Innholdsfortegnelse for 9-Aug-2025 i Amateur Gardening

This issue we celebrate natural methods of gardening with our Organic Special, looking at how gardening has moved so much from controlling to embracing the natural world over the past few years. Allowing nature to lend a helping hand offers so many benefits, from money and time-saving and resilience-boosting to the massive sense of wellbeing we get from gardening in a green space that is truly alive with the wonder and awe of wildlife. Of course, regular readers will have noticed that Amateur Gardening magazine champions natural methods in every issue, and that our fantastic team of experts offer advice designed to boost results using more regenerative methods. We were thrilled to be a finalist for the Beth Chatto environmental award at the prestigious Garden Media Guild awards last year…

As I write this, most of the UK is meltingly hot and we have emptied our household dehumidifier twice in the past 24 hours. The word ‘humid’ doesn’t do justice to this hard heatwave, and making sure the most vulnerable bits of the garden don’t dry out while also keeping the garden birds and wildlife hydrated takes up a lot of time in the early mornings and when the bite of heat has dissipated in the evenings. We also need to remember that climate resilience isn’t just about dealing with heat; it’s coping with all forms of weather extremes. When heat waves break, the ground is often so hard and desiccated that water simply runs off, which can cause pooling of water or worse, contribute to flooding. So what can…

In the last issue I gave you a nudge to sow cool-season edibles, this week I’m upping the volume! This is a key time for autumn and winter crops, and while I sympathise that it’s a drag to shift your mind from high to low temperatures now, it will pay dividends. You see, we naturally turn our attention to chillier times come late September or October, but by then it’s far too late to sow many excellent winter edibles. These crops need time to bulk up, and sowing them later will give weak plants and miserly yields. Sow now, however, and these crops will have time to develop a substantial root system, so that come the lower daylight hours and temperatures of autumn, they’ll already have the strength to not…

It’s been quite a summer, with some scorching temperatures at times. But there’s a feeling in the August air signalling that the season is dwindling and many of the migratory birds who visit the UK to breed are preparing to head south, their work here done. Swallows spend their final few weeks in the UK catching as many of the late summer insects as possible, getting their fill in readiness for their long flights to Africa. It’s essential for them to do this, to be in good condition for their long migration, but it also provides a lovely spectacle to watch! Their diet includes a host of different flying creatures from wasps and moths to beetles, aphids and even some damselflies. The agility required to catch such a diversity of…

Helping the seasons to merge with a continuous palette of colour isn’t always easy, so growing plants that can flower from midsummer into the autumn is a major bonus. Dahlias, canna lilies and echinaceas are three of the most obvious solutions, but daisy-like rudbeckias, also known as coneflowers and black-eyed Susan, are another fabulous option. These prairie plants can be annuals or perennials depending on the hardiness of the particular variety, and they create patches of warm shades in late summer and autumn. I like a half-hardy variety called Caramel Mixed, which carries double-petalled flowers in subtle tones of amber and copper on sturdy stems that can reach 60cm (2ft) high. Because Caramel Mixed is a half-hardy variety that doesn’t like our cold winters, sow the seeds in spring in…

Thirty Degrees and Rising It was a lovely sunny day.The temperature was rising to above thirty degrees,Too hot for working in the garden,A time for rest and relaxation, and to be at ease. A time to sit back in a comfortable chairTo observe our surroundings from a place in the shade,To ponder on the progress we have madeAnd consider what will come next – no need today for a spade. It was extremely quiet.No dogs were barking, no children screaming,No lawn mowers whirring – it was too hot for all that.The air was still, not a cloud in the sky.All we required were cold drinks and a warm friendly chat. Very few birds were about.They too were sheltering from the heat,Resting on branches and shaded by leaves.Everything else would wait…

Right now you could be savouring the most delicious, sweet, perfumed, succulent pear - or a shop-bought one. Commercial pears seldom compare favourably with homegrown but the greatest problem pears have is that few folk know just how luscious they really can be when enjoyed at their best. Thus pear trees are far less planted than apples. To grow the very finest pears may take a tad more effort than for apples. Mind you, pears are remarkably adaptable, you can even crop some varieties on north-facing walls, but they do appreciate a warm sunny site. Indeed, if you have a sunny wall then you are blessed: train a pear tree on that and you will have wonderful fruits, much sweeter and earlier than from those positioned out in the open.…

It’s always a bonus when you can get something extra at no added cost, but with plants this sometimes requires gardeners to open their minds a bit to see things that they usually ignore. When gardening in a small space we need hardworking, reliable plants we can squeeze every little bit of interest out of for as long as possible. These can then form the backbone of our display, with other plants used as short-term displays when needed. Interesting foliage and flowers are invaluable attributes when space is limited. Shrubs such as Buddleja davidii Magda’s Gold Knight (‘Elstb1’), will achieve 1.5 x 1.5m (5 x 5ft) if left but can be kept smaller with a spring prune, has golden-yellow and green variegated leaves with the deep purple flowers from July…

Like it or not, gardening has always been something of a joint enterprise. Whether we want to grow fruit and vegetables or combine trees, shrubs and flowers to create a beautiful space, or both, the hidden hand of Mother Nature can be seen throughout the seasons: from poppies springing up out of barren earth and hordes of ladybird larvae helping with infestations of aphids, to the combined work of microorganisms to break down plant debris and transform it into soil-enriching compost. The natural world can help the garden and gardeners in so many inspiring ways and save time and money in the process. Yet for many years the accepted advice for gardeners was to jettison weeds that crept into bare areas, blast chemicals at insects seen as pests, raise seedlings…

There is ‘no place like home’ and having been away for over a week, I couldn’t wait to dump my bags and inspect the garden. Buddlejas had flowered well despite an earlier attack by melon cotton aphid and were attracting a splendid crowd of peacock and red admiral butterflies. Runner beans had just started to crop but where had the chervil gone? After poking around in a knot of vegetation, its skeletal remains finally appeared. Chervil is described as biennial but this is not quite how it works and if you love its mild, aniseed flavour, multiple sowings per year will be needed to ensure a constant supply. Fortunately, there were seeds hanging on the dried black stalks, promptly gathered for further sowings. In addition to herb chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium)…

Wonderful waterlilies Of all the many types of aquatic plants that grow in garden ponds, it is the exotic-looking waterlily (Nymphaea) that epitomises the subject to many people. There are plenty of varieties, for all sizes and depths of pond, and in a wide range of colours, from the purest of whites to the darkest of reds, with a fair number of pinks, creams and yellows in between. The earliest ones started blooming in May, and there are a few weeks left of these stunning aquatic beauties. Waterlily v. real lily ■ Waterlilies are not in any way related to the true lily (Lilium spp). ■ Waterlilies are dicotyledonous plants (with leaf veins branching out and across the leaves), whereas true lilies are monocotyledonous (with veins running parallel and along…

What will brighten our winter garden? Shrubs and perennials add colour to the darker days Q I feel our garden looks very bare in winter. What could I plant to provide interest then? Megan Jones (via email) A Pleasingly, there are several shrubs and border perennials that flower in January and February that should thrive in your garden. The following are reliably hardy and colourful: Shrubs Camellia japonica, Garrya elliptica, Erica carnea, sarcococca, Lonicera fragrantissima and Daphne mezereum. Border perennials Helleborus niger, H. orientalis and Pulmonaria rubra ‘Redstart’. As we have experienced such a dry spring and summer, I would wait to plant until autumn, when the days are cooler but the soil is still warm but frequently dampened by rain. Enrich soil first with lots of well-rotted compost, farmyard…

There’s something truly special about seeing old-fashioned flowers come back into style, especially the ones I used to grow with my grandmother. We’d spend hours in the garden, planting together, and those moments felt simple and so joyful. The flowers we grew became part of our shared story, full of warmth and connection. Seeing those same types of blooms returning, but now with fresh colours, improved forms, and longer seasons, feels like a beautiful blend of past and present. Modern breeding has brought a new spark to these classic favourites, making them more adaptable and even more stunning. With updated shapes, surprising hues and reliable performance, they fit perfectly into today’s gardens, big or small. I often wish my grandma could see how far things have come, how the flowers…

A free-to-visit Royal garden in Edinburgh is celebrating five years of community engagement and outdoor adventures and learning. The Physic Garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the end of the Royal Mile was established 350 years ago by Sir Robert Sibbald and Sir Andrew Balfour, two founding members of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Created in 1670 to teach students about the medicinal properties of plants and to provide pharmacists with fresh medicinal ingredients, the original physic garden was the first of its kind in Scotland and the forerunner to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. The new Physic Garden was opened in 2020 to recreate some of the earliest recorded gardens in the Palace grounds, with three distinct sections each representing different periods in the Palace’s 900-year…

I prefer to spend my time in the garden enjoying it, watching nature and experiencing the sights and scents, rather than constantly being busy doing things. So I think plants that spread vigorously or self-seed readily are a bonus. They add more colour and foliage, and can smother weeds at the same time. The one downside to these prolific plants is that they can outgrow their allotted area quite quickly. So be cautious of planting too many of them if your space is limited or they may create more work than they save! Lamium maculatum ‘Pink Pewter’ A silver and green-leaved evergreen ground cover plant with delicate flowers. ‘Pink Pewter’ has pale pink flowers, but there are plenty of other varieties offering a selection of flower colours. A low-growing plant,…

Courgettes are incredibly prolific in the garden, and appearing in almost everything I am preparing in the kitchen at the moment-even breakfast. (I’m currently working on a granola recipe including dehydrated courgette!) To harvest them in the peak of perfection, keep picking courgettes every few days. Remember to check under leaves for any lurkers, which can quickly turn into giant, marrow-sized fruit if you turn your back. This moist, summery cake is a perfect way of using up (some) of a courgette glut. The courgette adds extra moisture to the cake, and you can pretend that adding veg makes the bake healthy! It slices beautifully and is ideal to take on picnics and added to allotment lunch boxes. Ingredients For the cake ■ 200g courgette, grated■ 160g caster sugar■ 180g…

A lonesome but lovely poppy spotted by reader Maggie Dear Kim, Ripon is well known for the splendid display of poppies that mark each Remembrance Day, but I came across this determined little specimen growing all alone by the roadside. A survivor if ever I saw one! All the best, Maggie Cobbett Kim says; isn’t nature so clever, and what a welcome little splash of colour by the roadside. A truly resilient flower indeed. Thank you for sharing Maggie. Canny comfrey tea idea Dear AG I read with interest Rosie’s article on making comfrey food. I have been doing this for years but I use old 10-litre ice cream containers with a lid. In the bottom one I put four old yoghurt containers at each corner and another ice cream…

You can have too much of a good thing. Overdo the gym, shellfish or Sauvignon Blanc and you’ll feel rough for days - and everyone knows that too many birthdays can be fatal. It’s the same with some flowers and wherever I’ve gardened there’s always been one ‘good thing’ that’s ‘too much’ - from ladies’ mantle in London, border-swamping Sisyrinchium in Stockport to neighbour-crushing cranesbills in Cambridge. In my Devon garden the plant I control most regularly is red valerian aka Centranthus rubur. It grows anywhere, from nooks in the patio to the joints in brickwork and if I didn’t go through the garden digging, pulling and dead-heading unwanted plants, it’d take over. Part of its charm is that it looks like it belongs here because clinging to walls it…