Innholdsfortegnelse for 11-May-2019 i Amateur Gardening

BEDDING plants are synonymous with the summer garden, and can be as versatile as you want them to be. If they immediately conjure up visions of municipal park borders planted out with rigid military precision, think again. It’s time to expand your ideas, for bedding has moved with the times. Of course, if you want to create a carpet of synchronised colour then that’s up to you, but if you are after something less regimented, then that’s OK too. There are no set rules, so grow what you want and enjoy the spectacle. Over the years, I have tried both versions of planting and have settled on incorporating a variety of bedding plants among our herbaceous perennials to create mixed colour over a longer timespan. Traditional bedding plants include impatiens,…

Acting on problems when they first appear will save you a lot of trouble in the long run. Bedding plants are vulnerable to mildew when planted too close together, so give them enough space to grow properly. Remove any plants that show signs of disease to prevent its spread, or treat with a fungicide. Catch pests in the early stages, squishing aphids and removing slugs ad snails or using beer traps and barriers. Only use chemicals for large infestations and never use on flowers already in bloom as you will kill pollinators.…

Help your summer-flowing bulbs reach their full potential by feeding them with Growmore, Vitax Q4, blood, fish and bone meal or sulphate of potash. Water it in and repeat monthly until six weeks after flowering, which helps prepare the bulbs for next year. Potted bulbs, such as our agapanthus, have limited access to nutrients, so give them a boost by removing the top couple of inches of compost and adding fresh. Then fork in some granular fertiliser, as above, and water in. Repeat feeding monthly, until six weeks after flowering. Make sure containers are raised on feet so excess water can escape and not create waterlogging, which may cause the bulbs and roots to rot.…

WHILE your mature tender perennials are hardening off, ready to move into the garden, you can take cuttings to create more plants. Shoot-tip (softwood) cuttings of pelargoniums and penstemons are easy to take, and if they grow well they may be ready to plant out before the end of summer for late colour. If they aren’t large enough, or your garden is exposed to early frosts, move them into larger pots and overwinter them undercover until next summer. When taking cuttings, use sharp, clean scissors or secateurs to remove 4in (10cm) of healthy new growth without flower buds. Remove any large leaves. Root the cuttings in dampened seed and cutting compost mixed with perlite or vermiculite. This helps open up the compost, improving ventilation and moisture retention around developing roots.…

BRITAIN’S major bulb grower and wholesaler, fourth-generation family business O&A Taylor of Holbeach, is this year celebrating its centenary. Last month, they held an open day for gardeners and the press, where I found much had changed since buying bulbs from that area in the 1960s. The scale of operation is impressive, as is modern mechanisation, with their huge lifting machine able to dig out a ton of narcissus bulbs in a minute. Daffodils and narcissus are two-year crops – just left the first year, and a cut flower harvest taken before lifting the second year. “Always buy the top-size bulbs of any given cultivar” Some things do not change, and grower Sam Taylor endorsed my experience: always buy the top-size bulbs of any given cultivar. They cost a little…

1 Keep lemon trees in shape by pinching off fast-growing shoots from the crown and the base of the trunk. 2 For the best results, give your citrus trees a high-nitrogen summer feed between now and October and irrigate with rainwater. 3 Our pottered olive needed a boost after winter, so I top-dressed it with fresh compost and fed with manure pellets. 4 A generous watering helped perk it up and it will soon be back on the patio for summer. I will repot it next spring.…

DO not be impatient to move all your tenderer plants outdoors, or plant them out in the open. If these have been grown in a nice, warm, sheltered place, think how bleak they’re going to feel out there in the windy, cold air and chilly soil! This will come as a real shock and can set back your plants by weeks – that is, if it doesn’t kill them off entirely. It’s far kinder and more effective to harden them off before leaving them to the perils of the British summer. This means helping them become slowly adjusted, rather than having to survive a sudden shock. “Beware the perils of the British summer!” The standard method is to move your plants outdoors to a sunny spot each day and return…

AN annual feature on any veg plot, the ubiquitous runner bean can be sown now, and is utterly delicious when the pods are picked at a young age. The pitfalls are easy to avoid if you know how, so let me divulge for a summer of beans! The French connection Plant breeders have done gardeners proud in recent years. While older varieties flowered late in the summer, modern types develop earlier blooms due to boffins adjusting the bean’s sensitivity to day length. Drought resistance is improving, too. Red-flowered varieties were notoriously shallow-rooted compared to their white-flowered cousins, but breeding has now blurred the boundaries. By far the most exciting development is the crossing of runner and French beans. This British-led breeding programme has introduced some real positives in the past…

DID you know that you can alter a crop’s size just by adjusting your planting distances? Plenty of vegetables are being transplanted now, so just ponder those words before you plant. Broccoli heads bigger than a tennis ball this year? No problem! Smaller caulis needed, because last winter it took a week to get through just one? Absolutely! It’s all to do with root space and its influence on crop competition. Simply put, a larger root system equals a bigger crop, and vice versa. Soil type also plays a role, with free-draining, low-fertility sands giving smaller yields than moisture-hugging fertile clay plots. Average crop spacings are easy to determine with a quick internet search, and they should also be printed on the back of your seed packets. Once you have…

1 Cordon tomatoes are generally grown with one main vertical stem. Remove sideshoots regularly once 1-2in (2½-5cm) tall, snapping them off gently. 2 These lofty stems are going to need support! Either tie them onto strong bamboo canes or carefully twist them around twine tied to the greenhouse eaves. 3 If you happen to miss a sideshoot and it becomes pencil-thick (this is easily done), then cut it off. Watch out also for competing leaders and cut these off, too.…

Flowering cherry trees are usually available in containers. As a general rule, the larger the pot, the older and larger the tree – and the higher the price. Do not simply dig a planting hole and dump manure in the bottom. Instead, prepare the planting area first by forking over to loosen the soil, and working in some well-rotted organic matter or bagged soil improver. Then dig your hole. Firm the base before setting the tree in the hole so that the top of the rootball is a little below the general soil level. This will allow water to collect. Firm the soil well, then secure the trunk to supports (see below).…

‘Amanogawa’ With its narrow, upright growth, ‘Amanogawa’ seems a fine tree for a small garden, and its fragrant semi-double pink flowers in late April and May are prolific. However, under the weight of snow or heavy rain those upright branches can lean outwards, making the tree look rather ridiculous. The only solution is to loop twine around the branches to keep them in place. ‘Kanzan’ With large, double, purplish-pink flowers that cover the tree, ‘Kanzan’ is genuinely dramatic, but it has been planted far too often at the expense of other fine varieties. ‘Kanzan’ also seems especially susceptible to disease. The answer is to plant the similar ‘Fugenzo’ instead; not only is it less disease-prone, but it also makes a smaller, more elegant tree.…

Geum ‘Scarlet Tempest’ A prolific flowerer, this dazzling geum produces masses of big semi-double flowers from spring to late summer. Held on slender, branching stems, they come in an orangey-red. Great for containers. Flowers: Mar-Sept. H&S: 1 ½ ft (45cm). Dianthus Memories Who doesn’t love the cottage-garden smell of dianthus? Memories suits a front-of-the-border spot in full sun, where you can enjoy the abundance of white blooms with their rich fragrance. Flowers: May-Sept. H&S: 1ft (30cm). Salvia ‘Crystal Blue’ This was in the running for Plant of the Year because of the colour of its blooming spires – a shade of pale blue never before seen in salvias. A reliable performer in a variety of soils, it’s also easy to grow. Flowers: Jul-Sept. H&S:…

Visit nearby parks and gardens that open to the public to see what other gardeners are growing and get a feel for which plants thrive in your local soil. Don’t forget the bees! May is a busy time for pollinators, so when choosing plants ensure you include plenty of nectar-rich options like valerian, erysimum and euphorbia. Prune early flowering clematis like C. alpina, cirrhosa and armandii – cut back untidy stems to a tight structure if they are outgrowing their allocated space. Cut back helenium, echinacea and phlox by as much as half to encourage bushier, more floriferous plants.…

THERE’S a technique to setting up a traditional hanging basket. Follow this article and you’ll enjoy an exuberant display of flowers for weeks or even months through the summer – and even later if you choose your plants carefully. A hanging basket is simply a container for compost with strong chains attached so you can hang it from a wall bracket. A traditional basket has a strong wire frame with a separate lining that allows you to plant into both the top and the sides. Others are little more than large pots and only the top is planted. Side-planting baskets give a fuller and bigger display because you can get lots more plants into them, but they need some care in putting together. Right location and the right bracket First,…

Basket: Frame or bowl made of metal wire, wrought iron or rigid plastic. Liner: A shaped piece of fabric or formed coir that fits snugly inside the basket. Chains: Strong metal link chains, clipped evenly spaced around the edge of the basket. Hanging loop: Metal loop at the top of the chain. Bracket arm: Horizontal extension from bracket with hook at end to take the hanging loop. Bracket: Pad made from steel, wrought iron or wood carrying a strong bracket arm and drilled for fixing to a wall…

BEFORE this date, tariff laws in the USA imposed a duty on vegetables, but not on fruits. It meant that the status of the tomato was to become a matter of legal importance. On 10 May 1893, the US Supreme Court settled this controversy by declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, based on the popular definition: quite simply, it was decreed that a vegetable was something that was generally served ‘with dinner and not dessert’. So that’s settled, then – the tomato is a vegetable! Well, no, because the holding of this case applies only to the interpretation of the Tariff of 1893, and the court accepted that, botanically, the tomato was probably a fruit! Err… Just to throw extra confusion into the botanical nightmare, watercress is not really…

Q Our small pond is overgrown with plants, and has filled up with leaves and silt. How can we best clear it to make sure there is still a depth of water without disturbing the creatures living there? We don’t have any fish. Karen Pilkington, Windermere, Cumbria A Depth of water is necessary both for aquatic life and for creatures that rely on the pond for drinking and bathing, so if yours is in danger of filling up and drying out, you are right to take action. However, it is many years since I cleaned out a pond by removing everything, draining water, digging out sludge, refilling and replacing plants. There is so much life in our small pond year-round, I would feel awful about displacing it and prefer to…

HEMEROCALLIS are flower-border superheroes blooming from May to late August, and their display in the heat of last summer was so good, I’m after more. Daylilies, as they’re commonly known, are split into two broad groups that also divide opinion. There are the standard, shuttlecocked-shaped forms in buttery yellows and tango oranges – and then there are the racier, saucer-sized blooms of the tetraploid types. Just as Spider Man, The Incredible Hulk and… err, The Green Cross Code Man gained super powers from Frankinscience experiments, so did these souped-up daylilies! Back in the 1940s and 1950s, American scientists discovered that colchicine – a powerful compound derived from autumn crocus – boosted the genetics of daylily seedlings, giving them four sets of chromosomes instead of the usual two. The upshot was…

1 Make holes as deep as the plants’ rootballs and sprinkle in some additional food such as Osmocote or Seed Start. 2 Pop the plant from its pot and carefully tease out the roots. Set it in its hole, infill and firm in. 3 As well as standing plants in water before putting them in the ground, always water well afterwards to soak the roots and settle the soil. 4 Protect from slugs and snails. I’m using organic Ecofective Slug Defence as a barrier, though you may prefer to use wool or ferric phosphate pellets.…

DON’T forget to buy next week’s edition of Amateur Gardening, marking our 135th anniversary. When AG first appeared on the shelves in 1884, it broke the mould in horticultural publications by promoting the idea of urban gardens. Its editor, Shirley Hibberd, was a Renaissance man with interests ranging from beekeeping to vegetarianism, environmentalism and water recycling – passions that were unusual then but loom large at the forefront of public consciousness today. Next week’s AG will celebrate his life and legacy by taking our usual close look at modern gardening with an added Victorian twist. I will be carrying out my usual weekly jobs using plants and techniques that were popular 135 years ago and are still widely found in gardens today. There will also be fascinating features about the…

Taking shoot-tip or softwood cuttings is an easy way to create more plants from one parent. Take them early in the day when the plants are firm with water. Remove three-four 4in (10cm) lengths of healthy new growth and strip off the lowest and large top leaves. Dip the cut ends in rooting compound and insert in individual 3in (7cm) pots of dampened cuttings compost and vermiculite/perlite. Alternatively, set the cuttings around the edge of a 4in (10cm) pot filled with the same mix. Seal in a plastic bag and place somewhere light and warm. Remove the bag when the cuttings start to grow, which indicates they have developed roots.…

1 There are early and late cultivars of narcissus, so by choosing carefully you can extend the flowering season. Narcissus ‘Eminent’ and the Pheasant Eye types will flower long after trumpet daffodils have finished. 2 Top-size tulips of any given cultivar, especially Darwin hybrids, will flower year after year for many years if planted deep and left undisturbed. Poorer flowers on the right indicate smaller-sized bulbs. 3 Small sizes of tulips, often offered cheaply in pre-packs, can yield small, poor flowers the following spring and then fizzle out. 4 Avoid damaging leaves and lifting bulbs before the foliage has yellowed and died down naturally. Once lifted, keep away from ripening fruit – the Ethylene released can damage flowering.…

IF you are searching for a beauty that beats the beasts, then look no further than this week’s free seeds. Not only will Mr Fothergill’s Tagetes tenuifolia ‘Starfire Mixed’ fill your garden with a wash of warm colour, but it may even help keep your plants pest-free. A recent study by Newcastle University has finally proved what gardeners have suspected for centuries – that growing some French marigolds helps keep whitefly from your tomatoes and also attracts predatory insects that will devour other pests. The boffins discovered that French marigolds secrete a scented substance called limonene that repels whitefly. Because it deters rather than kills them, whitefly don’t become resistant to it so it can be used as an eco-friendly pesticide. Marigolds also attract hoverflies and other pest-chomping pollinators. This…

1 Weeds grow like Topsy now, so hoe, hoe, hoe! Sharpen the edge of your hoe with a carborundum stone or file. 2 Move citrus plants and tough houseplants out for summer, and keep them together – then you can easily throw covers over them on cold nights. 3 Check wall-trained fruits for new shoots heading towards the wall, and rub these off before they mature and waste resources. 4 Sow turnips, better grown fast, keep watering well and, for best results, mix in a little bone meal.…

‘Firestorm’ A self-fertile runner with French bean in its breeding. This AGM winner sets better crops in inclement and hot weather than standard types, with plump pods and a sweet flavour. ‘Jackpot’ This runner-French bean cross is naturally compact, so it’s ideal for large tubs. High-yielding for a dwarf variety, due to its extended cropping season. ‘Red Rum’ Red-flowered, high yielding, and bearing tender, stringless pods. This early-maturing benchmark variety is still considered worthy of an RHS AGM.…

1 All veg seedlings raised under cover need hardening off before being planted outside . Place them outdoors in the day and then back inside at night for a week. 2 Spring cabbages heart up quickly in warm weather . Check your crop frequently , squeezing the centres as a guide to tell you when to harvest. 3 Before planting cucumbers and melons into growbags, water the bags well and move them into the greenhouse for a day . This way , 4 the roots won’t get chilled. If you potted up first early potato tubers hoping for a speedy crop , check the containers: those melt-in-the-mouth spuds could be ready! 5 Summer and autumn raspberry beds will be filled with canes. T o keep rows in check, dig up…

LUSH, tropical triffid-like plants, bananas have certainly made their name in our exotic borders. But is it possible to obtain edible fruits from them? Yes, if luck is on your side, and you grow the correct varieties. Most specialist exotic nurseries (often based in the South West) will stock Ensete and Musa, the two plants giving rise to bananas. While Ensete might bear fruit in long, hot summers with plenty of moisture, their quality of eating is poor. Musa is more promising – but not if you grow the main species sold, Musa basjoo, on account of its hardiness. Track down Musa x paradisiaca, however, and you’re in luck. This hybrid is the commercial, edible banana. Plant it somewhere warm and sheltered, pray for a promising summer, and you just…

Firm support is crucial until new roots have spread out into the surrounding soil and taken hold. One tall stake alongside the trunk is not the right approach here. Position two stakes, one on either side and outside the rootball; knock in deeply, leaving 16-20in (40-50cm) above ground. Thread galvanised wire through a 6-8in (15-20cm) length of plastic hosepipe. Loop it around the trunk, pull tight with the tree vertical and secure the wire to the top of one stake. Repeat the procedure and secure the wire tightly to the other stake.…

MY first experience of RHS Chelsea Flower Show was as an 18-year-old student in the early 1990s. Along with my fellow students, I created a display in the Great Pavilion for Sparsholt College in Hampshire. Being on the showground during the build-up and dismantling in the dark was an experience like no other, and this was the start of a passionate love affair with the most impressive show in the world. Since my first involvement at RHS Chelsea, I’ve attended nearly every year since. The show is so alive with ideas that for me it’s the gardening equivalent to being in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. I have also been one of the lucky ones who has attended on a regular basis on the Monday Press Day, but never for a…

Digitalis x valinii Illumination Pink (2012) Hardy and compact (no need to stake), what sets this striking foxglove apart is the fact that it’s both perennial and sterile – it blooms for ages, yet still produces nectar. Part shade or sun. Flowers: Jun-Nov. HxS: 3x1½ft (90x45cm). Clematis koreana Amber (2016) A winning combination of drooping yellow flowerheads on a compact plant that usually has two flushes of flowers and requires little pruning. Excellent for growing up a support in a pot. Flowers: May-Jul, then again in Sept. H&S: 6½ft (2m). Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’ (2010) Streptocarpus make great houseplants and bicoloured ‘Harlequin Blue’, with its blue and yellow-petalled lobed flowers, carried on short stems, has lots to offer. Compact and colourful,…

TO celebrate 100 years of Chelsea, the RHS drew up a list of the 10 best plants launched at the show between 1913 and 2013 – one for each decade – and asked people to vote for their favourite. The winner was Geranium Rozanne a purple hardy cranesbill representing the decade 1993-2002 and often recommended by experts for its long-flowering nature. Others that made the shortlist included Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’; Heuchera villosa ‘Palace Purple’ and Cornus ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’, while the runner-up was Lupinus Russell hybrids in rainbow colours, first displayed in 1939.…

Geum ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’ AGM This mid to front-of-border hardy perennial needs little looking after. Loved by bees, the scarlet flowers appear in May and, with regular deadheading, will carry on all summer. Grow with other hot colours, like ‘Bishop of Llandaff’ dahlias HxS: 2x1ft (60x30cm). Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ AGM Plant for non-stop mauve flowers from March to September. Grow with euphorbia and tulips in spring, and with silver-leaved lavender and artemisia in summer. Hates winter wet. A short-lived perennial; take tip cuttings in summer. HxS: 2½x2ft (75x60cm). Papaver orientale Oriental poppies offer fantastic colour before most other summer-flowering perennials appear – buy in flower and you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. Dusky pink ‘Patty’s Plum’ (above) is understandably popular. Needs sun and good drainage. H:…

Why has my camellia browned? Q The blooms on my beautiful white camellia shrub turned brown after just three weeks of flowering. What can I do to prevent this in the future? Stan Addison, via email A Sadly, white varieties of Camellia japonica are less hardy than pink and red-flowered forms and are, therefore, vulnerable to frost damage. In future, when the sky clears at dusk and a chilly night is forecast, drape your bush with two or three layers of fleece to protect flower buds and blooms from cold-weather damage. Remove fleece the following morning when the temperature rises. Additionally, strengthen your camellia by feeding it with sulphate of potash. Sprinkle 1oz (28g) per m2 over the root area and water it in. Apply it monthly from April to…

Although hardy, hydrangeas are woodland plants and enjoy shelter from wind and late frosts. Most prefer to grow in partial shade and dislike strong sun. Spring or from early to mid-autumn are the best planting times, though potted plants could go in any time with adequate watering and by avoiding saturated soils in winter. Young plants that are failing to thrive are best moved to a better position while dormant. Prune with caution: thin over-large H. macrophylla by removing a few older stems to the base or good side shoots in spring. Never prune all the shoots to the base at once, unless you want to lose a whole year’s worth of flower. By contrast, a healthy plant of H. paniculata pruned hard in early spring will respond by making…

1 Stand the basket frame on an empty pot. Nestle the liner into the frame, tuck in or trim off excess, place a circle of plastic in the base and fill about a third with compost. 2 Cut 2x2in (5x5cm) crosses through the liner, evenly spaced all round, at the level of the lowest tier of plants. Wrap the foliage of a plant firmly in a roll of newspaper. 3 Ease the paper-wrapped foliage through the cross cut until the rootball sits against the liner. Remove the paper. Repeat for all other plants on this tier. Add another one-third of compost. 4 Plant the next tier in the same way, positioning cross cuts/ rootballs above and between the tier below. Top up with compost and then plant the basket top.…

IF there is one vegetable that is worth growing to save you money, it is asparagus. It’s expensive to buy, because the grower has to wait at least two years from planting to harvesting, and then the cropping season is short. So, in order to make the ground pay for itself, a premium has to be charged. Quicker crops, that give a quicker turnaround of cash, are invariably cheaper. Asparagus spears are harvested for about six weeks in the year, and the season is starting now, so let’s look at some of the fascinating facts surrounding them. Worcestershire’s Vale of Evesham is the largest producer of asparagus in Northern Europe, and celebrates with an annual British Asparagus Festival (this year from 23 April-21 June). For details visit britishasparagusfestival.org. Cost-effective asparagus…

WHY do some people, after eating asparagus, notice that their wee smells of it? Asparagus contains a sulphurous compound called methanethiol, which is also found in rotten eggs, onions and garlic. When your digestive system breaks down methanethiol, by-products are released that cause the strange smell. The process is so quick that your urine can develop the distinctive smell in 15-30 minutes. Not all people have the gene for the enzyme that breaks down methanethiol into its more pungent parts. In 1731, Scottish mathematician and doctor John Arbuthnot wrote that asparagus gives urine “a foetid smell”. On the other hand, French novelist Marcel Proust said it had the effect of transforming his “humble chamber pot into a bower of aromatic perfume!”…

1 Netting duckweed is a routine but important job to prevent over-shading the water. Evaluate the plant life, aiming for a good balance of submerged, floating-leaved and marginal plants. 2 Net or dredge gently, looking all the time so as not to damage creatures such as this little newtlet. Release any that you find into undisturbed areas of the pond. 3 Overgrown aquatics like this water iris need attention before they swamp and fill a pond. Unable to lift the large mass, I’m cutting the plant into sections for removal. 4 Haul chunks of iris out until you can access the original basket. Line with fresh Hessian, replant a small clump in garden soil, top with gravel or shingle, and replace.…

DAYLILIES get their name because the blooms only last for 24 hours, but they are produced in such numbers that replacements are always opening. Grassy weed-suppressing foliage is another handsome feature, making them useful for hiding the bare stems of taller plants in borders, or as low hedges along the sides of paths. Plant daffodils between the clumps to extend the flower season and hide the bulb’s foliage among the daylily leaves as it goes over. Water plants well in the first year – after that, they are remarkably drought-tolerant, even in sandy soils.…

THE foliage of spring bulbs will be dead or dying back, so replenish the bulbs now to help them return with full vigour next year. It should also help avoid them returning ‘blind’ (without flowers). Those in the ground should be fed with a multi-purpose fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone, or sulphate of potash. Potted bulbs should be given liquid high-potassium tomato feed. Leave the leaves to rot down so they return all their energy to the bulbs for next year’s blooms. Most bulbs can be left in place to mature and produce larger, healthier plants the following year, but bedding tulips are best lifted after their first year’s flowering. We do this because they rarely perform as well after their first flowering, so if you are after…

THE highlight of the gardening year, RHS Chelsea Flower Show, is back from 21-25 May. Expect fabulous plants and garden designs and a sprinkling of celebrities. If you are unable to attend you won’t miss out as there will be extensive BBC coverage throughout the week, helped by AG’s Toby Buckland whose brief includes the People’s Choice category and current gardening trends. In 1984, AG entered a garden in the show to mark the magazine’s 100th anniversary. We won a coveted gold medal, and here is how then-editor Peter Wood reported it: “Much to the delight of everyone concerned, AG’s Victorian Villa garden at the Chelsea Flower Show won a coveted Gold Medal. “The highlight of the show was a visit from Her Majesty, The Queen, who expressed a delight…

1 Carefully ease the cuttings and their compost out of the pot, making sure the plants are not damaged. 2 Gently tease the roots apart to separate each cutting. Check that their roots and top growth are healthy. 3 Holding the cuttings by their foliage, pot them up in multipurpose or John Innes No2 compost. Firm them in. 4 Water your new plants well and let them grow on for several weeks before hardening them off and adding them to the garden.…

I HAVE delayed moving our tender plants outside as we had a cold start to April, but I am cracking on with it now. Because the plants have spent several months in the warmth of a greenhouse or conservatory, the shock of the garden’s changeable conditions could stunt development and even kill them off. To survive, they need to be ‘hardened off’ by gradually acclimatising them to life outside by being left out for longer periods over two-three weeks until they are fully hardy. This process makes the plants’ leaves thicker and more waxy so they can withstand the elements. There are several stages in the hardening-off process. Plants overwintered in a heated environment should first go to an unheated greenhouse for a couple of weeks and then into a…

9-12: RHS Malvern Spring Festival: Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcester, WR13 6NW.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/ malvernspring-festival 11: Planting for Resilience and Sustainability: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/ gardens/wisley 11-12: Plant Heritage Spring Fair: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 11-12: Wildlife Weekend: RHS Garden Hyde Hall 13: Chelsea Flower Show Preview (meet the designer): RHS Wisley 14: Garden Tour: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 16: Chalfont St Giles Gardens Open Day (20th anniversary), Chalfont St Giles, Bucks. ✆ 01494 872883 17-19: The National Flower Show: Hylands Estate, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 8WQ. ✆ 01702 549623; nationalflowershow.co.uk 18: HPS West Mids Annual Plant Sale (10am): Bentley Heath Community…

A VERY kind gardening friend has given me two large plants of Helleborus viridis and I intend to plant both of them in my wild area. This green-flowered hellebore is a British native and it’s been grown in gardens since 1562, according to the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. I have seen it near my Gloucestershire home, growing on a sloping bank close to a river near Stow-on-the-Wold. This is quite typical because this March-flowering hellebore prefers chalk and limestone-rich wooded banks. I had to drive my two treasures back home and there was an indescribable smell in the car, somewhere between charred and rotten meat, and when I opened the boot I almost gagged. It knocked our other native hellebore, the stinking hellebore ( Helleborus foetidus…

1 Dig deep: In order to develop an extensive root system – which helps with drought tolerance – your runners need an open soil. Break up any compaction by digging over the plot to a depth of at least 12in (30cm). 2 Add organic matter: Well-rotted farmyard manure is ideal. It consists of bulky organic matter, which reduces waterlogging on heavy soils and makes light types more moisture-retentive. It also contains nitrogen for leaf and pod growth. 3 Water well: A mature plant can have a leaf surface area of 6½ft2 (2m2 ). Swelling pods increase moisture demands further, so ensure plants are well watered once flowering begins, and add moisture-retaining bark mulches.…

LIFE is busy, things crop up, sowing dates get missed. But nowadays, gardeners are lucky, for the range of vegetable plug plants available at the garden centre is huge in comparison to a decade ago. Purists out there might scoff, believing that if a crop can be sown, you should buy seeds and do solely that. But not only does this attitude make newbie growers feel inadequate, it also stops people having the chance to enjoy fresh produce from their garden. Plug plants aren’t cheating: they’re an excellent way to make the most of your space, due to the speed from planting to harvest. When buying them, just ensure that the roots aren’t congested (which can inhibit growth) and, if you purchase via mail order, make sure to get them…

ALL over the world, the explosions of spring colour brought to us by flowering cherries are legendary. Picnicking beneath flowering cherry trees has been a tradition in Japan since the 8th century, while in the US there’s an annual National Cherry Blossom Festival focused on Washington DC. Here in Britain, after the end of the Second World War the quaintly named Roads Beautifying Association planted flowering cherries along our roadsides to help bring a new air of optimism to post-War life. It’s not hard to see why these lovely trees are so valued. Their clouds of blossom appear reliably every spring – whatever the weather – varying from simple, single, five-petalled flowers to fully double ones crowded with petals. In colour, they range from red, through deep pink, to white,…

FOR cherry blossom in the colder months you need Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’. Although the best display comes on a warm day after a run of cold ones, in some winters flowers will open almost every day. This true winter cherry used to get muddled with what was once called P. subhirtella ‘Pendula Rubra’, a spring-flowering, deep pink variety that some gardeners bought thinking it was autumn-flowering. It’s now classified separately under P. pendula, which makes things a lot clearer.…

Ferns Creating dappled shade with trees seems to be a theme running through many of the gardens. I’m sure we’ll see trees underplanted with an assortment of dramatic ferns. Deciduous conifers The Wedgewood Garden is promising to feature the deciduous conifer ( Taxodium distichum ). This spectacular tree enjoys having its roots in the water, hence the common name swamp cypress. Hostas Shade-loving hostas are at their best in May, so there are bound to be drifts of them running through some gardens. Their large leaves are often used to calm down a busy planting scheme. Morus alba The Manchester Garden, designed by Exterior Architecture, is set to feature a white mulberry tree. I adore these trees and have never seen one featured in a show garden. Restios Designers allowing…

THERE are many distinctive plants that didn’t make it to the winner’s podium, but won’t be forgotten. Clematis Green Passion, the first double clematis with completely green flowers; Dianthus barbatus ‘Green Trick’, again with green flowers, in this case alien-looking pompoms the size of tennis balls; and finally strawberry ‘Just Add Cream’, an aptly named and long-fruiting strawberry that wowed tasters with its flavoursome berries.…

Q Does adding eggshells to a compost help to grow healthier tomatoes? Miriam Thomas, Scunthorpe, Lincs A This is a new one to me, but eggshells contain calcium that benefits healthy growth. A lack of calcium can cause blossom end rot in tomatoes, so eggshells may help reduce it. Q What is this growing through my sedum? James Couling, Portsmouth, Hants A This plant is a wildflower, probably cleavers (Galium aparine) or hedge bedstraw (G. mollugo). Remove it from your sedum to stop it from overcrowding it. This scrambler, which is usually found on roadside verges, has white flowers in summer. Q This appeared in my garden last year – what is it? Sally Howells, via email A The mystery plant is a belladonna lily (Amaryllis belladonna), a native of…

H. anomala subsp. petiolaris This large climber clings to bark, fences or walls, much in the same way as an ivy, by using aerial roots. Heads to 6in (15cm) across of white flowers open in summer. Can reach 40ft (12m). Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snow Queen’ Reaching 6ft (1.8m), with a long season of interest. Large leaves shaped like oak are lush from spring, joined by white floral cones in late summer, with brilliant autumn colours before falling. H. arborescens ‘Invincibelle Spirit’ Pink flowers on large domed heads bloom from July to September on shrubs with a height and spread of 4ft (1.2m). Prune lightly by thinning out a few older stems in early spring. H. paniculata ‘Limelight’ A distinctive shrub: its…

Do ✓ Prepare with care , gathering everything you need to complete the bask et before starting. ✓ Calculate the number of plants you’ll need for the size of basket. A large 16in (40cm) bask et with two side tiers of plants will tak e around 20 plants. ✓ Add slow-release fertiliser and water-retaining crystals to ordinary multipurpose or potting composts. ✓ Be generous with the number of plants you pack in, both for a spectacular display and to hide the bask et. Don’t ✗ Use soil-base John Innes compost as it is very heavy Choose peat-based, or peat-free wood fibre or coir , composts that are light. ✗ Skimp on the brack et. Buy a strong, good-quality bracket of the right size , and mount it securely . ✗…

Roses are a great way to add vibrant and bold colours to your garden, and to ensure that your roses flourish this season and create a garden oasis, Miracle-Gro is giving seven lucky AG readers the chance to win a Miracle-Gro Rose & Shrub Continuous Release Plant Food jar. The unique coating enables the feed to be continuously released when plants are actively growing, so just one application will last for six months and your roses will flourish into the autumn. Miracle-Gro Rose & Shrub Continuous Release Plant Food is suitable for all varieties of roses, and can be used in pots, beds and containers. We have seven Miracle-Gro Rose & Shrub Continuous Release Plant Food jars to give away, each worth £4.50. How to enter Send your name and…

Asparagus is a member of the lily family. According to Guinness World Records, the longest asparagus fern (adult plant with inedible stems) measured 138.5in (351.7cm) when it was shown by Canadians Harry and Carson Willemse at the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest, Ontario, Canada in 2004. Helmut Zipner (pictured), a chef from Kiel in northern Germany, reportedly once peeled a full ton of asparagus in 16 hours, at an Asparagus Festival held in Berlin. This record earned him the nickname Spargel-Tarzan (Asparagus Tarzan). It is said that white asparagus makes a good hangover cure – particularly if you serve it with a Hollandaise sauce and mashed potato!…

The right direction I ENJOYED reading the article about using wheelbarrows in the garden ( AG , 6 April). When I was a young student, I spent the holidays working as a labourer on a motorway construction site. I worked alongside an old Irish labourer called Cassidy. His number one rule when using a barrow was to point it in the direction you want to go before you fill it. Most of Cassidy’s tips were more to do with avoiding – rather than saving – labour, but this one always comes to mind when I am using a barrow. This is especially true when I’ve forgotten and am trying to do a U-turn without stepping off the path! Roger Williamson, Dorchester, Dorset Reader’s Quick Tip I HAVE found a relatively…