Innholdsfortegnelse for 20-Apr-2019 i Amateur Gardening

“A four-day weekend of pure gardening heaven awaits, but how to fill the time? The mild March prompted a planting marathon — one tree, five chillies, five tomatoes, six rows of onions, three of garlic and a staggering 23 bags of potatoes. The latter was the result of visiting a seed festival and getting carried away! Actually, the lawn will be getting my attention this weekend, as I’m repairing some weather damage from last year. I’ll also take time for a break and enjoy the garden wildlife, and I suggest you do same. All work and no play...”…

THIS is pretty much your last chance to plant spring bulbs if you want them to flower this year. Delay, and they may not have enough time to produce foliage and flowers, although if they are fed in autumn and lifted if tender, they should put on a good show next year. Bulbs that have already produced shoots are available to buy for a longer period, but are often more expensive – although they should guarantee flowering this year. Bulbs are incredibly versatile and do well in pots and in the ground. The one thing they hate is heavy, wet soil, which can cause rotting, so if you garden on clay then you should lighten it by adding grit or, even better, well-rotted compost and manure. Grit helps to improve…

THE Pansy and Viola Festival staged at Meadowcroft Garden Centre, Woodham Road, Wickford, Essex each spring, is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind the display of over 500 different cultivars in packs, pots and bowls in fragrant bloom is a serious trial, with seed submitted by all the major international breeders. “Large pansies are more eye-catching than small violas” They travel from around the world to see how their series and latest introductions measure up against those from competitors. There are no duds to my eye, and trying to assess the slight improvements made year on year is difficult. Choosing a personal favourite colour/ bicolour is even more difficult, and the choice on a bright, sunny day is likely to be different to what you can expect on a…

THIS year, Amateur Gardening celebrates its 135th anniversary, making it the world’s longest-standing weekly gardening magazine and we want to include our loyal and supportive readers in celebrating this momentous milestone. Please write in and tell us what you think makes the magazine so special. Let us know how long you’ve been reading it, plus your favourite part of the mag, and help us find out who has been reading AG for the longest time. Helping gardeners young and old We would also like to track down our youngest regular reader – whether it’s a first-time home owner or maybe even a green-fingered grandchild! AG editor Garry Coward-Williams said, “I’d love to hear from readers who want to celebrate our amazing anniversary by saying a few words about what AG…

Malope seeds can be sown where you want them to grow now, to flower this summer, or in September for next year’s blooms. Rake the soil first to remove weeds and stones, and to break up the soil until it is a fine, crumble-like texture or ‘tilth’. Sow the seeds in lines roughly 18in (45cm) apart, or scatter them thinly for a more natural effect. Mark the seedbed and protect from pests, cats and weeds. After germination, thin any seedlings growing too close together.…

1 Traditionally, this is the time to plant spuds – as it’s late this year, don’t delay and get those sets planted! 2 Buy or sow your French marigolds, pot up or plant out in the greenhouse and close to tomatoes to keep whitefly at bay. 3 Sow clumps of pot marigolds, Phacelia tanacetifolia , crimson clover and buckwheat in little patches to attract beneficial insects through the summer. 4 As well as sowing sweetcorn directly in situ, ideally under cloches, remember to sow more seeds in pots to replace misses.…

‘Gold Rush’ For summer: Some yellow courgettes can have a slightly disappointing yield, but this one is an exception – a vigorous F1 hybrid with nutty fruits. ‘Celebration’ For winter: This F1 hybrid variety is extraordinary. A high-sugar acorn squash, the heart-shaped, nutty fruits store well into winter ‘Kakai’ For seeds: Unlike other squashes, the seeds of this one are hull-less (the hull is the hard, outer casing of the seed). Expect a mugful from each fruit. Coat in oil, roast and enjoy!…

BACK in mid-February, it seemed like such a good idea to make the most of that mild spell of weather and crack open some veg seed packets. But now, faced with tray upon pot upon tray of seedlings, your windowsills may well be cramped and crowded. Lack of indoor growing space is a limiting factor for most of us at this inclement time of year. Do you put your veg seedlings outside and risk them being battered by chills and wind, or nestle them cheek by jowl indoors and risk them becoming stretched and leggy? Well, neither! Put hardier crops (lettuce, brassicas, peas, broad beans and beetroot) outside but shelter them against the weather by constructing a temporary cold frame. Tender crops such as French beans, sweetcorn, tomatoes and squashes…

THIS variety of sweetcorn isn’t your average Joe: the kernels aren’t yellow but red, and the cob isn’t long but the size of a hen’s egg. Intrigued? If I then tell you it’s one of the best popcorn varieties that you can grow at home, I’m betting it’s jumped onto your must-grow list for 2019! As with conventional sweetcorn, the time to start seeds off is now – and its growing requirements are identical. Sow one seed per large module or 3½in (9cm) pot at 18-20ºC (64-68ºF). Transplant out into blocks in a sunny spot outdoors at the end of May, then harvest in late summer. Instead of eating this sweetcorn fresh, peel back the outer sheaths and hang them somewhere to dry. To pop, rub the kernels off the…

Pinch out side shoots of indeterminate varieties as they develop; pinch out the tops after about five trusses have set. Water and feed as necessary: more for heavier crops; less for finer flavour. Look out for the dreaded blight – leaves turn brown at the edges and develop expanding brown patches, which then move to the stems and fruits. Pick off any infected leaves and burn them – do not compost. If the problem occurs every year, grow blight-tolerant varieties – whether they have an AGM or not. Under cover, tap the plants every day to move pollen and so aid pollination.…

Pelargonium ‘Ardens’ AGM Sprays of little crimson flowers (April-September) are the main attraction of this wonderful old pelargonium. In summer, grow in well-drained containers in full sun; overwinter indoors. H: 4in-1ft (10-30cm). Bidens ferulifolia Will flower madly throughout the summer and into the autumn, providing a cheery mass of warm-yellow Mexican daisies. Use as a bedding plant in containers or hanging baskets in full sun. H: 8in-1ft (20-30cm). Gazania ‘Dynastar Inferno’ These late-flowering African bedding plants produce brightly coloured graphic daisies and tolerate drought well. The well-named ‘Dynastar Inferno’ comes in a fiery-orange. Grow in full sun. H: 8in-1ft (20-30cm). Tagetes ‘Tangerine Gem’ A gorgeous warm-orange striped marigold that will help guard against greenfly and whitefly when grown with tomatoes. A floriferous half-hardy annual,…

Cottage appeal Rosa Gertrude Jekyll AGM You won’t be able to stop burying your nose in this repeat-flowering rose. Use John Innes No3 compost mixed with either well-rotted manure or organic multi-purpose compost. H: 39in-4ft (1-1.2m). Dianthus ‘Mrs Sinkins’ Exudes a delicious clove scent on warm days – it’s the quintessential cottage-garden smell. The calyxes of the white blooms often split, giving a rather scruffy look; for a more uniform flower grow ‘Haytor White’. H: 10in (25cm). Nepeta x faassenii AGM Bees love the nectar-rich lavender-blue flowers of this compact catmint, which are complemented by caramel-scented, silver-green foliage. Good drainage is non-negotiable if you want to grow it in a pot. H: 2ft (60cm). Heady herbs Lavandula angustifolia…

Try it! SWEET peas are a scented favourite, and there is no reason why you can’t enjoy them in pots. Simply opt for dwarf forms (try ‘Pink Cupid’) that will trail over the sides. Or insert a column of bamboo canes or hazel sticks for semi-dwarf (39in/1m) varieties such as ‘Solway Snowflake’ to climb. Alternatively, choose the heavily scented ‘Matucana’ or ‘Cupani’ (6½ft/2m) and grow in a deep container with some tall canes.…

Q Any tips for growing aubergines? I keep trying, but my plants don’t grow very tall and the fruits are small, hard and don’t seem to ripen? Helen Churchill, Taunton, Somerset A I hark back to the sizzling summer of 1990, when we harvested a magnificent crop of aubergines from our large, heated greenhouse in Cobham, Surrey. This was one in a series of hot summers, and during August temperatures soared to 90ºF (32ºC). This is what I’d call an aubergine summer: it was Moussaka every night, and I’ve never grown a better crop since. Joking apart, these greenhouse crops (related to tomatoes and potatoes) demand consistent warmth both for germination and growing on, and enjoy plenty of sunshine, too. Plants need to make steady progress, while being moved on…

This week it's : Magnificent magnolias A celebration of the plant with the distinctive star or goblet-shaped flowers MY first real encounter with the richness and diversity of magnolias was as a student gardener at the RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. I had to climb an aged and rather splayed 30ft (10m) Magnolia grandiflora, and brace it with metal cables. I was able to see some of its highest flowers at close range – and was fascinated by them. As soon as I was able, I planted a magnolia of my own, and started with the amazing star magnolia (M. stellata), which is flowering now. Let’s look at some of the stories surrounding these wonderful plants. The magnolia was named in honour of Pierre Magnol (1638-1715). He was physician to…

Britain’s oldest living tree VISITING Scotland last summer, I was impressed with this magnificent yew in the churchyard at Fortingall. Measured in 1769, by the famous Pennant, it was 17.2m (56½ft) in circumference. It’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as Britain’s oldest tree, with a life of at least 1,500 years, but Sir Robert Christison, who examined it in 1870, considered it to be at least 3,000 years old. In the 19th century, its limbs fell apart, due to the lighting of ‘Beltane’ fires, and was propped up by stone pillars. A notice on the wall – built to protect it in the mid-19th century – claims that it is the ‘most ancient of specimens of vegetation in Europe’. FL Jackson, Wirral Wendy says: Cuttings taken…

THE moveable feast that is the Easter bank holiday weekend always feels like the ‘proper’ start of the gardening year, even though we haven’t stopping getting out there and doing things throughout winter and early spring. The promise of improved weather (hopefully!) and the luxury of having two extra days to play with means you can get on with larger tasks that can be stretched over a couple of days and still have time to sit down and relax. If you already have a social whirl planned for the weekend, there’s nothing stopping you from keeping on top of five-minute tasks – a bit of weeding here, feeding there, and deadheading somewhere else. In these pages, I’m concentrating on timely jobs that may take more than an afternoon to complete,…

BEFORE your greenhouse completely fills up with seedlings, cuttings and tender crops, take time this weekend to give it a thorough clean. Lighting a sulphur candle used to be a common way of getting rid of pests that had overwintered on frames and under staging, but less harmful garlic candles are just as good. More conveniently, you don’t need to remove plants while they are burning. Wash down surfaces with hot soapy water or a dilution of Jeyes Fluid. Open the greenhouse door to speed up drying and reduce the risk of fungal problems arising on damp surfaces. As the days get warmer, don’t forget to open windows, doors and vents to maximise air circulation, remembering to close them at night as sub-zero temperatures are still a possibility. Check over…

Once spring bulbs have died back, leave the foliage to wither naturally. This helps return energy to the bulbs, which will swell and mature and return to vigorous growth next spring. Boost them even further by continuing to water for six weeks after flowering, and feed those in borders with a granular fertiliser such as Growmore. Bulbs growing in pots should be given liquid tomato feed. Do not cut back or tie knots in the leaves as this reduces their ability to return nutrients to the bulbs.…

1 Look for fresh green leaves when buying pansies and violas, and avoid those with any signs of leaf spot diseases. 2 Avoid planting pansies and violas in the same soil or compost two years running – this will help to reduce the chances of diseases building up in the area. 3 Deadheading regularly will extend flowering life, and it will help to maintain flower size and the numbers of flowers produced. 4 When these plants get long and straggly, they can be sheared back to help rejuvenate them. High summer temperatures shrink flower size.…

LEADING garden brand Darlac has donated tools worth over £1,000 to the charity HighGround, which uses horticulture as a way of rehabilitating injured service personnel. The tools can be used by a diverse range of mixed ability patients, and they include pruners, telescopic shears and loppers and the telescopic poles with saw and pruner attachments. We owe a great debt The charity undertakes its work by providing the Horticultural Therapy service for the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC) at Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. Darlac director Tim Jeffries said, “I was delighted to donate tools from our range, especially as one of my sons is a serving Army officer. We all owe a great debt to our service personnel, and it is a privilege to help in a small way.” Horticultural…

1 Almost fill a pot or tray with fresh seed compost, removing lumps and debris that could hinder successful germination. 2 Tamp the compost flat so it is in contact with as much of the seeds’ surface as possible, then water and leave to drain. 3 Malope seeds are medium-sized, round and relatively easy to handle, so sow them thinly onto the compost. 4 Cover with a thin layer of compost, label and add a lid. Place somewhere light and warm, and remove the lid after germination.…

THERE is great excitement at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey because the country’s first colony of Aposthonia ceylonica – a species of webspinner – was discovered in a glasshouse last summer. This means that we now have 25 insect orders found in the UK. These include beetles (Coleoptera), flies (Diptera), bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera), and butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). The last new order, stick insects (Phasmida), was added to Britain’s tally 100 years ago. Andrew Salisbury, principal entomologist to the RHS, told me that this webspinner “was first described in Sri Lanka, although it’s found throughout the tropics and particularly in Thailand”. It tends to live on the hanging roots of tropical plants, like orchids and bromeliads, so this slender insect almost certainly came into the country on an…

1 Sow indoors: Squash won’t germinate if the soil is below 16ºC/61ºF, which outside often doesn’t occur until well into June. Starting seeds off under cover in late April or May extends the growing season by a precious five weeks. 2 Add dark mulches: Laying dark-coloured mulches (bark chips or black polythene) around your plants will help to absorb heat in the day, keeping roots insulated at night. Lay this down when you’re transplanting seedlings in June. 3 Use cloche covers: Place rigid plastic or glass cloches over the earth for a fortnight prior to planting, and keep these in situ while your seedlings establish outside. This will boost soil temperatures and speed up plant growth.…

1 First of all, using a sharp knife, cut off non-flowering, healthy growing shoots roughly 1in (2½cm) long, and carefully remove a few lower leaves. 2 Fill a modular tray with cuttings compost, watering it well. Dibble a hole in every module, then insert a single cutting into each one. 3 Gently firm all the cuttings in and then place in a propagator set to 18ºC/64ºF. Keep moist, move them to 15ºC/59ºF once rooted, and then pot them up.…

BUYING tomatoes during the winter can be a depressing business. Whether from your local market, the supermarket or an old-fashioned greengrocer, winter tomatoes imported from who knows where can be thick-skinned, tasteless and far too chewy. And if that isn’t inspiration enough to grow your own this season, I don’t know what is. Of all the tomatoes you can cultivate, cherry tomatoes are surely the pick. Why? Well, first, the bite-sized fruits (measuring less than 1in/2½cm across) suit kids as much as they do the rest of us. And what better way to get fussy youngsters interested in fresh, home-grown food than by allowing them to pick their own tasty toms and devour them on the spot? Cherry tomatoes are also generally considered more adaptable – and more robust in…

AS tomatoes grow, they will need support. How you do this depends on the plant type and growing conditions: A single dahlia stake is ideal to support indeterminate, upright varieties. Tie the main stem in with soft twine every 8in-1ft (20-30cm). In a tunnel or greenhouse, twine the stems around a string tied from the roof to the ground. I support my bushy (determinate) varieties with rings of 6in (15cm) wire-mesh pig netting – the shoots grow through the holes and are supported.…

When plug plants arrive, unwrap promptly and, if you can’t pot them into 3-3½in (8-9cm) pots immediately, check that they are moist and set in a cool, bright airy place. When established, acclimatise to the weather by standing them outdoors for a few days, and then plant them into containers or 9in (23cm) apart in the ground. Pansies appreciate moist but well-drained soil in sun or partial shade. Sow seeds in late winter and spring for summer flowers, and July/August for winter and spring flowers (or buy in plug plants). Take cuttings of any named varieties in July. Spots or blotches on leaves are caused by fungal pathogens spread by wind and rain. Choose healthy plants and remove any spotted leaves that appear. Avoid planting into the same soil repeatedly.…

Totally tropical Canna ‘Wyoming’ AGM A star of the Exotic Garden at Great Dixter, East Sussex, from June to October this stunning canna has apricot-orange flowers that stand tall like torches above enormous dark-burgundy leaves. Full sun. H: 5ft (1½m). Dahlia ‘Bishop of Canterbury’ Keep picking or deadheading and the glowing deep-magenta flowers will continue to sizzle above black-green foliage from July to November. One for well-drained but moist pots in full sun. H: 39in (1m). Begonia ‘Glowing Embers’ AGM An essential plant that will add a touch of style to a container from July to November. Single flowers in tangerine-orange contrast sharply with dark foliage. Grow in sun or semi-shade. H: 1ft (30cm). Pollinator pick Antirrhinum majus ‘Liberty Classic Crimson’ Bumblebees…

Succession planting is the art of thinking ahead, choosing a selection of plants that will ensure your pots have a long season of interest and colour. For instance, incorporate evergreens and grasses that look good in the autumn, as well as late-flowering and long-flowering plants. Add dahlias, dwarf sunflowers, fuchsias, begonias, pelargoniums, penstemons or Delosperma (Mesembryanthemum) for flaming colour into autumn.…

What plants thrive in dry shade? Q In my garden there is an area with a few big fir trees. This plot is very dry, shaded and covered with a dense sheet of needles that have been shed from the fir trees. What could I successfully grow there? Ann Lasloe, via email A The combination of dry acidic soil, shade and a thick impenetrable mat of needles means growing conditions are quite challenging. However, there are a number of plants that will grow in such conditions, with the proviso that very few plants will be happy in the deepest areas of shade. Those that should be OK in deep shade are marked with an asterisk. All of the plants listed below will do best if given a helping hand at…

GENERALLY, your average weed can be easily controlled – and some even make desirable well-behaved additions to your garden. However, there are several that appear to have superpowers and seem to return within the blink of an eye. Knowledge is the key to controlling these troublesome weeds, and understanding their survival methods can be the key to their final surrender. The power of seeds ‘One year’s seed is seven years’ weeds’ – so the traditional garden saying goes. This advocates the removal of weeds before they set seed. Weeds rely on safety in numbers, producing copious amounts of seed. It is a simple yet effective method of overwhelming a site and adding to the soil’s seed bank. A large dock (Rumex crispus) can produce up to 30,000 seeds per plant.…

IF your lawn is looking a bit the worse for wear after the hot summer and wet winter, now is the time to act. Rake over bare patches to loosen the soil, fill any depressions with soil or compost so the surface is level, then sprinkle over lawn seed from one of the many ‘repair kits’ offered by big brands. All you then need is a drop of water and the job’s done. These kits vary in content. Some contain a mix of seeds, compost and fertiliser; others have seeds and fertiliser; and others just have treated seeds. In our trial, some seeds were slow to germinate, but in the end all came through so the comparisons came down to ease of use, speed of germination, thickness of cover and,…

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…

Lavender takes me back ONE of the most glorious sights I remember in my younger days was seeing the lavender fields at Heacham in Norfolk. What a sight they were, out in full bloom, and the perfume was so wonderful. It was good to read Alan Titchmarsh’s views about lavender back in 1984 (AG, 2 March), and talking about the Surrey fields which even then had disappeared. I have always left lavender planting to others, as I felt I did not have a suitable area in a small garden, but I can remember my grandparents having paths lined with it, and how gorgeous it was as we brushed passed to enjoy the aroma drifting up. As a child, I would sew little bags to fill with the dried lavender for…

A LESS poisonous natural replacement for the long-banned Cheshunt Compound is powdered cinnamon from your spice rack. Coming from the tropics, the bark contains powerful anti-fungal properties and, when dusted on the ends of cuttings, it reduces the likelihood of rot – while a teaspoon diluted in a cup of water and sprinkled on seedlings helps keep damping-off disease at bay. Cinnamon fungicide soak works best when the space is left to steep in the can or mixed with boiling water first to stop it floating undissolved on the surface. Meanwhile, a trick widely used by commercial pelargonium growers is to dip cuttings in diluted vitamin C tablets, as the ascorbic acid noticeably boots the production of the root.…

1 Lay pavers on the grass, a comfortable pace’s length apart, and cut deeply around them with a sharp lawn edger. 2 Remove the grass and soil slightly deeper than the paving stone and layer sand to cushion the stone, tamping it flat. 3 Settle the stones on the sand and brush more sand and soil around them to fill in any gaps and stop them moving about. 4 Sweep the stones clean and sow some grass seed around their edges. They will soon settle in and your lawn will be protected.…

20: Plant Hunters’ Fair: Bodenham Arboretum, Kidderminster, Worcs DY11 5TB 20-21: Plant Hunters’ Fair: Dorothy Clive Gardens, Willowbridge, Market Drayton, TF9 4EU 25: Make An Easter Table Ring: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. 0845 265 8071, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hydehall 25: Introduction to Growing in Polytunnels: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 26: Walk – Beginner’s Guide to Propagation: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 27: British Iris Society Spring Event: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. 0845 6121 253, rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 27: Plant Hunters’ Fair: Battlefield 1403, Shrewsbury, Shrops SY4 3DB 28: Plant Hunters’ Fair: Cholmondeley Castle Gardens, Malpas, Shrops SY14 8AH 27-28: Spring Plant Fair: RHS Garden Hyde…

1 Dig a hole large enough to accommodate the bulbs at the correct depth and spacing. Work in well-rotten manure or compost. 2 Place the bulbs so they have enough space to grow well. You can mix varieties for a blend of colours and heights. 3 Cover with soil and compost and lightly tamp down with the back of a rake or the heel of your boot. 4 Water the planting site even if rain is forecast, and mark it so the bulbs aren’t disturbed while digging the bed.…

GARDENERS are being advised to change some of their planting plans if they want to avoid damage by deer. As urban sightings of deer increase, the Royal Horticultural Society has researched the animals’ favourite edible plants and looked for alternatives. The researchers found that roe deer were the most commonly sighted (65%), followed by Reeves’s muntjac (41%) and fallow deer (9%), and of the 185 popular plant species investigated, those least likely to survive a deer invasion were found to include tulips, roses and holly. A taste for certain plants However, 85 plants were largely shunned, incurring only minimal damage – defined as less than a 20% chance of damage – including berberis, primula and nerine. The findings have been released to coincide with the start of the growing season,…

BRINGING beauty to borders, lasting up to 10 days in a vase, attracting wonderful pollinators to the garden, and even tasting good added to salads – is there anything that fabulous Malope trifida can’t do? Sown and grown in the middle to the back of borders, reaching 3ft (90cm) in height, they are certainly worth growing. This week’s free seeds, from renowned gardener Sarah Raven, are for the ‘Vulcan’ variety that has silky, vibrant dark-pink trumpet flowers, each with a zinging green star at their centre. The seeds can be sown undercover now or sown directly where you want them to grow in May, once the soil has warmed up, or in September. These autumn-sown seeds will flower next year, slightly earlier than those started in the spring. Easy-going Malope,…

HERE’S an easy way to save a bit of money and improve your pest and disease control. Re-using last year’s ties and canes unfortunately runs the risk of reintroducing many problems, especially red spider mites, mealy bugs and many wilts, mildews, rusts and blights. True, you can clean them up – just leaving them outdoors to weather helps – but it only requires a few bugs or spores to survive and multiply. Far better is to use new ties and canes each year, especially for important crops and flowers, but this costs. So why not grow your own? Bamboos are simple enough to grow in the UK, but are well known for being hard to confine. Still, you do not need bamboo to produce canes, as almost any strong stems…

SOWN now and treated properly, squash harvests are lavish and abundant, so how do you best nurture these ample plot residents? Squashes (including pumpkins and courgettes) are some of the fastest-growing veg on UK plots, and the large seeds help them hit the ground running if sown in warmth under cover. Packed full of energy, a freshly sown squash will provide a transplant in three weeks (most crops take six to eight). Get these into the ground in June, before they get rootbound; coir pots can be planted straight into the earth to avoid root disturbance. Such rapid establishment of a large leaf surface area demands ample moisture and feed, so add plenty of garden compost or similar to your bed, which should be in a sunny spot. Shoots can…

IF you’re an established fan of this cool season vegetable, you may be one step ahead and have seeds sown already – but if you’re a newbie grower, this is a reminder to open those seed packets. Simply fill a large, shallow pot with seed compost, firm it down and water well, then sprinkle leek seeds evenly over the surface. Top with a little bit of compost or vermiculite, then label and place in a propagator set at 15ºC/59ºF. Within a few days, a thicket of seedlings will appear. Once they’re 4in (10cm) tall, remove them from the propagator and grow on in a glasshouse or similar. Come June, you can split them up and plant them outside; I’ll cover this in a later issue. Carefully choosing varieties will give…

1 Hardy salads romp away in warm weather . Continue picking leaves from individual plants, or cut whole bunches then allow plants to recover. 2 Overwintering broad beans are a sizeable crop; take them now by inserting canes around the edge of the clump , lashing them together with twine. 3 If you sowed annual herbs (basil, dill or coriander) last month, pot them up now. Place four seedlings in the centre of each 3½in (9cm) pot. 4 Foliage of first-early potatoes will be poking through the earth. Draw soil over this growth with a rake so new tubers remain buried. 5 The secret to annual weed control is to keep hoeing over beds on sunny, breezy days to decapitate these nuisance plants before they take hold.…

Grafted plants usually arrive by post very close to planting time, so will only need good light, watering and hardening off before planting. They may still be available to order for delivery next month. Good garden centres also stock grafted plants; look for them now but do check that they’ve been well looked after and haven’t been damaged or chilled. Sow seed in March, individually, in cells of fresh new compost at 21ºC; move into 3½in (9cm) pots as they develop. Harden off and plant outside after the last frost. Or plant earlier under glass or plastic, but keep frost-free.…

IT’S the taste, isn’t it? If there’s no flavour, there’s no point in growing it. And flavour comes from three things: the varieties we choose, the way we grow the plants and the weather. Of course, we can’t control the weather, but we can control the other two. All my variety picks are well flavoured, as are many others. If the catalogue doesn’t mention a variety’s flavour, don’t buy it. As for growing, the thing to bear in mind is that generous watering and feeding is the enemy of good flavour. Give the plants enough, but no more. This may reduce the yield, but the taste will be enhanced. You may also find that the first truss on the plant has the best flavour. And remember that personal preferences vary,…

Violet ‘Christie’s Wedding’ The fragrant mid-pink blooms of this Viola odorata cultivar open in early spring. Plants are semi-evergreen perennials, enjoying winter sun and summer shade. Viola ‘Nora’ A perennial viola, producing fragrant, weather-resistant flowers during summer. Deadhead regularly, trim leggy plants in July and again, to within 2in (5cm) of the base, in early autumn. Viola x wittrockiana ‘Can-Can Mixed’ From one packet of seed, expect a chorus of over-the-top ruffled, wavy-edged, colourful double blooms in all shades. With lovely faces and whiskers. V. x wittrockiana ‘Coolwave Berries ‘n’ Cream Mix’ Think blackcurrants and blueberries smothered with cream – this long-flowering mixture of trailing pansies will fill a basket with neat flowers in summer or winter.…

SCENTED pelargoniums are the ultimate fragrant plant for containers. They have a wonderful Mediterranean look, especially when grown in old terracotta pots. Some, including ‘Royal Oak’, release the scent in their leaves onto the air voluntarily, but most must be rubbed between the fingers. Younger kids love doing this, comparing the different aromas of pungent varieties, including ‘Attar of Roses’, ‘Chocolate Peppermint’, ‘Orange Fizz’ and ‘Apple Betty’.…

Q Some of my pelargoniums are rather tall but in flower. Should I cut them back? Merrilyn Hughes, Port Talbot, South Wales A Cut your pelargoniums back now to produce bushy plants with plenty of new flower buds. Make sure your plants are in a well-lit position and feed with a high-potash liquid tomato feed. Q What is wrong with my cabbages? Muriel Duncan, Bath A Your cabbages have bolted. The usual cause is widely ranging soil temperatures and weather. Assuming that you sowed seeds outdoors on a nursery bed in July and transplanted the seedlings in September, plants should have developed normally. That they have failed to heart up indicates that growth has been erratic. Q I wondered if you could explain this strange cowslip flower. I really like…

MOST lawn weeds rely on their growth habits to lay low and weave in among the grass, escaping the blades of the mower and living to spread another day. Mind-your-own-business (Soleirolia soleirolii) is particularly successful at doing this on damp, shady lawns. Plants with darker coloured leaves blend into the shadows and can be difficult to spot. These darker forms live on and their camouflage genes survive to cross-pollinate – and create purple-leaved forms of the weed. Annual meadow grass (Poa annua) is usually a lawn weed, but a purple form Poa annua f. purpurea has sneaked into borders through blending in.…

Suttons Rapid Green Self-Repairing Lawn Seed £9.99 (625g) from stores (plus £1.99 delivery online) ✆ 0844 326 2200 suttons.co.uk Features Plastic bag with carry handle containing 625g of fine-textured, semi-dwarf lawn seed coated with seaweed extract. Said to be suitable for high-traffic areas, drought-resistant and ‘self-repairing’. Up to 30% more coverage than conventional lawn seed. Sufficient for up to 35.8sq yds (30m2 ). Performance Easy-to-scatter seeds lightly by hand over the patch area. The bag says it has a built-in seed sowing mechanism, but I never found it. The seeds were the first to germinate after four days, and after seven days had produced a very good, dense and even cover of seedlings. Best of all for thickness of cover. Value It’s not particularly expensive, the bag covers a…

The insane three-year period in Holland known as ‘Tulipomania’ ended on this day, when the tulip market finally collapsed. In 1634, the popularity of these new bulbs from Turkey saw their prices start to soar. At the height, in March 1637, some bulbs were worth more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman, and enough to buy a house at that time. But a crash was inevitable, and within a few weeks, prices went through the floor. Financiers and speculators forsook the tulip as quickly as they had adopted it, and it was left to gardeners to carry on growing and developing the blooms.…

WHILE out running, I fell into a clump of nettles and, naturally, had a few choice words for the offending stinger. While we’ll never know whether the nettle understood my angry Anglo-Saxon, plants do possess a language all of their own, and they do understand each other… When under attack from aphids – or even middle-aged joggers who are coming up in welts – besieged leaves send out distress signals to undamaged foliage and nearby neighbours. These hormonal signals call the cavalry of pest-predators such as parasitic wasps, ladybirds and hoverflies – effectively inviting them to lunch on what’s making a meal of them. They can also activate alterations in the plants’ physiology, sometimes encouraging the release of volatile mustard oils that make leaves unpalatable or reduce the nutritional value…