Innholdsfortegnelse for 23-May-2020 i Amateur Gardening

Step by step 1 Remove flowered branches by up to a half, down to a healthy pair of buds or a single bud that is pointing in the direction you want the new shoot to grow. 2 Cut away thin, weak and spindly branches and any that are growing inwards and congesting the centre of the shrub. 3 Secateurs are perfect for thinning slim branches, but make sure you stand on a stable platform or steady ladder. 4 Remove any low-growing shoots that congest or alter the overall open shape you are working towards.…

IF you overstocked your larder in the run-up to lockdown, don’t worry – those dried beans and pulses have a use! And if you have been struggling to find seeds for growing vegetables this summer, don’t despair as those that you bought last year, or even longer ago, are still likely to germinate. Anton Rosenfeld of the organic horticultural charity, Garden Organic, said: “Many seeds, with the exception of carrots and parsnips, will still germinate even if they are two or three years old. The key factor is that they should have been stored under dry conditions and not exposed to too high temperatures. “Seeds such as lettuce, chard, spinach and tomatoes usually grow well two-three years after their use-by date. Lettuce and spinach and rocket are all quick to…

SINCE the start of lockdown, AG has been here for you in magazine form and online. Send your garden-related questions for John Negus to tackle and he will reply within 24 hours. The email address is amateurgardening@ti-media.com. The AG website, which you’ll find at amateurgardening.com, is full of regularly updated seasonal advice and tips, and there is a daily Coronavirus blog that tells you the latest news and what we are doing in our gardens and allotment. Those of you on social media can also find us there, so go to: Facebook: Facebook.com/AmateurGardeningMagazine Twitter: Twitter.com/TheAGTeam Instagram: instagram.com/amgardening_mag.…

1 Split and move perennials while the soil is warm and damp. Cut back early flowering varieties, such as hellebores, before they set seed. 2 Comfrey leaves make an excellent fertiliser. Soak in water for a few weeks and use the pungent liquid, diluted, as a fertiliser and foliar spray. 3 Keep attacking pests such as lily beetles and vine weevils that do massive amounts of damage. Use organic methods if possible. 4 Take cuttings of pelargoniums and penstemons now and they will be ready to plant out in summer, or overwinter for next year. Top Tip Give garden birds and hedgehogs a steady supply of fresh food and water as they will be hungry now and busy rearing their young.…

1 When watering with a hose, use a low pressure and have the end close to the soil. It might take a little longer, but you get moisture down to the roots. 2 Seep hose and drip nozzles give good penetration: for sandy soils, the nozzles need to be closer because the water goes down in a narrow cone; while on heavier soils, it spreads more widely. 3 Standing containers in saucers until late autumn is sensible; if the compost dries and water runs straight down the inside of the pot, it is caught in the saucer and drawn up into the compost by capillarity. 4 Overhead sprinklers are an extravagance in their use of water, with a sizable proportion evaporating before it hits the surface.…

THIS week’s rather glamorous seeds are Sarah Raven’s Mina lobata, a hardy annual that is also known as Spanish flag and the less catchy Ipomoea versicolor. It is a robust annual climber that grows to up to 16ft (5m) tall, if given free rein, scrambling robustly and attractively through plants and up supports. Its luscious dark-red stems carry prolific racemes of flowers on one side that start off a vibrant red and slowly fade through orange to a delicate cream as the season progresses. The seeds of Mina lobata are small, hard and round, and you can help them germinate by either soaking them in tepid water overnight or nicking or filing them to weaken their hard shells. Sow them thinly in trays or modules of dampened seed and cuttings…

IN last week’s AG (16 May) I wrote about Gilbert White, a gardener and naturalist who observed living creatures in the mid-18th century. In those days most learned men examined dead animals in order to learn about them. Gilbert White wrote about his garden and the crops he grew, and he observed the wildlife and wildflowers all about him. His observations influenced the great Charles Darwin, and Gilbert White’s book The Natural History of Selborne has never been out of print. White also wrote A Naturalist’s Calendar and recorded all sorts of things. His entries for the third week in May talk about crickets, grasshoppers, nightingales and their eggs, and the grasshopper lark. Presumably the grasshopper lark is now called the grasshopper warbler. He mentions that honeysuckle, apple blossom, columbine…

‘Bluebeard’s Ghost’ AGM A perky Standard Dwarf bearded iris, bred in 2006. The pure white, ruffled flowers are highlighted by faint green veins and distinct indigo beards. Perfect for planting in gravel, or for edging a white border. H: 14in (35cm). ‘Brown Lasso’ AGM Bred in 1972, this sturdy border bearded iris has stood the test of time and still charms us with its warm butterscotch standards and ruffled violet falls, each edged with a ring of caramel. H: 20in (50cm). ‘Celebration Song’ I first saw Tall bearded iris ‘Celebration Song’ at Chelsea Flower Show, where I admired the combination of soft pinkish apricot standards, lavender blue falls and orange beards. It produces a generous number of buds. H: 37in (94cm). ‘Ciel Gris Sur Poilly’ Amoena irises are those with…

Planting time: Container grown iris can be planted any time, but March to June is ideal. Plant bare-rooted iris on arrival, usually July to September. Position: Site in a sunny, well-drained spot. On clay soils, a raised bed helps with winter drainage. For best results, plant with the rhizomes at soil level and facing the sun. Watering & feeding: Water in well and keep free from encroachment by weeds and nearby plants. Apply a rose fertiliser in spring and after flowering. Division: Divide and replant clumps every three-four years, in July or early September, setting plants 12-16in (30-40cm) apart. Select young rhizomes 4-6in (10-15cm) long with a fan of leaves. Trim foliage to 6in (15cm) to stabilise. Alternatively, cut and prise out older rhizomes from the centre of a clump,…

Verbascum chaixii ‘Album’ If you’re looking to add height to a cottage gardenstyle border, look no further than the compact Verbascum chaixii with its impressive 3ft (90cm) flower spikes; ‘Album’ looks dreamy with the striped pink blooms of Rosa mundi. HxS: 3x1ft (90x30cm). Cosmos bipinnatus ‘Sensation Picotee’ Any picotee cosmos – those with dark-edged petals – will look great with roses, especially when cut and arranged in a jam jar. You could try growing from seed now, but plugs will give you flowers faster. HxS: Up to 4x2ft (1.2mx60cm). Aster x frikartii ‘Monch’ AGM Prized for its mildew resistance and long-flowering period, this superb aster will see you through the end of summer and beyond. The lavender-purple daisy-shaped blooms blend wonderfully with any number of late-season roses. H&S: 2ft (60cm).…

This week it’s: British Sandwich Week! We look at how sandwiches relate to gardening THIS week we are all being encouraged to honour the ultimate snack and lunch-on-the-go food item – the humble sandwich. For this is British Sandwich Week (17-23 May), a celebration of quite possibly the most iconic British culinary invention! Our favourite sandwich fillings are meat, cheese or egg-based, but the gardener can embellish these with all manner of home-grown salads and other vegetables. Let’s look at some of the stories about sandwiches, their fillings and how they relate to gardening. ■ The British Sandwich Association defines a sandwich as any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold. It includes traditional wedge sandwiches, along with filled rolls, baguettes, pitta, bloomers, wraps and bagels.…

CUCUMBER sandwiches, with cream cheese and the crusts cut off, are perfect for a picnic, tea or when the vicar comes round! Originally from India, cucumbers arrived here in the 14th century, yet it was not until Victorian times that they were put into sandwiches… in India! British colonialists found that the combination of cucumber and buttery bread helped them to keep cool in the sweltering heat. If making cucumber sandwiches in advance, ensure the bread is covered with the cream cheese – it won’t become soggy! The right cucumber is important, as its seeds can spoil a good sandwich: ‘Telegraph Improved’ has good taste and small seeds, while ‘La Diva’ is sweeter and seedless. I prefer the peel left on for colour, but slices should be very thin.…

THERE are many families where members are all high-achievers: think of the Kennedys in the USA, the Attenboroughs in the UK, or even the family of Boris Johnson! To this list you can also add garden designer and TV presenter Joe Swift and his family. Joe was born this week, in 1965. A successful and talented gardening personality in his own right, he is a member of an unparalleled family: his late father was Clive Swift (actor playing the hen-pecked husband to Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances); his mother is Margaret Drabble (novelist and biographer); his late sister was Rebecca (poet and essayist); his brother is Adam (political philosopher and sociologist); his late uncle was David Swift (actor playing newsreader Henry Davenport in Drop The Dead Donkey), and his…

■ The staggering figure of 4,000,000,000 sandwiches are purchased from UK retail or catering outlets each year, while in the UK more than 300,000 people are employed in the sandwich industry. ■ The Sammies awards are held every year, where the Best New Sandwich, Sandwich Retailer of the Year and many more are crowned. ■ US scientists have identified the cucumber sandwich as the best thing to eat to regulate body temperature and stave off dehydration during a heatwave. However, their version is on wholemeal bread, with the crusts intact, and with mayonnaise. But what do they know? They’re American!…

Step by step 1 Taking shoot tip cuttings soon generates a new plant. Here, a stem tip is taken from Crassula ovata ‘Hummel’s Sunset’ by cutting just above a node (where a leaf grows) and trimming this under a node. 2 Propagate branching, long-lived Mexican Echeveria harmsii by shoot tips or, for lots of plants, leaf cuttings. Twist or push leaves away from the stem to come away neatly. 3 If a clump-forming succulent like fairy washboard (South African Haworthia attenuata f. caespitosa) looks tatty, cut between the rosettes to free individuals ready for potting up separately. 4 A branching aeonium is worth potting on every few years, so that the plant can reach its full height and potential. Delay watering in for a couple of days while the broken…

Step by step 1 Shake air into a good-quality growing bag, puncture base about eight times along its length, and lay it in a watering tray in a sunny, sheltered spot outdoors. 2 Position Plant Halos along the bag, push down firmly so watering spikes puncture plastic. Cut circles out of the bag plastic inside each halo. 3 Push three stout 4ft (1.2m) bamboo canes in the holes provided, and wire/connect the tops to make three wigwams. Wire a cane across the tops. 4 Fill Halo centres with compost and plant a tomato in each one. Water the growing bag by filling the Halo outer rings or water into the tray. Tie in stems loosely as plants grow.…

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 whatever 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! Cover: Iris germanica ‘Theme Master’ (pic: GWI) Contact…

1 It is now warm enough to tidy evergreen shrubs and hedges, and remove any signs of reversion, when green shoots grow on a variegated bush. 2 Look out for problems on fruit bushes such as blister aphid (above) and gooseberry sawfly (inset). Treat immediately and feed with sulphate of potash for lots of flowers and fruit. 3 Overwintered shrubs such as olives and citrus need preparing for a summer outside. Feed and water them and look out for pests, such as scale insects (inset). 4 Look after your roses, removing and binning any material afflicted by blackspot, watching for pests such as aphids and leaf-rolling sawfly, and treating problems immediately. Spick and span: In next week’s AG, I look at quick ways of making your garden look smarter for…

THE Royal Horticultural Society has announced the winners of the 2020 Photographic Competition revealing a selection of images from amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. Attracting thousands of entries, the prestigious title of Overall Winner was awarded to Helen McLain for her image Chicago Prairie. Entered into the Urban Gardening category, it depicts the dramatic backdrop of the city’s skyline at sunset contrasting with swaths of plants flowering in Lurie Garden, Millennium Park. Scooping the title of Overall Young Winner is Elliot Connor in the Under 18s category, who captured a tiny bush cricket perching on a leaf within the Garigal National Park in Australia. Titled Glowing Green, the dark background enhances the luminosity to both insect and foliage. ▪ The 2021 competition is now open at rhs.org.uk/photocomp,…

PLANTING up baskets, window boxes and containers is a surefire way of bringing bright, breezy, easy colour and interest to the garden. As we move into the ‘new normal’, potting-up bedding plants for the summer ahead is a fantastic way of lifting the spirits and restoring a feeling of normality to the garden – even if we are doing so a little later than usual. I am concentrating on hanging baskets this week because they are easy to put together and add another dimension to the garden, inviting you to look up instead of down or across. They are also perfect for smaller gardens where space is key. There are so many varieties: wire frames that you pad out with a fibre lining or moss collected from the lawn; wicker…

1 Plant up a pot of herbs close to the kitchen door. Now it’s warming up, pots of supermarket herbs can be used. 2 Unwanted plants will thrive in warm, wet weather so do not let up on the weeding, and don’t compost the ripe seedheads of perennial weeds. 3 Houseplants need feeding, watering and should stand in saucers of damp gravel to create a healthy, humid microclimate around their leaves. 4 Keep turning your compost and leaving it uncovered so rain can get in and help it break down, ready for use.…

SOME of us may have rushed to get our tender crops – tomatoes, courgettes, squashes, sweet potatoes and so on – planted out earlier this month. As desirable as quicker harvests are in these troubling times, it’s risky to move them out too soon. Apart from the danger of late frosts, the soil was cold, so they often wouldn’t have made much progress unless you pre-warmed the site with a cloche or plastic cover. Although they’ll have needed feeding and watering and probably an extra potting up into larger containers if kept in, waiting would have been worth your while. Small plants bought and planted out now into warmer soil will establish quickly and romp away. Even so, you need to take care hardening these off before planting so they…

THE male chaffinch in his blueish-grey head, chestnut-tinted breast and dark blue wings with white bars bears no resemblance whatever to the female, in her greyish-green plumage except that she, too, has the white-barred wings. But each wedded pair is very devoted to each other and they share all domestic responsibilities. They are found in almost every garden, no matter whether large or small, in town, city and country, and are certainly the most numerous of all British birds. Their nest of mosses, hair, lichen and spiders’ webs, fur and feathers is an outstanding example of avian skill and architecture. The builders show no preference for any particular site, but invariably choose well-concealed situations and they are adept at camouflaging their nests to make them blend with their surroundings. Their…

WITH their bold, rounded heads, comprising hundreds of small, star-shaped flowers and held on tall, thin stems, alliums are amongst the standouts of the late spring garden and flower well into summer. Resembling colourful microphones, it’s hard to believe they are related to the humble onion, but allow one of those staple veg to go to seed and you will immediately spot the resemblance. When we think of alliums, we tend to think of purple globes, but in fact the flowers vary from maroon to rose pink, white and even blue, according to type. It’s not just spherical blooms, either, with options that look like fireworks, as well as dreadlocks and punk hairdos. The flowers last for weeks, and by choosing wisely it’s possible to have alliums in bloom from…

■ Buy bulbs in September. ■ Plant them in a sunny spot. Add a handful of coarse grit to the planting hole, which should be twice the depth of the bulb, or deeper. ■ If drainage is poor, lift alliums after flowering, store them over winter in a frost-free shed and replant them in early spring of the following year. ■ Space the bulbs out well by scattering; arrange the taller ones in drifts rather than straight lines or blobs – that way, when they flower they’ll carry the eye along a border. ■ Most alliums need deadheading. Seedheads can be cut and dried for using in winter arrangements. Do this before the seeds start to rattle.…

Can you name this stunning rose? Q This rambling rose was planted by my grandfather in the mid-1930s. I did not know its name, but someone told me they thought it was called ‘Seven Sisters’. Please can anyone confirm this? It is very pretty, but doesn’t have any perfume. Maureen Arthur, Gloucestershire A According to the David Austin website, ‘Seven Sisters’ is ‘named for the seven shades that can be seen at any one time. It says: ‘Big clusters of double, typical multiflora flowers, which gradually develop from deep cerise to pale-mauve and later ivory-white. ‘Fresh fruity fragrance. Free-flowering and strong growing.’ According to the Royal Horticultural Society it should more correctly be known as ‘Grevillei’ and is described as ‘a vigorous, spreading, deciduous shrub with coarse, arching stems, to…

RANKED as the UK’s favourite sandwich, the combination of bacon, lettuce and tomato in a sandwich dates back 100 years. But it only became popular after the Second World War, when year-round bacon became available. Apart from the bacon, what makes the perfect BLT? I prefer the soft leaves of romaine or butterhead lettuce. I know there are many who swear by ‘Iceberg’ lettuce, but I think the watery crunch of this is better used in a salad rather than on bread! For the tomato, go for hefty beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes, sliced thick. ■ If lettuce (or rocket, mibuna or other leafy salad) has gone limp, it can be partially revived for using straight away. Soak it for a few minutes in ice-cold water.…

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…

THE sandwich is named after Lord John Montagu (1718-1792), the 4th Earl of Sandwich, in Kent. A compulsive gambler, he hated to leave a gaming table for something as menial as dinner, so he’d ask waiters to bring him slices of meat between two pieces of bread. Others thought this a good idea, so also began to order “the same as Sandwich!” However, some say he was a workaholic, and that he asked for the meat-and-bread combo so he did not need to leave his desk. Believe what you like! ■ Lord Sandwich also sponsored the voyages of Captain James Cook. On 29 April 1770, Cook and crew landed in Australia. He named the area ‘Botany Bay’ after the plethora of new plant specimens discovered there by botanists Joseph Banks…

■ From AG 21 August 1915 In praise of onions AN onion a day keeps the doctor away. So runs an old North Country adage, and a writer in a contemporary publication adds that a well-known northern clergyman never tires of speaking of their virtues as allayers of hunger, and for ‘lengthening the wind’. He is much addicted to pedestrianism, but never ventures forth without a succulent ‘Spanish’ onion in his pocket, and has walked continuously for 12 hours. Dean Swift [the author Jonathan Swift] held that it was the opinion of every cook that no savoury dish could be perfect without an onion, and he wittily commented thereon by saying: “But lest your kissing should be spoiled, Your onions should be thoroughly boiled.” Onions contain a volatile oil in…

THIS spring has seen our garden blossom like never before. Maybe it’s thanks to the mild wet winter – though we moaned at the time – but the trees and shrubs have been gloriously prolific in their flowering. Now most blooms have fallen and, where appropriate, fruitlets are developing and ornamental plants are putting on their summer growth. There’s plenty you can do for them, which is what I’ll be looking at on these two pages. Forsythia is always one of the earliest plants to show its spring colours, and once the blossom has fallen it needs pruning back at once. This is because the shrub produces each year’s flowers on wood produced the previous year, so if you cut it back as soon as possible the new wood has…

Step by step 1 Cut 4in (10cm) pieces of non-flowering, healthy new growth and store in a dampened plastic bag until their compost is ready. 2 Remove the bottom stem with a sharp, clean knife and strip away the lower foliage, then pinch out the larger top leaves. 3 Dip the cut ends into hormone rooting compound, which will promote the development of a strong root system. 4 Insert the cuttings into damp cuttings compost and vermiculite. Seal in a bag and place in light and warmth until they root and grow.…

Saturday post suspended 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 Royal Mail 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 subscribers understand that this is out of our hands and, more importantly, that we all support the amazing efforts of Royal Mail workers, who are doing a brilliant job in such difficult times”.…

Step by step 1 Place your basket on a bucket to steady it and start adding container compost, which is light, free-draining and nutrient-rich. 2 Add your central plant to give some height. Carnations, fuchsias, pelargoniums and marguerites are all possibilities. 3 Then add the edging and trailing plants, such as petunias, ivy, trailing nepeta (catmint), verbena, bacopa – the list is endless! 4 Hang your basket somewhere sunny and sheltered, and water it well. Check it daily to make sure it hasn’t dried out.…

STANDING behind the rope at my first experience of helping to stage a commercial floral display at Southend-on-Sea in 1953, I asked my boss what I should do if a visitor asked a question to which I did not know the answer. A head gardener of the old school, he instructed: “Ask them did they water it – do not be put off, did they water it? If they did, it was too much, and if they didn’t it was clearly not enough!” Watering is, of course, critical to everything we grow and you need to stay alert to the first signs of leaves wilting. If it is a plant in either a pot or container then checking is easy: heavy means wet, and lightweight dry. “Washing-up liquid helps to…

1 Nip off flowers and flowerbuds from most tender bedding plants when you put them out, as this will help them establish quicker. 2 Plant tomatoes quite deeply: you can even put their rootball in on its side – this gives lower, squatter plants. 3 Protective tent-style coverings of clear plastic will help to keep tomatoes safer from blight and late frosts. 4 Weeds grow like Topsy this month so be sure to hoe, hoe, hoe – and re-sharpen the edge on your hoe every 10 minutes or so.…

IN times when we’re all assessing our food availability, you may well be tempted to cram as many fruit, vegetables and herbs into your garden as possible. Well, I don’t blame you! Some crops positively thrive when grown in close quarters, but others won’t enjoy it at all, which will result in parsimonious or poor-quality yields. So let’s explore the edibles that enjoy life cheek by jowl. Spacing basics Crop spacing influences two things: yield per unit area, and individual crop size. Some crops, notably onions, leeks and carrots, will still produce their highest yields per square metre if spaced close together, but individual bulb, shaft or root size becomes smaller. Beetroot, turnip and radish, however, will produce all leaf and little root if they are packed in too tightly…

‘Pinball Wizard’ Metallic violet heads, measuring 8in (20cm) across and formed from hundreds of finely petalled, starry flowers – each with a contrasting green middle – appear during the second half of May. Requires excellent drainage. H: 2½ft (75cm). ‘Silver Spring’ A feminine addition to the summer garden, with heads of small flowers, their rounded white petals flushed in rose-purple. Gently rounded rather than spherical, the shape resembles a parasol. Needs well-drained soil. H: 2½ft (75cm). ‘Forelock’ Similar in shape and colour to Allium sphaerocephalon, only with an unruly tuft of white-tipped, sombre-red flowers exploding out of the top of its head – hence the name. Each flower head is 2-3in (5-8cm) across. H: 4ft (1.2m). ‘Gladiator’ AGM This is the tallest allium I’ve grown; it bears lavender-to-mauve globular flowers…

Lavandula stoechas ‘Papillon’ French lavenders are most likely to come through winter on the light, free-draining soil that irises favour. Their silvery foliage and purple bracted flowers look great alongside Intermediate and Tall bearded cultivars. Trim after flowering. H&S: 2ft (60cm). Stachys byzantina Ideal for growing alongside (but never through) Dwarf bearded iris, lamb’s lugs forms a lovely ground covering of silvery white, felted leaves. The imposing stems rise up in midsummer, each carrying spikes of small pink flowers. HxS: 1½x2ft (45x60cm). Rosa ‘Madame Hardy’ AGM Making a lovely backdrop for tall irises, this vigorous, upright-growing Damask rose performs well – even on poor, stony soil. It blooms just once per summer, in a profusion of richly scented, green-centred white double flowers. HxS: 5x4ft (1½x1.2m). Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ AGM Balkan…

Flowers Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ AGM Catmint’s low-mounding habit is great for disguising any unattractive stems at the base of your roses. This compact variety will flower again if clipped back after the first flush of blooms in June. HxS: 2ftx20in (60x50cm). Dianthus ‘Doris’ AGM Short on border space? Try pinks – their silvery mounds won’t take up much ground room. Perfect for the front of a border, ‘Doris’ has fragrant double flowers, their pale pink petals shaded darker at the base. H&S: 1ft (30cm). Campanula ‘Prichard’s Variety’ AGM Bellflowers are the ultimate cottage garden companion to roses, and there are many options available. With its clusters of violet blue flowers, taller ‘Prichard’s Variety’ is ideal for adding some height. HxS: 2½x2ft (75x60cm). Astrantia major ‘Claret’ The charming clusters of ‘pin…

Q Can you please tell me what this is? Nicky Hart, Belfast, N. Ireland A The shrub is a cotoneaster, probably a seedling from C. ‘Cornubia’. The parent has bounteous white flowers, followed by a wealth of bright-red berries. Ideally, if you wish to keep this shrub, shorten extra-long shoots by half their length – now is a good time – to encourage a bushy and accommodating habit. Q How can I get rid of horsetail? David Walsh, Lincoln A Crush them to break down the herbicide-repelling silica in their stems. Do this by treading on them or hitting them with a stick. Then apply Weedol Gun Ultra-Tough weedkiller, formulated for brambles, nettles, thistles, dock and other deep-rooted intruders. Q What is this in the garden? Zoe Roberts, via email…

ANOTHER classic filling is egg and cress, but you have a choice of the greenery. Cress (the seedlings of Lepidium sativum, related to watercress, mustard and rocket) is the first option for many, but then watercress, with its stronger peppery taste is almost as common. Sadly, few of us can grow watercress successfully; it needs clean, preferably running, water. Modern filling options include chopped chives, parsley or even radish. ■ We only really know cress as the 2in (5cm)-high seedlings grown for our sandwiches. But if left to develop, this annual plant can reach a height of 2ft (60cm), with many branches on the upper part. It has pinkish white, but very small, flowers.…

This word search comprises words associated with sandwich and snack fillings. They are listed below, and in the grid they may be read across, backwards, up, down or diagonally. Letters may be shared between words. Erroneous or duplicate words may appear in the grid, but there is only one correct solution. After the listed words are found, there are seven letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s KEYWORD. SANDWICHES CHIP BUTTY BACON BEEF CHEESE CHICKEN CLUB CUCUMBER DILL EGG JAM LETTUCE LOAF MAYONNAISE MUSTARD PITTA ROLL TOMATO HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 519, Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF, to arrive by Wednesday 3 June 2020. The first correct entry chosen…

ALTHOUGH the chip butty concoction started in the workingclass North of England, these days it holds no stigma and is enjoyed anywhere – especially if you like your carbs! But which potato should you grow to give you the best chips for the butty (or plate)? Its texture needs to be floury, not waxy, so I like deep-fried ‘Maris Piper’ (early maincrop) or ‘Golden Wonder’ (late maincrop). The pink-spotted ‘Cara’ (late maincrop), and ‘King Edward’ (maincrop) are good bets, too.…

Can I revive succulents? Q Over the past few years, we have built up a good collection of succulents and we enjoy their different shapes and personalities. However, some are now growing too large and are not as attractive as they were. Should we prune or take cuttings, and how? Chris Berwick, Cheadle, Staffordshire A Succulent plants are a large, diverse group belonging to several plant families, and deserve individual attention. Some grow large and remain handsome for many years, while others are gangly and lose their looks quickly. In the wild, they might creep about or tumble and shatter, sending stems and leaves sprawling over a distance, ready to root down and form a larger colony. After several years in the same pot, plants are likely to be suffering…

TOMATOES are quite easy to grow outdoors in a normal British summer from mid- to southern UK. Further north they’ll grow better under cover in a greenhouse or plastic tent, but a good crop is possible. The most popular system for growing is to set three cordon tomato plants in a growing bag outdoors in a sunny, sheltered spot in early June. That sounds fine as far as it goes, but if that’s all you do problems will soon become apparent. The right bag First, there’s the growing bag. If you choose the cheapest you can find it will probably be skinny, and contain a low-quality compost and fertiliser. Such bags will struggle to support two, never mind three tomato plants and are unlikely to give heavy crops for a…

Homes for nature IT was so lovely to read my AG mag and not to worry for a time about what’s going on, and see all the beautiful pictures and articles. My husband Alan and I are working in our garden: how lucky we are to have a garden at all. Every day, I’m out at dawn looking at everything growing, and I feel much more cheerful. Alan has been very busy making bee hotels for me, shown in the photos. I now have five hotels in total! Another joy: we saw our hedgehog come out of hibernation. Alan made him a des-res hedgehog house last year and we think he used it. What a great thing it was to see him. We feed him cat food (only chicken, of…

TWO years ago, I planted two cherry trees; a modern dark-fruited eater called ‘Summer Sun’ and an old English Mazzard or cultivated wild cherry called ‘Dun’. I didn’t add labels – why would I? I am a busy man with an elephantine memory! Quite how I forgot is a mystery – all I know is that within a week, I was confused, and one month later, I was clueless and considering hypnotherapy. But nature – or rather the inherent nature of the trees – has offered an aide memoir… Modern fruit trees like my ‘Summer Sun’ have compactness bred into their DNA, saving fruit-pickers the peril of clambering up a ladder, and branches that fit in our small gardens. But old ‘hedgerow’ varieties, on the other hand, are born with…