Innholdsfortegnelse for 1-Oct-2022 i Amateur Gardening

THE use of peat in compost in England will be banned by 2024. The announcement by Defra follows a public consultation, to which AG readers were asked to add their voice. More than 5,000 people responded to the Government’s requests for public opinion, with the vast majority in favour of a ban on retail peat compost sales. Bagged retail growing media accounts for 70% of the peat sold in the UK and is frequently misused, being used as a soil improver rather than a medium in which to propagate plants. However, there is growing disquiet among the horticultural industry and many gardeners that the ban is being implemented before gardening brands are able to make enough peat-free growing media that offers consistently excellent growing. The quality of peat-free compost currently…

IF our brains were on autopilot, pears would play second fiddle to apples, but once you discover a home-grown example of these juice-filled, aromatic fruits pear trees will sit at the top of your must-grow list. The shape of things to come Originating from central Asia, it’s a well-known fact that pears enjoy life in the warmth. I look after a row of eight trained against a sunny brick wall and they crop prolifically, giving us early eaters, late mellowers and everything in between. They are trained as espaliers, the pear’s free-spurring nature lending itself to this shape readily; cordons are also a cinch – and both kinds are pruned in summer and winter. There’s no grass around the roots – pears demand a lot of nutrition and water, so…

WHO doesn’t love a lily? And for some people, being able to grow their favourite lily in a container, where they can admire it – or smell its sweet fragrance – up close, is essential. Our most dramatic lily types are the large-flowered Oriental and Asiatic hybrids, which come in a cocktail of bright colours and markings on their trumpet-shaped blooms. Although the best time to plant lilies in pots is now so they settle in well before winter, they are not always available until late autumn, or even winter and spring. This is because commercial bulb producers must wait to harvest their lily bulbs until after the plants’ leaves have died back, and this may not happen until November or later. Fortunately, some nurseries have found a way around…

LIFE is never dull within Heather and David Neale’s garden. Colourful foliage ensures the square plot behind their home in Barnwood, on the edge of Gloucester, is always rich in hue and the perfect background for pops of colour from seasonal flowering plants. Come summer the ensemble expands to include the red, pink, purple and yellow-green leaves of more than 30 acers, which add an extra layer of interest to the rich tapestry created by stalwart conifers and evergreens, with some clipped into geometric shapes to accentuate their structural value. Various hydrangeas, bamboos and ornamental grasses also contribute to the picture for much of the year. This permanent planting provides a colourful background for more fleeting blooms, starting with thousands of snowdrops and followed by tête-à-tête daffodils, with roses and…

YOU’LL find articles both praising the economy of homegrown produce and lambasting its expense. Of course, you cannot compare anyway, not when the freshness and varieties are so different. And it’s rather missing the point of many of the benefits (and thus value) of those very real pleasures we gain by growing our own food. But if we are talking solely in cash terms, let’s not overlook the comparative return from growing flowers for the table. It’s hard to buy a decent bunch of flowers for less than several pounds, and they seldom last more than a week or so. So if you already regularly buy flowers for your home, you could be saving hundreds of pounds a year by growing some of these rather than more bags of vegetables…

Complete Allium Collection Create an explosion of colour for your garden, patio or decking … YOU SAVE £7.00! A wonderful selection of 100 outstanding Allium bulbs, these are sure to create an explosion of colour and provide spectacular displays for your garden, patio or decking. The mix of varieties is ideal for the amateur gardener as they are very tough and hardy, making them extremely easy to look after. • A massive 100 bulb pack of these amazing Spring flowering bulbs • A mass of sparkler like flowers and neat spheres of lilacs, blues, purples and white • Plant this Autumn (Sep-Jan) for flowers following Spring every year • Perfect in drifts in borders, or in pots, they make lovely fresh or dried cut flowers too FIND MORE FANTASTIC OFFERS…

This word search comprises words associated with autumn flowers. They are listed below; in the grid they may be read across, backwards, up, down or diagonally. Letters may be shared between words. Erroneous or duplicate words may appear in the grid, but there is only one correct solution. After the listed words are found there are nine letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s KEYWORD. AUTUMN FLOWERS SNOW FLAKE ANEMONE BROWN COLCHICUM COOL CROCUS DAHLIA DEW ECHINACEA GENTIAN LIRIOPE NERINE RUDBECKIA SEDUM No: 640 HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 640, Amateur Gardening, Future Publishing Limited, Unit 415, Winnersh Triangle, Eskdale Road, Winnersh, RG41 5TP, to arrive by Wednesday 12 October 2022. The first correct entry…

Q I would like to save money by collecting seeds to sow next year. Will they all come true (especially tomatoes) and what is the best way to extract tomato seed? Sammy Menchin, Congleton, Cheshire A Seeds collected from species and open-pollinated varieties of plants usually yield offspring resembling their parents with little variation. When it comes to promiscuous plants such as courgettes and pumpkins, where several cultivars are grown close together, there can be a wide variation from seed, with plants sometimes producing bitter fruits or making massive vines. Runner beans are pollinated by bees, and where several different types are grown together they may not come true. Seeds from an isolated cultivar (as long as it is not an F1) should come true. Peas and French beans are…

1 Keep hard surfaces free of debris, moss and algae that can become dangerously slippery. Clear drainage channels to reduce the risk of flooding. 2 Clean your greenhouse to make it fit for overwintering plants. Make sure panes are securely fitted, adding more clips if necessary. 3 Clean and sharpen tools and put everything put away. Store chemicals somewhere cool and dry, always in their original containers. 4 Be vigilant for pests including slugs and snails hiding under stored pots and looking for sanctuary in the greenhouse. Check houseplants for scale insects and other sap-suckers. 5 Dispose of rose leaves with signs of black spot disease then mulch plants well to bury the spores. Look for signs of mould and mildew and improve ventilation around affected plants. 6 Sort and…

I ALWAYS feel optimistic at this time of year. Ever since I realised that winter does not have to be a time of empty borders and empty containers, I make a few simple container plantings to bring light and life to our shortest days. But why wait until December or January? Make up winter containers now and you can choose from a vast range of early bulbs, shrubs and perennials. Start now, and your plants will be settled in before chilly weather hits and be much more likely to take winter in their stride. Flowers and foliage Plants for winter containers come in three broad groups. Flowers, first, of course, including early bulbs, violas and pansies, plus select winter-flowering shrubs. Foliage is an even more important feature, and evergreen shrubs…

ACROSS 1 From this Saturday onwards, the hosta cultivar is ‘Red _______’! (7) 6 A white rose was the emblem of this royal house (4) 7 Sicilian volcano and a variety of both astilbe and potentilla (4) 8 Nervous or timid with other people, as in the dahlia variety ‘___ Princess’ (3) 9 Enemy found in the stinking iris (I. foetidissima)! (3) 10 Mesh item for scooping ten fish swimming in reverse! (3) 11 Common name for Euonymus europaeus (7) 12 ‘Branching ___’: the hosta cultivar that’s just not ‘in’! (3) 13 and 14 across This season! (3 and 3, making 6) 14 See 13 across 15 The wicked Hemerocallis ‘____ Gnome’ will live backwards! (4) 16 Vetch contains an art process using strong acid to cut into metal! (4)…

Masterpiece in bloom FURTHER to Hazel Sillver’s feature regarding front gardens (AG, 13 August), I thought I would forward some photos of mine. I have been enjoying working on the garden. Not only meeting and talking to many passersby but also students taking photos for school projects, one lady wanted to press some flowers. In the words of French author, Marcel Proust, “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom”. David Alberts, Long Stratton, Norfolk Wendy says Bravo! I’m sure your garden made many people happy this summer WIN £20 Please continue to send us your gardening-themed poems. Reader Lynette Mantle, from Tewkesbury, says: “This poem was inspired by the season alongside National Poetry Day on 6 October…