Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i The English Garden

James Alexander-Sinclair James is a garden designer, writer, lecturer, judge, broadcaster and a member of the RHS Council. He visits Wisley, on page 36. Helen Yemm Writer and author Helen is a passionate hands-on cottage gardener, best known for fielding readers’ questions in the Telegraph’s ‘Thorny Problems’ page. She admires Balmoral’s topiary, on page 46. Stefan Buczacki An RHS Veitch Medal holder, Stefan is a writer, broadcaster and consultant, and the author of over 60 books. He picks his favourite winter gardens, on page 99.…

ROBINSON COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE Robinson College features 10 original Edwardian gardens. They are linked to a central wild woodland water garden focussing on Bin Brook, with a small lake at the heart of the site. This gives visitors a feeling of being in a park and informal woodland, but maintains the sense of the older and more formal gardens beyond. A wide lawn runs down to the lake which is framed by mature stately trees. Much of the original planting is intact but recent planting includes herbaceous borders and various commemorative trees. Open Monday to Friday, 13 June to 31 December, 10am-4pm. Every Saturday and Sunday until 31 December, 2-4pm. Admission £4, children free. Find more gardens at ngs.org.uk…

• Create a winter display by planting containers with ivy, Carex and evergreen grasses to add interest to garden entrances and paths. • Cut back all perennials that finish flowering in autumn to improve their appearance for the following year. • Keep greenhouse roofs free of snow to prevent the glass beneath it being damaged by its weight. • At the first signs of frost, lift tender perennials that might not survive the cold weather. Store them in a greenhouse ready to be returned to the soil the following spring. • Clear lawns of leaves (below) regularly to stop them smothering the grass below leaving bare patches. • Reflect upon the last year in the garden. Consider what went well and what didn’t go to plan. Keep this in mind…

   Garden Greats Inside Trading Little Extras Fireside Reads…

Hyacinths to grow indoors are bought as ‘prepared’ bulbs, which have been subject to a special cold treatment. At Audley End, the bulbs arrive in October or November and are potted up individually in 18cm-clay pots in a standard potting mix. Multi-purpose or bulb compost is fine. The pots are kept cool and dark at first (a cellar or shed is ideal) and are watered sparingly. They should not dry out, but they must also not be too wet. In about six weeks from potting, they will have produced 5-7cm shoots and at this point it’s time to bring them into the light. The aim at Audley End is to stop the hyacinths from flowering at once in order to achieve a succession of blooms. Pots can be held back…

We prune all the Cornus in the Winter Walk in one fell swoop in April, cutting them back hard just before the leaf buds have broken. This allows the plant to put energy into new growth after pruning. Perceived wisdom used to say to prune in February, but March can be a sunny, popular time and we want the colourful stems of these plants to be enjoyed for another month. Some Cornus are not as vigorous as others. ‘Midwinter Fire’, with orange stems, does not grow as heartily as many Cornus so it is only pruned every other year. It is also best to allow newly planted Cornus two years to establish before pruning for the first time. Rubus can make very large plants and we do have to cut…

PHLOMIS ‘ITALICA’ The soft grey leaves of Phlomis are a great addition to the winter garden, and are most decorative when iced with a touch of hoar frost. Those who don’t care for the yolk-yellow summer flowers of P. fruticosa, may appreciate this slightly tender, pink-flowered form. GRISELINIA LITTORALIS ‘VARIEGATA’ This easy-to-grow, bright, shiny evergreen shrub looks fresh even in winter and can be pruned quite hard in spring. It is especially suitable for coastal gardens, tolerating salt well. PSEUDOWINTERA COLORATA Somewhat resembling the smaller, closely related pittosporums, this New Zealand native has bronzed leaves sometimes mottled ruddy red, that look particularly attractive in winter with their striking outline of pink-red. SARCOCOCCA CONFUSA A shade-tolerant shrub that produces heavily scented flowers in very early spring, and…

Many people have a garden that they can enjoy during the day, but Ed Ware needed a space that he could mostly enjoy in the evening. A busy property developer based in Bristol, he works hard all week and is often away at weekends. He wanted a serene garden that would have “a clean and contemporary look”, with different zones for relaxing, dining and entertaining. He also wanted some water: “I think water is very peaceful,” he explains. Ed contacted a local garden designer, Karena Batstone (above), who had done some work for a friend. At the time, a new coach house at the end of the garden was nearing completion and a small terrace in front of it had been created, with steps leading up into the garden. The…

The first truly edible Citrus tree, an early type of orange, reached Europe from China towards the end of the Roman period, although a form of barely edible citron was known in Biblical times. Oranges, and then lemons, became familiar during the Crusades, were well-known in Tudor England and had become commonplace by the time Nell Gwyn sold oranges in theatres – before she became mistress to Charles II. Gardeners in this country have long grown these fruits, albeit not on much scale; until the Industrial Revolution they were handicapped by a shortage of glass for greenhouses. Here and there they were grown outdoors with daily matting up in cold weather but they were chiefly curiosities. Effectively these plants were only for the very richest. Bitter oranges in Versailles’ famous…

IN THE UNSPOILT WAVENEY VALLEY ON THE Norfolk/Suffolk border, lies the village of Gissing. The population is in the hundreds, the pace of life is slow; Gissing is the embodiment of the phrase ‘rural idyll’. The village is also the home of florist Gabi Reid, who has packed an overgrown patch of land with a marvellous mix of flowers and foliage for cutting. At first the site was where Gabi’s children played, built dens and climbed the trees, and it was the family’s favourite blackberry picking spot in late summer. The place was a hotchpotch of old gardens with the houses they served long gone. A tangle of brambles and old apple trees, any semblance of the original gardens on the site had long disappeared. But Gabi had plans for…

1 Artisan Plant Supports A range of hand-crafted plant supports and obelisks, designed to provide architectural structure within the garden, while also complimenting and enhancing the plant’s features. All ranges have a choice of finishes; including rusted, galvanised or powder-coated in a choice of colours. Pictured is our ever popular Lobster Pot support ideal for peonies, roses and more. Available in 3 sizes. Please call or email for a brochure or visit our website. Tel: 01538 753128 Email: info@artisanplantsupports.co.uk  www.artisanplantsupports.co.uk 2 Border Sundials Capel Tenison of Border Sundials makes beautiful armillary spheres, horizontal and vertical sundials from antiqued brass, bronze or stainless steel. All sundials are made to order and carefully engraved with your choice of mottoes or dedications and calibrated to your precise location, wherever you are…

BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY Specialists in hardy trees, shrubs and climbers including a huge selection of unusual and rare species and varieties. Expert advice is available from our helpful staff. The nursery is open to the public and surrounded by a lovely nine-acre woodland garden (RHS Partner Garden). Visitors are welcome all year round. Informative website and a reliable mail order service is available if you would like plants delivered. Tel: 01530 413700 sales@bluebellnursery.com | www.bluebellnursery.com Annwell Lane, Smisby, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2TA WOOTTENS PLANTS Established for 25 years, Woottens is a traditional nursery growing and selling over 600 different varieties of hardy perennials. We also stock some of the largest collections of Irises and Primula auriculas in England and specialise in Pelargoniums and Hemerocallis. We are…

“For “ all my love affair with roses, it is the empty garden in its stripped back state that is closest to my heart ” I am a secret minimalist. I adore winter. For all my love affair with roses and my obsession with tulips, my passion for colour and my gleeful abandoning of order in the garden each summer to a riot of self-seeded flowers, it is the empty garden in its stripped back state that is closest to my heart. It is then that I can appreciate the geometrical lines of it, experience the varying volumes of the garden rooms undistracted by flowers or jobs to be done, relish the heft of a hedge or the curve of a path as things in themselves, not simply as backdrop…

Once trees have lost their leaves, the garden’s structure is truly revealed. Without the softening effect of that wash of green, outdoor spaces are laid bare. Evergreen shrubs and plants with colourful winter bark step into the spotlight. In the finest winter gardens, these plants are grown with such panache the results rival a floriferous summer plot. Take Balmoral in Kent, where owner Charlotte Molesworth has created a whimsical wonderland of yew topiary. At a snowy Pitmedden in Aberdeenshire, box and beech hedging is taken to new levels of crisp complexity – no lack of winter structure here. Colour needn’t be lacking either, as proven by the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden at Wisley or the powerfully fragrant indoor hyacinth displays at Audley End in Essex. Not only invaluable in…

GARDEN FRIENDS Made from thick aluminium that will not rust, and painted beautifully by hands on both sides. Cats, Chickens, Hens, Cockerels, Pheasants, Owls, etc. CANDLE LANTERNS. Made from iron with rust resistant paint. All candle lanterns have a window which can be opened at the bak to place a night light candle on a tray within. BAMBOO CLOCHES Made of bamboo woven into an open dome and available in 5 sizes plus a tunnel cloche. These attractive cloches protect plants and seeding from damageby animals, footballs, light frost and wind-chill. Fleece & newspaper can be used to cover the plants inside the cloches during periods of heavy frost. The micro climate inside the cloches promotes growth and allows rain through to the plants. Gifts and Gardens, 32 Bourne Lane,…

• Mulch vegetable, cut flower and fruit beds. Audley End produces 150 tonnes of compost which is made to Soil Association standards. This is put back into the organic garden from November onwards. Alternatives to homemade compost include well-rotted manure, composted bark, a proprietary mulch or leaf mould. • Prune trained fruit. Espalier, cordon and fan-trained apples and pears are pruned in both winter and summer. In summer, the new growth is shortened to two or three buds to allow light to ripen the fruit. Dead or diseased wood is removed in winter. • Scrape the bark from grape vines. Because no pesticides are used in this organic garden, each winter a layer of bark is scraped from the vines grown under glass to remove mealy bug and other pests,…

WINTER OFTEN BRINGS SNOW TO Aberdeenshire, and nothing accentuates the formal beauty of the deep green, crisply clipped hedges and topiary in the parterres of Pitmedden Garden, 14 miles north of Aberdeen, like a contrasting dusting of white. The garden was first created in the 17th-century by Pitmedden’s then owner, Sir Alexander Seton, and his wife, Dame Margaret Lauder. Their initials and the inscription ‘Fundat 2 May 1675’ can still be seen carved on the lintel stone above the old entrance gate. A successful advocate from a family of Scottish landowners, Sir Alexander would have been influenced by the magnificent formality of French gardens such as Vaux le Vicomte and Versailles, and like many of his contemporaries must have aspired to creating fashionable grand parterres in his own garden. Today’s…

Leaves yellowing with fine webbing over tips and minute moving speckles • Red spider mite. Citrus often suffer from these common undercover pests and have their own special variety as well. Attacks are worst when plants get hot and dry so misting during hot weather helps. Releasing predators is the simplest control under cover and the attacks often disappear when plants are moved outdoors. Leaves yellowing and dropping off, with no webbing • Severe chlorosis from too much lime in the water – use only rainwater. • Roots have been damaged from excessive watering. • The plant is starving and needs more liquid and foliar feeds during the growing season. • The plant has been or is still too cold and needs either more warmth or wind protection. Leaves covered…

1 PREPARE THE MATERIAL Cut the plant material into 12-15cm lengths, stripping the stems of the bottom 2cm of leaves. Lay out the material and check that you have an even quantity of the base ingredient (here Hebe, yew and box) and a smaller quantity of brighter, highlighting stems such as Elaeagnus and Euonymus fortunei. 2 WIRE ON THE MOSS Tie the end of a reel of florists’ wire onto a wire wreath frame. Mould some moss into fairly fat sausage shapes, 30cm long, and place them onto the frame. Fix them in place by winding the wire up, over and under the moss. Pull the wire tight after each rotation. Space the wire evenly around the frame to hold the moss securely in place all the way round. 3…

What is the aim of the book? When we started searching for inspiration styling indoor plants, we struggled to find a book that was informative and beautiful. Many of the older plant-care books were brilliant for getting the facts, but we felt there was a gap in the market for a guide that provided both useful advice on indoor plant care and inspiring images of them in an urban home. We also wanted to share some of the practical projects we have experimented with since we began our business, such as our lightweight concrete pot recipe and home-made houseplant composts. How did you gain a love for houseplants? Rose: I was inspired by a holiday to the Mission District in San Francisco, where the space between indoor and outdoor plants…

• Propagate from your own healthy plants whenever you can to avoid the possibility of importing pests and diseases, which can be more rampant abroad than they are here. This is particularly important with box, under serious threat from blight, caterpillars and rust. • Use good cutting tools: a two-handed shear and a one-handed snipper. Sharpen their blades with a proper whetstone and sterilise them as you work. • An ultra-light, three-legged ladder gets you close to your work and even the tallest models are easily portable. See niwaki.com • Learn more by meeting other topiarists. The European Boxwood & Topiary Society welcomes new members, however modest their topiary beginnings. Visit ebts.org…

ANCIENT YEWS Looking across the south parterre on the upper terrace, a tall pleached lime hedge encloses the parterre on two sides. A lower beech hedge lines two more. Behind this, two very large 350-year-old yew trees dominate this part of the garden in winter. MODERN ART The geometric forms of modern stone sculptures by John Maine RA complement the topiary hedging well. This twisting column of sandstone discs is a smaller, preparatory version of the Kielder Column in Northumberland. FAN-TRAINED PEARS During winter, the leafless branches of fan-trained pears cover the south-facing wall of the upper terrace like many-fingered hands. These trees flourish thanks to careful pruning to maintain their forms and remove any wood showing signs of disease. SHARP CONTRAST A castellated beech hedge guards red and white…

“Nothing compares to the atmosphere of a conservatory in providing a bright, calming and relaxing place in which to spend time,” says Lisa Morton, of Vale Garden Houses. And while, for many, the allure of the conservatory lies in the fact that it is often considered permitted development and consequently allows for extended living space, “for the keen horticulturist, the conservatory or orangery offers a new dimension in gardening,” continues Morton. Traditionally separated from the house by a door, the classic glasshouse remains a popular solution for those looking for a quiet retreat or gardeners requiring a certain amount of climate control. Current thinking, however, tends to favour a more integrated approach, and while flexible, open-plan spaces are ideal for creating today’s multi-purpose rooms, it is worth noting that plant…

Samuel Arnott (1852-1930) FRHS, was born in Dumfries, Scotland, where he lived and worked until retiring through ill health, in 1884. He then moved to Carsethorn on the Solway coast and it was here he began gardening in earnest. Later, he moved to Maxwelltown, Dumfries and Galloway, where he became Provost and sat on the town council for 18 years. Arnott divided much of his time between gardening and writing, often contributing to journals and writing prolifically on snowdrops, most notably in The Gardeners’ Chronicle. Many decades later, in 1953, Brigadier and Mrs Mathias began trading Galanthus from their home at Hyde Lodge, Chalford, Gloucestershire, as The Giant Snowdrop Company. They had bought the property from plantsman Walter Butt (for whom an Iris unguicularis is named) who had received some…

‘APPLE BLOSSOM’ This is one of our most popular forms of Hippeastrum because of the colouring of its blooms, which show many shades of light pink in each flower. These shades of pink, however, are balanced by a deep throat in a crisp, slightly acidic shade of green. ‘Apple Blossom’ has a very large flower, which can reach up to 15cm in width. This is a free-flowering selection, with each strong stem producing three or four blooms. ‘Apple Blossom’ holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM). H. PAPILIO Also known as the butterfly amaryllis because its petals resemble the wings of a butterfly, H. papilio has exotic-looking flowers that are almost orchid-like, with their narrow markings and maroon and lime-green colouring. H. papilio originates from the rainforests of south…