. 2 The nuts now need thorough drying. Place them in a single layer on a newspaper-lined tray, and site them somewhere warm and dry (a greenhouse or conservatory, or a sunny windowsill). This will help dry the outer shells and preserve the nut inside. 3 Turn the nuts over every few days to aid thorough and even drying. After two to three weeks, the outer cases turn brown and papery. These can gently be rubbed off. Hang the…

Sweetcorn needs at least 90 days of frost-free growing Sow in a frost-protected greenhouse in April. Seedlings do not transplant well, so sow one seed per 3in (7.5cm) pot. Always use newly bought seed as seed deteriorates quickly if kept for the following year. Plant out after the last frost, in a block of staggered rows with 1½ft (45cm) spacing between plants. In cool areas, vegetable-growing guru Joy Larkcom recommends planting through a mulch of clear polythene to warm up the soil. However, this year there was no need.…

Sweetcorn is grown at a wide spacing, so before the plants mature and cast too much shade there is space to grow some quick crops in between the rows. Lettuce should be your first choice, as it appreciates a little shade as the summer rolls on. Loose-leaf varieties work especially well (I’ve found that hearting varieties develop rather loose hearts when grown in the shade of sweetcorn). Radish, baby turnips and rocket are good options if they don’t normally suffer from flea beetle in your garden. Between rows of sweetcorn, it’ll be impossible to grow them under the protection of fleece. Native Americans taught the first European settlers to grow beans up the corn and pumpkins in between. Traditionally, they were known as the ‘three sisters’ because they would only…

Scillas and bergenias The glossy bronze-purple winter foliage of bergenias, such as ‘Bressingham Ruby’ and ‘Eric Smith’, provides the perfect background to clumps of pale scillas (especially S. mischtschenkoana). Add in some hellebores and you’ll have a picture-perfect display for weeks. Chionodoxas and daffodils Interplanting spring bulbs means choosing harmonious colours and matching flowering times. Here, pale-lemon and white ‘Toto’ daffodils happily intermingle with Chionodoxa ‘Blue Giant’ in spring sun at the front of the border. Muscari and tulips Make the most of the blue tones of Muscari armeniacum by planting them with contrasting white Tulipa ‘Calgary’, which has shorter stems than many white-flowered varieties. This classic partnership will also work well in containers. Bluebells and rhododendrons In an informal shade garden, wild English bluebells will naturalise and look particularly…

‘Mrs RO Backhouse’ Regarded as the oldest ‘pink’ daffodil, it’s actually more of an apricot-coloured trumpet with ivory petals. Named after the breeder’s wife, herself a renowned daffodil hybridiser in the early 20th century. Flowers: April. H: 16in (40cm). ‘Golden Phoenix’ Grown since the 18th century and known by the Dutch as ‘Butter and Eggs’. The double flowers are made up of a mix of orange and creamy-yellow petals. Flowers: Feb-Mar. H: 16in-2ft (40-60cm). ‘Amico’ Another recent introduction by Walkers. Featuring all-yellow flowers, a shallow trumpet and a fabulous strong fragrance that makes it well suited to growing in a container beside an entrance. Flowers: March. H: 10-16in (25-40cm). ‘Firebrand’ This is an heirloom variety with a graceful appearance dating back to 1897, with orange-red short trumpets and dainty pale-lemon…

‘Sulphur Phoenix’ A very old daffodil (dating back to before 1820). The flowers are made up of ruffles of lemon and butter yellow – they look a little like bunches of feathers. Sturdy and able to withstand the vagaries of the British spring weather. H: 20-25cm (8-10in). ‘Yellow Sailboat’ Asked to name his pick for pots, Johnny Walkers recommends this new mid-season fragrant daffodil, which has all-yellow flowers that look as if they have been swept back by the wind. Its diminutive height makes it container-friendly. H: To 10in (25cm) ‘Tête Bouclé’ A new double version of the classic (and ever popular) dwarf ‘Tête-à-tête’. Buttercup-yellow flowers have multiple petals for a frilly appearance. With their compact stems they are perfect for small pots and will combine well with taller bulbs.…

1 Make sure the roots are moist, knock them out carefully and use the empty pot as a template by ‘potting’ it into the larger one, edged in fresh compost. 2 To make smaller plants, use division. Cut between crowns of growth using a knife and then prise the sections apart. 3 Drop the rootball gently into the compost: I’ve used a 50:50 John Innes No2 and soilless multipurpose mixed with 10% extra grit. 4 Tidy the new clumps and repot into new, cleaned pots, firming gently. There should be about a finger’s width between the roots and pot sides.…

Bearded iris ‘Raspberry Blush’ Colourful, fragrant bearded iris that grows from surface rhizomes and blooms in order of size; short in spring and tallest in early summer. This pretty intermediate reaches 16in (40cm). Plant from July to October. Iris unguicularis (Winter iris) Plant evergreen Iris unguicularis into poor, well-drained soil in autumn or spring. Expect almost miraculous lavender-blue flowers during the depths of winter on plants 12in (30cm) high. Scilla peruviana ‘Sapphire Blue’ From hearty clumps of evergreen bulbs, the generous racemes of violet-blue flowers open during early summer. Plant Portuguese squill bulbs 4in (10cm) deep, in autumn or spring. Reaches 12in (30cm). Crinum x powellii (Swamp lily) Despite the name, this hardy semi-evergreen is drought tolerant. Plant the bulbs with long necks showing…

Carrots and parsnips Carrots are amongst the most useful crops you can grow – and if you have a light or sandy soil you won’t find it difficult to grow large, long, tapering roots! You can chop, boil and mash them, or roast them, purée them or use them in stews – and you can juice them. As you read this, they are being pulled in gardens and allotments all around the nation. The closely related parsnip, meanwhile, is an easy-to-grow crop for winter. If anything, parsnips are even more versatile than carrots, and are certainly stronger-flavoured. In fact, some people remove parsnip chunks from stews, in order to retain just a subtlety of flavour. Let’s look at some of the stories surrounding these two root crops. Carrots in colour!…

Gardeners – be vigilant THERE is a vicious army just across the English Channel, awaiting its chance to invade and devastate our green and pleasant land. We must do everything in our power to prevent this deadly army from reaching our shores. Once here, it is too late and Britain will never look the same again. How scary is that? Of course, I mean the threat from the diseases that are already wiping out Italy’s olive groves [xylella] and other plants and trees in Europe. Action Oak, a campaign launched at Chelsea Flower Show, is attempting to safeguard our iconic British oak from attack. We gardeners must be vigilant too and make sure plants we buy are grown in the UK, and no one tries to bring back any plants…

Joy told me that the reason the tabasco chilli variety became so popular in sauce is because the fruit comes away from the ‘calyx’ – the pixie hat-style top where it attaches to the plant. This makes it fast and economical to pick. To grow in the UK, though, tabasco requires good heat and light early in the year. An easier, more flavourful (in my opinion) and more colourful option is the cayenne. As well as being abundant, it is also long and thin, so it’s easy to slice when cooking and dry for use in winter.…

1 Naturalising means growing plants in natural-looking gatherings, so throw them on the grass and plant where they fall. 2 Carefully excavate a hole for each bulb and plant it at two or three times as deep as its height, pointed end upwards. 3 Pour removed soil down the hole over the bulb and replace the grass plug. Water well and mark the planting area. 4 The bulbs, such as these fritillaries, will flower next spring and will multiply and improve over the years as they mature.…

1 Put crocks and container compost or bulb fibre in the pot and add the first bulbs – in this case, tulips. 2 Cover the bulbs with compost. Container compost and bulb fibre are formulated to give good drainage. 3 Avoid placing the second layer directly over the first lot of bulbs, so they will grow around each other. 4 After adding more compost, I topped my ‘lasagna’ with delicate Anemone nemorosa (wood anemone) 5 Water the bulbs, place the container on feet somewhere sheltered and wait until spring when you should get a stunning show.…

AG READERS have a rare opportunity to name a variety of hitherto-unknown apple. Volunteers at a community orchard at Forty Hall Farm in Enfield, London, have launched a naming competition following the discovery of a new type of apple among its crops. The tree was found by fruitID.com, part of the research organisation NIABEMR at East Malling in Kent, which helps record different fruit varieties in the UK. Graham Welch, who has volunteered on the orchard since it started in 2011, said that the volunteers wanted the public to take part in the naming process. He said, “We thought a naming competition would be a great way of getting people involved – though we don’t want suggestions of Appley McAppleFace!” The competition will close on 28 September 2018 and the…

A NEW hardneck garlic that packs a punch and is ideal for Asian and Mediterranean cooking is available for the first time this year. ‘Czech Mate’ is a hardneck garlic originating from the Czech Republic. It has been trialled and bred by the Isle of Wight Garlic Farm and is sold through DT Brown. It is best planted between October and January, and develops a glazed purple skin and beautifully striped purple bulbs. “Garlic is one of the easiest vegetables to grow, thriving in all but the heaviest soils and perfectly suited to pots and containers. This is instrumental in making garlic a must-grow vegetable on allotments throughout the land,” said Tim Jeffries from DT Brown. “These new varieties are bred for the UK climate, have excellent disease resistance and…

1 Summer flowers are fading, but there is still colour thanks to berries and rosehips. Leave them to add interest and feed birds. 2 Many plants, such as clematis, will keep on growing in the autumn warmth, so keep them trim and tidy. 3 Plant out any hardy cuttings taken earlier in the year. They will have time to root and establish before they go dormant and the top growth dies back. 4 Raise containers on feet to let excess water drain away. This is important in winter as it helps prevent trapped water freezing, expanding and cracking the pot.…

THE journey into autumn and winter can be dismal, so it’s essential to have something to look forward to. Planning next year’s garden is a good place to start, and this month is the perfect time to sow next summer’s hardy annuals. These plants, which include nasturtium, sunflowers, poppies and poached egg plant, can also be sown next spring. However, those that get an autumn head start have time to form roots before dormancy, and will surge strongly ahead in spring. This week’s free seeds are Lupin ‘Pixie Delight’. These hardy annuals can be sown now and will produce spires of white, pink and blue flowers. They grow to 16in (40cm), making them ideal for areas towards the front of borders. Seeds do best in cultivated soil where they don’t…

HOW did your pond survive the summer? Did it turn into a stagnant bog or did you manage to keep it filled and thriving through the drought? Whatever happened, with autumn on its way, it is time to prepare your ponds for winter dormancy. Clear the water of all dead and dying aquatic vegetation before it has time to rot. Also, scoop out deciduous leaves that have started to come down. If you leave decaying vegetation in the water it will decay and release toxic gases that can poison fish and any overwintering aquatic creatures. Laying netting over the surface of the pond will save you a lot of time and effort. Make sure you test your water, too, especially if you have topped up your pond with lots of…

THE great thing about being a grandparent is that you’ve done it all before. The school run, the taxi service, shopping for shoes, picnics and walks are a doddle second time around and, rather like a riding a bike, you never forget. Last May, I was charged with looking after four of my grandchildren during the Easter holiday. The weather was indifferent that week and little arguments began to break out like a rash. The antidote is a walk, preferably long and arduous, with a promise of food at the end. It always works, although it’s not always popular! As we strode up the village, a neighbour’s excitable dog appeared to be rolling a ball along the ground. One of the sharp-eyed grandchildren noticed it was a hedgehog curled into…

SUPER-KEEN grow-your-owners always like to make extra sowings, and now is an ideal time to squeeze in a few before falling temperatures make germination unlikely. Bare gaps appear all over plots in autumn and while you could sow green manures on them (as with my project last week), you can alternatively fill the space with something edible. I’ve worked out that our household doesn’t need raw salad in winter (except when supporting a Christmas-day prawn cocktail), so I’m focusing on those that can be stir-fried or sautéed down in seasoned butter. Annual spinach, for example, is surprisingly hardy, as are komatsuna, turnip tops and mustards – and all (crucially) are quick to germinate. These leaves can be joined by pak choi; you may not get massive rosettes come late October,…

Protect young plants from surprise late frosts and keep maturing ones well watered to encourage as many long, well-filled cobs as possible. Cobs deteriorate quickly when past their best. Once the silks turn dark brown, pull back the sheath and press a kernel with your fingernail. Juice will emerge, and if it is ‘watery’ it is unripe; ‘milky’ it is ripe; ‘doughy’ it is over-ripe.…

WHAT could be more exciting than producing your own plants for free? Propagation is a joy and an exciting challenge. Some gardeners will have slightly different advice from others, so there are no hard-and-fast rules – just tips and techniques shared among fellow enthusiasts. Visitors to my open garden often ask me how to propagate plants, and I am surprised how few have tried their hand at hardwood cuttings. I find them one of the easiest cuttings to take, as the plant material you are working with is robust. The cuttings have no leaves, so there’s no chance of wilting! Hardwood cuttings can be taken at any time from early to late autumn using mature shoots of the current season’s growth. By taking the cutting in the dormant season, it…

Chionodoxa luciliae AGM The most widely grown chionodoxa, its soft blue starry flowers have a white throat and a darker streak through each petal. Good for carpets of early colour when naturalised in summer borders. Flowers: Feb-Mar. H: 6-8in (15-20cm). Muscari aucheri ‘Blue Magic’ Tightly packed heads of pale-blue closed flowers at the top, and darker blue open flowers below; each has a narrow white rim. Plant under deciduous shrubs – the roots will keep bulbs dry in summer. Flowers: Apr-May. H: 4-6in (10-15cm). Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica AGM Features clean white, faintly blue-tinted, starry flowers, each petal with a bright blue streak from base to tip. Inexpensive; plant in drifts in grass or borders. Flowers: Mar-Apr. H: 4-6in (10-15cm).…

Plant in September and October so that the bulbs can establish while the soil is still warm. Sprinkle some bonemeal in the planting hole to help root growth. Plant at three times the depth of the bulb, with the pointy end facing upwards. Remove dead flower buds so that the energy is sent into the bulb rather than into making seeds. Don’t cut back the foliage or tie it up. Allow it to die back naturally for at least six weeks as this will feed the bulb for next year.…

When can I prune my clematis? Q My clematis are in two pots, but I would like to put them into one pot. Is now the right time to cut them back or will I have to wait? Mr J M Hodgson, Aspatria, Cumbria A Looking at the flowers of your clematis, I would say it is C. cirrhosa, which is technically a winter-flowering species, though like yours, mine produces flowers in spring and autumn. The best time to prune this type of clematis, if pruning is required, is immediately after flowering, so this would be in spring. If you need to prune now then it is fine to do so, but you will almost certainly remove this winter’s flowers. However, things will be back to normal by next winter,…

WATERING the garden flower beds or veg plot in long, dry periods is essential, but it’s also expensive as many of us pay for water by volume used. It’s also controversial – some environmentalists say we shouldn’t water at all. So finding the most efficient way of watering makes a lot of sense. Drip irrigation hoses and soaker hoses deliver a small amount of water, slowly, to the base of the plants. The water soaks into the soil rather than running off or evaporating. These hoses can be left in place on a garden bed permanently, and attached to a hose when you want to water. The best times to use them are late evening and early morning. Pathonor Micro Irrigation Drip System £15.49 plus delivery £4.49 amazon.com Features Set…

6 September 1996 The first-ever National Amateur Gardening Show, organised by Amateur Gardening, was held at the Royal Bath & West Showground in Somerset. 9 September 1850 California officially became a US state – its 31st. It boasts the largest currently living object, the Californian sequoia tree, known as ‘General Sherman’ in Sequoia National Park (right); and the tallest living object, the ‘Hyperion’ coast redwood, at 380.3ft (115.92m). 9 September 1898 Beverley Nichols, author, playwright, journalist and composer, was born. He also wrote a number of gardening books, including Down the Garden Path (1932), How Does Your Garden Grow? (1935), Garden Open Today (1963) and Garden Open Tomorrow (1968). He died in 1983. 9 September 1914 The London Gardens Association had its first-ever annual exhibition at the Horticultural Halls, Vincent…

IT is true to say that bulbs are an easy way to bring colour to the garden, but there are certain rules to adhere to for optimum results. First, prepare your soil by forking it over to break up the clods and remove any stones, roots and weeds. Bulbs do best in soil that is fertile and free-draining, in sheltered sunlight or light shade. They can rot in soil that is slow-draining or prone to waterlogging. When planting bulbs I enrich our soil with well-rotted organic matter and bulb fibre (usually used for container bulbs, but will help wherever they are planted). The same ingredients can be used to enrich and leaven heavy clay soils. Read the packet to see how high they will grow and position them in your…

AWAR of words has broken out surrounding the use of the country’s most popular garden chemical. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in a cocktail of chemicals found in the UK’s most popular weedkillers. It is a systemic killer and works by travelling though the whole plant down to the roots after application to the leaves. It appears in brands used by domestic gardeners including Resolva, Roundup, Job Done and Weedol. It is also widely used commercially and its prevalence in farming has increased by 400% in the past two decades. Last month Monsanto, which launched Roundup in 1974, was ordered by a Californian court to pay damages of $289m (£224m) to groundsman Dewayne Johnson, who said prolonged use of the chemical had caused his terminal non-Hodgkin lymphoma. “Agricultural use has…

AS gardening continues to grow in popularity, two of the five RHS shows held in London are moving to larger premises and two more are being staged together in the capital’s RHS Lindley & Lawrence Halls. The events are currently held in the Royal Horticultural Halls, but from 2019 The Early Spring Show will move to RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex, The Orchid Show will be incorporated into The RHS Spring Launch Show in London, and the Autumn Show will move to Hyde Hall. The London Shows currently attract 12,000 visitors a year. In contrast, individual RHS Flower Shows at RHS Gardens attract more than 45,000 people at Wisley, 26,000 at Hyde Hall, nearly 14,000 at Harlow Carr and, in its first year, 9,000 at Rosemoor Flower Show. RHS…

ALTHOUGH the days are developing an autumnal nip, they are still long, light and warm enough for good things to keep happening in the garden. So it is essential that we maximise every day to get the most from this year’s bounty. Whether it’s flowers or fruit and veg, optimise every hour of daylight to get the best results. Whether this means regularly deadheading the last of the healthy summer bedding to squeeze out every new bloom, or cutting back foliage to help your last tomatoes ripen, just do it! Our tomatoes have been brilliant, apart from one or two cases of blossom end rot – a result of the hot dry spell. We have had so many fruits right through the season and some are still not quite ripe…

THE arrival of prepared (Christmas-flowering) hyacinths used to be the trigger in garden centres for the move from gardening to Christmas items. However, no excuse is needed these days as the wide of range of Christmas-geared lines is so large that it will dominate sales for the next three months. Even so, prepared hyacinth bulbs will be arriving in the next week or two and are best bought right away and potted up if you want fragrant flowers by the end of December. I am always a bit uneasy if prepared hyacinths arrive too early, as they need to be lifted as soon as possible and stored in the warm (the equivalent of summer) before a period in cool temperatures (a condensed autumn), so when they arrive on sale the…

1 Prepare the ground before sowing by digging out all weeds, and also removing stones and other debris. 2 Rake the soil and break it down to a fine tilth. This makes it easier for seedlings to send out roots as they grow. 3 Sow seeds according to the packet instructions, scattering them thinly so you won’t need to thin seedlings by hand later on. 4 After watering and labelling, protect the seedbed from disturbance with a layer of twigs or a chemical deterrent.…

8-9: Holker Chilli Festival: Holker Hall and gardens, Cark-in-Cartmel, Grange-Over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 7PL. 01539 558328, holker.co.uk 9: Plant fair: Weston Park, Weston-under-Lizard, Shifnal, Staffs TF11 8LE.weston-park.com 9: Ruislip Central Horticultural Society Autumn Show: The Great Barn, Manor Farm Site, Bury Street, Ruislip HA4 7SU. 01923 451616, ruisliphorticultural.org.uk Until 30: Floral Fantasia: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 11: Garden Tour with Friends of Harlow Carr: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, N Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 14-16: Devon Chilli and Chocolate Fair: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 15-16: Cyclamen Society Show Weekend: RHS Harlow Carr 16: Mapperton House Autumn Garden Fair: Mapperton House and Gardens, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3NR. 01308…

HAVE you got similar autumnal childhood memories to me? I had great fun kicking piles of leaves under huge sweet chestnut trees, and splitting open the hedgehog-like seedcases to reveal hidden treasures inside. We’d then trundle home, dad would pierce the chestnuts with a skewer, and we’d lay them on the hob to roast – delicious! While sweet chestnuts can grow into sizeable trees that most gardens can’t accommodate, their more diminutive friends – hazelnuts and almonds – are realistic options that are just as delicious. We have a row of six hazelnuts at the bottom of our veg plot. As well as providing me with abundant pea sticks, they also offer up a generous bounty of nuts, which make for excellent eating, raw or roasted. Here’s how to harvest…

FRESH sweetcorn: it’s the taste of summer. Cut it from the plant, tear off the husk, into the steamer and onto the plate. Rub it with basil, or add pepper, then some unsalted butter. And bite right in – you can’t beat it. Or grill on the barbecue; tonight’s supper sorted. If you have the space sweetcorn is top of the list for growing your own, as the cobs you see in the supermarket have been on their way from the farm for two or three days, and even with today’s improved varieties that’s two or three days too long. You wouldn’t believe the dried-up cobs I saw in a top supermarket recently. However, I’m always put off growing sweetcorn by the fact that it takes a lot of room…

Old-fashioned Sometimes recommended for the best flavour, but will lose their sweetness promptly from the moment cobs are cut. Easy to grow from seed. Supersweet Loses sweetness less rapidly, but must be grown in isolation from other types. Germination may be poor in cool conditions. Augmented Supersweet Retains its sweetness for longer; kernels are very tender and thin-skinned so is easy to eat. Germination may be poor in cool conditions. Tendersweet Thin-skinned kernels are very sweet and slow to turn starchy. Isolation not needed. Needs warmer conditions than other types in order to perform well.…

1 Growth that bends won’t make a good hardwood cutting. 2 If you’re taking lots of hardwood cuttings and you’re not ready to plant them in a garden trench straight away, place in a jar of water. 3 A common reason for failure is cuttings drying out, so water them well in hot weather and remove any competing weeds. 4 Take care when lifting and potting on rooted cuttings, as the roots are very delicate and dislike disturbance. 5 Protect your hardwood cuttings from rabbits!…

“Bringing new varieties to market is a very long process,” explains Johnny Walkers. “From first pollination to first flower will be a minimum of five years, with no guarantee that you’ve got anything worth having. Multiplication to the stage where you have enough to market in large quantities can be another 10-15 years. “Qualities we’re looking for include: something that grows consistently well; daffodils that are dual-purpose – suitable for picking and a good flower for the garden; disease resistance; and nice round bulbs. Show-bench potential is a bonus, and the flower needs to be forward-facing as opposed to downward-facing.”…

Q Our peace lily arrived with lots of lovely white flowers against green foliage. A year on, it has brown leaf tips and has forgotten how to flower. How do I lift it out of the doldrums? Marjory Powers, Glasgow A Peace lilies (spathiphyllum hybrids) are cousins of the arum lily and much admired for their white, sail-like flowers against deep green foliage. We can buy them in bloom year-round, but plants in the home often take a break, usually from midwinter to early summer. Each slim white sliver unrolls to reveal a white spathe surrounding a column or spadix of true flowers. These last for several weeks, then turn an attractive green. A long-term failure to bloom is usually remedied with better light. When siting a peace lily, remember…

Plant Nerine bowdenii in well-drained soil and a sunny position, so the tips of the bulbs are showing. Spring is the best time to propagate by lifting, dividing and replanting, but I also carry this out as flowers fade in autumn. In colder regions, mulch over and around the bulbs with dry material such as straw or bracken, but remove for summer. Nerines grow well in pots (preferably clay) of well-drained compost; use 50:50 John Innes No2 and soilless compost with 20% added sharp grit.…

Kingfisher Soaker Hose 15m £9.99 plus delivery £4.95 01948 664563 housemakers.co.uk Features Flexible, porous ‘leaky’ hose fitted with 2x tap connectors, one with integral shut-off valve. Length 48ft (15m). Performance A good example of the porous seep hoses offered by many outlets. Snake it around plants in the flower or veg beds, snap on the hose, turn on the water (you can clearly see it seeping through) and come back in half an hour. There are no worries about which way up the hose lies, it won’t clog up, it puts water exactly where you want it and, being so unobtrusive, it can be left in place. The volume of water delivered looks modest, but is actually very substantial. Value Prices vary enormously on the internet, so shop around. You…

Gro-Sure Smart Lawn Seed is guaranteed to grow! It can be used in full sun, shade and on worn areas and patches. Its aqua gel formulation soaks up to 400 times its weight in water, reducing seed loss due to erratic watering, and keeps working for the whole season. We have one pack to give away, worth £9.99. See below for details of how to enter the prize draw. How to enter Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Gro-Sure Smart Lawn Seed Draw (8 September), Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF. Or you can email your details to ag_ giveaway@ti-media.com, heading the email Gro-Sure Smart Lawn Seed Draw (8 September). The closing date is 14 September 2018.…

FOLLOWING a disastrous audition for the school orchestra, my music teacher once took me aside and said, “It’s easy to overdo it with the triangle…” I never played again, but I often think of his words, especially when cooking with chillies. Like the triangle, they have a reputation for being fortissimo and fiery, and more so still! But that underestimates their range and complexity – in some, heat is neither present nor wanted. “Heat in chilli varieties is down to a single gene” Fashionable ‘Padron’ chillies, for example, should have no spice at all. Harking from Spain, they’re fried whole, salted and served as a tangy tapas in trendy restaurants – but they come with a warning that one in 13 will be spicy, which makes eating a dish like…