Innholdsfortegnelse for 14-Dec-2019 i Amateur Gardening

OUR main borders are looking sparse and brown, waiting for the first of next year’s spring bulbs to brave the elements and venture their shoots above the cold, wet soil. The glory of this summer’s perennials is now fully diminished. Some plants such as the echinaceas, have completely vanished back below the ground for their winter regeneration, while others – scabious, sea hollies and ornamental thistles – leave a mere rosette of leaves visible. There are still tasks to carry out despite the perennials’ apparent lack of ‘action’ during the coldest season. Whether you cut them back, and how much you reduce them by, is up to you. Some people like to chop everything and leave their borders looking neat and tidy, while others leave some stems standing to provide…

Glorious agapanthus are a popular addition to British gardens. Deciduous varieties are hardier than evergreens, but both will survive winter with appropriate care. Deciduous agapanthus in the border should be mulched well with straw or bark chippings. Garden-growing evergreen plants need a deeper layer of mulch and I also carefully tie their leaves over the crown to help protect new shoots below. If grown in pots, move evergreen agapanthus into a greenhouse or conservatory and mulch well. Deciduous potted varieties should be moved to a sheltered position (against a wall or into the greenhouse) and protected with straw and fleece. Alternatively, carefully place the pots on their sides, draped in fleece, to prevent the compost getting saturated and cold in bad weather.…

1 Buy less equipment. Wash pots so they can be reused and likewise gloves, to extend their lifetime and make them more comfortable to wear. 2 Collect seeds or buy and sow your own to reduce ‘plant miles’. Use local garden centres and investigate plant stalls at your weekly market. 3 Reuse old compost bags to warm the soil, and keep tools sharp and clean to prolong their life and prevent diseases spreading. 4 Save money and propagate successful plants via cuttings, nurturing them through winter in a greenhouse or some other shelter. Top Tip Spending a few minutes in the garden each day, seeing how and where things are growing, helps you get a feel for its overall health…

1 Glass containers are very much in vogue: some dwarf the flowers they hold, and in this case I believe less is undoubtedly more. 2 Glass domes are no longer for clocks and stuffed birds – they’re now used to display compact, pot-grown tomatoes! 3 And if geometric leaves on succulents are not enough, you can have them in all manner of exotic colours. 4 Hyacinth bulbs become a substitute coloured bauble, but the containers allow insufficient reserves to produce any more than a stunted flower. Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes…

ONE hard gardening question is what to do with this or that ‘difficult’ area, which usually means somewhere bone-dry and heavily shaded. You can add water, so dry is no excuse, but shade – if dense enough – stops anything from growing. For light shade, we have many plants, such as the host of ferns, ivies, hellebores, butcher’s broom (ruscus), winter boxes (sarcococcas), aucubas, and so on. But heavy shade, especially all day long, will slowly weaken and eventually kill everything. “A simple test is: are any weeds growing there?” A simple test is: are any weeds growing there? If not, then nothing much else will! Faced with such a spot, the simplest solution is to redesign and move something there that does not mind shade, such as a shed…

WHEN it comes to blueberries, we’re spoilt for choice – there are dozens of types and Wvarieties available. Tend to their needs, and you’ll reap up to 5kg of antioxidant-packed fruit from a mature plant, so let’s look at the details. Blueberries are a surprisingly diverse group of plants, within the genus Vaccinium. Highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum) are large plants, around 5ft/1½m tall. Two types are available: northern highbush (such as ‘Duke’ and ‘Chandler’), which is deciduous and needs a significant winter chill (800+ hours below 7°C/45°F) and southern highbush (such as ‘Ozarkblue’ and ‘Sunshine Blue’), which requires very little winter chill; these are better suited to milder UK locations with little frost, and often remain evergreen. Lowbush blueberries (V. angustifolium) tend to be knee-high and very hardy, so this…

IN the 1980s, my mother would wheel out Sunday tea on a winter’s evening. Chocolate eclairs and jam tarts would sit on the hostess trolley, but pride of place was given to a glass vase packed to the brim with celery sticks. Being sentimental I still grow celery today, positioning it on the shadier side of the kitchen garden into beds with lots of garden compost. Celery loves continual moisture – a challenge on my sandy soil! But shade and compost conserve rainfall, and I top up summer levels via irrigation. If growing ‘trench’ varieties like ‘Giant Pink’, you must wrap plants up in a cone of paper, but I find this a faff. Instead, I grow modern self-blanching varieties such as ‘Granada’. Plants are packed tightly at 6inx6in (15x15cm)…

YOU may have come across this name on the label of a bottle of pop. Conventionally partnered with dandelion to make a cola-like drink, the roots of this gargantuan biennial also make a delicious meal in their own right. Tasting of nutty parsnip, great burdock (Arctium lappa) often self-seeds in the wilder parts of your garden. While seeds are an irritant and should be avoided, in winter all top growth dies down, leaving the fleshy roots; this is cultivated as a vegetable in Japan, and named varieties are available. Young roots are most tender and can be eaten raw, whereas very old roots can develop a tough inner core. Peel and place in lemon water until needed to prevent discolouring. As well as being edible, burdock is also medicinal, offering…

Valerian The long-tubed flowers of Centranthus ruber and C. lecoqii lure in hummingbird hawk moths and butterflies. They bloom from May and, if deadheaded, continue until October. Shear back to nothing at the end of June for a flush of late flowers. HxS: 2½x1ft (75x30cm). Hybrid hellebores ( Helleborus x hybridus ) An excellent winter-to-spring nectar source for early-flying bumblebees and solitary bees (singles are the most bee-friendly). The rugged blooms resist wintry weather. Plant them close to deciduous shrubs. H&S: 1ft (30cm). Tagetes patula The taller (up to 2ft/60cm) single varieties of French marigold pull in loads of insects, especially hoverflies. These beneficial insects lay their eggs close to aphid colonies and the resulting maggot-like larvae will helpfully devour the aphids. Symphytum…

Always recycle and re-use plastic pots and seed trays. Look for recyclable pots. If you’re selling plants for charity or passing them on to friends, remove them from the pots and wrap them in some newspaper. Buy wool or jute string and use this rather than plastic ties. Invest in metal tools and watering cans – they will last longer. Re-use plastic labels, and consider wood and slate as alternatives. Re-use compost bags if possible. Take good care of any plastic items you already have!…

Choose a position in full sun and any well-drained soil. These easy plants will not tolerate waterlogging. Plant by mid-autumn on well-draining soils or wait until spring. On heavy soil, plant when growth starts in spring into a slightly raised or mounded bed, so that roots will be above the general lie of the land and protected from sitting in water. Prune earlier-flowering tree-shaped species such as B. alternifolia and B. globosa only when necessary and immediately after blooming. Thin out a few older stems close to the base, and shorten some of those that have flowered. Prune later-flowering B. davidii and B. x weyeriana in spring, by cutting last year’s stems hard back to within a node (bud-bearing area) or two of a low, older framework.…

C. japonica ‘Alba Plena’ AGM One of the first camellias to be brought to England from China (in 1792), with its pure white spring blooms this is still one of the best to grow. Can reach heady heights, but is slow-growing and happy to be pruned. H&S: 13-26ft (4-8m). C . x williamsii ‘Debbie’ AGM Masses of deep pink flowers, made up of densely packed petals, cover the plant in March and April. These blooms have the added attraction of dropping cleanly from the plant when they fade. H&S: 8-13ft (2½-4m). C . x williamsii ‘Jury’s Yellow’ AGM With layers of creamy yellow inner petals surrounded by paler outer ones, this anemone-flowered option is ideal if you fancy…

Use John Innes ericaceous compost for container growing. Camellias need plenty of water from June to October, when next year’s flower buds are forming; mulch in spring as this will help to conserve moisture. Protect from rabbits, and stake plants for the first two-three years until their roots become established. Use rainwater when watering; any water is better than none, however. Protect young plants with fleece/ windbreak netting until established. Feed in April and again in July; for best results, use a slow-release ericaceous fertiliser. Don’t plant too deep – ensure the top of the rootball is level with the soil.…

HOLLIES are usually either male or female, and only the females berry. Very few are self-fertile, so a female generally needs a male nearby (in the same or a neighbouring garden) to produce fruit. Over-pruning can result in a holly not producing berries (hollies only fruit on wood two years old or more). Other causes include late pruning (only prune in late winter/early spring), or drought or frost at flowering time.…

How can I attract wildlife to our pond? Q Our new garden has an established pond that I’d like to make more attractive to wildlife. What should I do and what would be good plants to add for food and cover? David Ryan, Chesterfield, Derbyshire A Ponds are a fantastic way of attracting wildlife to your garden. As well as frogs, newts and water beetles, you may see hedgehogs, dragonflies and other interesting creatures around it. It is important that you put the right plants in and around your pond, as some can damage the pond’s structure (depending on what the pond is lined with), and others can be invasive. If bamboo, willow and dogwood grow too close to a pond that has a plastic liner, their roots can pierce…

1 Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’: For late winter, evergreen Daphne odora or a cultivar of the taller Daphne bholua is a must. A woodland style border of well-drained, humus-rich soil is ideal. 2 Argyrocytisus battandieri: The pineapple or Moroccan broom is a deciduous shrub to 15ft (5m), Its candles of yellow pea-like flowers against silvery foliage in mid-late summer have a distinctive fruity scent. 3 Rosa ‘Charles de Mills’: This strongly scented, summer-flowering Gallica shrub rose has quartered rosettes of a sumptuous purple-pink. Reaches 4ft (1.2m) tall. 4 Lonicera japonica var. repens: The Japanese honeysuckle is a potentially rampant climber, but pumps a lot of fragrance (even in daytime) from pretty flowers opening in flushes from spring to autumn.…

Do ✓ Choose a stepladder that’ s in full working order and big enough for the job you’re tackling. ✓ Ensure that all feet are in contact firmly with the ground before standing on the stepladder . ✓ Mount the stepladder one step at a time , holding on to the side rails with both hands if possible . Don’t ✗ Try carrying lots of tools up the steps. Take one tool. Put a small tool in your pock et or carry a large tool with one hand, holding on with the other ✗Lean out to to cover a . sideways try bigger area. ✗Work above shoulder from the ladder height need to reach higher . If you , find a taller stepladder .…

THIS year, AG has been celebrating the fact that it has been imparting weekly advice to gardeners for 135 years. It’s an amazing achievement, but we cannot let the year end without marking the contribution of one man who helped to make AG what it is today. On 16 December 1902, AG’s fourth editor, Arthur Hellyer, was born in Bristol. He joined the magazine in 1929, as assistant to the editor, and for 20 years Arthur wrote thousands of articles and millions of words, before taking over as editor in 1946. During 21 years in the job he also wrote weekly for the Financial Times and regularly contributed to Country Life and many other publications – and he wrote more than 100 books. At one point during his tenure, AG’s…

IN nature, pollination of Vanilla planifolia requires a visit from a melipona bee, which is found only in Mexico, but thanks to a discovery made by 12-year-old slave Edmond Albius, in 1841, this process can now be replicated by hand. Albius’s technique involves inserting a toothpick or similar-sized instrument into the flower to allow pollen from the plant’s male anther to be smeared over its female stigma. While Albius unfortunately never saw the riches associated with his discovery, the technique was instrumental in revolutionising the cultivation of vanilla plants as it allowed them to be grown across the world without its native pollinators. Vanilla plantations sprang up across the world, from Madagascar to India, Tahiti, and Indonesia. Today, the world’s largest vanilla-producing country is Madagascar, followed by Indonesia. Vanilla is…

WONDERFUL display of orchid blooms this year. Our plant was out in the garden from March and brought into the greenhouse in October. We will transfer to the house in time for the festive season. I broke off a small root last year, which is in flower, too. Richard Jones, via email I WAS delighted to get the opportunity to see the Orchid House at the Eden Project during our summer holiday. Phalaenopsis and other types of orchid were flowering en masse, surrounded by giant bamboos – we felt like we were sitting in a jungle! Claire Morris, Taunton, Somerset I WAS recently lucky enough to win some Bio Orchid Food in your AG prize draw. I put the pot in my dendrobium orchid pot as instructed. As you can…

IF there’s one thing I’ve learnt from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) website, it’s that Christmas is the season to be jolly careful! A thousand people were injured by Christmas trees last year, from falls or being trapped under trunks to infections from fir needles – not to mention more pokes in the eye than you can… well, shake a stick at. I know first hand how perilous decking the halls can be. Not so long ago, I was quite literally decked out while gathering mistletoe on the big day. I was about to climb our old apple tree to gather a sprig when a branch snuck up and gave me a black eye. It’s still a mystery how it happened. I’m just thankful I’d had…

WHEN tree branches are severed, the wood near the cut seals up or ‘compartmentalises’ to prevent sap and water loss. But this moisture-saving trick also prevents Christmas trees soaking up H2O when brought into the house. That’s why I use a wood saw to recut the bottom 2-3in (5-8cm) from the base to remove the compartmentalised section, plus any lower branches that could keep the stump out of the water. It’s a job that’s easiest done while the tree is in its netting wrap. Once cut, bring indoors and put straight into water.…

AS long as the ground is not frozen or waterlogged, you can use winter to move and divide perennials that are in the wrong place or have grown big and sprawling. If you garden on heavy clay it may be better to delay these projects until spring when the soil has had time to dry out. Moving: On a still dry day, dig a hole in the plant’s new location and add a generous dollop of well-rotted compost or manure to the bottom. Dig around your plant and lift it, keeping some soil around the roots, and move it to its new home. Backfill around it with soil and compost and firm it in. Water well and mulch around the root area. Dividing: This is an excellent method of creating…

NURTURING your perennials through winter is all very well, but they will need a healthy border next spring. Use the winter and early spring to replenish energy-drained soil. When the ground isn’t frozen, layer well-rotted organic matter (compost, manure, commercial mulches) on your borders, a few inches deep. This will break down through winter, feeding the soil and keeping plant roots insulated. Don’t mulch when the ground is frozen as the cold will be trapped against the soil. Keep on top of weeds, too, as they will keep growing (even flowering and seeding) during milder spells. Any that appear after mulching (this can be more common if you have used homemade compost) will be easy to remove or simply hoe off so they rot down and act as green manure.…

Developing an intimate knowledge of your garden is the best way of helping it evolve in harmony with the environment. Test your soil’s pH and nutrient content so you know which plants will thrive and what, if anything, is needed to feed your borders. Leave some areas uncultivated and untidy to encourage insects, birds and other wildlife. If you decide to grow a wildflower lawn, look around to see which flowers germinate naturally in nearby hedgerows, parks and fields, and buy specialist seed mixes to mirror them. Leave some weeds to grow as they will provide food for insects and their larvae. Reduce or eliminate chemicals and create a natural balance instead. Aphids will be eaten by the larvae of hoverflies, ladybirds and lacewing flies, and they will all become…

WE are deep in pruning season when most deciduous trees, shrubs and fruit bushes can be cut back to keep them healthy and in good shape. There is a wide open window for most varieties that stretches from now until just before the buds start to swell in late winter, but if you have a grapevine you need to cut it back before Christmas. If you leave it until the New Year your plant will be more likely to bleed sap in large quantities, which can weaken it and leave it vulnerable to disease. We have a two-year-old vine that is growing as a standard against a sheltered south-facing wall. It has grown enthusiastically this year and needs tidying up to help it grow in a suitable shape and manageable…

1 On bright days, using a long cane, knock mummified apples and other fruits off trees, preventing these infecting future crops. 2 Oil or grease latches, catches, hinges, locks and sliders on your greenhouse and shed doors, so they can still move if frozen. 3 Float plastic bottles (partly filled and sealed) in cold ponds or pools; these will bob, keeping air holes open as the water freezes. 4 Colder weather makes your wheelbarrow tyre pressure go down and thus become harder to push, so add some more air now!…

1 ‘Cabernet Splash’: Highly ornamental variety bearing a spring flurry of deep wine-red foliage along with white and ruby flowers, followed by dusky mauve fruits. The leaves will become greener as the summer progresses. 2 ‘Pinkberry’: Also known as Pink Lemonade®, this pink-fruited blueberry is derived from V. ashei (rabbiteye blueberry). It crops best when pollinated by another variety of V. ashei (such as ‘Buddy Blue’). 3 ‘Flamingo’: An award-winning mid-season blueberry with a difference: the fruits are supported on stems bearing summer flushes of pink foliage. Vivid autumn leaf colours make this variety as ornamental as it is edible.…

IN November, I wrote about testing your soil pH, explaining that I’d re-visit the topic. Well, I keep my promises! You might now have found your soil too acid or alkaline for the specific crops you want to grow, or perhaps your veg repeatedly fall prey to diseases that are encouraged by a specific pH – potato common scab is more likely on alkaline soils, whereas brassica clubroot is troublesome on acid soils. Different soils with the same pH can act in different ways – a peaty soil in the Fens might grow better spuds than a sandy Surrey plot. Essentially, only adjust soil pH if you find that your crops repeatedly struggle. Sulphur chips are handy for making soils more acidic by lowering the pH, whereas garden lime will…

1 Blackcurrant bushes can be pruned now. Using loppers, tak e out old stems to the base to encourage new and more fruitful stems. 2 Do gardening friends have an enviable herb collection ? Now is the ideal time to ask if you could take a few divisions home! 3 Peaches, almonds and nectarines are vulnerable to leaf curl fungus. Thwart it simply by cloaking plants in polythene until late spring. 4 Sizzling-hot chilli peppers such as Naga and R eaper need very early sowing in January , so ensure you stock up on seed now . 5 Chipped bark and gravel paths offer luxury under foot on allotments. Top them up now to mak e sure that they are spring-ready .…

English lavender Slugs dislike aromatic foliage, so any plant with pungent stems and leaves will put them off. Lavandula x angustifolia is hardy and can live for many years if given an early September haircut. HxS: 2½x4m (75cmx1.2m). Hardy geraniums The oil-rich foliage of hardy cranesbills isn’t admired by slugs so they won’t tuck in. There’s a tremendous range available, but to please the bees, opt for sterile, long-flowering ‘Patricia’, ‘Rozanne’ and ‘Orion’ (above). HxS: 1x2½ft (30x75cm). Penstemon Late-flowering, these South American natives never get eaten by munching molluscs. Good floriferous forms include ‘Andenken an Friedrich Hahn’ (syn. ‘Garnet’), ‘Sour Grapes’ (above) and ‘Hidcote Pink’. HxS: 2½x1ft (75x30cm).…

✗ DON’T be too tidy. Have some no-mow areas to shelter beetles, amphibians etc, and keep garden edges on the wild side. ✗ DON’T use slug pellets of any sort – a lot of slugs do a good job of clearing up rotting plant material. Pick munchers off at dusk. ✗ DON’T spray your aphids with anything – not even garlic spray or so-called organic sprays. They are an important part of the food chain. ✗ DON’T use glyphosate either. It has been implicated in causing cancer in humans, as well as playing a role in the decline of amphibians. ✓ DO grow what does well in your garden, and put your plants in the correct place – this will keep them healthy and happy. ✓ DO buy plants from…

Buddleja davidii ‘Dartmoor’ This vigorous shrub is easily identified by the generous branching panicles of pale purple flowers. Great for the back of a border. Buddleja davidii ‘Royal Red’ Panicles of rich purple-red flowers can extend to 20in (50cm) long on well-grown, hard-pruned plants. Buddleja davidii ‘White Profusion’ I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with white buddlejas. They are glorious at opening, but sadly they often fade to a dirty brown. Buddleja globosa The orange ball tree native to Chile and Argentina is a cheerful sight in early summer, decorated by bright rounded clusters of fragrant orange blooms.…

Sarcococca is a winter-flowering evergreen shrub, the tiny white flowers of which have a lovely lily-of-the-valley scent. Underplant winter-flowering camellias with snowdrops (above); they will gradually form a carpet of white, bell-shaped blooms. Plant exotic-looking trilliums (above) at the base of spring-flowering camellias, for dramatic flowers in white, yellow or beetroot purple in April and May. With heart-shaped foliage and dainty spring blooms in a range of colours, epimediums make ideal groundcover plants for camellias.…

Q Should I stay off the lawn when it’s frozen? Timmy Shelton, Liverpool A Yes, you should stay off your lawn when it’s frozen. Walking on a frozen lawn damages the cell structure of the grass and can turn it black. Also avoid mowing a lawn that is frozen or wet. Q How do I propagate callicarpa seeds? Joe Armstrong, Boston, Lincs A Chill the seeds for eight weeks by putting them in a plastic bag of seed compost, in the fridge. Then sow them in seed and cutting compost, covering them with a layer of perlite. Water and germinate in 59-72ºF (15-21ºC). Seedlings should appear in two-four weeks. Q My granddad has grown these plants, but what are they? Aaron Trigg, via email A Your granddad appears to have…

EVERY year around 48,000 people go to A&E departments following ladder and stepladder accidents in and around the home. So if you’re uncomfortable working at height, do not attempt it. Pay someone who knows what they’re doing to tackle the job for you. Get the size right When buying a stepladder, be aware of the height you need to reach. Generally, an ‘ordinary’ stepladder will give you a maximum reach equivalent to the height of the stepladder plus 4ft (1.2m), so if you only need to reach 7ft (2.1m) up, a 3ft (90cm) stepladder will do, while if you need to reach 10ft (3m) up you’ll need a 6ft (1.8m) stepladder. Buy the best you can afford. Specialist types Specialist stepladders designed for working in the garden are a lot…

1 Ensure the stepladder is tall enough for the job you’re tackling and in full working order with no damaged steps, bent bits or missing feet. 2 Facing the job, set the feet on firm, level ground. If necessary, move soil to create a firm, flat area and place broad planks of wood under each pair of feet. 3 If there is no alternative to setting the stepladder side-on to the job, once feet are stable tie the top securely to a solid part of the tree/shrub to stop it tipping. 4 Work with both feet on the rungs, one hand holding rail. Never lean sideways. To use both hands, stand on the third/fourth step down and rest your tummy on top of the handrail.…

According to The Woodland Trust, a mature ivy plant can support up to 50 species of wildlife. Ivy pollen 5,600BC years old was discovered at a Mesolithic site at Oakhanger in Hampshire. It was in such quantity that it could only have been collected and placed there by humans, making it the earliest evidence so far of Man’s connection with ivy. One of the oldest ivies known grew at Gignac near Montpellier in France. It was recorded to be more than 400 years old, but in the 1970s it was sacrificed for a road-widening scheme!…

MANY of the spices we use around Christmas time were brought to Britain by soldiers returning from the Crusades in the late Middle Ages. As they were so rare, they were used only on special occasions – with Christmas being one of those celebrations. Later, some spices were worth more than gold when the British, Dutch and Portuguese battled to take control of the spice trade. It wasn’t until the 19th century that spices began to become affordable for the masses. We look at six spices that remind us of Christmas, including where they grow, how they grow and the influences they have had on the world. ■ Allspice (Pimenta officinalis) ALLSPICE grows mainly in the West Indies and South America. The name ‘allspice’ originates from the 17th century, as…

How much is your garden worth? MY wife and I were innocent victims in a road rage incident last Easter. This will mean I won’t be able to garden until March next year. We have a large garden and a very large allotment. So as part of the insurance claim, we have been asked to provide information on what we have lost and our expenses. I thought it would be easy. We were out of action for six weeks after the accident, so all the plants we had in the greenhouse died off. We could add up the actual plant cost, but then some had been handed down. How do you measure the time and effort of sowing seed and potting up to get ready for the start of the…

WHERE modern art and design meet up with plants and flowers, I become – to put it mildly – uneasy. A good example was a recent Chelsea Flower Show exhibit with masses of amaryllis in full flower hung upside down by the bulb and roots exposed. The exhibitor should have been hung upside down by the ankles amongst them. The individual flowers on winter-flowering amaryllis are things of great beauty, the more so when grown well on stout stems, so we can see right into the beautifully coloured throat of each bloom. Last month, I attended Trade Fair Aalsmeer 2019 in Holland, where growers and traders had everything on display in regards to cut flowers, and pot plants in particular. “Moth orchids dyed blue do not look right to me”…

14: Festive Family Fun – Make a Birdhouse: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/ gardens/wisley 14-15: Magic of Christmas Food and Craft Fair: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 14-15: Children’s Christmas Decoration Workshops: RHS Wisley 14-15: Wisteria Pruning Masterclass: RHS Wisley 20-23: The Magic of Christmas Santa Experience: RHS Rosemoorr 21: Festive Family Fun Make a Birdhouse: RHS Wisley 22: Festive Family Fun Sow and Grow Kale: RHS Wisley Glow 2019, when three RHS gardens illuminate their gardens, continues throughout this month. The Wisley light show is open until 5 January (pre-book), the Rosemoor show is open until 4 January (pre-book) and Glow at Harlow Carr is open until 28 December (Thursday-Saturday, and…

ONE of the greenest things you can do is grow your own, because there are no food miles involved. However, when ‘grow your own’ is mentioned everyone thinks of growing summer vegetables like beans, tomatoes, chillies, cucumbers and courgettes. These produce gluts, so there are always too many courgettes to eat and they carry on right through autumn. There are always tomatoes waiting to be turned into passata and we (that’s the royal we, by the way) use a Seeds of Italy passata machine, which is a bit like a giant red mincer, and then we freeze it for winter use. “Winter veg sits in the garden for months on end” I wish novice veggie growers would think about winter vegetables instead. They sit in the garden for months on…

Provide well-drained, moist soil (use raised beds on clay). Sandy soils with ericaceous compost added are ideal. Mulch heavily (a 3in/8cm layer of shredded conifer is perfect), placing seep hoses underneath to give a good weekly dousing. Acidic soil (pH4-5.5) is key: grow in pots of ericaceous compost, use rainwater and remember to feed with azalea fertiliser. Fruits ripen over long periods, so pick every few days for the best flavour; they should come away in your hand. Fruit will be most prolific on younger (two-to-three-year-old) wood. Prune in spring, removing old stems to the base. Some varieties have amazing autumn leaf colour in rich tones of orange, yellow, red and burgundy – try ‘Patriot’ or ‘Hardyblue’. Six secrets of success…

1 Your first port of call is to assess the plant for any dead, damaged or diseased growth. Remove this as a priority, well into healthy wood, to see what you have left to play with. 2 Identify the fruit buds: these tiny cone-shaped buds will stick out at right angles to the main stems. Your pruning objective is to keep a good amount of stems bearing these buds. 3 Thin out your bush to its desired shape. Remove congested growth and conserve well-budded stems. Shorten over-long new growth, cutting it back to 1in (2-3cm).…

Ground beetles There are some 350 species in Britain (including the violet ground beetle, Carbus violaceus; left). Your best natural defence against slugs in the garden, these nocturnal insects thrive in dense, shady vegetation and long grass. Social wasps Both the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris; left) and the German wasp (V. germanica) are found in our gardens. A single colony can remove several kilograms of insect pests such as aphids and caterpillars over the course of a summer. Wrens Tiny and rich brown insectivorous birds, wrens flit about with their tails cocked up in the air, chitchittering. They are constantly searching for small insects like spiders, whitefly and aphids to feed on. They need cover, and a patch of brambles is ideal. Cotesia glomerata Gruesome but effective, this tiny parasitic…

C. x vernalis ‘Yuletide’ Very festive, thanks to the eye-catching mix of red petals, golden yellow stamens and luscious dark green foliage. Blooms: Nov-Jan. Can be grown in a container; move somewhere frost-free once temperatures start to plummet. HxS: 10x8ft (3x2½m). C . x williamsii ‘Saint Ewe’ AGM An early-flowering williamsii; weather-dependent, the bright pink single blooms can emerge in January, then continuing until mid-spring. They start off tubular, then gradually open out as they mature. H&S: 8-13ft (2½-4m). C. japonica ‘Takanini’ Another New Zealand-bred cultivar, this one with blowsy deep plum-red flower heads produced over an exceptionally long flowering season (Jan-Apr). It’s a hardy plant, but position somewhere sheltered to protect the flowers from frost. H&S: 61/2-10ft (2-3m). ‘Cornish…

Soil: Most types; however a ‘normal’ soil – moist but well-drained and with good organic matter content – is ideal. Light: Full sun to part shade, although some hollies will tolerate quite deep shade. Pruning: Hollies don’t mind being pruned, and you can be quite drastic if they get too big. This is best done in spring, but you can cut boughs with berries when in season. Pests: Leaf miners are the most conspicuous problem, and the most widespread. Although unsightly, they won’t kill the plant. Scale insects can also be a problem for hollies (as for most woody plants). Deer and rabbits have a taste for the young foliage, too. Birds: The only way to prevent birds eating the berries is to wrap some of the lower branches (those…

Best fragrance for the new year Q I’d like to fill my garden with fragrance next year and beyond. What are your favourite plants for scent? Bonnie Hardcastle, Chelmsford, Essex A With little effort, we can enjoy natural perfumes from the garden every month of the year. Some waft several metres from the likes of daphne, witch hazel, wisteria and elaeagnus, while scents of peony, bearded iris and magnolia are held closer to the flowers. Other scents are released by rubbing the leaves of peppermint, lemon and rose pelargoniums, spikes of lavender and perennial agastache, redolent of aniseed. Moving through the colder months, winter-flowering honeysuckles, Christmas box, mahonia and wintersweet will please the nose. In spring, I wouldn’t be without twining chocolate vine (Akebia quinata); its spicy vanilla scent pervades…

Non-slip feet Plastic or rubber inserts/covers on the base of stepladder legs. Side braces Hinged rods fixed between the front and back pairs of legs. They fold out when the ladder is opened, locking into a horizontal position to hold the frame rigid. Some are fabric straps to prevent the legs opening further than required – they should be taut when the stepladder legs are fully open. Top platform Fold-down flat platform above the topmost step. This helps to lock the frame rigid and is handy for placing small tools on, but is not suitable for standing on.…

I ONCE proposed to a publisher that I should write a book about ivies (the Hedera genus). A keen gardener himself, he had published many successful gardening books, but he could not be sold on the idea of ivies. “They’re just green, boring, and people want to get rid of them rather than plant them,” he maintained. As far as the plain-green common ivy is concerned he is undoubtedly correct, but there are hundreds of more attractive (and less vigorous) ivies. And they can be put to many different garden uses. As we are now in the Christmas season, with ivy being used extensively for wreaths and garlands, there is no better a time to look at a few stories surrounding it. And I never did get to write that…

THE Spice Island of Run was prized as the home of nutmeg in the 17th century, and it was here in 1616 that the English formed the British East India Company. The Dutch East India Company was already established in Indonesia and in control of much of the spice trade, and at the time, nutmeg was worth more than gold. However, the English only held on to Run for four years as the Dutch laid claim to the island. In retaliation, the English seized the Dutch holding of New Amsterdam (now New York), where the seat of the colonial Dutch government was based on Manhattan Island. In 1677 the two countries came to an agreement: the Dutch would take control of Run and the English would take New Amsterdam –…