Innholdsfortegnelse for 30-Sep-2023 i Amateur Gardening

“Longevity is something gardeners appreciate. We strive to create something long-lasting. When you plant a hedge or a tree, it takes years to come into its own. As a magazine enjoying its 139th year, we also appreciate longevity, and so I salute J Parker’s, a traditional family-run company celebrating its 90th anniversay. The firm was started in 1933 as a mail order business by Dutchman Martin Parker, who came from generations of bulb growers. Chris Parker and his son Paul are running the company these days, and it is particularly good to know that they still produce catalogues, as I know many readers prefer them to the internet. Happy anniversary, J. Parker’s.” Contact us: ■ Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 ■ Editorial: 0330 3903732 ■ Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com ■ Advertising: 07939406029…

OUR roses have done brilliantly this year, especially the wonderfully scented Gertrude Jekyll (‘Ausbord’) climber in the front garden. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, our ancient red floribunda rose, which looked old when we moved into the house 12 years ago, was attacked by black spot late in the summer. Despite a fabulous start to the season with lots of deep-red flowers, it moved into the autumn looking a sickly mess, with fallen flowers and leaves. At least this gave me the incentive to cut it back instead of leaving the hips to redden into autumn. Cutting back shrub roses by a third is common practice at this time of year because it helps to keep them stable and protect their shallow roots when they are blasted by strong winds…

GARDENERS with trees know that branches need to be pruned now and then, but what do you do with those branches once cut? They could go in the garden waste, but that has a cost and it does seem, literally, to be a waste of a rich source of nutrients, moisture and stored carbon. But now, as we head towards winter, there is another possible use for this wood and that is as mulch. All you need is a device to cut it up into tiny pieces and then you have the perfect winter insulation for your prized plants and one of the best ways of suppressing weeds. I have been using a Stihl GHE150 chipper/shredding machine for just that purpose and it has generated enough mulch for all my…

YOU can always spot a gardener’s garden, because there are plants galore. And, so it proved, when I travelled to Wales to visit a fern garden in an urban cul-de-sac. I passed neat lawns and tarmac, but at the end was a front garden full of exuberant planting, with not a blade of grass. I knew it was the right house and that I was in for a treat. Our garden is packed with plants as well and the path along the front of the house, maintained by the Best Beloved, wouldn’t pass a health and safety inspection. You can’t get down it without doing hopscotch. The garden table and chairs have been relegated to another part of the garden, to protect his plants. And, if truth be told, ‘he…

IT’S long been recognised that once a doctor reveals their occupation at a dinner party, they will find themselves hounded for medical advice. Well, it’s the same for professional horticulturists. When I’m introduced to people at a social gathering, I brace myself for the inevitable response – a flurry of gardening queries. Over the years, I must have solved hundreds of problems while mingling at parties, but one question seems to crop up more than most: “What do I do with a bamboo that’s out of control?” I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been asked to come to the rescue of a poor bamboo owner who’s at their wits’ end. I’m only too happy to dish out some helpful advice when pressed, but I can’t help thinking that the…

I HAVE been talking a lot recently about getting ready for autumn, and one of the main jobs now is to think about potential problems that may arise in the coming months and try to head them off at the pass. Prevention is better than cure, so getting the garden ready to face whatever autumn and winter throw at it will make life easier for you in the longer term. We are usually lucky at this time of year, with summer easing gently into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness with warm, still days, light breezes and gentle showers. It all sounds idyllic, but these conditions are also perfect for the proliferation of pests and diseases that thrive in the warmth and dampness. One of my first jobs has…

I HAVE been spending time this week tidying up patio pots and making the changeover from summer to autumn colours. Pennies are being pinched everywhere we look, not least in gardening where the cost of plants and compost is rising fast. Good-quality compost costs money, but it is a wise investment as you can make it last two seasons. I used Dalefoot wool potting compost and SylvaGrow container compost in my patio pots this year and saw excellent results with both. The plants flourished and have remained free from vine weevil larvae, so I made the decision to reuse the growing media for my autumn pots. I removed the summer plants, potting up tender perennials to overwinter, and augmented the compost with fertiliser before topping up the pots with fresh…

EVERY summer, the banks of a main road not far from home are lined with yellow stands of evening primrose, glorious in the sunshine. I’ve never grown them, so I am looking forward to seeing how this week’s free seeds turn out. ‘Silky Orchid’ produces scented white flowers that deepen to blush as they mature. The plants grow to 14in (35cm) tall and will perfume the evening air. A sun-loving short-lived hardy perennial best grown as a biennial, it likes a sunny spot and if sown now in a lidded tray of seed compost (I used Dalefoot wool seed compost) will flower next summer. The seedlings should take 3-4 weeks to appear, at which point remove the lid covering their seed tray. When they have developed their first couple of…

GROWING plump, crunchy apples to pick and eat straight off the tree is the epitome of living your best life in the garden, so how do we ensure this dream is reality? Just read on… Shape and space Who doesn’t like a good eating apple? With so many enticing varieties maturing now, you might be tempted to plant some this winter, so, let me help you. Aside from following my essentials checklist on page 20, what else is there to know? While very dwarfing rootstocks (like M27) sound tempting on smaller plots, I’ve found M26 easier to manage as the slightly greater vigour gives trees more ‘pep’, and they can still be pruned to keep them compact. With flowers opening in May and bees essential for pollination, shelter is key…

Love me tender: Next week I show you how to lift and pot up tender perennials, and propagate them with cuttings, so they can be stored safely through winter. IF there’s one area of the garden that is almost inevitably going to suffer in winter, it is the lawn. Even if you lavish care and attention on your lawn all year, there is every chance it will pose problems in winter. Compacted soil, waterlogging, diseases, worm casts – these will all impact on its looks and its health. To make matters worse, even walking on a lawn to carry out repairs can damage it further, so I try to do any repair works in early autumn and leave the lawn alone as much as possible in winter. I start by…

I’M starting to batten down the hatches around the garden, emptying old growbags, tidying the patio, sharpening tools and getting straight for the onset of autumn. I grew four bags of potatoes on the patio. Now I’ve harvested my spuds I’ll reuse the compost as a soil improver on the borders. I removed all the remaining plant material and layered it thickly on the soil. There won’t be a lot of nutritional value left in it, but it will improve the soil’s structure and condition as it is broken down by winter weather and taken down into the soil by worms. Another way of putting garden waste to use as mulch is to use wood chips created by autumn pruning as mulch or as brown waste in your compost heap,…

BLACKBERRIES are heavy-cropping plants, regardless of the weather. Whether it’s wet or dry, they respond with massive yields of berries. Indeed, I’m amazed how they outperform most other fruits and berries, especially in serious drought summers. Admittedly, in wetter years many berries mould – but there always seem to be more. I used to advise against planting blackberries if there were any to pick in hedgerows nearby – after all, garden space is limited. But then, although the wild ones often have great flavour, they may not be so easy to come by nearby, and are usually smaller than cultivated berries so picking takes longer. Garden varieties have much bigger berries, so bagfuls are picked more rapidly. Plus many (especially newer) varieties also have good flavour – some even better…

How should I care for my peony? Q I found a new plant growing in my garden that I hadn’t planted. As we were moving house, I potted it up and took it with me. When it grew I identified it as a peony with red flowers. I am thrilled, but how should I grow it? I’d like it in a pot. Margaret Drury (via email) A I am delighted that the mystery plant is a peony. The fact that it has red flowers indicates that it is a Paeonia suffruticosa seedling. What a find! When growing in a border, peonies like fertile, rich soil that drains well and they will also thrive in a sunny spot. Now that your treasure is 3ft (90cm) high and needs potting on, I…

THIS Sunday, 1 October, is World Vegetarian Day. Established in 1977, it is a day celebrating “the joy, compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism.” Personally, I can never get enough in the way of vegetables. I do eat meat, but when it comes to what’s on the plate, veggies are always more important. Of course, a vegetarian lifestyle brings not just healthier eating, but it also has ethical, environmental and humanitarian benefits, too. So, this week, I thought we could look at facts relating to the world of vegetables. ■ World Vegetarian Day is at the start of October, which is known as Vegetarian Awareness Month. It ends with World Vegan Day, on 1 November. Native British vegetables THE vegetables we put on our plates come from all over the…

IONCE worked on a TV show about star signs. After consulting her almanac, the resident astrologer told me that the alignment of the planets on my birthday was “very, very auspicious” – but only if I had been born in the morning. Curious to find out more, I looked up what ‘auspicious’ meant, then got straight on the blower to my mum who, during the ten hours of labour, would surely have looked at her watch. Sadly, she hadn’t. All she could remember was that it was dark, meaning my astrological quest for auspiciousness came to a dead end. However, I did learn something else from that show. Librans like me have an affinity with maples. Apparently, it’s our tree. So, when a friend asked me to plant a few…