Innholdsfortegnelse for 05/12/2015 i Amateur Gardening

YOU HAVE to laugh. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s War On Waste two part TV series last month rang a lot of bells for anyone who has grown their own fruit & veg. His campaign highlighted how supermarkets refuse to offer wonky carrots and parsnips; blemished root veg; odd sized potatoes, apples, courgettes – entirely at the farmers’ cost – because they claim they wouldn’t sell… but we’d eat them, wouldn’t we? That’s because we love the ones we grow ourselves, all uneven, all individual, because we wouldn’t waste a scrap of the effort put into growing them. Hugh’s revelations about the dumping of ‘imperfect’ crops and the effect it had on farmers was shocking. But be honest, even we gardeners can be fussy when we shop for fruit and veg. We’re paying…

I DON’T think that humble herbs get the credit they deserve. Not only do they add flavour to our food, but they bring colour, scent and texture to the garden in summer and, in the case of hardy perennials including sage, rosemary, thyme and chives, throughout the year. They are versatile plants, as happy in a well-drained bed as they are in a patio container, so they will meet your needs whatever size garden you have. Provided the ground is not waterlogged or frozen, you can plant young herbs now. This gives them time to get established so they will flower next summer, and give you fresh flavourings for your cooking through the winter and spring too. Perennial herbs to choose • Keep interest going by choosing different varieties of…

IF YOU planted prepared bulbs in the autumn, they should be well on their way to giving you a beautiful show over Christmas. I left mine to sprout in the garage – and forgot about them. I suspect I’m not alone in that failing! But all is not lost. My Narcissus ‘Paper White’ may look weak and pale, but they will recover in daylight. I remembered about the freesias I planted, and they are looking healthy on a well-lit windowsill. A hyacinth left over from last year is also doing well – the house is going to look and smell wonderful! Three blooms you can look forward to: Caring for forced plants top tip Keep forced plants away from draughts and artificial heat, especially radiators. If leaves develop faster than…

1 Start by getting rid of weeds and stones, and then give the planting area a good digging-over to loosen up any soil that has become compacted. 2 Dig a trench, with one side less steep than the other. Untie the bundles of plants, and gently loosen their roots. 3 Lie the plants so their roots are at the bottom of the trench, and the plants are resting against the shallower-angled side. 4 Gently start to shovel soil back into the trench, making sure it fills in, around, and below the rootballs. 5 Tread in the soil to get rid of air pockets, and make sure the roots are surrounded. Water well. The whips can stay here for several weeks, until they can be planted.…

• Shop pickle doesn’t cut the mustard. My chutney, from a glut of green tomatoes this year, will make a piquant gift. • Plant up an old container with spring bedding plants, to give to those who are housebound, or don’t have their own garden. • Hyacinths, amaryllis, narcissi – bulb plants make gorgeous gifts; they’ll bring colour and scent into the home well into the spring. • For a gift that’ll keep giving for three years at least, plant up some strawberry runners. Ask in return for one or two fruits next summer!…

Mint & Lime Ice Lollies Use your remaining garden mint to make these healthy and tasty lollies for your kids or grandkids, they’ll love them! Preparation time: 15 minutes Freezing time: 3 hours Makes: 8-10 lollies Ingredients: • 500ml/17fl oz water • 150g/5oz granulated sugar • 1 big bunch of fresh mint, leaves and stems • 4 limes, juiced • 2 lemons, juiced Method 1 Put the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the mint leaves and stems to the boiling mixture. 2 Cover with a lid, and steep until cool. 3 Strain the syrup through a sieve, discarding the mint. 4 Add the juice of 4 limes and 2 lemons to the mint syrup. It…

DATES FOR seed sowing can be critical if you want to get the earliest crops and late sowings to extend into the autumn and winter. Sow celery and celeriac indoors too early, so that plants are ready to go out when cold weather and frosty nights are probable, and the chances are they will bolt up to premature flowering. In the same way, summer sowings of Chinese cabbage and fennel, grown for their swollen base, will just run up straight to flowering and seed set. Similarly, autumn sowings of broad beans, lettuce and garden peas, made too early, will produce tall, sappy seedlings that won’t survive the winter frosts. There’s also the added complication of geographic location – gardens on the south coast and in the south-west (where temperatures are…

EDIBLE GARDEN SHOW Christine Walkden, James Wong and Pippa Greenwood will star at the Edible Garden Show (Stoneleigh, 11-13 March) theediblegardenshow.co.uk. BEES DECLINE STUDY Researchers at the National Botanic Garden of Wales are looking into why honey bees and beneficial pollinators are in decline across Europe. GARDEN CHEMICAL SAFETY New regulations now require garden centres to have a trained member of staff available where garden chemicals are sold to customers. BLEAK FUTURE FOR WONKY VEG The public won’t buy wonky veg, Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe told the Daily Mail. TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (left) wants waste cut. WYEVALE GROWS AGAIN Wyevale Garden Centres has expanded again. It bought Sidmouth Garden Centre in Devon and Wych Cross Nurseries in East Sussex.…

A MUCH-loved horticultural therapy centre that helped hundreds of people with mental health problems over the years is facing the axe. Link Nurseries at Powick near Malvern is under threat because local health commissioners are cutting £250,000 from its budget. The Friends of Link Nurseries, which supports the centre, says its closure would be a “catastrophe,” resulting in the loss of a facility unique in the county. At the centre, off Hospital Lane, people with a variety of mental health problems grow fruit, vegetables and plants which are then offered for sale to the public. Judith Aldridge, secretary of the Friends, said: “Link Nurseries is popular with the public. Hundreds of people come to coffee mornings, open days and plant and produce sales. At our last open day, people were…

Robin teapot nester House of Bath 0871 230 0867 houseofbath.co.uk Frost resistant ceramic with a rustic finish. Ideal for robins flycatchers, wrens and wagtails. H: 8in (20cm) W: 5 1/2in (14cm) D: 5 1/4in (13.5cm). Kneeler Dobbies stores and on-line 0131 561 6406 dobbies.com Floral and feminine, foam filled kneeler with easy clean cotton polyurethane coated surface The water-lily pond watch The National Gallery 020 7747 2870 nationalgallery.co.uk Features Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond from his garden at Giverny in France. Synthetic strap and transparent finishing touches with a diameter of 1 1/3in (35mm). Gardener’s gubbins pots Burgon & Ball 0845 548 0210 annabeljames.co.uk Bring order to all those gardening bits and bobs (not included). Designed by Sophie Conran for Burgon and Ball the 10 1/4in (26cm)…

It’s a burning topic! YOU WERE right to say that the topic of burning rubbish in gardens is guaranteed to get people fired up ( AG 7 November)! There are many warm summer’s evenings, sitting in our garden enjoying a glass of wine, when we’re sent scurrying indoors because our garden has suddenly been filled with choking smoke from a neighbour’s fire. Sometimes we’re prevented from working in the garden for the same reason too. So please AG , don’t encourage your readers to incinerate their garden rubbish. This, along with barking dogs, is one of the biggest causes of disputes between neighbours. Please don’t stoke the fire! Kevin McElhill, Sevenoaks, Kent A lemon lookalike? I’M A great fan of citrus and…

IF YOU can say one thing about this year, it is that weather patterns have been pretty topsy-turvey. Last winter was wet and mild, the summer was cold and wet, and the autumn became the summer, with a warm, dry September and October. Even early November was a little unusual – we had the wind and rain, but it remained unseasonably mild. Who knows what this winter will bring, so on these pages I take a look at all the possibilities, and show what you can do to safeguard against them. Protecting from frost and snow SOME OF us may be dreaming of a white Christmas. More accurately, this is likely to translate as a ‘proper’ winter with clear skies, frost and snow. But these conditions are not really welcome…

THEY SAY that ‘it’s the thought that counts’, but at this time of year the shops are filled with useless and expensive items that, when gifted, sadly show you clearly haven’t given them much thought at all. Very often they are the sort of presents that are put away in a cupboard, or ‘regifted’ at the next available jumble sale. If you are struggling to find suitable and thoughtful Christmas gifts for loved ones, look no further than your garden. It is a treasure trove of potential presents – here are some ideas……

I SHOULD have known better. When a friend gave me a small pot of Moroccan mint back in the busy spring, I planted it straight into my herb garden. Now I’m faced with forking up the creeping roots and replanting in a pot – just like I’ve done with my ordinary garden mint and the black peppermint I use for tea. Mint grows readily from pieces of root and this is the best way to propagate new plants. The flavour of mint grown from seed rarely lives up to expectations. If you can’t cadge a good piece of mint, buy a plant – but rub a leaf first to check its scent and flavour. Mint loves damp soils and will grow well in sun or partial shade – almost too…

to do in the veg garden this week • If the surface of your pond is covered in ‘duck weed’ – thousands of tiny little green circles of weed – scoop it off using a kitchen sieve, and compost it. You’ll never remove it all, but keeping it at a moderate level will improve the health of the pond. • While you’re there, scoop out fallen leaves and other garden debris. If left it will sink to the bottom of the pond, rot, and produce methane gas which can harm pond wildlife. • Now is a great time to assess the value of all those plants in pots you’ve tucked behind the shed or greenhouse. Do you really need them? Be ruthless – if they don’t have a place in…

Q Is it possible to grow pyracantha and hawthorn from the berries? Or is it easier to propagate them from cuttings? I want to put some extra security on our boundaries to deter people climbing over the fence panels, – and introduce some more interest for wildlife. Caroline McGuigan (via email) A It is possible to grow plants from the seeds of hawthorn and pyracantha, but if you want large plants relatively quickly then taking cuttings is your best bet. Pyracantha can be grown from greenwood cuttings (also called ‘tip’ or ‘softwood’ cuttings) from mid-summer to early autumn. Take cuttings about 2½-3in (6-8cm) long from the outer end of a fresh, vigorous shoot. Strip the bottom two-thirds of the stem of its leaves, and, dip the bottom in rooting hormone.…

HOMEMADE CRAFTS are all the rage at the moment, but if you don’t think you have what it takes to make something from scratch because you “aren’t the creative type”, think again. Homemade craft can be as simple as you wish to make it – and often the simpler a make is, the better it looks. You certainly don’t need to be a creative genius to make any of the lovely things you see here. From table decorations and floral arrangements to festive patio pots and wrapping paper, we’ve got it covered – with simplicity being the name of game. WHERE TO START Use material foraged from the garden – not only does this keeps costs down, it gives your decorations a nice, homegrown look. You will need to add…

GLAZED PORCHES are a bonus for gardeners as, sheltered by house walls, they need little additional heating to keep frost out. Here, you can display tender plants that find the garden too cold and wet, yet wilt or frizzle in hot, dry or gloomy rooms. Kitted out with stands, the porch becomes a mini conservatory where everybody can admire the plants you’ve grown. Ours is suddenly resplendent with Brazilian spider flower ( Tibouchina urvilleana ). All the tibouchinas around here are flowering later than usual. Recently, indoor plants of all kinds seem to be rising in popularity. Would-be gardeners stuck in flats and apartments, or houses with tiny plots are filling their homes with greenery. It is well known that house plants cheer us up and they are great at…

1. Tropical specimens, such as the Coffea arabica which is the parent of all espresso and offers a calming effect on its surroundings. 2. Unusual plants, such as the carnivorous pitcher plant ( Sarracenia leucophylla, circled ) have the benefit of ensnaring unwanted flies. 3. Big plants: with the right care most can grow to an impressive size. Even the small agave can produce an enormous flower with some TLC. 4. Tough guys such as the prickly Myrtillocactus, some varieties of which are claimed to be used to craft psychedelic concoctions in its native Mexico.…

MAKING PLOTS wildlife-friendly has moved up gardeners’ agenda over the last decade. Professor Chris Baines, a leading expert on wildlife gardening in Britain, said gardening with nature in mind had become a priority for the nation’s garden-owners. WILDLIFE FORUM Speaking at the Wildlife Gardening Forum at London’s Natural History Museum last month, Professor Baines said: “In the last 10 years, we’ve seen a step change in our understanding of what can make gardens great places for wildlife. The challenge is now to encourage many more people to put it into practice.” The professor’s comments come at a time when a staggering 60 per cent of all species are said to be in decline, according to experts.Co-ordinator of the Wildlife Gardening Forum, Dr Steve Head, explained: “Perhaps the biggest shift we’ve…

IS FOOD in your garden bird feeders starting to rot after being left untouched by our feathered friends? If so, then you’re not alone. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has been taking calls from home-owners who are concerned that wild birds are not using garden feeders. The RSPB has reassured gardeners that an unusually mild November meant that birds continued to visit natural food sources in the countryside – and have not been reliant on our gardens. Ben Andrews, from the RSPB’s wildlife team, said: “People are concerned that they are not seeing the numbers of birds they usually do at this time of year. “Numbers of birds start to rise at garden feeders during late-autumn and early-winter, but so far this year it would seem…

THESE BULBS aren’t cheap to buy, but their stunning blooms are worth it – and with a bit of cosseting, you can make them flower in subsequent years. Plant into a pot that’s two inches wider than the bulb, positioning the neck above the soil. Water well and place in a cool, well-lit spot. You’ll see the large exotic blooms in about eight weeks. 3 Named varieties SUPPLIER: All available from Price start from £8.95 per bulb sarahraven.com , 0345 092 0283. MUSCARI ARMENIACUM This early flowering grape hyacinth is easy to force. Pot the bulbs up now with their noses just poking above the compost. Water in and store somewhere cool and dark for ten weeks. Supplier: peternyssen.com  0161 747 4000 PAPERWHITES These highly…

PACKED WITH peanuts for energy, protein beans for growth and Calvita vitamin and mineral blend, Peckish Daily Goodness Peanut Boost keeps garden birds at their best through the winter. We have five 1kg packs to give away. To enter the draw, send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Daily Goodness Draw, Amateur Gardening, Westover House, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1JG. Or email your details to ag_giveaway@timeinc.com , heading the email Peckish Daily Goodness Draw. The closing date is: 9 December 2015.…

PLANTING BARE-ROOT tree ‘whips’ is an easy and economical way of increasing the number of trees, shrubs and fruit bushes in your garden. ‘Whips’ are young trees that have been lifted while in a dormant state in winter, and are usually supplied with their bare roots encased in protective packaging. The roots are bare of soil, unlike those of container-bought plants, so once the packaging is removed the whips need planting immediately to prevent the roots drying out. However, if you are unable to plant out straight away, either because your planting area isn’t ready, or the ground is frozen or waterlogged, you need to ‘heel in’ the trees to keep them alive until the convenient moment. This involves placing the whips in a temporary trench, ideally somewhere sheltered, to…

IF YOU are at a loose end over the next week or so, why not visit one of these gardening events taking place around the country? • 5 December: Festive Wreath Making Workshop; Cholmondeley Castle, Malpas, Cheshire SY14 8AH ; 01829 720383; cholmondeleycastle.com • 5-10 December: Christmas Floral Extravaganza; Arley Hall and Gardens, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 6NA ; 01563 777353; arleyhallandgardens.com • 9 December: Christmas Wreath Workshop; RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, Yorks HG3 1QB ; 0203 1765 830; rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr • 11 December: Twilight Christmas (6pm-9.30pm); Hever Castle & Gardens, Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG; 01732 865224; hevercastle.co.uk • 12-13 December: RSPB – Birds in the Garden; RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH; 01805 626800; rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor • 14-24 December: Christmas Around the World (daily); Hever Castle & Gardens,…

1 Start plants from pieces of root, pushed into a pot of compost and kept moist, or buy plants. 2 Plant into a large 10in/25cm pot sunk into the ground, using a potting mix rich in organic matter. 3 Harvest fresh sprigs as needed; keep well watered in dry spells Cut off stems that start to flower. 4 Cut stems for drying just before they flower, tie in bunches and hang them in a warm, airy place. 5 Repot plants every year: cut out the old centre, replant fresh looking bits in new compost.…

Q When is the right time to sow petunias? And how do I sow successfully without damaging the tiny seeds? Colin Robertson, Middleton, Manchester ADecember is too early to sow in your part of the UK, bearing in mind that unless you have hardening off facilities it could be late May before you can safely plant out your young seedlings. I think, due to light conditions in the north, you would be better sowing them in late January under heat in a propagator set at between 18-21°C (64-70°F). You may find it easier to handle the seed by mixing it with some dry horticultural (not builders) sand. Sprinkle the mix evenly over the moist compost. Do not cover the seeds with more compost. AG on facebook  Go to facebook.com, create…

WINTER SALAD plants are looking strong, healthy and ready to survive colder winter weather. I’m continuing to hoe lightly around them to keep weed seeds from germinating and knock away fallen leaves and crab apples. One bed is planted in long, double rows so they are easy to cover with polythene tunnel cloches. These are ideal to protect the salads from continuous downpours and also during freezing cold spells and even snow. Even though it’s a fiddle, removing the cloches during fine, sunny periods is worth the effort to let light, air and some natural rainfall onto and around the plants. Mustard, lettuce, land cress, claytonia, lamb’s lettuce, rocket and chard will eventually make colourful and pungent salads to pick by the leaf. There might not be much to take…

A GARDENER has grown the UK’s tallest sunflower – and banked a £1,000 prize. Richard Hope’s towering specimens, grown against a sunny wall of his house, reached the apex, three storeys up! The tallest stood at 24ft (7.2m) – but it was shy of the world record by 4ft 8in (1.4m). Richard, of Wigan, is well-known on the giant veg-growing circuit. He’s previously held world records for the biggest swede, heaviest leek and longest parsnip. Richard grew sunflowers in makeshift containers, claiming to have used no specialist feeding formula. He said: “I used salmon boxes with large, bottomless pots set over them, similar to tomato ring culture method. It gives the plants about two-and-a-half feet of compost to grow in. There are no real tricks to feeding my plants either.…

I’VE NEVER met anyone who loved gardening who did not love gardening in a greenhouse. True, it’s even better gardening under a blue sky in a warm breeze, but that’s the ideal; in practice outdoors is too often windy, cold and damp. The remarkable thing about a greenhouse is just how nice it can be when outdoors is bleak. Much of the benefit comes from the wind protection, but with a glimmer of sunlight the temperature rises, and even in deep winter a greenhouse can get warm. To be fair, if it’s dull, or dark, and cold, then an unheated greenhouse will be chilly – but it will still be a lot nicer than outdoors. Now, it does not matter what you intend to do in the greenhouse, be it…

COLLECT BERRIES in February. Remove as much of the jelly as possible. Select a branch 4in (10cm) in girth as high up as you can on your tree (apple trees are best but it will grow on hawthorn and lime trees). Stick the seeds on to the branch – they’re naturally sticky so will glue to the bark readily. Stick on at least 12 seeds as the birds will eat some. Seeds should germinate by April but the mistletoe won’t take hold until it’s about four years old.…