Innholdsfortegnelse for 28-Mar-2020 i Amateur Gardening

“Doing the right thing environmentally can be more complex than we think when it comes to replacing plastic pots (see Tim’s article on page 48). For example, bamboo seems a good choice, but what if the pots have to come all the way from China? For many, the best answer is re-using the plastic pots we have. Keep them in good condition, and they will last many years. And you are stopping them going into landfill. It’s your choice.” Contact us: ■ Editorial: 01252 555138 ■ Email: amateurgardening@ti-media.com ■ Subscriptions: 0330 3331120 ■ Advertising: 07817 629935…

YOU may be lining up your plug plants and considering schemes for this year’s summer annual plantings, but don’t neglect the inhabitants of any permanent containers. If plants have been in the same pots and compost for more than a year, their compost will be starting to run out of steam and the plants may be potbound. When repotting isn’t practical, refresh the top layer of compost and feed the plants, or prune their roots so they are less congested and more efficient. Because our soil is so alkaline, I’m also top-dressing and feeding our acid-loving container plants with ericaceous fertiliser and compost. If your tree or shrub is potbound but you can’t move it to a larger pot, consider root pruning, though this should only be done every five…

ALSO known as the poor man’s orchid or butterfly flower, Schizanthus ‘Angel Wings’ Mixed is a half-hardy annual that packs a lot of bang for its buck! The ornate, multi-coloured blooms sit atop delicate pale-green foliage and they grow just as well in containers as they do in a sunny border. Because the plant is half-hardy, the seeds should be sown undercover between now and the end of April for this summer’s flowers. Alternatively, sow them in August and September and grow on undercover somewhere light and airy for flowers next spring. Once the seeds have germinated and are large enough, pot them up individually. When they are around 3in (8cm) tall, pinch out the tips to encourage bushy growth. Although ‘Angel Wings’ is a delight in the garden, their…

I HAVE been a red mason bee guardian for some years, and every spring I’m sent 30 new cocoons from MasonBees (masonbees.co.uk). These cocoons look rather like brown Liquorice Comforts, although I wouldn’t recommend eating them! I have a bee house with cardboard tubes on the south side of the cottage, and after a few days the bees emerge from the cocoons in stages. The males seem to come out first and the larger females, which have furry black heads, follow. This is fairly typical in nature and it’s very common with butterflies. The males find good territories first and then try to attract a mate. Red mason bees (Osmia bicornis) don’t sting, so they’re the only bees allowed on many allotments. They’re very good pollinators of apples and pears,…

John will reply personally to all yours gardening questions every week How do I grow epimediums? Q I’d really love to try growing epimedium in a pot on my shady patio. Is it possible to grow them in this way and, if so, what compost should I use and which varieties would you suggest I try? Marion May, via email A Epimediums can be roughly divided into two groups. Those from Europe are the most tolerant of dry shade, including Epimedium alpinum, x rubrum, pinnatum and pubigerum, plus the hybrids involving these, such as Epimedium x versicolor. Japanese species of epimedium, such as E. grandiflorum, are easy to grow but may not be ideal for the driest spots. Most species come from China with a huge range of forms, many…

Gardening is my life Star letter I LOOK forward on a Tuesday to my Amateur Gardening each week, and it’s such a thrill to see my name as a contributor – my family (all six kids) feel the same. Gardening has been my hobby and is still my life, albeit stiffly nowadays. Although I’m now 89 years old, I have still got babies and cuttings in my garden room and across windowsills. Water is carried via two-pint milk bottles in my garden coat pockets. I hope to have another successful year of growing! Pat Coomer, Hornchurch, Essex Wendy says: Always good to hear from you, Pat, and we look forward to seeing your begonias flourishing in summer. These flocks run amock I READ Tim Rumball’s article on Feeding the Birds…

THIS long, wet winter probably did more damage to our lawns than any other area of the garden, so as spring takes hold and the weather warms, don’t be surprised to see mosses and weeds proliferating in the grass. This will be a particular problem in areas with clay soils that hold onto water, which may drown the roots and kill off the grass. Once the grass has died and gone, problem plants have free rein to move in and take over. But don’t be disheartened, as there is plenty you can do to return your lawn to a decent state, and once the grass starts growing again it will soon look lush and lovely once more. Mow as and when needed, when the grass is dry. Keep your blades…

IT’S traditional to plant spuds at Easter. This is probably less to do with it being the best time, but more because the Easter weekend is the first holiday of the year and thus opportunity for what can be a large task. Indeed, as Easter moves every year from somewhere in early March to late in April, depending on astrology (it falls on the Sunday following the full moon), the actual date is a bit random. Far more reliable is to plant your sets when the soil has become warm enough – that’s when the weeds have started to cover the ground in flushes of green. “Maincrops need the longest season possible” Our next error is that we tend to plant our earlies first, followed by our late and maincrops.…

WHILE certain vegetables perform best when they are sown under glass, then pricked out and transplanted outdoors later, many will benefit from being sown directly where they are to crop. But to succeed with outdoor sowings takes a bit of care, so let me point you in the right direction… Which crops can you sow? There are some crops, like courgettes, chillies and tomatoes, that I religiously sow indoors each spring (predominantly because they are tender and/or need a long growing season). But tap-rooted carrots and parsnips develop distorted harvests when confined to a module, and quick-to-mature roots such as turnip, beetroot and radish aren’t worth the fiddle of transplanting. “To succeed with outdoor sowings takes a bit of care” Speedy annuals such as rocket, dill and summer spinach can…

PLASTIC is a wonderful material and ideal for making plant pots. But plastic is made from fossil fuels (petroleum), and when discarded is a pollution hazard to wildlife and humans, so the pressure is on to find alternatives. There are other apparently environmentally friendly materials we already use for making plant pots and seed trays, but all have drawbacks. Classic terracotta Looking back to the 1950s and earlier, before plastics were widespread, plant pots were made from terracotta, and seed-sowing trays were made from wood. They are attractive, can last for many years and work quite well for both functional (seed sowing and growing on) and decorative gardening applications, bearing in mind that they leech moisture from the compost so watering can be an issue, and plant rootballs can stick…

1 Improve the circulation of air by punching 2in (5cm) holes into soggy areas of lawn with a garden fork or aerating roller. 2 Edging borders helps get rid of straggly grass that can hide slugs and other pests, and it is a quick and easy way of smartening your garden. 3 Feed your lawn and get rid of weeds and moss with one of the many easy-to-use multi-purpose products on the market. 4 Perennial weeds such as dandelions and chickweed can be a real menace, so extract them with a weed-puller. 5 Remove ‘thatch’, the bits of dead grass and moss, to let light and air get down to the roots of the grass and promote healthy growth. 6 Worm casts are unsightly and will create a breeding ground…

ALL my jackets have buttonholes ready to hold a single flower, ideally one which is fragrant. The arrival several years ago of three cut-flower garden pinks – namely, Dianthus Bridal Star (white), D. Pink Ruffles (the strongest scented of the three) and D. Red Carpet – has been most useful in this respect. Out in the open ground, they have flowered non-stop from June, and still had battered blooms in March. Why these dianthus by Whetman have not received more publicity is hard to explain. “They flowered non-stop from June until March” When you think of all the scentless spray carnations sold at supermarkets and garages, it is a great pity they are not replaced by Pink Ruffles. At least we can grow our own, young plants either potted up…

HOPEFULLY you all survived Storms Ciara and Dennis without any serious damage and disruption. If you have experienced problems, you have our sincere commiserations. Luckily, our only damage occurred when a potted standard Ceanothus toppled and its container broke. One large piece of pottery cracked and fell away, although I managed to secure it in place with string for a couple of days until I could replant the shrub and find new homes for the plants growing around it. Unfortunately, when I took the shrub from the smashed container I found several vine weevil grubs among the roots, turning what should have been a simple replanting into something slightly more time-consuming (see panel, right). In a way it was a blessing as the shrub needed repotting, so the breakage spurred…

WHEN I first started as a garden writer, I would have been hard pressed to find someone brave enough to admit that they liked gladioli. Back in the late 1990s gladioli were considered a floral relic from a bygone age, and most articles mentioning them tended to be dismissive. I admit I played my part in their persecution, labelling these tuberous perennials as ‘brash’, ‘vulgar’ and ‘unfashionable’. A few decades earlier, I would have been run out of town for horticultural blasphemy. During the 1940s and 1950s, ‘glads’ – as my granddad used to call them – were the epitome of good taste, and it was impossible to walk down a suburban street in summer without passing several front gardens where an island bed was punctuated by an array of…

This week it’s: THIS Thursday (26 March) is Purple Day when millions of people around the world raise awareness of epilepsy. Purple Day was created in 2008 by Cassidy Megan, from Canada, who has epilepsy. Cassidy wanted to get people talking about epilepsy and to raise funds. She chose the colour purple as the symbol largely because lavender is recognised as the international flower of epilepsy. In the UK, the leading epilepsy charity is Epilepsy Action (epilepsy.org.uk). Conveniently, this leads us to purple plants – and there are plenty of stories connected to the colour purple. ■ Ornamental onions (alliums) are the archetypal purple flower, but I’ll discuss these in next week’s Miscellany. Purple – the colour and plants CURIOUSLY, the colour purple (as with pink and brown) is not…

Can I revive ailing cymbidium? Q My friend was going to throw away her cymbidium orchid because it has not bloomed for four years, and a mass of dry-looking roots rise 3in (8cm) above the pot. I have taken it on, so how do I make her wish she’d kept it? Ellen Peacock, Stanley, County Durham A Cymbidiums have an air of grandeur about them, especially when flower stems arc gracefully from amongst the long, narrow leaves. Most bloom during the winter months, and look fabulous displayed on a hall or occasional table. They enjoy good winter light and a cool rather than warm room; somewhere with a minimum temperature of 50ºF (10ºC) and maximum of 60ºF (15ºC). Move away from any bright windows from spring to autumn, and choose…

GARDENING regrets, I’ve had a few: planting a eucalyptus tree near the house (I’m always pruning it); not paving the terrace when we had builders in for our extension (false economy); oh, and getting ketchup in my eye when I took a break from digging yesterday… but that’s Heinz sight for you! One job I never regret doing, though, is getting plant stakes in and ready before they are needed by sweet peas, beans and floppy flowers. We’re now in the last window of opportunity to source poles and twiggy pea-sticks from coppiced woodlands. In a few weeks, the branches and brushwood will be full of leaves, and the harvest will stop until the autumn. Freshly cut and pushed into the soil, they are the traditional cottage garden plant stake…