Innholdsfortegnelse for 17-Apr-2021 i Amateur Gardening

“Some like to learn from books; others from trial and error. Well, I seem to be in the latter group. No matter how much I read up on gardening, nothing really sinks in completely until I’ve actually done the job. And my most useful lessons have come from mistakes. Realising where I’ve gone wrong has given me a much better understanding of how to get it right. Of course, I’m not trying to encourage people to make mistakes – far from it! I am simply saying that we should not be afraid of our mistakes or of owning up to them, for they often contain valuable lessons that are never forgotten.”…

I’VE never given much thought to our little clump of bergenias, mainly because they are bizarrely planted between some paving stones behind where we keep the bins. But they caught my attention this week when I decided it was time to cut back the overgrown winter jasmine that also grows behind the bins (see P9). Bergenias, also called elephant ears because of their large leaves, are tough, easy-going plants that produce bell-shaped flowers in white and shades of pink on sturdy stems. As I moved the bins to get at the jasmine I dislodged a piece of bergenia stem that had a few roots attached, which I have now potted up. New shoots were also growing at the base of another plant, so I carefully cut two pieces to use…

THE winter jasmine at the front of the house usually flowers fantastically in early spring but this year it wasn’t so good. It’s probably my fault, as I have neglected its pruning so it has been throwing out new growth instead of flowering and because it hasn’t been fed either, has run out of puff. To compound matters, several of the new stems have arched to the ground and rooted, making new plants and sucking up what nutrients are available. Luckily, winter jasmine can take the occasional hard prune even though the ideal is to keep them in shape each year. If yours is seriously overgrown and you are uncertain about a heavy trim, shape it bit by bit over a three-year period. Do the work after the plant has…

I DOUBT there are many gardeners who haven’t seen plastic bottles used as small cloches. These are so effective, especially for birdtasty snacks such as beetroot and wind-hating crops such as sweetcorn. We call these protective covers ‘cloches’ from the French for ‘bells’, as the first were made in that shape from blown glass. The size of small halfbarrels, these had no ventilation so were propped open each morning and closed each night. Failure to remember caused plants to ‘cook’. Some later designs had holes in their necks, but these proved insufficient. Now, a similar problem may occur when plastic bottles are made into cloches. We cut off the bottoms and throw the caps away, assuming the holes will ventilate sufficiently, but they may not. As temperatures inside soar in…

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Star letter Allotment tales LAST year our allotment was a complete success. Having taken on five poles of land, an attempt on vegetable self-sufficiency commenced! Neither of us were complete amateurs, 50 years ago I helped my dad’s veggie garden and I still remember the basics. Jackie had trained as a horticulturist. The land had been worked and the soil was good. We started with broad beans, feeding the mice population for a few weeks but once they’d had their fill the rest were ours and they cropped very well. We used the last few from the freezer just last week. Runner beans, dwarf beans, potatoes, carrots and peas followed, along with beetroot and all manner of herbs. We are still harvesting purple sprouting broccoli and cabbages, so a whole…

THE garden should be growing well, helped by increased warmth and April showers. The care you give your plants now will set them up for the rest of the year. Feed them appropriately as their new shoots show through and they should hopefully continue to do well. As with children, a good diet when young will provide plants with the solid building blocks for future development, and help them withstand problems. Granular fertilisers break down gradually to give months of goodness, whereas liquid and sprayed foliar feeds are more instant and need regular reapplication. Always read the manufacturer’s instructions and remember that over-feeding can be as harmful as the opposite. Perennials in the ground and in pots should be fed now with a granular fertiliser. Fork it in, water and…

PENSTEMONS are usually one of the most reliable of perennials, and with regular deadheading bring colour to the garden from summer until well into autumn. However, they are not reliably hardy, which is why old stems are left standing throughout winter, with a generous layer of mulch around the roots, to help protect the crown. If you check the base of plants now you should see healthy new growth emerging, and as the weather is reliably warmer, you can remove the old stems. If you live in the far north or your garden is very exposed, it may be best to wait a couple more weeks. Elsewhere, you can cut down to where you can see the new shoots. If the new growth is coming from existing stems, rather than…

IT is hard not to smile when you see a sunflower because they are so undimmably cheerful! Their large heads usually tower over the rest of the garden, echoing the rays of their larger solar namesake above. This week’s free seeds are for a burnished variety called ‘Evening Sun’. It produces flowers in shades ranging from mahogany to golden orange, and grow to 6ft (180cm) so are ideal for the back and centre of borders and beds. The large seeds are easy to sow and they can be started either undercover or where you want your plants to grow. I did both, starting some in modules filled with a mix of seed and John Innes No2 compost. This means I can grow them in their modules and plant them straight…

I WONDER how many readers of a certain age remember the red-hot summers of 1975 and 1976? I remember them well, because I was heavily pregnant in both years. Scorching weather, without a cloud in the sky, lasted for several weeks or more. The winter between the summers was also incredibly dry, so very little rainfall fell over a 16-month period. In August 1976, our water supply in Northamptonshire got so low that standpipes were erected in the lane, although they were never used. The weather broke spectacularly on bank holiday Saturday, during our village fête. I had decorated my daughter’s pram with crêpe paper flowers when the heavens opened with a vengeance. I then had to rush home with the pram, and my tiny daughter ended up being streaked…

John will reply personally to all your gardening questions every week How should I prune my clematis? Q I have bought two clematis, ‘Polish Spirit’ and ‘Blue Angel’. How should I prune them, and when should I do it? John Dixon (via email) A It is always a joy to have clematis in the garden, as there are so many varieties. Some compact varieties can be happily grown in containers, and if you choose carefully you can have flowers all year. Most clematis like a sunny or partly shaded spot, but there are plants that will suit every aspect. Clematis ‘Blue Angel’ and ‘Polish Spirit’ are large-flowered hybrids. Pruning is easy, as all you do is shorten the previous year’s growth in late February or early March to just above…

SALES of solar lights for use in the garden have gone stratospheric in the past 10 years. Since the early introductions of lights that barely stayed lit long enough to get through dusk into darkness, many of the newest ones stay lit until dawn. The decorative range extends from single LEDs on strings that provide an attractive fairyland feel for the plants or under a parasol, to butterflies, flowers and other illuminated characters for a fun effect round the patio or across a shed. On a more practical level, these lights work without the hassle of having wiring laid around the garden. There is little maintenance to do, although wiping the solar panel now and again helps it work more efficiently, and they are, to an extent, weather-proof. This makes…

WHAT is it about the Australian accent? It’s so catchy that some Brits only need to watch an episode of Neighbours and their sentences start going up at the end. Of course, I’m not so suggestible… and nor is my mate, Pete, an old friend from childhood who now lives in the suburbs of Sydney. He called me this week for advice, as his vegetable garden is a disaster, and either I had a dodgy link or he was pretty emotional as he recounted his woes. Keen to put tucker on the table, he had spent days of hard graft turning over the soil and picking out barrowloads of rocks from his stony soil. Exhausted, but clinging to his enthusiasm (just), he shared some of his seeds with his work…

FLOWERS From The Farm is an association of people interested in producing homegrown flowers and was the brainchild of current Honorary President, Gill Hodgson. Gill started selling surplus flowers from her garden at the gate on a quiet East Riding of Yorkshire lane. They proved so popular that after a couple of years, a stall was taken at Driffield Farmers Market, where people queued up to smell the flowers. Interesting, isn’t it, that customers buy flowers from garage forecourts and supermarket shelves with never a thought to bend their head and smell, presumably because most have no fragrance? Gill looked for an organisation which would help her to share and gain experiences with no success and so, at a ‘marmalade-dropping moment’ one breakfast, she decided to form one. Now, 10…

PICKED when they are young and tender, there are few treats finer than homegrown French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), available in both dwarf and climbing varieties. Given the right conditions and treatment they’ll yield at an astounding rate, and now is a great time to sow them. Being a tender annual, compost/soil temperatures at sowing are important; at least 10°C (50°F) is needed. For very early crops (pods in late June), you could have started sowing dwarf varieties in late March under glass, then transplant seedlings into growbags and slide them outside in late May. But if soil is light and free-draining, and you live in the south, you can try sowing under rigid cloches now; wait until May if you live in the north. “Pick the pods while young for…

This week it’s: Penstemons Great bloomers from the past and present! AROUND the year 1900, penstemons were incredibly popular. They were seen as new and exciting, and there were lots of varieties available. But they were also seen as fussy and tender, and they gradually fell out of favour. It wasn’t until the final decade of the 20th century that they came back into vogue – and then some! New forms, which demand less specific growing conditions, were bred, and gardeners became aware of newer and better techniques for growing them. Today, penstemons are highly fashionable. Most are easy to grow and propagate, and there are many cultivars that are ideal for perennial and mixed borders. Their extraordinary colour range, and their ability to flower over a long summer period,…

Growing alpines in a sink Q Having moved into an old but neglected garden, I’ve started poking around and unearthed an old alpine plant sink. The plants are long gone, and I’d like to replant it. What do they need, and what should I choose? Donna MacClarty, Wrexham A First, empty the sink carefully, picking through the compost in case there are any dormant plants still alive. From my demonstration sink, I rescued some self-sown wild orchids. Make sure the drainage hole is free and give the sink a good scrub. Think about where you’d like to display your new alpines, as stone or concrete sinks are heavy and best moved while empty, using a sack truck and willing helpers. We raised ours off the ground slightly on shallow wooden…