Innholdsfortegnelse for 7-Jan-2023 i Amateur Gardening

I’M gazing out of the window and making a list of all the gardening jobs that need completing this winter as well as those that will keep our patch looking its best through the coming 12 months. The tasks that need doing with some urgency include adding more gravel to the greenhouse to replace the stones that have been scuffed aside and mysteriously disappeared, and clearing the soil around our greengage tree. This tree had been fruiting prolifically for several years until one night last summer when the trunk split into two, possibly due to the weight of fruit.. We lost all the little unripe gages but, miraculously, not the whole tree because after removing the broken half of the trunk, a new leading branch is starting to grow vertically…

AT the time of writing the wind is howling round the house and rain is hammering against the windows. It’s been a blustery late autumn with tempestuous conditions, a far cry from the traditional ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’. The next few weeks could be rough, as the weather is often at its worst during the first few months of the year, so I’m making sure our garden can withstand whatever the elements throw at it. We live at the top of a hill so my main concern is wind protection, especially for our newly planted trees and our greenhouse, which bears the brunt of the prevailing gusts. The greenhouse is partly screened by a hazel hurdle that diffuses the wind and lets in enough light for the plants. Slightly porous…

OUR weather seems to become less and less predictable. We once were able to ‘garden’ from the same calendar, year after year. Of course, it was always a tad random, with good and bad years, early and late frosts, wet summers and dry. Now, though, we’re also having to cope with more extreme weather almost every year. It’s the hottest, driest, wettest, longest and so on. So it may be time to rethink what we are growing. Indeed, it’s always been sensible to grow what does well locally. Observing what we, and our neighbours, are succeeding with currently is becoming even more important – and is probably the best to continue with. But what we have been failing with is even more crucial. If a crop is proving less reliable…

Saving plants and planning a garden Q We are moving house and I have lots of plants that I’m not sure what to do with. Also, could you recommend some new ones for a fairly sunny northfacing back garden and a front garden that doesn’t get much sun. Also, our new garden hasn’t been touched for around two years! Patricia Gregory, Cornwall A The fact that your garden has not been tended for two years means that you will enjoy the challenge of identifying plants. Dig out the weeds or use a glyphosate herbicide. Initially, when you arrive, store your existing plants in containers in a sunny part of the garden. Provided they have plenty of soil around them, they will come to no harm for a year or so,…

WATERING the garden may not be terribly high on the agenda right now, but harvesting water for use next summer ought to be. We are in the dampest season and if the past two years are anything to go by (down here in the south, at least) they will give way to a dry spring and summer. Should the pattern that’s been developing hold true, we will need all the stored water we can find to keep the garden thriving. If you haven’t already done so, this is the perfect time to install a water butt or two (or three) around the garden. They come in a variety of capacities so there is one to fit most spaces and they will benefit your bank balance and your plants, which prefer…

LOTS of things happen in my garden that I don’t fully understand, and many involve my birdlife. For years I had a great spotted woodpecker that came to the feeders several times a day. He was a shabby old man, because his black-and-white plumage was less than pristine. There was a red blotch at the nape of his neck, so we knew it was a male. He always took his peanut off to a wooden line post and placed it into the same crack, in order to eat it. This summer we had a female, in the peak of condition, visit the garden. She would come and get her nut and eat it straight away, then fly off to my Blenheim Orange apple tree and peck the trunk for 30…

This week it’s: AS a student, I was fascinated by two plants that had been around since prehistoric times. They were the dawn redwood and ginkgo trees. Many prehistoric plants have since become extinct, while others that were thought to be extinct have, through plant hunting and modern science, ‘come back from the dead’ – and are grown in gardens! I still marvel at the fact that some of the plants in my garden were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth! Let’s take a look at a few of these ancient marvels. ■ Ginkgo is the maidenhair tree, so named because the leaves look similar to the native maidenhair fern. The word ‘ginkgo’ comes from the Chinese yinxing meaning ‘silver apricot’. Er… Sago palms THE common sago palm (Cycas revoluta)…

I’M easing myself into the new gardening year by making sure everything is ready for the 12 months ahead. It’s a bit like sharpening your pencils and checking your geometry kit is in order for the new school year! One of the major jobs is getting the shed ship-shape and making sure my tools are in good working order. Digging equipment is cleaned, electric cables spooled and hung neatly off the ground and my cutting tools are cleaned, oiled and sharpened. Stripping down secateurs so you can give them a proper overhaul is a quick and easy job that pays massive dividends. Several of mine have become stiff over time so I had a very pleasant morning cleaning them up and getting them moving again. My morning in the shed…

IT’S fantastic seeing the lawn a rich and verdant green after it became a yellow dustbowl over the summer. However, heavy rain and footfall through winter can be even more damaging than a lack of rain. Plants quickly recover once water returns, but the combination of waterlogging and soil compaction alongside frosty weather can spell trouble for a winter lawn. As if this isn’t enough, we are entering the time of year when moles start digging tunnels and breeding chambers, which lead to molehills sprouting up in many gardens. The hills look unsightly but it is the tunnels they dig that create uneven areas of the garden when they collapse, making it easy to trip or sprain an ankle. We don’t advise using mole traps, and I have successfully got…

EVERYONE should experience that pivotal, joyous moment when fork prongs are pushed into the soil to unearth the first new potatoes of the season. For those of us growing them outside, this is usually in early to mid-June. However, you can force Mother Nature’s hand by growing potatoes in tubs under glass. Choosing ‘earlies’ is key – this is the name given to varieties that take 100 days to mature (whereas maincrops can take at least 130). These hit the ground running as soon as they enter warm soil. Warm soil is crucial – planting into cold earth won’t reap any rewards. At best, the tubers will sit in stasis until things warm up, while at worst, they could rot. Soil temperatures must be at least 7°C/45°F for potatoes to…

WINTER heaths are small, evergreen shrubs with their slender, twiggy branches lined with short, needle-like leaves that are usually dark-green in colour. Some of the prettiest varieties have foliage in golden, bronzed or russet shades. In winter, the shoot tips are tightly lined with dainty bells in a wide range of shades, from sparkling white to many pink and purple shades. The flowers are usually carried only on one side of the stem and the tip of each bell-like flower is almost closed at the tip. The flowers are popular with bees. Small sprigs cut for a winter posy can be presented with the flowers from dwarf bulbs. including scillas and dwarf daffodils. The other feature of winter heaths that is so valuable to gardeners is the fact that they…

EVEN when the garden is gripped by winter, buds are breaking and bark sparkles in the frost like polished silver. There’s always at least one plant that catches the eye, and because life’s like that there’s always another that’s getting on my nerves. And this week, that plant is cherry laurel. Now I know what you’re thinking: this name could be a kind character in a Roald Dahl children’s book. How can it be anything other than a Miss Lovely? Don’t be fooled! Not only are these plants wrong’uns, but they also have a dark side… I look after a woodland planted when Queen Victoria was on the throne, and as a side-hustle to the sweet chestnut timber, the woods were also used for hunting pheasants. Pheasants require cover to…