Innholdsfortegnelse for 12-Jan-2019 i Amateur Gardening

YOUR roses may look as barren as the majority of the garden, but these dormant weeks are your cue to prepare them for spring growth and summer flowering. There are two main jobs to do now: pruning and planting. You may have trimmed your roses in autumn, but late winter is the time to cut them right back. Remove old, damaged and weak stems and get rid of diseased stems, cutting them back to healthy wood. Cutting them back hard now also helps prevent excessive strain on the plants’ roots when winter storms blow through. Also, remove any faded late blooms or balled flowers that will spread fungal disease if left. Leave any hips, though, for extra winter colour. We have a very old, inherited red floribunda that has been…

1 Check that the roots are healthy and immerse them in water. If you can’t plant immediately, keep them wrapped and damp somewhere cool. 3 Fork over the sides of the hole so roots can spread and water escape, and add a generous amount of well-rotted manure. 2 The hole should take all the roots and be deep enough so that the graft union (where the cultivar joins the rootstock) is at soil level. 4 Plant the rose, spreading the roots and infilling around them with a mix of soil and compost or manure. Firm the soil and water generously. 5 Finally, mulch around the plant with a generous layer of well-rotted manure or compost. This insulates and nourishes the roots and suppresses weeds.…

AG wildlife columnist Val Bourne has been honoured by the UK’s top garden media organisation. At a glittering ceremony at the Savoy Hotel in London, Val was presented with the Dr David Hessayon Garden Columnist of the Year Award for her weekly page by the Garden Media Guild. Val said: “I was delighted to win for Amateur Gardening. I love writing my wildlife pieces about my garden for such a worthy band of readers.” The panel of judges praised Val as: “An old-school horticultural expert with real authority, she writes with clarity and simplicity, packing masses of interesting information and technical detail into her weekly column on garden wildlife. “It’s easy to read and always thought-provoking (even if you don’t always agree with her stance) getting deep under the skin…

Treads on spades protect the instep on footwear, but on heavy soil they increase the amount of clay sticking to the blade. Spades and forks with wooden handles can be repaired when the handle breaks – an impossible repair with plastic. A UK forged, secondhand, worn-in spade or fork can be a very good investment, as long as there is no woodworm in the handle. A curved tined dung fork has a number of garden uses, including to turn compost and reversed to pull down clods of soil, ready to sow seeds.…

IF, like me, you’re gardening for wildlife, it’s vital to have plants that produce early flowers because the earliest bees in your garden are likely to be solitary bees or bumblebees. These bees will emerge early, after hibernating, because they have no food underground. They’ll appear on mild January afternoons and, if the flowers are in a warm position, nectar will flow in abundance. It’s the Lucozade of the insect world. The queen bees emerge first and the earliest is usually a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). These large queens visit crocus and hellebore flowers. One of my favourite early flowers is a British native hellebore with maroon-edged green bells, but these green bells want to attract flies so their flowers have a meaty, unpleasant smell. It’s called the stinking hellebore…

1 Choose somewhere sheltered like the base of a south- or west-facing wall. Use bricks, timber or even upcycled frames from old windows to make walls. 2 The lid needs to be transparent for good light penetration. Glass, acrylic or twin-walled polycarbonate are ideal, as they have strong insulation properties. 3 Your frame is ready! Prop the lid open on warmer days. As well as spring seedlings, it’s also ideal for potted herbs and succulents that dislike winter wet.…

Evenness of flower form Purity of flower colour Appeal of colouring Prolific flowering Strong stems Overall elegance of the plant Length of flowering season How to plant waterlily dahlias Waterlily dahlias are available either as rooted cuttings or as tubers. While tubers will usually make larger plants, they are also more expensive. Pot up rooted cuttings into 3½in (9cm) pots. Move them into larger pots before hardening off and planting out after the last frost. Pot up tubers into 4.5-6in (12-15cm) pots, depending on the size of the tubers. Last year I had to pot on some of mine as they grew so well. Keep your plants frost-free but cool to avoid straggly growth. Tubers can also be planted directly into the garden in early May. Soil should be mounded…

Phacelia tanacetifolia Generally grown as an annual green manure, phacelia makes a surprisingly good cut flower – those curving, lavender-blue flowers not only look good, but they also last ages when picked. It’s fast-growing, too. HxS: 27x20in (70x50cm). Antirrhinum majus Seek out tall varieties with long stems, rather than short bedding ones. ‘Appleblossom’ (right) is a good choice, with pale-pink flowers that bumblebees love to push their way into. HxS: 32inx1 ½ ft (80x45cm). Amaranthus caudatus ‘Viridis’ This exotic half-hardy annual has fabulous long and dangling flower tassels in a fresh pale green. When arranging, strip away all the leaves and allow to trail over the side of a tall vase. HxS: 39x20in (1mx50cm). Rudbeckia hirta While perennial rudbeckias are popular border plants, there’s a range of half-hardy…

Q What is this plant? Rob Pritchard, Glastonbury, Somerset A The Latin name is Clianthus puniceus. It has lots of common names including glory pea and lobster claw. It is magnificent, and to see such an abundance of flowers is an extra-special treat! When I first started gardening this plant was regarded as tender. However, it is native to New Zealand, so I think it is probably better adapted to the British climate than we gave it credit for! Q Should I feed dormant plants in winter? Sheila Astbury, Galashiels, Scottish Borders A It is not necessary to feed dormant plants in winter as they are just ticking over. Feed once growth resumes in spring. An exception would be a citrus tree. A balanced foliar feed in winter can help…

Can I help my coastal plants? Q Our garden has lovely sea views, but plants take a hammering and are sometimes blown out of the ground. Evergreens turn brown and trees bend. Do you have any recommendations? Anne Tomlinson, Hastings, East Sussex A Gardens by the sea have a unique beauty, bathed in light from watery reflections and the ever-changing moods of sea and sky. To preserve your views, use swathes of low-growing plants well adapted to survive the ravages of salt, wind and harsh sun. A frame of taller windbreak shrubs can provide shelter for vulnerable plants and seating areas. Ideal coastal plants show modifications like needle-like foliage, a thick felting of hairs, succulence and waxy coatings. Some plants will inevitably fail, but don’t waste time by mourning or…

Peckish Complete Energy Balls are packed full of 12 different ingredients and added Calvita vitamins, resulting in each bite containing 28% more fat than a standard ball. Each ball has a blend of high-energy suet and the 12 ingredients from the Peckish Complete seed mix, which has been specially chosen to attract a wide variety of birds. We have two packs of 24 Peckish Complete Energy Balls to give away, each worth £4.99. See below for details of how to enter this week’s prize draw. How to enter Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Peckish Complete Energy Balls Draw (12 January), 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 Peckish Complete…

Time for tea? I THOUGHT your readers might like to see this feature in my garden. I happen to live in Teapot Lane! Love the magazine and savour it every week… with a cuppa, of course! Pamela McDougall, Inverkeilor, Scotland MY raspberries didn’t produce much fruit last year, probably because it was too dry. I did water them, but obviously it wasn’t enough. So I put the lack of a raspberry crop down to experience and left the plants, with plans to cut them back early this year. However, I couldn’t believe it when I noticed lots of fruit at the end of November! I picked a couple, tried them, and they were delicious. We hadn’t had any sharp frosts at that stage, so the raspberries were still going strong.…

Ethiopian adventures Toby visits Ethiopia as patron of the Send a Cow charity, and learns crucial lessons about third-world crop growing ETHIOPIA isn’t what I expected. But then, before flying, my only research was recalling the Band Aid video from the 1980s – and while there are acacia-tree dotted deserts, they only cover a fifth of the country. I’m in the Central Plateau, a vast area bigger than France and 2,000m (6,562ft) above sea level, travelling south along the Rift Valley. The soil is fertile, paprika-red and volcanic. Combined with the moisture of the three-month rainy season, it produces lush, leafy growth and the potential to grow a wide range of crops. Traditionally, farmers have raised taro, maize and sweet potatoes but the small, half-hectare scale of plots means these…

1 While your rose is standing in water, place crocks in its new container and add John Innes No3 and well-rotted manure or compost. 2 Slide the rose from its pot and check that its roots are healthy and undamaged. Carefully spread them out before planting. 3 Add the rest of the compost so the plant’s knobbly graft sits just above the top of the soil. Firm the compost to help anchor the plant. 4 Water your rose well and don’t let it dry out while it gets established. Keep the compost free of weeds, too.…

Roses are susceptible to several pests and diseases, and you should be alert to problems as soon as plants start to bud again in spring. Black spot is a fungal disease that causes foliage blotches that start yellow and turn purple and black. In worst attacks the leaves fall and the plant is weakened. Protect plants by collecting and destroying affected leaves in autumn and prune out stem lesions. There are also several fungicides available, plus some ‘double-dose’ ones that contain pesticides. Pests include a variety of sawflies that affect the leaves and stems, and aphids. Tackle pest infestations before they get so large that you need to resort to chemicals.…

THIS updated edition of an RHS stalwart takes you through the year, one month at a time. At the start of each month there’s a handy ‘Things to do’ list, along with ‘Last chance’ reminders and ‘Get ahead’ tips. There’s an overview of the month’s tasks, followed by a selection of ‘star plants’ (including those with an Award of Garden Merit), with the rest of each chapter packed with advice on how to care for trees, shrubs, perennials, fruit, vegetables and lawns, to name just a few. However, a subject that isn’t covered in detail is the pond. There are a couple of brief references, and these are found in the index under ‘water features’. Each month also has illustrated step-by-step projects and there’s a photographic A-Z directory at the…

WOULD you like earlier crops and bedding plants, stronger seedlings, and to grow other plants you never thought possible? Well, the new LED lights could be just what you need. Growing under cover with artificial light is hardly modern, but has always been fraught with difficulty and expense, as older sorts of lights were expensive to buy and even more expensive to run. The introduction of LED technology has changed all this. At first, these were sold as single bulbs, which could illuminate a windowsill or small table, making a few plants or seed trays happier. Then came larger units, capable of providing bright light over an area as big as a small greenhouse. With these, you can not only augment weak winter sunlight but replace it entirely. Indeed, you…

ALTHOUGH we are several weeks away from the main seed-sowing season, some seeds require long germination and can be started now. These include pelargoniums, dahlias, Iceland poppies, aubergines, petunias, and bedding and tuberous begonias. Chillies, especially hotter varieties, should also be sown now. For quick germination use a heated propagator, but if you don’t have one cover your seed tray with a lid or seal individual pots in clear plastic bags. Grow the seedlings on indoors and prick them out into individual pots when their roots appear through the holes in the bottom of the tray or pots. Pinch out the tops when the seedlings are around 12in (30cm) tall to create bushier plants. Last year’s chillies have been fruiting all winter indoors, so I picked and threaded them together…

Tap water in winter can be an incredibly chilly 2 ° C (36 ° F). Let it stand for at least an hour indoors before using it to water your plants. Excess heat (above 22 ° C/72 ° F) will compound the effect of any insufficient multidirectional light, so turn your thermostat down! Direct sunlight in January isn’t strong, but by March it will be hot enough to fry seedlings in windowsill propagators, so add shade netting. Don’t repeatedly use water from softening units, as it contains sodium. Alternate with rainwater, cold boiled water and water from dehumidifiers.…

1 Sow hardy lettuces lik e ‘Winter Gem’ in a heated propagator , to transplant under cold frames or into greenhouse borders in March. 2 Provided your soil isn ’t frozen or waterlogged, now is the perfect time to plant bare-root fruit trees, bushes and canes. 3 Harvest winter cabbages and kales. Cabbage stumps may sprout fresh ‘greens ’; keep picking the outer leaves off kale rosettes. 4 Don’t neglect stored maincrop potatoes. R otting tubers can quickly spoil others so check bags and crates frequently 5 . Lifting leeks and parsnips from frozen soil isn’t fun. Lift batches in mild spells, ‘planting’ in a pot of moist compost in the shed.…

Because their blooms are not too large – and because of their elegant, even shape – waterlily dahlias fit well into a variety of garden situations. Red ‘Taratahi Ruby’ looks superb in front of a purple-leaved elder, for example. Or for a brighter contrast, try yellow ‘Glorie van Heemstede’ or orange ‘Charlie Dimmock’. In pastel shades, pink ‘Gerrie Hoek’ may no longer have an AGM (more recent varieties have proved better), but its soft colouring – like that of ‘Jean Fairs’ – is good with white or pink buddleia arching over it, and pale-blue perennial salvias in front. The trick is not to be blinkered by outdated ideas. Treat these dahlias as elegant summer blooms that work with – not against – other flowers.…

‘Bristol’ A Spencer sweet pea whose buds open with a creamy rim, but develop into fragrant wavy-edged blooms of soft blue, paling towards the edges. ‘Matucana’ For the strongest, most pervading fragrance with jewel-like magenta and purple blooms, this Grandiflora type reaches 6ft (1.8m) tall. ‘Gwendoline’ This Spencer type has wavy-edged, rose-pink standard and keel petals, fading to white at the base. Vigorous, fragrant and lovely in bouquets. ‘Villa Roma Scarlet’ Create impact in pots or the fronts of borders with this short, heat-tolerant, floriferous and fragrant red-flowered sweet pea, reaching 8in (10cm) high.…

What plants would be safe from the perils of ravenous rabbits? QI have a problem with rabbits eating the plants placed around a loved one’s grave. What can I grow there that is ‘rabbit-proof’? Major PI Laughton, Petworth, West Sussex A Sadly, there are no such things as completely rabbit-proof plants as these animals tend to be inquisitive and will try anything new on the patch. The only sure way of preventing them is protecting the plants with rabbit wire, but that is not an attractive proposition. However, the RHS does have primroses on its list of rabbit-resistant plants, so that would definitely be something you could plant that would look pretty. There might be some damage to new growth, but once the plants are established I suspect you will…

How do I grow Drimys lanceolata ? QI was given a Drimys lanceolata for Christmas. Can you tell me how to care for it? Mrs V Hughes, Saltash, Cornwall ADrimys lanceolata, now renamed Tasmannia lanceolata, is prized for its purplish-red shoots and leathery dark-green glossy leaves. In April and May, it delights us with clusters of 7-18 small, creamy-white flowers. Introduced from Tasmania in 1843 and honoured with an RHS Award of Merit in 1926, it normally grows to 12ft (4m) high and 8ft (2½m) across. Though frost-tender, it should survive in Saltash, especially if you drape it with fleece when low temperatures are forecast. Hampered by the height of beans Q Can I pinch out runner-bean plants so they grow bushy and not so high? It’s…

Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Irene Paterson’ This pretty variegated cultivar is slower-growing than the usual apple green P. tenuifolium, and in our garden reaches 7ft (2m). Ozothamnus ‘Threave Seedling’ The ‘kerosene bush’ is a hardy silvery evergreen. Bears clusters of tiny reddish buds and white flowers in summer. Reaches 6ft (1.8m). Pinus parviflora ‘Negishi’ A slow-growing form of Japanese white pine, with silvery blue-green needles and attractive cones. Reaches 6-8ft (1.8-3m). Olearia traversii From the New Zealand daisy bush tribe, this fast-growing, silvery-felted windbreak plant responds well to any kind of pruning.…

Until recently, enthusiastic collectors were the only people interested in succulents, but now they are incredibly popular. They’re available in every garden centre, and in the high-street chains that dabble in home ornaments with a little ‘live’ greenery. So, why have we suddenly cottoned on to them? Low maintenance: they require less watering and little or no pruning. Variety: diversity of shape, size and colour, including tiny plants in small pots that can easily find a home on a table. Fewer pests: thick, waxy leaves tend to be more difficult for pests to penetrate and feed off and, anyway, pests are not so prevalent when there is little or no water around. If you do experience issues indoors, you are probably dealing with spider mites, fungus gnats, mealybugs or woolly…

Here’s an interesting technique! Lay a lattice of sticks on soil to create an aerated heap base. Stack 4-12in (10-30cm) layers of spent herbaceous stems; farmers here use pea-tops and green foliage with a high surface area (like hairy croton or, in the UK, comfrey leaves). Add a 4in (10cm) layer of dung, more tops and greens, and a dusting of wood ash, sprinkling water as you go. Bacteria eats the nitrogen in the leaves and breaks down the stems. A parasol of banana leaves prevents over-heating – although a plastic rain cover is more appropriate in the UK.…

1 Floribunda roses: Remove dead wood and cut back main stems to within 10-12in (25-30cm), reducing the oldest shoots of established plants to within a few inches of the base. 2 Hybrid teas: Shorten robust stems to within 4-6in (10-15cm) from the base. Less vigorous shoots should be cut back to 2-4 buds 2-4in (5-10cm) from the soil. 3 Climbers: Remove dead, diseased and weak shoots and cut some old woody growth right back, leaving six young stems that can be trained and will flourish. Shorten side stems by a third or a half to encourage new shoots. 4 Ramblers: Once established, remove one-third of the oldest stems and, if space is tight, prune out flowered stems and tie in new ones. If the plant is overgrown, remove all but…

“Let us know how long it takes your bag to break down” WITH just two weeks to go before AG trials its new fully compostable subscription packaging, we are asking readers who have an AG subscription to let us know how they compost their bags. The bags, which will contain the 26 January issue of the magazine, are made from potato starch and can be added to your compost heap after use. They can also be used to line kitchen food-waste containers in areas where local authorities will accept them. Months of research have gone into perfecting the bags and AG has been selected to be the first publication to try it by its parent company, TI Media. Now, we are inviting our growing number of subscribers to take part…

“I prefer ash handles worn smooth by use” THE two excellent Tried & Tested articles by Tim Rumball last month, about digging spades and forks, set me thinking in several different directions about subjects worthy of debate. I could not agree more about using a fork rather than a spade to dig out the stringy roots of couch grass. A spade is always my tool of choice for digging and soil preparation, except on stony soil where the tines pierce more easily between the hard obstructions. A forged carbon steel spade would have scored more than 12 out of 15 for me, and once well worn in it is a joy to use. It is stronger than stainless steel because of the forging – hammering a cube of steel into…

1 Wild birds will soon be nesting, so clean and refurbish boxes, hang hair and wool on bushes, and cleanse all the birdbaths. 2 Bury a sweet potato in some moist, gritty compost in warmth, forcing shoots to detach and pot for this year’s plants. 3 Use every sunny hour to finish pruning – and on a bright day, remember to pick or knock all the mummified fruits off the trees. 4 Chit your potatoes, rose end up, in a frost-free, light place, then regularly check the shoots for aphids and mealy-bugs.…

16: What Now? Your Garden in Winter: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 17: Apple pruning: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 22: Apple Pruning: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 23: Make Your Own Natural Beauty Products: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 25: Healthy Hedges – selection, planting and pruning: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 25-8 Mar (Fridays): An Introduction to Garden Design: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr ■ Send details and…

1 On kitchen paper: Kept moist in a tray, many veg seeds (radish, kale, broccoli raab, beetroot, wheat, alfalfa) can be sprouted, and eaten or grown on for an extra week to generate microleaves – try marjoram, dill, rocket, basil, wheatgrass, peas and chervil. 2 In seed trays: Many of us will be firing up windowsill propagators now (think chillies and onions) or next month for celery, celeriac, glasshouse tomatoes, dill, cucumbers, peppers, cabbage, aubergine, parsley and beetroot. Invest in a max/min thermometer, too. 3 In pots: Over the years, I’ve found these to be successful windowsill crops for pots: dwarf chillies (‘Apache’, ‘Cheyenne’), dwarf tomatoes (‘Totem’, ‘Sweet ’n’ Neat’), dwarf aubergines (‘Bambino’), basil, thyme, coriander, and lemongrass (see panel opposite).…

BIGGER is always better, right? Not when it comes to dahlias, it isn’t. Those huge dinner-plate dahlias are certainly dramatic, but if you want varieties that will sit comfortably with their neighbours in mixed borders – and which produce a steady supply of flowers that won’t topple your vases – well, those big guys are not best suited to the job. Waterlily dahlias, on the other hand, give you the best of everything. First, there’s the quiet elegance of the blooms themselves. Originally known as camellia-flowered dahlias, they are aptly named: a succession of overlapping petals create flowers just like those of waterlilies. Most reach no more than 6in (15cm) across, and often they’re smaller. Flowering from late July until the first sharp frosts – which meant the first days…

Waterlily dahlias are distinguished by their broad petals, which are slightly inrolled at the edges to create a gently cupped shape. Evenly arranged, these form a relatively flat flower, the layers helping to show off their colouring well. You’ll find them marked WL in plant catalogues. In older books they may be included in the broader category of decorative dahlias, but they were given a group of their own in the 1980s.…

Q When you grow an apple tree from a pip, would the result be a wild tree that needs to be grafted? Ursula Riniker, via email A With an apple pip, it may grow into a small tree with tasty fruits, but is more likely to grow large and unruly, or have sour-tasting fruits – there is no way of knowing its eventual character. There is no way of knowing how vigorous the rootstock will be, either. There are probably lots of unnamed, or ‘wild’, apple trees grown from planted pips or from the pips of fallen or discarded fruits. However, most apple trees have been grafted using selected stock to produce superior, more productive, trees to those raised from seed. Therefore, when grafting, it is better to use carefully…

Super succulents Succulents are plants that are capable of withstanding long periods of drought by their ability to store moisture. They do this in their leaves, stems and roots, and it is the swollen nature of these parts that identifies them from non-succulents. There are thousands of different succulent species, so let’s look at some of the stories surrounding them. The prickly pear The cactus that grows wild on cliffs beside the Mediterranean is most likely a species of opuntia, or prickly pear. They are made up of what look like oval plates, jointed together in series, and covered with spines. They have pretty bright-yellow flowers. But this is where their pleasant side ends. They do have ‘normal’ cactus spines, but they also have masses of tiny barbed hairs called…

Small changes help! TODAY, I received both my Amateur Gardening and National Trust magazines. The latter was in a bag made from potato starch, 100% biodegradable and so could go straight into my compost bin. I remember a mention of AG magazine no longer being mailed in a single-use plastic bag and wondered when you intended to change the wrapper? Following the National Trust’s example would be very welcome, as I’m sure most gardeners want to do what’s best for the environment, and avoiding single-use plastic is becoming increasingly high on the priority list. Annette Scott, Kettleshulme, Cheshire Wendy says Our subs bags are not single use and can be recycled. We are trialling a potato starch wrapper for one issue (January 26) to test how well it will…