Garden News November 7

November 7, 2015 ÂŁ1.99

CAROL KLEIN

B rit a in'sed st m o st t ru in vo ice g a rd e n in g

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"Try my favourite trees for glowing golden leaves!"

cotoneaster for brilliant autumn berries

HELP ROSES

survive winter!

Top tips to see your prized plants through the cold

START OFF ASPARAGUS

Get a 6 month headstart!

Floral

fireworks!

Give your garden some pizazz and sparkle!

Celebrate autumn with a wreath!

Use colourful seasonal flowers and berries

10 WAYS YOU CAN BEAT STRESS

BY GARDENING!

RHS declares Manchester location for fifth garden Words Ian Hodgson

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near-derelict 63ha (156 acre) park in Greater Manchester is to become the RHS’s newest garden in the north. RHS Garden Bridgewater, as it will be known, will breathe new life into the historic grounds at Worsley New Hall.

Once the home of the 1st Earl of Ellesmere, the hall and estate was in its prime from the mid-19th century, with gardens laid out by noted designer William Andrews Nesfield.

After military requisitioning in two world wars, the hall fell into disrepair and was eventually demolished in 1949.

Collection, Manches ter Mullineux Ph Phottographic

Salford celebrates

Long gone – Worsley Hall in the early 20th century

Developments will see restoration of the 4.4ha (10 acre) walled kitchen garden, one of the largest in the UK, along with other lost landscape features, such as the tree-lined garden approach and terraces between a lake and the site of the lost hall.

A major component of the garden will be a new learning centre to enable school children to learn about horticulture, and a range of facilities to support a wider programme of gardening interests. A ‘world-class landscape architect’ is to help the Society realise its plans.

Unveiling the plan, RHS director general Sue Biggs said, “We always thought it would

RHS

Survivors – the gardener’s co age and bothy

take us a long time to find the ideal site for our fifth garden, but with its beautiful landscapes, good public transport links and outstanding location, Worsley New Hall was an opportunity we couldn’t miss.”

Terms of the collaboration between owners of the historic estate, Peel Land and Property, Salford City Council and the

Period impression of the lower terrace in 1857

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Hampstead Garden Suburb Residents Association (HGSRA) who will oversee the process, will also be urging gardeners and contractors to ditch modern machinery in favour of manual tools.

“Noise problems have grown in recent years,” said Gary Shaw of HGSRA. “We can’t impose anything on people, but we hope to nudge them into recognising noise can be very disturbing.” Dogs continually barking in gardens will also be targeted. The committee will assess the success of the scheme after a year.

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Noisy gardeners to get ‘red card’ e’ve all felt the painful and annoying intrusion of neighbours regularly using noisy gardening equipment. Now residents in a posh neighbourhood in London have decided to outlaw such practices by considering employing a football-style warning system.

Residents in London’s Hampstead Garden Suburb who regularly flout the peace and quiet could see yellow and red cards posted through their front door to try and curb over-enthusiastic users of loud lawnmowers, leaf blowers and hedge trimmers.

The ‘noise abatement committee’ of

RHS remain confidential. The garden is projected to open in 2019 and hopes to attract more than 1 million visitors in its first 10 years.

The new garden is part of the charity’s wider 10-year £100+ million investment programme to expand its various activities, particularly in the North West. ● The decision means disappointment for Stoke-on-Trent, whose Park Hall Country Park, a 121ha (300 acre) national nature reserve, had also been shortlisted as a potential venue. The local authority is in discussion with the RHS about alternative opportunities in the future.

RHS/Lindley Library

Walled kitchen garden is one of the largest in the UK

RHS

AboutNOW

Outlawed – users of noisy gardening equipment

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5 of the best for berries

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C. horizontalis Use as ground cover or train vertically. Masses of berries on fishbone stems. Height: 60cm (2ft), spread 2m (7ft).

Garden World Images

C. salicifolius ‘Exburiensis’ Willow-like evergreen leaves and pale pink-tinged berries that last. Height and spread: 1.2m (4ft).

Plant

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OF THE WEEK

C. conspicuus ‘Decorus’ Brilliant red berries cling to criss-crossing bare stems in winter. Height: 20cm (8in), spread up to 1.2m (4ft).

Garden World Images

Cotoneaster!

Summer flowers, autumn colour and brilliant berries

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Fa ct

Deciduous cotoneasters such as C. horizontalis (known as the fishbone cotoneaster) have brilliant red autumn colour and the berries remain on the branches for a long time.

Evergreen and semi-evergreen cotoneasters keep their leaves, and the foliage makes a perfect foil to the clusters of berries.

‘John Waterer’ is a particularly beautiful variety that grows to a tall rounded shrub. In

A member of the rose family: cotoneaster gets its name from Latin and means ‘resembling quince’.

contrast, evergreen C. dammeri remains small, but spreads to cover several metres eventually. In areas of box blight, Cotoneaster franchetii is good grown as a substitute hedge.

Cotoneasters are not fussy about soil. In fact, they seem to thrive in most situations, which is why they are often seen in amenity planting, but they do appreciate shelter from strong winds. Plant these versatile shrubs in a sunny or part-shaded position in the garden and they’ll earn their keep all year.

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‘John Waterer’ Long evergreen leaves set off by red berries in drooping clusters. Height and spread: 2.5-4m (8ft 6in-14ft).

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here’s a cotoneaster for every situation, whether you want a low-growing plant for ground cover or an arching shrub to grace a boundary wall. These evergreen, and deciduous shrubs may not be the showiest plants in the border, but their flowers keep bees and insects happy in spring and summer, and when autumn comes, the berries feed the birds and delight us too.

‘Coral Beauty’ A low-growing evergreen with lots of orange-red berries. Height: 1m (3ft), spread: 2m (6ft).

November 7 2015 / Garden News 5

WHAT TO DO Meet the tea m

THIS WEEK

Clare Foggett

Ian Hodgson

Karen Murphy

Melissa Mabbitt

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

A Kew-trained horticulturist, Ian is also a garden designer.

Keen fruit, veg and container gardener, Karen also loves wildlife.

Having previously worked at the National Trust’s Bodnant Garden, Melissa has RHS qualifications.

If y o u d o ju st o n e jo b...

Lift and store your dahlias It’s time to get tubers out of the ground, says Melissa Your tubers can be stored in a crate of lightly-moist compost

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Lift your spent dahlias now, ta king care not to prong the m with your fork!

encourage them to plump back up again. Cut away any parts that are starting to rot or develop mould, so it can’t spread through the rest of the tubers.

St e p by st e p

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Use a fork to carefully lift the tuber from the ground, keeping it well away to avoid pronging the tuber itself.

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Neil Hepworth

nless you live in a mild part of the country, or are willing to take a chance and risk leaving them in the ground over winter, the best course of action to get dahlias safely through the winter is to lift the tubers and store them frost-free.

Usually, you lift them when the first frost has blackened the foliage and an cut it back, and parts of the country have had frosts now. But you don’t have to wait until that happens.

If you’ve got limited time to get out in the garden and you need to get it done, you can lift the tubers before frost strikes and it doesn’t do them any harm.

If you are leaving them in the ground, give them the best chance of survival by covering them with a thick layer of mulch.

Well-rotted garden compost is ideal, piled up to at least 15cm (6in), if not more.

Once dry and ready to store, pack your tubers in mushroom crates or boxes of ever-so-slightly damp compost, and store them somewhere cool and dark, and most importantly, frost-free.

Keep an eye on them over their months in storage, and if any parts of the tubers start to pucker and shrivel, give them a light mist with tepid water to

Best practice to store dahlias

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Cut the stems back to about 15cm (6in) and gently remove the biggest chunks of soil stuck to the tuber.

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Perch them upside down on the greenhouse bench so moisture drains from the tuber. Leave to dry for two weeks.

November 7 2015 / Garden News 27

Gardening

GENIUS Nuggets of pure wisdom

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ovember is the best time to plant many people’s favourite bright and breezy bulbs – tulips! Planting later in autumn reduces the chance of the fungal disease tulip fire developing, which makes leaves unsightly.

We asked experts and readers to tell us which exciting ones they’re planting this year, and their top tips on getting it right for a superb display…

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Tip-top tulips!

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way up, and some on their sides.

Apparently the tiny bit longer those ones take to reach the surface and flower staggers the display, so you can enjoy tulips for longer. I’ve never tried it, but I’d say it’s worth an experiment!

Clare Fogge , editor

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I have a free-draining soil that’s perfect for tulips, so this year I’m really packing them in. The hot border is filled with red Darwin hybrids for reliable flowers year after year. Classic tulip ‘Queen of Night’ and ‘Peach Blossom’ are going into my purple-and-pink border,

I once interviewed the head gardener at Pashley Manor who told me that he planted some of his bulbs the right

E x p e rt I n s ig ht

drainage so put plenty of pot shards in the bottom, and use well-drained compost.

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Select bulbs early With so many stunning plants to choose from, you should select bulbs at an early stage.

A recent survey we conducted revealed that the favourite colour plants here in the UK are red (23.5%) and then purple (17.6%).

We’ve got a variety of tulips this year, such as ‘Exquisit’, which resembles a double peony, and ‘Tropical Wave’, with a super double yellow goblet.

Bakker Spalding Garden Company, which sells a comprehensive range of bulbs in all colours, shapes and scents, tell us their top tips for autumn tulip planting. For more hints and tips, visit www. spaldingbulb.co.uk, or call 0844 481 1000

Custard-yellow double ‘Tropical Wave’

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Have bulbs delivered just before you plant them Bulbs are sent directly from the nursery and are in optimum condition for planting. If you can’t plant them straight away, unpack the bulbs as soon as they arrive. Place them Bakker Spalding

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Preparation is key When planting your bulbs, firstly remove weeds and incorporate lots of compost or other organic matter. Bulbs grown in pots need good

and I can’t wait to plant feathery new white ‘Harbour Lights’. I plant the bulbs at least 15cm (6in) deep so that flowers have a better chance of returning – on freedraining soils it’s worth the gamble!

Melissa Mabbi , garden writer

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I’m trying tulip ‘Paul Scherer’ this year as it’s nearest to black. An all time favourite for longevity is yellow-pink ‘Antoinette’. We grow ours in glazed pots that enhance the colour of the bloom.

In borders they never look quite so regal in our eyes!

Gavin Jones, Facebook Lives up to its name!

‘Exquisit’ has luxurious purple-green petals in a dry, dark place under 20C (68F) and open the bags so air can circulate.

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Bakker Spalding

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‘Carnaval de Nice’ – it’s a red-andwhite striped, very late tulip. For a spectacular early, ‘Abba’ is brilliant red and double. ‘Gavota’ and ‘Prinses Irene’ are my all-time favourites. Don’t fret if you don’t get time now – they’ll still be fine planted in December. Plant with bearded irises – they help disguise tulips’ dying foliage. Plant multi-headed tulips to increase flower power !

Pam Richardson, garden writer

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I always have a pot or two of tulip varieties that I can use to fill gaps or plant out when needed. I adore small species tulips such as T. humilis and T. tarda for growing along path edges in poor soil and full sun, where little else will grow.

Ian Hodgson, editor-at-large

Plant correctly Bulbs have particular planting requirements – plant in holes three to four times as deep as the bulb itself. Plant in groups of at least six for optimum results, and if you’re unsure on which way the bulb should go, plant on its side: its stem will find a way up to the surface!

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Prepare your bulbs for next year! We recommend feeding your tulip bulbs immediately after flowering – this gives the bulb time to store enough nutrients to ensure profuse flowering the following spring.

Light, brigh

D o n ’t m i s s o ut!

NEXTK WEE

atis

● Carol Klein on clem e soil improvers ● Nut recipes ● Simpl

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S B U R H S D E T A G IE R A V TOP 10 t leaves all year round