Innholdsfortegnelse for 27-Feb-2021 i Amateur Gardening

“I find it fascinating when gardeners voice their dislike of specific plants and there will be many reasons, both emotional and horticultural, why they feel that way. However, I am always surprised when someone says they dislike dahlias, because I wonder how anyone could not be amazed at the many varieties of shape, colour and form they can take. Even my fiancée Gill, turns her nose up, considering them gaudy and loud. I think they are a wonder of nature and I only wish I had room to grow more. What do you think of dahlias?” Contact us: ■ Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 ■ Editorial: 0330 3903732 ■ Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com ■ Advertising: 0330 3906566…

Got a story? email ruth.hayes@futurenet.com LOST business and an atmosphere of uncertainty are just two of the early effects of Brexit on horticultural brands, according to two industry insiders. Rising prices hitting consumer pockets are another danger, as is the potential loss of certain seed varieties due to added costs and admin brought about by new regulations imposed since the UK left the European Union. An added burden are the phytosanitary certificates and Animal and Plant Health Agency inspections that now have to be carried out on every single order travelling from the UK to another country, even Northern Ireland. These costs are the reason why AG free seeds are no longer attached to copies heading over the Irish Sea. Peter McDermott, managing director of YouGarden described the effects of…

RIGHT now I am longing for some warmth. I know spring is just around the corner, but I need to shed some of the many layers of clothing I seem to have been sown into for the past few months and feel the sun on my skin. Of course there’s every chance that flying south to sunnier climes may not be possible this year, but a decent UK summer would go a substantial way towards mitigating that disappointment. And with the summer come the seasonal flowers and this week’s free seeds are for one of the most spectacular members of the Nicotiana, or tobacco plant family. I love nicotianas for their beautiful flowers and, even moreso for their alluring nocturnal scents that draw moths into the garden like an opulentlyperfumed…

WE spend a lot of time watching the birds on and around the feeding station, because we have a clear view through our kitchen window. It’s better than daytime television, and we get more arrivals and departures than Heathrow – in a normal year, that is! The bird life differs from year to year. We always see blackbirds, and they prefer to feed on the ground, picking up insects and earthworms whenever the weather allows. They seem to have an affinity with water. We had spring water flowing round our house recently, and all the blackbirds had a high old time splashing about. We were not quite as jubilant… In cold weather, when the ground is unyielding, our blackbirds feast on some of our apples that haven’t stored so well.…

Euphorbia hypericifolia ‘Diamond Frost’ An airy-looking plant perfect for separating strong colours. White flower bracts are produced all summer and plants thrive in sun or light shade, welldrained compost or soil. Sap can be an irritant. H: 9in (23cm) S: 12in (30cm). Ficinia truncata ‘Ice Crystal’ To grow in sun or partial shade, this sedge bears a low mound of green leaves edged with silver that is joined by taller flower stems in summer. Keep plants well-watered during droughts. H: 6in (15cm) S: 8in (20cm). Strobilanthes dyerianus AGM The showy silver-flushed green and purple leaves of Persian shield add a tropical touch. Its blue flowers open in September. Grow in shade and overwinter indoors, as plants can be tricky to find. H: 36in (1m) S: 30in (75cm). Tradescantia zebrina AGM…

NO matter how well you plan, sometimes you face the situation where a fruit tree just grows too big for its allotted space. Pruning the branches back can make matters worse, because the more you prune, the more you help stimulate it into growth. There are various reasons why some trees grow bigger than others. Soil and feeding play a part, but fruit trees can become very vigorous once they have established and this is usually because they were budded or grafted onto a rootstock which is too strong and vigorous for your particular location. If your apple or pear tree produces lots of shoots, but few flowers or fruit, and is starting to get too big for its space, there is a technique you can use to help control…

Star letter I LIKED the article by Lucy Chamberlain on the ‘Carolina Reaper’ chilli seeds (AG, 23 January). I grew 32 seeds last year and they were HOT HOT HOT! Got my favourite local Indian to use them and ‘wow’, what a sensation, the curry was something else… a wee bit different from chicken tikka masala…. My sons could eat them raw. I tried but I felt my mouth was on fire for at least 20 minutes. I would recommend them though great fun to grow and watch others trying them out. Sir Brian Donohoe Irvine It’s a matter of managing – not controlling the garden IN Tim Rumball’s article (AG, 9 January) on ‘Doing an environmental audit’, he states that by gardening we control the natural environment. Surely by…

WHEN it comes to gardening, one of the best things we ever did was invest in a greenhouse. We were lucky enough to have the space and money and although it is a basic, 6x8ft (1.8x2.4m) model, we would not be without it and regularly lament the fact that we didn’t get a bigger one! We use it all year round. For the past few months it has been hosting a legion of overwintering tender plants, a lemon tree and some strawberries, which will hopefully crop earlier than those that have remained in raised beds outside. We’ve also been harvesting salads sown every few weeks through the winter months in last summer’s rejuvenated growbags. Over the next few months we can add seedlings and cuttings to its list of residents,…

AS the winter progressed it became increasingly apparent that our back lawn contains more moss than sward. Although this isn’t a massive issue as we leave it to turn into a wildflower meadow in summer, we don’t want what’s left of the lawn to become an entire moss bed to the exclusion of everything else. So this week we were out, taking it in turns to rake out as much moss as possible. Although this process leaves unsightly patches of soil, these will be perfect when we sow more wildflower lawn seeds and plant the variety of wildflower plug plants, both suited to chalky soils, already ordered online. We are still in that strange in-between period of the year when we want to get on with plans for the lawn,…

AFTER the long, grey winter the prospect of a garden packed with months of colour is a glorious thing. One of the easiest ways to bring longlasting vibrant shades and shapes into your borders and containers is to plant dahlias. They don’t take kindly to our cold, damp winter climate, so it is still too chilly and the soil probably too claggy and wet to plant them out. However, you can steal a march on the elements and start your tubers off undercover now, so they are ready to harden off and move out when the frosts have passed and the mercury is starting to rise. Once the tubers are potted up and are starting to shoot, you can take some of the fresh growth and use it as cuttings…

IF you’re lucky enough to have a greenhouse, chances are it’s full of these tangy fruits all summer. Not only a salad and sauce essential, tomatoes are also packed with lycopene, which is known to help fight cancer and heart disease. My retired smallholder parents grew thousands of glasshouse tomatoes each year, and this is where I cut my horticultural teeth. Now is the time to sow to ensure success with toms, so how do you ensure bumper crops? Although you can buy plants from garden centres, many of us sow toms because it offers the widest selection of varieties. Germination is strong and swift: sow eight-10 seeds on the surface of a 31/2in (9cm) pot of well-watered seed compost, top with vermiculite and then place in a well-lit propagator…

John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week What dwarf shrubs should I plant? Q I have recently removed a dwarf willow that had died. Can you suggest a few dwarf trees/shrubs to replace it? The area is south facing & measures 3ft x 3ft (1m x 1m). It is a raised area so I don’t want it to be too tall.. The soil is neutral to acid, clay with stones. Something that would give colour in the autumn would be good, the remaining area already has Skimmia, hydrangea & Berberis that are fully-grown Tom McCann, Birmingham A I suggest that you consider the following shrubs which grow to around 3-4ft (90-120cm): Cotoneaster conspicuus ‘Decora’: Dark green leaves, woolly beneath; scarlet berries in winter. Euonymus alatus: Glorious scarlet…

This week it’s: THIS Sunday (28 February) is National Floral Design Day. It’s an American invention, but it’s starting to take a hold over here, too. It recognises the art and history of floral design, important cultural art forms for thousands of years – from simple bouquets and floral depictions in paintings and on textiles to flower arrangements and, of course, complete flower-filled gardens. A multi-billion pound industry, it brightens our lives on a daily basis. I thought, therefore, that this would be the perfect time to look at flowers in art – and floral art! ■ National Floral Design Day started in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts, to celebrate the birthday of Carl Rittner. A pioneer in floral art education, he founded the Rittners School of Floral Design more than…

Q My winter Daphne (Daphne odora) ‘Aureomarginata’ is looking poorly and hasn’t flowered well this year. It is about 10 years old and 3ft (90cm) high. Other plants have grown up around it. Please can you help? Fiona Monkston, Cheddar, Somerset A This small evergreen shrub, which can reach 3-5ft (1-1½m), is a must for every garden. Clusters of pink flowers open from late winter to spring, pumping out a deliciously sweet perfume that carries on the air. You usually smell a Daphne before you see it. Although they have a reputation for being fussy and somewhat short-lived, a happy plant should give 20 years of pleasure. Originally from China and Japan, Daphne odora is a woodland plant, and for a long life it needs careful siting in well-drained but…

RIGHT now the greenhouse is full of tender plants sheltering from winter’s elements and more hardy, edible varieties putting on growth before their cousins still lying dormant outside. In the former category we have newly-trimmed fuchsias, scented pelargoniums, rooted penstemon cuttings and baby French lavenders. The edibles include strawberry plants, which will hopefully fruit before the ones growing outside, and a tarragon that I potted up in autumn and now has new shoots emerging from beneath last year’s top growth that has died back. There are already signs of growth and I want to keep all these plants healthy until they are ready to move back outside for summer. My two main enemies now are pests and disease, and luckily, with a little forethought and some quick action where needed,…

WE are just a fortnight away from Mothering Sunday when literally millions of houseplants will change hands. Traditionally, they would be the flowering kinds, but the current trend nowadays is very much for low maintenance succulents. Every now and then, a letter will arrive from a reader with news of a flowering houseplant of great age. Recently, a 60-year-old cyclamen and a 100-year-old Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera) turned up, the date confirmed by the original arrival of a gift, or (in the case of the cyclamen) a raffle prize at a specific event. I have to wonder whether the Schlumbergera was the original plant or pads rooted from it over the years, but we will never know. Whatever the source, most of the houseplants on my windowsills are homegrown over a…

SPRING is coming. The days slowly lengthen, then suddenly everything needs doing all at once. This is when it can all get a bit hectic; grass needs mowing, weeds need hoeing, seeds need sowing… However, a little planning and preparation can save you a headache. I reckon there is nothing more annoying than not being able to do a job when something needs finding or repairing first. It is amazing how easy it is to misplace a tool – not just secateurs or a trowel but even a hoe. If you haven’t got a special place, and you haven’t used it for six months, just where is it? So in one quiet moment now, run through your plans for, say, sowing your first vegetables outdoors: that will likely be onion…

IF necessity is invention’s mother, then gardening is that bonny baby’s father. Never was that so apparent than last Sunday, when a listener to my Radio Devon show emailed to share just how good welder’s gauntlets were when compared to gardening gloves – especially when pulling thorny brambles and working with roses. I agree, they might make you feel a bit Medieval – but their heavy leather never rips or punctures and, best of all, they are a bargain at under a tenner. Plus, they’re usually bright red, a colour that may clash with your sartorial style but it makes the mitts almost impossible to lose in the borders. Listener Richard’s recommendation prompted dozens of other innovative ideas, proving how repurposing and make-do-and-mend are in the very weft and weave…