Garden News Jan 16

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January 16, 2016 £1.99

CAROL KLEIN

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

“Try my favourite shrubs for winter scent"

The golden cups of spring!

Plant easy-care aconites NOW!

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simple steps to an alpine container

"I create my summer garden in the winter!"

A co age plot bursting with scent & colour

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY! Protect peach leaves & buds for a healthy crop

O JOBS TO D THIS WEEK! ✔ Prune gooseberries ✔ Pot up lily bulbs ✔ Sow early potatoes

Bring your

garden to life!

cts love se in ts n la p e th se o o h ●C urage birds ● Top shrubs to enco for butterflies ● Nectar-rich flowers

Grow winter-flowering orchids like an expert!

Zinnias in space!

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pring has sprung in the International Space Station (ISS) with a flush of zinnia plants being tended by astronauts, including the UK’s Tim Peake. Seedlings growing in the VEG-01 mini-greenhouse are growing strongly in the weightless conditions of space, out-performing expectations.

“These plants appear larger than

their ground-based counterparts and scientists expect buds to form on them soon,” said a NASA spokesperson. The zinnias, whose growth is being monitored closely, will flower in the next few weeks, brightening the space station. The VEG-01 module is an experiment working towards bringing fresh growth, both edible and ornamental to the astronauts. “Understanding how flowering plants grow in micro-gravity can be applied to growing other edible flowering plants, such as tomatoes,” explained NASA. Last

Sir Isaac Newton’s famous apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire

Tim Peake year a crop of red romaine lettuce was harvested and eaten by the crew during a live broadcast.

In early September the RHS had a consignment of British rocket seeds launched to ISS on supply rocket Soyuz 44S, after an earlier package was destroyed when SpaceX-7 blew up soon after take-off. The seeds will return in March with astronaut Scott Kelly, when they will be distributed to 10,000 schools for

National Trust

AboutNOW

Staff at Woolsthorpe collected apple pips for the mission scientific projects. On December 6 the National Trust sent up apple pips on supply rocket Orbital 4. The pips came from the famous tree that inspired Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity and will be re-distributed on their eventual return to earth.

Photos: NASA, unless stated

Zinnias have grown strongly in zero gravity

Stellar garden: a range of plants are being grown in the international space station

Words: Lucy Purdy Photo: Shu erstock

A Sh a de G re e n e r

There are a number of ways to get the most out of your old tree, not just composting

6 Garden News / January 16 2016

There’s life in your tree yet!

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he holiday season might be over, but there’s no need to consign your Christmas tree to the kerb just yet. Consider reusing its evergreen pins and boughs via some canny green gardening techniques instead. One option is to strip the pins – which are slow to decompose and good at retaining moisture – and use them as mulch for ground-loving crops such as strawberries. The branches can be used as pea shoots or support sticks for tomatoes.

Or how about giving the wildlife in your garden a new-year treat? Move the tree outside, preferably to a spot near a fence or hedge, and hang

home-made bird cakes and nuts from its branches. The boughs from Christmas trees can also be used to help insulate perennials through early year cold-snaps. A carefully placed blanket of evergreen branches could be the difference between losing a plant this winter and enjoying its blooms again.

With larger trees, you could use a saw to create some attractive crosssection chunks to be used as edgings.

Live Christmas trees can be replanted: just do it as soon as possible, making sure the root ball of your tree is intact. Water and mulch thoroughly through its first year.

Rhododendrons are the stars in Burnley’s 444-acre Towneley Park

HiddenGEMS

Burnley Reader Elaine Hamlen picks the best places for gardeners surrounding her home in Lancashire

I

Õve lived in this part of the world on and off for 30 years, and itÕs always been a bit of a challenge to garden in the Lancashire weather! Our current house is on the edge of the town, with views of Pendle Hill out front and only a garden fence between us and the wild moors behind. It means wind and rain are a force to be reckoned with.

I have a particularly boggy area to one side of my garden, which I may experiment with by putting in bog plants, but I might turn it into a little pond instead. I stick with hardy shrubs, trees and bulbs, and have a lot of containers filled with plants, as well as a smattering of sculpture.

IÕm really looking forward to the new growing season to get stuck in. ThereÕs lots for the enthusiastic gardener to see and do in Burnley, so weÕre never short of places to go.

Family-owned treasure Hidden away down a country lane heading towards Pendle Hill and the Ribble Valley, and nestled behind a very high, old stone wall, is Huntroyd Garden Centre. ItÕs been in the same family for about 26 years. We used to live nearby and visited it regularly in the early days. Re-visiting recently, I was amazed at how much it had developed, while still retaining the same friendly service, excellent range of plants, many grown on and cultivated

by themselves, and knowledgeable helpful advice. ItÕs also a very peaceful setting, and lovely to listen to the birdsong and bleating sheep nearby. During winter it opens Monday to Saturday between 9am and 4.30pm, and on Sunday between 10am and 4pm. Whins Lane, Simonstone, near Padiham, Burnley, Lancashire BB12 7QJ, tel: 01282 770753; www.huntroydgardencentre.webs.com

Hillside haven Tucked away among a small housing development is Springwood Nurseries and Garden Centre. What a find! ThereÕs everything a gardener could need, including an array of goodies to attract birds to your garden. Again, family run and staffed by friendly, knowledgeable and helpful folk.

On a bitterly cold day I came away thinking that if a specimen thrives in that environment, it would thrive anywhere!

Open Monday to Saturday between 9am and 6pm, and on Sunday between 9am and 5pm. Springwood Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4HR, tel: 01282 832271; www.springwoodgardencentre.com

Grand park and gardens Towneley Park is the largest park in Burnley, with 444 acres of landscaped parkland surrounding Towneley Hall and Museum.

The gardens, with their ancient tree rhododendrons, are lovely to walk through.

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My husband and I wish we had discovered the gardens earlier rather than waiting 25 years to really start exploring them! Apart from the museum in the hall itself, housing some valuable and important artwork, thereÕs a pitch-andputt course, bowling green and stunning war memorial. It is also home to Offshoots Permaculture Project, which is a thriving fruit and vegetable garden and bee breeding site.

Towneley garden centre is nearby too, which is always worth a look. Open Monday to Saturday between 9am and 5pm, and on Sunday between 10.30am and 4.30pm.

Towneley Park, Deer Park Road, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4SD, tel: 01282 424162; www.britishgardencentres.com

Community start up IÕve recently discovered that in Padiham, about three miles west of Burnley, thereÕs a host of community allotments. ThereÕs Seedlings Community Allotment, which is for local people interested in gardening and growing their own. They have 70 plots and two smallholdings, and do various classes and activities during the year, too. Fennyfold Allotment and Poultry Society on Elizabeth Street is on the same site. Both groups can be found on Facebook.

Photos: Shu erstock

The wild and windy moors around Pendle Hill make for challenging weather to garden in

Allotment and poultry societies are thriving in Burnley

January 16 2016 / Garden News 7

What to do this week

IN YOUR FLOWER GARDEN

Alpines Plant an alpine or rock plant container

A

Shu

erst

oc k

…and sow alpine seeds

Photos: Neil Hepworth, unless stated

Garden News RECOMMENDS

Shu erstock

If you’d like to grow your own alpine plants to stock a homegrown alpine container, you can sow them now. Many alpine plants benefit from an early start as they need a period of cold in wet compost to bring them to life and break their dormancy.

Instead of buying plug plants, it’s an enjoyable challenge to sow from seed. There’s a wider range of these fascinating plants available from seed too.

Fill a seed tray with John Innes No 1 and a bit of grit to improve drainage. Water first and then sow seed thinly on the surface, followed by a thin sifting of compost to cover them. Place in a cold frame to germinate, or somewhere outside that’s sheltered from rain. Stand in an outer tray, and keep topped up with water. If the seeds don’t come up in six to 12 weeks your seed tray should be given cold treatment in a fridge for about a month. Don’t discard, as they may take a while to appear.

Shu erstock

Ste p by ste p

can include a small conifer to add scale, so it looks more like a mini landscape. Give your pot a liquid feed in spring to set it on its way.

Shu erstock

lpine plants are easy to grow, and if you pot them into a container now you’ll reap the rewards in spring and summer as the pretty blooms bob up.

Old butler’s sinks are ideal as they are a practical size and deep enough to allow for plenty of drainage. You can find them, as well as stone troughs, at many reclamation yards. Otherwise, cheaper stone-effect troughs are available at most garden centres, or a shallow plastic container will work just as well, if not with as natural or authentic a look as a stone one! If you use a plastic one, don’t forget to drill or poke through some drainage holes every couple of inches in the bottom before you start, as sometimes at garden centres they’re hole-free.

In my pot I’ve planted some sea thrift for its pink flower clusters in spring and summer, and santolina ‘Green Fizz’, a hardy bushy evergreen with bobbing yellow summer blooms.

Chiastophyllum looks good with its red-tinged foliage, and green Sedum acre ‘Aureum’ foliage will creep along quite quickly producing sprays of yellow flowers in summer and autumn, loved by beneficial pollinating hoverflies. For good measure you

Erodium

Dianthus

Lewisia

A delicate and pretty pelargoniumlike plant that will spread as good ground cover. Will reach about 45cm (18in) tall.

Alpine dianthus will only reach 15cm (6in) at most. Comes in a range of pinks, whites and deep crimsons.

Often alpines look delicate, but are super hardy – evergreen lewisia is no exception.

Reaches about 25cm (10in) tall.

Pot up some hardy, pretty alpine plants

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In your chosen container, put a covering of grit or gravel into the bo om to help with drainage, or you could use crocks.

26 Garden News / January 16 2016

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Fill two-thirds with John Decide where you want Innes No 2 compost, and a bit your plants, and then tuck of horticultural grit to improve them in and fill up with the soil. Leave room for your plants compost. Put overhanging plants and a top dressing of gravel. towards the edge.

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Add a top layer of gravel to neaten the look and keep low foliage off wet soil. Alpines like a dry environment, so reducing wetness on your plants is key.

TERRY WALTON

Tales from the

ALLOTMENT

Star of BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show and best-selling author. His allotment sits in the Rhondda Valley

Make an early start with potatoes They’re the perfect way to kick-start the growing season

Jobs to do now

T

here’s nothing like the excitement of harvesting first early potatoes. As those little white beauties hit the light of day, I can’t wait to get them to the kitchen and savour the sweet, earthy flavour of Chit earlies now this first-of-the-season crop. crop for a June crop If you’re limited for space, space earlies are best to grow. They’re out of the soil by June and can be replaced with summer salad crops.

Those with larger allotments can stagger the harvest throughout the season with Harvesting earlies, second earlies and maincrop. This will ensure fresh potatoes on the plate right winter savoy Photos: Terry rry Walton

l Plant a pot of basil seeds in a warm part of the greenhouse. l Sow salad leaves in a large pot for some early sandwich fillers. Many take only 21 days to grow. l As it’s so mild, keep an eye on the greenhouse temperature and ventilate when possible.

Indoor sowings

through summer, and the maincrop harvest can be bagged for winter.

After a long winter of rains and mild temperatures, my garlic has grown ahead of expectations. I loosen the soil around the bulbs with my three-pronged hand tool to let them breathe. It also lets the ground dry a little and prevents the bulbs from rotting.

Much later than usual, I’m harvesting my hardy winter savoy cabbages ‘Ormskirk’.

These have been reluctant to ‘heart up’ despite the warmer weather, but at last these can give my palate a rest from sprouts!

GEOFF HODGE

Tools for THE JOB Writer, TV and radio broadcaster and GN product guru

Artificial grass has its uses.

It’s practical for those who can’t maintain a traditional lawn, for use in children’s play areas or in shady spots where grass fails to thrive. Maintain once a month with a stiff brush.

Most are hard wearing, made from a mix of polyethylene and polypropylene. It should be laid on a compacted aggregate plus sharp sand, using timber edging to keep everything in place. This will ensure its look, durability and drainage needs are met.

With the ground still wet I’m sowing a few seeds in the greenhouse to steal a march on nature. A sowing of cabbage ‘Golden Acre Primo’ in a half seed tray, placed in a warm spot, will yield seedlings in two to three weeks’ time. ‘Valdor’ le uce, also sown in a half seed tray, is another early starter.

Plastic money bags are ideal for chi ing sweet pea seeds. I part fill the bags with moist compost then tip the seeds in before topping up with more compost and turning over the top of the bag. I keep these on a warm windowsill until the li le white roots appear.

Geoff Hodge tests artificial turf as a lawn replacement

Wonderlawn Natural Plus POA

Trulawn Supreme £31.19/sq m

Astro Saturn £9.58/sq m

BEST GRASS

BEST MID-PRICE GRASS

This looks extremely realistic, and feels soft to the touch, with a luxurious 55mm pile height. It needs to be laid by a professional installer, but it’s then guaranteed for 10 years. Expect to pay around £50-£75/sq m installed.

Supplier: 0370 218 4378, www.wonderlawn.com

Trulawn Supreme looks realistic, with its two-tone yarn and tan-coloured ‘thatch’. It was soft on the hands and underfoot. It has a 37mm pile height, which helps add to the overall realism.

Guaranteed for eight years.

Supplier: 0800 210 0461, www.trulawn.co.uk

Where price is a major consideration, this was the best of the ‘value’ grasses. It looks reasonably realistic, although there’s a lot of ‘thatch’ colour, and was reasonably soft when felt by hands or feet. It only has a 25mm pile height, so looks like a well-mown lawn.

It’s guaranteed for six to eight years.

Supplier: 0845 519 5288, www.astrowarehouse.com

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BEST VALUE GRASS

January 16 2016 / Garden News 33