Innholdsfortegnelse for 9-Sep-2023 i Amateur Gardening

“I’m a big fan of dahlias, the subject of this week’s top ten (see pages 32-34). I marvel at the different shapes, gorgeous colours and the sheer glamour they bring to the garden. Not everyone shares my enthusiasm and to some they are gaudy and loud. My partner Gill was of this view and not keen on me growing them at all. However, that changed when we started cutting them to make small bouquets for friends and family. My ‘Tahiti Sunrise’ dahlia was joined by rudbeckia, cosmos and phlox, but the recipients ignored the others and couldn’t stop praising the dahlia. Gill bathed in the glory of her selection and has since revised her opinion of their value as a stunning cut flower. Don’t underestimate the power of a dahlia!”…

THE summer takes its toll on our lawns, whether through overuse, drought or – as we have seen this summer – torrential rain that turns the grass into a quagmire at the first sliding tackle of a football match. Luckily we are approaching autumn, which is the perfect time to repair any damage and get the grass fit for winter. Start by scarifying the grass, raking up all the dead ‘thatch’ that has accumulated around the base of the blades. This will improve ventilation and drainage, helping to reduce the risk of waterlogging after heavy rain. Areas of heavy use may have compacted soil, but this can also be helped now by aerating the ground, driving the tines of a garden fork a couple of inches in and giving them…

ONE of the greatest joys of gardening is discovering that something that looks exotic and as though it might take a bit of work is actually easy to grow. This week’s free seeds are from one such plant, which produces masses of exquisitely flouncy flowers that look like they ought to need special care and hothousing – yet instead they are more than happy in the rough-and-tumble of an outside border. Godetia (Clarkia amoena) is a hardy annual that likes a sheltered sunny site to attract bees and other pollinators. Their prettily ruffled blooms are held on sturdy stems 18in (45cm) tall and are popular with flower arrangers as they last well in the vase. You can sow your godetia seeds where they are to flower next year, or store…

I HAD quite an adventurous childhood, because I grew up with two brothers and several boy cousins. I got to roam around with them in the days when West London didn’t have many cars. I had the sort of freedom denied to most girls of my generation, although it had its downside. I was the youngest and the smallest, so I inherited a succession of tatty shirts, patched dungarees and horrible shorts. And I got a short back and sides haircut every six weeks. After my honorary-chap phase, it came as quite a shock when our domestic science teacher, Miss Worsick, explained that we ‘gels’ couldn’t lead the same lives as boys. We had to perfect the art of the perfect Victoria sponge, clean our ovens and – most important…

This word search comprises words associated with aubergines. 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 seven letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s KEYWORD. AUBERGINES EGG PLANTS GREENHOUSE CROPS BAKE BITTER CHINA FLESH FRY GLOSSY INDIA MADNESS MOUSSAKA OIL RIPE TROPICAL HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 688, Amateur Gardening, Future Publishing Limited, Unit 415, Winnersh Triangle, Eskdale Road, Winnersh, RG41 5TP, to arrive by Wednesday 20 September 2023. The first correct entry chosen at random…

I’VE just had an encounter with Britain’s laziest plant. I was walking across a Cornish heath when there it was, sitting on a gorse bush as if it were a sun lounger. Dodder, as this indolent rarity is known, looks more like a large helping of spaghetti than a plant. In fact, if you stumbled across it, you’d be forgiven for wondering if it was the debris from a freak saucepan explosion in a nearby Italian restaurant. But despite its lack of leaves and conventional roots, it belongs to the same flower family as bindweed. And come late summer/early autumn, its usually naked stems are smothered in tiny blooms which then set seed. If you hadn’t guessed it already, dodder is a parasite that survives by plugging into heather or…

AFTER a warm summer comes the cooler, damper autumn and together the seasons create the perfect soil conditions for working with perennials. These returning herbaceous superheroes help create the framework of your borders, acting as the focal points around which you sow your annuals and plan your bedding. Many of them are fast-growers, especially after a summer like this one where we have had a mix of warmth and rain so autumn is the perfect time to show them some love. Sometimes plants end up in the wrong place, maybe because they have grown larger than expected or are being swamped by what is growing around them. Autumn is the perfect time to move them somewhere better – the soil will be warm and damp and the weather won’t turn…

WITH autumn upon us, it’s time to start thinking about giving your fruit trees some care and attention. Established, free-standing (not espaliered, not step-over) apples and pears need pruning and plum trees should have glue bands attached to their trunks and any supporting stakes to keep next year’s fruits safe from winter moth grubs. It’s also time to remove old, rotten fruits, binning those that look diseased but leaving a few healthy windfalls on the grass or compost heap for the last butterflies and wasps, birds and hedgehogs. Pruning takes place during the dormant months, except when the weather is exceptionally cold. Remove dead and damaged stems as well as weak and spindly branches growing inwards, cluttering the centre of the tree. Your aim is to create an attractive open…

YOU don’t see much written about aubergines, which is a shame, as they are an increasingly popular vegetable. They are also becoming easier to grow, with reliable, smaller-fruited varieties now available. These are tender plants (like tomatoes and cucumbers), and they need lots of summer warmth. In the UK, they are mainly grown as a greenhouse crop; outside growing is rarely successful, unless the summer is long and hot. It’s the cropping season for aubergines, and all over the country there are maturing fruits in purple, mauve, red, pink or even white (and which are round, long, thin or egg-shaped). Let’s take a closer look. ■ The smaller-fruited types are more likely to crop successfully in the UK. Using aubergines THERE are many different varieties of aubergine available today. They…

IT is crossover time for the greenhouse so do keep a close eye on what’s going on in there. The tender summer veggies, the tomatoes, chillies, aubergines and the like, are coming to the end of their tenure so I’m in there every day picking the ones on the verge of ripening and moving them to a sunny windowsill indoors so they can finish off. This keeps them safe from pests that take advantage of damaged and split fruits and in the case of the chillies, they are more likely to ripen successfully in the stable warmth indoors. Some fruits are still a way off being ready for picking so I’ve washed the windows to let maximum light through, and hung a ripening banana among them to hurry them up.…

A NEW season brings new planting opportunities – and now’s the time to refresh your containers and fill them with shrubs, trees, perennials or bedding that will bring a boost to your garden. An autumn container can be just as spectacular as a summer display if you choose the right plants. There’s still a huge range of plants to choose from at this time of year. Evergreens offer year-round interest, structure and permanence. There’s no need to constantly change plants in a container if you have an evergreen as the anchor plant. Simply change the supporting plants with the seasons, bringing in winter-flowering violas, pansies or perennials like asters and rudbeckias for an autumnal flourish. And at this time of the year, colour can come from stems, berries, late flowers…

What is this and will it survive the winter? Q I hope you can help me identify a plant. I have taken cuttings from it, they have grown and are ready to be planted out. I am not sure if I should plant the cuttings as one plant or plant each cutting individually. Do I take the tips off to make bushier plants? Helen Spencer (via email) A Your plant, which will make a striking feature, is Diascia rigescens and it is growing very well. Their common name is ‘twinspur’ because each bloom carries two spurlike growths, which add to their interest and charm. However, these plants, which are usually sold as bedding plants for pots and borders, are not fully hardy. They thrive in summer in a sunny spot…

No. 130 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 linked to aubergines! Answers: PARSNIPS = Celery, Dill, Parsley (all are…

THIS is the third year we have conducted these peat-free compost trials and we must stress that they are done on a comparative, rather than scientific, basis. Test subjects The plants selected were all geranium (pelargonium) ‘Dark Red’ peat-free mini plugs, pricked out into cell trays and potted on into 5in (12.5cm) pots. Geraniums were chosen because they are easy-to-grow plants that grow well, particularly in hot summers (predicted for 2023). Water retention has been an issue with some peat-free composts. All the sample pots were placed in level plastic trays lined with capillary matting, which allowed each pot access to the same amount of water and prevented some samples becoming waterlogged (even though the surface of the compost appeared to be dry). The hot weather in June meant the…