Garden News February 7

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9

TOMATO PLANT! And try to break the world record!

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10

PLANTS YOU MUST GROW!

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Devon-based TV presenter and author who really knows her plants!

Carol Klein This week at

GLEBE COTTAGE Carol looks at plants that love the hedges and edges of your garden 1

Foxgloves

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Euphorbia amygdaloides

Our native foxglove, Digitalis purpurea, is probably the most noticeable of all hedgerow plants.

Not only are its stems tall and its bells large and visible, but there are lots of them – opening first at the base of the flower spike, then gradually moving upwards, so they’re a presence at the garden’s edge for a long time. Sow some seeds now and by the summer you’ll have chunky li le plants to put out that will flower the next year.

Garden World Images

Our native wood spurge fits the bill under hedgerows – or with its back to the wall. There are several outstanding varieties and selections with rich crimson foliage or, if you want a variety that colonises, try E. amygdaloides robbiae.

All have heads of lime-green bracts in spring.

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Meconopsis cambrica

Tissue paper flowers of yellow or, more unusually, orange or red decorate clumps of vivid green foliage, softening edges and bringing splashes of colour to the base of walls, hedges and fences. Let it seed because it’s never a nuisance and it’s an important pollen plant for bees and other insects.

Jonathan Buckley

HERE SEEMS TO be a lot of edge to the garden here.

No, I’m not suggesting it’s trendy – heaven forbid – but just that its perimeters seem quite predominant. Though it’s true that in some parts of the garden our attention is caught by beds and borders towards the centre – especially during more flowery, summery times – there are so many routes and paths close to the periphery that you are always aware of the edges too. They’re almost a separate environment, a place apart.

The garden here at Glebe

T

18 Garden News / February 7 2015

Cottage is long and narrow. The two main boundaries run north to south, so every day the sun (if it’s shining) casts its light first on the east side of the hedge or boundary and later on the west side. So plants that grow in and on the hedge must be able to cope with these varying degrees of light and shade.

As for water – the other commodity apart from light plants need for life – if you’re a plant living in a hedge then the amount of rainwater you receive, and the frequency with which it falls, can be variable too.

So all in all, plants that live in or at the base of hedgerows need to be tough and accommodating, and capable of putting up with changing light and unpredictable amounts of water. These are the sort of plants that will succeed at the edges of any garden whether that’s under a hedge or against a boundary wall or fence.

Instead of the edges of your garden becoming a no-man’s land, why not fill them with easy, attractive plants who’ll look upon hedges, edges and other awkward places as a home from home?

These are some of my favourites.

WHAT’S LOOKING GOOD NOW Versatile ophiopogon is a perfect partner for early bulbs

My ga rdenin g dia ry n last Half of our Prunus padus was cut dow the other and n dow n falle had year. Two of its four main trunks were felled but it was two were in danger of collapsing. They several new stems are e Ther s. root ove the impossible to remove just one into a trunk, now arising phoenix-like. Shall I train whole tree, roots and all? leave them all or try to get rid of the

Monda y

outside A stack of compost has been standing an on as stm Christm re Chri before for weeks, bought befo shed for e shed the th the contents pping, the wra tic plas its pite Des . whim ic optimist en. fall ’s the rain that have soaked up a lot of the them dry shed to let them the shed them into the Lifting them good exercise! out a bit is goo

Tu esda y

Grow in moist, shady soil and ophiopogon will spread well

Some of our snowdrops are planted amid punky tuffets of Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’. This lily relative, often referred to by pundits as ‘black grass’, actually has nothing whatsoever to do with grass. It is an ideal partner for early bulbs and because it is evergreen – or everblack – it goes on looking spruce for months, if not all-the-yearround, providing you look after its simple needs.

Although it has a trendy image and seems to stay in fashion when all around it are becoming sidelined or ignored, it is not for its fashionability that we grow it, but for its versatility.

4

Wednesday

It copes well with dappled light, being a creature of woodland edges. Too often, though, you see ‘designers’ ramming it into containers with Astelia nervosa, another woodlander, sentencing them to a slow death in a hot place with very li le compost, water or nutrient. This plant loves to amble around and spreads by rhizomes underneath the soil.

It looks perfect with snowdrops and a li le later with some of the small blue bulbs, scillas and their ilk.

To look its dapper best, old tree leaves collected between its slender leaves should be removed.

Filling some module from the driest post trays with com say the they bags. Although er, I just have cold get may weather y annuals hard – s seed e som sow to mainly, including some extra sweet peas. They ’ll go into the greenhouse.

Thursday

Despite having Ge ing cell trays d need ready for sowing they still nee the veg beds, they weeded the so o, to too, wet very got e ey’v h T Th k. more wor couple of we’re putting black plastic over a them easier to weed and them out, make them areas to dry them for some early sowing. the soil for warm up the

Friday

hellebores that haven’t

Only been planted. Only today I found six that had been put to one side because they were so special and would make great parents, but got neglected.

They ’re all being planted now!

Shu erstock

Aquilegias

When these co age garden flowers self-seed, they always seem to gravitate towards shady edges of the garden. I was very excited to get the packet of ‘Green Apples’ seed on GN last week. Sown straight away and kept in a sheltered place they’ll germinate rapidly. Plant out when they’re big enough to look after themselves and they’ll give years of enjoyment.

There are still a few

Satu rday It seems that our n in on atio pati occup major occu All the hellebores will er wint e e garden sinc the th be planted out soon mn autu ok over from took to has been raking leaves. It feels There’s the last cache. Th the endless. Well I reckon this has to be ng ting ec ecti coll ng, raki ut something very rhythmic though abo and emptying.

Su nday

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Solomon’s seal

Polygonatum multiflorum is a familiar perennial that’s ideal for edges and hedges where it will look after itself for years. If you want more, divide the rhizomatous roots in early spring before they start into growth – now would be a good time.

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

Last year and re the year befo there were copious amounts of tree seeds. Since our garden is surrounded by trees, we often find seedlings, sometimes saplings, that have germinated in the rs. This is a good time borders. th , either to move them up or planting them potting in the hedge. ight stra them

We’re scouring borders for tree seedlings

Weekly reminders and advice from the GN team 5 quick jobs to do right now

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Buy compost and warm it up Get everything ready for spring’s flurry of seed sowing by stocking up on bags of compost now. If you can keep a few bags somewhere warm, such as inside a heated greenhouse, they’ll be ready for use. Avoid sowing seed straight into compost that’s ice cold – it’s always best to make sure it’s warmed up first.

1

Treat yourself to snowdrops

If your garden’s in need of some colour and you’re in need of a treat, head to the garden centre for some pots of snowdrops or winter aconites. They’re a great quick fix, but you could order larger quantities of ‘in the green’ bulbs

instead, for delivery later on in spring, which will be better value for money. Plant them in light shade and humus-rich soil and you’ll be able to enjoy them for years. Split them up every few years to increase your collection.

4 Deadhead

3 Firm wallflowers

primroses

back into the soil

Keep pots and baskets of primroses looking their best for longer by nipping out any dead or fading flowers and yellowing leaves. Botrytis can soon set in and put the mockers on future flowers, especially because the centre of these high-performing bedding plants can get quite congested with all the flower stems they produce.

When the weather has been really frosty, recently planted bedding such as wallflowers, that haven’t yet got a fully established network of roots, can be heaved from the ground as the soil has frozen around them. Gently firm them back down with your hand or a delicately placed foot.

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Clare Foggett

Greg Loades

Ian Hodgson

Horticulturist Clare’s 50m (165ft) garden is home to fruit, cut flowers and ornamental borders.

Rose specialist and horticulturist with a large allotment that includes lots of roses as well as fruit and veg.

Kew-trained horticulturist and garden designer, who previously worked for the RHS.

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

Check over pelargoniums

Regularly inspect pelargoniums on windowsills in the house and in your greenhouse and remove faded leaves that can soon turn mouldy with botrytis. They’ll usually just pull neatly away from the stem, which is better than cutting them off and leaving a stump that can die back and encourage rot. If the compost is dust dry, give plants a light watering.

February 7 2015 / Garden News 21

ories this week The big gardeningEditst ge ed by IAN HODGSON Editor-at-lar

In a class of its own!

This top p tom could win you y thousands off p pounds!

ROWERS OF a brand new tomato variety could be in for a £6,000 payday. A special class for the ‘Gigantomo’ beefsteak tomato at the National Championships at the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show will see the winner not only walk away with £1,000, but also a further £5,000 if they break the current world record of 3.71kg (8lb 3oz), yet to be ratified by Guinness.

The remarkable variety has been 15 years in creation, starting life in the USA through famed breeder the late Paul Thomas, where it was launched as ‘SteakHouse’ by US seed company Burpee last year. Realising its potential, it was taken on by leading UK tomato breeder Simon Crawford of Gourmet Genetics in Spalding, Lincs. When it was entered in last year’s RHS trial, it received the prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

“We regularly harvested fruit of around 1kg (2.3lb) last year,” said Simon.

“Quite simply it is the world’s largest commercially available tomato!”

G

Seed stocks of the gargantuan tom were then exclusively snapped up by Van Meuwen and the Spalding-based business put up the prize money for the new class at Harrogate. After EU bureaucrats blocked use of the original name in Europe, it was rechristened ‘Gigantomo’.

Show organisers are understandably excited at the prospect for autumn. “In the hands of our expert giant veg growers I’m hoping for some real monsters, and look Simon Crawford forward to seeing the current world record broken,” said show director Nick Smith. ● Van Meuwen are supplying plants of the new variety either as seeds (6 for £3.99) or plug plants (5 for £14.99, 10 for £19.98). Visit www.vanmeuwen.com

Take up the ‘Gigantomo’ challenge this year!

How to grow a world beater! ● For best results, ‘Gigantomo’

must be grown under glass ● Keep plant roots evenly moist

and feed regularly ● Stop plants after four trusses

have formed

Ex clus ive!

● After fruits set, keep just three

Win ‘Gigantomo’ plants!

fruits per truss ● Thin to two fruits at golf-ball size, then to one at normal tomato size ● Cradle fruit with ne ing tied to plant supports ● Retain fruit on the vine up to entering the Harrogate Autumn Show. Visit www.flowershow.org.uk

GN HAS 10 sets of five plants to give away, each worth £14.99.

Just send a postcard registering your interest and contact details to ‘Gigantomo Giveaway’, Garden News, Media House, Peterborough Business Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA. Closing date for entries: Friday February 20. Ten entries will be drawn at random, and the chosen recipients notified

by Friday March 6. Plants will be sent out between late April and late May. Van Meuwen

34 Garden News / February 7 2015