Innholdsfortegnelse for 19-Feb-2022 i Amateur Gardening

BY the time late February arrives we have around a month or six weeks left to tackle a couple of important winter tasks involving our trees and shrubs. If you fancy adding some to your garden, we are nearing the end of the bare root season, which usually lasts during the dormant period of late autumn and winter. Bare root trees and shrubs are small, young plants bought freshly lifted from the soil. Their roots are naked and unlike plants bought in pots, they need planting as soon as you can get them in. We had to remove an old maple tree whose roots were endangering a neighbour’s drains. It left a large gap that we have filled with a bare root ‘Egremont Russet’ apple (see P5). This variety dates…

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…

I SEEM to have had a lot of leaves this winter, and I got leaf-gatherers’ shoulder as a result – which hurt! Thankfully, I don’t gather up every leaf, only those near bulbs and choice woodlanders. They’re loaded into the barrow and emptied into the wooden leaf-litter bin. Two years later it turns into the most valuable garden mulch of all – crumbly dark leaf litter that I spread on the woodland garden. The leaves and moss on the garden edges are left for nesting birds and roosting hedgehogs. When I’m raking, every now and again I come across a clump of wet leaves sticking to the ground. I treat these like a roundabout, because the plug of foliage is almost certainly protecting a ground-nesting solitary bee’s nest. It’s the…

THIS week I have been finishing off a few winter pruning jobs, including getting our fig tree and autumn-fruiting raspberry canes ready for the year ahead. In the right place, fig trees are robust growers so need trimming back when they outgrow their spot. Late winter is the best time otherwise they will be back in growth and tend to bleed a lot of sap. Although they can take a hard prune, most can be kept in order by removing spindly, low-growing shoots and inward-facing shoots that are cluttering up the plant. Take off and compost last year’s half-ripe fruits too as they won’t grow any more this year. If you have a variegated fig that is starting to throw out a few all-green shoots, remove these at the base…

ALTHOUGH it is too late to plant dried bulbs for this spring, you can buy potted ones in garden centres that have started to shoot but are not yet in full flower. They are an ideal quick fix for borders and containers and should mature over the years, producing larger blooms covering a wider area as they spread. The majority of spring bulbs won’t be on sale until the autumn, but you can buy certain varieties ‘in the green’ now. Having said that, ‘in growth’ may be a more accurate term as these are plants that have been dug up while in growth and they usually look a little bedraggled and muddy, though this will in no way affect their future growth. Snowdrops, yellow winter aconites and bluebells are commonly…

ANTIRRHINUMS are half-hardy perennials, which means they usually succumb to our cold winter weather. However, a stand of snapdragons, as they are also known, that we planted last year is still going strong in a border. The flowers may have finished but their stems are strong and their leaves a healthy shade of green My plan is to cut them back when the warmer weather arrives and feed them, which will hopefully produce another year of strong growth and flowers. I will be adding to them with this week’s free seeds, for a variety called ‘Snappy Tongue’. A tall, multicoloured variety that grows to 18in (45cm), it is ideal for cutting as well as the garden. Sow the seeds thinly into trays or pots of fresh, dampened seed compost, add…

WHILE it’s still too cold to sow outdoors, veg seed can be started off under cover this month. Some are incredibly easy and forgiving (think peas, beans, radishes and tomatoes) while some can be temperamental (carrots, parsley, corn salad). Expensive seeds (cucumbers, sweetcorn and melons) are best sown indoors because germination is far more successful in a protected environment. Basil, dill, brassicas, tomatoes, leeks – all these enjoy starting life under cover. Starting with fresh stock can be crucial (check the ‘sow-by’ date on each packet). Many veg seeds are only viable (alive) for a couple of years at most (for example, leek, onion, parsnip, carrot, salsify and scorzonera) so buy fresh seed each year. Others, such as cauliflower, chard, lettuce and tomato, can remain viable for four-five years. “Light,…

THE dainty little pure-white flowers of the snowdrop are usually the first bulbs to bloom in late winter and early spring. Although each individual plant is quite small, snowdrops usually increase well and develop into clumps that make a very cheerful sight during winter. Snowdrops all look very similar and, in fact, sometimes even the experts have trouble distinguishing one variety from another. Each bulb produces two, or occasionally three, narrow and often greyish leaves and usually one flower stem carrying a single flower. The flowers are very distinctive and are made up of three outer teardrop-shaped white petals surrounding three white shorter petals that usually feature green, or very occasionally yellow, markings. The varieties differ in the shapes of their petals and the shape and pattern of their green…

This week it’s: The secrets of seeds Amazing facts about these dormant embryonic plants ANY gardener knows that we are at the start of the seed-sowing season. Garden centres are selling pots, trays, seed-sowing compost and, of course, packeted seed like it’s going out of fashion. And AG is playing its own part in this seed-sowing frenzy, with another series of free seeds on the covers of issues! But with so much happening with seeds, perhaps we have lost sight of some of the amazing facts, figures and features connected with them. So, this is your opportunity to catch up! Let’s take a look at some seed secrets that most of us just didn’t know were a ‘thing’… ■Chili seeds last longer, and germinate better, if they first pass through…

Q We used to call antirrhinums ‘bunny rabbits’ and they remind me of my grandma’s garden. How do I grow them from seed? Past attempts have died off as seedlings. Jessica Wishall, Crawley, West Sussex A Pinch the waist of a snapdragon flower and the top petal separates from the lower lip like an opening mouth. Bees push the lip down, disappear into the flower and are dusted with pollen by the time they back out. I’m not sure where ‘bunny rabbits’ comes from, but the flowers are cute. Snapdragons used as bedding plants derive from Antirrhinum majus, native to south-west Europe and Mediterranean regions. Although described as bedding plants and half-hardy annuals, they can be perennial and, in milder areas, will overwinter as plants and self-seed. Antirrhinum seeds are…

Please continue to send us your poetry contributions. This week, reader Penny reflects on the fun and joy of choosing flower and vegetable seeds for the coming year. “I’m retired now so I have a little more time ‘to be’ in the garden,” she said. To help you, Penny, we have a round-up of sweet peas coming up in the 5 March issue. The joy of the seed catalogue ‘I’ve baked a batch of biscuitsand the tea is in the pot,My seat is in the greenhouse, it’sa warm and cosy spot. The catalogue is open at thepage for my sweet peas,I search through all the colours tofind the ones that please. There’s such a wealth of choicefor scent and shape to choose,I must make up my mind, therereally is no…

LAST September we wrote about Future Gardeners, a scheme to help underprivileged people in London to turn their lives around and find jobs in the horticulture sector. Now one of those it helped has spoken to AG about how the initiative transformed his life. Myles Martin was introduced to Future Gardeners by Jenny Wales of the Single Homeless Project (SHP), a London organisation that helps homeless and vulnerable people. She and one of her colleagues recommended that Myles approach Future Gardeners and the opportunities offered have changed his life. He is now working on some of the largest building projects in the capital, including Ilona Rose House in Soho, the Shell Building next to the London Eye and the new Facebook/Google HQ in King’s Cross with the architectural and planning…

I’M gearing up to get our unheated greenhouse ready for the seedlings, cuttings and tender plants that need hardening off before they are planted in the soil once the frosts have passed us by. The prep involves clearing the greenhouse of pests and making sure surfaces are clean to reduce the risk of diseases attacking delicate new growth. Organic fumigation candles are invaluable at this time of year as they cleanse your greenhouse while the plants stay inside. It also involved easing my concerns over an overwintered dahlia that was starting to look rather sad. I’d slid it under the work surface and its stems had started to develop mould, probably caused by a lack of air. I was worried that the tubers might fail to shoot if all the…

FOR half a century, I have been outspokenly eco-conscious and passionately organic, actively promoting – indeed, living – many ‘green’ lifestyle changes. Thus, I feel sorely tried when well-intentioned ‘peat-free’ enthusiasts troll me for lacking enthusiasm for their total ban. Total bans are excessively disproportionate. Would you agree to total bans on all holiday flights and private car journeys (equally crucial problems)? One guy even stamped out of a talk, loudly cursing me when I dared mention that peat could be managed as a renewable natural resource, much as hardwood timber. I’ve grown all manner of fruits, flowers and vegetables, and long spurned peat, never added peat to my garden soil and always preferred to buy bare-rooted over potted plants. I learned to make my own (peat-free) sowing and potting…

John has been answering reader queries for 50 years Can you identify this pretty spreader? Q What is this flower, please? We have several of them in the garden. Paul Loveday (via email) A This pink-flowered plant is a variety of bergenia, also called elephant’s ear. Cheering late winter and early spring, bergenias normally carpet freely and repress weeds. If your bergenia outgrows its situation, cut it back to an accommodating size and use the prunings, which are often rooted, to furnish other sunny or lightly shaded areas in your garden. Remove flowers before seeds set to channel energy into strong new growth. Slugs and snails favour soft shoots, so examine plants regularly and remove these pests. A native of China, India, Nepal and other Far Eastern countries, bergenias are…

HEDGES serve many purposes, from providing a clear boundary with your neighbours to creating a barrier for unwanted visitors in your garden or to stop people cutting across a corner. They can create a screen to give you privacy and can baffle the prevailing wind to provide shelter for other plants. You can even use them within the garden to divide a larger garden into smaller sections or ‘rooms’. Whether your hedge is large or small, deciduous or evergreen, over time it will tend to outgrow its space or it may become damaged. Snow can weigh the hedge down and cause it to split, and strong winds can cause growth distortion. Conifers can’t rejuvenate Many of the plants that are commonly used for hedging respond well to hard pruning to…

Champion of gardening Star letter I WANTED to express my great sympathy to you all for the sudden loss of your very long term colleague Peter Seabrook at “86 years young”. (I am sure he was double digging this winter putting us all to shame with his youthful energy!) He was clearly a person of so much vitality, as well as vast experience and horticultural knowledge, that it was a shock for us all. I am sure that he will be greatly missed by yourselves as well as devoted AG readers and the wider gardening community. His article (22 Jan) on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee tree planting, showed the respect in which he was rightly held by those in eminent positions. He has left an outstanding legacy – from his…

THERE are two types of people,’ read the words of Indira Gandhi, India’s former Prime Minister, from a sun-faded poster taped to the wall of the gardener’s bothy: ‘Those who do the work, and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group, as there’s less competition there.’ As a student gardener paid to do my superior’s bidding, her words seemed very apposite. Although credit always went to the management, the February work of ‘shuffling’ plants in the borders was – and still is – work that I relished. Herbaceous plants that go to ground for winter rarely stay in one place, and either outgrow their space or fade and disappear. February, when the new buds are recognisable as they break through the soil, is a window…