Innholdsfortegnelse for 23-Feb-2019 i Amateur Gardening

IT’S the season of stocking up for the year ahead, and nothing takes up more space or money than compost. Not only that, but there is such a wide array of strengths and varieties it’s easy to get bamboozled. So let us talk you through it. Choosing the right compost for your plants and soil; remembering that a container plant will have different requirements to those growing in the ground; realising that the azalea you’ve just been given actually needs acidic soil and you garden on chalk – all this and more will need to be taken into consideration. And what about your houseplants? Should you risk repotting your moth orchid in cactus compost, or will indoor plant compost be fine? Come to think about it, is orchid compost something…

PETER McDermott of YouGarden described last year’s weather as ‘quirky’. While it had many benefits for gardeners and suppliers, there was also a downside. “The weather last summer meant people spent more time in their gardens. It was lovely to be out there in the warm evenings, and hopefully that will help us this year,” he said. “However, there has been a shortage of bulbs due to the hot dry spell, which is a big problem. Volume is down and the grade of available bulbs is also down. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a better year in 2019. Last year has been a mixed blessing, because although the price of bulbs has gone up, suppliers are re-planting the smaller bulbs to sell another year.” Tim Jeffries from Mr Fothergill’s…

Any seeds sown earlier this year and germinated on windowsills, in propagators or a cold frame should be coming along well now. Keep them healthy by removing any coverings to let air circulate around them and help prevent the problems caused by fungal disease. This is a good time to thin them out if you sowed them too close together. Also, check any overwintered hardy seedlings for pests and diseases. Pinch out broken and dead foliage, and check the pots for slugs and snails. If the ground is workable and not frozen or waterlogged, you may be able to start planting them out.…

SPOTTING the first snowdrop buds nestling among the grass under our apple tree always gives me a thrill of pleasure. Winter may not be over, but we are certainly heading in the right direction. While most spring bulbs are put in the ground in autumn, some can be planted now while they are still in leaf or even in flower. This is known as planting ‘in the green’ and it works particularly well with snowdrops and cheery yellow winter aconites. It tends to give better results than starting with bulbs, because you can tell the plants are alive and growing well, and their roots will soon re-establish in the soil. Growing from bulb is not impossible, but because snowdrop bulbs are so small, they can dry out quickly in shops…

23: Seed Potato and Variety Awareness Day (10am-3pm): St Philip and St James Church Hall, 91 Kings Road, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 3AR. Admission £1 to church rebuild funds. 23-24: Snowdrop Weekend: Colesbourne Park, Colesbourne, Cheltenham Glos GL53 9NP. 01242 870264/01242 870567; colesbournegardens.org.uk 25: Basic Vegetable Growing for Complete Beginners: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830; rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 26: Early Spring Pruning: Brimsmore Garden Centre, Tintinhull Road, Yeovil, Somerset, BA21 3NU. 01935 411000; thegardeneronline.co.uk 27: Early Spring Pruning: Poundbury Gardens, Peverell Avenue, Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 3RT. 01305 257250; thegardeneronline.co.uk 28: Plants for Winter Interest: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0845 265 8071, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hydehall ■ Send details to ruth.hayes@ti-media.com or What’s On, Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough…

1 Now the coldest part of winter is over, it’s a good time to prune roses, buddlejas, bamboos and most hollow-stemmed shrubs. 2 Split clumps of chive up, and use these to line a path or bed – they’ll multiply quickly to produce a grand display. 3 Hire an electric grinder to help put a really good edge on all your tools – and be sure to do your friends’ tools, too! 4 Is your petrol-based mower ready for cutting grass? Once it is properly serviced, it will consume less energy – both from fuel and you!…

‘Sweet Aperitif’ This prolific cherry tom produces incredibly sweet, tiny fruits on long trusses. The flavour is absolutely delicious. ‘Ferline’ Large-fruited, healthy tom which yields glossy, deep red fruits with a rich flavour: the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. ‘Orange Paruché’ An improvement on the ever-popular ‘Sungold’ orange cherry tom, because its skins don’t split. Delicious, too!…

1 Pot tubers into large tubs of multipurpose compost, and bury them at least 4in (10cm) deep. Small ones, like oca (above) and ulluco can be placed two or three per 3-litre pot. 2 Set large tubers such as dahlia (above) and yacon individually. Sweet potatoes are occasionally sold as tubers, but more often as cuttings that need rooting in a propagator. 3 Water in well, then place in a well-lit spot at 18°C/64°F. Grow on until mid-May, then gradually harden off and plant in a sunny, free-draining spot outside.…

ALL delphiniums available for sale will have been propagated in one of two ways: vegetatively, that is by cuttings or division; or grown from seed. There’s a simple trade-off involved: vegetatively propagated plants are almost always far superior, but they’re expensive and can be hard to source; seed-raised plants are much cheaper and easier to find, but the quality can be poor. Almost all named cuttings-raised varieties from a specialist delphinium nursery will be better than any seed-raised varieties. The fact that they are not easy to propagate in large numbers makes them pricey, but they’re worth a splurge, especially if you choose those with AGMs. The most reliably impressive seed-raised types are the New Millennium, Centurion and Guardian Series. Avoid the more widely offered (and cheaper) ‘Pacific Giants’ and…

Iris reticulata A low-growing, early flowering bulb with numerous varieties that can match hepaticas for fabulous colour. Plant bulbs in drifts in early autumn, or buy ready-potted bulbs now to add instant colour. Snowdrops Dainty, early flowering bulbs that thrive in the same conditions and spread slowly, so there’s no danger of them outcompeting the hepaticas. They bloom a little earlier, fading just as the hepaticas get going. Cyclamen coum Great for planting beneath deciduous trees. The attractive heart-shaped leaves form a carpet of foliage, while pretty white or pink flowers with unusual swept-back petals appear as early as December. Helleborus orientalis These herbaceous perennials love spring sunshine and summer shade. Large dark-green leathery leaves unfold in spring, alongside cup-shaped flowers in a range of colours, patterns and forms.…

Starting tubers Start tubers in a greenhouse or a propagator, or on the windowsill. Plant individually in 3½in (9cm) pots of fresh potting compost, convex side down, covered with 1/2in (1.3cm) compost. Keep the temperature at 20ºC – or 10ºC, if that’s all you can manage. Do not start in trays and pot on – even tubers of the same variety can vary in size once they start to grow. Keep growing frost-free; guard against scorching on hot, sunny days. Move tubers into larger pots if growth is strong. Planting and aftercare Harden off and plant out after the last frost. Plant in containers in full sun or partial shade. Begonias with huge flowers are good in conservatories where the blooms will be protected. Never allow your plants to dry…

I USE a lot of multi-purpose composts for sowing seeds and potting up plants. All are pretty reliable for potting and growing on large plants, but for seed sowing they vary a lot! Some will inspire great confidence, but over the years others have proved little better than a scoop of garden soil. I don’t have sophisticated apparatus so conducting a truly scientific test is beyond me. But it’s time to start sowing seeds in earnest, so I devised a seed sowing trial using rocket, lettuce, lobelia and onion seeds. All were given the same conditions, but raised on six different brands of compost. I based my results on these sowings, a simple water absorption test, and my assessment of the compost content and texture. Levington Multi Purpose Compost £5.49…

1 Pick a sunny bed with a workable tilth. Set down a line and take out a drill on either side, 2in/5cm deep and the width of a draw hoe, so they run parallel, 10in/25cm apart. For tall varieties, make a 5in/13cm-wide drill. 2 Sow peas 3in/8cm apart and cover with soil. Lay horticultural fleece over the bed to deter birds. Slip a drainage tube containing a mousetrap underneath, and check regularly. 3 Alternatively, sow four seeds to a 3½in/9cm pot (planting later as one) or singly into modules to germinate under glass. Harden off and plant out before they’re pot-bound. 4 For a few peas, sow a tall-growing variety 3in/8cm apart across the top of an 18in/45cm-wide pot of good compost under glass. Fix a wigwam of slender canes…

D. hybrida ‘Strawberry Fields’ Clusters of lightly scented, star-shaped or cupped rich pink and white flowers that open in June and July on arching stems. Plants reach a height of 6ft (1.8m). D. calycosa ‘Dali’ This deutzia, named by Roy Lancaster, has grey-green foliage which acts as a gentle backdrop to large flowers with a pink tinge, fading to white as they age. Reaches a height and spread of 5ft (1½m). D. gracilis Sometimes known as the Japanese snow flower, with sprays of fragrant, starry white blooms that open from spring to early summer. This plant reaches 3ft (90cm) high. D. setchuenensis var. corymbiflora Fragrant, starry white blooms against grey-green foliage. Its peeling, light brown bark looks good in winter. Choose a…

Hotbed of ideas I ENJOYED reading Lucy Chamberlain’s guide to making a hotbed ( AG , 22 December) and I intend to knock one up using seasoned old wood and my own compost. Gardening techniques used by the Victorians have always fascinated me. What they lacked in equipment, they certainly made up for by using their brains and experimenting – something I also do. Roll on, spring! Gloria Wilding, Merseyside Reader’s Quick Tip WATERING fine seeds after sowing can dislodge them, so place the tray or pot in a shallow container of water. After a while, the water will rise up through the drainage holes and moisten the compost without any danger of flooding it. John Knowles, Hadenham, Bucks Potato starch magazine wrapper REGRET to say that the first starch…

MANY Christian names have been lifted from the labels in the herb garden. There’s Ginger (as in Rogers), Saffron, Sorrel, Angelica… I thought I’d heard ’em all. But every day’s a school day when you’re a gardener, and recently a new herby handle came my way. I was sipping a tea concocted in my friend Yaniv’s kitchen, brewed from cinnamon and herbs collected on a trip home to Israel. In it were amethyst petals of hibiscus, which turned the tea red, plus zingy lemon grass, savoury rosemary, and something else that was lemony and fresh, transforming the brew into a moreish and tasty thirst-quencher that I couldn’t quite place. “That’ll be Louisa,” said Yaniv. ‘All gardeners in the Negev grow it, but I’ve never seen it here.” To this herbaholic,…

Three levels of feed to suit all plants John Innes No2 is an everyday compost that suits most plants SOME of the most recognised compost is John Innes, a loam-based compound made by just about every gardening brand to set recipes. John Innes was a 19th century land developer who bequeathed his fortune to horticultural research, leading to the establishment of the John Innes Horticultural Institute (now known as the John Innes Centre, based in Norwich, Norfolk). The recipes for the varying strengths of product were released nationally as part of the Dig for Victory campaign in the World War II. There are three main John Innes products, all of which contain enough nutrients for several months, depending on the plant and season. The products are: John Innes No1: Designed…

TRADITIONAL favourites, colours both muted and bold, and larger plants with a Mediterranean feel are all set to be popular with gardeners this year. Growers and suppliers are hoping that last year’s good summer weather will encourage more people to get out in the garden, and they say sales are already doing well. According to Peter McDermott of online retailers YouGarden, the trend is shifting away from blanket planting to creating an instant effect in borders with a smaller number of larger, more striking specimens. “We have had a very positive start to the year so far. People buying fewer but bigger plants is a trend that has been emerging for some time,” said Mr McDermott. “I think the days when people would buy 150 busy Lizzies and dig them…

Once the days start to properly draw out and the temperature rises, houseplants will resume growing and flowering. In the meantime, keep them healthy by watering only when their compost is dry to the touch. Don’t feed them unless they are in flower. Cut off dead and browning leaves and flowers, and wipe dust and debris off foliage. Check for pests, and either wipe them off or get them using a chemical spray. Forced bulbs will be going over now. Narcissus ‘Paperwhite’ and ‘Bridal Crown’ aren’t hardy enough for outdoor planting, so let them die back, then dry the bulbs. Store these for re-planting in containers next autumn. Leave the foliage of forced hyacinths to die back after removing dead flowerheads. These bulbs can be planted out in spring to…

1 Fill your growing pot or tray with sieved fresh seed compost, removing clumps that may hinder successful germination. 2 Brush off the excess compost and then use a tamp to flatten the surface, so it touches the maximum surface area of each seed. 3 Sow the seeds as thinly as possible to give each seedling more space to grow strongly and healthily. 4 Cover with a thin layer of compost or vermiculite. Water, then add a lid and place on a warm, light windowsill.…

PLANTLIFE, a charity working to save threatened wildflowers, wild plants and fungi, is trying to change opinion and stop councils (and us) from mowing every bit of verge again and again. So why is Plantlife making such a fuss about road verges? Well, verges have become very important, because while 97% of ancient flower meadows have disappeared since the 1930s, 700 species of wildflower are known to grow on verges somewhere in the UK. That’s 45% of our entire flora. We have to preserve that heritage by managing our verges. However, the mechanics are difficult to understand. Managing doesn’t simply mean not mowing full stop, because scrub would soon take over. Mowing should take place once wildflowers have had enough time to set seed and multiply. Once mowed, the clippings…

1 Fill a 3½in (9cm) pot with seed compost, water well and allow to drain. Sow 10 seeds on top, cover with ¼in (0.5cm) vermiculite and set in a propagator at 20°C until germinated. 2 Once seedlings are 2½in (6cm) high, fill some more 3½in/9cm pots, this time with potting compost. Water well and keep somewhere warm (18°C/ 64°F) for 24 hours so the roots aren’t chilled. 3 Water the seedlings, then gently ease individuals out of their pot (hold the leaves, not the stems). Dibble a hole in each warmed pot and work the roots into it. Firm gently, then water.…

IF you thought those little black balls in the pepper grinder were something you always had to source from the supermarket, let me introduce you to Sichuan pepper. While conventional black peppercorns (Piper nigrum) come from tropical India, the equally piquant Sichuan (Zanthoxylum species) is fine in our temperate climate. You can buy plants now; they make sprawling deciduous shrubs roughly 10ft (3m) tall and wide. They prefer well-drained soil and, for maximum berry production, a sunny site – but their needs are quite straightforward. Pest- and disease-free, just allow the plant to throw up its arching stems, which will terminate in yellow floral clusters in summer and red berries in autumn. Then harvest, dry and grind!…

IF you’d like to try growing delphiniums from seed, start now. Choose only the best varieties and sow the seed in a propagator at about 16ºC. Sow on the surface of fresh seed compost and cover with black polythene. Germination should start in 10-14 days. Remove the polythene and cover lightly with compost or vermiculite. Prick out into 7.5cm or 9cm pots and grow on before hardening off and planting out in May. You can also save your own seed from existing plants, collecting it later in the year.…

H. nobilis Pygmy Group The smallest of the European hepaticas, with neat, scaled-down clumps of foliage and dainty blooms in pale-blue or white. Would work well in alpine troughs with summer shade. H&S: 2in (5cm). H. nobilis var. pyrenaica This compact hepatica from the Pyrenees is a favourite of John’s. It has beautifully marbled foliage and the flowers can be apple-blossom pink, pale blue or white – all set off by yellow stamens. H&S: 5in (12cm). H. nobilis ‘Indigo’ Said to be the easiest hepatica to grow in British gardens. Single flowers come in shades of rich indigo-blue, their petals made all the more striking by the stark contrast of creamy-white stamens. H&S: 4-6in (10-15cm). H. transsilvanica ‘Loddon Blue’ Native…

In late winter, before flowering, feed hepaticas with calcified seaweed. Remove all the previous year’s leaves just before flowering. Hepaticas will grow on both acid and alkaline soils, but a light, fluffy, woodland-type soil with excellent drainage is best. Add plenty of leafmould before planting, and loosen the soil around plants. As ‘snow-melt’ plants, they love high humidity, especially when flowering; if possible, plant near water. Established hepaticas prefer not to be disturbed and are best left to slowly spread. If they need dividing, this should be done in September. Gently tease apart the plants and pot up individual crowns in a mix of equal parts John Innes No2 compost, perlite and leafmould. Overwinter all new divisions indoors.…

Methods of preventing unwanted grass Q Are there any good groundcover plants that I could plant to stop grass from growing? Lucy Courtney, Dungarron, Co Tyrone A No groundcover plants will entirely prevent grass from growing, but anything that forms such a dense cover that light is excluded from the soil beneath will be the most effective. Do bear in mind, however, that you may want to do some weeding where there is grass growing and really dense groundcover will leave you without anywhere to put your feet! Plants to consider are ivy, euonymus, Cotoneaster horizontalis, heather, prostrate juniper such as Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Carpet’, periwinkle (Vinca minor), herbaceous geraniums and lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis). If you are trying to eradicate lawn grass, your best bet is either to remove…

Westland New Horizon All Plant Compost £6.99 (60-litre bag) Features New peat-free compost made from BIO3, a mix of wood, coir and biofibres suitable for seeds, containers and all plants other than ericaceous. Feeds plants for up to six weeks. No green waste. Available in 20, 40 and 60-litre bags. Performance Light, fluffy and fibrous texture with very few, small lumps. Easy to sieve. A good performer in seed-sowing trials with lettuce seedlings first to show, and fairly consistent in numbers germinating. Nice, consistent water absorption and steady drainage. A well-textured compost that inspires confidence. Germination speed: 2nd. Number of seedlings: 3rd. Value Price per litre: 11.6p. A good choice for all-round garden use, and a big environmental bonus as this compost is peat-free. Nice that it’s also green waste…

Seed stories! We are at the start of the seed-sowing season for most gardeners, so it is a good time to look at some of the facts surrounding seeds – they are amazing things! If you remember from school botany lessons, each seed has a protective coating, as well as a tiny baby plant inside it (the embryo, from which the new plant grows), as well as a supply of stored food. And all of this is crammed into a tiny ‘thing’ often less than a millimetre across. Among the plant world’s smallest seeds are those from some species of orchid; 30,000 orchid seeds can weigh barely 0.03oz (1g). Seeds ’n’ spores It is the structure of different types of seeds that distinguish all flowering plants (around a quarter of…

Peat-based compost: Generally regarded as the best all-round growing medium, suitable for all areas of cultivation apart from sowing seeds. Peat-free: Used to be considered the poor relation of peat compost, but new formulations are greatly improved and they do perform well. Container compost: Specially formulated for baskets and containers with water-retaining granules and nutrients to keep potted plants growing well for longer. Growbags: High-nutrient feeds for tomatoes, salad crops, courgettes, cucumbers etc. Choose the fattest bags as thinner bags dry out faster. Ericaceous compost: For plants that love acidic soils (azaleas, camellias, blueberries, cranberries, etc). Often rich in peat, and with added iron and nutrients. Seeds and cuttings: A fine and relatively weak compost that will encourage robust germination and healthy root development, yet without excess nutrients that can…

A LEADING supplier of biological controls wants to recruit AG readers for a nationwide trial of its products. Sussex-based BASF has launched its Nematode Challenge 2019 and is looking for allotmenteers to join in. The project is being run in conjunction with the National Allotment Society (NAS), which has 125,000 members. The company is looking for 25 volunteers to take part, use the biological controls to keep their plots pest-free, and then report back with their findings. Nematodes are microscopic parasites that target pests and then die away when their food sources are finished. They are easy to deploy – simply mix them with water and spray them on to plants or the soil. The process is repeated throughout the growing season and is a safe, organic way of controlling…

1 Remove the plants’ coverings and check that the roots are healthy. Soak in water if they seem dry. 2 Once you’ve checked that the roots are healthy, gently tease out any that are tangled or circulating the rootball. 3 Pot them up in 3in (8cm) pots of multi-purpose or John Innes No2 compost. Water and drain. 4 Stand them somewhere light and warm, out of direct sun, turning them occasionally so they don’t tilt towards the light source.…

1 One of the plants to watch out for in the coming months is Ipomoea batatas ‘Sun Puma’, a climbing, black-leaved ornamental. 2 This new strawflower, Xerochrysum bracteatum ‘Granvia Gold’, is still flowering in my garden in January, even after a spell of frost. 3 Fragrant Camellia japonica, along with fully double, bicoloured flowering cultivars. 4 Sempervivum Chick Charms ‘Gold Nugget’, a gloriously golden-leaved succulent. Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes…

ASTERS have been delighting gardeners for generations with their densely petalled flowers that add colour to the garden from summer right through to autumn. This week’s free seeds, which only take two-three weeks to germinate, are Aster ‘Milady Mixed’ (Callistephus chinensis), a robust dwarf half-hardy annual that produces masses of large, bright blooms in shades of white, pinks and purples. It is relatively wilt-resistant and tolerant of the weather. Immensely versatile, the low-growing plants will look wonderful as a colourful fringe at the front of herbaceous borders, they will grow well in tubs and pots, and they can also be cultivated as indoor plants to brighten sunny rooms and conservatories. When growing the plants outside, you will get the best results in well-prepared, free-draining soil in sun or light shade.…

WE like loads of flowers brightening up our gardens, and we often fill baskets, planters and borders with purchased bedding sometime in late April or May – or whenever we think it may be safe. The problem is that most bedding plants are not hardy and cannot stand a frost, and unfortunately, of course, they cost dear. Alternatively, many of us grow our own, which saves a bit – but to do a proper job we need a heated greenhouse, or at least a propagator to start with, which can still cost plenty. Now hardy annuals are just that – hardy – so they can take the cold and are most often sown in situ from the middle of March. Why in situ? Well, many hardy annuals were said to…

IF you love gardening so much that you’ve graduated to greenhouse ownership, chances are it’s full of these vibrant red fruits all summer. Not only a salad and sauce essential, they’re also packed with lycopene, which is known to help fight cancer and heart disease. Being the daughter of commercial glasshouse tomato growers, I’ve spent more hours than most with my head among their trusses – so how did we go about ensuring successful harvests? Firstly, propagation: we used to sow, prick out and transplant thousands of seedlings. For this, warmth and good light are essential. Our downstairs cloakroom, which housed a massive radiator belching out 20°C (68°F) heat, became a propagator for dozens of sown seed trays (pots are ideal for smaller numbers). But the light in it was…

1 It’s tempting to crack on outside , but avoid walking on waterlogged soil because this can severely compact and damage its structure 2 . Weeds will be relentlessly popping up before you know it, so sharpen your hoe blade now , ready to decapitate them. 3 Algae, moss and general grime will limit the light penetration through polythene tunnels, so clean them with warm, soapy water now . 4 Potassium is the main element needed by fruit to crop well, so add top-dressings of sulphate of potash as the soil warms. 5 Citrus trees mak e handsome indoor plants – k eep yours in shape by cutting wayward or leggy shoots back to maintain its bushiness.…

AT their best, delphiniums can be the most elegant of garden plants, but they can also be disappointing. The good news is that there are ways to ensure yours are the former rather than the latter. It all comes down to two simple things – choosing the right varieties and growing them well. And it’s not hard to do either. With upright spikes packed with flowers in every shade of blue you can imagine – as well as pink, white and even creamy yellow – delphiniums are tall and stately perennials. They make superb back-of-the-border plants in June and can usually be coaxed into a second flush of flowers later. They also make excellent cut flowers for informal summer arrangements. The gold standard are named varieties – in particular, the…

DUBBED superfoods due to their high vitamin and antioxidant content, blueberries have spiralled in popularity in recent years. This once seldom-eaten fruit is now ubiquitous in supermarkets thanks to the demands of health-conscious shoppers, which have helped it to become the UK’s second most popular berry behind strawberries. Yet there’s a downside to this trendy fruit, as they are incredibly expensive. A 150g punnet will set you back £2 or more, depending on where you shop. A tub I recently bought contained 100 blueberries, which works out at 2p per fruit. They also tasted pretty bland, which was a likely result of being stuck in cold storage while transported from their place of origin – Chile. The best way to enjoy fresh, tasty fruit, and save yourself a packet in…

Q Can I use Jeyes Fluid to wash my greenhouse glass? Sue Mann, via email A You can. It will remove dirt adhering to the glass and sterilise the framework. If you can get it into every nook and cranny, it will help to reduce the incidence of pests and diseases lurking in hidden places ready to strike the next lot of plants coming into the greenhouse. Q What is wrong with the leaves of my Skimmia ‘Kew Green’? Brian Kelly, Darlington, Co Durham A The patina could be caused by red spider mite, a tiny pest that produces fine webs on infested leaves and stems. Is the plant indoors or in a greenhouse? If so, then this pest, which favours warm, dry conditions, may be the problem. Q How…

When should I sow my peas? Q I’m sure that my Dad used to start sowing peas in February, but is it too early? Should I soak the seeds first, and do I need to choose a hardy variety? Sian Thompson, Pocklington, East Yorks A Yes, I can also recall that basin of pea seeds soaking overnight to swell with water in preparation for direct sowings! And yet this technique seems to have fallen by the wayside, for fear of causing them to rot. That said, some gardeners still soak them for a few hours, while a few pre-germinate their peas on damp, absorbent paper indoors prior to planting, and others just get on and sow them! Peas grow well in cool weather and an early start is great, but…

Good, moist but well-drained soil and sun are the ideal conditions, but most deutzias will tolerate poorer soils and some shade. Before planting, make sure that the roots are thoroughly moist and dunk in a bucket of water if necessary. Remove the pot and tease out circling roots. Make sure the compost surface lies just beneath soil level, so the stems are not buried or the roots left high. Water during dry spells for the first year, while the plants establish. Treat newly pruned plants to a generous watering if dry, a dressing of general-purpose fertiliser, and a mulch over their roots.…

Westland Orchid Potting Mix is a special blend of bark and Seramis clay granules, which produces an open-structured mix that retains moisture and allows free air flow. The granules absorb water and release it back to the plant when it needs it, while the bark helps airflow and drainage. This results in healthier root development and therefore a healthier plant that will produce more flowers that last longer. We have two 4-litre bags of Westland Orchid Potting Mix to give away, each worth £5.99. 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 Westland Orchid Potting Mix Draw (23 February), Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF. Or you can…

LEMON verbena is a thirsty fast-grower during the summer, but must be kept on the dry-side during winter to prevent it catching a cold. It’s excellent in a pot, as it can be moved under cover in winter, or grown as I do in the corner of the greenhouse. Cut back by half in autumn if space is an issue, and cut back hard to just 30cm in early spring to keep the plant compact. The leaves can be harvested at any time and have the freshness of lemons, but aren’t overpowering so are great in ice cream, flavoured butter and, of course, tea.…