Innholdsfortegnelse for A Year in the English Garden 2024 i The English Garden

The weather we experience in each season is certainly getting harder to predict. Will summer be one that brings record-breaking temperatures, or will it be a mild, grey washout? Will we have punishing frosts in winter or will we endure months of rain? One thing we can safely predict is that the more attention you pay to filling your garden with well-chosen plants for every season, the greater the chances it will look good throughout the year, whatever the weather. Our new edition of A Year in The English Garden, sponsored by Bloms Bulbs, will definitely help in that department. Twelve quintessentially English gardens look good in every month of the year and are filled with plants to see you through the seasons. Our pick of the best plants for…

TAKE SOFTWOOD CUTTINGS Early summer’s young growth is the ideal subject for taking cuttings. Try fuchsias, salvias, dianthus and penstemons, rooting the cuttings in pots of free-draining compost. GIVE EVERGREEN HEDGES A TRIM June is the time to prune evergreen hedges such as box – doing it in on Derby Day in the first week of June is the traditional gardening adage. Sterilise your shears between plants. HARVEST THE FIRST POTATOES The earliest potatoes might be ready to harvest now – flowers on the plants are a sign. Investigate by unearthing a couple of tubers and seeing if they’re a decent size. PLANT TOMATOES Once tomato plants have produced their first truss of flowers, they need to be in their final pots or planting positions. Remember to remove any sideshoots…

Anyone lucky enough to have attended the Chelsea Flower Show will have come to expect a display of immaculate tulips from Bloms Bulbs. It’s a highlight of the Floral Pavilion, but these stalwarts of spring aren’t the only bulbs the Blom family offers: there are plenty of colourful, impactful summer-flowering bulbs to choose from as well. “Summer-flowering bulbs produce some of the most exotic flowers,” says Paul Blom, who runs the company with his brother Chris. “My favourites include calla lilies, eucomis and hippeastrum, but dahlias are the bedrock of summer plantings. Gone are the days when they were restricted to the cutting garden. They are outstanding border and container plants.” Few plants are more rewarding or spectacular than the dahlia, which has the added benefit of being easy to…

TAKE ROOT CUTTINGS Try propagating fleshy rooted perennials such as verbascum and oriental poppies. Cut 5-10cm lengths of root and push them vertically into pots of gritty compost. RECYCLE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE Once you’ve taken the tree down, put it to good use. Push its branches through a shredder and use the chippings as a mulch for ericaceous plants such as blueberries. PLAN THIS YEAR’S VEGETABLE CROPS Prepare for the growing season ahead: sort through your seed tin and choose new crops to grow and varieties to try, planning your vegetable plot’s layout and a crop rotation. FORCE AN EARLY CROP OF RHUBARB January is the ideal time to force rhubarb for sweet early stems, by covering a plant’s crown with a large upturned bucket or a terracotta forcer to…

PRUNE LATE-FLOWERING CLEMATIS It’s time to prune Group 3 clematis, cutting them back hard to 30cm above the ground. An aide memoire: some clematis growers refer to it as ‘the Valentine’s Day massacre’. SOW CHILLI SEED Use a heated propagator to sow chilli seed, growing them on frost-free. Sow Capsicum chinense varieties in early February and C. annuum at the end of the month. CUT BACK DECIDUOUS GRASSES Clip deciduous grasses such as miscanthus, molinia and deschampsia down to ground level before new leaves emerge in spring. Wait until later in spring with pennisetum. GIVE WISTERIA ITS WINTER PRUNE Focus your wisteria’s energy into producing flowers by pruning all of its shoots back to two or three buds, creating stumpy spurs that will flower later in spring. February Checklist ■…

START OFF DAHLIA TUBERS Pot up dahlias in containers of compost large enough to hold each tuber comfortably. Water and grow on in the greenhouse, then plant out when all risk of frost has passed. MULCH BEDS AND BORDERS Cover the soil surface with a generous layer of organic mulch such as well-rotted manure or garden compost to lock in moisture and stop weed seeds from germinating. LIFT AND DIVIDE SNOWDROPS After they’ve flowered, lift established clumps of snowdrops and separate into one or two bulbs that you can replant to increase the spread of these early spring flowers. PLANT STRAWBERRIES Plant a new strawberry bed now and enjoy a delicious harvest this summer. Try early ‘Honeoye’, mid-season ‘Cambridge Favourite’ and late ‘Flamenco’ to stretch the season. March Checklist ■…

SOW TOMATO SEEDS To make the most of the growing season, sow tomatoes by early April. They can be moved outside once the risk of frost has passed, or you could grow them under glass. PLANT SUMMER-FLOWERING BULBS Summer-flowering bulbs, such as lilies, gladioli and dahlias, can be planted outside in flower beds or containers now. They all enjoy well-drained soil and sunny positions. WEED BEDS AND BORDERS Now’s the time to start weeding, as annual weeds such as bittercress start to germinate in warm soil and perennials like nettles and creeping thistle send up new shoots. REPAIR THE LAWN April is a good time to sow lawn seed to fill in any bare patches that have appeared over winter, or to thicken up the sward in heavy traffic areas…

CARE FOR STRAWBERRIES Protect strawberry fruit from rot and ground-dwelling pests by placing a layer of straw or hay beneath them. If your garden is popular with birds, cover plants with taut netting. PUT VEGETABLES OUTSIDE Transplant hardy vegetables sown earlier in the year, such as leeks and brassicas. Harden off tender vegetables so that they’re ready to be planted outside at the end of May. PLANT UP CONTAINERS Plant up pots with summer bedding plants using good-quality compost. Choose from colourful stalwarts such as pelargoniums, verbena, petunias and calibrachoa. WATCH OUT FOR LILY BEETLES Bright red lily beetles are on the march now, so keep a close eye on any lilies or fritillaries. Pick the insects off before they mate and produce their leaf-demolishing grubs. May Checklist ■ Once…

PLANT AUTUMN-FLOWERING BULBS Autumn bulbs such as colchicums, autumn crocus, nerines and amaryllis can be planted now in borders or containers. Nearly all of them will appreciate a warm, sunny spot. WATER VEGETABLES Make sure vegetable crops are regularly watered in hot, dry spells, ideally in the evening to minimise evaporation. Try drip irrigation or a soaker hose to save time. KEEP THE GREENHOUSE COOL Temperatures under glass will soar in summer so make sure your greenhouse is shaded and well ventilated. Damp the floor down each morning with a watering can. DEADHEAD ROSES Remove faded blooms from your roses to keep them neat and encourage more flowers. Snip each flowering stem back by up to three leaves. Leave roses grown for their hips. July Checklist ■ Check containers for…

TIDY LAVENDER Once lavender’s flowers have faded, you can give it a prune to keep it bushy. Shear back the faded flowerheads just into leafy growth, but never cut into the old, woodier growth. CARE FOR RASPBERRIES Once summer-fruiting raspberries have finished cropping, prune away those canes that have fruited to leave this year’s new canes, which will bear fruit next summer. WATCH OUT FOR BLIGHT Potato blight can strike at this time of year. Watch out for the signs – dark blotches on leaves, rotting – and cut off and dispose of the foliage before it spreads to the crop. MOW THE LAWN LESS OFTEN When the weather’s hot and dry, don’t mow the lawn as often and switch to a higher cutting height when you do. Brown lawns…

DIVIDE PERENNIALS Make more of perennial plants by lifting and dividing large clumps before replanting smaller portions. Try it with geraniums, hostas, daylilies and herbaceous salvias. PLANT DAFFODIL BULBS Daffodil bulbs like being able to get their roots going early, so they are best planted this month – as are anemones. Other spring bulbs can be planted as autumn progresses. HELP PUMPKINS RIPEN Remove those large leaves that prevent sunlight reaching developing pumpkins and squashes to ensure they ripen fully. You can also raise fruit off the soil on a slate or tile. MAKE THE MOST OF THE HARVEST There are abundant crops of fruit and vegetables to harvest at this time of year. Pickle, jam and preserve the results of your hard work, and make full use of the…

Borde Hill is a rich and complex garden with many different aspects. It sits on the edge of the High Weald in West Sussex, looking north towards the dramatic 1840s Ouse Valley Viaduct and south across rolling parkland towards Haywards Heath, both vistas ablaze with colour in autumn. Its almost unsurpassed collection of rare trees and shrubs, assembled in the first half of the 20th century by an inspired plantsman, Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke, is still in private hands. These trees and shrubs, almost all of botanical importance, are spread over 35 acres of formal gardens and woodland and 380 acres of Grade II* listed parkland. Borde Hill is also beautifully designed, with a series of semi-enclosed gardens that flow seamlessly from one to the next. Colonel Clarke bought the…

RAKE UP AUTUMN LEAVES Collect leaves from the lawn so the grass isn’t smothered and use them to make leafmould. Keep ponds clear of leaves, too, so they don’t decompose and spoil the water quality. PLANT TULIP BULBS This is the month to plant tulips, which are far less likely to suffer from the fungal disease known as tulip fire if their bulbs go in the ground when the soil is cooler. POT UP FESTIVE BULBS Huge hippeastrum bulbs (often sold as amaryllis) and the bulbs of paperwhite narcissus can be potted up now for flowers over winter and floral displays at Christmas. LIFT OR PROTECT DAHLIA TUBERS Once the first frost has blackened the foliage, lift dahlia tubers to dry and store them in a frost-free spot over winter.…

Returning to live in your childhood home might seem daunting, but Henry Crawley has embraced the situation. His parents moved to Hunworth Hall in Norfolk in 1965 and, after leaving to study medicine, Henry returned to work as a GP here in 1982 with his wife, Charlotte. The 17th-century house with its Dutch-inspired gables came with a two-and-a-half acre walled garden. It had been divided into a vegetable garden, hidden behind a beech hedge at the rear, and a paddock by the house, where Henry’s parents had kept goats and chickens. Despite being a busy doctor and raising his own family, Henry had big plans. “You always have such enthusiasm for a garden when you start out,” he observes, “and I was keen to make something to reflect the history…

The most Elizabeth Cairns has spent on a snowdrop bulb is around £40. “Something like that. I do try to be sensible about it.” As any collector will understand though, it is addictive. Elizabeth grows more than 120 varieties in her Kent garden, which flower from November to March. She hosts open days for snowdrop lovers in February and regularly visits other snowdrop collections around the country where bulbs change hands like precious contraband. She’s not exaggerating when she says: “Snowdrops are big in this garden.” “They do cheer you up,” she adds. “My husband suffers a little bit from SAD, and I’d happily skip November, December and January really, particularly when they’re grey.” As winter gloomily grips most of Kent, this little corner of the county bursts into life.…

There is no finer picture than a garden bursting with the harbingers of a new gardening year: spring bulbs. At Stoke Albany House in rural north Northamptonshire, carpets of daffodils create a gilded frame around much of the garden. Arcing around the main lawn at the back of the house, their show-stopping display dwarfs even the most statuesque, ancient Atlas cedar, Cedrus atlantica, which towers over the garden. Anna and Fred Vinton bought the Regency mansion in 1979 and set about putting their own stamp on the eight acres of grounds. “I didn’t know much about gardening when we arrived, so I was thrown in at the deep end,” says Anna. “But I was keen to learn and quickly became very interested.” Much of the garden’s framework was already in…

Enchanting gardens are long in the making, and Ann Bartleet’s is no exception with mature trees and herculean hedges sequestering different spaces within, watched over by giant topiary snails. “It took five years to shape the snails from yew. I did it with only an illustration from a children’s book for a guide,” explains Ann, who had considered peacocks but decided against them. “Too grand for our garden,” she notes. The snails now make their presence felt throughout the traditional country garden that Ann and her late husband, Anthony, lovingly created over the past half century or so at Bucklers Farmhouse near Colchester in Essex. Tucked off a narrow lane and cocooned on three sides by arable fields, the two-acre garden is made up of woodland, an orchard and meadow,…

Historic gardens evolve unhurriedly at the whim of each generation, and this is the case at La Seigneurie on Sark. “The gardens reflect the people who have lived and gardened here, and what you see is an accumulation of their ideas alongside glimpses into the island’s history,” says Christopher Beaumont, the 23rd Seigneur of Sark, a titular role since 2008 when islanders voted for democracy in place of a feudal system dating back to Elizabethan times. Since moving to La Seigneurie with his wife, Sarah, in 2016, Christopher has worked on the two acres to the rear of the house, with its woodland and serpentine lake. “This is where I played as a child,” he recalls. “The walled garden was formal and floral and felt as if it was kept…

September: a sweet month that washes away the wearisome dog days of August with its down-at-heel trees and harsh light. Summer’s last hurrah before the mists and mellow fruitfulness of autumn overtake, sweeping all before it. Until recently, the joys of this season were seldom appreciated and the palette of available plants was small. Graham Thomas in his classic book, Perennial Garden Plants, lists only two echinacea and, astonishingly, just six miscanthus. The move towards naturalistic planting and the desire to squeeze more pleasure for longer periods from our gardens has led to a surge of interest in plants that perform in this season. Rose Cottage, the garden of Paul Seaborne and his husband, Glenn Livingstone, is a wonderful advert for this season and its plants. Only 15 years old…

SOW SWEET PEAS Autumn-sown sweet peas will develop into bushy, vigorous plants that are raring to go come spring. Sow them in pots and keep them in a sheltered spot outside over winter. PLANT SPRING BEDDING Add cheerful spring bedding to borders and pots for displays next year. Scented wallflowers, high-performing violas and hazy forget-me-nots all team well with bulbs, too. CARE FOR THE LAWN Reduce how often you mow this month, and raise the cutting height. If you feel your lawn needs a boost, apply a sprinkling of autumn lawn fertiliser to get it ready for winter. PLANT LILIES IN POTS Early autumn is a good time to plant lily bulbs. Choose large containers and put four or five bulbs in each one, filling the pots with good multi-purpose…

MAKE A CHRISTMAS WREATH Forage evergreen foliage from conifers and shrubs such as Portuguese laurel, holly or bay to make a wreath for the door. Use pine cones, seedheads and berries as highlights. CHECK GREENHOUSE HEATERS If you have heating in the greenhouse, make sure it’s working as it should before the really cold nights set in. Section off a smaller area with bubble wrap to reduce bills. TAKE HARDWOOD CUTTINGS Propagate deciduous shrubs such as cornus, buddleja or currants in the kitchen garden by taking hardwood cuttings of pencil-thick stems this month. HARVEST CHRISTMAS VEGETABLES If hard frosts are forecast, dig up any crops needed on Christmas Day, such as parsnips, while you can still get them out of the soil. Brussels sprouts taste sweeter after a frost. December…