Innholdsfortegnelse for 18-Feb-2023 i Amateur Gardening

“For some, trying something new can be a challenge – this is possiby more relevant in gardening than many other pastimes. Growing is a slow business, so once you hit on a variety that works for you, why change? And if it doesn’t work out, you have a lost season – or, in the case of potatoes, a year! And yet, reading Sue Bradley’s great article on potato varieties (page 28), I am drawn to try something new, as the options are tantalising! Having said that, two varieties I grow with great success – ‘Red Duke of York’ and ‘Kestrel’ – are cited in her choices. Decisions, decisions!” Contact us: 03303331113 03303903732 03303906566…

THIS year has seen some of the wettest weather on record in the UK, with widespread flooding across many parts. The problem is made worse by building projects that eat up land that would otherwise soak up the worst of the excess water. For gardeners, flooding is probably the most destructive bad weather event, because when the soil becomes saturated its oxygen is forced out, causing plants to ‘drown’ and die. Poorly-draining, waterlogged lawns also suffer, with compacted wet soil breeding weeds, moss and algae. So what should gardeners do to mitigate the effects of flooding, even if they can’t avoid it altogether? Emma O’Neill, head gardener at Garden Organic, says that keeping soil in good condition will be massively helpful. If your soil is clay and prone to holding…

How can I save my clematis from wilt? Q My clematis plants were hit by clematis wilt last summer. I mulched them all in the autumn, and at the end of winter I am pruning and feeding them to give them the best chance of fighting the virus. I have also cut back lots of my other trees and shrubs to open up the garden and maximise air flow. Is there anything else I can do? Belinda Lindsay (via email) A I am sorry to learn that last year your clematis were decimated by wilt disease. Regrettably, there are no chemical controls. All you can do to thwart this problem is to shorten diseased stems to ground level to encourage new and healthy growth from the base, disinfect secateurs in…

This extract from AG 2 March 1968 looks at the man who discovered the Douglas fir DAVID Douglas, plant collector, born the son of a stone mason in Scone, Perth and Kinross, rose to be the darling of the learned societies of London. His success went to his head, he fell out of favour and ended his short but tempestuous life by falling into a bullock trap in Hawaii! At school Douglas was undisciplined and unwilling to learn, but he made rapid progress in gardening from the start – in the gardens at Scone Palace. He moved on to the Glasgow Botanic Garden where he met Sir W.J. Hooker, who instructed him in botany and plant collecting. In 1823 Hooker recommended Douglas to his friend Joseph Sabine, secretary of the…

This word search comprises words associated with the colour green. 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. GREEN FLOWERS TOBACCO PLANT APPLE BOTTLE DARK GLADIOLUS HELLEBORUS HYBRID KALANCHOE LIME MOSS NATURE OLIVE PALE VIRIDIS HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 659, Amateur Gardening, Future Publishing Limited, Unit 415, Winnersh Triangle, Eskdale Road, Winnersh, RG41 5TP, to arrive by Wednesday 1 March 2023. The first correct entry chosen…

WE are almost at the end of February and with longer days, spring flowers appearing and a smidgen more warmth in the air, this is the time of year when I stock up on supplies. Top of the list, every year, is compost. Sowing seeds, potting on young plants, topdressing long-term containers, repotting houseplants… the list is endless. The range of composts available can be mindboggling, but it need not be so and on these two pages I will explain which compost is best suited to which task. Generally speaking, multi-purpose can be used for most plant-related jobs apart from sowing seeds and potting on very small seedlings. When sowing seeds, always use a reputable brand of seed and cuttings compost, which has been specially blended to have just the…

THE free AG ‘Tigerella’ tomato seeds I showed you how to sow in January have grown well in our heated propagator on a south-west facing window They have started to develop their ‘proper’ leaves so I have potted them on into John Innes No 1 compost, which is perfectly formulated to give young seedlings the right amount of nutrients. It is still too cold for them in the greenhouse so they are now back indoors on a light, warm windowsill. In the spirit of ‘reuse and recycle’ I potted up the seedlings into old garden centre modules that I washed well beforehand. The larger ones have room for two seedlings per space. I may have to pot the tomatoes on again into stronger compost – John Innes No 2 or…

IF you want to grow something that packs a real punch of colour, look no further than members of the aster family. This week’s free seeds are for a variety called ‘Duchess Mixed’ that grows to 24in (60cm) tall and produces chrysanthemum-shaped flowerheads of petals in rich and vibrant shades. Half-hardy annuals, they should be sown undercover now, but once outside temperatures have risen and the threat of frosts has passed, sow them in prepared, watered soil where you want them to grow. Asters grow best in a sunny spot, or in partial shade, in fertile, free-draining soil. They work well in all sorts of gardens, from traditional cottage plots to city gardens and containers. Keep an eye out for aphids, and deadhead flowerheads regularly to keep the blooms coming…

I’M not close to one of the five large RHS gardens – I wish I were! However, RHS members can also visit 221 partner gardens for free. Every year visitors vote for their favourite garden and this year’s winner was Nant-y-Bedd, a ten-acre wildlife garden close to the Brecon Beacons in Monmouthshire. Sue and Ian Mabberley, who’ve lived there for 42 years, were really surprised. Sue told me: “We haven’t got manicured lawns or hanging baskets. It’s more of a wild garden.” The Welsh name Nant-y-Bedd translates as ‘stream of the grave,’ and there are two Bronze Age burial mounds further up the mountain. The gently sloping, tranquil garden, which nestles into a valley north of Abergavenny, has a tributary of the River Usk running through where salmon spawn. There…

Q Our garden club has been given lots of orchid compost. Could we mix it with other composts to use in our polytunnel? April Sheldrick (via email) A I suggest that you mix potting compost with a third part, by volume, with the orchid mixture. It contains few nutrients, but would beneficially aerate the loam, peat or vegetable waste potting mix you are planning to use. Q I’ve seen a rat in my compost heap. Is it still safe to use? Dave Pireton, Gloucester A It should be fine, but preferably not on the veggie patch. Always wear gloves, put plasters on any cuts, wash hands well afterwards, and wash fruit and veg before eating. To keep rats away, don’t add eggshells, meat or fish scraps, and turn it often…

This week it’s: Green flowers We look at a range of flowers that will make you green with envy! EVEN in winter, there are more shades of green in our gardens than any other colour (largely thanks to lawns and the huge variety of leaf styles available). But it’s not just foliage that gives us some of those fabled ‘40 shades of green’ – there are green flowers, too. Granted, there are relatively few of them. And granted, they are not particularly distinct in appearance; they are often overlooked in a garden simply because they are mistaken for foliage. However, green flowers do have a useful role to play: they offer variety and intrigue, and their very rarity is often a reason to choose them. They can also calm an…

LAST week, I had the honour of being made a patron of a small and bijou zoo run by Shaldon Wildlife Trust in South Devon. What’s that got to do with gardening, you might ask? Well, quite a lot, as I made an amazing horticultural discovery. On a tour with trust director Zak Showell, he pointed to an enclosure nestled between the tree-top home of the Sumatran squirrel and the lemurs. At first glance, the enclosure looked like the sort of place a burrowing and wood-chewing creature might enjoy. There were earth mounds edged by milled tree trunks, plus bark trails and a bamboo tipi-shaped lookout, with space for what Sir David Attenborough might coyly describe as a ‘breeding station’ below. I know what you’re thinking – but no, this…

I will soon be time to start thinking of potting up baskets and containers of bedding to create bright displays that last through the summer months. This is a quick, easy and reliable way of creating long-lasting colour and interest at various height levels around the garden, adding a new dimension to your plot, whatever its size. The compost you use needs to be free draining and nutritious but not too heavy, especially if you are making hanging baskets. Many brands make their own container growing media, peat and peat-free. Most of them contain added slow-release fertiliser balls and moisture-release granules to make feeding and watering easier during the first few weeks after planting. You can also use multi-purpose compost in containers, though it pays to add your own granular…

I HAVE had mixed luck with the pelargonium cuttings I took last summer and autumn. Those I tried to overwinter in the mini greenhouse succumbed to botrytis grey mould and were thrown away. However, the ones residing in the main greenhouse have thrived and grown and are ready to be moved on into individual containers. It is a good idea to do this now as it gives the cuttings ample time to mature into bushy, robust plants before they are moved into the garden in late spring after they have been hardened off (acclimatised to outside conditions) and the late frosts have passed on. Cuttings that have grown very well may even be trying to throw out flower buds. If you see any, pinch them off, as flowering takes up…

ZINNIAS are flamboyant annual flowers in the daisy family, for flower gardens, pollinator gardens, containers and cutting for the house. In some native and wild zinnias the flowers clearly look like daisies and may be only 1in (2.5cm) across. At the other extreme the flowers can be as much as 5in (12.5cm) across, and packed with petals – many looking similar to a dahlia or chrysanthemum. Neat-growing bedding zinnias make rounded plants about 12-18in (30-45cm) high and wide, with relatively small flowers that are ideal for edging or containers. At the other extreme, cut-flower zinnias are taller, up to 4ft (1.2m) and more, upright in growth and also make impressive groups. Different kinds of zinnias Zinnias fall into three convenient groups but only two are relevant to the UK. Their…

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 linked to ‘green’. Answers: ARY CREEPER = Delabra primrose, Dytuft, Terbury bell (all…

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) TRADITIONALLY, summer fruit-bearing raspberry canes were bought as one-year-old plants that had been cut down to about 18in (45cm). They were sold bareroot and planted during the dormant season between November and March. Originally a slow process These varieties produce their fruit on the previous year’s growth of canes, so the new canes would establish in the ground and produce…

I love sowing everything from seed.There are so many varieties to fulfilevery need.Frame, strip, plot or row,As long as you have dedication, theywill all grow. Even hard-to-propagate ones dosuccumb,Making any disadvantage easy toovercome,Plug plants are nice, but they canwork out dear,Especially, when totting up what isspent in a year. I like a challenge each first season,My competitive nature might be thereason.But outside, in the fresh air, working onthe land,Promotes good health and makes mefeel grand. And what I save by growing this way,Is put aside for a rainy day.The pleasure I get from cultivatingcrops,Makes me glad I didn’t buy them fromthe shops.…