Innholdsfortegnelse for 17-sep-16 i Amateur Gardening

I’M beginning to fret about my biennials, which have shown no inclination to flower this year despite making really strong leafy growth. The Lunaria annua (Honesty) I planted under the clipped canopy of a holly tree is described by the RHS as an annual or biennial (planted one year to flower the next). Granted, I sowed seeds late – in August last year if I remember correctly (the RHS suggest early summer), but I put in sturdy little plants late September, and they grew strongly, overwintered well and are now a jungle of rather tatty foliage (there’s a bird feeder above, and the bird droppings while full of nutrients, are perhaps a little strong!) But not a flower in sight. I’d put this down to bad luck if it weren’t…

ANNUALS bring good old-fashioned colour to any summer garden. The tender types should be sown in spring, for flowering a few months later, but there are some hardy types that can be sown now, and which will overwinter as seedlings. With luck, they’ll bloom earlier, and make larger plants, than spring-sown ones. Sow them either directly into the garden soil as I’m doing, or into patio pots or cell trays in a cold frame. When sowing into soil, you can ‘broadcast-sow’ (spreading the seeds with a sweep of the arm); the seeds will germinate and grow where they fall to give a natural look. Alternatively you can drill-sow (pictured right). This is where you sow in lines to give a more controlled look, while still creating natural drifts of colour.…

1 Dig or fork over the border, removing big stones and weeds (and their roots). Add compost, rake level if necessary. 2 Also add well-rotted garden compost to each planting hole, mixing it in with soil to be backfilled around roots. 3 Plant at the same depth as the original container, firm the plant in, then cut off damaged or straggly foliage. 4 The sun is still strong in September, so water well after planting and keep watering regularly if the weather is dry.…

THE penstemon is one of my favourite flowers. Mid- to late summer blooms come in shades of red, pink, purple, lavender, blue and white, often with beautiful markings. A distinctive feature of the flowers is a prominent ‘staminode’ (an infertile stamen). It varies in different species, but typically it is a long, straight filament extending to the centre of the flower; some are hairy, giving the general appearance of an open mouth with a fuzzy tongue. Hence the common name for penstemons is beard tongue. September is the best time to propagate penstemons, by taking semi-ripe stem cuttings. Here’s how I do it: Top Tip   Check cuttings regularly after three weeks. Carefully tip the compost plug out of its pot. If roots are growing strongly, transplant them singly to…

1 Keep an eye out for weeds, and remove them when seen. Even just a few weeds on a rockery can be obtrusive, and spoil the overall look. 2 Bugle, and other creeping plants (such as snow-in-summer), can take over, so thin them out. If desired, pot on some pieces for planting elsewhere. 3 A grit mulch looks good. It keeps moisture in the rockery soil, and stops mud from splashing leaves. Replace any that has been displaced. 4 Alpines can die in the centre. Split them in spring and replant, but in the meantime just tidy them by covering the centres with fresh grit.…

WE are now in the picking season for apples and pears – but what happens if you can’t eat them fast enough? The answer is…store them. If handled gently, and kept in the right environment, fruit may be stored for weeks or even months. Mid-season apples should keep for four to eight weeks, whereas late season apples can last for several months in storage. Pears will store for between two weeks and three months, depending on conditions Only store medium-sized, blemish-free fruits, preferably with their stalks still in place. They usually store best if slightly under-ripe. Always handle the fruits carefully, to avoid bruising. Store in a container, such as a crate or shallow wooden box; it should allow good air movement through the sides and over the top. Or…

IN the countryside currently there are dust-brown fields; hedgerows and trees have long since lost their spring succulence. Grass areas are dry and hard. Tough conditions for wildlife, especially deer. Instead they often take to rural gardens in their search for food, stripping plants of stems, leaves, flowers and bark. But don’t blame the deer; it’s not their fault that food is scarce. Muntjac and roe deer (which are becoming more widespread) pose the greatest problems. The muntjac is a small deer that grazes up to a height of just 3ft (1m) or so; roe deer are a little taller. The largest species is the red deer, which can feed up to about 5ft (1.5m). Others that visit gardens (but not in all parts of Britain) are silka and fallow…

IT’S blackberry and apple pie time, so my basket is at the ready and I’m off out to pick hedgerow fruits. With this enjoyable exercise comes a code of conduct that must be followed. Always ask the landowners permission and offer them a jar of jam or similar. Oh, and another thing – make sure you climb farm gates at the hinge end or they will drop. It’s been a poor year for some hedgerow fruits - our Prunus spinosa only offering a handful, so there will be no sloe gin. Damsons haven’t been their best either. However, blackberries are abundant. If you aren’t able to pick blackberries from the countryside, then why not grow them in your own garden? Some cultivated types are compact and cope in large containers.…

THIS has been a bad year for powdery mildew thanks to the dry weather. The fungal spores have a high water content so they can continue to target plants in drought conditions. Both the phlox and clematis have had mildew this summer, leaving them with an unsightly powdery coating. The chance of it happening, however, can be greatly reduced by planting in an open and sunny site. This fungal disease can also hit edibles such as apples, courgettes and peas. With leaf fall ahead of us make sure to pick up and throw away fallen foliage from mildewy plants. If leaves are left lying around spores will over-winter in the soil and attack again next spring. There is no chemical control for edible plants but for ornamentals there is Bayer…

Q What’s this plant please? Philip Pearce, Birmingham A Phlox paniculata! There are many varieties, and your plant could be ‘Mother of Pearl’. It is easily propagated by dividing the rootstock in autumn or spring. Alternatively, dig up the clump now and increase your plant from root cuttings about 3in (7.5cm) long. Q Where do I stand when I go to my allotment with a garden lock knife in my pocket? I’m told it is illegal to possess one in public, so why are the lock knives still on sale? Stephen Hall (via email) A I do not think it is illegal to carry a garden lock knife with you when visiting an allotment. But you must have a good reason for doing so. To be sure, I suggest you…

How to plant Tropaeolum tricolorum tubers These tubers (that are no bigger than a 20 pence piece) can be planted now for flowers at the end of winter (Supplier: Suttons 0844 326 2200). Mix a compost of 1 part ericaceous, 1 part regular potting mix and 1 part sharp sand or potting grit. Plant the tubers 3in (8cm) deep and 2in (5cm) apart in a long pot. Water in, place in a frost-free conservatory to grow at 40-50°F (5-10°C). Only water when surface has dried out. Train wiry stems to a support of canes. Keeping your plants alive over winter • Position plants to receive optimum light and temperatures just a little higher than the minimum suggested. • House rooms tend to suffer from dry air, so create a humid…

Digging Fork £27.85 p&p 3.95 0800 783 2202 qualitygardentools.com If you’ve already got the adult version of this fork you’ll know how good it is. Made by garden tool specialists, Bulldog, it’s a dead ringer just smaller and lighter. Ideal for 7-11 year olds and made in Britain from solid forged steel, it’s 33in (83.5cm) long has a hardwood shaft and plastic ‘D’ handle. Watch out kids, mum and dad will probably find a use for it too. Veg Trug ™ Work Bench & Planter £99.99 (free p&p) 0844 573 1818 thompson-morgan.com Kids will love working at their own height on their very own veg patch with this work bench and planter. Made from FSC wood and with protective foot covers they stand 24 3/4in (63cm) tall.…

THE characteristic, cheery yellow blooms of this mixed narcissus collection will provide a warm summer-like glow to the cold winter and early spring months, from March through to April. All are versatile dwarfing types. These daffodils are ideal for container growing on the patio or will brighten up your borders. *Just pay £5.65 p&p contribution Narcissus Tete a Tete This classic dwarfing-type bears one to three deep golden-yellow flowers in early spring. Height: 6in (15cm) Narcissus Jetfire Strong reflexed golden-yellow flowers and prominent orange trumpets that fade in bright sun. Height: 8in (20cm) Narcissus Minnow A pretty dwarf variety which bears up to five pale-yellow fading to cream flowers. Height: 7in (18cm). Crocus Collection A mixture of large flower and species crocus types for early spring colour. One of our…

WE all like a nice lawn, and with the autumn equinox just days away (21 Sept), we need to think about how the shorter days, and wetter autumn conditions, will affect the health of the grass. The long winter of 2015/16, and delayed, cooler spring, followed by a fairly dry summer, have meant that many lawns have become hard and compacted, especially with the inevitable increase in foot traffic during the warmer months. This means grass roots are lacking oxygen and the soil will probably suffer from poor drainage. If we don’t do something about this, heavy autumn rains will cause flooding, putting the lawn under even more stress. With all the mowing that’s been done since the spring feed (assuming you did feed the lawn in spring), much of…

1 Make shallow drills, 3in (7.5cm) apart, by putting down a line and pressing the back of a rake in the soil. 2 To prevent washing seeds away, before sowing water the drill using a can fitted with a fine rose end. 3 Sow the seeds into the drills (follow packet instructions). Make sure you mark and label each row. 4 Carefully cover with soil; water again. Place twiggy sticks or fleece over the area to deter cats and birds.…

VINE weevils and their grubs rarely trouble plants in my garden borders apart from the odd nibbled leaf. However the larvae cause chaos in my numerous potted plants. The little white larvae feast on roots, and in the past year I’ve lost several fuchsias, three containers of strawberry plants and a blueberry. So I’m treating all of my pots – early autumn is the ideal time. To identify pots that are affected, look for nibbled edges of leaves (right). This is cause by adult vine weevils that may have laid eggs which will hatch into larvae under the compost. There are two worthwhile courses of action: biological nematodes, and chemical compost drenches. I’m using nematodes on edible potted plants such as fruit and herbs, and chemical drenches on ornamentals as…

CUTTINGS of small ‘alpine’ penstemons, should be 1-2in (2.5-5cm) long. Cuttings of the larger border penstemons should be at least twice as long. 1 Select a healthy, non-flowering stem. Using secateurs, cut it cleanly just above a leaf joint. Take back to the greenhouse or shed as soon as possible. 2 Trim the base of each cutting to just below a leaf joint. Remove all lower leaves, pinch out soft tip. Cut larger leaves at the top in half. 3 Fill a pot with free-draining, gritty compost. Make a hole in the compost with a pencil and insert a cutting so that its leaves sit just above the surface. Firm in. 4 Water well, and place a plastic bag over the pot, secured at the base with a rubber band.…

COURGETTE fritters, courgette cake, courgette soup – has anyone else’s culinary repertoire been challenged by an almighty squash glut this warm and sunny summer? I’ve grown four plants of different varieties, so have been munching on yellow, light green, dark green, round and long-fruited pickings since late June – I’m happy to have a break now! My plants are looking glad of a rest, too as I can see the telltale signs of powdery mildewwhich means they’re on the way out. This fungal disease always shows its face eventually late in the season, and isn’t anything to panic about. Just accept that your plants are gracefully giving up the ghost – but equally, take the three steps illustrated (right) to slow down its progression. Top Tip   Autumn fruiting raspberries…

MY raspberry crop from mid-season summer fruiting variety ‘Malling Admiral’ did well this year. But sadly the canes have finished fruiting, so they need a bit of attention now. Summer-fruiting raspberries (referred to as ‘floricane’ types) produce their flowers and fruits on canes that grew during the previous year. Once they’ve finished, the fruited canes need to be cut out – down to ground level, without leaving a stub. The strongest of this year’s new, unfruited canes, ideally around six to eight per plant, should then be tied in, 4-6in (10-15cm) apart, along the wire supports. Any remaining canes per plant should be removed at ground level. Incidentally, any younger canes that are much taller than the top wire can be looped over it and tied in. Then, in late…

• 17 - 18 September: Ralph Court Gardens, Edwyn Ralph, Bromyard, Herefordshire HR7 4LU. 12 gardens opening in aid of the NGS (10am-4pm). Admission £7.50, children £5. For details 01885 483225.ralphcourtgardens.co.uk • 17 September: 12 Ansell Road, Ecclesall, Sheffield S11 7PE. Open in aid of the NGS (10.30am-4pm). Admission £2.50, children free. Dave Darwent 01142 665881. ngs.org.uk • 18 September: Wicor Primary School Community Garden, Portchester, Fareham, Hampshire P016 9DL. School gardens tended by pupils, staff and community. Admission £3.50 (12noon-4pm). ngs.org.uk • 22 September: Borde Hill Garden, Haywards Heath. West Sussex RH16 1XP. Guided walk with Andy Stevens, head gardener. For details 01444 450326. bordehill.co.uk • 22 September: Banks Building, Kew. 7.30pm ‘Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs. Monty Don talks about his dog Nigel and his passion for…

Hardenbergia ‘Happy Wanderer’ Opens its sprays of purple, pea-like flowers in late winter. Thrives in a cool conservatory. Trim after flowering and shade from sun in summer. Supplier: Fibrex nurseries 01789 720788. Jasminum polyanthum Chinese jasmine prefers a cool, frost-free conservatory to a warm house room. Pink buds open to white, fragrant blooms. Prune after flowering. Supplier: Crocus 01344 578111. Hoya carnosa ‘Tricolor’ Has fragrant, waxy flowers in summer, but this variegated plant has year-round appeal. Twine around a wire hoop or trellis to keep dense. Supplier: Burncoose Nursery 01209 860316.…

1 Mowing: They say that over summer a lawn should be mown to a height of 1in (2.5cm), and that in dry years (like 2016), it can be left slightly longer. Actually, I tend to cut the grass when it needs it, at a height that looks right. That way I keep on top of things. And provided I do all the other things mentioned here, the lawn remains healthy. Adjust the height on your mower when you need to (below). 2 Scarify: This is deep raking of the lawn surface, which gets air to grass roots, removes ‘thatch’ (dead grass), and any moss that may be present. This only needs to be done once a year, ideally in autumn. 3 Spiking: A compacted lawn stops air getting to grass…

DEPUTY editor Sally Charrett (pictured) and I have different styles of gardening. Sally is artistic, and enjoys blending perennials with grasses to create stylish planting schemes, whereas I opt for a riot-of-colour effect: dahlias, cannas and bedding. The result is that we can often be heard bickering at the garden centre, but this week we’re putting our differences aside, as September is a perfect time to get hardy plants into the ground. The days are cooler but soil remains warm and workable, allowing plants to get their roots down and establish before winter sets in, giving them a head start in advance of next year’s growing season. I’ve been helping Sally select perennials and grasses to plug gaps in her new front garden, but it’s a perfect time of year…

“Customers in the USA are more impatient” LILIES respond very well to growing in containers, indeed hundreds of thousands are sold in pots in bud each year. The Paton Brothers, twins Ian and Stuart (of giant pumpkin growing fame) and Rory breed and grow them commercially on the South Coast. They tell me the UK market requires pot plants sold nice and leafy, in bud, to give homeowners the longest possible flower life. Customers in the USA are more impatient, buy in full bloom, have a shorter, in-full-flower life, then throw out and buy another one. There are signs we are following their throw-away attitude, which is a great pity and hardly a sustainable approach to life. Commercial growers use quite small sizes of bulbs. With a little after care,…

ANY visitor to my garden last week was entitled to make a mockery of the rockery. It was dull, growth was straggly, and there were far too many weeds. There was not enough gravel mulch, and it generally needed a bit of TLC. Fortunately I have now improved things, and have even done a bit of forward planning – by planting some miniature bulbs for spring colour (see below). I also managed to tackle a problem plant. You often see bugle (ajuga) on rockeries, and a small plant or two of it is certainly in keeping. But it’s a thug. It can spread far and wide, and if you leave it for a year or more, your whole rockery is likely to become one large mound of bugle. So I’ve…

IT’S the furry-looking rhizomes that give this characterful fern such a descriptive common name. They certainly have a paw-like quality, creeping over the edges of pots or baskets. In its native Japan the squirrel’s foot grows mainly as an epiphyte, meaning plants aren’t so much rooted into the soil but use their scaly rhizomes to creep over bark and rock at the edges of forest streams. In milder areas, this accommodating fern will grow outdoors but if temperatures drop much below zero, plants become deciduous and lose some of their fronds. For this reason, I think they make better indoor plants and because cold is tolerated, you have the option of enjoying them in an unheated greenhouse or inside the house. I have a large colony which started life as…

“You can even make frozen apple puree icecream sorbet” APPLES, apples everywhere, but in a month or two they’ll all be gone. Probably the easiest most reliable garden crop in the UK are apples. You plant a few trees and for many decades need do nothing other than harvest. The only problem is their season. The earliest ripen in August, most ripen through this month into next then many are good till Christmas. Only a few keep through winter into spring and then we run out. But right now apples are everywhere, and so many will go to waste. Well don’t let them as they’re easy to process. You can dry apples as rings, juice them or turn them into cider, and you can also convert them into puree. Gather…

A GREAT favourite for cutting, hardy annual larkspur (Consolida ambigua) prospers from an autumn sowing in all but the coldest areas. From the buttercup tribe, it is closely related to delphiniums and looks like an ethereal, dainty version of these popular border perennials. Originally native to Mediterranean regions, larkspur has a long history of use as a garden plant and at one time even crept in to join cornflowers and poppies as a cornfield weed. These three look fabulous together and if you’ve been collecting our free seeds, why not mix them for a cornfield ‘look’? Sow larkspur now while soils are warm and moist and they’ll make strong roots below and feathery foliage above, to sit out winter. These lay the foundation for bumper growth in spring to bloom…

THE buzz is there could be fewer wasps around than usual to bother us this autumn. Compared with 2015, the home assistance firm HomeServe saw a 25 per cent drop in the number of callouts to deal with wasps and hornets during May, June and July. Last summer, its staff tackled 1,600 wasp or hornet-related callouts, but this year it dropped to under 1,200. HomeServe blogger, TV Gardener Alys Fowler, said wasps can be a nuisance but are beneficial to the garden. “Think kindly on them because they are some of our finest predators for soft bodied garden pests, chowing down on caterpillars and aphids to take to feed to their young. “There are many wasp species and some are essential pollinators. Others are parasitic for many garden pests.” Alys…

Anemone blanda A lovely, unfussy addition to the spring garden, this anemone is happiest under a deciduous tree, where it will glow violet-blue in the dappled shade. A bunch looks nice in a small vase. Flowers: March. H 4in (10cm). Narcissus ‘Hawera’ These dwarf daffodils have nodding primrose-yellow flowers with a wonderful scent. Being so dainty, they are ideal for pots, a rockery or windowboxes. Happy in light shade or full sun. Flowers April. H 2ft (25cm). Muscari azureum This easy-to-grow azure-blue grape hyacinth looks great at the front of a border, in little pots, or in a rockery. Likes sun in spring, and shade in summer. Looks good with Scilla siberica. Flowers March-April. H 5in (12cm). Hyacinthoides non-scripta The English bluebell is graceful and fragrant, and should…

Can I use weed killer around my bulbs? Q Last year I put a large amount of daffodils in my lawn, and they performed very well in the spring. I usually use a lawn weed and feed formula in autumn – is it still alright to do so? Gerard Rooney, Peacehaven, East Sussex A In theory it is perfectly alright to use a lawn weed killer while bulbs are dormant, as without leaves or roots they have no means to take up the chemicals. However, it is just vaguely possible at this time of year that some bulbs are coming out of dormancy and could be at risk of being affected by the weed killer. It is worthwhile checking the packaging of the product you decide to use to see…

HAVING correctly pruned and nurtured your fruit trees the rewards should now be ripe for picking. Thankfully, this can be done with your feet firmly on the ground as there are now lots of fruit picking tools to choose from with mechanisms ranging from cutting, plucking and ‘combing’ to help collect apples, pears, and even plums, from tall fruit trees. What’s more, as well as being safer, many harvesting tools can be faster than using a ladder to repeatedly climb up and down the rungs. Choose a fruit picker of a length appropriate to the size of your trees. Sometimes an extra few feet is all your need but there are telescopic versions for longer reach into taller trees and some fruit pickers are part of multi-tool systems so the…

Cotinus coggygria The smoke bush can be coppiced to within two or three buds from the base to produce large ornamental leaves. Look out for the lovely ‘Grace’ or ‘Royal Purple’ at garden centres/mail order or sow seed into pots indoors, any time of year. Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’ The Indian bean tree produces golden leaves up to 18in (45cm) wide after annual coppicing or pollarding. Young trees are available from gardens centres or sow seed in pots any time of year. Allow it to establish before pruning. Eucalyptus gunnii Pollarding a young plant (cutting all shoots back to 1-2ft (30-60cm) from the ground, results in new shoots with attractive, rounded foliage and provides material for flower arrangements. Plant out a young specimen now, or sow seed into pots in autumn.…

Gardening inspiration I THOUGHT AG readers might like to see this picture of my very first crop of potatoes. I don’t have much garden space so I planted seed potatoes into three giant pots and then was amazed how quickly and sturdily the plants grew. My sense of well-being and satisfaction at growing my own veg is very much greater than simply being able to eat them. It combines the wonderful feeling of gardening in the fresh air, getting some exercise and a rush of pure happiness at the results! I’m looking forward to providing my family with a potato salad that’s homegrown. Not only that, my experiment in gardening has whetted my appetite for more. Roll on next spring when I plan to grow a different variety of potato…

“Gardeners regularly ask ‘What is the point of wasps?” LUCKILY for me I spotted the wasps’ nest just before crashing headlong into the papery structure with my hoe. Often when weeding I fall into a Walter Mitty-style daydream, breakable only by the magical words ‘tea, or ‘cake, especially if preceded by the phrase: ‘Would you like some?’ Thankfully the buzzing did the trick, snapping me from trance-like state into wild panic with me retreating and swashbuckling at the swarm with the hoe. To the casual observer (and there were a few) I must have looked like an outcast from a Morris dancing troupe – but at least I wasn’t stung, which considering the circumstances was a miracle. Gardeners regularly ask “What is the point of wasps?” The answer is they’re…