Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i The Gardener Magazine

The key characteristic of these gardens is overly moist, waterlogged soil that creates the perfect conditions for a specific subset of plants – looking mostly unfamiliar and sometimes quite peculiar – that are not commonly found in standard backyards. Bog gardens are usually found in low-lying areas near lakes and rivers, but one-of-a-kind bog garden plants can be easily grown in almost any climate and any garden by following a few simple steps, giving you an even greater selection of plants to choose from. LAYING THE GROUNDWORK Bog gardens are best planted during the warmer summer months to give the plants enough time to settle in before winter. That pesky area of your garden that has terrible drainage and is constantly waterlogged is the perfect place to transform into a…

Rudbeckias are called short-lived perennials but treated like annuals, probably due to their long flowering period from late spring into deep autumn. The flower petals on ‘Tiger Eye’ are bright yellow or gold surrounding a dark brown cone. Make a note to try Rudbeckia ‘Toto Gold’ and ‘Toto Rustic’ too. Take cuttings of penstemons Eggplant parmigiana bites Larkspur seeds Bushier sweetpeas Rooting in water Feeding indoor plants Sowing clivia seeds Feeding in Autumn Let your salads swing Mistletoe cactus…

Don’t let your brassicas be bugged by aphids; plant spreading pennyroyal underneath and around the plants and walk over the mint to release its pungent aroma. To deter white cabbage butterfly, plant sage, chives, southernwood and thyme around the edge of the cabbage bed. These herbs need less water than cabbages, which makes them a fuss-free border. Food gardening checklist Keep beds free of weeds. Water regularly, as early as possible so that leaves have time to dry off. Check for pests, use an organic insecticide and spray weekly. Pull out spent vegetables and renew the soil with compost for autumn crops. Cut back flowering herbs to encourage new growth. March sowing guide This general guide should be used for planting in conjunction with your own experience of local conditions…

As soon as your seed-grown sweet peas reach a height of about 15cm their growth tips need to be pinched out. Do this by pinching off the stem tips along with the immature top leaves just above a healthy set of leaves. Use your thumbnail and forefinger or a sharp pair of flower scissors. Early pinching is done for two reasons: It directs the plant’s energy to the development of strong roots to create a healthy plant; It encourages your plants to branch out and become bushier. Sweet advice Keep pinching the young vines as they grow to create more flower-bearing side branches. Once in flower, harvest the blooms regularly, which acts as another form of ‘pinching’ and will prolong flowering. Should the tendrils come off too? Sweet pea tendrils…

Shorter day lengths and temperate weather cause many shrubs and trees to produce new growth before winter. Some will even flower unseasonally at this time of year. These growth spurts should be supported by a dedicated feeding action with a potassium-rich fertiliser in March to strengthen plant cells and support plants, and to enhance their spring growth potential after the slow and cold times in winter. Regard this as a necessary investment to ensure future beauty. Specifics to feed Fruit trees, grape vines, hibiscuses, gardenias. Feeding tips Don’t feed dry plants. Water well before you start. Choose the correct fertilisers for flowering shrubs, foliage plants and lawns. Fertilise in cool weather. Follow the application instructions on the product – more is not more in this case! Don’t allow granular fertiliser…

Albuca nelsonii is a graceful and evergreen indigenous bulb that you can plant at any time of year, as it is often available from nurseries specialising in indigenous plants. Uses Good for full sun in rockeries and between tall grasses in prairie-style layouts, or in the dry shade of trees. Growth habit Large bulb forming a thick clump with fleshy, strap-like leaves and enormous spikes of white scented flowers striped with bright green from September to January. The plant can reach a height of 1 – 1.2m when in flower. Cultivation Quite hardy and water-wise, and fast-growing in well-draining soil.…

Some susceptible conifers are unfortunately sucked dry by hordes of Italian cypress aphids every year. These pests become active in the cooler months of the year but the results of their infestations can only be seen much later when the plants turn brown, sometimes dying off completely. Some well-loved conifers taking a beating, are Cupressus macrocarpa ‘Gold Crest’, C. sempervirens ‘Stricta’ and ‘Swane’s Gold’, x Cupressocyparis leylandii and Juniperus scopulorum ‘Skyrocket’. It’s not easy to detect these minute aphids and sometimes the only sign that they are present is a black sooty mould they secrete. To play it safe start treating your conifers with a systemic insecticide now. There are different products available to curb these aphids. The easiest to apply are soil-drenching mixtures that have less impact on beneficial…

Echeverias (Mexican rock rose) are the most popular of all succulents, with an instantly recognisable rosette shape that looks like a perfect rose in full bloom. Over the years hundreds of variations have been bred, one of the most striking being ‘Black Prince’. A real collector’s item, the chocolate-brown leaves have sharp tips, and the colour deepens to burgundy towards the centre. It grows in full sun or partial shade and needs soil that drains well, especially if planted in a bed that is regularly watered. Use as an edging or groundcover, between stones or pavers, in gravel gardens and as a striking container plant. As indoor plants they need bright, indirect light and minimal watering.…

Sedum nussbaumerianum (coppertone stonecrop) Plant this spreading succulent, with its fleshy pointed leaves arranged in small rosettes, in the full sun between rocks and it will soon catch a tan, the leaves turning a bright copper colour that will make it stand out like a beacon between other plants. Used as a border plant in light shade, like morning sun only, it will still have a coppery tinge but the foliage colour will turn predominantly to a lime-green colour. And if you keep it in a hanging basket, the spreading stems will cascade over the edges, and in a container it will be a smart accent plant. Such is the versatility of this lovely stonecrop. It is easy to propagate with stem or leaf cuttings, it’s easy on water, and…

The British countryside had attracted a number of botanists who began to study ferns and started an obsession, so much so that it required its own name. Fern collecting became the hottest hobby, fern societies sprouted up across the country and fern motifs appeared almost everywhere. The Victorian version died out by 1890, but pteridomania seems to have returned with the recent boom in indoor plant popularity. Ferns can be seen on every corner, but somehow they still carry the reputation of being hard to keep alive. Ferns are definitely not invincible but sticking to the following few guidelines can make sure your ferns thrive for many years. PLACEMENT Since ferns are typically known to come from dark jungle floors, it would follow that your indoor fern would thrive in…

The ancient rhythm of cultivating vegetables has been one of work and rest, not just for the gardener but for the soil as well. Planting cover crops that put more in than they take out is a way of not only resting the soil, but also rejuvenating it. Cover crops add to the soil’s organic content, inject nutrients, break the disease cycle and loosen up compacted soil, improving drainage and water availability. Planting a single cover crop, however, won’t do all of that, because cover crops have different functions. The grassier varieties add organic mass (biomass), legumes provide nitrogen, and mustards have a fumigating action. Diagnose what your overworked veggie patch needs and select the most appropriate cover crops for the job. March and April are the best months for…

Reminder Also take cuttings of other summer-flowering plants like fuchsias, pelargoniums, lavenders, kingfisher daisies and daisy bushes. Penstemons are sociable summer perennials that mingle well with other flowering plants and grass-likes in a mixed border. These upright plants are very generous with their flowering stems lined with bold trumpet-shaped blooms that just keep on coming from early summer to late autumn, when they should be cut back by half. This will give you good cutting material from which to grow more plants. The next cut (right down to the ground) will be in early spring, to encourage the mother plants to regrow after winter. Watch how to make softwood cuttings…

Snipping off pieces of herbs like perennial basils, succulents like the Christmas cactus, houseplants like painted leaf begonias, garden plants like plectranthus and coleus, and even flowers like impatiens, and placing them in jars of ordinary water can have two advantages: It is an easy way to propagate more plants as they will soon root without any hassle; It is a beautiful display of botanicals that can be changed often and discarded withoutanyguiltifyou have no further purpose for them. Simply fill a selection of glassware with clean water and display in a place with good natural light. Help yourself to begged cutting material from somebody else’s or your own home and garden, make a cut below their bottom nodes, remove all leaves that would be submersed and arrange and style…

Rake up fallen leaves and use them as thin layers of mulch, on the compost heap, and to make your own leaf mould. Start preparing planting holes for deciduous fruit trees as nurseries will have fresh stock available soon. Prune lavenders gently into spheres with a broad base to allow sunlight to reach the whole plant – this prevents leggy growth and looks much neater than just hacking them back. Sow or plant seedlings of flowering annuals like Iceland poppies, stocks, linarias, nemesias, violas, calendulas, snapdragons, cornflowers, foxgloves, lupins and nasturtiums. Clean up old stems and sickly leaves of Barberton daisies ( Ifthe plants are too overgrown, split and replant them. Plant Japanese anemones in light shade or the southern side of your house to be shaded in the afternoon.…

It should not be confused with the Christmas cactus, which is more cactus-like and made of tougher stuff. This lovely house or patio plant, with its delicate pale green and thornless drooping stems, needs good light, but never direct and hot sunlight shining on it through a window. Unlike other cacti, it also needs regular watering. Water it as soon as the soil feels dry and provide humidity in the atmosphere around it with a regular misting on the stemson hot days. This is a lovely plant for hanging baskets. Feed it occasionally with a water-soluble fertiliser at half strength.…

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Gardeners are interesting people and their priorities usually lie with everything leafy. If it has roots and leaves, it is probably at the top of their shopping list. This is definitely evident in the life of Johan of Roche House, and the story of the ‘Iceberg’ roses is a perfect example of this. But more on that later. First the story of how the garden of Roche House achieved its state of grandeur. Queenstown is known for its long and colourful history, and Roche House has been part of it since 1854, just a year after the town was established. Johan and Michelle, his long-time friend and business partner, proudly display a copy of the original 1854 title deed in the entrance to the building. ‘Passionate creator of beautiful spaces’…

Herbs and vegetables that are good companions in the garden often complement one another in flavour when cooked together or used in salads. Basil and tomatoes immediately come to mind, as do oregano and brinjals, beetroot and chives (cucumber as well), and carrots and parsley. Even if they are not growing companions, it’s hard not to think of mint when cooking peas or rosemary with roast potatoes. It’s not necessary to be a vegetarian to love eating vegetables, and what comes through when talking to chefs who love their veggies is that simple is best. One such chef is Daniela Gutstadt. As executive chef of the garden-to-table restaurant Culinary Table in Lanseria, her approach is to “enjoy the vegetable for what it is, without having to dress it up”. Vegetables…

There are two species of keurboom, Virgilia oroboides and V. divaricata, both with pinkish flowers and pinnate leaves. V. divaricata is a smaller tree, up to 10m tall, with more striking clusters of violet-pink, pea-like blooms from early spring to early summer (August to November) and denser leaf growth. Its native habitat is along forest margins and beside streams in the southern Cape, where it is very common along the Keurbooms River. It also occurs in the Eastern Cape, and has become naturalised on the Cape Peninsula. It forms an erect trunk with silvery-grey bark and a broadly spreading or rounded canopy. Remarkably fast-growing when in sapling stage, it is ideal for quickly providing shade or for planting in new gardens, rapidly forming a screen to hide unsightly buildings or provide…

Grow beetroot from seed For good beetroot ‘bulbs’, till the soil to loosen it (30cm deep) and rake to remove sticks and stones. Sow seeds 3cm apart directly into the soil about 2 – 3cm deep in rows 30cm apart. When seedlings are 5cm high, start thinning them out so that they are spaced 5cm apart. Don’t pull out the seedlings but use kitchen scissors to snip off the unwanted seedlings at ground level. Keep thinning out until the final spacing is about 10 – 15cm apart. Drawing the soil up around the plants after the final thinning will help to support them. For maximum flavour harvest when the roots are 5 – 10cm in diameter. Twist off the beetroot tops to prevent bleeding, and be careful not to damage…

Since larkspurs (Consolida ambigua) do not transplant well, the seeds must be sown directly into the garden where you want these tall plants to grow. But we should first clear up some confusion about these tall and stately flowering plants, which are so popular in the cut flower trade: Larkspurs (annuals) are often confused with delphiniums (biennials). Both produce very tall flower spikes, but while the delphinium’s flowers are dense and tightly packed in thick racemes, the larkspur’s individual flowers differ due to their spur-shaped calyxes (although they are closely arranged on their spikes too). The tall flower stems (1.2m high) can branch out into side stems and the foliage is leathery, deeply lobed and palmate. Larkspurs have a bad reputation for failing when grown from seed, which is probably…

Fertilise with Vigorosa so that roses can continue growing and flowering into winter. Yellowing leaves are a sign of nutrient deficiency. Spray monthly with Chronos or Rose Protector to prevent black spot, especially if there is heavy dew or late rain. Water at least twice a week and renew the mulch if necessary. Cut off dead flowers as this encourages the production of new shoots Plant a rose ‘Garden Princess’ Rose blooms are at their best in autumn, and the delicate pink blooms of ‘Garden Princess’ take on a deeper, fuller hue. What makes her irresistible are her strong perfume, huge pickable blooms and tough disease-resistant leaves. A good all-round garden rose that also does well in pots.…

Most of us have childhood memories of squeezing the flowers of antirrhinums together to make dragon mouths. Snapdragons are not only an endless source of amusement to children, they are also ideal for bringing striking colour into the garden. While antirrhinums can be grown throughout the year in most parts of the country, March, April and May are ideal months to plant out the seedlings. Antirrhinums are easy to grow in any well-drained, reasonably fertile garden soil, but they do prefer a light or medium loam so add plenty of compost when preparing the bed. The soil needs to be kept relatively moist, so water deeply every five days or so. They like a warm, sunny location, but in a hot climate they perform better in partial shade. Put the…

Lunar gardeners report that gardening activities seem easier and more manageable when following the timing of the moon phases according to lunar garden principles. Our monthly lunar garden guide determines the best days for specific tasks according to the principles and exceptions: Planting above ground producers (leaf veg, fruit and flowers) is best during the growing moon phase (New to Full), and below ground varieties (root veg, bulbs, corms and tubers) are best planted after Full to the Last Quarter phase.…