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plants ry shade

Lobelia: 6 of the best!

SINCE 1884

Plant garlic in pot This week! What you can do in your garden How to grow lettuc

On test: six petrol chainsaws

6 varieties of this petite star to grow!

How to grow pelargoniums â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Anneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top tips

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This week in

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3 FEBRUARY 2018

0330 333 1113

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Jobs for this week

“Tidy beds and keep them weed free,” says Ruth

4 5 6 7 8 10

HOW TO SOW YOUR AQUILEGIA ‘LIME SORBET’ SEEDS Follow Ruth’s simple step-by-step guide to success GROW COLOUR FROM SEED Variety and contrast are the keys, says Ruth SOIL TESTING MADE SIMPLE Get to know your soil by testing for nutrients QUICK BORDER MAINTENANCE How to tidy beds and keep them weed-free INSTALLING A WATER BUTT – OR TWO! Ruth shows you the easy way to collect rainwater BEATING PEACH LEAF CURL/WHAT’S ON What you can do to protect vulnerable trees

Great garden ideas

Alamy

“Try our plant choices that work in dry shade,” says Tamsin

20 26 28 32 54

PICK OF THE VERY BEST: LOBELIA Graham Rice makes his choice of RHS AGM winners PLANTS THAT COPE WITH DRY SHADE How to grow lovely plants in normally difficult places ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GROWING SALAD LEAVES Easy to grow and quick to harvest! MINIATURE NARCISSI Val Bourne explains the history of this petite spring beauty GET THE LOOK How to have a great garden even when downsizing

Gardening wisdom

Alamy

“These miniature marvels are weatherproof,” says Val

12 15 16 18 24 36 38 42 46 59

PETER SEABROOK Tools are important, and so is knowing how to use them BOB FLOWERDEW Which birds are best for gardeners? Bob reveals his choice LUCY CHAMBERLAINS’S FRUIT AND VEG Plant spring garlic, chit early spuds, move potted strawberries VAL BOURNE’S GARDEN WILDLIFE Why you should avoid supermarket spuds and grow your own ANNE’S MASTERCLASS Anne explains how to improve your potato crop HOW TO GROW PELARGONIUMS Drought tolerant and ideal for beds and borders, says Anne YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED Rambling roses, clusters of worms and splitting cyclamen YOUR LETTERS Vine-cutting debate, plastic-bag charges, tips and poems GARDENER’S MISCELLANY Facts, fancies, brain teasers, puzzles and prizes! TOBY BUCKLAND When it comes to grow lights, big is not always best!

Reader offers and product tests

“I’ll show you how to grow garlic in pots,” says Lucy

GIVE A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION! Page 53 for our special offer

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READER OFFER Free patio potato kit for every reader TRIED AND TESTED We test four petrol-driven chainsaws and choose the best “Free seeds are back! Thanks to our friends at Mr Fothergill’s we are giving away the ﬁnest-quality seeds every week. In return, could you update us on how they grow? We would love to see your letters and pictures.” Garry Coward-Williams, Editor 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Gardening Week

with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes

Start sowing this year’s free seeds for a garden ﬁlled with colour and scent

All about delicate Aquilegia vulgaris Popular cottage garden plants

‘Lime Sorbet’ has cool, elegant blooms and ﬂowers early

Free seeds are back! Ruth celebrates the ﬁrst of this year’s AG free seeds

HE first week of February young seedlings robust and healthy. doesn’t usually have a lot to Throughout the summer I will guide recommend it, but in 2018 you through the steps involved in things are different. creating a beautiful flower garden, In this issue of Amateur including pricking-out Gardening we are eedlings, growing-on delighted to give away young plants, placing our first free seeds of hem where they will do 2018 in conjunction with best in the garden and renowned horticultural explaining how to keep experts Mr Fothergill’s. hem blooming for as The company, based ong as possible. in Newmarket, Suffolk, When they do start was launched in 1978 o fade, I will also talk and today supplies more you through harvesting than 3,000 retail outlets your favourite seeds as well as selling direct nd storing them safely via mail order to homes hrough winter. throughout the country. We launch this year’s A different variety of ree seeds from Mr seeds will appear on Fothergill’s with a pale the cover of AG each Aquilegia vulgaris called week, with illustrated Lime Sorbet’. instructions on how to Its multi-petalled grow the plants from blooms make it a scratch inside. harming border plant Aquilegia ‘Lime Sorbet’ launches and, sown now, will I will demonstrate AG’s 2018 seed giveaways different ways of sowing flower next year in seeds through easy-to-follow picture early spring and summer. guides and will outline the growing So although early February is cold requirements for each plant. and grey, there is lots of life and colour The information won’t stop at to look forward to in the garden. What germination and keeping your are we waiting for? Let’s get sowing! 4 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Aquilegia vulgaris is a clumpforming hardy perennial that ﬂowers in shades of pink, blue, violet and also white. The blooms come in different shapes and sizes, and usually have There are countless a spur hybrid varieties poking out at the back. These lowmaintenance plants grow best in free-draining soil in sun or partial shade and look their best in courtyard or cottage gardens. Aquilegia has several common names, including granny’s bonnet, God’s breath, culverwort and naked woman’s shoes. They are easily propagated from seed – indeed, they are so freeseeding that it is best to deadhead them as soon as the ﬂowers start to fade to avoid seedlings appearing all over your garden. If you sow and grow on your aquilegias undercover, the young plants will appreciate a generous helping of well-rotted organic matter dug into the soil before they are planted out.

Captivating climber: Don’t forget to buy next week’s AG (in the shops 6 February) for your free black-eyed Susan seeds

Step by step

How to sow Aquilegia ‘Lime Sorbet’

Make sure your seedlings are well ventilated to keep fungal problems at bay

Put the tray in a cold frame, unheated greenhouse or light windowsill. Germination takes 3-6 weeks.

Sieve fresh seed compost into a seed tray or seed modules and then gently tamp the surface ﬂat.

Sow the seeds thinly onto the surface of the compost. This gives the seedlings room to grow.

Cover with a ﬁne layer of compost or compost and vermiculite. Moisten it with clean tap water.

Grow colour from seed Variety and contrast make the summer garden beautiful GROWING plants from seed can sometimes feel time consuming and claustrophobic, especially when germinating seeds and growing seedlings are taking up every available surface in the house and greenhouse. But patience and care will be well rewarded in late spring, summer and autumn when your garden is brimming with colour and texture. I had a lot of fun and enjoyment sowing and growing last year’s seeds, despite a couple of failures when disease (damping off and botrytis grey mould) and slugs got the upper hand. The main lessons learned last year were to sow seeds thinly and avoid overcrowding, which makes pricking out harder and is a key cause of fungal problems. Also, get the watering right – too much and seeds will rot, too little and they will shrivel and die. Keep moisture levels constant by mixing vermiculite into the compost you use to cover seeds, as it helps boost airﬂow and moisture around the roots. Sealing pots of seeds inside a clear plastic bag will keep the atmosphere around seedlings humid. Light and heat are also important, but too much and seedlings will grow pale

Label the seeds (essential if you are planning lots of sowing) and put a lid over the seed tray.

Get the best results Mix smaller seeds with sand for easier sowing

Carefully prick out seedlings

Experiment with shapes and colours for brilliant borders

and spindly. Most seedlings will thrive in gentle warmth, out of harsh direct sunlight. When they have developed their ﬁrst sets of ‘proper’ leaves, prick them out into individual pots. Hold them by their leaves (never the stem) and carefully lift their rootballs out of the compost using a plastic plant label or teaspoon. Grow them on in pots of John Innes No1, harden them off and then plant them out in their ﬁnal position, experimenting with colours and varieties, for a summer of colour.

Clean equipment is essential for healthy growing

Seeds and seedlings are extremely delicate and need optimum conditions to thrive. They are easily damaged or killed by pests and diseases carried in air, water and compost, so always use fresh compost, clean tap water and new or washed equipment. Prevent fungal problems such as damping off disease, which will wipe out a whole seed tray, by keeping seedlings well ventilated. Do this by removing coverings after germination and opening air vents in seed tray lids. Small seeds are ﬁddly to sow, so make it easier by mixing them with a little horticultural sand and sprinkling the mix onto compost. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Gardening Week

with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes

Care of chemicals Safe storage and disposal tips

Just a little soil gets results

I don’t need a test to tell me my soil is alkaline!

Most soil tests are cheap to buy and easy to use

Importance of soil testing Get to know your garden before planting, says Ruth

O get the best out of your garden you need to know the make-up of your soil, its pH levels, and how evenly and richly nutrients are distributed across it. Testing your soil may sound offputtingly scientiﬁc, but it is a cheap and simple procedure – and one that will stop you buying the wrong plants and save you pots of cash in the process. Late winter is a good time to do the test, as the soil will probably have been

Step by step

lying fallow during the dormant weeks of winter so the test results should be ‘pure’. Test kits are widely available online and from garden centres. I don’t need a test to tell me the acidity or otherwise of my garden. The soil is so alkaline that large lumps of pure chalk constantly work their way to the surface. Conversely, I know that if I want to grow acid-loving plants such as heather, blueberries and camellias I will need to do so in containers.

Check that your garden chemicals are safely stored and still in date. Keep them cool and dry where pets and children can’t access them. Store them in their original containers and keep weedkiller away from plant food to avoid dangerous mistakes. Store dry products above liquids to avoid contamination. Never dispose of unwanted chemicals down the drain as they will end up in the watercourse. Find out and follow your local authority’s policy on safe disposal. Chemicals discontinued for economic reasons can be used within a two-year period of grace. What I am unsure of is the soil’s nutrient wealth, so I bought a kit that tests for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Once I get the results I can start improving the soil.

An easy way of testing soil nutrients

When the solution has settled, use the enclosed guide to check the presence, or otherwise, of the relevant nutrients, or pH, of your soil. 6 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Take some soil, and remove debris. Put a sample in a lidded jam jar, add water and shake and leave to settle.

Siphon off some water and add it to a test tube. Each nutrient test will have its own tube and kit.

Add the required amount of nutrient or pH solution to the cloudy water in each tube.

Scoop in the stated amount of nutrient powder. Screw on the lid and shake for 30 seconds.

Kindest cuts: Don’t forget to buy AG’s pruning special (10 February, out on 6 February) for all the do’s and don’ts of late-winter cutting back

Step by step

Potting up plants Re-homing a seeded foxglove

Deadheading puts energy into ﬂowers, not seeds

Carefully lift the plant from the soil, making sure you keep lots of soil around the roots.

My violas are afflicted with black spot

Work on a board to avoid compacting the soil

Quick border maintenance 2

Tidy beds and keep them weed-free, says Ruth

HE garden has taken a affected by pansy leaf spot, caused by battering over the winter so, to fungal pathogens spread by rain or by save time down the line when the spores lying dormant in the soil. things are getting busier, I’ve It is unsightly – leaves develop been carrying out some interim plant yellow and black spots, and some and bed maintenance. varieties of the disease can also cause If you garden on heavy clay it is the crowns to rot. There are no specific worth waiting a few weeks to do fungicides to combat it, though this until warmer days whe Bayer Fungus Fighter or Scotts the ground is less claggy. Fungus Clear Ultra can give My main concern was you some control over it. the spring bedding, Non-chemical which went in the solutions include ground in the autumn. avoiding repeat planting Although the top on a site affected by growth hasn’t been fungus. As leaf spot isn’t doing much, the root wind-borne, it may have systems will have been entered the garden on Weed now to avoid problems later digging in and maturing infected plants bought from in preparation for when th a garden centre or from wild flowers come back into gr varieties growing nearby. Check plants over and remove Remember to weed now before any diseased foliage, damaged and unwanted plants overwhelm everything rotting stems, and spent flowers. Pick else. Remove every scrap of perennial off fading flowers before they create weeds such as teasels and dandelions seedpods, as this drains energy from as they will come back from the the plants when they need it to produce smallest piece of overlooked root. the next batch of blooms. I also potted up an errant foxglove In the course of my work I that had self-seeded in the wrong place discovered that the violas have been (see panel, right).

Pot it up in a container large enough to take all the roots. I’m using John Innes No2 compost.

Trim off old, damaged leaves, water well and keep the plant somewhere sheltered until you have room to replant it.

Q Remove old hellebore leaves to make room for new growth. It also removes potentially diseased growth and lets pollinators get to the ﬂowers more easily. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Gardening Week

with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes

Don’t forget to buy a stand to raise your butt, otherwise watering cans won’t ﬁt under the tap! Place it on the stand before installation.

We attached a butt to the greenhouse gutter to make watering easier

Clean out your water butt each year to avoid contamination and blockages

Rainwater is better for plants than tap water

Install a water butt or two Ruth extols the many beneﬁts of natural irrigation

F you haven’t already got a water butt in the garden, this is the week to install one. If you have room for more than one, so much the better. Lack of space isn’t a problem as water butts come in varying sizes from slimline to ones that hold 700l of water. The advantages of water butts are economic, horticultural and practical. Rainwater is free, so if you are on a meter it lets you keep plants irrigated at no extra cost – and if we have a long,

Step by step

Vital water butt maintenance

dry summer the stored water will come in extremely useful. Rainwater is better for plants and soil than tap water as it hasn’t been through an intensive puriﬁcation process or treated with harsh chemicals. It is softer and falls from the sky with a pH between 5 and 7 that beneﬁts soil and helps plants to take up more nutrients. You can install water butts to the gutters of the house, garage, shed or greenhouse so they can be dotted

For your water butt to work efficiently, you need to make sure water can ﬂow freely into it. Keep gutters Check gutters tha free of debris feed into downpipes and clear them out regularly. This is particularly important after stormy weather and in autumn when leaves are falling. Rainwater also picks up dirt, debris, pest eggs and fungal spores, so clean your water butt each year. Due to these impurities, you should never use rainwater to irrigate seeds and seedlings. anywhere, bringing an end to lugging around heavy cans of water. Below I show you how to install a water butt. It’s easy and downpipe diverter kits are widely available.

Attaching a water butt to a house downpipe

Place your water butt on its stand and use a spirit level to work out where it will join the downpipe.

Mark the pipe and cut cleanly through it. Cut straight, otherwise the diverter will not ﬁt on properly.

Attach the diverter to the pipe and slot in the hose that will link it to the butt. Make sure it is long enough!

Now drill a hole where the hose will join the butt. The area should be plain to see. 8 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Add the spout that ﬁts into the hole and attaches to the hose. Once this is on, ﬁt the tap to the base of the butt.

Attach the hose from the drainpipe to the butt. Make sure it is secure, and wait for the rain!

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Gardening Week

with AG’s gardening expert Ruth Hayes

A plastic covering will protect from waterborne peach leaf curl

What’s On

Things to do near you

Peach leaf curl affects foliage and ﬂowers Brilliant colours in your garden, 6 February

Alamy

If your trees have been affected by peach leaf curl, always bin or burn fallen leaves. Don’t compost them as the spores will live on in your compost heap.

Beating peach leaf curl Take action now to protect vulnerable trees, says Ruth

EACH leaf curl is a troublesome and unsightly fungal problem that attacks peaches, almonds, nectarines and sometimes apricots. Once it has arrived, the disease is hard to eradicate as its spores linger in the soil around affected trees. Symptoms are displayed in spring; leaves start developing normally, but then become distorted with swollen red blisters before falling prematurely. Although the tree may appear to recover, spores from the disease (Taphrina deformans) hang around in the soil and re-emerge annually. A badly affected tree may die off in subsequent years. To prevent leaf curl you need to

take action in late winter or early spring and move your tree somewhere dry where the fungus, which thrives in damp conditions, can’t access it. The easiest method is to move it undercover if it is container-grown or protect wall- or fence-trained plants under a plastic shelter. To do this you need to attach wooden battens to a fence and cover them in polythene. Using ﬂeece is ineffective as it won’t keep the tree dry, but it will prevent pollinating insects from reaching the blossom – meaning no fruit. Keep the tree sheltered until mid-May, which will also protect emerging shoots from frost. No fungicides are available against peach leaf curl, so this is the only way to protect susceptible fruit trees.

Time to dig in green manure If conditions aren’t waterlogged or frozen, start digging in green manure to enrich your soil before planting. During the winter these beneﬁcial plants will have been releasing nutrients back into the soil and their roots will have helped prevent erosion during times of heavy rain. Dig them in and leave them to rot down for a few weeks before planting crops or ornamentals. If there is too much top growth, remove and compost the excess. 10 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Green manure protects soil through winter

2 Feb: Close-up Photography, Mini Master Class: RHS Wisley, Wisley Lane, Working, Surrey, GU23 6QB. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/ gardens/wisley 2: Wedding and Bridal Flowers: RHS Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon Common, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 8ET. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/hyde-hall 3: Basic Gardening Skills – Seed Sowing: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon, EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor 3-4: Snowdrop Walk: Rode Hall, Scholar Green, Cheshire ST7 3QP. 01270 873237, rodehall.co.uk 3-4: Snowdrops at Colesbourne Park, Colesbourne, Cheltenham, Glos, GL53 9NP. 01242 870264, colesbournegardens.org.uk 3-28: Snowdrop Days: Evenley Wood Garden, Evenley, Northants NN13 5SH. 07776 307849 Evenleywoodgarden.co.uk 6: Brilliant Colours in Your Garden: RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Rosemoor, Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH. 0203 176 5830, rhs.org.uk/gardens/rosemoor Q Please send details and images of any events happening in your area to ruth.hayes@timeinc.com or address them to What’s On, Amateur Gardening, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Industrial Park, Farnborough GU14 7BF. Q Listings need to be with us at least six weeks in advance. Q All details are subject to change without our knowledge, so please always check that the event is still going ahead before leaving home.

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with Peter Seabrook, AG’s classic gardening expert

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

Peter’s tips on garden tools and their care Always clean tools after use, especially ones with wooden handles. I hate to ﬁnd dried soil on these.

All photographs PJS

My Spear & Jackson spades of forged steel

My four-spade collection: with my original (right) now 65 years old and most recent (left) with a longer handle

I ﬁnd the Guernsey hoe, with its cranked wooden handle, a delight to use for all kinds of hand work. Do any other readers share my love of this tool?

Good tools are important What tools are most important to you? Peter reveals his personal choice and thoughts on digging technique

HAT, I wonder, would be your desert island choice for garden tools? A pocket knife is the obvious first choice and not just for desert island use, but gardening in all situations. My next requirement is the trusty spade that travels in the boot wherever I go. This spade was one of the last Spear & Jackson stainless-steel spades forged in Britain, cost £100 and it has an extralong handle to cope with my 6ft (1.8m) height. This is my fourth spade, with the ﬁrst bought as a teenager and worn down to a fraction of the original size. The second is another Neverbend that is also getting well worn, while the third is a Stanley stainless-steel model with a plastic handle. Spades forged from a block of steel are stronger than those that are welded, and the forging develops a grain rather like the grain in wood that gives a nice ring when struck. The Royal Horticultural Society has been working with Coventry University to 12 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

scientiﬁcally measure the load on joints when digging and have come up with the unsurprising result that a bad digging technique doubles the load. However, what they have not told us as yet is the posture needed for a good technique. If you have not dug for some time, or ever dug before, then

A well-worn garden fork is very useful to work through borders and tickle up beaten-down soil while removing weeds.

“Forged is stronger than welded” warm up a bit ﬁrst and take a little soil at a time, rather than going at the job like a bull at a gate! Two other desert islands choices are a push hoe and trowel. The push hoe is arrowhead shaped and when inverted does a good job throwing up soil from lawn and path edges. The trowel has a wooden handle and a forged-steel blade.

If you reverse the arrow-shaped push hoe it will also function as a very good lawn-edging tool.

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with Bob Flowerdew, AG’s organic gardening expert

Bob’s top tips for the week

Wrens will eat virtually their own body weight in insects every day

Clean out old pest-infested material from bird nest boxes as they’ll be needed soon. Take care as it will contain nasties.

Provide a home for birds and they’ll help maintain your garden

Tweets about the garden

Buy new bags of the best sowing and potting composts, sieve and bring indoors to warm up ready for use.

Encouraging birds is good for gardeners, says Bob

Time Inc/Alamy

OW is an excellent time to set up bird boxes. Although it’s still winter, many birds are ready to nest and are looking for places to settle down. There are few natural sites, so it’s helpful to put up boxes. We all love to see most birds but, of the many, which are actually useful to gardeners? Perhaps not those with a taste for our fruits, such as blackbirds, but even they do some good. Seedeating birds help by reducing potential weeds, but their effect must be minimal. Without any doubt, though, insectivorous birds really are our friends. Each will find and consume countless thousands of bugs, bug eggs, larvae and all sorts of little critters. The smallest, wrens, are said to eat a huge percentage, if not all their own body weight every day, so are incessantly busy. The many sorts of tits are not much bigger and likewise never stop searching. It’s a pleasure to watch how thoroughly a bunch of blue tits will pick over a tree, wall or bush, investigating every nook and cranny. And what a joy when a robin comes

darting in to pick up some morsel. Then summer brings the flycatchers snatching their food from the air. All these birds want nest boxes. The ‘standard’ sort of box with a small round hole suits tits and many others, but robins and flycatchers prefer their boxes with open fronts rather than holes. Indeed, robins get so needy they’ll turn almost

“Which birds are actually useful to gardeners?” anything into a nest. A teapot is classic and I’ve seen one nest in a wellie boot. And even those pesky blackbirds need sites. They like to build a nest in a crotch halfway up a bush, and we can help by pulling young stems across each other and tying these into inverted tripods to create a perfectly shaped crotch hidden inside.

Force shoots on sweet potatoes, place in moist sand and keep in the warm. Once shoots are ﬁnger-length, detach and pot up.

Start hardy annuals, salad leaves, onion and leek seed in trays under cover. Also sow early tomatoes and cucumbers in warmth. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

with Lucy Chamberlain, AG’s fruit and veg expert Plant garlic now in pots and keep it in the greenhouse until the soil warms up

Step by step

How to plant early garlic

You’ll ﬁnd that many seed catalogues offer speciﬁc garlic varieties for spring planting (these don’t have such a strong chilling requirement as autumn types). ‘Solent Wight’ and ‘Mersley Wight’ are two such varieties, but many others are available. Avoid buying bulbs from the supermarket.

Plant spring garlic in pots If you want to grow garlic now, try starting it off in pots that you can plant out later, says Lucy OU might recall back in November that I encouraged you to start some garlic cloves on the plot. Well, if you missed the boat (or if you just love garlic) the good news is that you can also plant some now. Generally, you’ll get larger harvestable heads if you give these

pungent bulbs a long growing season. The early start encourages an extensive root system, which then results in stronger plants and larger bulbs. Often the soil is too wet and claggy to plant now, but you can bypass the problem by planting into pots, which are then kept in a greenhouse or conservatory. To find out how to do it, see panel right.

Hoe off any overwintering weeds I’M all for getting ahead in the garden, and one bane of any gardener’s life is weeds. So now – before temperatures rise sufficiently to allow germination to occur outside – is the ideal time to thwart them. You may well have wielded your hoe thoroughly in the autumn tidy-up, but inevitably some weeds will have escaped the blade. Those lucky few sit quietly all winter, ready to burst into life come the spring, so now is time to attack them! Be boosted by the encouragement that there won’t be many to target, and gain motivation by knowing that, given a few weeks of 16 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Break each head into individual cloves, and only plant the largest as these will ultimately produce larger heads for harvesting (the smaller bulbs can be potted up as garlic ‘chives’). Fill 4in (10cm) pots with multipurpose compost, and bury one clove 2in (5cm) deep per pot.

warmth, these overwintering weeds will start flowering to produce hundreds (if not thousands) of seeds. So choose a windy, dry day and work that hoe.

By tackling any overwintering weeds now, you’ll ensure you’re on top of them once spring arrives

Water each pot thoroughly, allow to drain and then place in a greenhouse or similar (this doesn’t need to be heated). Once the soil warms up the resulting potted plants can be planted outside. Choose a warm, sunny spot and space each garlic plant 12in (30cm) apart.

Next Week: Prune citrus, cut back new raspberries

and blackcurrants, plant Jerusalem artichokes, sow peas in guttering, sow celeriac and celery

All photographs Time Inc

Move potted strawberries under glass for forcing

STARTING a job that is so optimistic about the arrival of summer is a great spirit-booster. So if you’re faced with a bleak February day, take a leaf out of my gardening notebook and treat yourself to this blissful activity. Hopefully, you took my advice back in November to pot up a few strawberry plants (using early varieties like ‘Christine’ and ‘Gariguette’ will help ensure the fruits mature quickly). If you missed the boat don’t fret – you can buy potted plants from good garden centres now, too. With a little warmth you can encourage these varieties to yield a harvest in late April or early May, weeks before outdoor plants are berrying up. You need a sufficient chilling period (hence potting plants up and leaving them outside for winter) to encourage a rapid, synchronised and magnificent burst of flowers once your plants are moved under glass. A gently heated greenhouse or conservatory will give best results (unheated greenhouses work well, too, but are a little slower). Begin watering your potted crop once under cover, adding a balanced liquid feed as leaves begin to develop strongly. Keep an eye on pests such as aphids and red spider mite, which also revel in the warmth (a plant oil-based insecticide will kill them off) and then dream of summer days eating strawberries!

Lower indoor grape rods to the ﬂoor I’M lowering the rod tips of this ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ vine to ensure it comes into growth evenly along its whole length. There are a select few among us

who have the luxury of space to grow grapevines under glass, and for those of us in that privileged position now is time to tend them. I’m lucky enough to look after two such vines – a ‘Black Hamburg’ and a ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ in the walled kitchen garden where I work. They’re trained in the classic ‘rodand-spur’ manner, where fruiting annual sideshoots or ‘spurs’ are trained off a permanent central rod. For 11 months of the year these rods are held high above the greenhouse floor, right up in the roof, but in February when the spurs’ buds burst into life, it helps to lower their tips (those furthest away from the roots) down to the floor. It guarantees an even bud burst along the whole length of each rod, rather than just at the tips.

Chit early potatoes for an early crop NOTHING quickens the heart rate of any vegetable gardener like the first liftings of new potatoes. As soon as you see those perfect little tubers prised from the earth you know you’re in for a treat. Choosing a good variety ensures topnotch flavour (always opt for certified ‘seed’ potatoes as they’re virus-free rather than using your own saved spuds or grocery-store purchases). I’ve tried many different ones over the years, such as ‘Rocket’, ‘Swift’ and ‘Maris Bard’, but my favourite for flavour is ‘Lady Christl’. I came across it a decade ago and it’s now my benchmark variety. Ensuring your early potatoes are genetically programmed to bulk up quickly, too, is important, so opt for

first earlies as these varieties will be ready to lift in May. Chitting is a process that is the reserve of first early potatoes, and it speeds up harvest (it also reduces yields of bakers, chippers and jackets, so isn’t generally used for maincrop varieties). Chitting refers to laying first earlies in a seed tray or egg box, which is positioned in a well-lit, frost-free spot (a windowsill is ideal). It can be done now and starts the tubers into early growth (potatoes aren’t cold-hardy, so would be damaged if planted outside now). After a few weeks of chitting you’ll see sturdy shoots developing. These will romp away as soon as they’re planted outside in mid-March.

3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Gardening Week with Val Bourne, AGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organic wildlife expert Classic blight symptoms are black lesions followed by a collapse of foliage

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Anyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Harlequinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; potatoes that survived the attack of blight

Blight on the landscape Val looks forward to a bumper organic potato crop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if the blight stays away

Alamy/Wikipedia/Howard F Schwartz

S an organic gardener I like to grow my own food and, as I once had a lowly post at the National Vegetable Research Station in Wellesbourne, Warwick, I feel that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m keeping my hand in. We have vegetable plots in the garden and an allotment within walking distance. We grow all our own potatoes because commercial crops are sprayed with fungicide every seven days in order to prevent potato blight. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an average of 16 times from planting to harvest. Crops are also sprayed with weak acid to kill the top growth, and then the tubers are usually sprayed with anti-sprout to stop them chitting and greening up under supermarket lights. The maincrop varieties we grow are â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Caraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Harlequinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, and we grow them on the allotment. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Caraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; used to be blight resistant, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now susceptible because strains of potato blight mutate. The classic symptoms are yellowing on the foliage and black lesions followed by collapse of the foliage. This fungal disease, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is spread by spores travelling in the wind and mild, damp Augusts encourage it. Cutting off 18 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

the stems can limit the damage to the tubers, but the haulms should be put in a green bin, not on the compost heap. Certain varieties are more resistant than others and for many years

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Commercial crops are sprayed with fungicide every seven daysâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Caraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; shrugged it off. There are also completely blight-resistant varieties, such as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sarpo Miraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, but I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ďŹ nd them very palatable. One wet year we escaped potato blight completely, much to our surprise. We relinquished our tidy allotment plot and took on another much weedier one. It rained a lot and soon our potato crop was completely covered in weeds â&#x20AC;&#x201C; so much so that it was impossible to see our potatoes at all. August came and everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

potatoes were hit by blight. We lifted ours in September, with little expectation, but with virgin ground and plenty of rain, our potato crop was abundant. One variety was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Harlequinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, which has fairly good blight resistance. Check your varieties out at varieties. ahdb.org.uk/varieties.

TOP TIP

Get those potatoes ordered, but do go for ďŹ&#x201A;avour. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Harlequinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (below) is a tasty, highyielding waxy potato, and I enjoy eating â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rosevalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, a red French main crop thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s delicious baked because the ďŹ&#x201A;esh is very creamy.

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Pick of the very best

Graham Rice chooses his six top RHS Award of Garden Merit winners

NEW

SERIES

Lobelias come in a mixed palette, but it is the blue and white options that really catch the eye

This week it’s

Lobelia Blue is the colour, but which varieties get Graham’s thumbs up?

HE blue of lobelia can be the most exciting, most penetrating blue you’ll ﬁnd in the garden. However, lobelia for patios and summer borders also comes in other colours, as well as in both trailing and bushy versions – each of which is suited to different garden situations. It is not hard to see why lobelia is so popular. Aside from that unique and brilliant blue, these plants offer billowing clouds of colour in hanging baskets and tubs, and will intermingle prettily with other container plants. Meanwhile, the tight hummocks of the bedding varieties, once so popular in seaside planting schemes, work well in borders.

20 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

And the best varieties will flower from June until the first frosts. All the seed-raised varieties are derived from Lobelia erinus, which grows wild in southern Africa. Other species have been added to the mix to create larger-flowered varieties that are raised from cuttings.

Where to buy

There is no shortage of choice, but for me it’s the blues, the blue-and-white bicolours and the whites that are the real stars (although white-ﬂowered types raised from seed always have 10% blues mixed in – it’s a genetic thing). To be honest, the pink and mauve shades can be a little dingy, but they are improving.

You may have to hunt around among the mail-order companies to ﬁnd cuttings-raised lobelia. Fuchsia Plug Plants fuchsiaplugplants.co.uk 01564 829602 Moles Seeds molesseeds.co.uk 01206 213213 Suttons suttons.co.uk 0844 326 2200 Thompson & Morgan thompson-morgan.com 0844 573 1818

T&M

The Award of Garden Merit is a mark of quality awarded since 1922 to garden plants (including trees, vegetables and decorative plants) by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

‘Cambridge Blue’

‘Cascade Mixed’

‘Crystal Palace’

‘Regatta Sky Blue’

‘Regatta Midnight Blue’

Waterfall Blue (‘Balobwablu’)

All photos Alamy, unless otherwise credited

Flowers are a pale yet bright blue, with a central white ﬂash. It was awarded its AGM as a basket plant, but I’ve found it excellent in beds and borders where you want a paler variety than ‘Regatta Midnight Blue’. Trailing. You can expect the bushy types to make neat hummocks 6-8in (15-20cm) high, sometimes with bronzed foliage, while the trailing kinds fall from baskets to about 12-16in (30-40cm). And here’s something that may surprise you: although most lobelia is raised from seed, these plants are not annuals. They are actually tender perennials, and some of the best varieties have been developed speciﬁcally to be raised from cuttings. Why does it matter? Because we all want colour all summer, but some of the seed-raised varieties, in particular,

The best mix of colours, including blue, lilac, violet, ruby and white, with a few bicolours too. Each plug will have three or four seedlings to give the best blend of colours. Trailing.

Moles seeds

A familiar classic, the short bushy plants are covered in lovely pale, softblue ﬂowers that continue coming all summer. It’s a colour that ﬁts well with so many other plants. Bushy.

This all-rounder holds an AGM both as a basket plant and as an option for beds and borders. Bright-blue ﬂowers are punctuated by white eyes and are carried on very dark stems, with unusually dark green foliage. Trailing. tend to wind down in the August heat, especially if not watered regularly. Ultimately, you can choose either to grow your lobelia from seed, buy plug plants raised from seed or spend more on young plants raised from cuttings. I’d suggest buying cuttings-raised plants for baskets and tubs, seed-raised plugs if you need a lot of them, and growing from seed if you have the facilities to raise them – ideally, a frost-free greenhouse and a heated propagator. As for which ones, before ordering check out my six-of-the-best selection from award-winning varieties (above).

Neat, rounded plants featuring an impressive combination of deep-blue ﬂowers and dark, bronzed foliage. Grown since the 1820s and still outstanding today. Bushy.

This makes a spherical basket of vivid purple-blue flowers with two white flashes in the centre. Very prolific, flowering from the end of May until September. Noted by the RHS for its “striking, rich colour”. Trailing.

What makes a good lobelia? ■ A long and unbroken season of flowers ■ Consistent flower size, shape and colour ■ Good pure flower colour ■ Consistent growth habit ■ Tolerance of heat and drought ■ A good balance of colours in mixtures 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Sowing lobelia seed

Prick out in groups

GAP

Sow seed thinly

■ Lobelia seedlings develop slowly, so seed needs sowing early, as thinly as possible, in a temperature of 21ºC. Use fresh seed/multi-purpose compost. ■ Use half-size seed trays or shallow pots. Lobelia seedlings are very

susceptible to damping-off disease so be sure that all containers are freshly washed and clean. ■ Do not cover seed with compost, but do cover your trays or individual pots with glass or cling ﬁlm.

Looking after lobelia

■ Always water with tap water, never water from a water butt, which can carry disease. ■ Prick your seedlings out in groups of four or ﬁve – do not attempt to prick them out individually.

Plants or seed?

Cuttings-raised Lobelia richardsonii

Keep plug plants frost-free

Grow in full sun

■ Plug plants will arrive in April and need only be kept frost free; cuttingsraised varieties should arrive in May. The plants are often large enough to go straight into a basket or tub. ■ Plant seedlings or plants outside in beds or containers after the last frosts. ■ Position in full sun, or where they are shaded from the side – not under trees.

■ Keep plants watered, and feed regularly all summer. ■ Lobelias cannot be deadheaded easily. To get rid of spent ﬂowerheads snip over the whole plant with shears or the kitchen scissors. Most do not need it, however. ■ Watch out for aphids, which can be a problem. Apply your usual treatment.

I’ve always found the little moundforming lobelias too squat and dumpy, so I tend to avoid them and instead plant the trailing kinds in the ground around perennials, shrubs and annuals. Their more informal growth allows them to intermingle with neighbouring plants, creating attractive associations. On my trial garden last summer, my eight-year-old grandson told me that Lobelia ‘Super Star’ (pictured, right) was his favourite plant in the 22 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Suttons

In my garden

whole garden! Although not an AGM variety, this is one of the few cuttingsraised lobelias that’s easily available.

Lobelias are available as seed, as plants grown from seed or as plants grown from cuttings. And while we tend to view them as annuals, they are actually perennial plants. Look carefully towards the base of the stems and you’ll often see roots forming – ready-made cuttings! I’ve found that cuttings-raised lobelias almost always make better plants than seed-raised varieties, with larger ﬂowers in purer colours for a longer season. It’s as simple as that. And it seems the RHS agrees with my ﬁndings. A few years ago I was asked to judge a trial of more than 50 seed-raised and cuttings-raised varieties of lobelia. At the end of the trail the RHS concluded that: “The clonal varieties [those grown from cuttings] were not only more true to type, but generally gave a better performance throughout the trial.” Cuttings-raised varieties are more expensive, however, and our general unwillingness to pay the extra tends to make them harder to get hold of.

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Anne Swithinbank’s masterclass on:growing potatoes in containers

Add extra compost as the foliage grows, to mimic ‘earthing up’. Should a late frost threaten, cover protruding leaf tips with horticultural ﬂeece.

How to plant potatoes in pots

Place a light, ﬁbrous compost 4in (10cm) deep in the base of the container.

I’m planting the variety ‘Red Duke of York’ three tubers to a 14in (35cm) wide plastic plant pot

How can I improve my potato crop?

I can only grow potatoes in containers, but last year, despite my best efforts, there was not much yield per pot. How can I make this project more productive? Don Ely, York

Unearthing a crop of home-grown potatoes is one of gardening’s magical moments, and as these tasty tubers grow well in containers anyone

I’m making holes in a rolled-down compost bag large enough for a single tuber

with a sunny outdoor space can have a go. Even for those with larger plots this is a popular technique for early planting under glass and to move vulnerable plants under cover during warm, humid rainy summer weather when blight spores are likely to germinate. Cold-stored tubers planted in July and August to deliver new potatoes in time for Christmas do best in pots under unheated glass to avoid blight, slugs and autumn weather. As with growing potatoes in the open ground, attention to detail pays dividends. This starts with choosing healthy seed potatoes, setting them to ‘chit’ or sprout shoots before planting and getting them into their compost promptly. Plant them from February under glass and March to May outdoors, so they have a long growing season. Potatoes are a hungry crop and

Chitting potatoes Chitting means encouraging seed potatoes to grow short, chunky shoots before being planted. This speeds initial growth, but can mean a slightly lower yield. It is not essential, but I always do it. Tubers are placed in a cool, bright place with their rose end (the top with most dormant buds) uppermost. The spot where the tuber was attached to the parents is below. 24 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Egg boxes are ideal for propping tubers ‘rose’ end up, so they can grow shoots

Add some organic potato fertiliser and mix in.

Place the tuber or tubers on the compost, spaced evenly apart, and add more compost to cover the potatoes by 3in (7cm). respond well to high potash potato fertiliser. Regular, careful watering and a few high-potash liquid feeds will encourage higher yields. Reasons for poor cropping include lack of nutrition, too many tubers in a tight space, overwatering or compression, where a solid, airless compost weighs heavily on developing tubers. Container options include re-using some of the many plastic or polythene items that find their way into a garden. Rolled-down compost bags, rigid plastic pots or leaking 5-gallon (22-litre) buckets punctured with extra drainage holes are all suitable. Alternatively, you can buy specially designed planting bags. Aim for a minimum capacity of around 8 litres, or roughly 10in (25cm) across the top and 9in (21cm) high for single tubers. Larger pots or bags up to 18in (45cm) across the top will accommodate two to four tubers.

Next Week: Anne looks at vine weevils,

including how to identify them, where to find them and how to deal with them

Choosing the right varieties

First early potatoes are ready in about eight weeks from when the foliage shows, or as their first flowers open. Oddly, some varieties don’t produce flowers, so feel down to loosen a few tubers and check for size, as earlies are best eaten fresh and young. With others, let their foliage yellow and die back naturally before turning out.

Compost Place compost ingredients (I’ve got peat-free compost, garden compost and sharp sand) onto a potting tidy or in a wheelbarrow and mix it together thoroughly. Filling potato containers with quality fibrous potting compost can be expensive, so I mix mine 50:50 with well-rotted garden compost, some fine leaf mould and a little sharp sand. Experimenting is fun, but avoid using too much dense, stodgy loam as this compress air passages and stifles tuber growth.

Thompson & Morgan Thompson & Morgan

have a ﬁrm texture and are low in dry matter. Unless you plan to plant many containers, you won’t need masses of seed tubers. The best idea is to attend one of the many ‘potato days’ held around the country, where it is easy to buy small numbers of a wide range of potato varieties.

‘JAZZY’ This second early salad potato performs well in a container, producing large yields of small waxy tubers. ‘KESTREL’ An attractive show-bench favourite second early with mauveblue ‘eyes’. They are a good general-purpose spud and tubers have some slug resistance.

Alamy

Harvesting

‘CHARLOTTE’ This reliable second early salad potato is widely popular. The oval tubers, which are often large, have a delicious flavour.

‘RED DUKE OF YORK’ A tasty first early potato producing large, redskinned, oval tubers with floury but moist yellow flesh. New foliage growth is an attractive purple. ‘SARPO KIFLI’ An early maincrop, blightresistant salad potato producing large long tubers with delicious creamy flesh. ‘SWIFT’ A first early that’s ideal for small containers. Good yields and a medium texture. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Thompson & Morgan

Potato varieties are grouped according to how long they take to produce harvestable tubers. The speediest are ﬁrst and second earlies, followed by early maincrop and maincrop. For containers earlies are popular, and if they do succumb to blight they have usually developed sizeable tubers before the haulm (top growth) is destroyed. Blight symptoms are brown patches on leaves and a watery rotting and wilting. If this happens, cut the haulm right back, preventing the disease from spreading down to the tubers and harvest them promptly. Maincrop varieties take longer to mature, but usually deliver bigger yields. Flavour and texture vary from one variety to the next, but also according to latitude and how long they spend in the ground after the foliage has withered. Some potatoes are ﬂoury, with high dry matter and are good for mashing. Others, such as salad potatoes,

Try these potatoes

with Tamsin Westhorpe Coping with dry shade can be tricky, but there are lots of ways to overcome this problem

h t i w e p o c t a h t s t n a l P

Dry shade

Tamsin Westhorpe with advice on tackling one of the trickiest growing environments VERYONE wants to live on the sunny side of the street! When looking for the perfect property, it is rare for a gardener to have on their wish list “a generous area of dry shade”. It’s even more unusual for gardeners to yearn for a north-facing plot, unless they have a growing collection of hostas to accommodate. Whatever the aspect of your garden, it will have shade at some point of the day, and if you have mature trees or garden walls it is a certainty. There is no denying that gardening in dry shade is tricky and you will lose plants, but gardeners love a challenge! Growing successfully in dry shade requires more preparation than any other situation. Don’t expect even the right plants to thrive if they are planted directly into the soil with no

26 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

improvements made to the growing medium. Shade-loving plants might be tough, but they do need some light and water to survive. To find out more about growing in dry shade, I contacted Plants For Shade expert Nigel Rowland from Long Acre Plants in Somerset (www. plantsforshade.co.uk). I asked him if it is possible to grow anything under mature conifers. “If you go into a forest you’ll notice that the deciduous woods have a diverse and rich understorey, while the conifer plantations are barren and lifeless,” explained Nigel. “This is mostly due to very poor light levels reaching the forest floor and the action of the needle drop, which acidifies the soil and has an allelopathic effect. “Having said that, with soil improvement a few plants can survive

under evergreens. The ferns Dryopteris ﬁlix-mas and Polystichum setiferum are worth a try, and on an acid soil the fern Blechnum spicant will grow,” adds Nigel. “Others, such as Cyclamen hederifolium, ivy and vinca are also very successful.”

Testing the soil

To give plants a higher chance of survival, Nigel suggests testing the pH of the soil before planting to ensure you have chosen the right plant for the situation. He also suggests breathing some life and energy into the soil by digging in well-rotted manure and adding a layer of leaf mould or mulch to the soil every year. After preparing the ground, if you still want to err on the side of caution choose the most reliable plants for dry shade. These include

All photographs Alamy

Six top plants for dry shade

Lathyrus vernus This hardy perennial thrives in sun or dappled shade. It’s a source of early nectar for bees as ﬂowers appear in March and April. Height/spread 1ft 5in (45cm)

Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ This hardy perennial is grown as much for its small lemon-coloured ﬂowers as for its attractive heart-shaped, red-tinted foliage. Height/spread 1ft 7in (50cm)

Cyclamen hederifolium The ivy-leaved cyclamen is a hardy tuberous perennial. Grown for its pink autumn ﬂowers and silvery-green foliage, it spreads in time. Height 6in (15cm) when in ﬂower

Geranium macrorrhizum You can grow any of the macrorrhizums in dry shade with a choice of whites or pinks. These hardy perennials ﬂower from June until August. Height/spread 1ft 3in (40cm)

Dryopteris ﬁlix-mas Often known as the male fern, this deciduous fern is a striking plant with upright shuttlecocks of lush green fronds. It can cope with quite deep shade. Height 3ft 11in (1.2m)

Geranium nodosom If happy this perennial will spread. It ﬂowers from spring to early autumn and copes in exposed situations in sun or partial shade. Height/spread 1ft 7in (50cm)

Geranium macrorrhizum cultivars, Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ and Vinca minor ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. “The best areas of dry shade are planted with the natural cycle of the woodland,” said Nigel. “Bulbs appear early before the leaves are on the trees and deep-rooted perennials are of interest later. Avoid Asian plants, especially those native to China and Japan, as they are more in tune with the summer monsoon.” Some the best deep-rooted perennials include pulmonarias, Lathyrus vernus, Geranium nodosum and Cyclamen hederifolium. The majority of plants that cope in dry shade ﬂower early in the season before the leaves appear on the trees above. For this reason, ferns and other evergreens such as ivy are important to add interest all year.

When buying plants for dry shade, opt for smaller specimens as these will have more chance of settling in. Watering plants well through their ﬁrst summer is essential. Another way of coping with dry shade is to remove the shade! If

you’re gardening under old conifers that have seen better days, it might be time to remove them. Removing a few lower branches from evergreen and deciduous shrubs will also improve the chances of your shade lovers.

5 tips for growing in dry shade Improve the soil by digging in well-rotted manure or home-made compost before planting. Plant smaller specimens rather than large ones as these will establish better in the tricky conditions. Water your plants throughout the ﬁrst summer to help them establish. The majority of plants that cope in

dry shade ﬂower in early spring. Keep the interest throughout the year with evergreens such as vinca and ivy. If the shade is very deep, then consider removing some lower branches from trees and shrubs to give the plants slightly higher light levels. This will encourage more ﬂowers. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Sowing a variety of different leaves, little and often, is the key to a steady and ﬂavoursome supply

g n i w o r g o t e d i u g e t a m i t Your ul

Salad leaves

Soup up your salads with lettuce and leaves that are easy, quick, tasty and cheap – a must for both novice and experienced veg growers alike, says Louise Curley

ALAD leaves are one of the most rewarding crops. They’re easy to grow, some are ready to eat only a month after sowing, and there’s no contest between freshly picked and those supermarket bags of limp leaves that languish in the fridge. For the cost of a couple of packets of seeds you can keep yourself supplied with salad all summer long, and there’s a huge range of colourful and tasty leaves and lettuces that will transform mealtimes. Salad leaves are also perfect for anyone who doesn’t have much space, as they thrive in containers. If you are new to growing salad, my key tip is sowing little and often. Not only is this crucial if you don’t want to be faced with a glut, but it will also ensure you maintain a steady supply 28 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

of young, fresh leaves, which are the tastiest (leaves tend to become tough and bitter with age). Sowing every three to four weeks is ideal. To extend the growing season try growing hardy varieties in early spring and autumn. You can use ﬂeece to provide extra protection from very cold weather or grow your salad leaves under cloches or mini tunnels. These plants tend to like sunshine, but they will happily grow in some shade – in fact, they’ll prefer a degree of protection from summer sun as too much heat can make them stressed, causing them to bolt (ﬂower and set seed prematurely). They need a moderately fertile, moist soil that has a neutral to alkaline pH, so it’s a good idea to dig in some well-rotted compost

before planting, to help with soil fertility and moisture retention. There are two main types of lettuce – hearting lettuces produce a dense cluster of leaves and should be pulled whole from the ground or severed at the base. Loose-leaf lettuces are also known as cut-and-come-again, which means you can pick leaves from around the stem and the plants will produce more. There are also edible leaves, including oriental crops such as mustards and mizunas, which tend to have a hot, peppery ﬂavour. If you’re craving lighter, fresher food as we come towards the end of winter, start sowing hardy salad varieties indoors over the coming weeks. And in no time at all you’ll have your own crop of spring leaves ready for picking.

Chiltern Seeds

Nine salad leaves to sow now

‘Marvel of Four Seasons’

‘Reine des Glaces’

Rocket ‘Dragon’s Tongue’

‘Black Seeded Simpson’

‘Winter Density’

‘Little Leprechaun’

‘Freckles’

‘Salad Bowl’

‘Tom Thumb’

Green jagged leaves form a tight ball as the plant matures. Allow to grow to full size, then harvest; or pick the outer leaves over several months. Has a nice crunchy texture and a good ﬂavour.

This new variety has serrated, purpleveined leaves and a peppery ﬂavour. Good tolerance of the UK climate, so less likely to bolt. Treat as a cut-andcome-again crop, picking regularly.

GAP

A very attractive butterhead-type lettuce with a green centre and burgundy outer leaves. As its name suggests, this French heirloom variety is hardy enough to be grown all year round.

All photos Alamy unless otherwise credited

An old variety with fabulous bright green, knobbly leaves. Very hardy and weather tolerant, and especially easy. Can be grown as a hearting type or pick individual leaves.

Attractive mid-green leaves speckled with burgundy-red splashes grow to make pretty rosettes. Slow to bolt in warm summers. Treat as a cut-andcome-again lettuce.

Very hardy – ideal for overwintering to produce early spring salads, it’s tolerant of heat and can be grown all year. Mid-green leaves form tight rosettes, protecting the sweet, crisp centres.

One of the best cut-and-come-again types, with oakleaf-shaped leaves in apple-green, deep-red or mixed. Quick cropping – six weeks after sowing – and compact; good for containers.

Beautiful reddish leaves gather together to form short clusters. These are held upright and away from the ground, making them less prone to slug attack. Sweet ﬂavour and a crunchy texture.

Ideally suited to small spaces and containers. Tightly formed leaves are quick-growing, with a juicy texture and sweet ﬂavour. Mix with other leaves for contrasting texture and taste. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Three leaves that look as good as they taste

Mustard ‘Red Frills’

Red and green frilly leaves with a mild, peppery ﬂavour. Easy to grow – and fast – they are also hardy, making them great for winter salads. Sowing after July will help prevent attack by ﬂea beetles.

Beetroot ‘Bull’s Blood’

This is a fabulous variety of beetroot that produces edible leaves with a mild ﬂavour. It can be grown just for the deep-burgundy leaves, or make several pickings then leave and allow small beetroots to form.

Why not try?

Red rib dandelion

Red-veined sorrel

A perennial herb with beautiful red-veined leaves and a tangy lemon ﬂavour. Add a handful of leaves to a summer salad for a zesty lift.

GAP

Dandelions are popular in many European countries, where the bitter leaves are valued for their nutritional beneﬁts. These have pretty dark-green leaves with red midribs.

Nasturtium

This colourful half-hardy annual, used widely in bedding and containers, is also edible. Both the leaves and the bright ﬂowers have a peppery ﬂavour and can be added to salads. 30 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Pea shoots

The fresh growth of peas can be harvested and used with other leaves. Sow densely into shallow seed trays and they will be ready for picking in just three weeks.

Mustard wasabina

This quick-growing, cut-and-comeagain leaf tastes of the sushi lovers’ favourite wasabi (similar in ﬂavour and heat to horseradish). But while wasabi is tricky to grow, this mustard is easy.

Chicory ‘Variegato di Castelfranco’

An easy-to-grow chicory, the bitter leaves add another dimension to salads. Leave to produce hearts or pick off the leaves as and when they are required.

How to grow

Watch out for…

SLUGS AND SNAILS are the biggest threat to young seedlings. Sowing into modules and growing under cover until they’re a decent size is a good idea – especially in spring when wet weather encourages these pests. Barriers such as copper, sawdust and crushed eggshells work, as do beer traps, organic slug pellets and nematodes.

In the ground

Sow short rows, spaced 12in (30cm) apart, every three or four weeks. This method will help you distinguish seedlings from weeds. Water the rows, sow the seed thinly and then rake over a light covering of soil. Firm down, water again and label. Gradually thin to 8-10in (20-25cm) apart (you can always eat the thinnings). Keep the soil moist and weed-free.

In containers

Compact cut-and-come-again looseleaf salads work particularly well in containers. Pots should be at least 6in (15cm) deep, with plenty of drainage holes. Fill with multipurpose compost to about 1in (2.5cm) below the rim. Water the surface, then scatter seeds evenly and cover with a ﬁne layer of compost. Water again and label. Thin plants to 4in (10cm) apart.

ROOT APHIDS attack the roots of lettuces and can be a problem towards the end of summer, causing plants to wilt and die. They generally appear when soil is dry, so dig in plenty of organic matter when planting and keep well-watered. Some varieties are resistant to root aphid.

Where to buy chilternseeds.co.uk 01491 824675 moreveg.co.uk 01823 681302 nickys-nursery.co.uk 01843 600972 realseeds.co.uk 01239 821107 sarahraven.com 0345 092 0283 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Short on stature but not on impact, miniature narcissi such as ‘Tête à Tête’ are ideal for borders and pots

w o r g o t s n Reaso

Did you know?

Miniature narcissi – just like their full-size cousins – are rabbit- and deer-resistant, so your bulbs will not be under threat from hungry garden visitors.

Miniature narcissi When it comes to daffodils, small really is beautiful – not to mention weatherproof and easy to grow. Val Bourne reveals how these mini marvels came about

F asked to name their favourite spring flowers, it’s likely that many gardeners would include miniature narcissi in their list. These little beauties are the most popular daffodils in gardens today, and with good reason. Their short stature not only makes them weather-resistant, but it also allows them to mix with many other diminutive spring bulbs and woodlanders, including scillas, crocuses, snowdrops, pulmonarias and wood anemones. They’re perfect in pots, too. Deliberately bred hybrids have far more vigour than diminutive species narcissi such as N. cyclamineus, and many of those we grow today were raised by Alec Gray (1895-1986), a Cornish cut-flower producer. Noticing that early flowers made him more money at London’s Covent Garden Flower Market, he decided to hybridise his traditional Cornish cut-flower narcissus varieties with earlier-flowering miniature species he had collected in Spain. Commercially, the experiment failed because each seedling was far

32 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

too short to work as a cut ﬂower, but Alec fell head over heels in love with the resulting plants. Then, in 1947, an unseasonably hot summer led to a breeding breakthrough, prompting many of his normally sterile daffodils to produce seed pods. One gathered from ‘Cyclataz’ contained three seeds that all germinated and proved to be good. Alec named a twin-headed yellow with swept-back petals ‘Jumblie’ (it still has an AGM), while another became ‘Quince’, a multi-headed soft yellow that’s now quite hard to ﬁnd. The best seedling of all was christened ‘Tête à Tête’ and it’s currently grown around the world: Dutch growers alone have 600 acres in cultivation (from a total of 1,700 hectares allocated to narcissi), and it is ‘Tête à Tête’ that you see in potfuls.

Many think the name comes from its twin flower heads, but American miniature daffodil expert Nancy Gibson’s – more likely – theory is that those early crosses involved miniatures bred in Portugal by Alfred Wilby Tait (1847-1917); hence the name was a clever pun on Tait crossed with Tait. Whatever its origins, before long everyone knew the name. Registered in 1949, ‘Tête à Tête’ proved an instant hit. Alec sold his first bulbs for five shillings (25p) apiece, and when the RHS awarded it a First Class Certificate in 1962, the price doubled. The money funded Alec’s collecting trips to Spain and he named 40 more hybrids, inspiring others along the way and helping to ensure that fellow admirers of miniature narcissi now have plenty of choice.

Suppliers Peter Nyssen peternyssen.com 0161 747 4000 Rose Cottage Plants rosecottageplants.co.uk 01992 573775 Riverside Bulbs riversidebulbs.co.uk 01449 741551

Six easy-to-grow mini narcissi

‘Elka’ (AGM)

‘Segovia’ (AGM)

‘Rip van Winkle’

‘Jetﬁre’ (AGM)

‘Jack Snipe’ (AGM)

‘Jenny’ (AGM)

Main photo: GAP; all others Alamy, unless credited

Raised by Alec Gray, with white forwardfacing petals surrounding a long lemon trumpet that turns paler as the ﬂower ages. It’s always out in March. Lovely with blue muscari and very good in a pot. H: 6in (15cm).

This is technically a bit too tall to be a true miniature, but it’s a great allrounder for growing in grass, borders or pots. Raised in the USA, this jaunty early cyclamineus variety has the brightest orange trumpet. H: 12.8in (32.5cm).

Raised by Alec Gray’s wife Flomay and named after his favourite town in Spain, this April-ﬂowering small cupped daffodil has broad, white outers surrounding a pale-yellow centre. Best in the ground. H: 8-10in (20-25cm).

A really strong garden cyclamineus narcissus, with yellow petals that sweep back to frame a soft-orange trumpet. Raised by Michael Percival Williams (1903-1963) in Cornwall. H: 11in/28cm.

This early ﬂowering, clump-forming yellow double came from Ireland and dates back to before 1884. Good on an alpine bed, or at the front of a sunny border, where you can appreciate the quilled petals and scent. H: 6in (15cm).

An elegant, perfectly formed, Marchﬂowering cyclamineus featuring pointed pale petals that curve upwards above a downward-facing slender yellow trumpet. Strong enough to naturalise in grass. H: 12in/30cm. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Perfect partners for your miniature daffs

Pulmonaria ‘Diana Clare’ (AGM)

Verdigris foliage and violet ﬂowers in March offset those yellows beautifully. Deadhead, but do not trim back hard. Both the grey-blue ‘Opal’ and ‘Raspberry Splash’ ﬂower in March and have spotted foliage.

Anemone blanda (AGM)

Muscari azureum (AGM)

Scilla siberica (AGM)

A lovely non-invasive grape hyacinth with soft-blue ﬂowers that open from greenish buds. This sculptural plant looks good with narcissi in pots or in the ground, in a position that does not bake in summer.

This sun-loving blue anemone has open ﬂowers with ray petals that splay outwards – not to be confused with the wood anemone’s nodding ﬂowers. The raisin-like tubers multiply, and it will self-seed.

A great cobalt-blue bulb to naturalise in shadier areas close to deciduous shrubs. The vivid ﬂowers and brightgreen foliage light up all yellow narcissi, and because it sets seed it will increase year on year.

Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’

A touch of dark foliage, the colour of beetroot, persists through winter before the lime-green crosiers appear in spring. Good among whites in shadier spots. Cut back after ﬂowering to encourage basal shoots.

Planting and aftercare ■ Pot-grown plants are available from February onwards and can be put straight into the ground for instant colour. ■ Bulbs should be planted in September, spaced out and buried at twice the depth of the bulb. ■ If you’re planting in grass, cut a V shape in the turf with a spade and roll the turf back. Break up the exposed soil with a fork and place ﬁve bulbs in each triangle. Stretch and distress the turf with your hands before replacing it. ■ Remember that the narrower the foliage of your miniature daffs, the more drainage they need. 34 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

■ Deadhead named daffodils after flowering. However, species and wild daffodils spread by self-seeding, so leave N. cyclamineus and all wild daffodils to set seed. ■ Feed your daffodils and bulbs in the garden in late February with Growmore (using 35g per sq m/1oz per sq yd). ■ Potted bulbs can be fed with tomato food once they are in flower. ■ If plants go ‘blind’ (producing no flowers), lift and split them, replanting in a new site that has had bonemeal added. ■ Do not knot foliage. Allow it to die down for at least six weeks.

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Pelargoniums in pots need careful watering, so let the surface begin to dry out before soaking the roots – and don’t leave them sitting in saucers of water. Highpotash feeds improve ﬂowering.

In our frost-free porch, pelargoniums from summer cuttings have bloomed all winter. Growth is leggy, so I’m pruning to encourage more sturdy branching.

How to grow

pelargoniums Drought-tolerant pelargoniums are ideal for beds and borders, says Anne Swithinbank VEN as a child I had a passion for pelargoniums, and soon discovered they were native mainly to South Africa, with no fewer than 50 species growing on or near Table Mountain itself. Collecting plants turned out to be as geographically fascinating as starting a stamp collection. The ﬁrst pelargonium grown in Europe is likely to have been P. triste, taken to the Botanical Gardens at Leiden in the Netherlands around 1600 via a ship stopping off at the Cape of Good Hope. Mary Somerset, who became the Duchess of Beaufort, grew some of the ﬁrst pelargoniums to arrive in Britain, and is credited with introducing ivyleaved P. peltatum and P. zonale, the ancestor of many bedding varieties. Her collection of plants in London and Badminton was famous. They would have been referred to as ‘Cape

36 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Geraniums’ until the name pelargonium was formally recognised in 1787. We still call them ‘geraniums’ today, and in pots and borders they make a colourful show from spring to autumn, ﬂourishing in sunshine and a welldrained soil. These are robust plants, but they are frost-tender and usually die off if left outdoors during winter. Kept frost-free, they’ll survive and even bloom through the dark months. On the continent, window boxes of plants are kept ticking over from one year to the next in basements. Almost dry at the roots, they rest until the weather warms and their owners water, prune and replace them in good light. Pelargoniums are drought-tolerant and will withstand a few days of neglect should you decide to have a weekend away. Regular dead-heading keeps plants tidy, but lack of it will not prevent ﬂowering. The seed of pelargoniums is often

Pelargoniums are perfect for pots

expensive and needs starting in January or February in warmth to be ready for planting out in May. It’s easier to buy young plants as plugs, pot them into 31⁄2in (9cm) pots and grow them on in a frost-free greenhouse, or with ﬂeece to cover plants on cold nights in an unheated one. Alternatively, buy full-sized plants later that are ready to go straight out.

Amateur

Combinations to try

Reader offer

Jackpot geraniums SAVE

In borders, pelargoniums look great against silvery Artemisia â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Powis Castleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, lavender or dark foliage plants like perilla, coleus or herbaceous Persicaria â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Red Dragonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

In containers of 50:50 John Innes No2 and a soilless multipurpose compost, pair pelargoniums with small, colourful New Zealand ďŹ&#x201A;axes or trailing lobelia or bacopa.

4 fab pelargoniums to grow this summer

T&M

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These weather-tolerant F1 hybrid pelargoniums have more than enough vigour to ensure a spectacular free-ďŹ&#x201A;owering display throughout summer. Geranium â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Jackpot Mixedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; produces masses of colourful single blooms on neat, compact plants Height: 16in (40cm). Spread: 14in (35cm). Supplied as plug plants. Q Buy 36 for ÂŁ12.99 Q Buy 72 for ÂŁ16.99 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Saving ÂŁ8.99 To order, call direct on â&#x153;&#x2020; 0844 573 2021 quoting TM_AG820.

Lines are open 9am-8pm (weekdays) and 9am-6pm (weekends). OR order online today thompson-morgan.com/amateurgardening OR complete the coupon below in BLOCK CAPITALS.

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All orders will be acknowledged by letter or email, advising you of the expected despatch date. This offer is subject to availability. Only one application per reader. Offer enquiry line 0844 573 2021. Order lines open seven days a week, 9am-8pm (weekdays), 9am-6pm (weekends). All correspondence concerning this offer should be sent to: Amateur Gardening Geranium Offer, Dept TM_AG820, PO Box 162, Ipswich, IP8 3BX. Please note that your contract for supply of goods is with Thompson & Morgan (terms and conditions available on request). Offer available to readers on the UK mainland only. Please note that we cannot deliver this product to the following postcode areas: GY, HS, IV41-IV56, KW15-KW17, PA34, PA41-48, PA60-PA78, PA80, PH40-PH44, TR21-TR24, ZE1-ZE3. Offer closes 28 February 2018. Plants despatched from March 2018.

P. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Islington Peppermintâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Like a smaller version of better known peppermint scented P. tomentosum, so expect velvety, mintscented foliage with white and dark magenta ďŹ&#x201A;owers.

ORDER FORM Send to: AG Geranium Offer, Dept TM_AG820, PO Box 162, Ipswich, IP8 3BX.

P. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ă&#x2030;lĂŠganteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; A classy ivy-leaf, ideal for a small hanging basket. Whiteedged leaves ďŹ&#x201A;ush purple in the sun, contrasting with masses of white, purple-veined ďŹ&#x201A;owers.

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Incredibloom Fertiliser 1 x 100g Sachet

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P. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mrs Pollockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; An old favourite introduced in 1858 with tri-coloured foliage marked red, gold and green. Wellspaced scarlet blooms complement leaf colours.

P. triste A fascinating species whose divided leaves and small nightscented dark maroon and cream ďŹ&#x201A;owers die back to a tuber for winter. Treat like a potted succulent.

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3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Anna Toeman, Dr Jane Bingham, John Negus Schlumbergers don’t like to have dry roots or compost

Ramblers need to be tied back tidily as they mature

Rose pic: David Austin Roses

Schlumberger slump

Q How do I prune my rambling rose?

My daughter and her husband bought me a beautiful rambling rose. How should I cut it back? Mrs R Hall, Newark, Notts

Ramblers are vigorous plants that regularly produce new stems at or near ground level. They flower freely on wood produced the previous summer. There isn’t much to do in the ﬁrst few years while they grow their framework of stems for you to tie back. All that is needed is to remove the dead, diseased and damaged wood, as well as any weak stems that are unlikely to ﬂower or grow well.

Once their growing area is filled, their readiness to produce new stems from the base should be encouraged by cutting out one in three of the main stems each year. Choose the oldest stems, and of the remaining growth thin out excess stems, cut back flowering spurs to their point of origin and shorten side shoots by up to two-thirds to encourage the production of flowering spurs. Rambling roses are best pruned in summer when their single flush of flowers is over and the stems are most flexible for tying in. The rose should be fed in spring before growth re-starts.

Mum was given a Christmas cactus and the flowers didn’t develop, they ust fell off. She kept it dry – was that what caused the problem? Brenda McQuillan (via email)

Your Christmas cactus is suffering from the effects of dry compost. In nature, the plant colonises sunny river and streamside banks and is splashed with water. If you deprive it of moisture, the roots die and shoots will wither. To revive it, place it on a lightly shaded windowsill on a drip tray ﬁlled with grit or pea shingle. Water it with lime-free water – clean rainwater is ideal – when the compost starts to dry a little and the pot feels light. After a week or so, ﬂoppy, desiccated stems will plump up.

Help needed for growin tender plants

I want to grow busy Lizzies and pelargoniums this year, but don’t know how to protect them next winter. What should I do? Mr R Frost, Felixstowe, Suffolk

Both plants can be over-wintered successfully by moving them (lifting them if they are in the ground) into a well-lit, frost-free place. An unheated greenhouse, well-lit garage or shed, porch or cool room will serve. For the best results, cut the plants back by one or two-thirds and keep their compost almost dry until new growth is seen in late winter. Gradually resume watering and continue to keep your plants 38 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Compost bins are perfect for worms

Protect tender plants through the freezing days of winter

in a bright, frost-free place. Once they have produced new shoots, take plenty of cuttings to make replacement plants. The cuttings should root quickly in warm, moist potting compost in a brightly lit spot.

lusters of worms

Why do worms cluster around the lid of my plastic compost bin? drea Beeker, Market Rasen, Lincs

The probable reason for compost worms congregating on the inside rim of your compost bin is that it remains damp and is a perfect environment. You are lucky to have so many. You are obviously ﬁlling your bin with a mix of vegetable matter that the worms savour and help decompose.

Write to us: Ask The AG Experts, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants, GU14 7BF. Email us: amateurgardening@timeinc.com

Alamy

Quick Questions & Answers

Give us some Geissorhiza growing

I bought some Geissorhiza last year and forgot about them. I have seeds and corms and they look healthy, but no growing instructions. What should I do? Margaret Joyce (via email)

Geissorhiza radians grow through winter and produce pretty flowers from late winter to early spring. They are dormant in summer. The best time to sow/plant them is in autumn. Seeds should be lightly pressed on to the surface of moistened compost and the corms planted to a depth of twice their height. Place the pots in a greenhouse

or cold frame. Mature plants can be propagated when dormant by separating the offset corms. Grow the plants as a pot plant in a cool greenhouse or conservatory in John Innes No 2 with added grit. Do not add more water when dormant. They can also be grown outside in mild areas in freely drained soil in full sun, ideally against a warm south-facing wall.

Can you can tell me the names of some varieties of Ilex aquifolium and Ilex crenata that are self-fertile? Christina Feltham (via email)

I don’t know of any varieties of Ilex crenata that are selfpollinating/self-fertile. A short list of Ilex aquifolium includes ‘J C Van Tol’, ‘Pyramidalis’, ‘Alaska’ and ‘Argentea Marginata’.

Why is the bark on my apple tree dying?

The bark seems to be dying back on my apple tree and is crumbly around the damage. However, the tissue under it seems to be healthy and unstained. Can you identify the problem and suggest a remedy? Martin Hadlington (via email)

Can you suggest any potatoes that are not susceptible to scab as I garden on chalky loam. Geoff Watts (via email)

Your apple tree is suffering from a fungal disease called canker. It shouldn’t go any deeper into the trunk than it already has, but if it continues to spread it may eventually encircle the affected branch and cause it to die. However, there are things you can do to try to reduce its spread. If only one branch is affected, prune it out at a point beneath the affected area. However, if the tree is showing symptoms on more than one branch this treatment could be too drastic. Instead, carefully pare away all the infected and damaged bark and wood, cutting back to completely healthy tissue. Disinfect the knife as you are

Alamy

Although Ricinus (castor oil plant) is very poisonous, I am sure birds and other animals will instinctively avoid it. Poisoning from eating beans straight from the plant is potentially fatal.

Geissorhiza radians are dormant in summer

Canker can be stopped by pruning

doing this. Burn or bin the parings and sterilise all the tools used. Once the area is cleaned up, paint over the wound with a wound paint. Canker is said to be more serious on wet, heavy and/or acid soils, so check the soil drainage and think about raising the soil pH by liming if appropriate.

M Hadlington

Alamy

I would like to grow some large-leaved Ricinus, but I’ve heard the whole plant is poisonous. Will it endanger my garden wildlife? Rev G Squire, Barnstaple, Devon

The Royal Hor y suggests that the following varieties of potatoes show some resistance to common scab: ‘Accent’, ‘Arran Pilot’, ‘Juliette’, ‘Golden Wonder’, ‘Pentland Crown’ and ‘Pentland Javelin’. In addition, ‘Desiree’, ‘Hermes’, ‘Pixie’ and ‘Sante’ show some resistance. Unfortunately there are no varieties that are entirely resistant . 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Anna Toeman, Dr Jane Bingham, John Negus

Splitting cyclamen

A vine time to prune

What is the easiest and most reliable way of dividing clumps of cyclamen? Barney Partridge, Brighouse, W Yorks

My daughter has a three-year-old vine that is already producing grapes. She is moving house and wants to take it with her – should she prune before transplanting it? Christina Slade (via email)

The three-year-old grapevine is best potted now, before buds burst, in readiness for transplanting later. There is one problem – grapes should be pruned in autumn to obviate the risk of ‘bleeding’, which could occur if the job is done in spring. As the vine will have to be cut back before it is potted, it may be too late and there could be a substantial loss of sap. If there is no alternative and pruning has to be done now, hopefully the plant will not be unduly weakened by having its shoots shorn. Ideally, set the vine in a large pot, big enough to accommodate its root

Prune grape vines in autumn

system, and ﬁll in with John Innes potting compost No 2 or 3. Water it in to settle compost around the roots. New growth will form and, because your plant is in a pot, it can be transplanted at any time, even in leaf.

If you dec Cyclamen corms can be split and to lift the replanted clump you will find individual corms, then these can be pulled apart and replanted. Do this once the leave have died bac and replant the just under the surface. The corms can grow to the size of dinner plates, so your clump may turn out to be just a single corm. They can be cut up into pieces, each with a bud, and replanted, but they often rot off. Cyclamen are usually propagated from seed.

Alamy

Botrytis attacks when conditions are damp, cold and airless

Take cuttings of woody ‘Bowles’ Mauve’ wallﬂowers

Cure for a woody wallﬂower

I have two lilac/pink wallflowers that bloom all year, but have become rather leggy and woody. What should I do? Sue Smith (via email)

I feel sure that your perennial wallflower is Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’. A delight when young and flowering freely, it can, after three or four years, become woody and unappealing. Restore its good looks by taking side-shoot cuttings in early summer. Simply tug them from the main stem and shorten them to about 4in (10cm). Cut back leaves by half their length to minimise water loss. Then insert cuttings 3in (7cm) apart around the edge of a 4in (10cm) pot ﬁlled with cutting compost. 40 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Water in cuttings, cover them with an inflated plastic bag to keep air moist and position the pot on a sunny windowsill. When new growth indicates that roots have formed, remove the bag and wait for plantlets to develop strongly. When roots are pushing through the drainage hole, transplant your charges outdoors on a nursery bed to mature. Move them to their flowering quarters in September. Thereafter, take cuttings every year or so to replace woody and poor flowering parents.

Blight or botrytis?

Do all plants get blight? My pelargoniums seem to have a similar problem. Keith Gilbert (via email)

Pelargoniums are not susceptible to blight disease, which afflicts potatoes and tomatoes. Indeed, the fungus in question doesn’t attack plants that are not related to these two popular crops. I am wondering if you are overwintering your pelargoniums at too low a temperature in compost that is too wet. If so, shoots are liable to suffer from an attack of grey mould, which coats stems with a furry brown fungus. All you can do is cut back affected shoots and keep plants drier and warmer.

with Wendy Humphries

Write to us: Ask The AG Experts, Amateur Gardening magazine, Pinehurst 2, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough Business Park, Farnborough, Hants, GU14 7BF. Email us: amateurgardening@timeinc.com

Christmastime

Star letter

AS the search of goodwill begins, Off up the hill we go, With baskets on arm, secateurs within To collect our holly, ivy and mistletoe. It’s a beautiful morning, With snow all around, But the dog’s in his element Prancing on the ground. With our baskets full, Oh what a joy, Now for the fun, Of creating something special. The wreaths on the door, The swag on the mantelpiece, A centrepiece for the table, All made with love and care. A cardboard box is handy when shopping for plants

Perplexed at plastic bag charges M I being unduly cynical at the support from retailers for compulsory plastic bag charging? Apart from the few companies that claim to donate this income to charity, the rest will be laughing their way to the bank! More to the point, it would be better to allow customers to use the empty cardboard boxes in which products have been delivered to the shop. My local supermarket used to have piles of these freely available at the checkout,

and plastic bag use was minimal as a result. Nowadays, these have to be disposed of by retailers at vast cost. Surely far better for them to be taken home and disposed of by customers as recycled waste at no cost to traders? John Hein, Edinburgh

It never cost a penny, And boy did we have fun, The real meaning of Christmastime, Together all and one. Wendy says: A little late, but we had to share this lovely poem received from reader Jan Reece, from Berkeley, Glos, sent along with a Christmas card.

Wendy says: Apparently, boxes are available if you ask for them. What do others think? How can gardeners reduce the use of plastic? Ideas, please.

Dear Anne, is it safe to take cuttings from vines? I WAS somewhat surprised to read Anne Swithinbank’s Masterclass to grapevine cuttings (AG, 6 January). Having helped to plant 3000 young vines on the Isle of Wight, I learnt about the vine pest Phylloxera vastatrix. All the vines are grafted onto American rootstock because vines were decimated across Europe in the 1860s. Have they found a cure at last and is it safe to take cuttings? Mrs J Foster

a British nursery over 20 years ago and has always been healthy. I’ve also taken cuttings from domestic dessert vines with no problems. But have I just been lucky? On the RHS website, hardwood cuttings are given as a form of propagation (as well as grafting onto American rootstocks), so I asked their opinion, as given below. In conclusion, it would seem to be safe to grow grapes on their own roots in gardens at the moment.

Reply from Anne: Mrs Foster has a good point. The vine from which I took the hardwood cuttings was bought as an ungrafted plant from

The RHS says: “Phylloxera has become established in some commercial vineyards in southern England, where under the advice

42 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

of PHSI (Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate) it is under containment. A supermarket chain was also found to be selling infested vines imported from Spain, so this pest could become more common in the UK. “It currently has only very limited distribution, so it is unlikely that any cutting you take, particularly from domestic settings, would be infested and cause transportation of the pest. It is very important, for this and other plant-health issues, not to take cuttings from abroad. “The UK plant health risk register considers the likelihood of the pest spreading to be low.”

Share your stories, tips and photos with us and if your letter is published you will receive a new book. When you write, please indicate your area of interest!

Pots of fun I HAVE fun making paper plant pots. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the method: just wind newspaper around a jam jar or baked bean tin, with quite a bit of tuck-in at the base and a smaller fold at the top. Then pot up your seedlings as usual. You can have fun choosing a good newspaper headline or picture to brighten up the greenhouse bench! Plant the entire paper pot, as it soon rots down and adds a bit of extra humus to the soil. I also like to plant up the shiny tins, with drainage holes punched in the base, and they can be painted brightly. Harry Townsend, East Grinstead, West Sussex

Photos of the week

Berries galore

I HAD to share this photo of this whitebeam (Sorbus aria) tree near to where I live playing host to a crop of mistletoe. As you can see, the parasitic plant almost entirely covers its branches, with sprouting clumps festooned with thousands of white berries. A few red sorbus berries remain too, so these, and the ripening white mistletoe berries, are sure to provide mistle thrushes and other birds with a winter banquet! Moira Bennett, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parade MY evergreen agapanthus has been stored away for the winter and I am looking forward to a beautiful display again this summer. I wanted to share with other readers just how magniďŹ cently it bloomed last year, with stems reaching well over 6ft tall. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hope for a repeat! James Love, Bangor, North Wales

My newspaper pots and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; mould

Readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Quick Tip IF you have several pots of bulbs just showing ďŹ&#x201A;ower buds, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bring them all in at once. Bring them indoors one at a time to open in the warmth. This will stagger ďŹ&#x201A;owering and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have a longer display to enjoy. Jane Martin, Leamington Spa, Warks Amateur

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3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

Reader offer

FREE* Patio Potato Kit

WORTH £24.98

for every reader!

G READERS can claim this free Potato Growing Kit, which contains 3x Potato ‘Charlotte’ tubers, the award-winning and well-know favourite second early potato. It’s a must-have early cropper for 2018, and delicious hot or cold. Included in your kit will also be 3x 8-litre Black Patio Planter Bags, 100g of Incredicrop fertiliser and 5x packs of lucky dip vegetable and salad seeds. *just pay £5.65 for postage

Potato ‘Charlotte’ is a popular second early variety

OTHER SPECIAL OFFERS OFFER

Begonia ‘Apricot Shades’ Large, cascading, double blooms will pour from your containers from July to October. You’ll be enjoying gorgeous ﬂowers in shades of apricot and orange that reach 2½-4in (6-10cm) in diameter all summer and well into autumn. Supplied as plug plants. Height: 12in (30cm). Spread: 18in (45cm). FLOWERS JULY TO OCTOBER

44 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

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Geranium ‘Jackpot Mixed’ These weather-tolerant, F1 hybrid pelargoniums have more than enough vigour to ensure a spectacular, free-ﬂowering display throughout summer. Geranium ‘Jackpot Mixed’ produces masses of colourful single blooms on neat compact plants. Height: 16in (40cm). Spread: 14in (35cm). Supplied as plug plants. MASSES OF BLOOMS

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Acacia dealbata Pompom yellow ﬂowers are produced on this evergreen tree against a backdrop of feathery foliage. Scented, nectar-rich blooms provide a valuable source of food for bees and other insects in spring. Height: Up to 26ft (8m). Spread: Up to 16ft (5m). Supplied as a 3½in (9cm) potted plant. GREAT FOR BEES

OFFER

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Strawberry ‘Flamenco’ Strawberry ‘Flamenco’ is a versatile variety suitable for growing in beds or containers. From only 12 mature plants you’ll be able to harvest a bumper crop of up to 22lb (10kg) of fruit in one season from mid-May until November, with the peak of the fruit produced in early September. Supplied as bareroots. SAVE £7.99

■ Buy 12 for £12.99 ■ Buy 24 for £17.99 Saving £7.99

From HOW Cardholders call direct on 0844 573 2021 TO ORDER quoting TM_AGT370, or TM_AGT371 if you’re

a subscriber. Calls cost 7p per minute plus your telephone provider’s access charge. Lines are open 9am-8pm (weekdays) and 9am-6pm (weekends). Minimum order £10. Alternatively, post the coupon with payment included to the address below (please do not send stamps or cash). Only one application per reader. Please make cheques or postal orders payable to T&M and write your name and address on the back. Free Potato Kits will be despatched from February 2018 onwards. All other orders will be acknowledged with a despatch date. Delivery to UK addresses only. Offer closes 28 February 2018. Please note your contract for supply of goods is with Thompson & Morgan, Poplar Lane, Ipswich, IP8 3BU (terms & conditions available upon request). All offers are subject to availability.

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T47453

Geranium ‘Jackpot Mixed’ x 36

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Acacia dealbata x 1

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Acacia dealbata x 2

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Thompson & Morgan/Alamy/Wikimedia

Raspberry ‘Ruby Beauty’ These dwarf canes reach just 3ft (1m) high, making them perfect for large patio containers and smaller gardens. Try planting one plant per 10-litre pot or three to a 40-litre pot. Produces an impressive 1.5kg of fruit per plant. Height: 39in (100cm). Spread: 20in (50cm). Supplied as a 3½in (9cm) potted plant. PERFECT FOR POTS

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

Seed dispersal and survival

THIS Gardening WEEK History IN 30 January-

In nature, some seeds may travel many miles (even thousands) by wind or sea, often taking months or even years before they ﬁnd a resting place where they can germinate. In the animal world we nurture our offspring, tending to their every need, but this doesn’t happen in the plant world. Why? Well, put simply, it is undesirable for seeds to grow too close to the parent plant. Often many seeds, possibly thousands, are produced, and

5 February

Q 30 January 1913 Britain’s first celebrity television gardener, Percy Thrower, was born in Buckinghamshire. Percy died in 1998.

Veg seed viability If stored in a cool, dry and dark place, vegetable seeds will, on average, last (stay ‘viable’) for a number of years: 2 years – onions, parsnips, salsify, scorzonera, seakale, sweetcorn 3 years – asparagus, all beans, leek, parsley, pea 4 years – beetroot, carrot, fennel, pepper, pumpkin, tomato 5 years – aubergine, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliﬂower, celeriac, chicory, Chinese cabbage, kale, kohl

Q 1 February 1560 Mr Child started a seed shop in Pudding Lane in the City of London (near where the Great Fire ignited a century later). His business survived, and was eventually bought by Hurst’s Seeds.

Time Inc/Alamy

Q 5 February 1799 John Lindley, eminent botanist and after whom the famous RHS library is named, was born in Norfolk. He died in 1865. 46 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

rabi, lettuce, melon, radish, spinach, turnip, watercress 6 years – celery, cucumber, marrow

Unforgettable cyclamen

Jean-Pierre Hamon/Wikimedia

Q 2 February 1996 Flamingos in the Garden of Buckingham Palace were killed by a fox, which walked over the frozen lake to get to the birds.

if even just a few of them germinated in the vicinity of the parent, both generations of plant would compete for space, light, food and moisture.

Q Some plants take a very long time to ripen their seeds, The hardy cyclamen (C. hederifolium), for example, will ﬂower from late summer to late autumn, but will only release its seeds almost a year after the ﬂower has faded. It’s therefore often

easy to forget to collect them! Q An added complication is that cyclamen seeds are coated in a sugary ﬁlm that ants ﬁnd irresistible. They’ll heave and pull the seeds down into their nests, and they’ll then be lost to you forever.

NEW

SERIES

ReconditeRodent/Wikimedia

Hardy geraniums

The Ancient Greeks looked at the seed-vessel of the perennial geranium and thought it resembled a crane's bill. Today, one of the common names for several wild species of geranium is cranesbill. Also, the Greek for a ‘crane’ is geranos.

Ian Hindmarsh/Wikimedia

Wow! I didn’t know that…

Q The seed of the horse chestnut tree is better known as the conker. No British child could have played ‘conkers’ before the reign of James I, as the horse chestnut did not arrive in Britain until 1600. Q A tube of hybrid begonia seed was exhibited at a trade show in 2012, and it was valued at £250,000 – weight-for-weight, it was worth more than platinum. Q Any ﬂeshy fruit with a stone (the seed being encased in a hard shell) is known as a drupe. Examples include peach, plum, damson, cherry – and holly.

Prize Draw Westland Bulb Planting Compost provides the perfect growing media for both indoor and outdoor bulbs. This specially formulated compost promotes strong root growth and sustained plant development, which results in healthier bulbs and more vibrant ﬂowers. We have three 20-litre packs to give away, each worth £5.99. See below for details of how to enter the prize draw.

How to enter

Send your name and address on the back of a postcard to Westland Bulb Planting Compost Draw, Amateur Gardening, 2 Pinehurst, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF. Or you can email your details to ag giveaway@timeinc.com, heading the email Westland Bulb Planting Compost Draw. The closing date is 6 February 2018.

WIN £30

Word Search

ch contains words connected to seeds and seed sowing. 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 eight letters remaining; arrange these to make this week’s KEY WORD.

BEAN CASE COMPOST DRILL GERMINATE GREENHOUSE PACKET PEA POT PROPAGATE SEEDBED SEEDS SOAK SOW STORING STRATIFY SURFACE TRAY

E T A N I M R E G E

S P O T D I G C S T

A I R R S N O U E E

C A I O I M O K E C

Y L W R P H C S D A

L T O O N A O N B F

No: 401

C T S E P A G G E R

S T E T K P E A D U

H R S D E E S B T S

G Y F I T A R T S E

HOW TO ENTER: Enter this week’s keyword on the entry form, and send it to AG Word Search No 401, Amateur Gardening, 2 Pinehurst, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire, GU14 7BF, to arrive by Wednesday 14 February, 2018. The first correct entry chosen at random will win our £30 cash prize. This week’s Keyword is .................................................................................... Name .................................................................................................................. Address .............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................. Postcode ............................................................................................................ Email................................................................................................................... Tel no .................................................................................................................. Time Inc. (UK) Ltd, publisher of Amateur Gardening will collect your personal information solely to process your competition entry.

3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

A Gardener’s Miscellany Seedlessness… How do they do that?

Crossword (

)

Actors – Graham Seed (played Nigel Pargetter in The Archers from 1983-2011), Sean Bean (left)

Singers – Chuck Berry (left), Joss Stone, Mike Berry

Bands – The Lightning Seeds, The Black Eyed Peas, Gladys Knight & The Pips (left), The Stone Roses

Alamy/Wikimedia

Alternative seed-based definitions Q Cross-pollinate – An angry bee Q Germinate – Acht (eight in German) Q Millet – A small mill Q Precede – To sow an area beforehand Q Seed – Past participle of ‘I have seen’ Q Seedlings – Small (or young) tennis p Q Supersede – The best pip 48 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

((

() (*

ACROSS 1 American friend, pertaining to newly formed leaves or flowers that have not yet unfolded! (5) 3 An expensive car, or exotic waterlily (5) 7 Calcium ________ exists only in aqueous solution, making the water hard, and therefore leaving scale in pipes and white marks on clay pots (11) 8 The shrubby cinquefoil genus (10) 9 The lady’s mantle genus (10) 13 Sedum ‘Medizi’, of average dimensions! (6-5) (anag) 14 Edible plum-like fruit of the Australian parinari tree (5) 15 Small, sharp knife used to strip the peel off fruits, or to remove shavings from wood (5)

DOWN

1 This variety of Jonquil narcissus is an Americanism from the 1940s, probably derived from the nonsense syllables typical of scat music (5) 2 In botany, the name for a plant that produces two seed leaves (11) 4 This variety of small, edible plum is a pioneer in any ﬁeld or endeavour (11) 5 Fertilised ovule, containing an embryonic plant (4) 6 To be adjacent; touch or join at the edge or border, as in turves when laying a lawn (4) 10 Many trees of the ulmus genus (4) 11 Single tree of the alnus genus (5) 12 Event regarded as a portent of good or evil, as in the Japanese iris ‘Good ____’ (4)

CROSSWORD ANSWERS

Famous names connected to seeds

ACROSS 1 Buddy 3 Lotus 7 Bicarbonate 8 Potentilla 9 Alchemilla 13 Medium-sized 14 Nonda 15 Parer DOWN 1 Bebop 2 Dicotyledon 4 Trailblazer 5 Seed 6 Abut 10 Elms 11 Alder 12 Omen

Q The seeds inside citrus fruits are, of course, the pips, but have you ever wondered why some limes and oranges (as well as grapes) don’t have pips? How can they be grown if they don’t produce seed? Q These seedless types are cultivated forms, grown in warmer countries and imported to Britain, and have been selected by breeders and propagated vegetatively (from grafting, cuttings or cellular micropropagation) for consistent seedlessness.

KEYWORD TO WORDSEARCH 396 (AG 23-30 DECEMBER) FESTIVAL AND THE WINNER IS: MISS S BRIGGS, BRIGHOUSE, WEST YORKS

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Tried&tested We try before you buy

Petrol-driven chainsaws Sally Drury puts four affordable petrol-driven chainsaws to the test to see which one is a cut above the rest

All pictures Sally Drury

INTER gales can bring down branches, even whole trees. And at this time of year, firewood needs preparing for the burner or stove. Before the birds start nesting, it is also an excellent time to tackle that out-of-control monster hedge or to remove a few overcrowded shrubs. Or perhaps your thoughts are already turning to the warmer weather and your garden design needs a pergola or other feature to make it complete. There are lots of occasions when a chainsaw comes in handy. The new lithium-ion batterypowered tools are increasing in popularity, but some people still prefer the muscle and the freedom of movement given by petrol chainsaws. As these tend to be more powerful and have a cutting chain that whizzes round much faster than most electric or battery-powered alternatives, you need to be conďŹ dent in handling petrol chainsaws. If in doubt, you will ďŹ nd your local agricultural college or

rural-studies centre will occasionally offer short courses in chainsaw use. Check lantra.co.uk for more details. You should also make sure you have

Makita EA3201S35B SSP ÂŁ260 01908 211678

the correct protective gear, which includes proper ear defenders, a visor, chainsaw gloves and, preferably, chainsaw trousers or chaps. Amateur

Best buy

makitauk.com for dealer locator

Features

/15

An environmentally friendly 32cc chainsaw ďŹ tted with a catalytic converter to lower emissions and carrying a 15in (38cm) bar and 3â &#x201E;8in chain. Features tool-less chain tensioning, automatic oiling from a 28ml oil reservoir and automatic half throttle lock. Fuel tank capacity is 40ml. Easy starting afforded by on/off choke combination and spring-assisted recoil. Lightest in the test, it weighs 4.2kg.

Performance

A short, quick tug on the recoil brought this saw to life. It may be compact but it is a high-output, high-spirited machine. On logs it showed guts, giving real grunt, while the size and weight ensured easy manoeuvrability for pruning work. A touch of the combo switch stopped the saw, but also returned it ready for the next start. It was a pleasure to use this machine, as the vibrations were 50 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

minimal and the chain brake was responsive.

Value

This is the most expensive chainsaw in the test, but sometimes it is worth paying that little bit more to get the right tool. In any case, a quick Google search shows a number of online outlets selling it for less than ÂŁ180. It is supplied with socket wrench and screwdriver.

Next week: Tool racks and tidies: we test 6 systems for keeping tools organised

FGM Claymore Harry ZM4630T RRP £189 01789 490177 fgmclaymore.co.uk for dealer locator Score

13 /15

Features

With a 45.6cc engine this Harry chainsaw is ﬁtted with a 16in (38cm) Oregon bar carrying a .325 chain. The starting is spring assisted. It has a 52ml fuel tank, 26ml oil tank for automatic oiling and Walbro carburettor. Weight is 4.9kg, and it comes with a range of accessories.

Performance

After priming, it only needed a gentle tug on the recoil and the chainsaw ﬁred into life. Nicely balanced and lightweight, this saw has remarkable speed and zipped quickly through logs but the vibration was frustratingly tiring.

Value

Coming with a load of extras – including face mask, gloves, funnel and mixing bottle – this Harry chainsaw should prove useful for prepping ﬁrewood and general timber work.

Lawnﬂite MTD GCS460045 £179 free delivery from online shop 01869 363641 lawnﬂite.co.uk for online shop or dealer locator Score

13 /15

Features

With the biggest engine in the test, this 46.4cc saw is matched to an 18in (45cm) bar with 3.8in Oregon chain and lateral chain-tensioner. Chain oiling is automatic. It is strong and well built, with a generous 55ml fuel tank and 0.26ml oil tank. Weight is 5.4kg.

Performance

It took some effort to turn the engine over, but once this saw was ﬁred up it soon made up for lost time. With oodles of power and plenty of torque it ripped through logs quickly and easily. Some, but not excessive, vibration was evident through the handles.

Value

This gives a surprising amount of power for your pounds and, being nicely balanced, should be a good feller as well as good for general timber work.

Cobra Garden CS420-14 RRP £154.99 Promo Price: £144.99 from online shop 0115 964 5915 cobragarden.co.uk for online shop and dealer locator

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

Score

14 /15

Features

Designed in Britain this well-constructed and strong saw is powered by a 42cc engine and has a 14in (35cm) Oregon bar with 3⁄8in low kickback chain. It boasts a Walbro carburettor and tool-less tensioning. Weight is 6kg. Oil reservoir is 30ml, with automatic oiling, and the fuel tank is 55ml. This chainsaw comes with a useful storage/carry bag, tools, mixing bottle and 100ml two-stroke oil.

Performance

It took a couple of vigorous pulls to start this Cobra and a few revs to wind up the power, but it has a sting in its tail. With plenty of power, it cut through logs with gusto and gave a controlled and neat cut when pruning. On the downside it suffers from vibration.

Value

This is a bargain and, being an all-rounder, it should prove useful for logging and cutting ﬁrewood, pruning and smallscale felling as well as timber construction work. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

the look Get Ideas for gorgeous gardens

Making a virtue of downsizing A new garden has meant a fresh opportunity for Janet Bashforth, who has really got stuck into her new plot in Cheshire OWNSIZING was always going to be a bitter-sweet experience for passionate gardener Janet Bashforth when she swapped a quarter of an acre for a 40m² plot bordering open countryside. Yet rather than dwell on the size of the new garden she had, she embraced the opportunity to create an entirely new design for the space surrounding her new home, a converted bungalow dating back to 1909 in the Cheshire village of High Legh. “I decided there was one more garden I could do,” says Janet, who has studied both horticulture and design at Reaseheath College after retiring from her career in customer services. “In some ways I felt a bit frustrated at leaving behind the space I had previously, but at the same time I like the cosiness of my new garden, its enclosed feel and the way it ﬁlls with colour as summer approaches. It’s a north-facing garden, but some

Build a bug hotel to shelter for beneﬁcial insects. Janet made hers with her grandchildren using old plant pots, bricks, cut-down wooden pallets and a ridge tile. This shadier area is planted with hostas, Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ and Heuchera ‘Blackberry Jam’ 54 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Re-purpose old step ladders to provide eye-catching stands for pots of pelargoniums, which stand out against a laurel hedge. Janet has preserved the ‘distressed look’ of this one

Look out for eye-catching pots, such as this terracotta head complete with a mop of blue fescue Festuca glauca. A few years’ worth of algae add to its charm

Words by Sue Bradley/photography by Howard Walker

Bring together good design and colour for a picture-perfect plot. Janet loves her new ‘horn’ obelisks, which meet to form an arch, and the olive tree planted in a raised circular bed and sheltered by a nearby oak

parts of it are in the sun all day.” The previous owner had covered much of the outside space in concrete slabs, had stable blocks and was using it as a dog-training area. There wasn’t much of a garden to speak of when the property changed hands, and this meant Janet practically had a blank canvas to play with. Key to her design was a series of oval and round beds, all linked by a sinuous brick path that simultaneously holds the different sections together and provides a point of interest in its own right. “I could see the potential here and worked with local landscaper Neil Jones to turn what I had put on paper into reality,” says Janet. “There’s no grass: I wanted the garden to be as low maintenance as possible. I do most of the work myself, but Peter Limb comes and helps me with the heavy jobs.” Once the hard landscaping was in place, Janet was able to ﬁll in the gaps with plants, opting for choice specimens she had come across throughout her long-held interest in gardening, along with more well-known perennials such as Geranium psilostemon, Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’ and ‘Hidcote’ lavender, on which she could rely for blocks of stunning colour. Some beds are given over to bold combinations, such as blue, yellow and white; red and pink; and blue and pink, all inﬂuenced by Christopher Lloyd’s celebrated planting at Great Dixter, while a narrower section features a combination of box balls, the upright grass Stipa tenuissima ‘Wind Whispers’ and the rounded-headed garlic Allium sphaerocephalon. Elsewhere, Janet has borrowed an

idea from designer Piet Oudolf and brought together a series of box balls that she is allowing to grow together to eventually create a “cloud” effect. “I just adore plants,” she says. “Fortunately, I work at a plant nursery (Bluebell Cottage Gardens at Dutton) two days a week in the summer and that gives me access to all the perennials I want. “Wildlife makes the garden complete and I try to encourage it with my pond, bug hotel and bird feeders.” Having a smaller space to play with has in no way cramped Janet’s sense of style and she’s thrilled with what’s she’s managed to achieve in just two years. “I opened my previous garden for the National Gardens Scheme and set myself the challenge of making a new one that would be good enough to be in the yellow book. I was delighted when it passed muster,” says Janet, who has gone on to become county organiser for Cheshire. Embrace curves and turn an awkward spot into an intriguing feature. Janet has designed a loop and ﬁlled it with box balls, which will eventually join to create a ‘cloud’, and interspersed them with colourful alliums

Carefully position table and chair sets to make the most of sunny spots from which to enjoy views of the garden. This gravelled area cleverly hides a septic tank

Meet the owners NAME Janet Bashforth ADDRESS 2 Fanners Lane, High Legh, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 0RZ SIZE OF GARDEN 40x40m MONTH VISITED July ASPECT North-facing SOIL Sandy loam, acid pH with added leaf mould SPECIAL FEATURES Wildlifefriendly and carefully designed garden that makes the most of a smaller space that’s been created in the space of just two years. Features a small pond, sinuous pathway and colourful oval beds. OPEN FOR THE NGS IN 2018 Saturday 23 June, 10am-5pm. 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

the look Get Ideas for gorgeous gardens Base a garden design around a series of sinuous paths that draw the eye around the plot and provide a ﬁrm base from which to maintain beds. Box balls and Stipa tenuissima ‘Wind Whispers’ create a stunning border, while Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’, Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’ and daylilies ramp up the colour

Sprinkle a border with the red-ﬂowered Achillea ‘Paprika’ and icy Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ for a bold display

Use characterful old chimney pots to elevate plants, such as pelargonium, within the garden. Janet brought this one from her old house 56 AMATEUR GARDENING 3 FEBRUARY 2018

Plant sweet peas for colour, perfume and blooms for the house. Janet grows this strongly scented bi-coloured Lathyrus odoratus ‘Matucana’ on a metal obelisk that’s been allowed to have a rusty patina

Choose white to provide a focal point that stands out against a shady or green background. This elegant table-and-chair set chimes beautifully with an ‘Albéric Barbier’ rambling rose

Plant massed ranks of round-headed garlic Allium sphaerocephalon for a stunning display, which starts with tight green buds before opening out into reddish-brown blooms

Soften areas of concrete with attractive pots ﬁlled with colourful plants, but don’t forget to water them regularly, particularly if they’re in a sunny spot

Hold on to old plants that still look good. This ‘Superstar’ climbing rose was popular three or four decades ago and continues to put on a good performance in Janet’s garden

Dig a pond to provide a wildlife-friendly oasis in the garden. Janet had hers built with a ledge for resting pots of marginal plants, such as marsh marigold and mimulus

Put together an ensemble of objects to bring interest to a barren patch of the garden. Here a pelargonium in a wicker basket looks great with clusters of terracotta pots and a metal hedgehog

3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

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Toby Buckland

Nurseryman and former Gardeners’ World host

Toby’s top tips

Use tin foil placed behind seed trays to bounce light back onto seedlings, helping to keep them short and stocky. Grow lights come in all shapes and sizes, and can be used for young plants and citrus, among others

Let there be grow lights When it comes to grow lights, big isn’t always best, says Toby

Alamy/Two Wests & Elliott

FEW years ago I invested in a massive 1,000-watt sodiumhalide lamp and reflector to give overwintered pelargoniums, citrus and herbs a boost in the greenhouse. Flick the switch and instantaneously plants are irradiated with a light akin to the Saharan sun, but I worry that the brightness creates a negative impression of what goes on at Chez Buckland. I first became concerned when I arrived home after dark to find the garden glowing like a fallen star. Its radiance was so reminiscent of the final scene from Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind that I feared that I might be abducted or, worse, ‘probed’ by extra-terrestrials. Thankfully, the source of the alien luminescence revealed itself to be plugged into the socket in the greenhouse, but as reality dawned a new fear followed in ET’s footsteps… what must the neighbours think? Until this point I’d been using the light to lengthen the short winter days, setting the power to come on via a timer, oblivious to the perception that grow lights are the horticultural equivalent of a hoodie with a marijuana leaf emblazoned on the belly. While owning such a garment doesn’t make you a drug dealer or a grow lamp a drug producer, it’s the first thought of

anyone who clocks your greenhouse glowing like a second sun. Now I’ve changed my modus so the lights fire up during the day when they’re less noticeable, although this wouldn’t have been an issue if I’d gone with a more modern solution. Technology, no doubt fuelled by demand from growers with nefarious intentions, has resulted in a raft of inexpensive and inconspicuous lights that are brilliant for boosting the growth of seedling chillies, greenhouse toms and aubergines. For raising seedlings, old-school regular daylight (T5) fluorescent tubes are great, while for growing-on, modern and efficient LEDs are the choice and

If you have walls in your greenhouse (like me), paint them white to reﬂect light. This makes a big difference, especially at the beginning of the growing season. both come in sizes small enough to fit on a windowsill. You’re probably familiar with highpressure sodium-halide lights like mine as they’re also used to illuminate motorways, and unless you have complete privacy the M6 is probably the best place for them.

Using grow lights I like LEDs as they come in small and easy-to-use Anglepoise formats and don’t give off as much heat as traditional HP sodiumhalide bulbs. The simplest way to use them is as a supplement to the watery sunshine at either end of the day. During vegetative growth some lights

mimic spring with 18 hours of light (including natural sunshine), dropping down to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark to trick plants into fruiting as though autumn has arrived. When using lights, take extra care with the watering – plants will need more, especially if the lights give off heat 3 FEBRUARY 2018 AMATEUR GARDENING

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