Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-May-2020 i Amateur Gardening

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!…

Got a story? email ruth.hayes@ti-media.com LUCY Chamberlain is AG’s fruit and veg expert and has been for many years. In this updated book that contains new cultivars and heirloom varieties, Lucy provides a wealth of information for the beginner or keen gardener. With many people now growing fruit and veg, this is a timely tome. The book states that it is ‘a foolproof guide to every stage of growing fruit and veg’, and it is certainly comprehensive. More than 275 varieties are mentioned, including the unusual, exotic and heirloom in chapters that cover 50 different crops. Lucy also looks at your growing space, whether it be a windowsill, container, indoors or raised beds. Then it’s on to the equipment you’ll need, preparing the soil and the importance of watering and…

WE overwinter our smaller tender perennials such as pelargoniums, fuchsias and gazanias in the greenhouse and leave larger potted ones outside. The agapanthus and lilies growing in containers are covered with a mulch of straw, wrapped around with fleece or bubblewrap and then placed against a sheltering wall to protect them from the worst of the cold weather. Here in the south we are now unlikely to see more frosts until late autumn, so I feel it’s safe to remove the winter protection and encourage the plants to get growing. If you live further north or have a very exposed garden, it may be worth waiting for a couple more weeks before unwrapping. The agapanthus and lilies had both started to sprout and looked healthy, so after I removed their…

OF all our gardening tasks, few are so easily done badly (though unwittingly) as when we are watering plants in pots and containers. Of course, we want to believe - and, indeed, maybe even think - we are doing a good job, but too often we are deceived, and our plants may suffer. The first big mistake is assuming those standing outdoors during rainy weather will not need any extra watering. This may be true for some, but where the plants are of substantial size, the natural tendency of the leaf canopy is to throw water off, and this means most rain drips out and away from the plant and not down into the compost. Thus, with some potted plants, especially large evergreens, the compost can dry out completely and…

WHEN I began looking at the living things in my gardens, more than 25 years ago, I invested in lots of standard texts about beetles, bees, butterflies, slugs, birds and ladybirds. I wasn’t an entomologist, a naturalist or a scientist, but I wanted to know what these creatures did in my garden. Often the books were about collecting and dissecting these creatures, in order to categorise them into separate species. One Rothamsted Research scientist, Dr H.F. Barnes, had the perfect opportunity to do some first-hand observation when he was an air-raid warden in the Second World War in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. When nights were warm and damp, Dr Barnes looked at slugs in ordinary suburban gardens. He shone his torch on the ground and walked for 30 minutes, collecting and identifying…

THERE’S nothing wrong with moss and weeds in the right place, but an ornamental lawn is not the right place. Most lawns have some of these among the grass, but a bad infestation is usually the result of incorrect or insufficient care. Just mowing the lawn once a week and watering it in prolonged dry periods will keep a lot of broadleaved weeds down, and a daisy grubber or a tool like Fiskars Xact Weed Puller will lift out bigger rosette-forming and tap-rooted weeds like daisies and dandelions. Compaction – constantly walking over the lawn – in time results in poor drainage promoting moss growth. Spiking the lawn all over, 4in (10cm) deep at 6in (15cm) spacing with a garden fork, then spreading a top dressing of coarse horticultural sand…

Safeguard against losses HAVING grown Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ for the two years and a number of other types last summer, I was expecting to see them all carrying some new shoots. ‘Hot Lips’ didn’t disappoint but ‘Love and Wishes’, ‘Jezebel’ and ‘Mirage Cherry Red’ had all died. Fortunately, I had taken cuttings to overwinter. It wasn’t all good news. I had not taken cuttings of my new Penstemon ‘Fujiyama’. This plant died while my other penstemons safely survived. The lesson here is that not all varieties of the same plant have equal defences against the vagaries of the weather. Always take cuttings before winter! Barry Lea, Boston, Lincs Wendy says: Salvias and penstemons like a sunny, free-draining spot. Narrow-leaved penstemons are usually the hardiest, this one to-10 to-5, so perhaps…

“You can’t always grow what you want, where you want, because of issues with soil, lack of light or space. I cut down two holly trees to allow light into the garden to increase our veg crop and develop a mini woodland border in a once shady area. The hollies gave privacy, but I’ve sacrificed this to improve the garden. What compromises have you made in the past, and did it work out? I’d love to hear your stories: why not share with AG readers?” Contact us: Editorial: 07814 905439 Email: amateurgardening@ti-media.com Advertising: 07817 629935…

COMMUNITY gardeners involved in the RHS Britain in Bloom campaign have been harnessing flower power to support their neighbours and lift lockdown spirits. Giving away seeds and plants and growing free food are among the ways that groups are helping people to enjoy all the benefits of gardening. Many are building on community ties to keep morale high using plants grown at home or on allotments following social distancing rules. Initiatives have included growing tomatoes and salads in community hanging baskets in Castlecaulfield, Northern Ireland, donating sunflower seedlings throughout Stony Stratford in Milton Keynes, as well as growing fresh produce for the food bank, and children in Sevenoaks, Kent, have been growing plants for pollinators. Andrea Van-Sittart, RHS Head of Community Outreach, said: “It’s incredibly heartwarming to hear how many…

THANKS to the wet winter and warm, damp spring, plants are growing like mad and gardens are filling up with colour and scent. We want to keep them that way, so it is important to feed and water plants to keep them robust, healthy and productive. This is especially so with fruit and veg plants that use a lot of energy producing blossom and crops. Liquid fertilisers are easy to apply and work speedily and efficiently. However, their goodness is soon leached away by rain and watering, so you need to reapply every couple of weeks. This is especially important for plants growing in containers, as they can’t send their roots out far to search for new food. Granular feeds and slow-release fertilisers take longer to start to work but…

IF, like me, you want your garden to be a haven and a larder for wildlife, this week’s free seeds from Mr Fothergill’s are a must-have. Echium vulgare ‘Blue Bedder’, also known as ‘blue devil’, ‘cats tail’ and ‘snake flower’, as well as viper’s bugloss, is a member of the borage family. Its nectar-rich, brilliant-blue flowers rise to 18in (45cm) and are a magnet for bees, butterflies and lacewing insects. If left after flowering in autumn, small garden birds will feast on its nutritious seeds, and any seeds left will happily bed in and germinate around the beds. I sowed mine in a sunny patch of border where I want them to flower into September and October. I have also saved some seeds that I will sow in the autumn,…

John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week Has my callistemon bottled its flowering? Q I have an established bottlebrush tree that refuses to flower. Two years ago I cut it right down to the ground. It started growing again and is about 5ft (1.8m) tall now, but still no flowers. How can I get it to flower? Jennifer Pritchard, via email A The ideal conditions for callistemon are full sun in moist but well-drained soil, protected from cold winds and frost. They can cope with most soil types, but won’t thrive on shallow chalky soils or soils prone to waterlogging. The flowers are produced on the ends of stems grown the previous year, so hard pruning will have affected flowering for a year. If the stem…

TOP TIP Remember that you don’t have to lime for all veg plants as some, such as potatoes, prefer slightly acidic soil. When do I add lime to my plot? Q We want to plant out summer cabbage and kales, broccoli and cauliflowers, but haven’t prepared the beds. So we need to add well-rotted compost (including manure), add lime and plant out all in the space of two to three weeks. The books say there should be a gap between all three but what will go wrong if we do it? Helen Caldwell, Kidderminster, Worcestershire A ln an ideal textbook world, bed preparation would start the previous autumn. Should lime be deemed necessary, it would be applied first, with well-rotted compost and/or manure being added perhaps to the surface as…

THERE’S a reason why the common pink and blue blooms of Cranesbill geraniums are so popular. Cranesbills are cuckoos, and if your neighbours have them then it won’t be long before you do, too. All flowers in the geranium flock, including Alpine erodiums and South African pelargoniums, possess beak-like seed capsules which, when dry, will fling the kernels far and wide. This ability to migrate is obviously very useful, but cranesbills go one further – and just as a cuckoo tricks a meadow pipit into caring for a supersized chick, cranesbills will bamboozle us into believing that they belong. With the extra garden time on my hands, I’ve been putting most of these wayward but willing flowers to good use (see the panel below) but in my greenhouse there’s a…

TOP TIP Deadhead plants as soon as flowers fade and remove yellowing, battered foliage. It keeps them looking neat and in shape, and encourages the growth of more buds. Clean bill of health: In next week’s AG (on the shelves from 2 June) I look at ways of beating pests and diseases and keeping your garden healthy this summer.…

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. 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…

Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes THE dramatic new interest in gardening nationwide is quite remarkable, although with weeks of lockdown we should not be surprised. The bright, sunny and warm days through April made it a natural choice for people to get out into gardens and onto balconies. There were so many people new to gardening and seeking advice on everything from how to get potting compost to controlling 10ft (3m) high bamboo, it was time to help. My starting point was a scrounged pallet, knocked down into planks and reconstructed into an 18in (45cm)-square raised container. After lining with some recycled black-faced polythene from old compost bags, it was filled with compost from last summer’s…

WITH autumn-sown varieties ready now, and even some seed varieties started off this week cropping come September, there’s more to the humble broad bean than you’d think… Keep those flavours coming If you’re like me, you’ll be eyeing up a bed of autumn-sown ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ – the benchmark for autumn sowing. It’s super-hardy, so it will get through all but the very wettest winters (waterlogging and sub-zero temperatures can cause rotting), especially on freedraining soils. There are four main types of broad bean: Seville (autumn-sown types), Longpod (such as ‘Exhibition Longpod’, with seven or so seeds per pod), Windsors (such as ‘Green Windsor’, the standard spring-sowing types) and Fan-podded (such as ‘The Sutton’, with multiple pods per cluster on compact plants). “You’ll be eating fresh beans from June to October”…

This week it’s: Melon-omania! We look at a tropical fruit we can grow in Britain WE’RE now at the end of May, which is right at the end of the melon-sowing season. But wait, you say. Melons? In Britain? Yes, there is a long tradition of growing these succulent fruits here, but there are only certain types that do well, and they need very warm conditions, such as a greenhouse (or you may be lucky outdoors with some of the newer, hardier varieties). How do they repay us? Well, melon plants are generally large and sprawling, but they do give us delicious fruits of varying sizes from a tennis ball to a wrecking ball – depending on the variety, the season and how well they are fed. Let’s look at some…

These extracts from issues of Amateur Gardening come from the 1880s From AG 2 August 1884 Broad-bladed grass THE pretty grass known as Panicum virgatum is a general favourite in houses, because it is so light and elegant in appearance and useful for intermixing with cut flowers. During winter, the shoots will be found extremely handy for intermixing with a few fern fronds, and a very small number of flowers will make a most attractive centerpiece for the dinner table, while it will be found of equal utility for dressing vases in the drawing room. Easily grown It is very easily grown, that is one comfort, and by putting out a few plants underneath the stages there will be no difficulty in obtaining an abundant supply, for the trailing shoots…