Innholdsfortegnelse for 13-Aug-2022 i Amateur Gardening

“Whatever happened to the traditional front garden? One rarely sees them, as so many have been paved over for parking. Whilst I understand the practicality (and, in many urban areas, the need), it is a great shame for both environmental and aesthetic reasons. In some areas, there is now great concern about flooding, just because of this parking trend. The front of the house is the first glimpse anyone gets of your property, and a great opportunity to create a display that is welcoming, easy to maintain and environmentally beneficial. Is it possible to split the space — half for the car, and half for beauty and the environment? Why not give it some thought and check out Hazel Sillver’s great front garden ideas on page 28? They might inspire…

WHILE a greenhouse is an excellent addition to any garden, they can be plagued with problems in the summer – though none of them are insurmountable. Heat is the most obvious one, especially during a summer like this one when we are experiencing record-breaking high temperatures. At the time of writing the temperature in our greenhouse is 30°C/86°F and we are well past the hottest time of day. There are several problems when temperatures in the greenhouse reach uncomfortable levels. The first ones are obvious – scorched leaves and wilted plants, and then there’s glasshouse red spider mites that thrive in hot dry atmospheres. Shading the panes is a good start, either with netting or washable glass paint. Dampening the floor with water in the morning helps reduce temperatures and…

AS we creep towards autumn the main target in the flower garden is to keep our beds colourful and healthy for as long as possible. It is time to balance care with ruthlessness – continue to deadhead and feed plants regularly but don’t be afraid to remove those that are past their best or showing signs of disease. It is too late in the season to use fungicides against problems such as black spot and powdery mildew so you need to remove and bin leaves afflicted by these problems. It is best to remove badly affected annuals altogether to prevent the spread of disease spores and improve airflow through borders. Water consistently, as this helps keep powdery mildew at bay, and don’t forget to feed flowering plants fortnightly with a…

THIS week’s free seeds are Viola ‘Johnny Jump Up’, hardy perennials perfect for borders and containers. Long-flowering, this is a compact variety that is ideal for edging beds as well as filling containers and boxes. A traditional heartsease, ‘Johnny’ produces sweet ‘smiling face’ flowers in shades of purple and yellow and unlike their larger cousins, the pansy, these are more weather-resistant and will happily self-seed, forming a colourful carpet. If this does happen, the seedlings are easy to lift and move elsewhere, or you can leave them in place. This variety is happy in sun and light shade, though try to plant them away from areas where violas or pansies have been growing recently because they are susceptible to a fungal disease called leaf spot. The spores can remain in…

THE name coneflower gives it away. Each flower is like a large upward-facing daisy with a ring of narrow petals surrounding a striking cone-shaped eye that can be very dark, giving it the common name of black-eyed Susan, or honey-coloured or gold. Individual flowering stems carry one, or perhaps a few, flowers and are held upright emerging through mounds of rough dark-green leaves. Perennials and annuals Coneflowers come in hardy perennial types and they also come as annuals (sometimes known as gloriosa daisies). These summer and autumn-blooming flowers are usually yellow, although red-flowered varieties are now available along with a variety of mahogany, chestnut and russet shades. Some have fully double flowers made up of a large number of petals that hide the cone. These are all, scientifically speaking, rudbeckia.…

In this extract from AG 16 May 1970 we look at one of the greatest gardeners of all time UNLIKE some 18th century garden designers, Lancelot Brown really knew his gardening. Rung by rung he climbed the gardening ladder, reaching Stowe in Buckinghamshire in 1740. Starting as kitchen gardener, he was soon promoted to head gardener and collaborated with the great William Kent, who had been engaged to improve the layout. From him he learned the art of garden design. Brown’s name was made when, lent to Lord Brooke to improve Warwick Castle gardens, his work earned the commendation of writer Horace Walpole. In 1751 he set up in business as a garden designer on his own account. Brown is sometimes spoken of as if he were the inventor of…

ANT day, as it’s known, is when winged black ants head to the skies, their silver wings flashing in the sunshine as they rise. With no shortage of baggage handlers or queues on the runway, the numbers taking the short haul into the heavens is astonishing. Swarms can contain many millions and be a colossal 50 miles wide! Ant day is also revealing. I knew from the tell-tale crumbs of sand on the patio that there was a nest below, but it turns out our garden is an aardvark’s dream, with ants breaking cover from nest-top launch sites in the pots, the lawn and even under the roof tiles of the house. I know some are squeamish about these airborne mini-beasts, but they are remarkable. Not only are they winged…

WE are at the time of year when the garden is growing well but is also potentially very vulnerable to a host of problems, exacerbated this year by the ferocious heatwave that hit in mid-July. The main culprits are pests, disease and drought, and together or individually, they can all wreak havoc in the garden. As well as causing plants to wilt and weaken, poor watering or prolonged dry spells, can cause nutrient deficiencies Symptoms include weak growth, spindly stems, poor fruiting and flowering and pale, yellowing leaves. Help plants recover by feeding once a month between April and the end of August with a general purpose fertiliser such as Vitax Q4 or Growmore. Don’t keep feeding into the autumn as the soft new growth generated will be vulnerable to…

ALTHOUGH it is all going on in the garden, houseplants are also in full growing mode. Most will need regular watering and feeding and you will also need to check them over for pests that to break in through open windows. Stand plant pots on a layer of damp gravel to raise humidity around the plants and mist their leaves. Cacti and succulents are the exception to frequent watering as soggy compost will cause them to rot. Give them a good soak, then don’t water again until the compost is dry, and feed them occasionally with a solution of liquid tomato fertiliser. You can propagate houseplants in summer too. Small rooted offshoots of spider plants can be potted up and the leaves of African violets and streptocarpus can also be…

Can you name this late blooming beauty? QCan you please identify the flower in this picture? It suddenly appeared and seems to spread easily. Margaret Fyfe (via email) AThe plant you have asked us to identify is called Kaffir Lily. Its Latin name is Schizostylis coccinea. More closely related to iris than lilies, it is a rhizomatous perennial native to South Africa. The species has red flowers, occasionally pink, and there are numerous named cultivars in shades of pink and red. It used to be considered to be an autumn-flowering plant but I frequently find mine are coming into flower at this time of year, luckily lasting well into the autumn and towards winter. And you are right that it does spread easily. I had one small clump a few…

THIS year’s National Allotments Week takes place from 8-14 August. The week was first held in 2002, to raise awareness of allotments and the role they play in helping people to live healthier lifestyles, grow their own food, develop friendships and bolster communities. It’s the initiative of the National Allotment Society. ■ This year, the theme for the week is Bugs, Bees and Broccoli, to demonstrate the importance of gardening with nature in mind. Whether you are a member of the NAS or not, you are invited to take a short, easy survey on your plot this summer, to contribute to the monitoring of mini beasts. Visit nsalg.org uk. What is an ‘allotment’? THIS is actually a reasonable question, because there is such a difference in terms of size, sites,…

MANY plants that flowered earlier in the summer will have gone over now and their seedheads either ripened or in the process of ripening. Collecting and storing seeds of favourite varieties is a great way of making sure plants grow where you want them to be (rather than letting Mother Nature scatter them where she fancies) and it will also save money. Seeds are usually ripe around two months after flowering, when the seedheads or pods change colour from green to brown, black to red. Collect them before the pods open and the seeds disperse, and only collect from healthy, vigorous plants. Either shake seeds straight into a pot or envelope or lay the seedheads on paper somewhere warm to dry out. Large seeds, such as honeywort (Cerinthe) are easy…

AS a young thing in my 20s, I owned two canoes and I used to persuade one of my friends to paddle down the River Avon in Warwickshire with me on a summer’s evening. We went from Wasperton to Evesham and back. The flow of the river took us downstream with little effort, although going back was tougher. In the early 1970s, the river south of Warwick was very peaceful, and it was a lovely way to spend a quiet evening. There was no better way to see wildlife: kingfishers, sand martins and herons carried on regardless. It seemed that every few yards or so, there would be a satisfying ‘plop’ as yet another chestnut-brown water vole took to the river, swimming strongly with much of its body above the…

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 connected with allotments. Answers: ONY (peony) = Riwinkle (periwinkle), Sticide (pesticide), Rennial…

Steve Bradley MA MHort (RHS) has written (or co-written) over 40 gardening books, including Propagation Basics, The Pruner’s Bible, The Ground Force Workbook and What’s Wrong With My Plant? He is resident expert on BBC Radio Kent, Sussex and Surrey, and he has built medal-winning gardens at both Chelsea and Hampton Court Palace. You can listen to Steve on alternate Sundays 10am-2pm on BBC Radio Kent’s Sunday Gardening (BBC Local) NOT everyone has room for a ‘proper’ garden, but that need not stop you from growing plants. Even the smallest area can accommodate a few individual pots or a miniature garden made with a collection of plants that will stay small. Even better, if you are a student or you rent your home, the plants can move with you when…