Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-Apr-2022 i Amateur Gardening

“When I fired up my computer this morning, the first email I opened was extolling the virtues of artificial lawns. Believe me, it did nothing to improve my pre-coffee mood. To my mind, fake grass is an insidious trend that goes against everything that is good about gardening: bad for wildlife; bad for the environment; it doesn’t even look attractive; and is the very devil to get dog poo out of! There are even tales of people vacuuming their plastic lawns to keep them clean, but surely, if you can do that you can mow a real one? Am I a dinosaur or do you feel the same? Please do let us know.” Contact us: ◼ Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 ◼ Editorial: 0330 3903732 ◼ Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com ◼ Advertising: 0330…

PEAT COMPOST These seedlings have grown the strongest since the outset and were the first to produce opening flower buds. PEAT-FREE COMPOST These have caught up with those grown in peat and have opening buds, but are slightly more spindly than the others. HOMEMADE COMPOST Growing well with bushy growth and flower buds. I have been de-weeding my homemade compost, though! PEAT INTO PEAT-FREE These are still growing well and are tall, but not quite as bushy and strong as the first three pots. PEAT-FREE INTO PEAT The slowest of the lot, these two are the smallest, but are growing and budding and will hopefully flower well, too.…

THE traditional image of a sunflower is a towering stem with a flower of golden rays, often dinner plate-sized, but this week we are giving you the chance to try something different. Sunflowers come in a variety of shades, from bright yellow to burnished bronze, and ‘Velvet Queen’ is the darkest of the lot, with mahogany-red petals and a heart that is darker still. Plants will attract butterflies and bees in summer, while wild birds will eat the ripe and fallen seeds in autumn. Plant them in a sunny, sheltered spot with fertile soil and they will grow to a stately 6ft (1.8m). They also do well in light shade and the flowers last well in a vase after cutting. Like all sunflowers, ‘Velvet Queen’ is easy to grow and…

I’VE been reading about gipsy rose in February’s British Wildlife, a magazine that covers all aspects of British natural history and conservation. The evocative name gipsy rose conjures up a fortune teller in a tent to me, but it’s actually one of the common names for the native wildflower field scabious (Knautia arvensis). Other names, listed by Geoffrey Grigson in The Englishman’s Flora, include blue buttons, blue bonnet and cardies. It’s found on neutral and calcareous soil on verges and field edges, and was once used to treat scabies or scabs. I grow this lavender-blue pincushion in my garden, in some sunny borders, in longer grass and on the verge. It’s quite possibly the best flower for insects I grow, because it attracts solitary bees, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies and…

NEXT Tuesday (3 May) is World Asthma Day. Organised in part by the World Health Organisation, it raises awareness of asthma worldwide. Although the condition cannot be cured, it is possible in most cases to reduce and prevent attacks. Asthma may be inherited, be the result of infections, or exposure when young to dust and dust mites. However, when someone develops a tendency to asthma, attacks can be set off by triggers, such as pollution, emotional upset, over-exertion, infection or allergens. People with asthma should try to avoid exposure to such triggers, and this is where the low-allergen garden, by eliminating plants known to be allergenic, can prove to be helpful. Let’s take a closer look. Hay-fever allergens MUCH more common than asthma, hay fever affects the eyes and nose.…

Write to us: Letters, Amateur Gardening magazine, Future Publishing Limited, Unit 415, Winnersh Triangle, Eskdale Road, Winnersh, RG41 5TP (please include your address). Email us: amateurgardening@futurenet.com Star letter I share Seabrook’s views… I READ with interest comments about the peat issue. But first I would also like to say how sorry I was to hear of the death of Peter Seabrook. I am of his age (86) and I have learnt a lot from his TV appearances and his writing in your magazine. I also share his views on the use of peat. I have been so disappointed in the quantity of peat-free compost that I will go back to using John Innes compost. I have already started my seedlings in it with good results; sowings made on Friday were…

I AM itching to start planting up summer baskets and containers, but – and it is a big but – we are not out of the frosty woods yet. Night temperatures can still dip below zero anywhere in the country, so I’m erring on the side of caution and delaying planting out tender annual bedding for a few more weeks. However, a container of spring bedding that I put together in the autumn is starting to look a bit threadbare and is ripe for refurbishment. Giving the existing plants a new lease of life with a little fresh compost and fertiliser, then adding a couple of new hardy plants where gaps have developed, is a good compromise. It’s also worth buying perennials that can be planted in the garden later…

TO my way of thinking, there is no such thing as ‘too many sweet peas’, which is why I am continuing to sow a fresh batch every few weeks. I’m also keeping an eye on the seedlings that have germinated from seeds sown earlier. These need watering when their compost feels dry to the touch and protecting from pests – in the greenhouse watch out for aphids and in a coldframe keep your eyes peeled for slugs, snails and even crafty mice that will pinch the seeds. Continue to pinch out long stems, too. This encourages the plants to create bushy side shoots that will develop more flowers through the summer. It also stops stems becoming leggy and tangled, which can lead to fungal infections such as botrytis grey mould.…

IF you are after an obliging, rewarding crop, then welcome to lettuces. Germination is simple, growth is rapid, and as for the freshly picked taste, it’s unparalleled. If you sow now, lettuce will germinate within a week and be ready for planting in three weeks. For cut-and-come-again (CCA) crops – which refers to harvesting whole young plants with scissors – you can be enjoying harvests just seven-ten days afterwards. Now that’s speedy! Sow thickly, then cut just above their growing point, and the lettuces will quickly regrow for a second and often third trim. You can obviously let the lettuces mature instead if you like – there are plenty of types to choose from (see my recommendations on page 20). Hardiness varies, but some, such as ‘Clarion’ and ‘Winter Density’,…

LUPINS are annual, perennial or sometimes shrubby plants in the pea family, with two-lipped flowers similar to sweet pea and pole beans, and available in a wide variety of bright and pastel colours. Their roots have the valuable capacity to trap nitrogen from the air, so enriching the fertility of the soil. Most have divided leaves with anything from 5-25 ‘fingers’, and a few have attractive silvered foliage. The flowers are carried in spikes with the flowers spread around the stems. The spikes may be short and sparse or long and densely packed. Beware of the seeds Some have seeds the size of broad beans, or larger, while others have seeds like small lentils. The seeds are edible, and widely eaten in South America and in the Mediterranean region. However,…

No: 060 It’s time for our just-for-fun puzzle – AG’s Garden Wall. This wall comprises 12 bricks in three courses. Each brick has a different word, or phrase on it. The first brick in each course, with BLOCK capitals, is cemented in place and cannot be moved. Just rearrange all the other bricks, so that the four words in each course of bricks are linked. There are three different connections to look for, one for each course. You may find that some words have more than one connection to other courses, but there is just one correct answer. You’ll either find this puzzle fiendishly difficult, or incredibly easy! Answers below. Hint: In one of the courses, the bricks are all low-allergen summer bedding plants! Answers: PHLOX = Thyme, Bean, Yew…

BULB planters can make the task of getting our colourful bulbs into the garden easier. There are two types of planter – long handled and hand held. Hand-held ones are usually 10-12in (25-30cm) long, so they require you to bend or kneel to plant the bulbs. For anyone who has difficulty kneeling or bending, a long-handled planter is a better choice. These have the advantage that you can use your body weight to apply extra pressure on the foot tread when planting. Types of bulb planter Most of the bulb planters we looked at were made from metal or, in one case, a lightweight plastic-like material. Some have a surface coating to save the soil core from sticking inside the cylinder and to help prevent excess corrosion. It is common…

WIN £20 Carrie Hewlett, from Bristol, has one thing on her mind and that is sowing her vegetable seeds. “I hope they’ll do as well as they did last year,” she says. I love it when it’s springtimeas I’ll get out and dig.Getting rid of all the weedsand all the odd dry twigs. The garden feels like it’s waitingfor my tender loving careTo get it ripe and readyto face the warming air. Having dug over the earthI add some good compost,Then I plant all my seeds–hoping there’ll be no frost. Carrots, broad beans and onions,tomatoes and radishes too,I pop into the moistened earth…as veggies are good for you. Potatoes that have gone to seedI plant in to the soil.Looking forward to new potatoeswithout too much hard toil. So, come the…

PLANTING in containers is a quick way of bringing colour to the garden, but there are a couple of things to remember. First, avoid containers that bulge out below a narrower neck, as these are surprisingly difficult to empty when the plants have faded and you wish to use the pot for something else. Proprietary container compost is ideal for pots and has been formulated to feed for longer and maximise water content, so plants don’t starve or dehydrate as quickly. However, intensive planting in a confined space will quickly deplete compost nutrients, so feed fortnightly with liquid tomato feed during the growing season. The roots also dehydrate the compost, so water whenever it feels dry to the touch (insert a finger to the first knuckle to check moisture levels).…

FOLLOWING correspondence from several AG readers who were having disappointing results with peat-free composts, we decided to put their claims to the test by growing, from seed, three sets of 10 identical cosmos ‘Candy Stripe’. One set was sown in seed compost containing peat, another in a quality brand of peat-free seed compost and the third in my homemade seed compost made from equal measures of sieved compost and leafmould. Differences were immediately obvious as soon as the seedlings developed, with the ones popping up in peat compost growing fastest and with most robust stems. After the seeds had germinated and grown large enough, the peat-free ones were transplanted into peat-free multipurpose, the peat seed compost ones into John Innes No2 and the ones in homemade compost went into homemade…

WHEN asked how to get children interested in gardening, people often suggest ‘safe’ sowings of annual flowers and fast crops such as radishes, or maybe potatoes for the ‘fun’ of digging up their treasure – although that fun doesn’t last very long. Beans in pots is another resort. Actually, strawberries are a better bet. in However, I found another answer while trying to persuade my young twins to dig out plantain from their ‘lawn’. They were reluctant, but when they asked why, rather than explain, I just replied, “To make a secret magic potion.” And, amazingly, it worked like magic! They soon had every plantain added to my brew, along with leaves of comfrey, burdock and dandelions (which, of course, did work magic when added to my compost bin). “Amazingly,…

John has been answering reader queries for 50 years Can I encourage my magnolia to flower? Q I’ve had a magnolia in a pot for about four or five years, and although it is very healthy it has never flowered. What can I do to help it blossom? Sarah Marshall (via email) A There are several reasons why your magnolia is reluctant to flower. First, growing conditions. Some magnolia varieties are not fully hardy and although your plant is growing well, it may be too cold for it to flower. Move it to a sheltered, sunny spot close to the house. Magnolias grow in partial shade but flower better with more sunshine, particularly in the north. Grow in moist but well-drained, acidic, humus-rich soil or in ericaceous (acid-loving) compost. Plants…

Q Our Dracaena marginata has shot up and hit the ceiling. Can I prune it and where should it be cut? Andrea Hill, Stockport, Cheshire A When it comes to tall house plants, the narrow-leaved Dracaena marginata, from Madagascar and the Réunion Island, is one of the toughest and easiest to grow. It is not a magnet for scale insects and will thrive in all kinds of light, though in shade the stems and leaves are apt to be thin and straggly. Better light encourages robust growth and these plants are capable of reaching the ceiling of an average house. Keep plants at a minimum of 55°F (13°C) because they begin to suffer at colder temperatures. Extremes of cold or heat, erratic watering or insufficient feeding will bring them out…

IF you think with your stomach, you’re likely to regard rhubarb as a fruit, as that’s how the stems are cooked and eaten. But if you’re of a botanical bent, ‘fruit’ consists of the ‘fleshy seed-holding parts of a plant’ – and as the edible part of rhubarb is a stalk, that makes it a card-carrying vegetable like celery and purple sprouting broccoli. Whatever you choose to call it, the only thing that really matters is whether there’s enough for second helpings! And to that end I’ve been giving my clumps some essential TLC. With its parasol-sized leaves and ability to smother weeds, rhubarb seems irrepressible. But if you’re too greedy when picking or don’t top-up its soil with nutrients, it can disappoint or, worse, die off. This often happens,…