Innholdsfortegnelse for 6-Apr-2019 i Amateur Gardening

“It is said you get a real insight into the personality of someone through their garden. This was apparent during a recent visit to the gardens at Highgrove – the home of The Prince of Wales. It conjured up many impressions of the man: quirky, witty, traditional and deeply sentimental. It also showed a focus on recycling that bordered on obsessive. There was something quite spiritual about it, and I recommend a visit. You do have to book, and it is not cheap, but it is a special experience and all funds go to The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation. Perhaps a great birthday or anniversary treat?”…

COMFREY has been in the herbalist’s first-aid kits for centuries – it’s called ‘knitbone’ for a reason, after all! But this quick-to-flourish member of the borage family is also extremely beneficial in the garden. Because its root systems travel far and deep, the plant takes up essential nutrients to spare, especially potassium. These essential elements are released when leaves are soaked for a few weeks in buckets of water, and the resulting ‘tea’ can be diluted and used as an excellent plant food. However, while far-reaching roots are good for the plant, they can be a pain for the gardener. Most comfrey is extremely invasive and hard to remove, so if you want to grow it for fertiliser make sure you choose the sterile ‘Bocking 14’ variety. Site it somewhere…

Gardening & Planting by the Moon By Nick Kollerstrom (Foulsham, £8.99) THE idea behind gardening by the phases of the moon is that the moon somehow influences the growth of crops. Some people swear by the system, noting bigger yields, and tastier fruit and vegetables. Author Nick Kollerstrom is a devotee of this method of gardening. His book is a good introduction to this approach, and includes an explanation of the principles, a calendar, a page for gardening notes and also a general chapter on monthly tasks in the vegetable garden. At the core of the calendar is a four-element cycle comprising the elements of earth, water, air and fire, which influence the way a plant will develop, linking the time of sowing to the final condition of the crop…

LILIES, crown imperials and fritillaries are fabulous garden plants but are key food plants for voracious lily beetles and their larvae. These scarlet bugs – not to be confused with the longer, more orange cardinal beetle – and their larvae can completely strip plants of leaves and flowers if left unchecked. As well as looking unsightly, defoliation prevents energy returning to the bulbs as plants die back after flowering, so bulbs fail to grow and displays in subsequent years can be adversely affected. As well as eating the plants, lily beetle larvae have the unpleasant defence strategy of covering themselves in a coat of their own wet, black excrement! There are several ways to keep your garden free from lily beetles. Start by repeat spraying shooting plants with Grazers G4,…

I AM a long-time fan of nicotiana, or tobacco plants, and the variety N. sylvestris is one of my favourites. Tall and stately, with sweetly dropping heads of pristine white trumpets, it adds so much to borders and fills the evening air with delicious scent. These half-hardy annuals are sown between now and April, grown on undercover and then hardened off and planted out once the threat of frosts has passed. The seeds are tiny, which can make them trickier to sow thinly. I find the best way is to either mix them with a little horticultural sand, which makes them easier to sprinkle, or dab the seeds with the dampened end of a matchstick, then tap them off onto the compost. Sieve and dampen the fresh seed compost before…

1 Sprinkle wood ashes on the vegetable bed for any tomatoes, potatoes, onions and beets, then under gooseberries and cooking apples. 2 Don’t wait until traditional Easter time to plant spuds – you can plant as soon as your soil becomes warm and friable. 3 When planting spuds, mix grass clippings with soil in the trench to rot, to reduce scab and to assist in warmth and fertility. 4 Placing bottles of fermenting beer (or sugar, water and yeast) in greenhouses and cold frames will provide plants with necessary CO . 2…

‘Gold Nugget’ A late maincrop F1 hybrid that stores well into winter from an August sowing. Yellow roots with a sweet flavour. Excellent for hearty casseroles and soups. ‘White Satin’ The best white carrot to choose, this F1 hybrid has no hairiness or bitterness, as other whites do. Smooth, sweet and melting when cooled. ‘Purple Haze’ This Nantes F1 hybrid has a deep purple skin, orange core and flesh colour in between! Best steamed to retain its purple tones.…

1 Start feeding and watering potted fruit regularly . Use a balanced liquid feed to begin with, moving on to a high-potash formula in June . 2 With the soil beginning to warm, it’ s safe to plant out spring-sown lettuce , beetroot and cabbage into frames or under rigid plastic cloches. 3 Check for early pests under cover . Greenhouses and polytunnels warm rapidly on sunny days, and greenfly and red spider mite can quickly run riot . 4 Herbaceous perennial herbs such as oregano , mint and lemon balm will be coming into growth, so trim back last year’s stems with secateurs. 5 Check on overwintered ex otic fruits such as pomegranates and bananas to see if they’re coming into growth. R emove or loosen any protective covers…

Barely cover the seed, aiming to have it nestling among moist compost particles at the surface. Keep in a ventilated polybag to preserve moisture. Plant out in a sunny, sheltered position in well-draining soil, or containers of 50:50 John Innes No2 and soilless multi-purpose compost. Petunias are not frost-hardy, so in all but the mildest areas, wait until the end of May before setting them out. Keep plants moist, but be sure to avoid watering over the foliage and flowers. To maintain growth and flowering, feed established petunias fortnightly with a well-balanced fertiliser at first and then progressing to a high-potash tomato type as flowering starts.…

BY far the most troublesome carrot pest is the carrot fly. The grubs tunnel into the roots and, when you get them into the kitchen, you just don’t want to use them. Isolated gardens are usually troubled less than allotments, but the grubs overwinter in the roots of parsnips, parsley and cow parsley in hedgerows, and they tend to be on the wing, looking for a place to lay their eggs, when the cow parsley is in flower. The adults are very poor flyers so protecting your carrots with a 2ft (60cm) high vertical fleece barrier will usually ensure that they fly around and not over your crop. I use a low fleece tunnel and sow radishes on either side; that way, the fleece also keeps the flea beetle off…

Store any unused liquid feed in a cool, dark place in a sealed bottle. Use within three weeks. Always apply home-made feeds with caution as they can be strong, and overuse will damage very young plants. Make sure you consult Natural England and your local Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, and obtain permission from the landowner before heading out to collect seaweed. Try not to put your hands into the liquid as it is almost impossible to get the smell off them. Once you have drained off your first feed, top the bucket up again and replace the lid – you do not need to pick more leaves. When making a plant feed with children, always supervise them.…

Lathyrus latifolius ‘Rosa Perle’ AGM Very vigorous and steadily spreading at the root, these rose pink flowers appear, a dozen or more per stem, throughout summer. Deadheading will prolong the flowering season. Beware invasive self-sown seedlings. H: 8ft (2½m). L. latifolius ‘White Pearl’ AGM The pure white flowers are larger than those of L. l. ‘Albus’ and just as effective. Grow on a fence behind summer shrubs, and cut blooms for the vase – despite their lack of fragrance, they will make a lovely display. H: 8ft (2½m). L. rotundifolius A more restrained climber with less dominant foliage, this is better suited to growing through English Roses than L. latifolius . The small, brick red flowers are carried in elegant spikes of up to eight, mainly…

Why have my spring bulbs failed? Q I have planted lots of bulbs in the garden but none of them has flowered. Even the snowdrops failed. What can I do? Lindy Roberts, Beccles, Suffolk A There are various reasons why bulbs don’t flower in spring. Some of the reasons include not planting deep enough (they should go in at two-three times their depth), planting in dry soil and planting too late (daffodils) or too early (wait until November to plant tulips). Other reasons include your bulbs being eaten by mice or squirrels, bulbs not being fed and watered while the leaves are still growing, and the foliage not being allowed to die back naturally and return energy to the bulbs. Never knot leaves after flowering. Snowdrops are notoriously hard to…

Why do seedlings fail? Q Earlier sowings of veg and flowers made in a propagating case and on windowsills have failed to germinate, or the seedlings have keeled over and died, so I am having to sow again. What happened, and how can I make sure they come up and stay healthy? Edith McGowen, Brigstock, Northamptonshire A Most germination problems are caused by old seed, sowing too closely, covering seed too thickly, high temperatures for too long, and insufficient light. These are made worse by sowing early when natural light and warmth are low, yet early starts are a good idea, to stagger sowings from January to June. Separate the seeds well, and remember you don’t have to sow the whole packet. In my example above, a sparse sowing of…

Pneumatic tyre: Rubber tyre inflated with air on a plastic or metal wheel. At the correct pressure, it offers good weight distribution for easy going on soft ground, and some shock absorbing properties. However, it can puncture. Solid tyre: Plastic or rubber around a metal or plastic wheel. Won’t puncture, but offers no shock absorption and can dig in on soft ground. Steel tray: Large, deep-sided tray fixed over the barrow frame. Usually deeper towards the front, then sloping gently up to the front lip to facilitate tipping out. Plastic tray: Same as a steel tray, but a bit lighter and may not be as strong Nose: A looped or squared steel tube, usually part of the frame, around the front of the wheel to facilitate tipping – the nose…

DURING my childhood, our tea-time salads were always lettuce-based. A handful of ‘Webbs Wonderful’ or ‘Little Gem’ would be plonked on the plate, with some boiled and cooled beetroot, sliced tomato and radish, and a lump of cheese or cold meat. To our modern tastes, this seems like the Dark Ages, but we didn’t know any different then. We hadn’t even heard of salad dressing, other than Heinz Salad Cream, which I hated. Now, salads are a different proposition, and much more enjoyable. For me, though, lettuce is still a key ingredient, because there are so many types – offering variety in taste, texture and colour. Now is the time to sow lettuce for this summer’s harvest, so let’s have a look at some facts surrounding this useful salad crop……

FROM sowing to cutting, lettuce generally lives for between 65 and 130 days, depending on the time of year and the variety. When lettuce ‘bolts’, or runs to flower, the leaves become bitter and unpleasant. For this reason, we don’t allow our plants to grow to maturity. Lettuce is more likely to bolt in hot temperatures, and it can often do this within a day or two so, as gardeners, we need to remain vigilant. Cooler temperatures are less likely to encourage bolting, but if the soil is undernourished, too dry or waterlogged, the stress that this induces can also speed up the flowering process. If a flower stalk is left to develop, it can grow to more than 39in (1m) high, and produces small yellow daisy blooms. Lettuce is…

SPRING is well underway, and new plants and those recovering from winter dormancy should be growing well. Plants that are well fed will grow robustly, but if certain trace elements and minerals are missing from the soil they will start to look peaky. For example, calcium, potassium, magnesium and copper become more soluble in very acid soil, which means they can be easily washed away. Similarly, in very alkaline soils, phosphorus, iron and manganese become less available, which can lead to chlorosis – yellowing of leaves. This can also occur when too much potassium is added to the soil (if you are over-generous with wood ash around plants, for instance). While potash is essential for good flowers and crops, being too heavy-handed can potentially rob plants of other essentials. To…

GETTING to know your soil is essential for keeping your plants healthy. The pH – acidity or alkalinity – is the most important as most plants need the right levels in which to thrive. In some cases, you can tell simply by looking at your garden – we have lots of ‘free chalk’ that rise in lumps to the surface of our borders so know we have extremely alkaline soil. However, never make assumptions and always test several areas of soil as the pH can vary throughout the garden. Tests to check soil nutrient levels are also widely available and generally easy to use. Simply take a small sample of soil, add it to the liquid and chemicals provided and measure the colour of the resulting mixture against a chart.…

A NEW insect order, the country’s first colony of webspinners (Embioptera), has been discovered in the glasshouse at RHS Wisley. They will now join 24 other insect orders found in the UK – an ‘order’ is the umbrella under which different species sit, including beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), and stick insects (Phasmida). Webspinners feed on fungal and algal growth, and are the only insects that produce silk webbing from their front legs. The species found by the RHS, Aposthonia ceylonica, lives on the hanging roots of tropical plants. Webspinners live in colonies and display maternal care of eggs and young, nymphs remaining with the female until they are almost adults. RHS Principal Entomologist Andrew Salisbury said: “The confirmation of a new…

WARMER average temperatures have exacerbated a number of plant health problems over the past year, but also kept some others at bay, according to the latest RHS research. While box tree caterpillar and honey fungus continue to top the charts as the most problematic and widespread pest and disease in the UK, the southern green shield bug entered the top 10 pests for the first time since it reached these shores in the early 2000s. Charting at No 6, it originates from southern Europe and attacks vegetables. It is similar to our harmless native green shield bug, but does not have the distinctive brown markings at its rear. Of the most prevalent diseases, the fungus pear rust has leapt to No 3 since it was reported 16 years ago. Matthew…

COMMERCIAL growers of aubergines, cucumbers and tomatoes now use grafted plants as a matter of course. The increase in vigour, plus the pest and disease resistance they bring, is well worth the extra cost of buying in plants of the desired cultivar grafted on to special rootstocks. While grafting the two is straightforward, I have grafted tomatoes on to potato roots on the windowsill using nothing more than a white polythene bag for protection; it does require the thickness of stem for both the scion and roots to be similar. This takes some skill, because the rootstock cultivars grow at a different speed to the cropping cultivars. “Rootstock cultivars are changed each year to avoid disease” Speaking to Rob Smith at Suttons, pioneers of grafted plant sales to gardeners, I…

6: Plant Hunters’ Fair: Hoghton Tower, Preston, Lancs PR5 0SH 6-7: Cornwall Garden Society 2019 Spring Flower Show: The Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7JE.cornwallgardensociety.org.uk/ spring-flower-show 7: Rare Plant Fair: Evenley Wood Gardens, Brackley, Northants NN13 5SL. 01278 661352, rareplantfair.co.uk 7: Plant Hunters’ Fair: Bramall Hall, Stockport, Lancs SK7 3NX 10: The Curator’s Spring Garden Walk: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0845 265 8071, rhs.org.uk/ gardens/hydehall 11: Plants for Difficult Places: RHS Garden Hyde Hall ■ Send details and images of events to ruth.hayes@ti-media.com ■ All details are subject to change without our knowledge, so please check that the event is still going ahead before leaving home.…

1 Feb: Sow any quick-to-mature ‘Amsterdam Forcing’ varieties with an 8in/20cm-deep box of multipurpose, in a greenhouse, during February; I line wooden boxes with polythene. You’ll be pulling roots by late April and well into June. 2 Mar/Apr: This is the ideal time to get outdoor sowings of carrots in for summer and autumn roots. If you have a stonier plot, then go for Globe (‘Rondo’) or Chantenay (‘Cascade’, pictured) – otherwise, Nantes, Berlicum or Imperator types are excellent. 3 Jul/early Aug: Classic ‘Autumn King’ types are the mainstay of these late summer sowings; make sure the drill is soaked beforehand. Roots sown at this time will provide pullings from October until March (cover with straw in winter).…

ALL supermarkets stock pieces of ginger root (Zingiber officinale, technically a tropical Asian rhizome), yet how many of us grow it at home? Treated as a pot plant, it really should be all of us! The grateable pungent rhizomes might be easy to buy, but it’s only when you grow plants at home that you can also harvest – and cook with – the stems and leaves. These parts carry less heat than the rhizome, yet they still deliver that characteristic spiced-up flavour. Slice stems into Thai curries, wrap leaves around fish or poultry, and participate in seriously authentic cooking. Start plants off now indoors, burying plump rhizomes ½in (1-2cm) below the surface of some multi-purpose compost. Water in lightly, increasing as shoots appear. Plants can move outside all summer…

‘Prism Sunshine’ An upright-growing petunia with large, yellow flowers, fading to cream, veined with lime. Looks great amongst darker flowers and foliage. Designer ‘Buzz Purple’ A compact trailing petunia which has blooms that are a distinctive combination of darker veined purple, edged with lime green. Crazytunia Maniac Lilac White flowers with darker veins are marked with flashes of pink on plants 8-12in (20-30cm) long, which are perfect for baskets, windowboxes and tubs. Tumbelina ‘Crazy Ripple’ If over-the-top double blooms are your thing, then this raspberry and citrus cream confection on plants trailing to 31½in (80cm) is ideal for baskets and troughs.…

IN the past, carrots with coloured roots have often been poor on the plate – the first purple ones I ever grew chewed like kindling. Luckily, things have improved. Last year, I grew AGM winner ‘Deep Purple’ and it was tender, tasted good whether pulled small or left to mature, and was purple all the way through – packed with healthy anthocyanins. That’s the only coloured carrot with an AGM; however ‘Yellow Bunch’ is also worth trying, as is the pale cream ‘Creampak’…

L. grandiflorus The flowering season may be just a few short weeks, but with pairs of purple and pink flowers that are noticeably larger than those of other perennial peas, this plant burns briefly but bright and has undeniable impact. Very rarely sets seed. H: 5ft (1½m). L. chilensis The rounded pale pink flowers of this rarely seen species open in May and will then keep on coming into late summer and beyond, especially if you deadhead plants regularly. Particularly good for cutting. H: 6½ft (2m). L. nervosus Sprawling out of terracotta pots, – tucked behind other containers on the patio or in the conservatory, the stout stems will be hidden but the fragrant (yes, fragrant!) blue flowers will delight for many weeks in summer. H: 4ft (1.2m). L. aureus…

Q How can I get my Solanum pseudocapsicum seedlings to develop into healthy plants? Barbara Bright, Highland, Perthshire A When they are about 1in (2½cm) high, set them singly into 3in (7cm) pots of John Innes No1 or J. Arthur Bower’s Masterblend compost. Position plants in good light in a warm place indoors or in a greenhouse and keep the compost damp but not soggy. If the air is dry, mist leaves frequently with tepid water. Speed growth by liquid feeding with a high-potash tomato fertiliser. When plants are mature and flower and berry, shorten stems to half their length in February and keep the compost dryish until March. Stand plants outdoors in summer and return them to a warm indoors in September.…

1 Give seedlings space. Sowing kale into modules and thinning to one after germination is one way of achieving this. 2 Don’t bury seeds. Gaillardia sown thinly and evenly are covered by a scattering of compost around their own size in thickness. Some growers use vermiculite, but I prefer to use the sowing compost. 3 Don’t overheat seeds. These celeriac seeds took a month to emerge in an unheated propagating case and are ready for transplanting. 4 Even light ensures compact growth. The coleus on my windowsill were tuned weekly. Good light and cool conditions have kept these calendula sturdy.…

Do ✓ Ensure the wheelbarrow is in good mechanical condition, well lubricated, tyre inflated, and nuts and bolts all tight. ✓ Load the barrow carefully , keeping the load centred on a line between the handles, with the majority of weight at the front, over the wheel. ✓ Lift the barrow by bending your legs, k eeping back and arms straight. Grasp the grips firmly then straighten your legs. ✓ Go steady , take your time . It’s easy to loose control of a fully laden barrow , especially on uneven ground. Don’t ✗ Use the barrow with an underinflated tyre . It makes pushing very hard work, and the load will be difficult to control. ✗ Load the barrow tray at the back, and never load the barrow with…

Hanging baskets are a traditional yet timeless way to make a centrepiece of your front door, and to ensure that your baskets flourish all season, Miracle-Gro is giving eight lucky readers the chance to win a pot of Miracle-Gro All Purpose Pot Shots. Miracle-Gro Pot Shots are pre-measured and ergonomically designed to push easily into the soil and feed your plants, without any product waste or overfeeding. This makes them ideal for your hanging baskets or pots, plus one feed will last for up to six months and will give you beautiful, healthy and strong plants. We have eight Miracle-Gro Pot Shots to give away, each worth £4.29. See below for details of how to enter the prize draw. How to enter Send your name and address on the back…

IN 1884 – exactly 100 years ago – one of the most important and informative books on flowers was published: it was to be the standard work on daffodils and it was called Ye Narcissus or Daffodyl Flowre, and hys Roots with hys Historie and Culture. The author was Peter Barr, later to be called the Daffodil King, not only in Britain but also in the countries where he travelled, searching for different species of the daffodil flower which he loved so much. The book was illustrated by his close friend Frederick Burbidge. Peter Barr, though, was the inspiration behind the book, and he was more concerned with the number of species known in Britain. He made a complete list of such specimens, much as he had done when compiling…

I’M the proud owner of a modest collection of vintage tools, including a blunt-toothed saw that hangs above the woodshed and a spade so worn you could use the blade to butter toast. They might be long in the tooth (apart from the saw!) but what these old tools lack in usefulness, they more than make up for in cottage-garden charisma. Although retired, they keep themselves busy as garden ornaments. When plants retire – and they do – they also go on ‘gardening leave’. Rue, artemisia and tansy were once the go-to herbal cures for treating intestinal worms, but since being put out to pasture and out of a job by hygiene and modern medicines, they have spent the subsequent decades as decorations. “Dahlias have evolved from utility to feast…

1 Powdered potassium (sulphate of potash) is often used to enhance blossom and cropping in established fruit trees. 2 Liquid tomato feed such as Tomorite and Big Tom gives a boost to summer crops grown in pots and growbags. 3 Acid soil and compost can lose nutrients fast and need regular replenishing – moreso for plants growing in containers. 4 Mycorrhizal fungi such as Rootmore give a great start at planting as they optimise the amount of nutrients and water taken up by the roots.…

For soil to work at its optimum level, it needs to be healthy and fertile with regular boosts of nourishing goodness. One of the easiest ways of doing this is to dig in lots of well-rotted organic material such as compost, leafmould or farmyard manure. This makes thin soils richer and more able to hold onto moisture and nutrients, and opens up heavy clay soils, so they are lighter, easier to work and less prone to clagginess and waterlogging. You can buy soil improvers and manure from garden centres, but it is easy and so much cheaper to make your own, or find a local farm or stables with lots of poo going spare!…

Pests 1 Box tree caterpillar: This green-yellow moth caterpillar spins webbing throughout box shrubs and eats the leaves. The pest can be controlled by pheromone traps, nematodes, hand-picking them off and by using chemical sprays, though repeat application may be necessary. 2 Slugs and snails: Perennial pests that attack most plants and cause mass devastation. Encourage natural predators such as hedgehogs and amphibians, use nematodes or remove by hand. From 2020, pellets containing the chemical metaldehyde will be outlawed. 3 Viburnum beetle: Larvae strip leaves in spring and the adults do more damage in late summer. Viburnum tinus is especially vulnerable. Infestations tend to be large, but plants usually survive. If you do use chemicals, do so April-May when new larvae are feeding. Disease 1 Honey fungus: Symptoms include white…

BIG, bold and beautiful – for many people, lilies are the star of the summer garden. Dwarf types shine out at the edge of borders, while taller varieties and tree lilies hold sway further back. These versatile bulb plants also do well in containers, which is how I’m growing ours this year. The variety I chose is ‘Orange Pixie’, a vibrant dwarf Asiatic number perfect for pots and the front of beds. Asiatic lilies are among the easiest to grow and the earliest to flower. They do best in well-drained soil (they hate a waterlogged environment) in full sun or very light shade, as too little sun will weaken their stems. For the best results in a container, place a layer of crocks in the base and use a mix…

1 Grafted tomatoes grow so much stronger – you can train up two standard stems from the one root, to get nearly twice the crop for your money. 2 Where space is limited, grow one plant with two cultivars grafted on to it – one red and one orange are attractive, and quite a talking point. 3 Make sure the graft union is well above the soil; if not, the scion will root and you will lose rootstock benefits. 4 Wait until the end of the month and early May to plant in unheated greenhouses, unless there is heat to give frost protection on cold nights.…

IT pays to give attention to how you sow your seeds, as every crop and flower responds differently, each often preferring one method to another. You have a choice when sowing – the most important difference being between direct in situ where the plant is to mature, and sowing in a pot or other container and planting out later. Without doubt, most plants give the best results sown in situ – if they survive. Sowing in containers is simply more reliable, giving better control over their conditions, removing many pest threats and, for tenderer plants, allowing us to start them off much earlier. Indeed, many (if not most) hardy annual flowers do best sown in situ, and veg such as carrots, parsnips and other roots almost have to be, as…

THEY’RE the UK’s fifth favourite vegetable, yet growing carrots at home can be tricky. Here’s how to leapfrog over hurdles from spring through to winter. Light, stone-free soils are a carrot grower’s dream – so if yours is heavy, compacted or clay, consider adding lots of well-rotted garden compost, sowing into raised beds or container growing. If the taproot is impeded, the resulting crop quality will be poor. Carrots are notoriously slow to germinate, often taking two-three weeks to emerge, and hardly germinating at all when soil is less than 7.5ºC. As individual seeds within the carrot flower mature at different times, reduce the problem by keeping soil warm and moist using cloches, and choosing F1 hybrid varieties. The increased vigour of hybrids overrides slow emergence and you’ll get more…

1 Choosing suitable twigs helps to keep construction simple. Any with side-branches are best (I’m using hazel). If any leaves are present, just strip them off. 2 Peas like a single row of sticks to climb up, whereas broad beans are best supported by an open-top cage of twigs. Push stems into the earth, 4in/10cm apart. 3 Once your row of cage is in place, bend the ends of the twigs over and weave them into a horizontal shape; the final height depends on your pea or bean variety.…

I MUST have grown thousands of petunias in my time, especially during a stint as foreman propagator for Epsom and Ewell parks department in the days when most areas had their own nurseries. We used petunias for bedding out, but also as pot plants for decorative work. Deadheading the spent flowers was a sticky job, because the glandular hairs and protective sap act like natural flypaper to give them protection against sap-sucking insects. Petunias belong to the potato family, Solanaceae, and although we treat them as annuals, they are tender perennials bred mainly from South American rose-purple P. integrifolia and white, fragrant P. axillaris. As bedding plants, they are very hard to beat, with showy blooms, fabulous colours and a long season of flowering. Some make mounds of growth for…

CARROTS can be confusing. There are so many categories, many of them with baffling names – Berlicum, Chantenay, Flakkee, Nantes, Oxheart, Forcing, Danvers, Imperator… It’s all rather off-putting. And, frankly, they all look pretty much the same: they look like carrots! But here’s the good news – although you will see some of them noted in catalogues, you can basically forget about these different categories. Sensible seed suppliers simply divide carrot varieties into two groups: Early and Maincrop. And even that distinction breaks down when you consider that some early varieties can be left to grow on and produce larger roots that are fine when left in the ground until winter. The familiar orange-rooted carrots – as well as some with yellow and white roots – are all derived from…

THE sap is rising, and after a very mild start to spring there are plenty of signs of life in the garden. Although your garden plants look rather sprightly now, they will require a feed to provide them with the nutrients they need to put on a fantastic performance all summer. There are plenty of effective feeds available to buy, but why not make your own? A home-made feed not only saves money but it’s also ecofriendly and good fun to make. It’s the kind of project that children will enjoy, especially as it can be a stinky job! As I garden on excellent Herefordshire clay soil, I have my fair share of nettles. I have often made my own high-nitrogen nettle plant feed, which is perfect for encouraging great…

VERY few perennial species are scented, yet the most popular species of all, annual L. odoratus, is. According to National Collection holder Roger Parsons, this is because perennial Lathyrus are self- pollinating – with no need to attract pollinators, they have no use for fragrance. “Scent is thought to be a relict character,” Roger explains, “left over from a time in the evolution of the species when it was cross-pollinated.”…

Q Is this an azalea? Sam Broomfield, via email A I feel sure that the plant you have purchased is indeed an azalea. Admittedly, its flowers are unlike a ‘classic’ azalea, but variations abound and some blooms are mistaken for other plants. Q How do I deadhead my hydrangeas? B Dearden, via email A Remove faded blooms with just an inch of stem and take out weak and dead stems crowding the middle of the bush. Provided remaining shoots are strong and healthy and air can pass freely between them, there is nothing else to do. Q Do coppiced shrubs ever grow back? Paul Anson, via email A Some will die off, but there are shrubs that tolerate hard pruning, even to ground level, and will grow back. If you…

ANYONE who gardens regularly will know that it’s hard work. The balmy Sunday afternoons mowing the lawn and relaxing with a cuppa and cake are part of the pleasure, but only part of it. Through winter, spring and autumn, there are lots of preparatory jobs like digging, planting, manuring and more that require stamina, and sometimes just brute force. Gardener’s helpmate A wheelbarrow can make the heavy jobs a lot easier. A barrow is a useful tool even in a small garden – from simple jobs like moving sacks of compost from the car to the back garden, to acting as a rubbish collection truck when pruning or collecting fallen leaves in autumn. The advantages of a wheelbarrow are: the narrow footprint of the single tyre so they’re very manoeuvrable…

1 Check the barrow before loading, and if necessary tighten loose nuts and bolts, inflate the tyre to its correct pressure, and lubricate the wheel spindle. 2 Fill the tray carefully. Keep the load forward over the wheel and centred between the handles to improve balance. Don’t overfill! 3 Keep arms and back straight, bend the knees, grasp the grips and lift the handles by straightening your legs. Lean forward slightly, using your weight to push. 4 To tip the load, keep back and legs straight, and lift steadily with your arms to transfer more weight over the wheel until the load slides out.…

CELTUCE is a type of lettuce that is grown for its white stems, which may be eaten raw in salads, or cooked (grilled, roasted, stewed, creamed, stir-fried or pickled). The stems are mild and slightly nutty, with a smoky aftertaste. The pale-green leaves taste just like those from a round lettuce. Celtuce, which is high in vitamins, is also known variously as asparagus-, stem-, celery- or Chinese-lettuce. It is widely grown in China and Taiwan, but it is thought to have originated in the Mediterranean region and then taken to China during the Tang Dynasty, (600-900AD).…

Stop and smell the roses ALTHOUGH I only have a small garden consisting mainly of lawn, borders and patio, I try to make it as colourful as possible. Along with the weeding and feeding, scrubbing the patio and potting up tubs and baskets, I find it all very time consuming for a working full-time single mum of three. Yes, all the hard work pays off and by mid-summer, my little corner of the world looks stunning, full of vibrant colours and the air heavy with different scents. But I can count on one hand how often last year I had time to actually sit out and enjoy the fruits of my labour. This year, I’ve reduced the number of pots and tried to put by a little bit from my…

LEAVE five or six sprouts on each of the parent tubers and pot into containers with the crown buried under the compost. Grow on in the greenhouse until after the frosts in late May, then plant out in good soil with the surface of the compost buried under 15cm/6in of earth, as this helps to anchor the stems. Push in pea-stick supports to stop taller varieties flopping. If you don’t have a greenhouse, plant tubers straight into the soil from May. Growth will be slower, but on the plus side it’ll miss any late frosts.…