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Carol Klein “Sow my pick
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JOBS TO DO ! THIS WEEK
✔ Collect & sow cyclamen seeds ✔ Take ke fruit cuttings ✔ Plant ant potted bulbs
3
GARLIC
varieties you can try now
Start tomatoes under cover for a longer harvest
Primulas
Make a colourful display this weekend!
Brighten up your
garden! g colour n ri sp r fo s ia ll e m ca w ● Gro l borders u rf e e ch r fo ls ia n n re e ●P garden ry e v e r fo s d n o p ll a m S ●
PLANT A HARDY CHERRY FOR EARLY SPRING BLOSSOM
Prince launches own garden show Spring venture will showcase top experts
Highgrove ighgrove / Marianne Majerus
AboutNOW G
Prince Charles gardens Highgrove using organic and sustainable practices
GN’s Carol to go wild
Andrew Butler
The Thyme Walk (above) and Sundial Garden (left) at Highgrove meadows. The Prince has as also amassed substantial bstantial collections of heritage age plant varieties to help focus us attention on the loss of important genetic stock, which he terms the Ôcarnage of fashionable vandalismÕ. l ‘Highgrove: The Garden Celebrated’ will run from April 11-16, with prices varying from £17.50 to £95, depending on the various options selected. For more information and to book tickets, tel: 020 7766 7310 or visit www.highgroveshop.com/festival
GN suggests GN was wondering what plant varieties Prince William and Kate might consider growing and came up with the following. WeÕd love to hear your ideas too, so let us know by writing to the address on page 52.
Prince William and Kate have ambitions for their new garden
4 Garden News / February 20 2016
Photos: Shu erstock
GN’s is delighted to hear that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have employed a gardener to care for their gardens at their new home at Amner Hall, Norfolk. We hope this will grow into a life-long passion and enthusiasm.
Photos: Shu ersto ck
Budding gardeners
Already excited about appearing at the Prince’s new event, Carol Klein will talk about ‘Making a garden using natural principles’ based on her latest book, Grow Your Own Natural Garden. A first-time visitor to Highgrove, Carol’s very keen to have a look at the Prince’s handiwork. "I particularly want to see the stumpery and woodland planting, as it mirrors my own interests. The Prince often came to visit my nursery stand at Chelsea to see arrangements of shade-tolerant plant species and varieties,” she said. “If I get the chance, I also plan to ask the Prince for ideas on how to create my own wildflower meadow at home, and how to get more young people involved in horticulture.” Highgrove / Marianne Majerus
reen-fingered Prince Charles is launching his own garden show at his home at Gloucestershire. The new venture ÔHighgrove: The Garden CelebratedÕ will be a public showcase for the PrinceÕs 15 acre (6 hectare) garden and estate, which is entirely run using organic and sustainable horticultural practices. The April event will see top gardening experts talk on a range of topics, including Alan Titchmarsh and Gardener’s World presenters Carol Klein and Rachel de Thame. Gardener and cook Raymond Blanc will provide insights into how he uses the organic kitchen garden at his award-winning restaurant Belmond Le Manoir, while Jekka McVicar will talk on growing and using herbs. Garden designers GNÕs Chris Beardshaw, Bunny Guinness and Andy An Sturgeon, among others, will present ideas on how to develop a garden. The PrinceÕs head gardener Debs Goodenough will provide insights on her work at Highgrove. A plant fair will reflect the gardenÕs substantial plant collections, while a retail pavilion will include hand-picked exhibitors. All profits from the venture will go to The Th Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation. Since 1980, the garden, which the Prince says has evolved Ôfrom a painterÕs perspectiveÕ, has grown to include more than 30 themed gardens and garden elements, including an azalea walk, Japanese moss garden, stumpery of tree roots, carpet garden, kitchen garden and wildflower
Iris reticulata ‘George’
Garden flowers
Fruit and veg
l Aster ‘Duchess’ l Dahlia ‘Willo’s Surprise’ l Iris reticulata ‘George’
l Apple ‘Katy’ l Almond ‘Garden Prince’ l Broad bean ‘Green Windsor’
Plant
Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’
OF THE WEEK
Small, but perfectly formed
U
twisted growth. These are generally very hardy trees but, being one of the first to flower, blossom may need protection from frosts in very cold gardens, especially if grown in a container. The trees grow slowly and seldom reach a height and spread of more than 2m (6ft 8in). They form a rounded shape so they can also be used as a flowering hedge. Once the flowers have faded, the large, deeply cut dark green leaves take centre stage, but this is a tree for all seasons, with good autumn colour to add to its list of merits. Foliage can turn shades of fiery gold, red and orange before the leaves fall in autumn.
Prunus incisa gets its botanical name from the deep incisions on the leaves.
Keep them happy Prunus incisa isn’t as fussy about soil type as some
Delicate ornamental Japanese cherries can be grown in a pot
cherries, because it will grow on most soils, not just acidic ones. Plant into good, fertile humusrich soil in a sunny or semishaded position. If you want to grow it in a large container, use a soil-based compost such as John Innes No 3 mixed 50-50 with soil conditioner or homemade compost, to help give good drainage. Protect plants in pots from waterlogging wa
Bluebell Nursery
nlike many ornamental cherries, this delicate Japanese one will fit into any space, even a large container. Known as the Fuji cherry, its dainty pink-tinted buds erupt into white blossoms as winter merges into spring. Flowering is profuse, with densely-packed blossoms hanging from wiry, semileafless branches to brighten up the skyline. With a backdrop of clear blue sky, this lovely early-flowering cherry tree epitomises blossom time. Native to Japan, it’s found growing wild on the slopes of Mount Fuji. It’s also grown as a popular bonsai specimen because of its dense, slightly
and freezing, which damage plant roots. Like all prunus, only prune this flowering cherry when the leaves are on the trees, to avoid fungal disease entering pruning cuts. ● Available from Bluebell Nursery and Arboretum, tel: 01530 413700, www.bluebellnursery.com
Fine autumn colour is another asset
Bluebell nursery
The trees form an attractive, rounded shape
Alamy
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February 20 2016 / Garden News 5
What to do this week
IN YOUR FLOWER GARDEN
Plant a spring container Bring the garden back to life! spectrum of plants to try. Fantastic foliage accompaniments include fresh green ivy, light brown soft sedge grass, or some spiky black ophiopogon, which can all be tucked in, too. Try a different pot shape, size or material – rustic zinc or barrel containers create interest. Add some gravel or crocks to the bottom of your pot to aid drainage, and then fill it two-thirds of the way up with a good multi-purpose compost. Plan and place your plant arrangement, with the larger at the back and smaller ones to tuck in the front. Fill in all gaps with more compost and firm down, perhaps leaving a little room on the surface of the compost for a layer of neatening gravel or moss. Gravel will also prevent any leaves from getting too damp and touching the wet compost surface. Prolong the life of your container by buying good quality, fresh plants. Look out for ones that have a few new buds shooting on them, for longer flowering.
Try so m et hi n g diffe re nt!
Photos: Neil Hepworth
S
tart as you mean to go on in your gardening year! Begin by brightening your patio with a healthy selection of beautiful spring plants. It’s always exciting to make your way to your local nursery or garden centre to see what delights they’ve got on offer, but it can be a little disappointing to find a lack of imagination, with shelves upon shelves of daffodils and primulas alone! Where are all the other beautiful spring shrubs and flowers? Fear not: delve a bit deeper and you can always find lots of colour and life in other plants to try. Mind you, it’s a nice place to start – fresh yellow daffs and a rainbow of primulas signify the start of spring, but let your creativity run amok and team these old favourites with some other characterful plant choices, or start afresh with unusual ones. For example, irises and other spring bulbs, pulmonaria, grasses, herbs, coloured shrubs and mini conifers are all available now and add to the
Try these for size!
Ian’s bedding bonanza
Melissa’s woodland tub
Karen’s border-in-a-pot
Jo’s vintage planter
Try a rainbow of primulas, including ‘Raspberry Ripple’, and bellis ‘Bellissima’ rose bicolour. Plants courtesy of Wyevale Garden Centres.
Colour theme your spring pots with a dusky-pink display of woodlanders, such as anemones, hellebores and primulas.
Mix skimmia, leucothoe, iris ‘Katharine Hodgkin’, ivy, rock cress, pink hebe and alpine wallflower. Top with a layer of natural moss for effect.
Go stylish and understated with a zinc planter and some classic ‘Tête-a-tête’ daffs, tall heather, silver calocephalus and bright and breezy primulas.
32 Garden News / February 20 2016
MARTIN FISH
The undercover
GARDENER
Former head gardener, TV & radio broadcaster & RHS judge
Polytunnel is back in business
Soil’s ready for my first sowings
under cover will create very good growing conditions. I’m planning to start a selection of fairly fast-growing vegetables and salad crops that will be ready to pick and harvest in late spring and early summer. I’m sowing early carrots ‘Amsterdam Forcing’, leaf lettuce, rocket, radish, spring onions, beetroot and spinach in shallow drills. I’m also going to plant a couple of short rows of first early ‘Rocket’ potatoes. I’ll cover the border with garden fleece and, hopefully, in a few weeks new growth should start to emerge from the soil.
Jo b s to do now
Photos: Martin Fish
A
t this time of year my fingers start twitching in eagerness to get growing. I reckon I can make some early sowings and plantings in my polytunnel to get a head start. It’s still far too early to do it outside. I covered an area with black sheeting over winter to help warm up the soil, and last week I prepared the border by working in well-rotted garden compost. Although it still feels reasonably cool now, over the coming weeks, as the days get longer and the sun’s rays grow warmer, the rising temperatures
Beetroot can be sown in shallow drills
Start off shallots
Tidy agapanthus
I’m starting my shallots into growth in cell trays of compost. They’ll stand in the frost-free greenhouse to encourage strong root systems.
My pot-grown agapanthus have overwintered well and are showing signs of new growth. To tidy them up, I’ll pull off the yellow lower leaves.
MEDWYN WILLIAMS
Growing for
SHOWING
Winner of 11 Chelsea golds and awarded an MBE!
Carrot-fly defence!
I
’ve finally ordered a load of coarse concreting sand for my stump carrot bed. I’d intended to empty out the old sand in the raised bed in January and refill it with fresh after carrot fly got the
crop last year, but the weather’s been atrocious. The raised bed is 1.2m (4ft) wide and about 5m (16ft) long, built with two layers of concrete blocks. Before I could empty it,
Diary dates l The NVS Welsh Championships will be held at St Fagans near Cardiff on August 28 and 29. I expect some strong competition there. l The National Vegetable Society Championships visit the five NVS branches in
44 Garden News / February 20 2016
turn, and this year the Welsh Branch is hosting the event on September 10-11 at the National Botanic Garden of Wales at Llanarthne near Carmarthen. The show will be staged under the largest single-span glasshouse in the world.
Old greenhouse glazing bars provide a sturdy frame
I had to remove the carrot-fly defence I’d constructed on top of it. Unfortunately, I put this structure on too late last year and the fly had already got in or the eggs had hatched inside the sand, so I effectively trapped them in! My carrot-fly defence was constructed from a netting cover erected on plastic pipe supports, but this collapsed in the storms so I’ll have to rebuild it before I sow this year. However, I’m dispensing with the plastic and I’m planning to copy a structure I used on a longer bed last year. All the carrots from that bed
were undamaged by the fly and served my Malvern display well. Plus, it survived the storms intact. I built it by pushing some flat pieces of wood between the sand and block work, and formed a box structure on top using lightweight aluminium glazing bars from an old greenhouse. With just two weeks between the Welsh and National shows, one sowing of ‘Sweet Candle’ should suffice. I also have great faith in a newer carrot I introduced this year, ‘Octavo’ F1, and I’ve designated a section for this one.
Medwyn Williams
I’m rethinking my strategy