Innholdsfortegnelse for 16-May-2020 i Amateur Gardening

WE have lots of plants in plastic pots on the patio and it’s time to get them into their ‘proper’ homes. Some will go in the borders, but several are heading towards long-term patio containers. Late spring is an ideal time for this as plants are growing and their roots will make the most of the lovely fresh compost. There are a couple of things to remember when potting up your plants. The first is to not over-pot them in containers that are too large. If you do this, their roots will be wallowing in too much cold compost and won’t be happy. Your choice of pot is also important. Traditional terracotta and clay containers are attractive and look classy. Most come with a frost-proof guarantee and are heavy enough…

HORTICULTURE industry chiefs are concerned that the Coronavirus lockdown could bring about a reduction in the UK’s biosecurity. They fear that if the lockdown causes significant damage to the UK’s horticutural industry, more plants will be shipped in from abroad where quarantine and disease screening may not be so rigorous. It comes at a time when the business is already worried about the arrival of Xylella fastidiosa in the UK. This virulent disease, spread by sap-sucking bugs such as froghoppers and spittle bugs, has wreaked havoc on olive plantations in parts of Italy and has also been found in France and Spain. To block the disease from the UK, where there are fears it could severely damage our oak, elm and plane trees, imports of olive trees and lavender bushes…

Top Tip Bulbs are toxic and can sometimes cause severe skin irritation, so always wear gloves when handling them and wash your hands afterwards. THE spring bulbs are almost done for this year and are dying back, leaving tangles of yellowing greenery. There are several important do’s and don’ts to remember if you want them to perform well again next year. Feed them fortnightly with liquid tomato feed to help the bulbs swell and mature before they enter dormancy. Let the leaves die back. They don’t look appealing, but if you cut them off or knot them it prevents them returning energy to the bulb for next year. The next thing to decide is whether to lift the bulbs or leave them in situ. Many varieties are happy left in…

Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes 1 Ten strawberry plants will crop well in a full size grow bag for three to five years, and six in a 20-litre bag of potting compost. 2 Do not plant strawberries in either soil or potting compost that previously grew potatoes, as they share a root disease. 3 Strawberries should be spaced 12in (30cm) apart, or three to a 12in hanging basket, where they will be away from slugs and hopefully vine weevil. 4 East Malling-bred Strawberry ‘Malling Centenary’ is becoming a leading summer fruiting kind for commercial growers and gardeners. ‘Flamenco’ (pictured) from the same breeder will fruit July to October.…

ASTERS have been delighting gardeners for generations with their densely petalled flowers that add colour to the garden from summer right through to autumn. You may dismiss them as old fashioned and a bit staid, but think again – these easy-going half-hardy lovelies will bring you months of low-growing colour to the front of your borders. This week’s free seeds are aster ‘Milady Mixed’, a robust variety that produces masses of large, bright blooms in white, pinks and purples. It is relatively wilt-resistant and tolerant of the weather. It grows well in tubs as well as in the ground, where it favours well-prepared, free-draining soil in sun or light shade. These asters (Callistephus chinensis) originate in China and come from the same family as chrysanthemum, dahlias and coreopsis. They are…

How to reach for the skies! ■ Vine eyes and corresponding horizontal wires are incredibly useful supports for fruits, allowing you to train perfectly formed shapes. ■ Canvas planting pockets can dry out quickly if positioned in full sun. Add water retaining granules to the compost mix. ■ Training the stems of hybrid berries into spirals will save you wall space, and it creates a beautiful effect when they’re in full flower. ■ If you have a shady wall or fence then opt for planting pockets of leafy salads, or train morello cherries, gooseberries and currants. ■ A gravity-fed watering system of spaghetti tubing makes an excellent job of keeping wall-hung pots suitably moist. ■ Training fruit as fans against sunny south- or west-facing walls will allow maximum sunlight levels…

THOSE in a mild climate will be way ahead of me here, but many of us can’t move tender veg outside until mid-May. Tomatoes, sweetcorn, courgettes, French beans, aubergines and peppers may have to sit cheek by jowl in heated greenhouses, conservatories, spare bedrooms, bathrooms until night temperatures reliably hit double figures. When they do brave the outside, they need to be hardened off, but moving plants in and out, day and night for a week is a faff – so cut corners. Plant directly underneath cloches (drape sheets over these if the sun is really hot), or erect a tent of fleece around plants using canes and pegs. Even a windbreak you’d use at the beach will help shield any buttery foliage from desiccating breezes and shade it from…

THE sweet peas in your garden might be bulking up and producing their first flowerbuds during May, but did you know there’s a species that yields deliciously edible tubers? L. tuberosus, known as the earthnut pea, produces vibrant pink blooms of the classic pea shape. But it also (via the powers of nitrogen fixation) grows underground tubers which, when roasted, have a sugary, nutty flavour reminiscent of sweet potatoes. Yields might not be massive (each tuber takes two-three years to reach harvestable size) but if you like the idea of a permaculture garden, this plant ticks that box. Seeds can be bought via mail order and the seedlings planted into free draining, sunny soil (chalky types preferred). Consider it an occasional treat rather than a garden staple, and you won’t…

Perfume your paths Rosemary, curry plant (Helichrysum italicum) and lavenders such as L. angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ will all supply an aromatic hit when you brush against their leaves, making them ideal for lining garden paths. Or try planting thyme in-between pavers – treading on it will release the fragrance. Fragrant fly-past Plant a buddleja where you’ll pass it when you walk up and down the garden. The honey-scented nectar of its flowers will attract butterflies that will flutter all around you. If space is tight, stick to the dwarf ‘Buzz’ series, which are compact enough to grow in containers. Scratch & sniff Some plants have aromatic foliage that releases its oils when you rub the leaves. These include herbs like lemon balm and lemon verbena, and scented-leaf pelargoniums such as P.…

AS May leans towards June, there is sometimes a lull in flower colour as we wait for bedding plants to bulk up and herbaceous perennials to hit their high summer stride. Perfect for filling this gap is a group of plants described as biennial because they are sown one year to flower the next. This might sound like a test of patience, but these colourful characters are well worth the wait. Sowings made from May to July yield young plants ready to set out in late summer or early autumn, so they can put down good roots into warm, moist soil. Hardy ground-covering rosettes then sit tight through winter, ready to rise up and flower from the following spring. Most biennials are simple, rather than highly bred plants, and their…

Campanula medium ‘Cup and Saucer Mixed’ Originally from Southern Europe, Canterbury bells or bells of Holland is an old-fashioned garden plant that is long overdue a revival. Grown in sun or part shade, this mix offers compact plants that flower from May to July, in pink, white and blue. H&S: 1ft (30cm). Myosotis sylvatica ‘Bluesylva’ AGM The low, spreading growth and plentiful, slightly larger-than-average flowers characterising the Sylva Series of forget-menots make them perfect for container planting. White (‘Snowsylva’) and pink (Rosylva AGM) options are available, too. H&S: 8in (20cm). Erysimum x marshallii Spring-flowering and sun-loving, the Siberian wallflower is more petite than the ordinary kind, and is best raised in modules. Expect a liberal sprinkling of cheery bright orange, spicy-scented flowers that will attract plenty of pollinating insects. HxS:…

■ Most garden soils are acceptable to brooms, although the extremes of acid and chalk are best avoided. ■ All types require good drainage and full sun. ■ Any pruning of brooms is best carried out after flowering: cut back the previous summer’s growth by up to two-thirds. Once the wood has hardened, it does not respond to pruning, hence leggy specimens are best replaced by young plants. ■ Established plants don’t like being disturbed – choose your site with care. ■ Generally speaking, brooms are free of pests and disease.…

Heavenly hostas! You’re spoilt for choice with so many varieties This week it’s: I THINK hostas are fabulous plants – and so do many gardeners. In fact, some are fanatical about them. The plants are pretty much indestructible, they’re not fussy about soil type, and they give structure and colour to the garden for six months of the year. Hostas can be a few inches tall or a full 3ft (1m) and more, and they’re ideal for brightening up a shady corner or a long-forgotten wasteland. Just now they are in full leaf (and many of them are flowering), so let’s take a look at some of the fascinating stories surrounding them. ■ Although not usually grown for their flowers, hostas sometimes have fragrant blooms. Try ‘Fragrant Blue’, ‘Sweet Susan’…

SLUGS and snails are, to many gardeners, the first things they think about when they hear the word ‘hosta’. These pests can do a lot of damage, but gardens vary greatly, with some hardly affected at all. Put slug traps out in February, just as the slugs are coming out of hibernation and starting to move around and lay eggs. Early treatment is especially important in controlling the little dark brown or black-keeled slugs that live just under the surface of the soil and do most of the damage to soft, young leaves. In hostas, this damage remains all too visible for fc the rest of the season. Of course, you could try to confine your hosta choices to some of the varieties known to be resistant to slugs (see…

HOSTA sieboldiana is a species with a number of very attractive hybrids. They tend to make large plants 24in (60cm) high and 36in (90cm) wide, and they generally have large, thick leaves that are often ignored by slugs. But be careful where you plant these hostas: it is not always a good idea to place them under a tree, as their slightly cupped leaves are inclined to collect falling debris. These hostas are best used as pathway edging, or in open glades next to astilbes, ferns and candelabra primulas.…

Top Tip Spacing your peas 4-5in (10-13cm) apart rather than the usual 2-3in (5-8cm) means that they will then compete less for water in summer droughts. Success germinating garden peas Q We love garden peas, including mangetouts and sugar snaps, but have had trouble getting them to germinate in the soil (we don’t have a greenhouse). Is it too late to try again, and can you recommend any varieties? Donna Bailey, Nuneaton, Warwickshire A We start peas as early as we dare, because they grow better in cool rather than hot weather, and both early (to early April)I) and late (July) sowings miss the egg-laying activities of pea moth, whose larvae cause maggoty peas. Gardeners in milder regions often sow hardy dwarf varieties in October or November with the aim…

My Covid-19 challenge AS the time was approaching for us to go into lockdown, I decided that I would need to set up a few distractions. So I bought a few packets of seeds (and tore off my free AG seed packets) and this is where my Covid-19 challenge came in. This year, I was determined to ‘best’ myself on other years, and set a new goal. My aim was to actually plant them! On 14 April, I went out to the garden and following the directions on the packets – I sowed the seeds, lovingly covering them with a fine layer of soil, and I then watered them in lightly. The following nights, we got frost. Well, I don’t know what will happen and I would dearly love it…

WITH every day, life is changing dramatically and you are told not to have any physical contact with anyone outside your household – so it is good to see Amateur Gardening dropping on our doormat. It is a friend arriving through the letterbox with brightly coloured blooms and photos of plants and flowers to cheer us up, advice from the experts, and ways to save money. And whilst it can’t take the place of people with whom you can have a cuppa and a natter with, it is a gardening friend you always look forward to catching up with and who you can rely on. Gloria Wilding, Merseyside…

Go to: amateurgardening.com/blog AG’s Ruth Hayes is writing about what she is up to in her garden every day on the AG website (see address above). Ruth is joined by AG’s Lesley Upton who writes about her allotment veg plot, and AG’s Wendy Humphries. Share their gardening experiences and pick up some hints, tips and a bit of a laugh along the way. It’s not all about gardening: at the weekends, you can get their views on great books to read, music to listen to, films to watch, and whateverer else they are doing to make the lockdown as stress-free and as much fun as they possibly can. Join Ruth and her friends every day and blow the lockdown blues away!…

▪ If you still have smaller seedlings growing on your windowsill, keep them healthy by regular watering and allowing them plenty of ventilation. ▪ Check them every day because shallow trays of compost can quickly lose moisture in a warm room. ▪ If the room gets lots of direct sunlight, they may fare better on a surface away from the windowsill. ▪ Seedlings in the greenhouse may need fleecing if there is a late frost and are more vulnerable to pests, especially aphids and whitefly, which will attack tender young leaves. ▪ If the atmosphere is too dry and still, seedlings can also succumb to glasshouse red spider mites. ▪ Make sure the greenhouse is kept well ventilated and that seedlings are inspected regularly.…

▪ A year ago our potted skimmia was in a very sad state, with sickly yellowing leaves and a refusal to thrive. ▪ It was riddled with vine weevils, so I washed its roots, repotted in fresh compost and treated with Bug Clear Ultra Vine Weevil Killer. ▪ The difference in a year is fantastic – this spring it has lots of glossy dark leaves and a profusion of flowers. It’s so satisfying to see! ▪ So the moral of this story is don’t despair if your container plants are failing. Investigate the problem as soon as possible and treat accordingly, and plants will hopefully soon bounce back.…

THE Royal Mail has announced that Saturday postal deliveries will cease as of 2 May and will remain so until further notice. This is due to the huge burden the current emergency has placed on Post Office staff, with more people ordering by mail and high levels of Coronavirus absence. This means subscription copies will not arrive on Saturday/Monday as usual and delivery may fall to later in the week. AG Editor Garry Coward-Williams said: “We hope that subscribers understand that this is out of our hands. More importantly, we all support the amazing efforts of the Royal Mail, who are doing a brilliant job in such difficult times.”…

▪ Here at AG we are in exactly the same situation as everyone else and we want to keep you updated with the latest gardening news and information on a daily basis. We also want keep in touch with you to help allay feelings of isolation and loneliness. ▪ Gardening editor Ruth, letters editor Wendy and features editor Les are regularly contributing to a Coronavirus blog on the AG website. Visit amateurgardening.com/blog to see what we are up to and how we are coping with selfisolation – and leave your comments, too. ▪ You can also get in touch with us directly via the usual email address at amateurgardening@ti-media.com. ▪ Please also use this email address to send in queries for John Negus, as he is continuing to answer all…

BEANS are some of the most useful crops – very productive, nutritious and easy to grow, so ideal for those wanting to grow more of their own in these difficult times. Especially as most can also be dried, frozen or salted for winter. It’s perfect for most types now the soil is warmer – so sow directly where they’re to grow. As beans are leguminous, they create fertility and their main requirements are sun and water. Dwarf French beans, snap or haricots come in three types: those you predominantly eat cooked as whole green pods; those you eat cooked as fresh bean seeds; and those intended for drying for cooking in winter stews. They’re usable in all three ways – just much better in their own category. “Their main requirements…

THE male of this species, with his rich carmine breast, bluish-grey back, glossy black crown and white rump (most conspicuous in flight) bears no resemblance to any other British finch. He is also more sturdily built than his relatives, and though the plump female cannot boast the gaudy breast, she is patterned similarly to her more brightly coloured partner. Bullfinches are not vocalists, their calls are a plaintive piping note, more mournful than musical, but each pair are very loyal to each other and remain together throughout the year, seeming to suggest they pair for life. The four or five pale greenish-blue eggs, speckled with red and lilac, are laid in a shallow, untidy nest of fine twigs lined with rootlets and hair. Shrubs and trees in gardens and public…

1 Fans: This is such an excellent way to train fruit! Gooseberries, cherries, gages, figs, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, currants – these can all can be trained into this two dimensional shape (apples and pears are best espaliered). 2 Climbers: In the veg world, look to conventional beans, toms, peas and squashes, along with less common Ceylon spinach and even hops. Honeyberries, kiwi fruits and hardy kiwi berries, plus hybrid berries (like loganberries) are ideal for walls. 3 Pockets: Smaller crops such as lettuces, mizuna, rocket, sorrel, mustard and komatsuna, along with drought-resistant plants like purslane, thyme, sage and rosemary, do well in canvas pouches – just water well on sunny or windy days.…

Step by step 1 If you’ve been forcing your rhubarb using light-excluding pots, it’s time to stop to prevent exhausting the crowns. Remove all covers, and give your clump fortnightly balanced liquid feeds (such as Grow more). 2 Unforced clumps can continue having stems pulled, but quality usually deteriorates as summer progresses. Take no more than a quarter of the total stem number each week, and remove any flower spikes that appear. 3 As you reach mid-July it’s best to stop harvesting clumps to allow them to build up in strength for next year’s crop. Autumn-cropping varieties (like ‘Livingstone’ above) are available if you really love fresh rhubarb.…

I NEVER feel that summer has arrived until I see the swallows wheeling overhead and it’s a comforting thought that they were almost certainly born here, for swallows are known to return to the place of their birth. These insect-eaters normally arrive here in the third week of April, although a couple of years ago one solitary swallow perched on our chimney for several hours on April Fool’s Day. He was presumably going further north, after a much-needed rest. The thought that these small birds have crossed the Sahara Desert on their journey from Africa makes them even more welcome. Swallows and house martins are closely related members of a family known as the hirundines. Swallows have slender bodies, long pointed wings and deeply forked tails so they are more…

Anchusa azurea Italian alkanet makes a rosette of bristly leaves, rising in summer to stems of gentian blue flowers. On well-drained soil they may persist, wispily, for a further year. ‘Loddon Royalist’ is shorter. All like sun and good but well-drained soil. HxS: 3-5x2ft (1-1½mx60cm). Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’ This desirable, dark-leaved cow parsley is elegantly lacy and, in its second year, topped by umbels of white flowers. Sow fresh seed in a greenhouse or cold frame, have patience and select the darkest seedlings. Happy in sun or light shade. HxS: 3x1ft (1mx30cm). Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’ A gorgeous foxglove that’s strung with pastel apricot bells. Sow the tiny seeds in June, sprinkling them thinly over moist compost in a full-sized seed tray kept in a shady spot under cover. Best…

▪ Sow biennials from mid May to mid June. You can beat lack of border space, dry soil, slugs andweeds by sowing into trays or shallow pots, then transplanting seedlings to pots or modules. ▪ Alternatively, sow a few seeds per module, thinning to one per cell after germination. ▪ Wallflowers (Erysimum) are best sown direct and thinned to 4in (10cm) apart in a nursery row. ▪ Plant out biennials from late August to early September. Water in well; also water during dry spells. ▪ Most biennials self seed readily. Let seed pods mature and ensure there is undisturbed soil nearby.…

■ Brooms were once known as ‘planta genista’, and lent their name to a line of English kings. Count Geoffrey of Anjou wore a sprig of broom in his battle helmet and, when his son became King Henry II in 1154, they decided to take this as the Royal family name: Plantagenet. The House of Plantagenet ruled England for some 330 years, until King Richard III met his end in 1485. ■ In the olden days, twigs from cytisus (or ‘broom’) were used for making besoms; consequently, these long-handled sweeping brushes also gained the name broom.…

NOW could be the time for you to buy some ‘Alligator Shoes’ or a ‘Christmas Tree’. Perhaps you could plant an ‘Avocado’ for some ‘Guacamole’, or you could get an ‘American Icon’ like ‘Apple Pie’, ‘Blueberry Tart’ or ‘Key Lime Pie’. Under “Blue Skies” you could even have ‘Popcorn’ and a ‘Gin and Tonic’ with ‘Alan Titchmarsh’ in a ‘White Bikini’ and ‘Blue Veil’, while watching either ‘Fatal Attraction’ or ‘Jurassic Park’! No, I haven’t gone completely bonkers. These are all wacky names for some of the 5,800 or more registered hosta cultivars. ■ Around 150-200 new hostas are registered each year with the International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA).…

Miracle-Gro is giving AG readers the chance to grow their fruit and vegetables twice as big, organically, with one of two Performance Organics bundles, each worth £39.45. The winners will receive Miracle-Gro Performance Organics All Purpose Liquid Concentrate Plant Food (RRP £5.99) and Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Fruit & Veg Liquid Concentrate Plant Food (RRP £6.49), both packaged in 100% recycled materials. See results in seven days – glorious on plants, gentle on nature! Perfect for pots, containers, beds and borders, winners will also receive Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Fruit & Veg Compost (RRP £6.99). In addition to this, they will win the Miracle-Gro Performance Organics Fruit & Veg Planter (RRP £6.99), which is easy to use and feeds your produce for three months! Finally, for an immaculate lawn, winners will receive…

AFTER this date, gazillions of across the world were never the same again. For this was the day when English mechanic Edwin Beard Budding (c1796-1846), signed an agreement with John Ferrabee of Phoenix Iron Works in Stroud, Gloucestershire, to make the first mechanical lawnmowers. Budding based his design on the helical cutting blades in cloth-making, used to cut the pile for a smooth finish. His patent (No5990 of 31 August 1830) described his mower as an item of equipment to replace hand scythes for “cropping or shearing the vegetable surface of lawns, grass plats, and pleasure grounds”. It had a cast-iron frame with a large roller that turned a series of cogs which rotated the blades. In 1832 production of the mower increased when agricultural machinery firm Ransomes of Ipswich,…

1 Try pre-germinating seed indoors using moist kitchen towel, under ventilated polythene. They sprout after five or six days to be sown as normal. Good for early starts and testing viability of older seed. 2 To sow direct, set a line, take out flat drills on either side, and moisten the bases. Sow 2-4in (5-10cm) apart and cover by 1in (2½cm). Keep moistened using a rose on the can. 3 Alternatively, starting peas in modules nurses them through germination without damage from slugs, pea and bean weevils. Also useful for plugging gaps. 4 Once your peas are growing strongly, put their supports in place promptly so tendrils can cling. Push in twiggy sticks, or between posts fix netting tall enough for the cultivar.…

THROUGHOUT my life, I have always had cats, and I currently have three. I am also a keen gardener, and so have some sympathy for the intense dislike that a lot of my fellow horticulturists have towards our feline friends. There is nothing more disheartening than finding that your freshly planted flower beds have been dug up by the neighbour’s tom cat. My cats are trained to use an outside covered litter tray, which is positioned by the back door and frequently emptied. It means that neither myself nor any immediate neighbours have the unpleasant task of having to pick up faeces from lawns and flower beds – at least, not from my three cats! Wouldn’t it be sensible and considerate if all owners adopted this idea? That way, gardeners…

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited BACK in the 1980s, I held down a job in Greece working in the service of the Greek Communist Party. This was before the fall of the Berlin Wall, when the ‘KKE’ (as it’s known) was on the lookout for agitator agents of revolutionary change. At the time, I knew nothing about their politics but needed the drachmas, so I happily took up the fight against consumer-oriented liberalism, picking olives from KKE orchards and groves. My time spent climbing up the communist party ladder, quite literally, has been on my mind as, once again, I need to save drachmas, and I have an olive tree so laden it would make a Bolshevik beam with delight. My tree has been in the ground for 10…

PLANTED in the soil, olives require little or no pruning except to remove wayward shoots, and on unproductive older branches to encourage stronger fruit-bearing growth. Plants grown in pots benefit from a spring haircut to prevent them out-growing their space. Olives aren’t harmed by severe haircuts, but bounce back with lots of long and unproductive water shoots. So for a tree with a natural open crown, it’s better to thin out weak branches to leave a strong framework of just four or five, and nip back the tips of the side-shoots. Then keep it hydrated and fed with liquid tomato fertiliser through the summer.…

OUR windowsills have reached seedling saturation point. We have sown – and are still sowing – more than ever and they all need moving on into larger pots at some point. If you have grown lots from seed it can seem like a daunting task, but once you get started it doesn’t take long and the results will be worthwhile. All you need is some 3in (8cm) pots or large modules (this is why you wash and save garden centre plant packaging), fresh water, a dibber and compost. I generally use John Innes No1 or No2 for the smallest seedlings, multi-purpose for larger seedlings and vegetable plants or a mix of the three. If pots and compost are limited, use large pots, dib five-seven holes around the edge for the…

Step by step 1 Fill pots or large modules with John Innes No2 or a mix of this and multi-purpose compost, then dampen. take the entire rootball of each plant. 2 Make a hole in the centre of each module, wide and deep enough to take the entire rootball of each point. 3 Carefully lift the seedling rootball using a spoon or plant label. Hold it steady via the leaves. 4 Drop the roots into the prepared hole, gently pressing them all down into the compost. 5 Carefully firm around the young plants to support it, still holding the leaves – never the stem. 6 These aubergines are back on a warm windowsill, but hardier seedlings can go into a greenhouse.…

Step by step 1 Stand your plant in water to soak the rootball and place crocks and compost in the new pot. 2 Place the plant on the compost, in its pot, to make sure you are planting it at the same depth as its rootball. 3 Slide the dampened rootball from the pot and tease out any constricted or circling roots. 4 Centre the plant and infill around it, firming the compost as you go to knock out air pockets and give support. 5 Stand the container on feet to allow excess water to escape, then water well.…

AG READERS are being asked to help prevent Xylella from entering the UK. Volunteers are needed to help map the distribution of spittlebugs – one of the chief carriers of the problem – that are found in gardens, meadows, grasslands and woodlands from April to late June. There are 10 species in the UK and the young produce whitish, frothy blobs of spittle (often called cuckoo spit) on leaves and branches. Gerard Clover, Head of Plant Heath at the RHS, says: “Understanding how and where the disease’s primary vectors move is fundamental to understanding how we can stop the devastation of our gardens and environment should it arrive.” If you spot cuckoo spit in your garden, you should report it online via surveymonkey.co.uk/r/spittle2020.…

THERE has been much talk about a shortage of people to harvest crops, which I personally find difficult to understand. I spent a month in my late teens picking apples and loved it, up with the lark, out in the orchard with the birds singing, and up ladders picking rosy red, sweet ‘Worcester Pearmain’ apples. Recently, I covered a strawberry harvesting story, and this is no longer the back-breaking job it used to be. Fruits are either chest high with the tabletop growbag system, or pickers are nine abreast, lying horizontal on a picking rig travelling forward, so the ripe fruits come to the pickers. Strawberries are coming nicely into flower in my garden, and it will not be long before we have the seasonal switch from tart rhubarb to…

1 As you remove side-shoots from tomatoes, you can pot these up and grow on to make extra plants for free. 2 Sow trailing nasturtiums in any or flower garden, as every part is edible – especially the seeds. 3 Harden off plants and stand surrounded by windbreak netting, returning indoors at night for several days. 4 Sow runner beans, squashes, courgettes, sweetcorn, gherkins and ridge cucumbers where they are to grow, and preferably under a cloche.…

WITH many of us trying to cram as much fruit, veg and herbs into our gardens as possible this year, what better time to look at space-saving growing methods? So let’s utilise our walls, fences, trellis, boundaries and beyond, as we make 2020 the year that we all grow our own food. Using the climates created There are so many newcomers to growing your own, due to lockdown measures – and as existing gardeners, we already know what they’re catching on to – home grown fruit and vegetables are delicious. But with back gardens getting smaller or even non-existent, is home production realistic? My answer would be a resounding yes! “Rely heavily on wires, clips, staples and twine Vertical surfaces are often heat traps for sun-loving tomatoes, chillies, peaches and…

Glaucium flavum Yellow horned poppy is a British native found on shingle banks above the high water mark, making it an ideal candidate forwell-drained, sunny, gravel gardens. The bright blooms open against deeply lobed, silvery-grey leaves in early summer. HxS: 21∕2x11∕2ft (75x45cm). Smyrnium perfoliatum A member of the cow parsley tribe, perfoliate alexander appears to grow in a pool of light, an illusion created by lime green young growth over darker foliage. Sow direct to soil in dappled shade, or into a tray in a cold frame. HxS: 2-5x2ft (60cm-1½mx60cm).…

John has been answering reader queries for 50 years Can I relocate my tulips now? Q I have some tulips that I need to move in order to sow something else. Can I move them now, or should I wait till the foliage has died down? Could I heel them in somewhere until I can place them? Also, can I cut off the foliage of aconites if they have died? Audrey Morson, via email A Ideally, it is best to leave bulbs to finish the growing season in situ, but they do take up a lot of space for a long time and this can delay all the summer planting. The next best thing is to lift them and heel them in somewhere to wait for the foliage to die…

THERE are some delightful miniature hostas. Try ‘Stiletto’, a strong-growing hosta with leaves of green, each with a thin, rippled yellow margin. It’s just 6-8in (15-20cm) high. Then there is ‘Frosted Mouse Ears’, the same size with thick, curled smoky-green foliage. It produces a dense cluster of small leaves, each with a contrasting lime-green, irregular margin. The flowers are purple. And ‘Cracker Crumbs’ is a fast-growing variety that reaches a height of around 6in (15cm). It has small, delicately pointed leaves in a vibrant shade of lime green; each leaf has an attractive darker green edge. ■ ‘Cracker Crumbs’ could perhaps be grown with ‘Cream Cheese’ (small, dark green leaves each with a wide, creamy-white margin).…

HOSTAS weren’t always known as hostas – when it comes to their name, they’ve been through a few turbulent centuries: Plantain: this was how German explorer Englebert Kaempfer (probably the first Westerner to see one of these plants) referred to them, in the late 1600s. Aletris or Hemerocallis: in the late-1700s Swedish naturalist Carl Thunberg referred to them as these. Hosta: in 1812, Austrian botanist Leopold Trattinnick grouped together all the known species of the plant and named them in honour of Croatian botanist Nicholas Host. At first the name was thought invalid – it was being used (unofficially) for plants we now think of as verbenas or cornutias. However, botanists keen to follow the lead of the ‘father of modern taxonomy’, Carl Linnaeus, decided to re-classify the ‘verbena’ plant,…

I USED to think trimming shrubs into posh topiary shapes was a gardening affectation too far for me – until I realised that my sarcococca ball by the front gate, and my mushroom holly tree in the back garden, were very much part of that discipline. Suddenly I was all for it! In truth, trimming any shrubsjust to keep them tidy is no different, and if you want them tidy they can need trimming three times a year. There’s nothing wrong with a good pair of hand shears to tackle such jobs, but battery-powered topiary shears offer a lot more control, and require a lot less effort, to deliver a really precise cut. All of these models have easy snap-on, snap-off short shrub shear blades, a grass trimming clipper for…