Innholdsfortegnelse for 1-Jan-2022 i Amateur Gardening

“In my last column of 2021, I talked about the benefits AG readers can bring to the environment, and at the start of this year I would like to draw your attention to Peter Seabrook’s thought-provoking column on page 10. Peter talks a lot of common sense about how we deal with climate change, and there is an upside. If cutaway peat bogs can be reflooded that would be a great answer to the peat question, and why is it that no one else is talking about this? Lastly, well done to all the AG readers involved in the soil cleansing trial (see page 6). Let’s all have a great gardening 2022 and do our bit to help the environment as well.” Contact us: Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 Editorial: 0330…

LORNA’S Seeds, the new scheme which extracts and upcycles heavy metals from garden soil using plants has entered the next stage of its development, thanks to Amateur Gardening readers. Dozens of readers responded to a call in AG to take part in the project, which asked them to sow a bag of seeds, then harvest the plants after six weeks and return them for ‘mining’ at Brunel University London’s Experimental Techniques Centre (ETC). The seeds, provided by Brunel, included a variety of plants including yarrow, mustard, oxeye daisies and Nemophila menziesii ‘Baby Blue Eyes,’ which turn a vibrant blue when high concentrations of aluminium are found. Dr Lorna Anguilano, a senior research fellow at the ETC and the founder of Lorna’s Seeds, said: “We had some very nice exchanges with…

THERE is no doubt the human race is releasing too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and consuming too much of the earth’s finite natural resources. Putting it bluntly, there are too many humans, demanding too much – and yet we never hear, see or read this case being put quite so bluntly. Now is the time for New Year’s resolutions. One should endeavour to be more environmentally friendly, and use less. What about wearing more clothes in winter so the heating can be turned down; a five-degree drop can halve the cost of heating a greenhouse? Do we buy too many new clothes when old ones can be made to last longer? Why do people comment when I wear a shirt with a worn collar and frayed cuffs, then…

IT’S hard to believe it, but we’re already into longer days. By the end of January it will be light enough to garden until 5pm. It’s quieter in the garden just now, so I’ve been exploring the lanes close to home. This year the hedges are full of berries, hips and haws, and that’s probably a good thing, because flocks of redwings began arriving in mid-autumn last year and that’s earlier than usual. The fieldfares followed on, with both escaping harsh weather in Scandinavia. These birds are after food and there’s definitely a pecking order with berries. Holly berries seem to disappear into the beaks of birds first. If you don’t cut your festive sprigs just before December, the berries have often gone. The prickly English holly (Ilex aquifolium) is…

Q Having admired colourful winterborders at RHS gardens, I’d like to create more winter colour at home. How would this work on a smaller scale while retaining interest for the rest of the year? Yvonne Critchley, Doncaster, S. Yorks A Winter walks and borders designed as special features are spectacular wonderlands full of colourful stems, winter-flowering heathers and fragrant blooms. Large gardens have the space to devote whole areas to plants that perform during the dark months, packing them in together for a vibrant display. This also works well on a smaller scale and, with careful planning, would not look plain at other times of the year. You could devote a border or corner to a winter-flowering cherry, a stand of mahonias or a pink-flowered viburnum flanked by red or…

This word search comprises words associated with garden sheds. They are listed below; 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 nine letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s KEYWORD. GARDEN SHEDS ALLOTMENT DRY MESSY RACK SAWDUST SECURE SHEDLOADS SHELVING SHIPLAP STORE UTOPIA WINDOWS WOOD WORKBENCH HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 601, Amateur Gardening, Future Publishing Limited, Unit 415, Winnersh Triangle, Eskdale Road, Winnersh, RG41 5TP, to arrive by Wednesday 12 January 2022. The first correct entry chosen at random…

IAM sure I’m not the only person who casts an eye over their bank balance during the first week in January and resolves to tighten their belt and keep a firmer grip on the old purse strings. Unfortunately, gardening can be an expensive hobby, which is a worry at a time when bills and general expenditures are rising, but it doesn’t have to be this way and there are many ways to minimise costs. Away from the handson horticultural end of the business, take a look at where your money goes when it comes to buying all the necessary add-ons. Good quality compost, equipment, tools, feeds and supplements don’t come cheap and trying to skimp on any of them is simply a false economy. Lightweight tools break, cheap compost often…

WINTER, the skeleton of the garden is laid bare, so an ideal time to look at the overall landscape and decide if anything needs relocating. Between now and the end of February is also the best time for moving trees and shrubs that you think need relocating. However, remember that relocation is more likely to be successful if the tree or shrub has been in the ground for less than five years. Any longer and it is less likely to settle well into a new spot. Sun and wind can dry out roots during the move, so check the forecast and choose a cool, dull, still day. Speed is key, so prepare the planting hole before moving and once you have lifted the plant, wrap the rootball in plastic (a…

1 General maintenance: Don’t put off essential maintenance work, even if it looks minor and you think it ‘can wait’. Make sure your tools are sharp and clean too, as blunt, dirty equipment damages plants and spreads disease. 2 Seedling care: Seedlings need consistent care. Make sure they have enough light (folding tin foil around their trays will help), that their compost is damp and they have good ventilation. Prick them out when large enough. 3 A place for everything: An organised shed saves you time and money looking for and replacing ‘lost’ things. Store chemicals safely and make sure wooden and metal structures are well maintained. 4 It’s the little things: Don’t overlook the smaller tasks such as weeding, feeding, pest control, deadheading and watering. They may feel like a faff, but…

ANY fruit tree is a 30-year investment in your garden’s future. So what are the key points to consider? Taste should be the overriding factor in your purchasing decision. There’s noticeable variation between varieties of apple, pear, plum, fig and gage; less so between cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots. Autumn tasting days offer first-hand experiences, but recommendations from friends, family and specialist nurseries are valuable. Consider where the tree will go. Is a semi-shaded spot your only option? Sugar-rich fruits such as figs, gages and peaches need full sun if they’re to develop their best flavours, whereas acid (cooking) cherries will grow in full shade. Avoid frost ‘pockets’ if planting early flowerers such as almonds, peaches and pears. Some apples (such as ‘Court Pendu Plat’) flower late, which offers more…

These specially grafted 'Duo' Fruit Tree varieties allow you to grow up to eight different varieties of fruit from just four trees! They are perfect if you love the idea of picking your own home-grown, tree-fresh fruit but have limited space - because each has two different varieties of fruit growing on the same tree! They are already trained into a V-shape, so can be grown against a wall too! Choose any two of these simply delicious varieties, supplied as 1.2m tall bare-root trees.…

John has been answering reader queries for 50 years When will my holly bush bear berries? Q Ihave been given a holly bush but it has no red berries on it. I’d like it to have berries next Christmas, but if it is female, do I need a male plant for it to flower, and vice versa if it’s male? Grant Rivers, Essex A Holly plants are most easily described as being either male or female, though it is actually slightly more complicated, and only the female plants will bear berries. The way to tell is by examining the flowers. However, the challenge is not only spotting the flowers, but being able to see them in enough detail as they are quite small. They appear in May or June between…

Memories of summer I LOVE taking photographs of the plants in my garden, and this year the sunflowers did particularly well. In these cold, dark winter days it’s nice to remember the warmth and sun of summer – and I find flicking through my photos of brightly coloured plants cheers me up. I just wish I printed more of them rather than leaving them on my phone. Perhaps that could be my New Year’s Resolution – to print out the photos I take of my garden through the seasons to remind me that spring and summer are not too far away. Janet McGann, Bicester, Oxfordshire My success with verbenas YOU asked if I would send some pictures of my Seabrook hardy verbenas after my published letter about my prize-winning display…

THE New Year diet is already in the rear-view mirror – and for good reason. As part of a January declutter, I’ve resolved to get the New Zealand flax (aka phormium) hedge that runs alongside our drive in shape. This work threatens to be so energy sapping, I’ve even made a house-call to the unsavoury side of the Quality Street and eaten the tin-rattling Orange Cremes. But they’re needed to tackle flax, as the leaves are so tough that Māori warriors once wove them into arrow-defying armour. Although they don’t have sharp edges, brushing through their foliage in wet weather is no joke. And weighed down by rain, ours would reach like damp tentacles across the path, making getting to the front door a bit like a meet-’n’-greet with a…

THE weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful – and while we may have no great incentive for getting into the garden, we can at least start sowing and growing undercover for the year ahead. Several ornamental and edible crops can be sown now, or prepared for shooting in early spring. In the flower corner we have bedding plants, lobelia, antirrhinums (snapdragons), pelargoniums and begonias as well as sweet peas. They can all be sown now to give you a head start come late spring and early summer when the frosts have had their day. Later this month you can also start thinking about sowing tomatoes and chillies, which need a long, slow germination in stable temperatures and good light undercover. You can also start swelling your…

GARDENERS are so determined: if told that one can’t sow, grow or root some plant or other then someone, somewhere, will set out to prove that they can. Generally, the old rules and timings are good general guidelines – but only guidelines, as each plot and plant performs differently, depending on the gardener who observes the results and responds wisely. Onions This is why noting how each crop and flower performs is such good practice, so we adjust our plans accordingly. We learn from our ‘mistakes’ and thus do better. It’s worth keeping a gardening diary, and any unused ‘year’ will serve. Just making notes of which varieties consistently did well will help when ordering seed in years to come. More importantly, record the dates of your last and first…

This week it’s: The humble garden shed We look at the myriad uses of sheds AS any gardener knows, a good garden shed keeps tools tidy and secure. It can be used for storing lawn mowers and strimmers, or be a place for potting-up plants. And, of course, with a bit of thought and creativity, a shed can be an attractive addition to the garden. However, some sheds have very little to do with gardening, other than they are sited in one! Modern sheds can be places to lounge, work, store bikes or use as your own ‘pub’! Let’s take a look at the glory of the garden shed. ■ Overlap sheds are the cheapest wooden shed, made from traditional rough sawn boards. ■ Shiplap sheds have interlocking tongue-and-groove boards.…

MANY hardy plants are available bare root at this time of year, meaning they are sold without soil or compost. Those bought by mail order arrive well packed with paper or sacking, ready for planting in the garden or a container. Some will have been lifted (dug up) and dispatched, while others may have been in a cold store for a brief period. Bare-root plants are sometimes available from garden centres, either in individual packs or, in the case of hedging plants, tied and wrapped in bundles of ten or more. Temporary holding area Whichever form you purchase, it is important to unpack them as quickly as possible and plant or pot them as soon as you can. If everything has been prepared, they can start to establish in their…