Innholdsfortegnelse for 4-Jun-2022 i Amateur Gardening

“It’s easy to forget how much work you have put into your garden and the changes made over the years, because change takes time and we forget what our garden was like before. The other day, I was toiling away but feeling I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I sat down and took stock of what had been achieved: in a few years, I’ve planted an apple tree, two ornamental cherries and a birch, plus four climbing roses; built two composting areas; planted a beech hedge; created a rock garden; hid an ugly garage with a mix of pyracantha, honeysuckle and clematis; and built a succulent tower. We are so task-focused we often forget our achievements. So why not sit down, have a cuppa and take stock? You’ll be pleasantly surprised.”…

LONDON Square Open Gardens Weekend returns this month, with more than 30 guided walks and cycle tours around the capital’s hidden gems. Expert guides will be leading tours through gardens, parks and hidden streets usually closed to the public. Subjects will include monastic orders during the reign of Henry VIII and how the city has inspired countless poets, writers and musicians. The strolls will offer something for all ages and interests, from the influence of the Romans on the city to the cutting edge, sustainable architecture of modern times. Rare access to unlocked spaces There will also be cycling tours for the over-11s, as well as a wander around Kings Cross to discover the area’s Dickensian past. Coutts private bank on The Strand will be opening its Skyline Garden, which…

WHILE I have been making space in beds and containers for this year’s summer bedding, my thoughts have been turning to border-fillers for the latter part of the year. Early summer is a good time to start your winter and spring bedding plants, because it gives them enough time to grow well so they are ready to go into the garden in autumn, when the soil will still be holding onto its summer warmth but will be dampened by rain. If you sow hardy perennials such as pansies and violas now they may be ready to flower this winter before going dormant and harnessing their reserves for next spring. Fluffy bellis daisies, along with wallflowers and sweet williams are biennials and won’t flower until next year. As well as sowing…

QUITE correctly, most pruning is best done while our plants are ‘dormant’. Though trained fruit trees and bushes are ‘summer pruned’, this is only nipping back strong young shoots and usually not removing any older shoots or branches. However, our prunus trees (a large group of both ornamentals and fruiters) are safest pruned only between now and late July. This is because of the prevalence of silver leaf disease. As its name suggests, the leaves can become quite silvered as they reflect the light differently once infected. The trees slowly waste away, eventually dying and erupting fungal bodies, spreading their spores (they should, by law, be cut up and burnt before then). “If a prunus needs pruning, best do it now” Unfortunately, there’s no preventative or cure. Fortunately, the most…

BEING the daughter of commercial tomato growers, I’ve spent a fair few hours (probably years!) among these plants. Breeding continually improves the selection available, so let’s take a detailed look at this must-grow crop: These days, outdoor tomatoes are a cinch for beginners to grow. The increasing introduction of patio varieties (see panel) allows you just to plonk a plant in a pot, apply water and feed plus rays of sunshine, then wait for numerous fruits to form. No faffy pruning is required – bliss! Dwarf cherry varieties, in particular, are well catered for (such as ‘Maskotka’, ‘Totem’ and ‘Tumbling Tom’). If you hanker for larger-fruited slicing and beefsteak toms, then cordons are your answer (my favourites are ‘Ferline’ and ‘Tomande’ for flavour) – and the way these are grown…

MONARDA, also known as bee balm or bergamot, is a hardy perennial plant in the mint family. It develops a spreading, shallow-rooted crown sending out runners that make new roots. In spring, square-stemmed, vertical shoots develop and carry opposite pairs of toothed, oval leaves topped in summer by clusters of hooded flowers gathered round a central disc. The leaves immediately under the flower are sometimes tinted purple. Aromatic foliage The foliage is aromatic and, when crushed, has the same smell as the bergamot orange used to flavour Earl Grey tea. The fragrant flowers are popular with bees and butterflies as they provide a good source of pollen and nectar. How to buy MONARDAS are available as seeds, which is an economical way to buy them. Sow seed in spring and…

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 insects to protect! Answers: GREENFLY = Bluebottle, Redspidermite, Blackfly(all insects that start…

IF our summers are going to get hotter, it follows that water supply and availability are going to become more of a problem for gardeners. Low rainfall and the annual worry of hosepipe restrictions mean we need to use the water we do have more efficiently to keep our plants in peak condition. More effective delivery Delivering water close to the plants’ roots in a slow, steady stream is far more efficient in terms of usage than using a sprinkler, where up to one-third of the water applied can be lost due to evaporation on a hot summer day. Watering is best done using a delivery system, but before installing one, you need to consider the needs of the plants, how they are arranged and the best way to apply…

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 Aeoniums swamp my greenhouse I THOUGHT you may like to see all these cuttings I took off a large, unwieldy aeonium of 20 years old. It took me some time to decide to do this but having watched a clip on Gardeners’ World about a lady who is fanatical about aeoniums, I decided the time had come to try and propagate these babies. I have potted them up in gritty compost and they all look quite perky. The next thing is what to do with so many? Well, we do have a plant sale coming up for the SHED in our village…

SUMMER’S coming and I’m going on a diet to get ‘beach ready’ – just as soon as I’ve finished these biscuits and the beer in the fridge! But looking through the list of possible weight-loss plans, it seems that all require depriving myself of something, whether it’s processed food for the Paleo diet, carbs for the Keto, or breakfast for the 5:2. I’m no dietographer-ist, but isn’t it better to eat small amounts of the widest range of foods than excluding some entirely? It’s what works best for plants, especially those grown in pots and containers. While many gardeners swear by a single brand of liquid feed, from experience I’ve found that plants do better when fed with a mix of meals. After six to eight weeks, most multi-purpose runs…

THIS week we have been celebrating HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and it seems only right and fitting that we look at some of the plants that she and her close family hold in high regard. Despite a lifetime travelling the world and visiting far-flung countries, it is reassuring to know that the plants and flowers they hold in high esteem will all thrive in our gardens. The Queen’s favourite is lily of the valley, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall favour delphiniums and ladies mantle, Princess Anne likes no-fuss hellebores and the Earl and Countess of Wessex have azaleas growing the grounds of their home. We have all of them somewhere in our patch, though our chalky soil means the azalea has to grow in a large…

A FLOWER show that was scrapped 50 years ago is making a welcome return. The St. Aldhelm’s Flower Show was a regular fixture on the Bournemouth calendar until 1972. Now champion grower David Bassil, who won his first flower show prize, aged 15, at the St Aldhelm’s show is organising its revival. David, who says his favourite flower is a dahlia, is a bit of a wow on the Bournemouth flower show circuit. Aged 17 he won the Bournemouth Horticultural Society trophy for the most points awarded at their three annual shows and he’s won the cup every year since, until 2020 when Covid restrictions caused the shows to be cancelled. I’d be delighted if a youngster beat me! Now 79-years-old, David is still a grower with great ambition. His…

I LOVE brassicas – cabbage, broccoli, spring and winter greens, even sprouts at a push – but we have had limited success thanks to the pigeons and cabbage white butterfly caterpillars that lay waste to our crops. There are only so many hours you can spend removing caterpillars by hand, only to find that another batch has hatched the next day! So this year we have come to our senses and netted our raised beds, using an Agriframes DIY crop cage, an economical and easy-to-assemble way to protect crops. We are using the structure over a raised bed planted with purple sprouting broccoli and it took less than an hour to put together. The netting is also easy to raise for weeding, watering and feeding. Make sure the netting is…

IT’S never too early to start planning ahead in gardening, and one of my (eternally postponed) resolutions this year is to sort out our ramshackle rockery. Helping me in this endeavour will be this week’s free seeds, which I am hoping will help me hide a multitude of sins and block lots of weeds once my renovation is done. Mr Fothergill’s Aubrieta ‘Cascade Mixed’ is a cushion-forming mass of glorious colours in attractive shades of pink. If sown now, this hardy perennial can be grown undercover and either be planted out where you want it to grow in autumn or kept undercover in pots until the following spring. If planted out before winter, it will put on root and top-growth then go dormant for winter and be in prime position…

1 Transplant any remaining pot-and cell-grown crops into their cropping places in ground or tubs as soon as possible. 2 You still have time to plant early and second-early varieties of potato sets and, with luck, even maincrops.  3 Now the soil is fairly warm, it’s also better for sowing late-cropping batches of peas, runner and French beans. 4 Have an old sharp knife (ideally on a length of brightly coloured twine) handy on your vegetable bed for cutting crops.…

Why don’t my saffron crocuses flower? Q I planted saffron crocuses a few years ago. The first season they did amazingly but since then they have been producing fewer flowers every year. Why is this and what can I do? Trevor Kent (via email) A Saffron crocuses need to be planted deeper than other varieties – about 6in (15cm) deep and 6in (15cm) apart, somewhere warm and sunny. The soil should be free-draining, fertile and with pH 7-8 (add lime if it is more acidic) – if you have poor soil it needs to be enriched by digging in lots of well rotted compost or manure. They are not ideal for naturalising and do best when not competing with other plants. They flower in autumn, with bulbs growing from August…

Q I’d like to grow some biennials for late spring and early summer flowers. Is it too late to sow, and what method should I use? Leona Dawson, Andover, Hampshire A Biennials are plants that are sown in late spring or early summer of one year, planted out from July to October, and then they flower the following year. I am a great fan of these floriferous plants because they bring colour from spring to midsummer, filling the gap before herbaceous perennials hit their stride. A few behave like short-lived perennials, but rarely repeat the loveliness of their first year of flowering. I find they work well in good numbers, filling gaps around the garden, and as such they are well worth raising from seed. Biennials are usually sown in…

WIN £20 The reader’s poetry section is so popular, why not give it a go? Patricia McCormick, from Telford, says “I wrote this many years ago and I still feel excited at the thought of that little garden, although I have a bigger one now”. February brings thesnowdropSweet little flower I cherish.You can stand a winter’snight,Where I alas, would perish. April brings the primroseLighting every spot.May, the nodding bluebellsAnd sweet forget-me-not. But oh, when the sun riseshigher in the sky,A sight to fill the senses andstop the passer-by!To me, it compares with allelse beneath the moon,My little cottage garden inthe month of June! Patricia McCormick Reader’s Tip A TIP for readers! Always keep a separate, labelled, watering can for use with any weedkiller, to avoid any costly mistakes. Mrs Katie…

1 Mulch lily of the valley after flowering to retain moisture around the roots. Let plants die back naturally to feed their rhizomes. 2 Ladies mantle can self seed prolifically so if plants pop up in the wrong spot, pot them up and grow them until you find a suitable home for them. 3 Cut back old hellebore leaves just before they flower and also after blooming in late spring to keep plants tidy and healthy. 4 Deadhead and give azaleas a gentle prune to keep them in shape once they have flowered, then feed and mulch.…

THE National Trust has celebrated the 40th anniversary of its Plant Conservation Centre (PCC), which plays a crucial role in conserving rare and historically important plants. The PCC has been propagating plants completely peat-free at an undisclosed site in Devon for more than 30 years. Treasured plants it is propagating include Rhododendron ‘Van Houttei Flore Pleno’, which was thought lost but rediscovered in the South East of England, and the iconic 400-year-old apple tree from Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire from which an apple fell and caused Isaac Newton to ask the question: ‘Why do apples always fall straight down to the ground?’ Among the experiments the PCC is carrying out is finding hedging alternatives to box plants in the face of the threats of blight and box caterpillars. The National…

1 After weeding the raised bed I added generous amounts of blood, fish and bone then forked in lots of well-rotted homemade compost for further enrichment. 2 Our plants are healthy garden centre plugs, which have been standing in water to give their roots a good soaking. 3 Before, planting, I firmed downthe soil with the back of a rake then planted each plug with plenty of space for healthy growth. 4 After firming in each plant I After firming in each plant I will make sure the soil stays damp during the growing season.…

5 June: Specialist Plant Fair, Morlands Farm, Wheatsheaf Road, Henfield, Near Horsham, West Sussex BN5 9AT. £10, 🖰 plant-fairs.co.uk for more details 5 June: Rare Plant Fair, High Glanau Manor, Lydart, Monmouth NP25 4AD. 11am-4pm, limited access as there are lots of steps and steep garden slopes. 5 June: Plant Hunters’ Fair, Arley Arboretum & Gardens, Upper Arley, Worcestershire DY12 1SQ. 10am-4pm, free entry to the fair. 6 June: Welly Walk, RHS Rosemoor, RHS Garden Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 7 June: Wildlife Walk, RHS Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8RA. 8 June: Fantastic Ferns and Rosemoor’s Stumpery, RHS Rosemoor, RHS Garden Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 8 June: Getting the Best out of Your Roses, RHS Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8RA. 11-12 June: London…

MOST gardeners love roses and I am no exception. Mine are just beginning to bud up and flower, and I can hardly wait. As a wildlife-friendly gardener, I have to choose my roses carefully because I can’t use fungicides for blackspot. The foliage on my roses has to stay healthy throughout summer and autumn. This isn’t such a problem these days, as there are plenty of healthy roses that don’t succumb to blackspot because rose breeders are selecting healthier varieties on their trial fields. They don’t want to use fungicides on their nurseries and rose fields. It’s expensive and uses up valuable man hours. Roses are not only healthier than they were, but they’ve changed shape, too. Modern roses are far more compact and bushier than they used to be,…

OUR planet is suffering – of this there is no doubt! Scientists and environmentalists tell us that we have less than 10 years to turn things around. Reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is key to it all, and there are 1,001 ways that we can do this – from building wind farms to reducing air miles. But then there is the issue of pollution, from air toxicity to plastics in the sea. And, there is a devastating loss of wildlife, from birds to bees – and plants! This Sunday (5 June) is World Environment Day, a global attempt to keep the issue of our planet’s health at the top of the news agenda. What should gardeners do? Let’s find out. The probability of peat AS gardeners, we know that…

1 Direct sowing work best for wallflowers are healthy young plants, you can move them to their final positions, firming in well. 2 Tiny seeds barely need covering, so press them lightly into the surface or cover with a light scattering of vermiculite and press lightly so the seeds sit among the particles. Keep them gently shaded to avoid drying out. 3 Pots of germinated foxglove seedlings are at the right stage for transplanting grid-fashion to seed trays or one per module for planting out later. They are fiddly, but well worth the effort for towering spires of tubular flowers. 4 The seedlings of honesty and sweet rocket are large. Sow thinly to a wide pot for transplanting one per pot, or sow one per module. They may need potting…