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The RHS A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants Discover more than 15,000 beautiful plants and learn how to successfully grow each one
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A good pair of secateurs or pruners are an indispensable tool for gardeners
Liquidambar RHS Guide to Pruning and Training Available in hardback and paperback Step-by-step guidance on how to prune and shape more than 800 different plants, including climbing plants, fruiting vines, conifers, and palm trees
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Gifts For The By Caroline Wright Gardener
the National Diploma in Horticulture, each new year brought a budding cohort of gardeners eager to start a new career in horticulture. Over the first few weeks we would issue booklists and demonstrate professional tools and equipment and by the end of the first half term everyone would have a lengthy wish list to send to Santa. Looking back at the most popular items, I have put together a selection of the top 5 Christmas present ideas for beginners and experienced gardeners alike, that I have recommended over the years. The Number 1 book for everybody with a love of plants and a must. The RHS A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants. This two volume set of books is a comprehensive reference for over 15,000 plants giving detailed guidance on how to identify each species, their decorative attributes, hardiness, planting preferences, cultivation, propagation and pruning information. For all gardeners and plant lovers this is the definitive ‘Bible’ and an invaluable addition to their bookshelf. With beautiful colour photographs and botanical descriptions, it is one of the best ways to enhance your plant knowledge. ISBN-10 : 9780241239124 tool and all serious gardeners should always carry a quality pair around. There are lots of different types and makes on the market to suit different budgets but my advice would be spend as much as you can afford. The main difference is the quality of the steel used in the blades and the working parts. Good quality secateurs should be fully serviceable so that all parts can be cleaned, oiled, tightened and the blades sharpened. The quality of the steel Caroline has been a lecturer in horticulture for 20 years and is now running a nursery and 'garden craft' courses in the Haute-Vienne at Le jardin creatif
LOOKING FOR SOME SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT TO BUY A KEEN GARDENER? THESE GIFTS OPTIONS ARE CERTAIN TO BE WELL RECEIVED
In my previous role as course leader for Secateurs are the most useful gardening lejardincreatif.net makes a huge difference to the longevity of techniques and timings for a vast range of the blades; softer metal looses its cutting plants. Thoroughly recommended! edge more quickly and is easily damaged. My preference is for Felco secateurs, they come in a range of sizes and you can buy replacement parts so that you can always maintain your trusty pair. They have bright red handles so are easily found if you have mislaid them in the garden (avoid buying secateurs with green handles, you will never spot them!) I use Trees. Trees are an investment in the future and when they are given as a gift they become a living memory of an event, a person or a special date – or all three! Planting trees enhances the environment aesthetically and increases biodiversity as well as air quality and soil stabilisation. There are many decorative trees to choose from, some suitable for smaller gardenstheir No. 6 pair; it is a good choice for such as Malus x floribunda, Sorbuspeople with small hands and has a small cashmiriana, Amelanchier canadensis toblade for fine pruning (I believe that their bigger specimens such as Liriodendronlatest equivalent is tulipifera andNo 16). They also Liquidambar styraciflua.do large pairs, For all gardeners and plant There is also a wide choice professional, lovers this is the definitive of fruit and nut trees standard and economy pairs as well as a left‘Bible’ and an invaluable addition to their bookshelf suitable for gardens of all sizes and most will give a decorative display ofhanded option. blossom alongside the Another invaluable pruning related tool is promise of spring and a crop of tasty fruits a good quality folding pruning saw. in the autumn. Apples, pears, apricots, Safe and easy to carry around they have a figs, cherries, almonds and walnuts all do specialist blade for cutting both fresh and well in the lovely long seasons here. dry wood, the blade folds away when not For someone who has everything you can in use. Great for pruning branches up to always give the gift of learning. While 10cm in diameter, they are nifty and easy books are excellent for reference and give to use. Quality brands include ‘Felco’ and easy access to descriptions and diagrams it ‘Silky’ – again these have blades that can is always valuable to have hands on be replaced and are fully serviceable. guidance and practical experience. At Le RHS Guide to Pruning and Training (there is a theme going here!). One of the most frequent questions that I get is ‘how do I prune this plant’ …. (and I have to say that my pet hate is to see badly pruned plants, shrubs and especially trees). Many of us have ornamental trees and shrubs, orchards and fruit bushes, climbers and vines that all have a bewildering range of different pruning techniques. This book Jardin Créatif we run a range of courses from horticultural topics such as grafting, pruning, propagation, veg growing to ‘garden crafts’ where you can come along and make a garden feature or sculpture or create something bespoke to decorate your garden as a focal point. Check out our website for details of courses and gift vouchers. Our schedule for the coming season will be published in the New Year. gives extensive guidance on tools, Visit our website: lejardincreatif.net
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DECEMBER IN THE GARDEN
AT LAST WE’RE COMING TO THE END OF 2020, A YEAR THAT MOST OF US WILL BE GLAD TO SEE THE BACK OF. I HOPE THAT EVEN IF 2021 STARTS A BIT ‘ROCKY’ IT STARTS TO IMPROVE AND IS BETTER THAN MOST OF 2020 HAS BEEN!
By Ronnie Ogier
many downs; if not fear, then great concern about Covid-19; very limited opportunity to see my beautiful grandchildren, and their parents of course, in the UK; long periods when social interaction has been very difficult; and for me personally no Open Gardens/Jardin Ouverts activity, no flower and plant fairs, no gardens to visit and enjoy and no opportunity to open my garden and welcome visitors. But, again for me personally, there has been an upside as I have had more time in decent weather to work in my garden and complete many jobs which had been ‘planned’, together with some completely new ideas that have been brought to fruition. But I’ll still stay up on 31st December to make sure this year does end and that we welcome 2021 with renewed hope and enthusiasm! December is a good month to start pruning and it’s the time to plan and deliver some changes that will benefit next year’s fruit, flowers and colours. Winter pruning applies to woody deciduous trees, shrubs and hedges after the leaves have fallen, and you can see the structure defined by the branches – at this time of year you can actually see what you are Ronnie is a passionate gardener and now loves sharing her years of experience of success and failures in her own garden and sharing it with you. Also a keen runner, having been bitten by
Looking back over 2020 it has had the ‘Couch to 5K’ bug! doing! When you winter prune a woody is just above a bud but sloping away from plant bear in mind that ‘growth follows the the bud in order to carry water away and knife’. There will be two certain outcomes prevent rotting. from winter pruning; the first, the harder you cut, the stronger will be the subsequent growth; the second, any single stem you cut will respond by producing multiple stems when it regrows in the spring. So winter is the time to prune to stimulate vigorous new growth. If you The cold crisp days of winter are ideal for pruning apple and pear trees. For young trees, it is needed to encourage them to form a good shape – always aim for a goblet shape with no inward growing branches. For more mature trees, pruning want to prune to limit growth, perhaps to will keep them healthy and ensure a good train into a specific shape, then prune supply of fruit the following year. Start by in summer. standing back and taking a good look at the shape of the tree. Look for dead, Once trees, shrubs and hedges have lost diseased or damaged wood and removetheir leaves they that first. Then look become dormant and for areas of the sap is no longer rising. This means that cuts will not ‘bleed’ and the plants will receive I have made the mistake in the past of ‘knowing’ I’d remember which was which, overcrowding, with branches that may be crossing or rubbing - theseless of a shock to their systems. Wounds will callous over and this natural process should happen before growth begins again in spring. It is also important to make the right basic cuts. Cutting too far from a bud should be removed and thinned out. Aim to get good air and light penetration to the crown of the tree, and always cut back to strong mature wood. but, come spring when I was replanting, I didn’t have a clue will cause die-back between the cut and The aim with shrubs and roses is similar the bud below. Cutting too close to a bud to that with trees, in that you want to end will often damage the bud. The correct cut up with a good open shape - again start by
removing dead, diseased and damaged wood. Early in the winter cut back long growth on shrub roses to prevent windrock damage during the winter. The main pruning of these roses is traditionally done in February or March. Climbing roses produce vigorous main stems with flowers on the sideshoots, and with these the main task is to cut back the sideshoots on the main framework. Each main stem is useful for up to five years but in order to keep the plant flowering, try to remove one or two of the oldest main stems each year. Ramblers are different, they need a twoyear cycle of growth for each main stem, after the second the stem should be removed from the base. On the first-year stems trim back the tip, to encourage flower-producing side-shoots in spring. And finally, pruning for colour and shape! Some plants are grown for their colourful stems which often change colour during the first year of growth. For these cut back hard, almost to ground level, some of the older stems exposing the younger more brightly coloured ones. Other shrubs send up new growth from the base every year, and the whole shrub becomes overcrowded. For these plants cut back to ground level weak spindly stems, together with no more than a third of the older ones. The outcome of this treatment for both these groups of plants will be refreshed energy and new growth in the spring. Pruning can be intimidating but it is, in fact, a very forgiving activity. We’ve all made mistakes either by being over enthusiastic and cutting back too hard, or by not cutting enough and having little or no impact on the basic framework. But time will rectify these mistakes very quickly and you always get another chance next year! And there are still a range of more standard ‘housekeeping’ jobs that should be done over the next few weeks: ● Increase your stock of plants by taking hardwood cuttings – all you need is a pair of secateurs and a large pot or spare piece of ground to develop a new plant, the same as the parent. Rooting will be slow, but they will start to grow in the spring. You can also take root cuttings from plants such as phlox, primulas and verbena. Plant out bare root shrubs and dormant fruit trees. Apply grease-bands to the trunks of fruit trees, to prevent wingless female winter moths climbing the trunks and laying their eggs in the branches. Keep inspecting stored fruit and vegetables and remove produce with any sign of rot. Give the greenhouse glazing a thorough clean and put up bubble wrap insulation, but do ventilate on warm days to prevent moulds becoming established. Give soil a boost – a mulch of manure or garden compost will improve the soil structure and also introduce valuable micro-organisms. Check seed packets and make a planting plan for 2021. If seeds appear to be ‘out of date’ test a few on a piece of damp kitchen paper somewhere warm to see if any germinate. December is also a good month to go through your garden storage area checking, cleaning, repairing and replacing as necessary and, dare I say, getting rid of the old ‘treasures’ that you’ve stored and not used for years!! Before you go indoors, insulate outdoor taps and turn off the water at the mains. And if all else fails, bring colour into the house with Christmas house plants and bulbs, pick up a gardening magazine or book and enjoy dreaming about 2021 in your garden. Happy Christmas!
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