Innholdsfortegnelse for 5-Dec-2020 i Amateur Gardening

“Horticulturalists are furious with Monty Don for saying we should only grow from seed and not buy plants raised in peat (see page 6). Monty is well-meaning, but has he lost sight of how normal people without his resources are able to garden? Tens of thousands took to gardening this year to combat the stress of lockdown, and it helped many to cope mentally. It also greatly helped the environment. Please, Monty, think before you speak.” Contact us: ■Editorial: 0330 3903732 ■Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com ■Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 ■Advertising: jessica.wong@futurenet.com…

MONTY Don has raised the wrath of the horticultural industry by suggesting that gardeners should only grow from seed and use plants raised in peat-free compost. The TV presenter and celebrity gardener has been labelled ‘ignorant’ after the publication of his comments in Gardeners’ World magazine. While Monty’s idea is brilliantly environmentally conscious in principle, gardening industry figures say it doesn’t take into account millions of gardeners who don’t have room to grow from seed nor money to buy peat-free plants. Actively choosing to do harm Many plants bought in multi-packs have been grown in compost containing peat, which makes cultivation cheaper and opens the market to all. The former jewellery designer says that while mass-market plants raise people’s spirits, gardeners should be growing them themselves and steering clear of…

MOST seeds are sown between early spring and late summer, but some need a spell of cold to get going, so these are usually started off in the middle of winter. This process is called stratification and is usually applied to the seeds of trees and shrubs and also alpines. Some hardy border plants such as larkspur and hellebores also need a cold snap before they germinate, but this can be easily done by popping their seeds in a plastic bag in the freezer for a couple of weeks in spring. Now, though, is the time to sow trees, shrubs and alpines, so they will have germinated and be ready for potting on come spring. Many of the seeds are contained in berries, such as rosehips, hawthorn, guelder rose and…

HAVE you planted your garlic yet? If not, you’d better get snappy, as although it can be planted any time in autumn and mid-winter, tradition states that it will give its best crop if put in the ground by Christmas Day. It crops best if it has been exposed to winter’s old temperatures. We use garlic in a lot of cooking, so grow it every year in a raised bed in a sunny, sheltered spot. If space is tight, this versatile crop will also do well in large containers. It is a member of the allium family so should not be planted in soil that was used the season before for other members of the clan, including onions, shallots and chives. There are lots of varieties of garlic available in…

WE’RE spoilt for choice when it comes to blueberries: there are dozens of types and varieties available. Tend to their needs in the right way, and you can get up to 5kg of antioxidant-packed fruit from just one mature plant. Blueberries are a diverse group of plants, within the genus Vaccinium. Highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum) are large plants, growing to be around 5ft (11⁄2m) tall. Northern highbush blueberries (such as ‘Chandler’ and ‘Duke’) are deciduous and need a significant winter chill (over 800 hours below 7°C/45°F). Meanwhile, southern highbush varieties (like ‘Sunshine Blue’ and ‘Ozarkblue’) will require very little winter chill; these are better suited to milder UK locations with little frost, and they often remain evergreen. Lowbush blueberries (V. angustifolium) tend to be knee-high and very hardy, so this…

BUYING new plants every spring to grow in pots is an expensive business, but you don’t have to do this. Even if you don’t have a greenhouse it’s possible to protect even half-hardy perennials like pelargoniums, fuchsias and brugmansias (angel’s trumpets) from harsh weather and they’ll be bigger, stronger plants ready to bloom their heads off when the weather finally warms up. Bulbs, tubers and rhizomes Bulbs, tubers and rhizomes of cold-sensitive plants such as crinums, dahlias and cannas can be taken out of their pots once the greenery has died down, cleaned of old compost, then dried and stored covered loosely in fresh, dry compost in a shed or garage. In prolonged periods of cold in the north of England and Scotland it may be useful to cover the…

ERE we are in early winter and it already feels as though it has been grey, wet and windy for weeks. The UK has been battered by savage winds and heavy rain since the clocks went back in late October and now there are reports that we are set to experience an el Nina event in 2021. Hurray! This is the cooler, wetter version of the phenomenon known as El Nino and was last seen a decade ago. The current situation is developing in the Pacific ocean and could bring cooler, wetter weather to the UK through early 2021. We don’t know what the weather will throw at us over the coming months – we may even get another Beast from the East, who knows? – but looking back at…

Donation helps young growers BEE-loving company Seedball has donated 200,000 wildflower seedballs to community groups and schools to allow children to act against the UK’s biodiversity crisis. The move is part of the Londonbased company’s partnership with the Backyard Nature campaign run by Semble, a charity that works with businesses to encourage children to help reverse climate change and protect the environment in their own outside areas, whether they have a garden or just a yard or balcony. Inspired and proud It was recently bolstered by the release of Prince William’s A Planet for Us All documentary. Dr Emily Attlee, cofounder of Seedball said: “We’re totally inspired and incredibly proud to be a part of this campaign. We know that all the UK gardens combined make up an area larger…

OUR house was built on a plot that was once a larger 1930s residence, from which we inherited a large ‘Comice’ pear and early cooking apple trees. Even at nearly 90 years of age, they still grow quite well and crop heavily. What remarkable value they have proved to be, and clearly demonstrate why every home (even with modest space) should try to include a fruit tree or two, and some soft fruits. The chances are my two old timers were grafted onto seedling rootstocks with much longer expected life spans. Six more recently planted apples are on dwarfing MM106 and very dwarfing M9 rootstocks, which are likely to have a shorter healthy life, but started cropping much more quickly. Malling 9 rootstock will keep tree size, even of the…

IN last week’s bird column we looked at redwings, winter visitors that come to the UK from Russia and Iceland. It makes sense this week to talk about their close relative the fieldfare, which also migrates here in winter and teams up with its redwing cousin to form large chattering flocks, sometimes with more than 200 birds, that are often seen in fields, sports pitches and parks, feeding on insects, worms and berries. When the weather closes in they move to our gardens, where they will feast on windfall apples, rosehips, and holly and hawthorn berries. Fieldfares are members of the thrush family and can be identified by their yellow breast that is streaked with black, chestnut back, black tail and grey head. If you aren’t sure, wait for them…

John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week How should we grow in raised beds? Q We want to make raised beds for growing vegetables. What should we use and what should we fill them with? Mark and Elise Symonds, via email AYou can make your veg beds out of materials to suit your budget, building skills and the size and space you have. The longest lasting and most permanent will be made of brick or block work but pressure-treated timber is also a very good option and will last for years. Research what planting distances are ideal for your chosen crops, how many plants you need for a reasonable crop, and what growing conditions are necessary, including depth and type of soil. Here are a few…

Dahlias: lift or leave? QI have several dahlias in the garden, some raised from seed this spring. Is it too late to dig them up and store them, or should I leave them where they are and hope for the best? Sonya Davenport, Bristol AThe dahlias we grow are tuberous plants bred from species native to mountainous areas of Guatemala and Mexico. They are perennial, but frost will kill the foliage and, if it penetrates the ground deeply enough, will freeze the tubers, too, which then rot in the wet soil. There are plenty of berries on the holly, but I wouldn’t like to predict what kind of a winter we’ll have. Here in east Devon, I can usually get away with leaving dahlias in the ground, even though our…

Plamtsman and BBc gardening presenter WITH Yule around the corner, it’s time to get organised – and I’m not talking about making a list for Santa. ’Tis the season to be sawing and sharpening secateurs in readiness for the pre-Christmas prune. Deciduous plants have dropped into complete dormancy and that makes the advent of er, Advent, the least stressful time to prune the ‘bleeders’ – trees that weep sap when cut. These include birch, magnolia, maple and grapevines in my own garden, plus the mulberry, poplar, tilia, laburnum, walnut and hornbeam I wish I had space for. The reason these trees bleed is down to their deciduous physiology and the fact that their roots absorb water even after the leaves have fallen. This water mixes with minerals to create sap,…

A green house: In next week’s AG I talk about why houseplants are so essential for our wellbeing in winter, and how to see them through the darker months.…

I KNOW we keep saying it, but to anyone who thinks autumn and winter are ‘down times’ for gardeners, it’s time to think again. Take this week for instance; the soil has taken a battering over the summer with some pretty intensive growing so I spent a couple of days digging over the borders, weeding and removing any overlooked summer annuals, and piling them up with a generous layer of well-rotted homemade compost. Generally speaking, a fork is the perfect tool for well-worked soil, but a spade is better for ground that hasn’t been dug recently. If the ground is waterlogged or frozen stay off it and leave it until it dries out or the weather warms. If it is workable, stand on a plank so your weight is event…

JUST because it’s winter doesn’t mean you have to stop producing your own fresh salads. The difficulty of growing in winter is not just the cold, but also the low light levels and short day length. Together, these make it hard for plants to grow much as they can’t get enough ‘fuel’. Thus outdoors, even under glass, it’s just too cold. But indoors it may be warm enough to get many seeds to germinate – and even more so in a warm airing cupboard or a heated propagator. But germinating seedlings will run into the next problem: lack of light. You could correct this with artificial lights, but it will still be difficult, and slow, to raise seedlings all the way up to plants. Luckily, we can harvest them much…

WE’VE come a long way since the 1960s, when every farmer followed a spraying regime whether it was needed or not. Back then, those chemical coshes were considered saviours because they killed pests. Gardening went along the same route. The trouble is, those sprays couldn’t discriminate between the pests and the rest of wildlife, and they killed across the board. The pests bounced back far more quickly, unchallenged by their natural predators. The sprays harmed pollinators, and the people who sprayed the orchards and fields ingested some nasty chemicals, too. I have never smoked, but in the early 1970s I often had to light nicotine cones in the glasshouses on a Friday night, because it’s a natural insecticide. The cones produced white smoke – once the blighters were alight –…

This week it’s: Houseplant azaleas for Christmas Forget poinsettias and cyclamen: this Christmas, you should try an indoor azalea IN the 1970s and ’80s, at Christmas-time, there were three main flowering pot plants for sale. Garden centres – and high-street shops like Woolworths – sold poinsettias, cyclamen, and (the subject of this week’s Miscellany) potted azaleas, by the million. This triumvirate of pot plants would mean ‘Christmas’ every bit as much as the tree, the mistletoe and he boughs of ivy! But, for me, azaleas were the stars of the show – sumptuous blooms on plants that were easy to keep going from year to year (the poinsettias and cyclamen were, for me at least, tricky to make look good a second year). So, let’s get into some azalea detail!…

Sedum tips SO pleased to see this article ‘Helpful hylotelephiums’ (AG, 26 September), as a I think these are fab, easy hardworking garden plants that were often so undervalued. Maybe the name change and growing interest in gardening for wildlife has helped their popularity. I’m very lucky to have a large garden and as such propagate lots of my own plants to try to give the garden scale. ‘Sedum’ have been a long favourite, which I always propagate in jars of water from all the stems I remove when I give the plants their ‘Chelsea chop’ in May. They produce lots of healthy white roots very quickly in water and can then be potted up by the summer and planted out in the autumn – a very easy and cost…