Innholdsfortegnelse for 31-Aug-2024 i Amateur Gardening

As enthusiastic custodians of green spaces across the land, we move with the seasons, with the weather and the changes in our plants as the days and weeks unfold. Although this has been a tricky gardening year, there are always joys to be found if we look for them. Beautiful blooms, vibrant glossy foliage and delicious produce to bring to the table. Not everything will work, there will always be challenges, but trying to celebrate what we see on a day-by-day basis goes an incredibly long way. I was absolutely thrilled to see my first wasp the other day (finally) and many more butterflies besides, excitedly fluttering about in the sunshine trying to make up for lost time. Yes, the horsefly bites have been something else this year but the…

In the last issue, my colleague Toby Buckland wrote about the joys and pitfalls of having a wild meadow instead of a manicured lawn, and this week I’ve been putting his wise words into practice. We routinely leave our front and back lawns to largely grow as they wish, only mowing a few paths and patches for convenience. Most years it pays rich natural dividends, with a mix of wildflowers and native grasses, as well as plenty of butterflies, moths and other insects, which in turn bring in the bats and birds. This year has been different though, with more tough, rank grasses, fewer flowers and a sorry dearth of insects. We are pretty sure the cold wet weather is at the root of the problem - experts from Butterfly…

Harvest and preserve leafy herbs I firmly believe that culinary herbs can transform your cooking, so much so that many of them make me salivate as soon as I smell them! Oregano, thyme, basil, dill, tarragon and mint are just a few leafy herbs that I cannot be without, and for that reason I grow them in volume. This golden marjoram, for example, isn’t just in my veggie plot – I dot it around my flower borders, too, to enjoy zesty hummocks of foliage that look just as good as they taste. And both my indoor and outdoor cordon tomatoes are underplanted with a range of basils, including ‘Lettuce Leaf’, ‘Purple Ruffles’, ‘Mrs Burns’ Lemon’ and ‘Siam Queen’ – the waft as I walk past is truly delicious. While a…

As the garden takes on its late summer/early autumn appearance with fading colours, bleached grasses and architectural seedheads, we take a look at a genus producing subtle flowers which don’t look out of place in a garden teetering on the edge of its seasonal shift. We are looking at oenothera. Originating from the Americas, growing in open, sandy and rocky areas, oenothera is at home in our Gravel Garden and other free-draining spots across Beth’s garden, flowering all summer long. We grow perennial forms here, plants from the old oenothera genus (evening primrose) with saucer-shaped flowers, and those previously known as gaura, which produce masses of delicate, star-shaped flowers. A favourite for late season interest is Oenothera lindheimeri (white gaura), whose moth-like flowers hover above and among other sun-loving plants…

Radiant recycling inspiration Hi Kim, The garden space we have created on one half of our allotment has really been admired as the flowers have now come into bloom. We made the flower beds from recycled pallet wood with a little help from our brother and dad. The flowers were all grown from seed, including larkspurs, calendulas, phlox, rudbeckias, sunflowers, love-lies-bleeding, cornflowers, nigellas, echiums and asters. We have also made a garden table from offcuts of wood that a neighbour was throwing away. After a quick design drawing we soon had the table top ready to screw into place, leaving a centre hole. The design progressed after adding the legs as we started to draw and paint many flowers and insects we have in our garden. The top was varnished,…

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1 Only store beets that have strong, unblemished and uncracked skins. If you lift any that show skin damage, just eat them within a few weeks – don’t attempt long-term storage. Once carefully lifted, gently rub off any surplus soil (if you wash it off, just let the roots dry for half an hour or so). 2 The foliage has done its job of feeding up your plants, and it can now be removed. I don’t honestly think it matters if you cut it off, or twist it off – but for tradition’s sake I always twist mine. Just be careful when you’re handling the roots not to damage their skins. 3 Locatea sturdy porous box (i.e. one made of wood or cardboard) so that moisture can wick away. Cover…

It’s a familiar concern we hear from bird lovers and keen gardeners in August and early September each year – has something terrible happened to my garden birds, they all seem to have disappeared? The answer, thankfully, is almost certainly no! It is much quieter though, that much is true. And it’s particularly noticeable after a busy springtime, when birds are finding mates and then rearing broods and all the while, tirelessly searching for food to fuel this activity. It makes them very visible in our gardens. This frenetic behaviour is in fact one of the reasons they now seem to have disappeared – birds need to rest and recuperate. They begin their annual moult to replenish their tired and broken feathers, a process which can take a few weeks.…

Although a bed of strawberries can straggle on for years, they are only really productive for about the first four. They start out as decent crowns set at sensible spacings but poor soil, drought, or more often winter rain, gradually rots or withers the centre leaving small outer sections to struggle on. Runners root into gaps and the result is a tangle of smaller plants. Ours reached this stage a few years ago and replanting is well overdue into a fresh bed of good soil. Until recently, the only hop I’d grown was ornamental, golden-leaved Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’. While this produces flower cones, they are lightly scented and I’ve never heard of anyone flavouring beer with them. Now I have two beds of good beer varieties and I’m watching them…

There’s a hint of autumn in the air now, especially in the morning when I can smell the changing of the season on the breeze. Sensing the shortening days, the wild creatures that share my garden with me are busily laying down stores and fat reserves for the cold months ahead. I leave windfall apples on the ground to biodegrade naturally, food for wasps and red admiral butterflies as well as many grubs. The insects in turn provide food for the birds that forage here by day, and the hedgehogs at night. It is time to sow salads, spring cabbages, herbs and oriental greens to overwinter in a polytunnel or under cloches. Transplants sown in late July/early August are ready to go out in the gaps that appear as summer…

If you are looking for a no-fuss, ‘just get on with it’ perennial, then you need look no further than Scabiosa caucasia. This variety of scabious is a pretty addition to any border or wildflower meadow, growing to 30-60cm (1-2ft) in height and flowering through the late summer and well into the autumn when many other plants have already flowered and finished. ‘Perfection Blue’ is a charming variety with mid-azure flowers on strong yet delicate stems, making it a perfect plant for the garden and also the vase. They like a sunny site and will thrive in most soils, though you may need to add some lime if your ground is very acidic. If growing from seed, one method is to sow the seeds in late summer or early autumn…

How can I beat lupin aphids? Q I had a problem with my homegrown lupins this year. They were infested quite early by aphids. I handpicked them off but sadly lost most, only two survived. Any ideas for controlling them? Una Vincent, Kildare. Ireland A I feel for you. I’ve experienced this huge aphid (Macrosiphum albifrons) only once – it first appeared in Britain in 1981 – but the colony that clustered around my plant ruined it. As we are now discouraged from using chemical controls, which also kill beneficial insects, I urge you to adopt the following tactics: Use a hose to squirt this pest from your plants for ground beetles and other predators to feast upon. Spray stems with soapy water (one teaspoonful of washing-up liquid added to…

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If you’re anything like me then one of the things you love about gardening is getting out there and getting your hands dirty, both in theory and in reality! There is nothing quite like the feel of the earth between your fingers to know you’ve had a rewarding session in the great outdoors. However, protecting hands is also important, so ‘glove up’ with my top picks. Everyday Essentials It’s so helpful to be able to feel your way when gardening, to experience it all first-hand (if you’ll pardon another pun), so for me, everyday gardening gloves need to be thin enough to do just that. And that’s exactly where the Bamboo Touchscreen Gloves from Cool Job come into play. As the name suggests, this particular range is made almost entirely…

The idea’s simple, practised by farmers for millennia. As crops and bedding go over they leave our soil bare and more vulnerable to the elements, so green manures (which grow rapidly) provide vital weather-protecting cover, converting otherwise wasted sunlight, water and nutrients into masses of plant material. We then dig this in while it is still young and succulent and it rots down becoming fertiliser to feed our next plants. We do this before it goes to seed or the value would be lost. A bad first experience with green manures All this makes sense, so when I first ordered my green manure seeds, sowed, and got a wonderful cover just as promised, I thought I was well on my way. Then in late winter I started to dig this…

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I feel a bit melancholy when late summer arrives because I know that my favourite gardening activities will soon come to an end. But the month of September that lies ahead provides a great opportunity to do one last excitable seed sowing before the darker days and nights draw in. In early September, I’ll be choosing fast-growing edibles such as winter lettuces, spinach and rocket. I’ll sow these in short drills in a large pot of peat-free seed compost. Remember that these plants can also be eaten as microgreens so they don’t need to grow to mature plants to be enjoyed in a sandwich. I also love to sow more exotic salad crops such as Asian greens, pak choi, mizuna and giant red mustard in module seed trays, sowing one…

Plums, damsons and gages The British plum season runs from late July with the reddish-yellow variety ‘Opal’, through to late September with the purple-blue/black ‘Marjorie’s Seedling’. And they’re all delicious. Plums are essential for any fruit lover with a decent-sized plot (or, you can grow a fan-trained type against a sunny wall, which takes up hardly any room at all). Apart from dessert and culinary (cooking) plums, there are three closely-related fruits: ■ Damson – a form of plum, varieties are found across Europe, but the name 'damson' is most commonly applied to those native to Britain. Used in cooking and jam making, the fruits are smaller than plums and have a rather astringent taste. ■ Greengage – around 1725, Sir William Gage, a botanist from Suffolk, introduced a smallish…

Leeks are one of my very favourite vegetables, whether in soup, steamed with a Sunday roast or roasted in the oven. A Christmas Day dinner staple, many varieties are hardy enough to withstand winter weather and can be left in the ground and harvested as and when needed. They are sown in spring and early summer and the young plants added to the garden in June or July, but for various reasons this year I never got round to sowing any. I was cursing the fact when my husband phoned during a trip into town and said that the little garden shop on the high street was selling modules of 12 leeks for less than £2 and should he get some? I didn’t need asking twice and by the end…

The dreaded knotweed? Q I think I’ve identified this unknown plant as a nasty, possibly Japanese Knotweed! So I have disposed of it appropriately - was it knotweed?. Margaret Stevenson (via email) A I share your apprehension, but I don’t think you need to be concerned about the interloper, which appears to be Himalayan knotgrass (Koenigia polystachya). The plant that has appeared in your garden has long, pointed leaves, whereas those of Japanese knotweed are broad and triangular. Occasionally grown for its spectacular 2.2m (7ft) large-leaved stems and froth of white blossom, it would crowd a small garden. Peppered with holes! Q For years I have grown tomatoes and chillies with such success but am always frustrated with my efforts at growing bell peppers, which get eaten by something. What…

Your plant recommendations from expert plantsman, Michael. When I was a teenager, I collected cacti and succulents. Oh it was such a joy, I used to love growing cacti (in particular from seed), watching them reach puberty just as awkwardly as I did. Thankfully, a hobby collecting cacti and succulents is ideal for younger green fingers, as they are the most undemanding of plants. The fleshy bodies store plenty of water, so will live on happily should your youngster abandon their new hobby after a few months. Or, perhaps that’s when it becomes your hobby! I have worked with Ottershaw Cacti this month to bring you some of our collective favourites, and these cacti and succulents represent some wise choices for beginners to the hobby. Haworthiopsis attenuata ‘Big Band’ This…

In high summer buddleia are a joyous carnival of colour thanks to the butterflies that dance and drink among the flowers to the thrumming ‘bass-track’ of feeding bees. This ‘joie de vivre’ is especially remarkable when I think of how they looked in the depths of winter, when their comatose and leafless stems resembled little more than kindling. What a change! I wouldn’t be without these amazing plants, and with our butterfly numbers falling (have you noticed fewer this year?) they’re important plants to include in our gardens. And that goes for the common, garden and ‘rail-track’ type called Buddleja davidiiii. It’s the one with mauve flowers that stares in the carriage window when your train inexplicably stops between stations. Despite its omnipresence, it wasn’t always part of our landscape.…