Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2024 i Garden Answers

“Enjoying snowdrops and catching up with my snowdrop friends across the country.” Val Bourne on sparkling winter plants, p14 “Starting to pot up, divide and top-dress my container plants, including tubs of lilies.” Sue Fisher on hellebores, p28 “Winter pruning my deciduous hedge, done one side one year, the other the next.” Adrian Thomas bird box advice, p44 “Sowings half-hardy flowers and ‘exotic’ veg in my heated propagators.” Geoff Hodge gives expert advice on spades, p86 “I’ll be collecting as many snowdrops in the green as I can from generous friends and family.” Features Editor Elise Sargent “Sowing early chillies and peppers, and prepping the cut flower patch.” Gill Lockhart designs the magazine CONTACT US By post: Garden Answers, Bauer Media, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA Email: gardenanswers@bauermedia.co.uk…

Patio project BEAUTIFUL BULB AND EVERGREEN ELEGANCE Blending evergreens with vibrant winter bulbs pays off when creating a wonderful display that provides an optimistic look for your patio in February when everything else feels rather bleak. As the bright purple irises burst open, they work in perfect combination with the pure white of the crocus ‘Jeanne d’Arc’. The ivy spills elegantly over the side of the preserving pan, with pinky-purple erica providing the border and the delicate pink buds and white flowers of the hellebores adding structure, bringing the whole look together. Afree-draining compost mix is important here. Get it right, and this pretty display will last into early April, bringing you joy every time you step into the garden.…

Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’ The pretty yellow spires of mahonia bring forth more than just a much-needed burst of colour, they also bathe the garden in a heady scent, similar to lily of the valley. It is one of the longest-flowering varieties, with blooms from autumn to spring. H: 8m, S: 4m. Daphne odora If you had to create the perfect winter plant, this shrub with dark green, glossy evergreen leaves, little jewels of pink and white flowers from February to April, and the most intense perfume, would be it. Daphne odora doesn’t like the sun so make sure it’s in at least part shade. H: 1.5m, S: 1.5m. Sarcococca confusa This evergreen favourite has tiny white flowers but they punch above their weight with exceptional vanilla-like fragrance from December to…

The garden can look a bit forlorn in February with the soggy, windswept stems and seedheads of perennials left to stand over winter. Towards the end of the month you can start to cut these stems down to the ground. • It’s best to leave borderline-hardy plants such as penstemons and hardy fuchsias for another month or so, until you see signs of new growth. • Clear away the old plant material to the compost heap. This will freshen up the garden and allow emerging bulbs to shine.…

YEAR ROUND colour FEBRUARY Acers provide amazing autumn foliage colour, but this family has more than bright leaves. Its barks and stems are beautiful, whether it’s the peeling layers of Acer griseum or the fascinating striated red snakebark maple, seen here at Ellicar Gardens near Doncaster, with its patterned green and white bark beckoning visitors for a closer look. Two sweeps of bergenia keep the planting fresh despite it being winter. There are dozens of great cultivars out there to choose from. Agreat place to start, however, are the dark-red jewel tones of ‘Bressingham Ruby’ foliage. Meanwhile, ‘Silberlicht’ is a shining green stalwart. Early snowdrop Galanthus elwesii can be in flower from New Year’s Day through to March with lovely strap-like foliage. The glaucous tones on this beautiful plant create…

FLAVOURSOME STRAWBERRIES Our pick of the best cropping, most delicious strawbs... ‘Korona’: Large crops of big, juicy fruits. Great for jam. ● 6 bareroots for £8.99, thompson-morgan.com ‘Fenella’: Large, juicy berries with an upright growth habit. ● 12 plants for £20.50, pomonafruits.co.uk ‘Gariguette’: Elongated fruits packed with flavour. ● 12 plants for £19.50, pomonafruits.co.uk…

Q The builders have wrecked my front garden – help! Fact file ● GARDEN SIZE 8x4m ● SITE South-facing corner plot ● SOIL Dry and sandy ● EXISTING PLANTS L-R: geranium, oleander, hostas, euonymus x2, mature plum tree, roses, Iris foetidissima ● THE LOOK Natural-looking, prairie-style planting in soft pastels This modern mid-century house, owned by Tim and Kerry Unwin, is typical of many suburban homes that enjoy a corner plot. In a bid to create more living space, they’ve extended the house out to the side – changing the shape of the garden in the process. In my view, the south-facing plot that remains is begging for some open, informal prairie-style planting, using grasses and other sun lovers in pink and purple. First we…

Save £50 when you buy 4x bareroot for just £29.96 Add the beauty of a rose in your garden this year. These fabulous quality patio standard roses are perfect in pots or in the ground, on patios or anywhere in the garden! The roses are versatile and specially chosen for being a small-flowered variety bearing hundreds of small, long-lasting flowers with beautiful scent. This patio rose is a must-have in any garden. Supplied as 4x bareroot standard trees with well-formed heads, approximately 60-70cm tall and ready to plant out in pots or in the ground. Limited for space? Our Standard Rose Collection is also sold as pairs, supplied as 2x bareroot standard trees with well-formed heads, approximately 60-70cm tall and ready to plant out. ● Item 530199: 4x bareroot roses…

Malus domestica ‘Katy’ An abundance of long-lasting, pure-white blossom from pink buds. Easy to grow and a very good pollinator. ● H&S: 3m, £44.75/ 1 bareroot, orangepippintrees.co.uk Malus domestica ‘Kidd’s Orange Red’ Unusual crimson-pink blossom has a rose-like scent and flavoursome ‘Cox’-style apples. ● H&S: 4-8m, £34.95/1 bareroot, orangepippintrees. co.uk Pyrus communis ‘Beurré Hardy’ The delicate white flowers of this pear tree give off a rose-water perfume. A scab resistant variety. ● H&S: 8m, £54.99/9L pot, rhsplants.co.uk Malus ‘Evereste’ A dazzling display of unusually large white flowers for a crab apple tree, opening in April from scarlet flower buds that fade to pink. ● H&S: 4-8m, £39.99/ 1 bareroot, crocus.co.uk Cydonia oblonga ‘Vranja’ Popular quince tree with many large, solitary, blush-pink flowers in spring. Its flesh is softer than most…

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER & INSTAGRAM @gardenanswers A Pretty little biennial that self seeds in abundance and looks beautiful with wallflowers and tulips in spring B Clump-forming perennial with tall, salmon-pink flower spikes in early summer up to 1.2m high C Evergreen perennial whose long trailing stems of heart-shaped leaves give rise to its common name D Long-flowering perennial with striking reddish-purple flowers from early summer to late autumn E White lacecap flowers edged in red that turn pink on a deciduous shrub with good autumn colour F Perennial with ferny foliage and dangling heart-shaped flowers in a striking red shade on this cultivar…

Glass bowl bulb display Make the most of winter flowers with something that will really stand out. A decorative glass bowl can really sing when filled with something a little different. Here, narcissus ‘Erlicheer’, moss, birch twigs and Salix caprea create a beautiful centrepiece for any table. 1 Line the glass bowl with moss, making sure there are no gaps. 2 Tightly pack in narcissus ‘Erlicheer’. It doesn’t matter if some are at a slight angle. 3 Fill in the spaces with peat-free compost. 4 Add the Salix caprea and birch twigs into the glass bowl, poking them into the compost to secure them. The overall look will be better if they are not placed too uniformly. 5 It should last for weeks with a little light watering.…

CROCUS ‘DE JAGER’ Very early to flower, this Italian crocus has violet and purple flamed, buff-coloured petals. Needs your most sheltered spot, or pots. NARCISSUS ‘RIJNVELD’S EARLY SENSATION’ The only really early, tall yellow trumpet daffodil that flowers in January, or earlier. Priceless for a bright spot! SCILLA SIBERICA Definitely the best cobalt-blue miniature bulb for shadier positions. The glossy green foliage is a bonus. Allow it to self-seed and multiply. IRIS ‘LADY BEATRIX STANLEY’ An enduring iris with cobalt-blue flowers dappled with white and a yellow central ridge. The foliage gets tall after flowering, but this feeds next year’s bulb. GALANTHUS ELWESII A grey-leaved Turkish snowdrop of substance that’s sold in pots in garden centres. The grey foliage indicates a love of a brighter position. Tuck it under roses.…

Bulbs aren’t just for springtime – lots of species flower in summer and start to become available now. They’re not all ‘bulbs’ though: some are tiny corms while others are huge knobbly tubers. Check catalogues and websites for pretty crocosmia, agapanthus and dahlia cultivars. Pineapple flowers (Eucomis bicolor), cannas and ornamental ginger lilies have a spectacular, tropical appeal. Don’t dismiss gladioli as blowsy and old-fashioned – there are many more refined forms, especially of miniature Gladiolus nanus. Summer-flowering bulbs are often fiery and exotic, adding drama to borders, but can also be frost tender. Order bulbs now for planting in late spring when all risk of frost has passed.…

In the vast ancient wildwoods of the past, any old, dead and dying trees would have been peppered with holes: knot holes, rot holes and old woodpecker holes. Several of our bird species evolved to take advantage of these opportunities. They learnt to seek out cavities whose entrances were just big enough to squeeze into but which opened into roomy inner chambers. Here they could make their nests, hidden from view, safe from the elements and out of reach of anything that might want to snack on their eggs or nestlings. Most of our gardens are in places where these forests would once have stood, but few of them now contain trees of the right age or size to offer these kinds of natural nest sites. However, what we do…

Inside 74 Houseplants 75 Shrubs 75 Herbaceous 76 Plant IDs 78 Fruit &veg 80 Pests & diseases 82 Garden rescue Our experts GEOFF STEBBINGSgives expert answers to all your gardening problems. Geoff is an author and gardening writer, and was head gardener at Myddelton House, north London. GEOFF HODGE is a gardening and horticultural writer, author, editor and radio and TV broadcaster. His aim is to help gardeners get the best from their plants and garden. IAN HODGSON casts an expert eye over unruly borders, providing advice on how to revamp them. Ian is author of Great Gardens, in association with the Society of Garden Designers. CONTACT US By post: Garden Answers, Bauer Media, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA Email: gardenanswers@bauermedia.co.uk Web: www.gardenanswersmagazine. co.uk Social media: Find us…

Aspade is one of those essential pieces of gardening equipment, whether it’s for digging over the soil, incorporating soil improvers, making large planting holes or any number of other tasks. As with most gardening tools, there are lots of options to choose from, and numerous design considerations to look out for when buying one that suits you best. Long digging sessions, especially in heavy clay soil, can be physically demanding, so it’s important to select your spade thoughtfully. Try to have a ‘test drive’ before you buy one. The most important factors to consider are length, weight and balance – not too top heavy. Aspade that feels too weighty will be even heavier when it’s lugging around wet soil. One that is too long will be uncomfortable to use properly,…

24 FREE* summer bedding plants worth £23.96! These summer bedding plants will make sure your garden is a real showstopper in 2024! You’ll receive 24 FREE* plants, six each of buzy Lizzie, nicotiana, rudbeckia and marigold. Since 2011, few gardeners have dared to grow traditional Impatiens walleriana. Now busy Lizzies are back –and this time with a high resistance to downy mildew! ● Busy Lizzie ‘Beacon’ offers the same growth habit, versatility and fabulous colour mix of traditional varieties, without the risk of plant collapse. Plant them in windowboxes, beds, borders, baskets and containers! H: 45cm, S: 35cm. ● Nicotiana ‘Eau Du Cologne’ is a special mixture offering uniform, mid-height plants with upward-facing flowers, in a tapestry of glowing colours. The upright flower stems are guaranteed to lend a sparkle…

I’ll never forget my first garden-inspired epiphany. It was July 2015. My wife and I had recently – mere days earlier –moved out of our second floor, one-bedroom rented flat into the Victorian terraced house we still call home today. For the first time in our adult lives we had a garden of our own and Iwas eager to whip it into shape as quickly as I could. I found some half-rusted tools dumped in the dilapidated coal store by the house’s previous occupants. My wife’s father and uncle came over to lend me their muscle and, in the case of the latter, a line trimmer. We stood –we three brave, bold and inappropriately attired men –on the sliver of patio outside the back door, surveying the postage stamp patch…

SNOWDROP SEASON 1–29 Feb, Waterperry Gardens, Oxford OX33 1JZ More than 60 different snowdrop varieties carpet the ornamental gardens and run along the riverside walk. Garden entry £10.50. ● waterperrygardens.co.uk SNOWDROP WALKS 3Feb-2 Mar, Thur-Sun, 10am-4pm, Rode Hall, Cheshire ST7 3PQ Enjoy one of the UK’s best snowdrop walks, £7.50. ● rodehall.co.uk SEEDY SATURDAY 3Feb, 10am-3pm, Lewes Town Hall, Lewes, East Sussex BN8 2QS Seed-swapping event with seeds and plants for sale. ● plantheritage.co.uk WINTER TOP FRUIT PRUNING WORKSHOP 9 Feb, 11am-1pm, RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford, Greater Manchester M28 2L Apple and pear pruning workshop with curator Marcus Chilton-Jones. Ideal for gardeners with some horticultural knowledge, £53.85. ● rhs.org.uk THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF HOUSEPLANTS TALK 10 Feb, 2.30–4pm, Zoom Plant, garden and social historian Advolly Richmond traces the social history…

Green facades enhance urban biodiversity, new RHS research shows. Astudy of three self-supporting climbers – common ivy (Hedera helix), Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) and climbing hydrangea (Pileostegia viburnoides) – indicated that plants grown against walls are an important resource for invertebrates. They also bring benefits such as temperature regulation, moisture retention, sound dampening and trapping gaseous and particulate pollution. Andrew Salisbury, head of plant health at the RHS, said: “Greening walls with climbers and other plants creates places for a wide range of invertebrates, including beetles and a variety of predatory invertebrates, to live and to feed.” For more information visit rhs.org.uk/science/green-facades-project.…

The Money-Saving Gardener: Create Your Dream Garden at a Fraction of the Cost by Anya Lautenbach, £16.99, DK. Beat the rising cost of living and transform your garden on a budget with Anya, known online as the Garden Fairy. The Money-Saving Gardener has tips and tricks for keeping costs down without compromising on style or impact. Learn how to repurpose what you have, make the most of so-called garden ‘waste’ and boost your plant collection for next to nothing with seed-saving and propagation hacks. QUIZ ANSWERS A Myosotis sylvatica (forget-me-not) B Eremurus ‘Romance’ (foxtail lily) C Ceropegia linearis woodii (hearts on a string) D Salvia ‘Love & Wishes’ E Hydrangea ‘Love you Kiss’ F Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Valentine’…

A successful display of pots might require more input than a permanently planted garden does, yet it is a fast, fluid, and creative way to get results and a winter show, as clever containers inject colour, drama, and life into even the smallest outdoor space. The process of creating a really good container display is a marriage between both pots and plants. The container must have the essential qualities of proportion and aesthetic appeal, as well as providing for the plants’ needs. What is planted, meanwhile, must be strong enough to weather the season, work well as an arrangement, and also be sufficiently eye-catching. When a planter has a strong shape, a bold design or a bright colour, a simple, strong scheme is best – perhaps a single type of…

PLANT UP AN ALPINE TROUGH Plant an alpine container this month to appreciate the delicate flowers and foliage. You can often find old stone troughs at reclamation yards for £100-£500. Cheaper alternatives are made from hypertufa, reconstituted stone or even fibreglass. 1 Alpines need well-drained soil, so fill the trough with equal parts John Innes No.2 and coarse grit. 2 To create the look of a rocky slope, add larger stones and fill between them with your gritty compost mix to create planting pockets for smaller alpines. 3 Use a trowel to make holes in the compost. Tip plants carefully from their pots and gently tease out the roots. Pop them in the holes and then firm them in. 4 Water them, then cover the surface with grit to help…

The weather in February can be cold and miserable, so one of the best ways to appreciate your garden is to bring some of the best flowers indoors as a fragrant winter posy. Use secateurs to snip some stems of evergreen euonymus, pittosporum or ivy foliage, with rosemary, bay or other hardy herbs for fragrance. For colour, seek out late winter flowers – stems of yellow-flowered winter jasmine, violas and dwarf daffodils such as ‘Jack Snipe’ or ‘Tête-à-tête’. Pop them in a small vase or jam jar and keep them away from radiators and woodburners. Change the water daily so that you can keep the display fresh for longer.…

Time certainly has away of slipping through our fingers, and here we are embarking on new gardening adventures for the year. Rather than making any wild gardening resolutions, which tend to wither away, I prefer to think of them as promises to my plot – it is a gentler commitment! I’m Olga, better known on social media as @lovely_plot, and I’ve been entrusted with the delightful task of curating this monthly column. Originally from Poland, I’ve been living in the UK for the past 18 years, a decade and a half of which I’ve spent gardening on my allotment in Plymouth, Devon. Iam a proud amateur gardener with an appetite to experiment, learn and then learn some more. I’m currently studying for my RHS level 2qualification (or trying to!). My…