Innholdsfortegnelse for 9-Jul-2022 i Amateur Gardening

“Patience is the key to gardening, and sometimes we must accept a long wait before enjoying the benefits of our work. Nearly four years ago, I planted an apple tree and the crop has been a regular four or five apples; delicious, but hardly numerous. However, when I look out on my tree this year, I count 23 young apples and I’m already planning pies and salads! The tree is quite close to a rambling rose and the latter has made itself known to my young tree. If only I could fast-forward 15 years and see the rambler having established itself around the apple tree’s trunk, with roses everywhere and branches heavy with apples. I guess I’ll have to be patient!”…

WHILE flowering shrubs such as Weigela and Philadelphus are pruned now to give them enough time to produce mature wood for next year’s blossom, other trees get a summer trim to keep them healthy and protect them from disease. These varieties include plums and gages, cherries including ornamental trees, apricots, peaches, nectarines, rhododendrons and laburnum. We cut them back in midsummer, rather than when they are dormant like fruiting trees such as apples and pears, because they are vulnerable to silver leaf disease. This is caused by a common fungus called Chondrostereum purpureum, the spores of which are most prevalent between September and May. Because it is easily transmitted via wounds such as those caused by pruning, susceptible trees and shrubs get their trim when the risk is lowered. Symptoms…

THE June drop, when fruit trees shed their excess fruitlets, is over now so it’s time for gardeners to step in and remove the final necessary few. There are several reasons for doing this. The first is to give the fruit left in place enough sunlight and good airflow to ripen healthily and to a good size. Thinning also helps protect against over-fruiting, which can lead to overladen branches breaking under the weight of too many fruits. It also reduces the risk of biennial fruiting, when trees produce a huge crop one year then take a year or two ‘off’. There are different ‘rules’ for different fruits. When thinning a cluster of apples, take the large central fruitlet, the ‘king’, which is often misshapen. Leave two fruits per cluster, making…

WHEN you’ve grown something for the first time and there’s no one handy to ask advice, it can be tricky to harvest your prize at just the right moment. Obviously few of us would have any difficulties picking ripe strawberries – or would we? After all, if you know only the bright-red supermarket sorts you may not realise that some of the best flavoured strawberries have the finest aroma as they darken, as you might imagine they were gone over from their deep colour. For most fruits the clues are there – when the birds and wasps start eating any variety, it is ripe! And if the fruits start to fall, they’re going over (other than melons, which are only then just perfect). True, if you dig up a potato…

NO allotment or edible garden would be complete without raspberry canes, but how do you ensure that your yields are abundant, flavoursome and healthy? The classic red raspberry is a suckering shrub native to Europe, so it’s well suited to cooler, moister garden conditions. Look also for yellow-fruited types such as ‘Alpengold’ and black-fruited American varieties like ‘Starlight’ that claim a richer flavour. Canes are either bristly or spine-free. There are two cropping types: floricane (summer-fruiting) and primocane (autumn-fruiting). Summer varieties, depending on which one you choose, will be ready for harvest from now (ie ‘Glen Moy’) to mid August (ie ‘Leo’). They bear their fruit on canes produced the previous year, so simply prune out fruited stems immediately after cropping and tie in the new stems to replace them;…

In this extract from AG 23 May 1970, Christopher Lloyd, of Great Dixter fame, looks at fragrant plants Full of fragrance Christopher Lloyd looks at plants whose perfume fills the air A GREAT many plants are aromatic. We pinch a leaf of thyme, mint, lavender or lemon-scented verbena as we pass by and immediately a pungent aroma assails us. But a few plants will come to meet us with their foliage scent; their essence is floating on the air ready to take us by surprise. We feel particularly grateful to them for not requiring that premeditated act of pinching on our part. The balsam poplars typify the sort of plant I mean. All poplars have a pleasing smell that characterises the genus, but in these balsamic types it is much…

WIN £20 Please continue to send in your gardening-themed poems. This week, Colin Berry describes his gardening day, his man-cave and the plot that he and his wife love to tend… I’ve now retired and own a mediumsize plot,Where I grow fruit, veg and flowerswhich I love a lot.I’m only an amateur who growsfrom seed,But tasting all products of labour isnice indeed. I grew up in the 60s helping my dad,Digging in manure, he was so glad.It was later in the year when our familyate well,Where fruit and veg gave off alovely smell. Working many hours all of my life,But still had time to meet mybeautiful wife.So lucky for me she loved her garden,Watching all of our produce growand harden. Now today both in 60 plus,Our garden always surprises bothof…

THERE is generally something to prune at most times of the year and in midsummer we turn our attention to flowered shrubs and certain fruit trees. This week I’ve been trimming an early summer flowering Weigela and Deutzia, as well as to our ornamental cherry tree, ‘Victoria’ plum and greengage. The deciduous Deutzia and Weigela, alongside Philadelphus and Kolkwitzia are cut back immediately after they have flowered to give this year’s subsequent growth ample time to mature enough to produce next year’s blossom. Leave it too late and they won’t flower as well (this is the same reason why we prune forsythia, which flowers in early spring, straight after it has bloomed). When tackling these shrubs, cut back the side branches to just above a healthy leaf bud. New buds…

ROSES should be at heir peak now and if you have been deadheading regularly they will be carrying plenty of buds for their second flowering. However, because we’ve had rather temperamental weather so far this summer, with plenty of rain and humidity, you may find that some of the flowers have failed to open. Instead they’ve stayed as tightly furled buds, some of which may have been attacked by grey mould. This is a phenomenon called flower balling and it happens when buds are dampened by rain, which glues the outer petals together, sealing them shut. Try to remove affected buds before they attract grey mould, then cut away any weeds and other vegetation that is blocking light and air to your rose. Feed roses after their initial burst of…

From Marigold Durango Mix The sheer brightness of colours in this French Marigold series opens up a whole range of colour theming opportunities in pots and borders.Durango is a series of large anemone-flowered Marigolds, each flower to 5cm across, and is renowned for it’s easy natural branching habit, filling up space well. ONLY £4.99 BETTER THAN HALF PRICE! 20 x Garden Ready Plants - ITEM: 400981 Lobelia ‘Crystal Palace Blue’ Huge numbers of incredibly intense, rich blue flowers literally pour out of these amazing plants month after month. Lobelia 'Crystal Palace Blue' is the perfect filler plant for pots, planters and hanging baskets, rockeries and even large scale border plantings. ONLY £4.99 BETTER THAN HALF PRICE! 20 x Garden Ready Plants - ITEM: 400980 Busy Lizzie ‘Beacon’ The number-one bedding…

MARGUERITES are small, short-lived, frost-tender shrubs with masses of daisy-like flowers in summer and sometimes for longer. The plants are more or less evenly rounded in shape, the new growth soon becoming woody and developing into a repeatedly branched evergreen shrub. The irregularly divided leaves vary from dark green to silvery grey, sometimes split into slender divisions. The flowers can be single, like daisies, crested or anemone-centred, with a crown of short petals in the centre of each flower, or double with a mass of petals. Various flower forms The flowers come in reds, yellows and pinks, plus white, in their various flower forms. Some of the prettiest varieties have flowers with rings of colour around the golden eye while in others the flowers change colour as they mature or…

This week it’s: It’s National Barbecue Week Forget the weather – bring out the barbie LAST week we were celebrating the start of National Picnic Month. Now, we are wheeling out the rusty cobweb-covered grill again, to get hot and dirty with British National Barbecue Week (4-10 July). This will be its 26th year! As part of the activities, organisers (Grocery Gurus Ltd) run the annual Baptas – like the Bafta Awards, just with more coleslaw! Award categories include: Best-ever BBQ, Funniest-ever BBQ and Strangest-ever BBQ! Let’s take a sideways look at the world of barbecues. ■ Due to Covid lockdowns, barbecuing and ‘at-home eating’ is now the UK’s No1 summer home leisure activity, with three out of four households in the UK now owning some type of barbecue grill. Lump…

When planting rhododendrons, set a cane or place your hand across the top of the planting hole, to make sure the stem remains at the same level as it was in the nursery or pot. Lime-tolerant Rhododendron White Dufthecke (Inkharho) has performed well on our neutral soil. Lilac buds open to fragrant, creamy-white flowers. If you only have a few rhododendrons at moderate heights, snapping off dead flowers will save energy otherwise spent on seed production. After a spring feed of ericaceous plant fertiliser, seal in moisture and keep weeds down by spreading a 2in (5cm) thick mulch of shredded bark over the roots.…

I DON’T know if it was Confucius, Augustus or, err, Yoda, but the Maji that said “nothing is worse than falling into a rose bush… except falling into a rose bush off a ladder” was obviously speaking from experience. I mention this because, after years of procrastination, I have finally been forced to drag my rickety ladder from the garage to tackle the gargantuan tangle of briars that is our ‘Rambling Rector’. It’s a beautiful rose with butter-yellow petals that fade to white before falling where they cover the floor like confetti after a wedding. But this year, under the weight of new growth, it’s sagging from its ‘pulpit’ – the 16ft (5m)-tall holly tree it clambers through worrying the postman as he walks up the path, and tearing at…

SOUTH American weevils have been released in England to fight the invasive non-native plant species floating pennywort. An ornamental pond plant originating from North America, floating pennywort has the ability to grow up to 20cm a day, forming dense rafts over rivers that harm native plant, fish and invertebrate species. Floating pennywort impedes navigation routes, disrupts recreational activities and exacerbates flood risk. Safe, sustainable management Since 2011, the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), with Defra funding, has been investigating the potential use of a biocontrol agent for floating pennywort. Following a decade of tests, the weevil Listronotus elongatus has been released to manage the plant. Adult weevils feed on the leaves of floating pennywort and females lay eggs into their stalks. The larvae then eat into the stems…

I AM sure many of us planted patio containers and baskets with summer bedding a few weeks ago, and now the first flush of growth is done, it’s time to start a regular regime of care. Feeding, watering, deadheading and checking for pests are all needed between now and autumn, when annual bedding is usually composted and perennials potted up and moved undercover for winter. Proprietary compost formulated for baskets and containers usually comes with several weeks of fertiliser already added, along with compounds that control the release of water so that plants are steadily hydrated – though this doesn’t mean you don’t have to water at all! But by now a lot of the fertiliser will have been taken up by the plants and need replenishing, and we are…

LAST August, on the 14th, I wrote about Buglife’s splatometer app. Buglife, the only charity devoted to invertebrates, asked people who were about to make a journey to clean their vehicle’s front number plate before leaving. On arrival, you were asked to photograph the insects on the number plate and submit the picture via the Buglife app. This citizen science would help Buglife (🖰 buglife.org.uk) to assess the decline in insect life. This year’s app went live on 1 June. The results of last year’s survey are in, to use a Strictly term. The news percolated through on 5 May this year, the day when many voted in the local elections. The BBC, which can’t cover any political stories on election days, for obvious reasons, found space for two important…

How do I propagate this mystery plant? Q What is this plant growing really well in our garden. Can I propagate it? Sandra Jones (via email) A The shrub in question is California allspice (Calycanthus occidentalis). A native of California in the USA, it grows to around 10ft (3m) and has aromatic dark-red flowers. I am pleased that yours is flourishing. It is not commonly seen and it makes a garden special. Most plant centres stock it or should be able to order it for you. If not, it is available from many of the main online retailers. The best way to propagate it is to take half-ripe cuttings in early August. Start by tugging side shoots from the main stem, complete with a heel of bark. Then shorten cuttings…

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 things you might cook on a barbecue! Answers: CLOONEY (singer) = Shrager…

IRIS germanica varieties, sold as bearded or flag irises, are herbaceous perennials with attractive flowers in many colours and horizontal rhizomes (modified stems). They flower best when these stems are on the soil surface, where the sun can bake them in summer to promote the formation of buds for the following year. New rhizomes These irises usually only flower once from each section of rhizome and then, as flowering finishes, new rhizomes begin to form from the old ones. These will go on to produce flowering stems for the following year. The new rhizomes are usually large enough to be removed from the parent plant about six weeks after flowering has finished. Once replanted, this gives the divisions enough time to produce new growth for the following season before they…

EVEN rose briars going in the opposite direction can be trained with supports. Take a length of twine and tie a noose in one end. Loop the other end around the briar and the support. Slip this end through the noose and pull, tightening the loop and drawing the briar towards the support. When the briar’s no longer easy to bend (and well before breaking point), stop pulling and tie off the string. After a couple of weeks, the rose will tighten slightly. Repeat until the briar is ‘set’ in the required position.…