Innholdsfortegnelse for 16-Feb-2019 i Amateur Gardening

“There is much about gardening in the Victorian era that might not entirely suit modern tastes, but there is one idea from that period that I think is positively brilliant. Have you heard of an auricula theatre? It is a lovely visual way of displaying a series of auriculas, which were hugely popular with the Victorian gardener (see pages 32-34). Rather than getting lost in borders, the plants are displayed on a set of shelves at head height. Engaging, colourful, and fun. If you have some wall space to fill, then what about an auricula theatre?” Garry Coward-Williams, Editor…

1 Cut out 20% of old, congested wood when pruning shrubs such as weigela and philadelphus. They will flower much better afterwards. 2 Reduce buddleja stems to their base (this is known as stooling) – otherwise, it will become thuggish, straggly and flower less. 3 Take out 30% of old wood from established soft fruit bushes (like blackcurrants and gooseberries), making room for productive new growth. 4 Cut back woody herbs such as sage and thyme to emerging healthy shoots, removing tatty stems. Hang the off-cuts to dry for cookery. Confused by compost? Buy next week’s AG (in the shops February 19) for everything you need to know about compost. Which one to use, how, where and when.…

ONCE the weather warms up, you can start sowing hardy annuals in situ. You could sow them now, but cold snaps are still likely and the longer they lie dormant, the greater the risk of being eaten by birds or mice, or rotting in cold wet soil. What you can do now, however, is prepare your seed beds so that when the weather bucks up you are ready to go! Decide where you want to sow your seeds and clear the soil of weeds and stones. Rake it one way, and then the other, to create a fine tilth – particles of soil with the consistency of crumble topping. You will need to weed it again before sowing if you wait for a few weeks, but the hard work is…

16-17: Snowdrop Weekend: Colesbourne Park, Colesbourne, Cheltenham Glos GL53 9NP. 01242 870264/01242 870567; colesbournegardens.org.uk 17: Snowdrop Day and Sale (10am-noon) and Talk by Val Bourne: Great Comp Gardens, Comp Lane, Platt, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 8QS. 01732 885094, greatcompgarden.co.uk 18-22: Seed Sowing Poundbury Gardens, Peverell Avenue, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 3RT. 01305 257250; thegardeneronline.co.uk 19: Ruislip Central Horticultural Society AGM and Talk on Bennington Lordship Snowdrops: St Lawrence Church, Brile Road, Pinner HA5 2SJ (7pm for 7.30pm start, all welcome) 19: Gardening for Health: Brimsmore Garden Centre, Tintinhull Road, Yeovil, Somerset, BA21 3NU. 01935 411000; thegardeneronline.co.uk 20: Gardening for Health: Poundbury Gardens, Peverell Avenue, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 3RT. 01305 257250; thegardeneronline.co.uk 21: Gardening for Health: Castle Gardens, New Road, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5NR. 01935 814633; thegardeneronline.co.uk 23-24: Snowdrop Weekend: Colesbourne…

1 Use a sharpened half-moon cutter to edge your borders and create a neater look, getting rid of straggly, overgrown grass. 2 Get rid of moles with a harmless chemical deterrent. Add molehill soil onto your borders and reseed the lawn in spring. 3 Pull or dig out perennial lawn weeds. Any unsightly holes left can be re-seeded or will be covered up by new grass growth. 4 Worm casts can create a muddy mess if left and walked on, so wait until they are dry and then sweep them away.…

ONCE the soil starts to warm up, but before plants get back into proper growth, you can increase stocks of your favourites simply by dividing them. This is brilliant in so many ways. It is the easiest and fastest way to boost plant numbers, it saves you money, and it also benefits the plants. Healthy perennials often outgrow their allotted space and when they grow too large, they can flop over, squeeze out other plants, lose their shape and become less productive. By dividing them you get rid of old, unproductive material and end up with four or five smaller plants that, if cared for well, will go on to perform brilliantly. All you need to remember is that each division should have its own healthy roots and shoots, and…

1 Fill deep pots or root trainers with fresh seed compost, so the roots have a good depth to grow in. 2 Water the compost well and let it drain. Then make a hole 2in (5cm) deep in each module or round the edge of a deep pot. 3 Drop a seed into each of the holes, then cover it up with a little dampened compost. 4 Label, add a lid or seal the pot in a plastic bag, then place in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse or on a cool windowsill.…

MOST of my neighbours think I’m odd because I’m out gardening on horrible days, wrapped up like a refugee – and there’s no insult intended. I’m also one of those gardeners who talks to their plants and I’m sure the neighbours must have heard me muttering away. Sometimes I coo over my plants when they’re looking lovely, and at other times I berate them for doing badly. I have threatened some plants with banishment to the compost heap, and the funny thing is they’ve often responded in the following year so I’ve pardoned them. If only it worked with the Best Beloved! Anyway, I’m in exalted company, because HRH The Prince of Wales is known to speak to his plants. I expect he caresses them as well, and research has…

1 Use organic sprays: Certain pest- or disease-controlling products are (or are derived from) natural plant-based products. This particular group includes pyrethrum-based insecticides, garlic greenhouse fumigants, and plant oil-based sprays that smother and suffocate aphids. The level to which you use them will depend upon your own personal opinion of what organic gardening permits. 2 Grow resistant varieties: Some varieties are especially susceptible to problems (‘Golden Delicious’ is prone to scab), whereas others are naturally resistant or have had resistance bred into them – potato ‘Blue Danube’ tubers show strong resistance to late blight. Seed catalogues and nurseries will list the positive attributes. See the panel above for three of my recommendations. 3 Try natural fertilisers Opting to use naturally occurring nutrients (rather than buying manufactured ‘artificial’ fertilisers) helps to…

1 Use up any fruits from the store before they spoil. Most will keep until March or early April at best. Any that do decay can be thrown to garden birds. 2 Test soil pH – kits can be bought at garden centres. Excess acid or alkaline results can lock up soil nutrients, causing deficiencies. 3 While it’s too early to plant spuds outside, you can set some quickto- mature ‘first earlies’ in pots in the greenhouse, to lift in May. 4 Now is the time to sow globe artichoke seeds in pots under glass, for transplanting out later 5 Check weather forecasts daily, taking special note of the minimum night temperature and covering vulnerable seedlings…

Spring onions mature quickly; consequently, like radishes, they can be sown between other crops that take longer to develop. Sow the seed in rows between slow crops such as parsnips and broad beans; it also pays to make use of gaps in flower borders. Last spring, I sowed groups of short rows of spring onions between emerging perennials, making small patches. With spring onions growing an inch apart in close rows, you can produce a good crop from between clumps of delphiniums or phlox, pulling them before the perennials shade them. I also sowed them in rows 12-16in (30-40cm) apart in March and April, and sowed cosmos in between. By the time the foliage of the rows of cosmos touched, the spring onions had been pulled.…

IF you are a fan of auriculas, it’s likely that you are also familiar with plant theatres – you might even have one yourself. These clever displays became popular during the Victorian period when auriculas were all the rage, their design enabling enthusiasts to showcase the exquisite beauty of this member of the primula family by bringing the plants up to eye level. A plant theatre consists of a series of shelves, protected from the elements with a roof; it can be freestanding or hung like a cabinet on an outdoor wall. The open shelves provide good air circulation while the roof keeps off the rain, which can wash away the white powdery coating – known as farina – on the leaves and petals of some auriculas. Fine heritage Dating…

1 From autumn to spring, use a small, strong spade (I have a specially designed transplanting spade) to dig around the sucker. 2 Lever with the blade under the roots, and the plant should come up with plenty of roots attached. Replant elsewhere, or give it away. 3 In spring, just as growth starts, look for a node low down on the stem and then cut just above this. Eventually, a low branching network will be created. 4 Here, a second stem has been cut low down. With adequate water and supplementary feeding (especially on poorer soils), sturdy new growth should soon appear.…

Do ✓ Sharpen the blade regularly. ✓ Wear gloves to protect fingers. ✓ Cut away from your body. ✓ Close and pock et the knife when not in use. Don’t ✗ Use a folding pocket knife for tackling big cutting jobs when a fixed blade knife or a different tool would be more efficient. ✗ Just press down to make a cut. Instead, use a slicing action, which will cut more efficiently and require less pressure. ✗ Let dirt build up on the blade, on the handle or in the blade pivot. Dirt causes wear, spreads plant diseases, and mucks up jacket pockets.…

Lovers of roses should celebrate this date, as it was the day that David Charles Henshaw Austin entered this world. A lover of gardening and nature, David Austin had a passion for roses, and started breeding them at a young age. His first commercial variety was ‘Constance Spry’ (pictured), in 1961. Since its founding in 1969, the David Austin Roses nursery, near Wolverhampton, has launched 200 new varieties. His roses, referred to as ‘English Roses’, are not officially recognised as a distinct rose ‘class’ by, for instance, the former Royal National Rose Society, but they are adored by growers around the world. In 2010, David was named ‘Great Rosarian of the World’. Sadly, he died on 18 December 2018, at the age of 92.…

AN open spot in reasonable soil is all a forsythia needs to thrive, and there are some excellent varieties. Forsythia x intermedia ‘Lynwood Variety’ is the most common, forming a fountain of arching stems. Trimmed after flowering, it can be used for hedging. The earliest is F. giraldiana, which flowers from February and has more muted primrose-yellow blooms. Now F. ‘Fiesta’, thanks to its variegation, is the smallest – reaching just 1m (3ft) in height and spread. Meanwhile, F. suspensa (my favourite) is the one to train up a wall or over an arch, with stems rambling to 3m (9ft).…

THERE are signs of spring everywhere you look, so use these last days of dormancy to finish off your deciduous winter pruning. Leave evergreens alone until mid-spring, as trimming them in freezing conditions can damage or kill them. Also leave grape vines and figs, as their sap starts to rise early and they will bleed excessive sap if cut now, which may weaken them and leave them vulnerable to disease. I have used these last days of winter to start to tackle our front garden, which is full of inherited shrubs that were planted so close together than none of them is thriving. The idea was obviously to create a privacy screen, but the plants are jostling for space, light, air and nutrients, and several of them are looking decidedly…

Whenever you come to thin a hedge or cut back a shrub, the chances are there will be ivy or brambles lurking. Ivy is relatively easy to tackle as it has no thorns and its roots lie shallow, so it can be pulled off as long as it isn’t too intertwined with other plants. It doesn’t directly damage trees or shrubs, and is good for wildlife, but its presence can indicate ailing or elderly trees. Brambles are more of a problem, as they have vicious thorns and root where their stems touch the soil. Cut them off just above ground level and carefully pull them free. Cut each length into sections to make removal easier. Cut up and compost the growth and either dig out the roots or kill them…

Spring bedding in containers will have taken a battering over winter, but will come back into growth with the warmer weather. Keep it looking its best by removing dead flowers and foliage and dealing with pests such as snails that hide under the rims of pots. Winters can be dry, so water if necessary or if containers are tucked against house walls, where they are sheltered from rain. Raise pots on feet so excess water can escape and keep insulating fleece or bubblewrap handy to drape over and wrap around the containers because frosts are still likely.…

THERE are several weeks to go before the ground is warm and dry enough for you to think about re-seeding or re-turfing your lawn, but there are still some things you can be doing to keep it healthy. Walk on the grass as little as possible, as regular footfall will damage the blades and create muddy paths where algae and weeds can take root. Always stay off frozen grass, because frosted grass is fragile and easily damaged. Improve compacted lawns by aerating the soil, punching holes a couple of inches deep into the turf using a garden fork or aeration tool. This helps drainage and air circulation around the grass roots. Grass keeps growing when the weather is mild enough, so remember to mow it on dry days. Make sure…

THE latest plant breeding methods are bringing a host of fascinating new plants into gardens each year – with such speed, in fact, that the improvements they offer enthusiasts can go unnoticed. A display at Gardeners’ World Live (GWL) at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham on 13th to 16th June 2019 will be a step to rectify this situation. One large pyramid and four satellites at each corner will be clad with up to 50 new and recently introduced summer-flowering plants. Additionally, alongside this will be a seating area and stage for a series of talks and demonstrations to provide information on plants displayed. “These plants flowered non-stop in my garden last year” Visitors will be able to gain advice on these plant introductions, hear about their potential, and learn…

1 Lift the parent plant from the ground, digging away from the crown to protect the roots with a generous chunk of soil. 2 Place the plant on a board or tarpaulin and slice through it with a spade or knife, or tease it apart using two garden forks placed back to back. 3 Keep the divisions out of the ground for as short a time a possible. Wrap them in damp paper if you can’t replant immediately. 4 Replant your divisions at the same depth as they were growing before, in soil that has been enriched with compost or well-rotted manure. 5 Water well so the roots are soaked, then mulch around the plant with well-rotted organic matter to keep in the moisture.…

HAVE you grown potatoes before and, if so, how did you do? The standard method is something like this: around Easter, you put sets (small potatoes) in trenches, which are mucked, then earthed up to keep down weeds and ensure no swelling tubers see light and turn green (and so become poisonous). There’s little wrong with this, but some tweaks will much improve it and give better crops for very little extra effort. First of all, planting larger sets can give bigger crops (and the resulting plants will recover from frost better). The problem with this is that sets are sold commercially of the smallest possible size. Bigger cannot be found, so you’ll need to save your own. Next, having got some sets, you can chit them – getting them…

ORGANIC gardening is, for many, an aspirational concept, but increasingly it is an achievable goal. Shop-bought organic produce can be more costly due to complex production methods or smaller yields, so the obvious solution is to grow your own. Wherever you stand on the organic spectrum, any step along it is a step in the right direction – even if you just wish to replace pesticides with more environmentally sensitive controls. Many pests and diseases can be thwarted without reaching for a spray. You can rotate carrots and cover them with insect-proof mesh to deter rootfly; cloak peaches in a polythene lean-to in early spring to stop peach leaf curl spores from germinating; or hoe under fruit trees to expose sawfly and codling moth grubs and pupae to birds. Another…

It’s propagation time, and most gardeners will use dozens (if not hundreds) of pots. Here’s how to ditch the plastic with paper and a wooden mould: 1 Cut plenty of strips of newspaper, making each strip roughly 3in (8cm) tall and 8in (20cm) long; you can tweak the dimensions to match your pot maker mould. 2 Wrap the newspaper around the mould top – do this quite loosely so that it can easily slide off. Secure in place using strips of artist’s gummed paper tape. 3 Press the papered top mould into the mould base, then twist it a few times – this will lock the base into position. Gently slide the pot off the mould, then make more!…

WE may have been doing it for millennia, but gardening is never static – especially when it comes to growing veg. New crops and new ways of cultivating them come along as our tastes change – and as our gardens change, too. Take spring onions: for hundreds of years they were simply regular bulb onions that were pulled while still small. Bulb onions were (and still are) a very important crop and were raised from seed. The seedlings needed thinning and it was these thinnings, pulled out in order to give the bulb onions space to develop fully, that were called spring onions or, more recently, salad onions (in Ireland and the US, they call them scallions). That was the standard approach: sow your onion seed in rows in spring,…

DO you put the cream on your scone before the jam, or the jam first and then the cream? I favour jam and then cream, but either way it tastes great if the quality of all the ingredients is good. The same applies to sowing sweet pea seeds – some gardeners sow direct whilst others chip or soak the seed first. For the past few years, I’ve sown my seed direct from the packet and the results have been acceptable, but some of our more esteemed horticulturists are wedded to pre-germinating the seed. After asking the question, “Do you soak or chip your sweet peas before sowing?” on Twitter, the replies came thick and fast. It seems that we are all doing different things, and this confirms that gardening is…

A number of roses have romantic stories attached to them – perfect for Valentine’s Day: ■ According to Greek mythology, white roses first appeared when Aphrodite, goddess of love, was born. ■ The stripy Rosa mundi ‘Versicolor’ is thought to have been named after Henry II’s mistress Fair Rosamund. ■ Lovely apricot rambler ‘Ghislaine de Féligonde’ is said to have been named after a woman who dragged her wounded husband to safety during WWI.…

BESPOKE designs can be made to order from hillviewhardyplants.com – or, if you or someone you know is a dab hand at DIY, you could make a traditional design in a weekend. Alternatively, upcycle an old wooden drawer; simply add in a few shelves, using wooden batons to hold them in place. Old wooden fruit crates are another easy but effective option. Stack several on top of one another, screwing into place to create compartments. Auricula theatres are often painted black as it provides a neutral backdrop against which the flowers really stand out. Not a fan of black? Try sage green or French grey. Plants look best in simple pots. Scour reclamation yards and flea markets for old terracotta or try long-toms.co.uk.…

Ballota pseudodictamnus (false dittany) A structural shrub whose long, curving stems to 30in (75cm) are clad with rounded, aromatic leaves, protected by a dense grey-white felting of shimmering appearance. Tiny white or pink flowers appear in late summer, from decorative rounded calyces. Lotus hirsutus (hairy canary clover) This shapely, semi-evergreen, reaching 2ft (60cm), deserves to be more widely grown. Grey-green leaves covered in silvery hairs act as a foil from late summer to autumn for clusters of white pea-like flowers, flushed with pink, followed by a display of russet seedpods. Cistus x pulverulentus ‘Sunset’ (rock rose) A small evergreen shrub, rarely exceeding 2ft (60cm) in height. Wavy margined grey-green leaves are joined in summer by cerise silk-like flowers, attractive to…

CUTTING string and plant ties, deadheading, taking cuttings, whittling support stakes, harvesting crops, pricking out seedlings… the list of uses for a folding pocket knife seems endless. But a knife can quickly fall out of favour if it’s not used or maintained correctly, or you have the wrong knife for the job in hand. Blade shapes When you buy a gardening knife, the first thing you’ll notice is the different blade shapes available. The most common of these is the sickle-shaped concave curved blade. The curved blade is said to help when pruning, trimming and grafting – especially woody material. If you do a lot of grafting, this might be a worthwhile choice. Personally, I don’t do grafting much, and I use secateurs for pruning. The curved blade is not…

Blowsy begonias! There are more than 1,800 species of begonia, and some authorities reckon there are as many as 10,000 hybrids and cultivars. Most begonias are tropical or sub-tropical, so here in the UK they can be grown only as house or conservatory plants, or as outdoor plants in summer. You can now sow seed of the summer bedding types, or plant tubers of the large-bloomed types, so it is the perfect time to look at some of the stories and facts surrounding these glorious plants. The begonia is named after French plant collector Michel Bégon (1638-1710). It’s in the roots Begonias are distinguished by their root structures: The fibrous-rooted forms (Begonia sempervirens type) are best known as bedding plants. The tuberous-rooted types have larger flowers usually, and make fine…

Amusing carrot I WAS intrigued by the carrot shaped like a hand in a recent issue of AG and I thought your readers might be entertained by a picture of this carrot I managed to grow. My granddaughter suggested we call it Robbie and keep it as a pet, but sad to say it ended up in a pan of vegetable soup! Muriel Haynes, Bristol Herb flowers AFTER the frost had cleared this morning, I thought I would take a look around the garden to see if there was any damage. To my surprise, I found that my Rosemary bush had started to flower with delicate pale lilac blooms. It is covered in small buds waiting to open and I thought they didn’t like the cold! Susan Grant, Rochford, Essex…

Pruning can be dangerous and it makes sense to take adequate protective precautions. If you think the task is too big, call in reputable professionals to do it for you. If you do it yourself, enlist someone to help, steady your ladders, hold tools, make the tea, etc. Don’t injure yourself bending awkwardly or reaching too high. Wear appropriate clothing and safety gear – a hat and goggles if working high up or with whippy, thorned branches. Make sure your tools are well maintained; they should be clean, oiled and sharp.…

1 Remove dead, diseased and damaged branches, and any that are weak or congested, to create an open shape. 2 Reduce fruiting branches by one third, cutting back to an outward-facing bud to stop new shoots growing inwards towards the centre. 3 After pruning, mulch around the tree’s root area with well-rotted compost or manure, making sure it doesn’t touch the trunk. 4 Either cut up or shred your prunings for the compost heap, or hang and dry them for use as pea sticks.…

REGULAR readers may recall that when I went to empty our leafmould bins to make room for more leaves last autumn, my plan was foiled by an active wasps’ nest and I had to store the collected leaves in bin liners. The winter weather has killed off the wasps, and as I plan to use our leafmould for sowing and potting up cuttings this spring, a quiet winter day gave the perfect opportunity to carry out my original plan. Leaves take a good two years to break down properly and our oldest batch has turned into beautiful, crumbly leafmould. Rich in nutrients, it can be mixed with compost for a variety of tasks, or dug into borders as soil conditioner. I shovelled the load that was ready to use into…

Cut back autumn-fruiting raspberry canes now so they have plenty of time to regenerate for this year’s cropping. You can also plant raspberries now, as bare-root and container-grown plants are both available. As long as the ground isn’t waterlogged or frozen, plant them in a sunny, sheltered spot with free-draining soil that has been enriched with well-rotted compost or manure. Keep them well watered and mulch around the new stems to keep in the moisture, feed the roots and suppress weeds.…

1 Scented begonias, including ‘Sweet Spice Bounty’, have the added benefit of producing tubers, so buy one this year and, with careful harvesting, grow on to flower freely in future summers. 2 The FleuroStar 2018 winner, most-voted for by growers, is Osteospermum ‘Purple Sun’, which was described as being “like the summer sun setting over the ocean”. 3 There is a new pink in the form of the fibrous-rooted Begonia x benariensis ‘Mr Big Series’, which are very vigorous and really cover the ground. 4 Alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’ is a great garden plant with stems tall enough to cut, and it now has additional colours, too.…

SWEET peas are a perennial favourite among gardeners, and it isn’t hard to see why. With their multi-coloured petals and signature scent, they basically sum up all that is wonderful about a British summer garden. This week’s free seeds are Mr Fothergill’s Sweet Pea ‘Perfume Duet Grandiflora’, robust climbers that will look stunning in the garden and last well as cut flowers for indoors arrangements. They are hardy annuals and have three sowing times throughout the year. You can start them undercover between now and March, growing them on in a cold frame, unheated greenhouse or cool windowsill. This stops them growing too fast and becoming weak and leggy. A second option is to sow them directly into the soil in where you want them to grow between March and…

1 Buy some new bags of sowing compost from dry, fast-moving stacks and then store them indoors to warm up, ready for use. 2 Pre-warm the site for your earliest potato crop by using a black plastic sheet or cloches – or even better, use both. 3 Spread any wood ash not saved for potato, tomato or onion crops underneath your cooking apple trees and gooseberry bushes, and then other apple trees. 4 If the soil is friable, plant onion, shallots and garlic sets – if not, plant in pots or cells under cover.…

Courgette ‘Yolanda’ Courgette ‘Defender’ was my benchmark disease-resistant variety until I trialled this. It’s a stalwart veg, so it’s essential to grow one with strong powdery mildew resistance. Tomato ‘Mountain Magic’ This productive and tasty F1 hybrid variety consistently shows strong resistance to late blight – the most devastating of tomato diseases. Gooseberry ‘Invicta’ No fruit grower should be without a gooseberry bush, and this variety shows strong resistance to potentially destructive American gooseberry mildew.…

IF you’ve grown dwarf French beans, it’s a quick side-step to the soybean (Glycine max), which enjoys much the same conditions. Picked whilst immature, then steamed or boiled and seasoned with salt, the plump seeds are squeezed out of their pods using your teeth. The harvest is healthy, too, being packed with protein, B vitamins and energy-giving iron, magnesium and manganese ( just ensure they’re fully cooked). Sow two or three seeds per 3½in (9cm) pot of compost, germinating them in a heated propagator (at least 18°C). Recently introduced varieties like ‘Summer Shell’ mature more quickly, but a long growing season is still required, so sow early if you can provide heat until May; they can then be planted out into a sunny, free-draining spot for late summer harvests.…

If you have collected and stored your own sweet pea seeds, but aren’t confident of their viability, place them on damp kitchen paper for 48 hours before sowing and you’ll be able to see if they’re in good shape. When sowing large amounts of seed, it might not be viable to pre-germinate them all. Many experienced growers swear by sowing straight from the packet. Sweet peas can be sown any time from October-March. October-sown sweet peas are thought to cope better in a hot summer. Sow seed in root trainers as they pull apart easily and cause less root disturbance when planting. Use seed compost rather than multipurpose compost.…

SITE Most roses are sun worshippers; however, a few climbers (including ‘Madame Alfred Carrière’) will tolerate a north-facing wall. SOIL These plants like rich, well-drained soil, so dig in plenty of organic matter (such as compost). WATER During a heatwave, even established roses will require a generous drink every day. PRUNING Ramblers should be pruned in early autumn; climbers in late autumn or winter; shrubs in late winter. FOOD Fork in some rose food and organic compost after pruning. HEALTH Plant with perennials to reduce the chance of sickness. Salvias are especially effective.…

How can we brighten concrete? Q When we moved our shed, we were left with the solid concrete base. How can we make it more attractive? Barbara and Richard Whittaker, via email AI suggest that you leave the base intact and camouflage it with pea shingle. Then embellish it with pots in which you can grow a wide range of summer-bedding plants or small shrubs. There’s a huge range to choose from. Choice summer bedding includes African daisies (osteospermum), zonal geraniums, petunias, New Guinea busy Lizzies, nemesias and Phlox drummondii . If you’d rather have small shrubs, azaleas, dwarf rhododendrons, Spiraea ‘Gold Mound’, sacred Japanese bamboo ( Nandina domestica ), tree peonies, Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’ and rock roses (cistus, especially ‘Silver Pink’) would serve you well. Cover pot drainage holes…

How do I control glory flower? Q I have planted a Clerodendrum bungei and I adore its late pink blooms. However, plants have suckered and some have grown tall, so the border is crowded and overgrown. When and how should I prune and thin these out? Bella Gibson, Crawley, West Sussex A Many clerodendrums are tropical beauties, but fortunately for us, Chinese Clerodendrum bungei is hardy and, despite its hothouse looks, it is happy to grow in most British gardens. Generous panicles 6in (15cm) across of voluptuous pink buds form from late summer into autumn, opening into fragrant blooms. These are offset by large, rather odd-smelling leaves, dropping in autumn to reveal stands of slender stems. They look great almost anywhere in the garden, from mixed borders to exotic beds…

Jack knife: A large knife with a folding blade Pruning knife: Has a concave curved blade with a pointed tip Budding knife: Has a straight blade with a flat, blunt tip Locking blade: Blade has a mechanism to lock it open so it can’t spring shut accidentally Whetstone or waterstone: An abrasive flat stone for sharpening knife blades Steel: A cylindrical metal rod with a textured surface for sharpening blades Pull-through sharpener: Handle or bench block with sharpening stones set in a V notch…

The Peckish All Weather Seed Feeder is 30cm tall and ideal for hanging from a tree or a bird station. The strong and durable polycarbonate tube has four feeding ports with metal posts, and a quick-release base for ease of cleaning. The All Weather Seed Feeder is designed to withstand all weather conditions, so just choose your favourite seed mix, fill the feeder and enjoy the sight of a host of colourful birds visiting your garden. We have one Peckish All Weather Seed Feeder 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 Peckish All Weather Seed Feeder Draw (16 February), Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough,…

THE cuckoo’s song might herald the start of spring but it’s the ‘yellow peril of suburbia’ – the forsythia – that flags spring’s arrival, glowing out of beds and borders in every street in Britain. Originally from China and East Asia, the plant was named in William Forsyth’s honour in recognition of his many services to gardening, including the foundation of the Royal Horticultural Society, the concoction of the first ‘wound paint’ for damaged trees, and the invention of the rock garden. Born in Scotland in 1737, William Forsyth trained and became curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, where he invented the rockery. This innovation was born when Forsyth serendipitously stacked lumps of ‘unwanted’ stone snaffled from the Tower of London and added them to lava samples collected by Sir…