Innholdsfortegnelse for 3-Jan-2025 i Amateur Gardening

As we continue to wrap up warm, we can enjoy the beauty of the winter garden and the opportunity to quietly start to look ahead to the promise of spring and the gardening season to come. From browsing through seed catalogues and planning what to grow over a warming cuppa to taking the opportunity to walk and ponder beds and borders for ideas and inspiration, this is a lovely time of year to pause, reflect and slowly recharge and rejuvenate before the rush of the excitable gardening months ahead. No matter your plans, 2026 is the year when gardener wellbeing needs to take centre stage. Yes, the process of gardening in itself is - of course -incredibly nurturing with the ability to sow seed, tend, harvest and play, but as…

Bedworth Seed Swap, which is swiftly growing in size and popularity, returns on Sunday, February 1. As well as members offering advice and tips along with their seeds, a number of traders and plant experts will attend. They include The Heart of England Organic Group, seed merchant Thomas Etty Esq, The Heritage Seed Library, The Nuneaton & Atherstone Bee Keepers and Windowsill Plants. The seed swap is at The Main Hall, St Giles Church, Ash Green, Coventry. CV7 9HA from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and admission is £1.…

The story of how a 26-acre fishery became an internationally renowned sculpture park and sustainable botanic garden has been turned into a new book. Over the past 18 years, globally recognised sculptor Simon Gudgeon and his garden designer wife Monique have transformed several fishing ponds in Dorset into Sculpture by the Lakes, a sculpture park and accredited botanic garden. Their endeavours are now laid out in Sculpture by the Lakes: A Journey of Art, Landscape and Conservation. As well as exhibiting 100 sculptures by leading artists, the park features themed planting areas, wildlife-rich wetlands, and ongoing conservation initiatives supporting native species and biodiversity. Simon said: “This book is more than just a record of our work; it’s about the power of art and landscape to restore, to challenge, and to…

Well hello there, and welcome to a shiny new year of gardening. We have 52 weeks to look forward to, and who knows what they will bring. Will we have the same glorious summer as 2025, or will it be a wash-out? Will 2026 be jamboree time for the slugs, or will some other nibblesome nasty take centre stage this year? Who knows - I certainly don’t, but one thing’s for sure, everyone here at AG will be with you every step of the gardening way, offering all our usual tips, inspiration and advice to help you keep your garden flourishing and healthy. Like many of us, I use the first week of January to think up ways of ‘doing better’ than the year before. These usually involve fitness, tidiness…

January is one of our coldest and darkest months, yet it brings us hope in the form of a new year and the first green shoots of nature reawakening. It’s a month when it is lovely to look out for wrens – a tiny bird overcoming the winter elements and a true source of optimism. It’s a good month generally to spot birds of all kinds, given that the trees are leafless and there’s less cover from flowers and plants than later in the year. But wrens can still be tricky to see. Tiny – weighing only about the same as a pound coin – and extremely agile, you can often feel your eyes are deceiving you when there’s a wren in the shrubs around your garden as their movements…

Heavenly scent It’s a new year, and while there may be a lack of garden colour at the moment, there are plenty of fragrant plants to make up for it! Why? Well, in nature, most winter flowers are yellow or white; bright colours (reds, oranges, blues, purples and so on) tend to be absent. To attract pollinating insects therefore, the flowers have to work hard – and producing a scent is one way they do this. Mostly, we recognise these as lovely fragrances and, with careful choosing, it is possible to have a succession of perfumes all through winter. Our ability to smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than taste. Which witch-hazel? Witch hazel (Hamamelis sp) flowers are carried on leafless stems around now. Many are noted for their fragrance.…

One of my resolutions for this year is to really get on top of the health and stability of the soil in our garden. Using no-dig and organic methods is a great start, but another brilliant way to help your soil is to grow more perennials instead of annuals. Because they are hopefully long-lasting, g, you disturb the soil less when planting them and as their roots establish and spread through the years, they form a protective network holding the soil in place. Moreover, if you leave their top growth alone during the colder months, it helps shield the soil from the elements and provides shelter for a wide range of overwintering insects and invertebrates. Two brilliant but very different perennials I want to add this year are Verbena bonariensis…

Over the years I have been obsessed with word-play, and I love finding strange ways in which gardening words are connected. Sometimes there are amazing similarities or astonishing links, or sometimes there are just a few weird and wacky coincidences! Let’s look at a selection ACER SECOMIC! No, this isn’t a type of Japanese maple. If you make them into one word – acersecomic – this is one of the oldest words in our language that has just become forgotten and unused. It actually means ‘one whose hair has never been cut’. There are plenty of lost gardeningrelated words, too. Here are just 10: Blet - To soften a fruit that is hard, even when ripe Crinkle-crankle - Wall built with several waves or curves Flosh - Swamp or stagnant…

You know what they say about people who hoard copies of Amateur Gardening magazine? They have a lot of issues. Boom, boom! How we laughed… People collect stuff, including magazines, for many reasons. There’s nostalgia, social connection and the profoundly important desire for knowledge. The ambition to ‘get to know’ a subject by bringing things together has had a huge influence on how, when and what we grow in our gardens. It is the reason that trees from around the world grow in our public parks and why our windowsills heave with houseplants. Somebody, somewhere in the distant past started a collection. All gardeners are collectors. We like trying something new and if it grows well, chances are we’ll be on the lookout for a dozen more. But collecting doesn’t…

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Sustainable lifestyle and zero-waste advocate Lynne Lambourne is encouraging people to beat the winter blues in their garden this winter. Lynne, an ambassador for Gardena, says that with around 20% of the population suffering from SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder or the ‘winter blues’ – gardening is a great way of calming the mind, making the most of natural light, and getting in step with nature’s rhythms. She said: “The winter garden teaches a quiet truth. Growth requires both preparation and rest.” Lynne advocates planting hardy herbs and edibles such as rosemary and kale, as well as colourful winter bedding, and cultivating patches of green wherever possible, including windowsill microgreens and balcony planters. Following the science, she also recommends touching the soil when planting, as a natural soil bacterium called…

Snowdrop fever returns to Hever Castle in Kent on February 11 when the stately home reopens after its winter break. Tens of thousands of snowdrops will carpet the grounds in sweeping drifts and visitors are encouraged to put on their walking boots, and bring their four-legged friends, to explore the historic site and revel in the first signs of spring. Head Gardener Neil Miller said: “We are excited to include a tour of The Winter Garden, and to feature the crocus and flowering bulbs alongside our 160,000 snowdrops this year as part of our First Signs of Spring event.” For seasonal opening times and ticket details, please visit www.hevercastle.co.uk.…

Gardening gives us the chance to use whatever we can to create what we require, and this can be achieved by recycling and looking for upcycling opportunities. Even in a small garden there are times and places where we can use things that we might otherwise consign to the recycling or rubbish bin. Bottle cloches If you are keen on propagating and/or maybe growing a few veg among your ornamental plants, as we do in our Ornamental Kitchen Garden, then use old pop bottles as mini greenhouses, cloches or pest protectors by placing them over individual plants. They are ideal for bringing on plug plants that have been planted directly into the soil, as well as protecting brassicas from pigeons. In both cases make sure the bottle has its cap…

I’ve written and contributed to a number of books in my time but never thought I’d write one entitled No Time to Garden: The Half Hour Gardener. I remember well having lunch with the commissioning editor who, after listening to my pitch about gardening for wildlife, leant forward, narrowed her eyes and whispered ‘could you bear to write a book called The Half Hour Gardener?’ There had been a time when I gardened all day for a living, but by the time the book idea was mooted I had two small children and a house, and my paid work was writing and broadcasting. Full or even half days in the garden were few and far between, so motivating busy folk to sneak out and use any half hour they could…

A new year brings fresh opportunities to experiment and make changes in the garden. This year I want to grow some less common flowers and shrubs, as well as plants that I just haven’t grown before. To help me choose, I’ve been looking back at photos from visits to RHS Chelsea Flower Show and RHS Malvern Spring Festival and to gardens and garden centres where I’ve spotted an ‘oh, I like that!’ plant. A garden where every plant is unusual or challenges our preconceptions has the potential to feel uncomfortable, but adding one or two less familiar plants here and there can give the garden a new dynamic, a different feel and a zing of excitement. So here are a few suggestions to inspire you to look beyond your existing…

What should I do with my lupin seedlings? Make sure they have plenty of light to grow strongly Q I sowed some lupin seeds in late summer and potted them on. They are now in an unheated greenhouse. Can they be nipped out to stop them getting too leggy or will they stop growing as the weather gets cooler. Denise Jackson (Tyne and Wear) A Well done for raising a healthy batch of lupin seedlings. The best way to stop them from becoming leggy is to position them where they will receive around six to eight hours of direct sunshine a day. If that’s not possible, position daylightsimulating grow lights above and programme them to illuminate plants for around 12 to 16 hours a day. Additionally, help them thrive and…

I’ve been back in the Netherlands again for one of the season’s bigger plant shows, and I found a lot of cool stuff. Here are a few remarkable varieties that are catching attention across the horticultural world, and will be coming to garden centres very soon. Alpinia ‘Crispy’ This innovative foliage plant brings a totally new texture to the family of gingers. Unlike the familiar glossy leaves of traditional ginger species, Alpinia ‘Crispy’ features beautifully ruffled foliage that shimmers with movement and light. Compact and easy to grow, it’s perfect for containers indoors. With its fresh form and tropical flair, it might also work outside in the summer too. Guzmania ‘Fiero Red’ Bromeliads have always been associated with bold colour, and ‘Fiero Red’ takes that to the next level. I…

When is a greenhouse not a greenhouse? The answer, of course, is ‘when it’s a cold frame’, which really is nearly as useful. Obviously you can’t walk inside a cold frame, and growing plants with much height may be awkward, but then there’s always a way that plants such as tomatoes can be trained sideways. Cold frames are protective structures, low-sided boxes with openable transparent covers. They’re mostly seen in conjunction with a green or glass house as they’re such useful protected spaces, and especially handy for hardening off plants on their way to be planted out. However, a cold frame can stand alone, producing similar results to a small greenhouse. Indeed, there was once a massive horticultural sector covering thousands of acres under cold frames producing all our usual…

Fabulous florals and sustainable gardening to help wildlife and the wider environment are just two of the trends highlighted for 2026 by Thompson & Morgan. The gardening brand reveals that while most gardeners grow flowers rather than edibles, more are turning towards perennials that protect the soil, and drought-resistant varieties. T&M Sales Director, David Phillips, said: “British gardeners continue to balance tradition with innovation. They’re staying loyal to the charm of cottage garden styling while embracing sustainable practices that future-proof their gardens.”…

A talk about the importance of continuing to explore the world for new plants will be the highlight of the Cambridgeshire Plant Heritage AGM on Saturday, January 10. The talk will be given by Angela Cano, Deputy Curator of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. The meeting is open to all, with an entrance fee of £3 for non-members. It takes place at 2pm at Madingley Village Hall, Madingley, Cambridge, CB23 8AB. Are you involved in community growing projects where you live? Send in your news by emailing editor@amateurgardening.com…

To understand monsteras, which are commonly known as Swiss cheese and monkey mask plants, picture their wild home in the tropical rain forests of Central America. Here they climb trees to heights of 20m (70ft), clinging with aerial roots and sending them to seek pockets of nourishment. Huge leaves with indented edges bear many holes (fenestrations), designed to enhance strength, resist wind, shed water and allow sunbeams to penetrate down through the canopy to foliage below. Indoors, stand your plant in good but not harsh light and away from hot radiators. Water when the compost surface feels dry and give the occasional well-balanced liquid feed from spring to autumn. Wipe leaf surfaces regularly to remove dust and if they are sticky, check for scale insects or mealy bugs. Leave some…

We love receiving your letters, emails and social media posts. Every message, poem, idea and comment matters. Please keep them coming. We will send out a thank you gift for every item published in the magazine as soon as we can, so do please send your address and contact details when you get in touch. Robert’s glorious ‘flame’ lily Kim With the long dark evenings upon us now, I thought the readers might enjoy seeing one of my successes from earlier this year. After much difficulty in trying to germinate Gloriosa ‘Rothschildiana’ seeds, I finally managed to have some success with some tubers I purchased online. This exotic flame lily really lived up to my expectations and I am hoping that after a rest in my heated greenhouse over the…