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25 JANUARY 2020

Top tips for perfect sowing Pruning soft fruit: how winter cuts boost health

How to bring life back to forced bulbs Thermometers on test

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Often seen growing in Norwegian gardens. Beautiful purple pink and yellow pea-like blooms smother the shiny foliage during early spring and early summer. Drought tolerant, happy in containers or perfect in a rock garden or at the front of border making excellent groundcover. Low maintenance, easy to grow preferring well-drained soil in sun or part shade. Height 20cm (8"). Spread 50cm (20"). Fully hardy perennial. Your order is covered by our No Quibble Guarantee and will be confirmed together with a copy of our latest catalogue. Your 9cm pots will be delivered within 14 days.

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It’s time to get sowing!

Keep your seedlings healthy Get ready for final pruning Prune blackcurrants and soft fruit How to make the most of forced bulbs rather than discarding them

Great garden ideas

32

22 Astounding alstroemerias: really pretty and long lasting in the vase 26 Hattie’s pincushion: great for shady spots, says Anne Swithinbank 28 Summer bulbs to plant now for borders, pots and much more 32 Plant the perfect perennial border: everything you need for success!

“I’ll show you how to get a perfect perennial border,” says Graham

Gardening wisdom 10 Peter Seabrook: why you should try a polytunnel, and a new turnip!

14 Bob Flowerdew: here’s how to cut corners and save effort, says Bob 16 Val Bourne: if you want to help wildlife, why not plant a hedge?

19 Lucy Chamberlain’s Fruit and Veg 36 Ask John Negus your questions 41 Anne Swithinbank’s Masterclass 45 A Gardener’s Miscellany: viburnums are the subject of trivia and puzzles 48 All Our Yesterdays: some strange stories from the archives of AG 54 Letters to Wendy 58 Toby Buckland: do you know what a catalpa is? Toby reveals all…

“You can grow a lot of veg in even a small space,” says Lucy

19

News/product tests TI Media

28

“It’s time to plan your summer bulb planting,” says Louise

6 New peat-free compost available 52 Min/max thermometers on test “The move to peat-free compost gathers momentum with the launch of Bord na Móna’s new ‘Happy’ all-purpose compost (see page 6). This follows on from Westland’s launch of New Horizon last year and shows that companies are now seriously producing alternatives peat. We have yet to test Happy’, but last year AG’s Tim umball tested Horizon with ery positive results. We have real alternatives to peat”

All Alamy, unless credited

Garry Coward-Williams, Editor

22

“Get long-lasting colour with alstroemerias,” says Louise

Cover: Lilium ‘Flashpoint’ (pic: Alamy)

Contact us: Editorial: 01252 555138 Email: amateurgardening@ti-media.com Subscriptions: 0330 3331120 Advertising: 07817 629935 25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

3

Step by step

How to sow successfully

Use clean tools and fresh compost

Use new equipment or, to be green as well as clean, wash pre-used pots and trays well before sowing.

1

Seedlings just starting to come through

I can’t wait to get sowing this year’s fabulous free seeds, with more variety than ever!

get sowing!

Free seeds are back. Ruth shows you how to get started

All photography TI Media

G

ROWING plants from seed is pretty resilient, and as long as they are one of the most satisfying things sown thinly and have enough room, about gardening, which is why moisture and ventilation, they will thrive. the free seeds that come with We start 2020’s seeds with Aquilegia Amateur Gardening are such a success. ‘Lime Sorbet’ – an easy-to-sow ad Once again we have teamed up with exceptionally pretty hardy perennial.

Mr Fothergill’s to bring colour to your The mature plants produce attractive patios and gardens. This year’s selection blue-green leaves and heads of delicate is bigger and brighter than ever before pompom blooms in colours raging from and includes some Sarah Raven seeds: white to creamy-green. clary ‘Blue Denim’, cleome ‘Violet As the season progresses and Queen’, Mina lobata and ds build up I’ll talk you larkspur ‘Giant Imperial’. gh sowing each variety, The rest are a carefully h additional timely curated mixture of hardy formation about annuals, half-hardy ricking out, potting annuals and perennials, n, hardening off and as well as specially lanting out. adapted mixtures for Through summer nd autumn I’ll advise on shady areas, and to eding and keeping your attract pollinators and The delicate petals of ts healthy and colourful wildlife into your garden.

‘Lime Sorbet’ ong as possible, The easiest way to gro y suggestions for plants from seed is not to collecting and storing their seeds. about them. Of course they need We hope you enjoy growing them care, but consider the plants you as much as we enjoyed selecting the see growing wild and in city centres, varieties – please let us know how you sometimes even sprouting up from get on, and send us photos of your pavement cracks and gutters. blooms where possible.

Seeds and seedlings are, generally, 4 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Always use fresh tap water when damping sowing compost as it’s more likely to be free of contaminants than harvested rainwater.

2

Very tiny seeds can be difficult to sow, so mix them with a little horticultural sand for easier scattering.

3

Alternatively, pick up a few at a time on a dampened fingertip or matchstick and tap them onto the compost.

4

The kindest cut: As spring approaches and the sap starts to rise once more, the days of deciduous pruning are numbered. In next week’s AG I show you how and what to prune safely and well.

Soaking last year’s seeds to check they will still germinate

Hold the seedling by its leaves, not the stem

These healthy seedlings are large and strong enough to be pricked out and potted on into individual pots

Seedlings felled by damping off

Careful nurturing will give you good results this summer

S

EEDS may be tough little things, but seedlings are vulnerable to all sorts of dangers. Sow as thinly as possible so that when they emerge they have enough room to grow robustly within their own space.

One of the greatest dangers is a fungal disease that goes by the glamorous name of damping off. It can lay waste to a tray of seedlings overnight and is caused by a range of factors, including contaminated compost, trays and water, overcrowding and poor ventilation. There are no chemical treatments against it, so prevention is the best way forward.

Give seedlings the best start by always sowing onto fresh seed compost.

Step by step

Make sure the trays or pots are new or well washed to reduce the risk of contamination by pests or fungal spores, and use fresh tap water.

After germination, remove the lid or bag covering the seedlings and keep the compost damp by watering from the base, either by standing the tray in water or spraying water directly onto the compost, carefully, from close range.

Don’t keep seedlings anywhere too dark or too warm otherwise they will grow tall and weak, and will collapse.

When the seedlings have developed two or three sets of proper leaves and are sturdy enough to move on, prick them out into their own pots (turn to page 8 for step-by-step details).

Check viability

Seeds on damp kitchen paper

We all have leftover seeds from years past and while some remain viable (able to germinate) for several years after ripening, others only last a season or two.

There are a couple of things you can do to check if your seeds are fresh enough to germinate.

Try sowing a few to see how many germinate and then either grow them on or discard the rest of the packet, according to results.

Alternatively, sprinkle a few seeds onto dampened kitchen paper and place them somewhere light and warm for a few days. If they sprout, they are sound.

The third test, which is useful for larger seeds such as sweet peas, is to pop them in a bowl of water.

Discard any floaters and keep those that sink for sowing.

How to sow seeds for successful germination

Sieve fresh compost to remove unwanted debris and give smaller seeds a better chance of germination.

1

Tamp the compost flat so the seed sits securely and isn’t at risk of rolling to the side or falling into fissures.

2

Dampen the compost well with fresh tap water, using a clean watering can fitted with a fine rose.

Scatter the seeds thinly so that each seedling has plenty of room to grow healthily.

Cover the seeds with a thin layer of compost, the mineral vermiculite or a mixture of the two.

5

Label, cover the tray with a lid or secure it in a plastic bag and place in light and gentle warmth.

4

3

6

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

5

Got a story?

Call 01252 555138 or email ruth.hayes@ti-media.com

New peat-free range launched Irish brand drops peat extraction and embraces change

Glenn Chapman

‘Happy’ is the new brand created by Bord na Mona for their new peat-free range of compost

A happy hen rescued by the British Hen Welfare Trust

Happy chickens KEEPING chickens has long been an integral part of cottage gardening and smallholding and now it’s even easier thanks to the launch of the first ever hen welfare centre.

The British Hen Welfare Trust is behind the new centre in Rose Ash, north Devon, which is designed to be a halfway house for hens moving from commercial laying farms to happier homes.

The bespoke new centre includes a hen hospital and plenty of outside space where the birds can scratch for bugs and slugs and enjoy a spot of sunbathing.

Founded in 2005 by Jane Howorth MBE, the Trust has so far rehomed more than 730,000 hens.

The charity works closely with commercial laying farms and has a network of more than 800 volunteers who collect caged hens deemed no longer financially viable and find them new homes in people’s back gardens.

More than a million UK householders are thought to keep chooks and the Trust has also provided hens for prisons, care homes, schools, nurseries and rehabilitation centres.

Jane Howorth said: “The new building has been a long time coming and it’s thanks to every single person who has ever rehomed hens from us, fund-raised for us in weird and wacky ways or simply spread the word about our beloved hens to their friends and family.”

The centre is set to open in April 2020 and more details can be found at bhwt.org.uk and on the Trust’s social media pages.

6 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Harvesting peat from an Irish bog – Bord na Mona has closed 17 of its peat sites

T

WO weeks ago we ran an article about how the charity Garden Organic is imploring gardeners to only buy peat-free compost to help save the planet.

Now Ireland’s major gardening brand, Bord Na Móna, has given its own verdict on the debate about peat extraction.

The company, which has long been improvers and growing media to be a champion of peat-based gardening, 50 per cent peat-free by 2005 and stopped peat extraction from 17 bogs 90 per cent peat-free by 2010, however in 2018, with chief executive Tom both targets were missed.

Donnellan saying that decarbonisation ‘is the biggest challenge’ to the planet’.

Happy to be peat-free Bord Na Móna has also s followed by the “Thi launched a ‘Brown to Green’ White Paper ‘The strategy to support the natio tural Choice’ where the climate and energy policy overnment committed to by speeding up the educing peat use to zero development of renewable by 2030. The debate – and energy assets, as well as challenge – continues.” accelerating investment in Bord Na Móna has higher-value recycling and unched a peat-free resource recovery.

A thriving mpost range called Happy, Peatlands, formed by the peat bog includes growing media accumulation of decayed for plants ranging from seedlings to vegetation, help regulate the climate by removing and storing carbon dioxide fruit and veg, shrubs and general purpose growing. Steve Harper said: from the atmosphere.

“As peat-free is the way we are going, As fuel, it is more damaging than this is the right thing to do.” coal, generating less energy when This is music to the ears of Garden burned while producing higher carbon Organic who have launched their For emissions. Steve Harper, Bord Na Peat’s Sake campaign to encourage Móna’s UK head of commerce and gardeners to buy peat-free. marketing, says that the challenge of Sarah Brown, the charity’s growing moving to a peat-free future continues, advice coordinator, said: “We are asking despite missed Government targets. people to make sure they always buy He said: “The UK government has peat-free compost and if their garden issued a number of targets over the centre doesn’t stock it, to ask why not.” years, such as the aim for all soil

“We’re moving to peat-free: it’s the right thing to do”

Top job: Stephen Herrington has been appointed head gardener at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens in Horsham, West Sussex. He was formerly Gardens & Parks Consultant and Project Manager for the National Trust, London and South East Gardens Programme, head gardener at the National Trust property Nymans Garden and curator of Glasgow Botanic Gardens.

Newby Hall Gardens win the publi THE public has spoken and named the glorious grounds of Newby Hall and Gardens in North Yorkshire as the winner of the prestigious Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award 2019.

The property near Ripon is owned by Richard and Lucinda Compton and is the first garden to have won the award twice, the first time being in 1986.

Newby Hall gardens are filled with rare and beautiful plants and shrubs in 14 stunning ‘rooms’ and contain one of the longest double herbaceous borders in the UK, two heritage orchards and acres of woodland.

Lucinda Compton said: “We are over the moon to win this award, particularly as the votes were cast by members of the public. To be the first garden to have won it twice makes it even more special.

BOOK

The gardens of Newby Hall in Yorkshire were voted Historic Houses Garden of the Year 2019

REVIEW

Pompom dahlias are star performers

Led by the Land

homes, which means that they are able to evolve and adapt over time.

“We should not be Evolving over time surprised that Newby has Ben Cowell of the Historic Houses Association that gives become the first garden to the award, said: “Newby Hall win this prestigious award is one of Yorkshire’s most twice – the changes introduced by owners Richard popular visitor attractions, and Lucinda Compton and is now officially the have made Newby one of nation’s favourite garden. the country’s finest pleasure “Historic Houses’ places tend to remain lived-in, family grounds in the UK.” “Our team of gardeners should feel very proud.”

The call goes out for RHS garden apprentices ASPIRING gardeners who would like to join the RHS apprentice scheme have until March 1 to submit their application.

The gardening charity is preparing to accept its largest intake of apprentices over the next two years, increasing the number to 16 across its five gardens in 2020 and 18 in 2021. This includes RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford, which will open in 2020 and provide a new backdrop for learning alongside RHS Wisley in Surrey, RHS Rosemoor in Devon, RHS Hyde Hall in Essex and RHS Harlow Carr in Yorkshire.

Suzanne Moss, RHS head of education and learning, said: “Whether you’re a fan of houseplants, growing your own food or simply enjoy visiting beautiful gardens, the RHS apprenticeship scheme is a great entry point into

Apprentices working with alpines in an RHS garden

RHS Hyde Hall is in Essex

many interesting and varied career options with no prior experience or horticultural qualifications needed.”

Gain skills and knowledge “An RHS apprenticeship is the perfect springboard to a role at a garden, country estate or nursery or onto further study.”

Apprentices work for two years alongside expert teams while studying for a Level 2

apprenticeship qualification at college.

They gain skills, knowledge and a behind-thescenes insight into all aspects of professional horticulture operate machinery. Students get the chance to tend their own allotment and have their garden designs made real.

For details and to apply visit the RHS site at rhs.org. uk/education-learning

By Kim Wilkie (Pimpernel Press, £35) LANDSCAPE architect Kim Wilkie grew up living in the Malaysian jungle and deserts of Iraq, before his family relocated to south England.

His delightful book celebrates mankind’s relationships with the land, our place in it and how we have shaped it across the globe, from Russia to New York, Romania to the UK. It takes the reader from the bucolic beauty of a Hampshire farm to the macabre majesty of the City of London Cemetery, the arid wadis of the Middle East to Neolithic tumuli and the way many UK cities use the local landscape, its stone and natural features, to carve out their identity and style.

The book is a lovely combination of fascinating facts (did you know that the City of London Corporation is ‘very advanced in its attitude to death?) and stunning photographs, capturing landscapes and buildings in all their magnificence.

It is one to dip in and out of at leisure, to learn from and delight in the ongoing symbiosis between mankind and the land around us.

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

7

Judicious reduction of apple and pear branches will give you an improved crop

Make sure tools are sharp and clean

Sharp shears make for easy working

Remove diseased wood to healthy growth

G

ady for winter’s final pruning

Preparation is key to a successful job that leave you with healthy trees, says Ruth

I

T may not seem especially springlike right now, but trees and plants will have set their alarm clocks and it won’t be long until they go off – a reminder that it’s time to wake up and get going.

This means that the window for tackling any outstanding pruning is starting to close, as trees and shrubs come out of dormancy. If you leave any pruning for much longer, the sap will be flowing again and plants will ‘bleed’ after

cutting, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases.

I am spending this weekend checking the garden to assess what still needs a seasonal trim and making note of any that need particular care due to dead or damaged wood. I am also going to go through my pruning tools – secateurs, saws and loppers – making sure they are sharp, clean and fit for use.

One of the worst things you can do when pruning is use tools that are blunt

or dirty. Unsharpened blades make a real mess of wood, leaving it mashed and splintered and ripe for infestation and infection. The same applies to dirty blades that can potentially contaminate pruning wounds.

Next week I will take you through all aspects of pruning, how to do it safely and successfully, and the benefits of keeping trees and shrubs in good shape.

I’ll also explain which trees should be left alone now, and why.

Potting on weak and spindly cerinthe seedlings THE Aquilegia and Cerinthe major seeds I sowed earlier germinated robustly – almost too robustly in the case of the cerinthe! These determined honeywort plants burst forth and soon outstripped their pots, quickly becoming long and ‘leggy’.

All photography TI Media

These leggy cerinthe seedlings need more space and deeper compost

Lifting seedlings with an old spoon

8 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

centre of each. Then carefully This is not uncommon when you sow scoop each seedling from its original seeds in the depths of winter. Seedlings compost using an old spoon or the need warmth and light to develop end of a plant label, making sure you strongly, and if there is a shortage of don’t damage the roots while doing either they become spindly and weak dy the seedling by in their quest to find it. y pinching a leaf So even though my ween finger and seedlings were growing umb – never touch in a relatively bright spare e stem as any damage room, the conditions an kill the plant. weren’t good enough, so Pop the rootball I have potted them on into The repotted o the dibbed hole larger containers and they seedlings look much carefully press the will hopefully soon recover. more secure! ost around it. Don’t This is a relatively simple ost of the stem is but an important one. Seedli buried (as happened with my cerinthe moved on, or ‘pricked out’ once they have developed one or two pairs of ‘real’ seedlings) as in many cases the plant leaves, rather than little germination will produce more roots down its leaflets. There are several ways of length, leading to stronger plants. doing the job, but here is how I do it.

Then water the seedlings with fresh Fill individual 3-4in (7-10cm) pots tap water, and grow them on in the with John Innes No2 or multi-purpose light and warmth until they are ready compost and dib a deep hole in the for hardening off and planting out.

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Listen to Peter’s free podcast every Thursday. Search for ‘This Week In The Garden with Peter Seabrook’ on iTunes

with Peter Seabrook, AG’s classic gardening expert Leafy salad and greens in mid-December at RHS Hyde Hall vegetable garden conservatory

Peter’s tips

1

Either a soil floor or border is the easy way to grow protected crops, starting now with broad beans, hardier round-seeded peas, lettuce and carrots.

Turnip ‘Salad White’ and ‘Salad Red’, sown in September and harvested late December. The roots can be eaten like a mild raddish and the leaves can be cooked like spinach

2

Come in out of the cold

Semi-leafless peas, with extra tendrils to hold each other up, can be grown in a block and just netted down the sides.

All photography Peter Seabrook / TI Media, unless otherwise credited

A

NATIONAL newspaper gardening correspondent recently stated, “You do not need a polytunnel or greenhouse”. He must be a much younger man, with thicker blood that does not run cold in wintery conditions.

My mistake was to have waited so long before constructing a polytunnel in our (it should be said) slightly larger-thanaverage garden.

Even so, greenhouses and polythene clad structures come in sizes from 6ft (1.8m) square, and most home plots will have this much space. It does need to be large enough for you to get in, out of the wind, and you need to be able to close the door.

“Plants start to grow earlier and crop for longer” 10 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

When I step into my polytunnel on a cold day, it is like stepping into the South of France, such is the difference in atmosphere. Plants also appreciate the wind-free, rain-, sleet- and snowprotected conditions, starting growth earlier in the year and carrying on longer into the autumn and winter.

We harvested lovely young turnips ‘Salad White’ and ‘Salad Red’ from a 3rd September 2019 sowing in the polytunnel. This new introduction has young roots, which can be eaten like a mild radish in salads and can be cooked in the usual ways for turnips. These are not in catalogues yet, but will be soon, and they are good example of how unheated greenhouse protection can provide lovely fresh winter vegetables and salads.

If you need further proof and are near the RHS Hyde Hall Garden, pop into the conservatory in their vegetable garden and see the range of salads and stir-fry vegetables growing there. Skilled veg man Matt Oliver raised plants in cells and planted out once crops of cucumbers, melons and tomatoes were cleared.

Alamy

A polytunnel will provide much more veg, says Peter

3

Dwarf broad beans and peas, sown in pots in October, can be planted where the turnips and leafy greens are harvested. This second crop is cleared in time for tomatoes.

4

Salad leaves sown in succession can have later sowings taken under cover to extend their season.

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Cut away old blackcurrant stems to the ground

Step by step

Planting a raspberry

Getting a potted plant into the soil

While the raspberry is standing in water, dig a hole as deep as and slightly wider than the potted rootball and fork in some well-rotted compost or manure.

1

Cutting to a healthy outward-facing bud

Cutting back healthy white-currant growth to improve fruiting this summer

Pruning your soft fruit Winter’s cuts boost health and cropping, says Ruth

All photography TI Media

S

easily spotted in late winter. As its name OFT fruits – raspberries, suggests, symptoms are blackcurrant strawberries, currants and buds appearing swollen and rounded, gooseberries – are a joy rather than long and pointed as they to grow. Relatively easy to develop normally. cultivate, they deliver months of Infested buds dry up and produce summer and autumn berries and are stunted growth or no leaves at all, low-maintenance for most of the year.

Deep winter is when most need to be though the plants can still crop.

Solve the problem by disposing cut back to increase productivity and of heavily infested plants and buying keep plants healthy and in good shape, new, mite-free certified stock plants. the exception being summer-fruiting Lightly infested plants can be raspberries that are reduced as soon d by removing and as they have been harvested cted buds. ‘Ben Hope’ is Here’s what you need to big bug-resistant variety. do with yours now, before Gooseberries and red/ they start back into growth.

Blackcurrants: These white currants: In winter, zingy berries fruit best on emove dead wood and new wood, so remove ow-lying shoots, then older branches to make educe healthy growth to room for new growth. e-three buds from the base.

Swollen growth caused For the first four years, , shorten branch tips by a by big bud mite concentrate on removing we q to an outward-facing bud. and spindly stems, retaining a structure With cordon plants, in winter cut back of six to ten robust branches. In year four, young side shoots to one or two healthy cut out a third of older wood at the base buds and reduce the tip by a third. as well as weak and low-growing stems.

You can also plant container-grown Watch out for big bud, a disease and bare-root soft-fruit bushes in winter, transferred by mites that can reduce provided the ground isn’t frozen or cropping and plant vigour, and is most waterlogged (see panel, right).

12 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Carefully ease the dampened rootball from its pot and gently tease out any congested and circling roots.

2

Settle the rootball in the hole and backfill with soil and compost, firming it down well to support the plant.

3

Water well, and make sure the soil stays damp until the plant is established. Mulch around the root area with well-rotted manure.

4

Energy loss: Forcing bulbs in a vase of water can completely exhaust their resources and they may not perform outside, so compost them or plant in an out-of-the-way place.

What to do with forced bulbs

There’s no need to discard t

F

ering, says Ruth

ORCED bulbs planted last autumn for flowering over the festive season will be starting to go over soon, so you need to decide what to do with yours.

Deadheading forced hyacinth flowers There is no need to discard them Move amaryllis plants unless they have rotted or gone soft. to a greenhouse Instead, you can dry and store them for in summer next year, and some varieties can be successfully planted in the garden.

After flowering, the blooms will start to dry out and droop, and the leaves will yellow and wither. When this happens, stop feeding and watering and move the plants somewhere cool and light.

Deadhead and leave the rest of the top growth to die right back before lifting Plant out hyacinth bulbs the bulbs. Remove the remaining foliage once it has died right back and place the bulbs in a tray of sand and compost.

Place them somewhere cool and away from damp and pests to dry out.

More tender varieties such as the Forced bulbs brighten the house in winter and paper-white narcissus rarely flourish some can be resurrected in the garden outside, so store them until the autumn when they can be planted up to flower shady part of the greenhouse. indoors again. as you would ‘normal’ bulbs – at twoWater regularly until September when Tulips, snowdrops, crocuses and three times their own depth and a bulb’s the plants can be relocated somewhere hyacinths can all be planted in the width apart in free-draining soil. well-lit and cool for eight to ten weeks garden, though wait until November to Once the trumpet-like flowers of without food and with a little water. plant tulip bulbs. They may not perform statuesque hippeastrum, or amaryllis, Then cut down any remaining leaves brilliantly in their first year outside, but if have faded, they can also be cut down to 4in (10cm) of the bulb, replace the top they are then left to die back naturally, Keep the leaves growing with careful 1-2in (3-5cm) of compost with fresh and which helps feed the bulbs, they should watering and feeding, and when the water to restart growth. do well in subsequent years. Plant them summer arrives place the plants in a

What’s on

Things to do near you

There are several places to visit to see stunning snowdrops in February

25-2 Feb Heralding Spring: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. ✆ 020 7352 5646, or visit  chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk.

26 RSPB Big Garden Birdwalk: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Woking, Surrey

GU23 6QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830,  rhs.org.uk/gardens/wisley 27 RHS Members’ Gardening Advice: RHS Harlow Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate, North Yorks HG3 1QB. ✆ 0203 176 5830,  rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr 28 Glasshouse Tour with Jess Snowball: Chelsea Physic Garden 30 Getting The Best from Your Roses: RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET. ✆ 0203 176 5830,  rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 30 Pruning and Training Climbers: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. ✆ 0203 176 5830,  rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 31 Understanding Your Soil: RHS Garden Wisley 31 RHS Members’ Gardening Advice: RHS Garden Harlow Carr

February 1-2 Snowdrop Weekend: RHS Garden Rosemoor 1-29 Festival of Snowdrops: East Lambrook Manor Gardens, South Petherton, Somerset, TA13 5HH. ✆ 01460 240 328,  eastlambrook.com 2 The Magic of Hellebores with Ed Flint: Chelsea Physic Garden 3 RHS Members’ Gardening Advice: RHS Garden Harlow Carr 4 Winter Colour and Scent: RHS Garden Rosemoor 6 Rose Pruning: RHS Garden Rosemoor 7 Designing with Plants: RHS Garden Hyde Hall 8 British Iris Society Early Spring Show: RHS Garden Wisley Send details and images of events to ruth.hayes@ti-media.com

■ Details are subject to change without our knowledge, so check that the event is still going ahead before leaving home.

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

13

with Bob Flowerdew, AG’s organic gardening expert

Digging and filling a trench with wet newspaper can be a boon for runner beans, but this can take time

TI Media

Bob’s top tips for the week

Well-spaced, well-supported runner bean plants will lead to bigger individual crops

1

Spread garden compost around fruit trees and bushes in thick doughnut-shaped rings to weather and break down more slowly.

TI Media

Ample watering of runner bean plants such as this ‘Red Rum’ is the golden rule for larger, tastier pickings

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

“Books seldom tell you how to cut corners” 14 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

seldom how to cut corners or indicate which are the most important of the many factors affecting the crop.

For example, you can improve your yields of runner beans most years with assiduous watering instead of digging and filling a trench – which is easier? e, in most areas, erous watering improves most all crops, almost all ears, as much as – if not more than – adding muck or fertiliser, yet we tend Pick early and o concentrate on those. often for more Watering really is ‘Firestorm’ he golden rule. You just runner beans nnot over-water growing s in the ground, and ult is nearly always bigger, more succulent pickings.

Similarly, all crops benefit from good spacing; closer planting may give a larger yield in total, but is bound to be made up of more smaller items, whereas wider spacing gives nearly the same yield but with better-sized individuals. And another lower-labour way of getting more is to pick earlier and more often. Most crops will give much more when the first lot are removed, as this leaves space and resources for the next to come.

TI Media

W

E all want to grow more (and better) crops: the problem is that we often just do not have enough time to do the proper job. After all, how many runner bean growers do dig and fill a trench for them full of wet newspaper, muck and compost?

In practice, we find the difficulty with runners is in getting germination and that first foot of growth – after that, crops are almost guaranteed, whether or not a trench was dug and filled. Sure, you will get a larger yield if you do dig th trench, but it might have been easier to put another yard on the row instead.

This is the trouble: most books tell you how to do the job properly, and

2

Check you have seeds, sets and bulbs ready, or at least on order, and enough labels, markers, ties, canes, trays and compost.

3

You can plant ornamental and fruit trees and bushes all through winter, as long as the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.

Wikimedia / Gaming4JC

Gardening isn’t all work, work, work, as Bob explains how to make more of your plot this year with a lot less labour

4

Lay bits of wood, hollowed-out roots and potatoes in your greenhouse and coldframe to trap woodlice and similar pests.

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Gardening Week

, AG’s organic wildlife expert

You can plant beech (pictured), hawthorn and hornbeam any time from autumn until late winter

Copper beach has rich-purple leaves in summer that turn coppery-brown in winter

Wide and tall evergreen species, such as the western red cedar, are best for noise reduction

Hedge your bets

Our hedges are crucial for a wide range of animal species so try to plant one if you can, says Val

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

O

analysed 44 of the most popular types NE of the best things you can do for wildlife is to plant a of hedge and found that they were “a hedge, and now is the best crucial resource for a wide diversity of time of year to get digging animal species through the provision because you can buy small bare-root of shelter, nest sites, food resources whips in a dormant state and – as my and corridors for movement”.

Yorkshire side surfaces again – these When it comes to wildlife, the are cheaper to post. Use a hedging best thing to do, if you can, is to plant a specialist, such as the long-established mixed hedge because it provides more Buckingham Nurseries (hedging opportunities for wildlife. The co.uk). This company has recommends hawthorn a brilliant website for rataegus monogyna), calculating how many eech (Fagus sylvatica), Rosa rugosa, pyracantha hedge plants you will cultivars, privet need, and they can send (Ligustrum sp.) and them out by mail order yew (Taxus baccata). or you can visit them Research has shown to see their range.

Fieldfares arrive in the at hawthorn can attract It’s surprising how quickly UK from October insect species in Britain, these small whips grow when onwards will pull in 64, but yew will the soil is well prepared, but t attract only one. There are no figures for key thing is choosing the right plant.

And hedges are not only good for wildlife, privet or pyracantha, although yew and but they’re also good for us. The RHS is pyracantha bear edible fruits for birds and offer a refuge for many creatures. Rosa promoting its Greening Great Britain rugosa bears hips – a favourite winter campaign and has been looking at the value of hedges in urban areas. The RHS food of birds, voles and mice.

The RHS found that plants with a larger leaf surface have higher transpiration rates and, if they are evergreen, they have greater rainfall retention. This may prove important because we no longer get ‘three fine days and a thunderstorm’. Now we get deluges, and flooding is becoming more of an issue, partly due to climate change.

“Hedges are good for wildlife and the environment”

16 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

When it comes to capturing particulates and keeping our air cleaner, the most effective hedges form a dense canopy and have small ovate, hairy, scaly or rough leaves. The RHS recommends cotoneaster, English yew (Taxus baccata) and western red cedar (Thuja plicata).

The RHS also looked at noise reduction and found that wide, tall and multi-layered vegetation belts with evergreen species that formed dense canopies were the best. English yew (Taxus baccata), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and holly (Ilex aquifolium) were all suggested.

Hedges can also help heat and cool your home, and this is becoming more vital in our changing climate because temperatures are rising.

Hedges are definitely good for wildlife and the environment, but as a country dweller I watched many disappear to make way for larger fields and larger machines. In recent times I’ve seen some of the hedges restored because much of the land that was ploughed up has proved unsuitable for crops. It has needed lots of expensive chemical intervention, such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers, so some farmers are having to think again.

It’s really noticeable in my neck of the woods that the taller hedgerows that aren’t routinely scalped in midwinter, just when the birds need the fruit most, have far more wildlife. This is where the fieldfares are in winter, although redwings have been in short supply this year. In summer, bats can be seen skimming over the hedges because there are insects galore and, sitting here on a grim winter’s day, I can’t wait for summer to return!

A comma butterfly on hawthorn

TIP

Hedges may support up to 80% of our woodland birds, 50% of mammals and 30% of butterflies. They also provide habitats for frogs, toads, newts and reptiles.

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For more information contact your nearest retailer or visit vitavia.co.uk @VitaviaLtd

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with Lucy Chamberlain, AG’s fruit and veg expert

Inset: Alamy

With careful crop selection, it’s amazing what volume of edibles can be grown in a small patch of ground

A photography TI Media, unless otherwise credited

Inset: T&M

Pepper ‘Redskin’ and cucumber ‘Cucino’ will give around 20 weeks of harvests from one sowing

Focus on...

Pint-sized plots

Whoever told you that the best things come in little packages was definitely on to something, as Lucy looks at non-stop veggies you can grow in the smallest spaces

D

O you own a tiny garden yet still dream of growing trugfuls of veg in 2020? Well, with a few well-chosen crops, you can!

Being challenged by space encourages you to hone your thoughts, but don’t think you need to adopt the mindset of quality over quantity: some veg crop their socks off for weeks in the tiniest spaces.

oregano will also offer summer-long harvests if regularly cut back.

You may have come across the concept of ‘square-foot gardening’, where tiny beds are divided into small, square foot sections. It’s a brilliant method, and the idea can also be applied to individual containers. For maximum productivity, grow the nonstop veg, salads and herbs I’ve listed above within them, and I promise that the yields you get will be abundant.

Maximum yield from one sowing Give small-space plots a re-think: it’s not just about growing compact crops, but those that give you the greatest yield for the longest time from a small space.

All three veg that I’ve listed in the panel on page 20 will crop from early summer through into autumn – that’s 20 weeks

Alamy

“You don’t need to think quality over quantity”

Harvest ‘Lollo Rossa’ lettuce and Claytonia perfoliata by removing the outer leaves when needed

Alamy

worth of harvests from just one sowing!

Perpetual spinach, chard, kale, snackbox cucumbers, runner beans, peppers and aubergines will all do the same (don’t bother growing high-space, low-yield veg such as cauliflowers or globe artichokes). Lettuces and other leafy salads like endive, mizuna and chicory can be harvested by removing outer leaves as and when needed (keeping the central growing point in tact prolongs the crop’s life). Basil, mint, parsley and

Herbs like basil will offer summer-long harvests if they are regularly cut back 25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

19

with Lucy Chamberlain, AG’s fruit and veg expert

Six small-space veg-growing tips Embrace your microclimate – small, sheltered courtyards and balconies offer sun for chillies and tomatoes, and shade for leaf crops.

Maximise walls, fences and other vertical surfaces. Pots and windowboxes secured to them can be ideal for herbs.

Dobies

1

Courgette ‘Syros’: A spine-free F1 compact bush courgette, with strong powdery mildew resistance.

No scratched arms, dwarf enough to be grown in a tub, and healthy enough to fend off a major disease – this certainly gets my vote!

s b o j k c i u 5q 1

Marshalls-seeds.co.uk

Three productive crops to try in tiny plots

DT Brown

Lucy’s choice

Chilli Pepper ‘Loco’ in a small courtyard

Both Alamy

Lucy’s picks

Choose climbing and trailing varieties.

These produce maximum yield while using up minimum floor space.

Transplant seedlings or buy plug plants on your plot to bypass germination and give harvestable plants more quickly.

Choose veg that crop over a long period (tomatoes and climbing beans) or mature rapidly, like salads and baby roots.

Underplant beneath lofty crops like sweetcorn, and interplant quick growers between widely spaced veg like cabbage.

Underplanting sweetcorn with kale

Now is an ideal time to force early rhubarb. Pot a few crown sections up , and move them to a shed or garage covering to exclude light.

If you are growing grapes in your greenhouse, untie and lower the stems into a horizontal position temporarily to ensure even bud burst.

Fruit trees, canes and bushes thrive when given potassium, so a top dressing of sulphate of potash applied now will go down a treat. p Not made your seed order yet? Ste t jus is to it! The propagation season around the corner and prime varieties may be selling out.

If you plan to grow tomatoes in a heated greenhouse, you can risk lf making sowings now to give yourse super-early harvests.

2

Tomato ‘Koralik’: This Polish bush F1 cherry tom performs well, even in poor summers. It may take a while to bulk up, but it’s early to mature, it’s high yielding, it has strong blight tolerance, and it works brilliantly in a hanging basket.

2

French bean ‘Cobra’: This climbing French bean has phenomenal cropping ability. If you keep harvesting the green pods while they are pencil-thick, then it will yield heavily from July right through until November. My benchmark bean.

3

While winter brassicas are slow to provide a crop, summer cabbages are quick off the blocks! Sown now, these varieties can be ready to cut in May, especially vigorous F1 hybrids. Start ‘Excel’ and ‘Hispi’ seeds in modules now. Sown in a heated propagator, you can transplant seedlings into a coldframe or unheated greenhouse border in March.

3

20 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Start Cabbage ‘Hispi’ now!

✃

5

Mr Fothergill’s

4

Next week: Prune new fruit trees, snow on the plot, fruit tree propagation, sow early peas, try Elaeagnus multiflora

Why not sow some microleaves?

Step by step

1

apart). Cover over seeds with a clear lid (buy purpose-made mini propagators with lids, or upcycle supermarket veg punnets), position on a well-lit windowsill and keep the paper just damp until the seedlings develop their first few leaves.

Then simply harvest with scissors.

“Those with a stronger flavour are enjoyable”

How to prune gooseberries Enjoy more plentiful, disease-free fruits by showing these thorny bushes your secateurs this winter. Bush shape will determine your actions:

If you are growing free-standing bushes, simply remove congested main stems as a priority.

Fans and cordons should be assessed for shape, with new stems being tied in or congested ones being removed initially.

2

Look to remove any dead, diseased or damaged growth, cutting well back into healthy wood. When tying in new stems of fans, ensure that they are evenly spaced out against their wall, fence or wire supports.

Why not try..?

Arbutus unedo

3

Finally, cut back the sideshoots to encourage fruiting spurs to form. Identify the main stems, then cut all growth (sideshoots) arising from them back to 1in (2-3cm) in length. This aids airflow and gives sizeable berries.

Winter fruit tree washes DON’T panic – I’m not suggesting that you take a scrubbing brush to the contents of your fruit cage! For some reason, spraying your fruit trees, bushes and canes in winter is always referred to as washing – don’t ask me why, when the action is no different to spraying plants at any other time of year. Anyway, rants aside, this task is important if your trees are suffering regular and heavy attacks from fruit aphids such as currant blister aphid, cherry blackfly, plum leafcurling aphid and rosy apple aphid.

Their eggs will now have been laid to overwinter within the nooks and crannies among your fruit’s stems, trunks and branches, so it’s the perfect opportunity to target them. These days, winter fruit washes are organic, being based on

There are many microleaves you can sow indoors now, allowing you to keep growing throughout the winter

Thwart fruit pests now by spraying trees with a winter wash (inset)

plant oils (formulations are available from Growing Success and Vitax).

Apply them now (before bud burst) on a dry day, using a handheld sprayer.

The fruits of the strawberry tree

Alamy

ARE your fingers itching to tear open some seed packets? While it’s still too early to sow the vast majority of veg grown to maturity, microleaves break the rules. These diminutive crops can be sown year-round indoors, but I wait until daylength is on the increase.

Your choices are endless – any edible crop will work but those with a stronger flavour are especially enjoyable; I grow celery, basil, shiso, coriander, rocket, dill and onion.

Sowing is a doddle. Moisten a double layer of kitchen paper, laid into a small seed tray, pour off any excess water and sow directly onto that (space seeds ½cm

Sprouting rocket is easy to grow

COMMONLY known as the strawberry tree, this slow-growing evergreen shrub has bagfuls of ornamental value. Flowering in late autumn and winter, the white bellshaped blooms are a useful nectar source for bees yet to hibernate, and with the fruits taking roughly one year to mature, shrubs are often draped in flowers and fruits simultaneously; only one plant is needed to obtain a harvest.

Hardy in all but the most severe winters, Arbutus unedo prefers a moist, acidic soil. To achieve this, add sulphur chips to the plot regularly or grow compact varieties (like ‘Elfin King’) in large tubs of ericaceous compost. The shrub yields spherical, rough-skinned fruits that turn from yellow to red once they are ripe.

The sweetest flavour is experienced when eating fully mature fruits, so be patient when harvesting.

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

21

Some like it hot… but others prefer more subtle shades. Alstroemerias offers a range of flower colours that covers all bases

Get long-lasting colour with

Alstroemerias Excellent for a variety of garden situations and schemes (as well as in the vase), it’s time for Peruvian lilies to step into the spotlight, says Louise Curley

C

UT-flower fans will be familiar with alstroemerias – sometimes known as Peruvian lilies or lily of the Incas. Their long, straight stems, exceptional vase life and bold flowers are prized by the floristry trade.

But in the garden…? Not so much.

Perhaps it’s because the exotic appearance of the flowers suggests that they’re too tender for the British climate.

It’s true that some won’t survive a cold winter, but many of the new hybrids are much hardier, and we really should champion these underutilised beauties.

Named after Baron Clas Alströmer, a student of the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, alstroemerias are native to South America, with winter-flowering plants hailing from Chile and summerflowering species from Brazil. Breeders have combined these attributes to 22 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

create hybrids that can flower almost all year round – hence their popularity with cut-flower producers in the glasshouses of the Netherlands.

Alstroemerias for all Varieties range in height from 6in to 3ft (15-90cm), so there are alstroemerias suitable for growing in containers or at the edge of borders, with others for the middle or back of a bed. And the choice of colours is even more impressive: exotic oranges, reds, deep purples and magentas – perfect for hot borders. Or what about pastel pinks, creams and pale yellows that will slot seamlessly into subtler planting schemes?

Some are two-tone or multi-coloured, and most have markings on the throats.

The leaves are generally mid-green, but some have purple foliage. There

are options with variegated green and cream leaves too, such as ‘Rock ’n’ Roll’.

The key to getting alstroemerias to last through winter is to plant in well-drained soil and to give them a 20cm (8in) deep mulch of chipped bark every autumn for the first couple of years. After this, it’s thought the roots pull themselves further into the soil to avoid the cold. In mid spring, carefully move the mulch to the side to allow the shoots to push through.

Most alstroemerias are tuberous perennials. They can be bought bare root but the tubers are quite fragile and don’t always regrow, so it’s better to opt for ready-potted plants – these are more expensive but they are already established, and plants can be ordered now for dispatch in spring. Give them a try – you’ll find they’re every bit as invaluable in the garden as in the vase.

Amazing alstroemerias for...

Postalplants.co.uk

s Container

Princess Diana Flowering from June to the first frosts, this short cultivar is great value for money and an excellent addition to summer containers. It has fabulous fierycoloured flowers in orange, golden yellow and red. H&S: 8in-1ft (20-30cm).

‘Natalie’ (Little Miss Series) A very free-flowering dwarf hybrid with exquisite creamy-white blooms featuring a delicate pink blush and deeper pink markings. Makes a round clump of leaves, and flowers from early summer to mid-autumn. HxS: 6x8in (15x20cm).

Indian Summer Perfect for mixing with the lush foliage and exotic blooms of dahlias and cannas, thanks to its bold combination of dark purple leaves and peachyorange, red and yellow petals. Flowers: Jun-Nov. HxS: 2ftx16in (60x40cm).

Cardinal Purple If you’re not keen on the multi-coloured hybrids, these sumptuous deep purple blooms (with small black markings on the throats) are a good alternative. Lovely with grasses and jewel-coloured perennials like dahlias. HxS: 2ftx16in (60x40cm).

‘Etna’ Bred for the cut flower trade – hence the tall, elegant stems – this hybrid is perfect for the middle-to-back of a border. It flowers in a rich red, the petals splashed with gold and featuring dark flecks. HxS: 3ftx20in (90x50cm).

Peaches and Cream A charming plant; the soft apricot and cream flowers are rose pink on the underside and arranged in clusters on top of tall, straight stems. Floriferous, it will supply you with blooms all summer long. HxS: 3x2ft (90x60cm).

‘Pandora’ The magenta pink blooms will add a punch of colour. A tall variety for planting in the middle or back of a border, ‘Pandora’s stems may need staking; or position so that surrounding plants provide support.

HxS: 3x2ft (90x60cm).

Jonathan Buckley

Postalplants.co.uk

rs Hot borde

Cottage gardens

‘Friendship’ AGM The pale lemon-yellow blooms have deeper yellow throats and maroon speckles, and will blend well with a range of other colours. Long stems make ‘Friendship’ a good option for cutting.

HxS: 2ftx20in (60x50cm).

Jonathan Buckley

Postalplants.co.uk

All photos Alamy, unless otherwise credited

Inca Husky Bred to be short and compact, with flowers made up of three pretty salmonpeach petals and three yellow petals that are highly-marked. They appear en masse above a mound of green, lanceshaped leaves. H&S: 1ft (30cm).

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Ideas for alstroemerias

Turn up the heat For a show-stopping summer display combine vibrantcoloured alstroemerias with herbaceous perennials such as lupins and monardas in rich tones. Add in some lush foliage plants – bananas and cannas will give a tropical feel.

Create a cut flower bed Supplementing a cut flower patch with a few alstroemerias will provide rich pickings throughout the summer. Plant with other perennials that are good when cut – the likes of achillea – and annuals like amaranthus, China asters and cosmos.

Just add water Alstroemerias will tolerate a bit of light shade, and the palecoloured hybrids have a graceful quality that works well when they’re planted next to a water feature. Hardy geraniums and astrantias make good planting partners in this setting.

Combine with roses Mid-height alstroemerias make great companions for roses, providing a lower tier of blooms around the rose’s base. Team together similar colours for a harmonious effect; or choose deeper hues for richer planting schemes.

Protection and care

Cut flower know-how

■ Protect plants from slug and snail damage.

■ Mulch deeply in late autumn, using 8in (20cm) of chipped bark.

■ Move container-grown plants somewhere frostfree for the winter.

■ Tall varieties may need their stems staking.

■ Once flowers fade, remove the entire flower stem at the base, pulling it from the ground. This will encourage new flower stems to emerge.

■ The medium and tall varieties of alstroemeria make the best cut flowers.

■ Pull the stems from the base rather than cutting them.

■ Pick as flower buds start to open.

Plunge into a bucket of tepid water for a few hours, trim stems and arrange.

■ Change vase water every few days.

24 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

If grown in pots, move under cover for winter

Alstroemerias have a long vase life

Where to buy H W Hyde & Sons hwhyde.co.uk 0118 934 0011 Sarah Raven sarahraven.com 0345 092 0283 Viv Marsh Postal Plants postalplants.co.uk 01939 291475

With bold flowers topping tall stems (around 21/2ft/75cm), ‘Flaming Star’ will add a touch of the exotic to borders. Yet like most alstroemerias, it’s hardy enough for UK gardens

Astrantia major Gill Richardson Group is a clump-forming perennial bearing umbels of crimson-red flowers with prominent red-tipped bracts in summer

If you want to grow Astrantia but you have a thin, sandy soil, then add lots of well-rotted compost and plant in light shade so they won’t have to withstand harsh sun.

Alternatively, try them in containers.

Pin-like flowers radiate from a central ‘cushion’, as with A. ‘Lars’

Herbaceous perennials like Astrantia and these Michaelmas daisies are easy to propagate by division.

Sometimes I let small sections mature for a year in the kitchen garden before planting them out

Hattie’s pincushion Bring some delicate prairie-meadow beauty to your shady spots with these charming branched perennials. Anne explains how easy it is to master the masterwort

26 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

rich purple, they suit most plantings, from cottage, woodland and wildlife borders to historical and contemporary schemes. Anyone wanting to recreate a Tudor garden will be glad of them and they are good for cutting. Most of us choose Astrantia for their ethereal good looks, but also because they perform Prairie-style Astrantia major ‘Claret’, Scabiosa alpina and Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’

Alamy

All photography Swithinbank / TI Media, unless otherwise credited

I

’M not sure who Hattie was, but she must have been proud of her pincushion if it resembled the lacy flower umbels of Astrantia major.

Native to Central and Eastern Europe, this herbaceous perennial from the carrot family (Apiaceae) has been around in gardens since the 16th century, and it is also known as masterwort and melancholy gentleman. Pin-like flowers radiate from the central ‘cushion’ and sit like a posie inside the long-lasting collar of fine bracts. Foliage is handsome, too, consisting of attractively lobed leaves neatly covering the ground and creating an excellent foil for the umbels.

Flowering usually begins in June and continues to September, at a height of 12-36in (30-90cm), depending on cultivar and growing conditions. Unless they are sterile hybrids, masterworts seed themselves around and there are plenty of cultivars of A. major and some hybrids with the similar A. maxima. From white through shades of pink to deep red and

well as long as we never allow them to be swamped by weeds or other plants.

Combined forces Like other herbaceous perennials, Astrantia will knit a garden together, dying back in autumn and growing again in spring to increase their spread year after year. Every so often, the centre of large clumps will begin to die out and flowering will suffer, so see this as motivation for lifting, dividing and replanting to create impressive groups and drifts.

This division is best carried out in September or October, or in March when the clumps are beginning to show signs of waking up. A large fork should lever them successfully from the ground, and two – pushed through a clump back to back – will prise them apart. Alternatively, cut through the roots and crowns using an old kitchen knife.

Create good-sized portions 4in (10cm) across to replant 12in (30cm) apart.

Main pic: Getty Images

Inset: Robert Homan

Collecting Astrantia seeds, and (inset) leaf miner damage

Plant in sun or partial shade, where clumps will not be encroached upon. Set in well-drained yet moist and humus-rich soil. Water during droughts for the first year.

Deadhead plants by cutting down flowered stems to encourage more. Mulch over roots in spring and autumn.

Occasionally, leaves are damaged by the tunnelling of Astrantia leaf miner. If only a few leaves are affected, picking them off will help prevent a second generation.

However, these pests rarely affect health or flowering.

If you don’t mind slightly variable offspring, sow Astrantia seed in autumn, let it feel the chill of winter, and seedlings should germinate in spring.

Alamy

Alamy

Four pretty perennials

A. ‘Roma’ With A. maxima as a parent, flowers open from May to September. Enjoy the contrast of deeper pink flowers and paler bracts.

Sterile, so doesn’t seed.

A. major ‘Abbey Road’ The dark reddish-purple flowers have contrasting white bases on dark stems. Deadheading can encourage flowers from June to October.

A. major ‘Sunningdale Variegated’ Dazzling creamy-yellow leaf margins almost distract from the sparse show of pale pink flowers. This one needs a sunny position to do the foliage justice.

Unwins

Alamy

Main image and far left inset: Alamy

How to grow Astrantia

A. ‘Buckland’ A strong grower, loved for the beauty of its pink flowers poised over green-tipped white bracts. An unusual combination, flowering freely from June to August.

Sterile, so won’t seed.

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Summer-flowering bulbs make a great addition to borders and there are lots of options. For fragrance and cutting, colourful freesias are perfect

It’s time to plan your

Summer bulbs

If you want blooms to add colour and interest long after the alliums and irises have faded, bulbs are the answer. But get your order in early, advises Louise Curley

I

T might be cold and frosty outside, will give garden borders an exotic, but hopefully there are signs of exuberant feel. Others are daintier, like life emerging in the -flowering alliums and garden, with spring oli, which can be woven bulbs starting to poke between perennials through the soil – some nd grasses, or grown in might even be pots for added pops of flowering. And although colour. Some summerthe long, hazy days of flowerers have summer still seem a fragrance that will linger long way off, it’s a good n the warm, still air, and time to think about the many make great cut bulbs that will take over wers. Technically, some Lilies give borders the flowering baton and a ese ‘bulbs’ are actually an exotic feel colour once their spring or corms, but the term cousins have faded. bulb is used to cover them all.

Plant summer bulbs like eucomis and Summer bulbs generally love freelilies and their large, flamboyant blooms draining soil, so container growing is a 28 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

good option if you have heavy soil. It’s also useful for tender types that won’t survive the winter outdoors – simply plant into plastic pots that can be sunk into the soil in the borders in early summer; then, in autumn, lift the pot and its contents, and bring it under cover.

Staggered planting Stagger the planting of freesias and gladioli, potting up batches of bulbs every three weeks or so from mid-spring to early summer, so you’ll have a succession of flowers. It’s still too early (and too cold) to plant these bulbs, but a chilly day in late January is a good time to research and compile your order before the popular choices sell out.

Gladiolus ‘Ruby’ (papilio hybrid) With a sophistication lacked by its more commonplace cousins, this hybrid of species gladiolus G. papilio has sword-shaped leaves and arching stems populated by hooded flowers in a beautiful jewel red. Likes a sheltered spot. HxS: 2½ftx20in (75x50cm).

Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora ‘Star of the East’ AGM Tall stems, studded with large, star-like orange flowers in late summer, make it a good partner for grasses and perennials.

They’re followed by attractive knobbly seed pods. Plant in moist but well-drained soil, in full sun. HxS: 39x20in (1mx50cm).

Cosmos atrosanguineus Remarkable for its chocolate scent and sumptuous, velvety, deep maroon blooms, which emerge from almost black buds. A tender plant, this cosmos grows from tubers like a dahlia. In mild gardens mulch; elsewhere lift and store over winter. HxS: 28inx1ft (70x30cm).

Tulbaghia violacea AGM A long-flowering summer bulb that makes clumps of chive-like foliage above which umbels of deep pink, star-like flowers are held from June to October. Great planted at the front of a border, or in containers.

H: 20inx1ft (50x30cm).

Galtonia viridiflora Rising out of clumps of green leaves, the tall spikes of dangling, bell-shaped, pale green blooms are certainly eye-catching.

Hardy to -5ºC; best planted in pots that can be dug up and overwintered somewhere frost-free. Flowers: Aug-Oct. HxS: 39x8in (1mx20cm).

Allium ‘Summer Beauty’ For months, the purple pompoms of this summer-flowering allium will provide nectar for bees and butterflies.

The flowerheads are actually made up of lots of small individual blooms. Grow in free-draining soil in a sunny spot.

HxS: 14x4in (35x10cm).

Farmergracy.co.uk

All photos Alamy, unless otherwise credited

6 summer bulbs for borders

Bulbs are dispatched in March and April, when hardier options like lilies can be planted directly into the soil. If you have space, you can start off tender bulbs under cover in a bright, frost-free spot in large pots. Then, once the danger of frost has passed in mid to late May, plant them out for a summer show.

Where to buy Avon Bulbs avonbulbs.co.uk 01460 242177 Farmer Gracy farmergracy.co.uk 0330 808 7304 Peter Nyssen peternyssen.com 0161 747 4000 Rose Cottage Plants rosecottageplants.co.uk 01992 573775 25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

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3 summer bulbs to grow in pots

Rosecottageplants.co.uk

Eucomis comosa ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ AGM Also known as the pineapple lily due to the cluster of foliage that tops off each flower spike.

Sturdy stems are covered in tiny, starry, deep pink and burgundy flowers – all against a backdrop of purple-green leaves.

HxS: 2ftx16in (60x40cm).

Watsonia pyramidata ‘Peach Glow’ The bugle lily is a tender bulb with fabulous show-stopping, flame-coloured blooms running the length of upright stems, the latter emerging from a clump of narrow leaves. Happy in full sun or some shade. HxS: 39x6in (1mx15cm).

4 for fragrance

30 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Lilium ‘Casa Blanca’ AGM This elegant oriental lily has tall stems with showy trumpet-like blooms – pure white, they give off a heady perfume. Prefers garden soil that is neutral-to-acid, but grows happily in pots filled with ericaceous compost. HxS: 39x15in (1mx15cm).

Freesias The array of colours and citrus-spicy scent of freesias makes them popular with the cut-flower market; but they can also be grown in the garden and in pots. Look for heat-treated corms that will bloom in summer, and plant in well-drained soil. HxS: 20x6in (50x15cm).

Gladiolus murielae AGM Also known as acidanthera, the white handkerchief-like flowers feature maroon centres and exude a delicious sweet scent.

Frost hardy; lift corms, or move pot-grown plants somewhere for winter. Flowers: Aug-Oct. HxS: 32x4in (80x10cm).

Polianthes tuberosa ‘The Pearl’ Great for cutting – the intoxicating scent of the waxy-petalled white flowers will fragrance a room and is used in the perfume industry. Tender; plant in pots in spring and move outside only once all risk of frost has passed. HxS: 32inx1ft (80x30cm).

Begonia sutherlandii AGM A delicate begonia – unlike the blowsy bedding plant versions. The serrated green leaves are edged with red, and complement red trailing stems and glowing orange single flowers. Tender; needs winter protection. HxS: 10x20in (25x50cm).

Freesias grow like weeds Down Under

Did you know?

Bulbs have contractile roots that, over time, pull them down to the correct depth in the soil.

The name gladiolus comes from gladius, the Latin for sword, and is a reference to the plant’s swordlike leaves.

Tuberose is a popular flower in India and Hawaii, where it is used in wedding garlands.

South African natives watsonias and freesias love the growing conditions in Australia so much that they have become weeds there.

Try something different Roscoea purp A member of ginger family from the Himalayas, featuring showy orchid-like purple bloom from July to September. W survive temperatures down to -10C. Needs fertile, moist but free-draining soil; happy in part shade.

H&S: 20in (50cm).

Tritonia disticha ubsp. rubroluce Delicate, papery nd bell-shaped, he pale pink looms, similar o those of ngel’s fishing ods, are held on wiry stems amon lender, grass-like leaves. Mulch corms in borders, or grow in pots and bring under cover in winter.

HxS: 2ftx8in (60x20cm).

Get the best from your bul Most summer-flowering bulbs need well-drained soil in sun. Add grit and compost to boost drainage (right).

For heavy soil, grow in pots that can be sunk into gaps in borders when the first flower buds appear.

Plant at three times the depth of the bulb and two to three times its width apart.

When growing in containers, use John Innes No3 for hungry bulbs and No2 for other bulbs.

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Whether you want a riot of colour courtesy of phlox, echinacea, agapanthus and hardy cranesbills – or something more subdued – perennials will deliver year after year

Asters and sedums complement one another perfectly

4 simple steps to your

Perfect perennial border Perennials are ideal for borders, and using them effectively is easy with a bit of expert help. Get prepped for spring planting time with Graham Rice’s four-step guide

L

ATE January is a good time to take a good, hard look at your garden. Ask yourself: do your borders need a boost or an update? Perhaps you have plans for a whole new planting? Or maybe you want to plant more pots – or give existing ones a makeover.

Whether you want to tweak or overhaul, perennials are likely to play an essential part. And as online suppliers refresh their offerings, and the 2020 catalogues drop through the letter box, there’s plenty of inspiration and opportunity available. In fact, the early part of the year is the best time to make decisions and order perennials while stocks are high.

The clue to the appeal of perennials lies in the name. It’s their ability to do their thing, filling the garden with fantastic flowers or long-lasting colourful leaves – and then to do it again the next year, and the one after, and the one after that. Who doesn’t love a bargain, and these plants are definitely great value for money.

32 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

When choosing perennials you can opt for one of two approaches. Either decide which features are missing from your plantings and select perennials that will provide these qualities. Or be less logical and more instinctive: simply choose perennials that you really like, the ones that grab your attention, and then look around the garden and find good homes for them.

Be a rule breaker When planning your perfect perennial border, it pays not to be tied too rigidly by the old tall-at-the-back, short-at-thefront edict. Clearly this rule makes a lot of sense, but you also need to factor in flowering time. Short early flowers such as hellebores will make impressive clumps at the back, and will appreciate the shade of taller plants later.

Meanwhile, tall perennials can be set towards the front, just so long as they are airy and see-through – consider the likes of Verbena bonariensis, for example.

New favourites, especially those that

offer two or three seasons of colour, are ideal in pots on the patio where you can admire them – at least in their first year.

Traditionally, planting time for perennials was always autumn, but this is a hangover from a different era – back when our climate was different and before perennials were ever grown in pots. Dug up from nursery beds and sent with the soil knocked off their roots, these ‘bare root’ plants would have been planted in October when the soil still held enough summer warmth to help them settle in quickly.

Bare root perennials are still available, and they will often produce better results in the first year than their containergrown counterparts, as there’s no transplant stress. But our increasingly wet winters mean that newly planted bare root perennials can rot in soggy winter soil. Perennials grown in pots can suffer the same sad fate when planted in the autumn as their compost can retain too much moisture – also leading to rot.

That’s why I’m all for planting both

Step 1

Mid-height marvels

Hosta The appeal here is fantastic patterned leaves, which totally overshadow the somewhat unremarkable flowers.

Available in a variety of sizes – from dwarf to very large – they work particularly well when partnered with the contrasting foliage of ferns, irises and acers.

Iris With rainbow colours on prolific sunloving plants, irises always stand out.

The genus is massive and comprises options with or without beards, with different heights and flowering times.

Oriental poppies, lupins and old shrub roses make good planting partners.

Penstemon Plant for tall, upright stems lined with bellshaped blooms from early summer to autumn. The choice of colours is vast, from hot pinks and deep purples to pastel shades and bi-colours. Popular for cottage gardens. Goes well with the rich foliage of cannas and dark coleus.

Phlox Another cottage garden favourite, the mainly soft-coloured and bi-coloured blooms of phlox have the added bonus of being fragrant. Their overlapping petals often surround a contrastingcoloured centre. Eryngiums and perennial salvias are both good foils.

Aster An excellent perennial to take you through to autumn. With daisy flowers in soft clouds, colourful mounds or bold sprays, in (largely) pinks and purples, generally surrounding a yellow eye. A good mixer, try with sedums, dark-leaved dahlias and hardy chrysanthemums.

All photos Alamy

Echinacea The simplicity of daisies is hard to resist, and coneflowers offer large doubles and singles in an array of colours. Great for planting with ornamental grasses such as dwarf miscanthus for a naturalistic feel.

Butterflies love them, too.

ot-grown perennials in spring, when temperatures are slowly starting to rise. If you want to try it too, there’s one crucial thing to remember: watering. Never allow your newly planted perennials to dry out.

Plump for plugs Perennials sold in pots at garden centres at this time of year won’t have much growth on them to tempt you. A better (and cheaper) option is plug plants, which are usually available from mail order suppliers. When you receive them in early spring, pot them up and grow them on, ready for planting out in late spring. If you’d prefer to go down the bare-root path, now is also a great time to check out what online suppliers have to offer. Make your selection and they will be dispatched in a few weeks’ time – to coincide with rising temperatures.

Something to look forward to as we head towards February.

Where to buy Cotswold Garden Flowers cgf.net 01386 422829 Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants hardys-plants.co.uk 01256 896533

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Step 2

Back-of-border beauties

Leucanthemella Get your daisy fix courtesy of the autumn ox-eye – a bit like a tall, autumn-flowering Shasta daisy, with masses of white flowers that follow the sun. Similarly lofty are white-flowered varieties of aster including ‘Mount Everest’ and ‘Sam Banham’.

Step 3

Eremurus The foxtail lily has slender 6-8ft (2-3m) spires packed with hundreds of flowers in yellow, pink, orange or white. For an equally striking vertical effect in the same warm colourways plant tall kniphofias ‘Prince Igor’ (orange) and ‘Samuel’s Sensation’ (bright yellow).

Delphinium Dense, 6ft (2m) spires in blues, purples, pinks and white. Look for seed-raised Centurion, Guardian (above), Millennium and Raider series. Or try choicer named delphinium varieties from cuttings – these are usually only available from specialist suppliers like Blackmore & Langdons.

Lovely low growers

Geraniums Hardy geraniums are among Britain’s favourite perennials. Some make neat clumps; many act as effective weedsmothering ground cover; a few grow into substantial plants more suited to the middle of the border. Choose wisely and their lovely flowers – blue, pink or white, in all shapes and sizes – will delight for months.

Plant with Old roses and deciduous shrubs, in sun or shade.

34 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Heucheras Clumps of neatly lobed or toothed leaves in more colours and colour combinations than we ever thought possible. Many also feature spikes of red, pink or cream blooms in summer. Splendid as specimens in patio pots and ideal as focal points at the front of the border. Or plant in groups for excellent ground cover. They really are invaluable plants that suit all types of gardens.

Plant with Dwarf grasses and sedges such as festuca and carex.

Hellebores Easy-to-grow perennials that will steadily build into fat, floriferous clumps. The single or double flowers, available in a vast variety of colours, patterns and colour combinations, add interest when we need it most: in late winter and early spring. Meanwhile the bold evergreen foliage suppresses weeds. Buy in flower so you can see what you’re getting.

Plant with Early bulbs such as crocuses and hardy cyclamen.

Step 4

Focal point favourites

Verbena bonariensis A tall, upright feature perennial with see-through growth that ensures it never overwhelms its neighbours.

Agapanthus Stunning heads of blue, white or bi-coloured flowers in summer. Superb as focal points in borders, or in large containers on the patio.

Top tips for buying perennials

Ornamental grasses Calamagrostis (above) and other tall grasses make impressive features but are not too dominant – even in a small space.

Perennials for sale in pots should be well-rooted

Plug plants Plugs come in different sizes – always check whether they can be planted straight away or need growing on.

Bare root Traditionally sold in the autumn, but (mindful of our wet winters) many of the big seed companies are now selling bare root perennials in spring.

Container-grown Check that plants are well-rooted in their pots. If they’re simply bare root plants that have been newly potted up they won’t be good value for money.

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Ask John Negus

John has been answering reader queries for 50 years

Bougainvilleas need to be properly dormant in winter to flower well

Worms are a good sign of healthy compost

Worms on top!

Q Why are my bougainvilleas out of sync?

Q

I have potted bougainvilleas on my terrace. I bring them inside for winter, but they have started flowering when they are indoors, rather than in the garden. What can I do?

Pat Bowering, Stevenage, Herts

A

I suspect the problem with your bougainvilleas is that they are not being allowed to have a dormant season during the winter months.

There are two main species, B. glabra and B. spectabilis), that need slightly different care. Hopefully, the label will tell you which yours are.

Both should be watered frequently during the summer, and fed weekly with a balanced liquid feed. B. glabra flowers

pretty much all year round and should be fed and watered all year, though less in the winter. B. spectabilis needs a dry period to promote flowering, and should be allowed to dry off gradually once the flowers have finished.

Both species like lots of light and high humidity, though their home should be well ventilated. During the winter a minimum temperature of 7ºC (45ºF) is ideal for B. glabra, but B. spectabilis prefers it slightly warmer at 10ºC (50ºF).

In March when both species come back into growth, the temperature should be raised to 20ºC (68ºF) but keeping in mind they will need hardening off before going outside for the summer.

Why do worms congregate at the top of my compost bin?

Marcus Stoudly, via email

A

The probable reason for compost worms congregating on the inside rim of your compost bin is that it remains damp and so creates a perfect environment for them.

You are lucky to have so many. You are obviously filling your bin with a mix of vegetable matter that the worms savour.

Tin foil reflects light onto seeds, helping germination

How should I care for my chrysanths?

All photography TI Media unless otherwise credited

Q A

What’s the best way to look after my chrysanthemum cuttings?

Caroline Davison, via email

Insert one or more canes to support Whatever variety of ’mums you the stems, and pinch out shoot tips grow, set the rooted cuttings into when they are about 8in (20cm) 5in (12cm) pots of John Innes high. In June, move the No1 compost, and grow plants outdoors and water them on in your freely to keep the greenhouse. compost damp, but not Make sure they get soggy. Disbud unwanted plenty of good air buds as necessary to circulation and are ensure large and protected with fleece Protect overwintering on very frosty nights. chrysanths and plant them bountiful blooms.

In late September, when In mid-May, when the out in early summer the nights are cooling, return roots are matting the compost the plants to the greenhouse where and growing through the drainage holes, move them into 8in (20cm) pots they will flower from late autumn to early winter. filled with John Innes No3.

36 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Helping germination

Q

My windowsills are too small for seed trays, so how can I germinate my plants indoors?

Terry Bartlett, Wandsworth, London

A

Sow seeds in 3-4in (7-10cm) pots, which should fit easily onto your narrow windowsills.

The best way to ensure that germinated seeds receive plenty of light is to use lengths of strong kitchen foil, secured so that they reflect the sun’s light back onto the seedlings.

This should ensure that the seedlings develop strong stems and leaves.

Write to us: Ask John, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF. Email us: amateurgardening@ti-media.com

Flower colour on a hydrangea varies according to the pH of the soil it’s growing in, but can be changed with a colourant (inset)

Q

Alamy

When should I cut back our red-stemmed cornus?

D Earle, Henley-in-Arden, Warks

Why are my blue hydrangeas not blue?

Q

My blue hydrangeas keep producing pale-pink and even white flowers. Why is this?

Richard Stirling-Woods, via email

A

The flower colour of this type of hydrangea changes according to the pH of the soil or compost. They have lilac to deep-blue flowers in acidic soil, and pink or mauve flowers (often muddylooking colours) in neutral or chalky

(alkaline) soils. Interestingly, white and green-flowered varieties remain white or green regardless of the soil pH. If you want to keep your hydrangeas blue, try to keep your soil as acidic as you can. For example, use rainwater to water hydrangeas.

You can buy hydrangea colourant, such as Growing Success Hydrangea Colourant, that can be used to turn pink hydrangeas blue.

Can our apple tree recover from canker?

Q

The bark on my apple tree is drying and looks crumbly, though the tissue under it looks healthy. Can I save our tree?

Regina Dawson, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

A

Alamy

Quick questions & answers

I’m afraid your apple tree is cutting back to completely healthy suffering from a fungal disease tissue. Have a bottle of methylated called canker. It shouldn’t go any deeper spirits to hand to use to disinfect the into the trunk than it alread i b t k if are doing this. if it continues to spread it ose of all the parings eventually encircle the r by burning or by Pruning cankeraffected branch and this infected wood can ting them in the would ultimately cause ustbin, and thoroughly save a tree unless the problem is the branch to die. terilise all the tools widespread However, there are sed afterwards. things you can do to try We used to advise to reduce its spread. ainting the wound If only one branch is ith wound paint to affected, the best thing to event re-infection, but do is to prune this branch thy wood is now out at a point beneath th to heal well by itself. affected area. However, t also be worth seeing tree is showing symptoms on more than if there is anything that can be done to one branch this treatment could be too improve the tree’s growing conditions, drastic for the tree. which might help reduce the impact of Instead, carefully pare away all the the canker, which is said to be more infected and damaged bark and wood, serious on wet, heavy and/or acid soils.

A

For the best winter display of red cornus stems, cut them back hard now, before growth resumes in early spring.

Q

How can I get rid of an invasive bamboo plant?

Mrs E Jukes, Port Bannatyne, Argyll and Bute

A

Treat it with a powerful herbicide, such as Vitax SBK Brushwood Killer or Scotts Roundup XL Tough and Deep Root Weedkiller.

Both are widely stocked and w effectively destroy your bamboo’s shoots and roots. Follow instructions and keep it off treasured plan

Q

What is this unusual selfseeded plant?

Sue Trumble, via email

A

This is caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), a biennial that flowers in its second year and then dies. It’s an attractive plant, but its sap is very toxic so wear gloves when handling and take care no sap gets in your eyes.

25 JANUARY

Ask John Negus

John has been answering reader queries for 50 years

Citrus fruit drop

Plant at the same depth as before and firm in well

Q

Our citrus have lots flowers, but the fruits fall with the petals.

Why is this?

Sue Bates, Peterborough

A

Q A

When is the best time to move a well-established rose?

Sean Durkin, via email

The best time to relocate your plants is from now until mid-March as long as the soil is workable – crumbly, free from frost and not soggy – and buds have not elongated to point when they are easily broken.

Make sure you plant your roses in a spot where no other roses have been grown for several years to reduce the risk of replant disease.

This is a condition thought to be caused by a build-up of soil pests and disease microbes that prevents plants from thriving in their new spot.

If you need to plant the rose where

they have recently grown, you can give them a better chance by replacing the soil with fresh or planting your rose with its roots in a cardboard box.

The theory for this is that by the time the cardboard rots down, the roots will be strong and established enough to thrive.

Before planting, shorten bushes to within 18in (45cm) of the base and set them in generous holes that have been enriched with well-rotted compost or manure. Make sure that, after planting, they are at the same depth at which they were previously growing.

Why did my onions become soft?

Q

Last year I grew onion sets in raised beds, and although they grew to a good size I found a soft spot on most of them – no discoloration, they were just soft. What disease is this and how do I avoid it?

Jean Begg, via email

Crop rotation can help onions avoid being damaged by soft rot

38 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Will my cactus flower again?

Q

How can I get my Christmas cacti to flower well?

Adrian Lovesey, Huddersfield, W. Yorks

A

A

I suspect that your onions have succumbed to a soil bacterium called soft rot (Pectobacterium carotovorum). Widespread, it occurs in many gardens and only becomes a problem when it encounters a host plant, of which there are many, including onions.

Sadly, there is no control. All you can do to prevent it recurring is to practise a rotation of crops, by not growing onions where they once

Christmas cacti like light and warmth

Alamy

When is the best time to move a rose?

grew, for a minimum of four years.

Ideally, plant bulbs or sow seeds in fertile, free-draining soil and liquidfeed them weekly with a high-potash tomato fertiliser to help boost resistance to this disease.

Too little water

The usua makes citrus trees drop their fruits reasons f this happening are: ■ Dry air: if trees are not misted with lime-free water when flowers are forming, effective pollination may not occur leading to a shedding of the immature fruits.

■ High temperatures: if the heat rockets when flowers open it can have an adverse affect on fruit setting.

■ Inadequate watering: water freely when blooms are opening to encourage good fruit setting.

Feed with high-potash winter fertiliser between autumn and early spring.

Christmas cacti are happiest when positioned in a south-facing room and lightly shaded from direct sunlight.

Keep the plant at a temperature of 55-70ºF (13-21ºC). Water freely, using clean rainwater if you are in a hard-water area, when flower buds are forming.

Additionally, when your plant is about to flower, liquid-feed weekly with a highpotash fertiliser, such as Tomorite. Mist leaves with rainwater frequently. Never move it when flowers are forming and, if possible, position it outdoors in a lightly shaded spot in summer. Bring it indoors in August when nights cool down.

Write to us: Ask John, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF. Email us: amateurgardening@ti-media.com

Autumn-fruiting raspberries do best if cut right back

Mahonia ad pulmonaria are just two of several plants that can thrive in dry shade

Pruning raspberries Many of my autumn raspberries have new buds so I only removed the top third of some canes. Is this OK? Peter Grassington, Kettering, Northants

Q

By judicious pruning it is often possible to get two crops out of autumn-fruiting varieties. Canes that have been left unpruned with just the fruited tips cut out will probably produce a crop in late spring.

But there is a risk that by leaving all canes unpruned the plants will not produce any new canes to fruit in the autumn. I would suggest cutting half of them down to ground level so you will probably have two lots of raspberries from the same patch.

A

What will thrive under a leylandii hedge?

My neighbour has a tall leylandii hedge that sucks the moisture from my garden. What could I grow successfully – and how?

Chris Sutton, via email

Q

The best way to tackle the shade and dryness caused by the Leyland cypress is to dig a 2ft (60cm)-deep slit trench close to the hedge, cutting through roots probing your garden, and insert a heavy-duty membrane to stop further roots from invading the border.

Then, after fortifying the site with wellrotted manure, compost or proprietary soil conditioner, plant the following, which tolerate light shade and drought:

A

Shrubs Aucuba, fatsia, berberis, buxus (box), euonymus, sea buckthorn (hippophae), holly, Lonicera pileata, mahonia, pachysandra, pittosporum, laurel, rhus, ribes, elderberry (sambucus), santolina, symphoricarpos, Viburnum davidii.

Border perennials Ajuga, alchemilla, bergenia, epimedium, Geranium macrorrhizum, Geranium phaeum, Iris foetidissima, liriope, lamium, trachystemon, pulmonaria, Salvia officinalis (common sage), tellima, waldsteinia.

These are all easy-to-source plants and are all available in most reputable garden centres and online.

Are there uses for used coffee grounds?

We were given a coffee maker for nutrients. It is thought that they are Christmas. Are the used grounds particularly beneficial to acid-loving useful in the garden? plants However, although roasted Paula Richards, Bisho cidic, it seems that Auckland, Co Durham g reduces the acidity Coffee grounds the used dregs have can be used as Coffee grounds airly neutral pH. a slug deterrent, an ericaceous are a great Add a thin layer of feed and added ingredient for the esh grounds to the to the compost compost heap. oil and rake in to They also appear revent the grounds to discourage slugs ecoming mouldy and and snails when used veloping a crust. as mulch around avoid using vulnerable plants, e grounds around such as hostas. gs and young plants, Coffee grounds are y those with shallow source of organic matter and roots like lettuce and radish.

Q A

Start your seeds in seed compost for the best results

Compost for seeds What is the best compost for sowing seeds into?

Bryony Masters, via email

Q

The best compost for sowing seeds of annual and biennial bedding plants is one specifically designed for seeds and cuttings.

These tend to be of a finer texture than potting composts, which means the seeds don’t get lost in great clumps of compost and they hold on to water in just the right way. Also, they don’t contain too many nutrients, which aren’t necessary until the seedlings get to be a few weeks old.

A

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

39

40 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Inset: Alamy

Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on: celeriac Celeriac will seed prematurely if exposed to a late cold spell

Anne’s top tips

Grow and harvest celeriac

Sow thinly and evenly over prepared seed compost in a pot or seed tray. After germination, transplant each individually to 3½in (9cm) pots.

This is the usual size of our celeriac stems, grown in good soil and watered during droughts but without any additional liquid feeding

Q

I find celeriac easier to grow and use than celery. The swollen stems are good raw in coleslaw, cook well into stews and soups, and make a great addition to mashed potato.

In the improved clay soil of our kitchen garden, well enriched with some organic matter, they flourish – but only swell to half the size of the monsters you see in shops. So a well-tended, homegrown celeriac relying just on good soil might make a diameter of 3in (8cm) at the widest point. If you want anything larger, you’ll need to feed them up.

All other photography John Swithinbank / TI Media, unless otherwise credited

A

The first step is to nail general celeriac cultivation, and as the first priority is a long growing season, this means an early start by sowing under glass in February or March. An optimum 65ºF (18ºC) speeds germination, but seedlings will slowly appear with no extra heat.

Choose a warm, sunny bed and add a general-purpose fertiliser prior to planting.

Timing is crucial – allowing young plants to become pot-bound or exposing them to a late cold spell can send them up to seed prematurely. I plant each in a small dip, so that when water is needed during droughts, it runs to their roots. Keep weeds down, and for larger roots, experiment with a feed of a well-balanced liquid fertiliser every one-four weeks.

Some growers remove side leaves, but celeriac will swell nicely by autumn without. In milder regions, stems sit well in the ground over winter. In colder areas, lift and store, or insulate with straw.

Which type should I try HAVING tried several varieties, including ‘Giant Prague’, ‘Prinz’, ‘Brilliant’ and ‘Monarch’, I can report they have all been good but rather similar. The route to larger stems is more likely down to cultivation and extra feeding than choice of variety. Those with the RHS Award of Garden Merit include ‘Monarch’ and ‘Prinz’.

Young plants grown under glass are placed outdoors to adjust to weather prior to planting.

2

Celeriac plants are set a good 15-18in (37-45cm) apart (usually in May) so they don’t compete for water and nutrients.

3

Celeriac ‘Monarch’ AGM

Lifting can begin in October and continue through winter.

Fork up the swollen stem, then shave off roots before washing and bringing to the kitchen.

4

Alamy

We grew celeriac for the first time, and have found them a good, tasty and useful winter veg. The problem is that the roots (or stems?) are very small, especially after all the knobbly rooty bits have been pared off. How can we get bigger ones next year?

Beverley Pinkhurst, Cambridge

Timing is crucial when planting, and young plants should go in a warm, sunny bed

Inset: Alamy

1

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

41

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Twin feeder - Features 3 seed feeder ports on one side and a nut feeder on the other Seed Feeder - Features 6 seed ports Lantern style with tray included - Great for preventing any spillages Hanging bird feeder - Easy to open lid Feed Capacity - 6 Litres Entice a wide variety of delightful birds into your garden with this stunning copper finish twin feeder. This deluxe feeder is designed to cater to all birds as one half of the feeder is for seeds and the other is for nuts. Also available is a copper finish seed feeder featuring six ports.

Both feeders feature an easy to fill lid to keep the contents dry and has a feeding tray that helps avoid any spillages; this tray also doubles up as a platform for the birds to feed comfortably from. As well as the platform, there’s also multiple feeding ports with perches for the birds to choose from.

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Probably the most widely recognised bird food is peanuts. They are high in oil and protein and are one of the most energy efficient foods available to our garden birds. All year round, peanuts are a welcome treat for birds of all sizes and can be seen hanging in gardens everywhere.

What better way to attract garden birds than to use the very best All Season All Year Mix of wild bird food?

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Bird seed mixes are high-quality options that will attract a large variety of birds, such as tits, finches and robins, and will keep them returning for more.

They offer a variety of foods to cater for different needs and feeding preferences and are perfect for use through the entire year. Peanuts are a great source of protein and are full of nutritional oils, great for inviting plenty of wild birds such as tits, nuthatches and woodpeckers into your garden.

Peanuts are especially important during winter and early spring as this is when bird’s natural food source is scarce.

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Gardening’s king of trivia and brain-teasers, Graham Clarke

Variable and valuable viburnums Viburnums provide beautiful flowers and brilliant berries, and they are easy to grow

IF I had to grow shrubs from just one plant family, I’d choose viburnums. It is such a diverse group: different forms give autumn and winter berries, or winter flowers, or autumn leaf tints, or summer flowers – and around half of the 150 or so species are evergreen, so they give valuable winter foliage colour, too.

Fantastic flowers of Viburnum tinus

All photographs Alamy unless otherwise credited

This week it’s:

Even better, viburnums are some of the easiest of shrubs to grow. All of them grow on any soil; they succeed in sun or partial shade; they are frost-hardy; they make excellent structure plants; and there are few pests or diseases to cause them problems. Let’s look at some of the best, and the stories surrounding them.

Boring or brilliant?

Turquoise David

VIBURNUM tinus, also known as Laurustinus, came to Britain in the 16th century from the Mediterranean region. Tolerant of inhospitable conditions and poor soil, it also copes well with our cold and wet winters. It makes a dense medium-to-large shrub, its flattened heads of pink buds opening to white flowers which are produced sporadically umn through to late spring. say its plain dark-green leaves ke it boring. However, I would l have it in my fantasy viburnum arden because of its evergreen ature and its ability to flower for ome nine months. It is lowaintenance, resistant to both y pollution and salty coastal air, is responsive to trimming. s not to like?

VIBURNUM davidii is used extensively by garden designers, which shows its versatility and appeal. It can make a large shrub, but is at its best when still young, forming a compact mound of dee green, curiously veined leaves. Fo me, the real reason to grow this to plant is its berries: in the presence male pollinator, female plants produce winter berries that are described variously as blue-black and turquoise (see above).

And, as a ground-cover plant, it will smother weeds effectively.

This viburnum is one of several plants commemorating the 19th century French missionary and botanist Père Armand David. Other well-known plants named after him include the handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata), Buddleja davidii and Clematis armandii.

Sheepberry (V. lentago)

Wayfaring tree (V. lantana)

Wikicommons

5

TI Media

THE so-called ‘wrinkled viburnum’ (V. rhytidophyllum, pictured) has really bold foliage, with deep crazing across its leaves Although growing to some 6½ft years, in the tuation it be allowed grow into a all tree. eamloured wer trusses pear in late g but, e of its plant is still a useful feature in winter. ‘Roseum’ has reddish buds, opening to white, pink-flushed flowers, while ‘Variegatum’ – which can be difficult to find, but worth the search – has leaves that are speckled pale and dark yellow.

V. x rhytidophylloides ‘Willowwood’ has handsome greyish-green leaves with a distinct ‘corrugated’ look.

viburnums with non-viburnum common names

Wikicommons

Wrinkled and crazed

Arrowwood (V. carlesii)

Withe rod (V. nudum)

Japanese snowball (V. plicatum) 25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

45

Gardening’s king of trivia and brain-teasers, Graham Clarke

Winter viburnums

Prize draw

SOME of the best-known members of the viburnum family are winter bloomers. Tak V bodnantense instance. It is medium-size shrub, and in November it drops its leaves.

But as this happens it V. x bodnantense starts to thro ‘Charles Lamont’ out clusters o sweetly scen flowers, which carry on through winter.

There are three forms which are all worth garden space: ‘Charles Lamont’ is rich pink.

‘Dawn’ is rose-pink gradually darkening as the flowers age.

‘Deben’ has pink buds opening to white.

Miracle-Gro is giving AG readers the chance to win two gardening bundles, each worth £16.97, to ensure your garden is fully prepared for spring and summer 2020.

This is the perfect bundle for keen gardeners and includes essentials such as the Miracle-Gro Growmore Garden Plant Food, which contains an essential mix of nutrients for all plants, and MiracleGro Compost Maker, which speeds up the composting process of kitchen vegetable waste.

Eco-friendly gardeners will also love the Miracle-Gro Bone Meal Root Builder, which is a 100% organic fertiliser and naturally releases nutrients to build stronger roots and guarantees greener, healthier trees and shrubs. We have two bundles to give away, each worth £16.97.

How to enter Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to MiracleGro Draw (25 January), Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF. Or you can email your details to ag_giveaway@ti-media.com, heading the email MiracleGro Draw (25 January). The closing date is 31 January 2020.

WIN £30

Word search

This word search comprises words associated with viburnums. They are listed below; in the grid they may be read across, backwards, up, down or diagonally. Letters may be shared between words.

Erroneous or duplicate words may appear in the grid, but there is only one correct solution. After the listed words are found, there are 13 letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s TWO KEYWORDS.

D G L L A B W O N S

O D N H S U B G D M

O E B I A U U I U A

W L R O R E V N T R

W K O H L A R G R D

O N S D D U F O E E

No: 502

R I E D B T D Y E N

R R P I N K N W A D

A W V N N E H T I W

Y R R E B P E E H S

VIBURNUM WAYFARING HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, TREE and send it to AG Word Search No 502, Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 GUELDER 7BF, to arrive by Wednesday 5 February 2020. The first correct ROSE entry chosen at random will win our £30 cash prize.

WITHE ROD This week’s keyword is ..........................................................................................

ARROWWOOD Name ........................................................................................................................

BUSH Address ....................................................................................................................

DAVID ...................................................................................................................................

DAWN PINK Postcode ..................................................................................................................

SHEEPBERRY Email.........................................................................................................................

SHRUB Tel no ........................................................................................................................

SNOWBALL TI Media Ltd, publisher of Amateur Gardening, will collect your personal information solely to process your competition entry.

WRINKLED 46 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Historical gardening event of the week: 21 January 1868 GERMAN chemist Felix Hoffmann was born on this day. He was a researcher for Bayer (still a garden chemicals producer today) when his father developed chronic rheumatism to find a bet pain relieve than salicylic acid (derived from salix, or willow) which tasted awfu Felix Hoffmann and caused stomach up Felix conducted a number of experiments. He took spiraea (a close relation to the willow), and mixed together some of the acidic derivatives from the two plants.

Testing showed that one of the compounds was a safe and effective drug for pain relief, lowering fever, and as an anti-inflammatory. Since 1899 it has been marketed as… aspirin (with part of its name paying homage to spiraea). Hoffman is named on the patent, but he received no financial share of the drug’s immense worldwide success.

Crossword Guelder rose and cramp!

THE so-called Guelder rose (which is not in any way a rose) is V. opulus, grown for its flowers and bright-red autumn berries.

The common name relates to the Dutch province of Gelderland, where a popular cultivar, the common snowball tree (V. opulus ‘Roseum supposed to have originated. Oth common names for it include European cranberry bush (neither is it in any way a cranberry), as well as cramp bark. This latter name comes from the fact that properties within the bark can reduce The bright-red berries muscle tightness. of Viburnum opulus The famous Russian song Kalin comes from the Russian word Kalina, the common name for V. opulus.

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Wow! I didn’t know that…

For more than 100 years, viburnums were related to honeysuckles and weigelas, in the Caprifoliaceae plant family. But botanists have changed things, and viburnums now s within a small plant family cal Adoxaceae, with elderflower (sambucus).

V. tinus is probably the best viburnum for making into an informal hedge – or even trained as a standard, or as topiary-like cones or balls (a softer and prettier Viburnums are in the alternative to the more same family as the traditional bay or box). elderflower (pictured)

1 Several plants of this genus, known variously as flossflowers, Mexican paintbrushes and bluemink (9) 7 The holly genus (4) 8 Of a plant, for example, to undergo natural

18 The banana genus (4) 19 Perry is a drink made from this fruit (4) 20 Clasp sloe to make edible marine bivalves with fluted fan-shaped shells! (9) (anag)

9 Tuber (potato), onion or shallot that is used for planting (3) 11 Ornate vase for the patio perhaps (3) 12 Assume a reclining position, as in love-___s-bleeding! (3) 13 The hop genus (7) 14 Precursor adjective meaning recent or new, as in the bromeliad neoregelia (in Borneo) (3) 15 Convulsive motion of certain muscles, found in Arctic poppies and urtica nettles! (3) 16 Found in apples, abbreviated software to be downloaded to a mobile device! (3)

rapidly than outside (11) 3 Vera is a soothing succulent! (4) 4 This Oscar-winning actress is a spry elm tree! (5,6) (anag) 5 The subjects of this week’s Miscellany! (9) 6 Moonshine, Swift, Sundance and Goldcrest are all F1 hybrids of this common vegetable!

(9 or 5,4) 9 This popular cultivar of the umbrella bamboo (Fargesia murielae) is the Swahili word for ‘lion’, and the Disney film character! (5) 10 Spring bulb noted for its Darwin hybrids (5) 17 Polo can be a garden water feature! (4) (anag)

DOWN

development by increasing 2 Buildings made predominately of glass, and in in size and changing which plants are grown more physically (4)

ANSWERS TO ABOVE CROSSWORD

IF you have wondered wheth th hybrid V. x bodnantense has anything to do with the fabulo Bodnant Garden in North Wales, it does! This plant is a cross of V. farreri and V. grandiflorum. The most popular cultivar of this crossing is ‘Dawn’ which, in the mid-1930s, was selected from many seedlings grown

by Charles Puddle, head V. x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ gardener to Lord Aberconwa at Bodnant Gardens.

In winter, V. farreri produces clusters of little tubular flowers that are pink in bud, opening to white. Their strong perfume is reminiscent, some say, of almonds.

ACROSS

ACROSS 1 Ageratums 7 Ilex 8 Grow 9 Set 11 Urn 12 Lie 13 Humulus 14 Neo 15 Tic 16 App 18 Musa 19 Pear 20 Escallops DOWN 2 Greenhouses 3 Aloe 4 Meryl Streep 5 Viburnums 6 Sweetcorn 9 Simba 10 Tulip 17 Pool

The Welsh viburnums

KEYWORD TO WORD SEARCH 497 (14 DECEMBER): COVERAGE AND THE WINNER IS: MRS M. DUDGEON, EDINBURGH

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

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All our esyesterdays

from the AG archiv

You couldn’t make it up!

Here are some of the strange items that have appeared in AG over the years, from using gunpowder in the garden to making a ball gown out of coloured plates…

From AG 28 April 1906 A novel ball dress We have published many examples of the uses to which our coloured plates are put by readers, but that of utilising them for making a fancy ball dress is undoubtedly the most novel and unique. One of our enthusiastic lady readers conceived the idea of embellishing her ball dress with 72 plates cut out and pasted on black muslin.

The dress, pictured right, was trimmed with green peas, and still further adorned with a pink silk sash on which the words ‘Amateur Gardening’ were written with chopped grass.

Slung across the lady’s left shoulder was a ‘hank’ of raffia, bearing four tools – a trowel, a fork, a rake with gilded handles, and a watering can. Across the lady’s back was a model garden fence made of green cardboard, and furnished with a white gate.

The necklace worn was composed of green peas, and in her hair the lady wore a wreath of rose leaves and rose buds, intermixed with pink geraniums.

In her hand she carried a fancy basket that contained a geranium plant, a bunch of grapes, a tomato, a potato and an apple.

From AG 4 July 1896 Uses for AG’s coloured plates Can you supply me with a dozen assorted plates of flowers, mounted on cardboard, as I propose to carefully cut out the outlines of the flower represented, and then affix the plates thus treated by means of invisible wires in flowerpots.

The pots will stand some 10ft [3m] or so from the roadway, so that passers-by will not be able to discover the illusion.

The plates will, of course, be made to look as much like real flowers as possible. By adopting this idea, I am hoping to have a grand floral display all the year round without the trouble of having to pay special daily attention, so necessary in the case of real plants.

Letter from J.F.H., Lincoln

From AG 1 August 1896 More uses for AG’s coloured plates Referring to J.F.H.’s query (above), permit me to briefly describe the use to which I have put some of the admirable plates issued with Amateur Gardening.

I procured two 6in [15cm] drainpipes, cleaned them thoroughly, then painted the upper portion with sky-blue enamel and the AG replies: A novel idea, base with green enamel. certainly, but we cannot say I then cut out the flowers it is a good one, worthy of neatly from the plates, imitation. We fancy you will paring the under-edges find the trouble of cutting out off thinly so that, when the flowers and affixing them mounted, they should not in the pots anything but easy. be visible. These I mounted according Then, if the colours are exposed to the to my own taste on the enamel, and then sun, they will soon fade and it will be necessary to introduce fresh subjects in sized and varnished them. Treated thus, the place of the faded ones, and this will the pipes made very pretty flower stands, take time. You forget, moreover, the daily which were an ornament to our home.

R.W., Bristol dustings that will be necessary to keep

All photography TI Media unless otherwise credited

From AG 21 November 1896 Floral mimicry It is by no means an uncommon occurrence to come across some very peculiar examples of mimicry in the vegetable kingdom. Parsnips, carrots and potato tubers, for example, are occasionally found representing the human body, while the flowers and fruits of many plants are known to imitate beetles, bees and butterflies, to name but a few.

Some time ago a gentleman brought 48 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

the plates clean. And last, but not least, the eternal sameness and monotony of the colours will soon attract the attention of passers-by, and convince hem that the flowers are mere ‘bogies’ and you will thus be exposed to dicule. However, you bviously have a perfect ght to consult your own taste.

to this office a flower of a double dahlia, which bore an extraordinarily good resemblance to the head of an owl.

Two blooms appeared to have been fused together in such a way that the centres of each represented the eyes of the bird, while a few petals between suggested the beak, and the remaining petals the plumage. The accompanying illustration (left) is a faithful representation of the flower.

From AG 21 December 1918 The potato in medicine A recent reference to the discovery that raw potato juice is a remedy for rheumatism, etc, recal the fact that some old-fashioned people still believe that a raw potato carried in the pocket will prevent or cure rheumatism.

When a lad of 14, I made the acquaintance of another boy about the same age who had just recovered from a bad atta of rheumatic fever, which

136 years of practical advice

1884 The World’s Oldest Gardening Magazine 2020

From AG 6 June 1896 Gunpowder as manure I have some rough blast gunpowde that I have no use for.

Would it be any use for liquid manure for tomatoes, a what proportions should I use? Also, could I use it for any other kind of plants?

J.H., Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria AG replies: We are not aware of gunpowder possessing any manurial value. We have heard of it being used for fumigating a greenhouse with ‘striking’ results. The operator forgot to damp the powder beforehand to make it fizzle slowly, and applied a lighted match to it, with the result that the panes flew out of the roof and sides, the plants disappeared, and the operator found himself in a hospital with sundry bones broken. Take our advice and beware of blasting powder as a manure or fumigating material.

Just imagine the difficulties that would arise if you watered your plants with a solution of blasting powder.

The soil, plants and fruit would be permeated with it, and when the luckless cook came to put the fruit in the frying pan there might be a terrific explosion!

Alamy

Amateur

Sir Edmund Hillary (left) with Rear Admiral Sir George Dufek during the 1957 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic expedition

Wikicommons

Alamy

We’ve chosen some of the strange questions, letters and snippets of information that have appeared in AG over the past 136 years

From AG 3 January 1957 Greenhouse at the South Pole “Greenery at the Pole is a psychological pick-me-up.” So says Sir Edmund Hillary, and the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic expedition are accordingly taking with them a small prefabricated greenhouse with a double shell to provide maximum insulation against heat loss. It incorporates a heater

and a source of artificial light. In it they will grow cress; not in soil, but in nutrient solution. The growing medium will be perlite, a form of volcanic rock with similar properties to vermiculite. Such is part of the modern equivalent of lime juice that the windjammers shipped to avoid the dreaded disease of scurvy.

him with such stiff joins that he was only too glad of resting a hand on my er when walking. rally, his curious walk used unthinking boys make fun of him, and everal battles did I fight on his behalf. When my ame friend showed me a small potato, which he eclared would charm way his rheumatism, I ned the notion, but he e greatest faith in it. story short, he was as

active and as healthy as myself within two years, and two years later he entered the Navy as a stoker. Prior to this, he left home and spent nearly two years on south coast fishing vessels, living a life that would have killed many.

Strangely enough, the poor chap died suddenly after six months in the Navy through heart trouble brought on by sea bathing, which resulted in a most violent cold. During the whole period that I knew him he carried the potato, and rheumatism never once gave him trouble.

T.A.W., Poole, Dorset

The views, information and opinions expressed during this series of extracts from past issues of AG are solely those of the individuals involved, at the time they were written, and are not necessarily relevant or even legal today. Please treat these pages as a look back at how things were done in the past and not necessarily how they are done today. AG accepts no responsibility if readers follow advice given in these articles from past issues.

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

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50 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

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Tried&tested

by Tim Rumball Tim tests six products this week to determine the best for you Greenhouse thermometers

Tim Rumball compares six thermometers that help monitor heating and plant needs

A

GREENHOUSE max/min thermometer will alert you to low temperatures in winter so you can adjust heating or add fleece protection to plants in unheated greenhouses. It will also help you with ventilation needs in summer when the glasshouse gets really hot during the

day. Max/min models usually show the current temperature, and also the highest and lowest temperatures reached since the thermometer was last reset. If you reset the thermometer each morning and evening you can respond to temperature shifts quickly. A good max/min thermometer should offer clear,

Verve wall-mounted digital thermometer £14.60 from B&Q stores

Faithfull Thermometer Brannan Bimetallic Dial Max-Min Max-Min Hygrometer £9.32 from toolbank.com £11.38 (+ £2.93 delivery)

✆ 0333 014 3098

 diy.com

Score

✆ 01322 321415

 faithfulltools.com

Score

easy-to-read information, and it should be easy to reset the max/min function.

There are three types in this trial: electronic devices with digital displays; traditional tube thermometers; and mechanical thermometers using bimetallic elements (the benefit of these is that they don’t need batteries).

✆ 01946 816 600

 brannan.co.uk

Score

12

10 /15

11

Features

Features

Features

Twin traditional thermometer tubes showing Fahrenheit and Centigrade temperature ranging from -40ºC to +50ºC (-40ºF to +120ºF). Additional digital display showing max and min temperatures, with a button to switch from F to C, and another to reset max/min. Top hanging hole.

Requires 1x AAA battery. Dimensions: 81∕2x2x1in (22x6x3cm).

Flimsy-feeling plastic case. Mechanically operated by bimetallic element. Temp range -30ºC to +60ºC (-20ºF to +140ºF).

Three pointers display current temp (black), and max (red) and min (blue) since last reset, with one central knob to reset.

Dimensions: 6x3x1in (16x8x2½cm).

Mechanically operated by a bimetallic element. Three pointers indicate current temperature (black), and maximum (red) and minimum (blue) since last reset.

Temperature range -20ºC to +50ºC (0ºF to +120ºF). Humidity sensor with dial display calibrated 0 to 100%.

Dimensions: 4x1¾x¾in (10x4½x2cm).

/15

Performance Fitting the battery was fiddly, requiring a screwdriver. Thermometer tubes with red temperature indicator fairly easy to read, as is the small max/min digital display window (42x26mm). Buttons to switch from F to C, and to reset max/min temperature worked but a bit small.

Value Expensive but easy to read and reset, and seems robust. I found this for sale in a number of outlets at varying prices.

52 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Performance

/15

Performance

Fairly easy-to-read dial and pointers.

Resetting max and min pointers turned current temp pointer, too. Pointers got crossed over at one point and I had to remove front cover to sort them out.

Temperatures registered on test roughly matched other thermometers, but I didn’t feel confident about readings.

Large, clear dial markings easy to read.

Max/min reset knobs stiff to turn. Max pointer seemed to move on its own and consistently showed higher temps than other thermometers. Min temp pointer was reliable. Humidity meter to warn if greenhouse needs ventilating.

Value

Value

Works well enough for temperature monitoring overnight and won’t need the battery replaced. The max/min reset knob was annoying.

Quite easy to read and reset. No electronics to worry about and it doesn’t need a battery, but max temp pointer a concern.

A max/min thermometer is a must-have accessory. It will help you get the best from your greenhouse

BEST BUY...

Large Digital Max Min Thermometer £10 rrp (offer price £6.95) (+ £2.93 delivery) ✆ 01946 816615

 thermometerworld.co.uk

Digital Indoor Max Min Worth Gardening Max Thermometer Min Wall Thermometer £8.50 (plus £2.93 delivery) £18.99 plus £4.95 delivery

EN

✆ 01384 278256  garlandproducts com

/15

5

Features

Features

Digital display window 11∕2x2in (46x52mm). Temp range 0º to 60ºC and °F. Single push-button reset and Fahrenheit and Centigrade switch.

Requires 2x AAA batteries. Claimed battery life two years. Dimensions: 8¾x3½x1½in (22½x9x3½cm).

Traditional twin-tube thermometer with marker indices inside showing max temp on one side, min temp on other.

Fahrenheit and Centigrade markings.

Red reset button in centre. Drilled for hanging. Lid for outdoor weather protection. Dimensions: 8½x2¾x1¾in (22½x7x4.4cm).

Performance Battery compartment stiff to open.

Permanently displayed current and max/min temperatures very clear.

Min temperature reading of 0ºC limits information value. Single push button needs one short push to toggle between ºC and ºF, and holding for three seconds to reset max/min. Instructions confusing.

/15

Performance

Value

Small black markers floating on the top of fluid in the tubes are supposed to indicate max and min temperatures (no current temp display). They were tricky to read, registered significantly different temperatures from the other thermometers on test, and markers got stuck below the level of the liquid and were difficult to dislodge.

Good price, nice looks, but not as easy to use or as clear as the Large Digital Thermometer. Batteries were meant to be included, but weren’t.

Expensive in relation to other. Perhaps I was unlucky and it was faulty.

Value

THERM

OM

Features Electronic digital thermometer in plastic case with large triple display showing max, min and current temperature. Temperature range -10º to +50ºC and °F. Requires 1x AA battery (supplied). Push-button Centigrade/Fahrenheit switch, and separate button for max/min reset.

Hanging hole at top. Dimensions: 6x3x1in (16x8x3cm).

Performance

All prices correct at time of going to press and may vary at garden centres

13

Score

Score

USE

ERS

GRE

✆ 01946 816615

15/15

ET

Amateur

HO

 therm meterworld co uk

Y

ST BU E B

Robust plastic case with big, clear digital display 3x21∕4in (8x6cm) constantly showing current temperature in centre, max temp at top and min temp at bottom.

Reset and ºC/ºF buttons need a firm push but work reliably. The battery is easy to fit and to replace.

Value Very good price in comparison with others and big, clear display is best of those on test. Simple to operate.

Good value even at full list price.

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

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Write to us: Letters, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants GU14 7BF (please include your address). Email us: amateurgardening@ti-media.com

Watch out for the spines Star letter

When leaves are off the trees and we have rain or snow, Our feathered friends need shelter, somewh safe to go.

My greenhouse door’s left open, and birds walk or run inside.

Blackbirds squabble over windfall apples I placed upon the ground.

“We had the most super mahonia: it was the perfect winter shrub”

I

SO enjoyed reading Hazel Sillver’s article on the gorgeous mahonias (AG, 23 November).

We had the most super one at a previous garden, and the fragrance at Christmas and after was so lovely, a time when there is not much to cheer you in the garden; it was a perfect winter shrub.

Just one thing to beware of if you have pets or even young children: the

Our feathered friends

shards on the leaves are lethal. My dog got one stuck in his paw and really hurt him. So I was delighted to see there is a variety called ‘Soft Caress’ and it has spine-free leaves – what a brilliant find.

So thank you, Hazel, for spreading the word, and I no longer have to be without one and it will be my next purchase. I am sure my dog will be delighted as well!

Sylvia Monk, Hayling Island, Hants

Smaller birds eat healthy seeds and then they peck around.

They eat tiny grubs and insects which is very helpful, the robin is rotound.

I watch from my kitchen window, it gives me a warm glow.

I am helping nature and wait for signs of spring to show.

Dr Rhoda Pippen, Cardiff

Reader’s Quick Tip I USE hair as natural fertiliser, thanks to its high levels of magnesium. It can take up to two years to break down,but when used in compost, the hair can provide structural support for roots.

Mrs Gloria Wilding Prescot, Merseyside

Last flowers standing of 2019

A flurry of fuchsias

HERE’S a photo of my mum’s Fuchsia ‘Dollar Princess’ on Boxing Day. It is a hardy type, but we were surprised to see so many flowers this late.

Gemma Atkins, Bridport, Dorset 54 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

Here’s one that got away…

THIS Japenese anemone obviously missed the cull, but cheered my heart on a cold Monday morning!

Steve Barrett, Beckenham, Kent

Foxed by its performance!

JUST wanted to share a picture of my foxglove, still in flower on 10th December. Here’s hoping it will last until Christmas Day. Paul Burchell, Pontypool, Gwent

SHARE YOUR STORIES TIPS AND PHOTOS and you will receive a fantastic pair of Town & Country’s Master Gardener gloves — the UK’s best-selling gardening glove and a perfect companion to help you in the garden. State small, medium or large with your letter.

Photo of the week

My favourite time of year AUTUMN colours were lovely while they lasted. I managed to get a perfect morning shot of this majestic beech tree at a friend’s garden in Harpswell, Lincolnshire, just in time.

A few days later, a couple of frosts and the leaves were all on the ground. I have visited the garden at many times of the year and although the colours are more vibrant in spring and summer, I think the restful autumn hues were magical and could make this my favourite time of year.

Robert Hinchcliffe, Bottesford, North Lincs

“This majestic beech tree at Harpswell, Lincolnshire, looked great for a long time in autumn”

Wendy says: Here’s a tasty recipe tried and tested by AG staff

Beetroot and lemon cake Make the most of beetroot with this moist yet light cake Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 45 minutes Ingredients: 8oz (225g) beetroot 1 large, unwaxed lemon 2oz (50g) icing sugar 10oz (285g) self-raising flour 5oz (140g) caster sugar 4oz (110g) butter / margarine 3 eggs Method 1 Trim the leaves and excess root from the beetroot. Wash and place in a metallic dish with 5fl oz (150ml) of water.

Microwave on high for 10 minutes. Drain and leave until cool enough to handle 2 Grease and flour a 7-8in (18-20cm) cake tin. Finely grate the lemon rind. Cut the lemon in half and leave on one side.

When the beetroot is cool enough, top, tail and skin it before grating it through the medium-holed side of a grater. Use the juice of one half of the lemon to clean your hands; add the juice from the other half to the icing sugar to make a drizzle icing of pouring consistency.

3 Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/ fan 170ºC/

Grate the cooked beetroot and add to the cake mix

Allow the icing to dribble down the sides

This earthy cake is a pinkish colour

gas mark 4. Put the flour, sugar, butter and eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or electric whisk to a soft and light consistency.

Gently stir in the lemon rind and the grated beetroot.

4 Spoon the mixture into a cake tin and cook for about 45 minutes (test by inserting a skewer). Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a cooling rack before the cake cools completely, then drizzle the lemon icing over the top.

25 JANUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING

55

SHARE YOUR STORIES TIPS AND PHOTOS and you will receive a fantastic pair of Town & Country’s Master Gardener gloves — the UK’s best-selling gardening glove and a perfect companion to help you in the garden. State small, medium or large with your letter.

I found a single begonia seedhead, and all this came from it…

Pat’s begonia seedlings are raring to go!

HERE’S next summer’s begonias, sown about five-six weeks ago. They are kept in my warm conservatory.

Aren’t they looking good? Last year’s plants, presumably with the hot summer, didn’t set seed but I found a single seedhead in my greenhouse – just the one – and all this came from it.

Pat Coomer, Essex

only

*

£1.02 an issue when you subscribe – see page 50 for details Editorial: Editor: Garry Coward-Williams Gardening editor: Ruth Hayes Assistant editor: Janey Goulding Art editor: Al Rigger Picture editor and Letters: Wendy Humphries Features: Kathryn Wilson, Lesley Upton

Advertising and management:

Guess this plant!

Ad manager: Laurence Pierce ✆ 07971 605143 Managing director: Kirsty Setchell Group managing director: Adrian Hughes

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Amateur Gardening, TI Media Ltd, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF ✆ 01252 555138 Email: amateurgardening@ti-media.com Subscriptions: ✆ 0330 333 1120 Complaints procedure: We work hard to achieve the highest standards of editorial content, and we are committed to complying with the Editors’ Code of Practice ( ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html) as enforced by IPSO. If you have a complaint about our editorial content, you can email us at complaints@ti-media.com or write to Complaints Manager, TI Media Ltd Legal Department, 161 Marsh Wall, London E14 9AP. Please provide details of the material you are complaining about and explain your complaint by reference to the Editors’ Code. We will endeavour to acknowledge your complaint within five working days and we aim to correct substantial errors as soon as possible. amateurgardening.com

Wendy says: Known as the butterfly flower, this half-hardy annual bears exotic-looking, orchid-like flowers in summer Answer to Guess the Plant: Schizanthus pinnatus ‘Angel Wings’ 56 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

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Amateur Gardening (inc. Popular Gardening) AMATEUR GARDENING, TI Media Ltd, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Hampshire, GU14 7BF, ✆ 01252 555138. Amateur Gardening® is a registered trade mark © TI Media Ltd. ISSN 0954-8513 TI Media Ltd, 161 Marsh Wall, London, England E14 9AP ✆ 0870 444 5000.

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Toby Buckland Toby’s trivia

If planting as an unpruned tree, encourage the roots to spread by mulching the surrounding area

After careful coppicing, Catalpa bignonioides produces gorgeous regrowth with enormous lush leaves

Catalpa happy

Toby’s new acquisition may start out as a twiggy specimen, but with some clever coppicing, he is expecting big things

“As tropical-look plants go, it’s one of the best” 58 AMATEUR GARDENING 25 JANUARY 2020

I won’t get the beans in my garden, as I’m growing the plant as a ‘coppiced stool’ that I’ll chop to the ground every year, losing the older bean-carrying wood – but on the upside, I’ll have spectacular re-growth and leaves the size of dustbin lids.

As tropical-look plants go, it’s one of the best – as not only are the huge felt leaves as lush as a banana’s but they’re also fully hardy, so don’t demand the mollycoddling of fleece and winter protection. Come autumn, they fall and go on the compost heap, and come late winter the stems are cut/coppiced to a foot above the ground.

In France, Catalpa are popular shade trees for areas alongside patios, terraces and streets, as they are in leaf when needed in summer, but cast little shadow in spring and winter. Catalpa are late starters, leafing up in late May. This makes them excellent partners for spring bulbs, as they only cast shade when the flowers go to ground.

The species is green, and left to its own devices my purple Catalpa – like its golden sibling C. b. ‘Aurea’ – would also lose its colour by summer. Coppicing, however, encourages tints to last longer.

If planting as an unpruned tree, don’t add fertiliser or compost to the planting hole – instead, encourage the roots to spread by mulching the surrounding area. When growing as a coppiced plant, the more manure the merrier.

With barrowloads of muck and generous watering in dry weather, mine will be so massive by summer that even my tweenager will notice… if he looks up from his phone.

Cut above the rest..

LIKE Catalpa, Cotinus, Tree of Heaven, Paulownia and Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree) can all be coppiced for larger leaves.

Late winter is best, just as the sap is rising.

Cut just above a bud, 1ft (30cm) above soil level, and where there was one stem the plant quickly grows back two. In year one these can be pruned again, a foot or so higher up from the original cut, to create a bushy to with four or more stems. In subsequent year after manuring, cut back to just 6in (15cm) ab soil level for lots of stems that grow from the

TI Media

I

T’S not every day that I’m accused of being profligate – especially by a teenager – but today my middle tween was aghast that I had paid £15 for ‘a stick’.

To be fair, the two-foot potted twig did resemble something a dog might chase, but what his untrained eye couldn’t see was its potential.

We were visiting a National Trust garden when I spotted the fabulously named Catalpa bignonioides ‘Purpurea’ in the plant sale. At 50% off, it was literally cheap at half the price. And although it had more label than leaves, I snapped one up.

The Indian Bean Tree (as it’s commonly known) was a favourite of my late mum, who loved the rooftopping domed canopy, soft heartshaped leaves, and hundreds of lengthy bean-like pods that would hang in late summer from the branches like the tassels on Easy Rider’s leather jacket.

Inset: TI Media

All photography Alamy, unless otherwise credited

I won’t be getting these lengthy bean-like pods on my catalpa, as I’m growing the plant as a coppiced stool

Pruning Paulownia above the bud

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