Garden News January 30

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Carol Klein

January 30, 2016

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

“Make more of snowdrops with my top tips"

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Try easy-grow ferns for

SPECTACULAR FOLIAGE NOW!

WILDLIFE S.O.S. J i in Join i the h RSPB's Big Garden e Birdwatch this weekend!

JOBS TO DO !

THIS WEEK ✔ Prune summerm flowering clematis e ✔ Sow carrots under cover for f early baby roots o ✔ Dig veg beds d

Spring ts way! is on i

● Planting in the green ● Sowing hardy annuals ● Growing plants for clean air

EXCITING NEW EDIBLES! For early cropping, colour & flavour

AboutNOW Chelsea Pavilions to ring the changes Hi llie

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Bowden Hos tas

Hillier Nurseries will feature a modern design for its show garden

An Orient-Express carriage will feature on Bowden Hostas’ exhibit

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‘Mary Berry’ rose launching at Chelsea The 103-exhibitor line-up includes the debut of Hogarth Hostas, fruit grower Tom Smith Plants, horticultural trade initiative ‘Love the Plot You’ve Got’ (LTPYG), and iconic London flower wholesaler New Covent Garden.

Gardening in small spaces is a common theme, with LTPYG showing how to grow in containers in four settings. National Plant Collection holder Jonathan Hogarth will exhibit small and miniature hosta varieties, and Tom Smith will stage a container garden of fruit trees, soft fruit and vegetables. l Tel: 0844 338 0338 or visit www.theticketfactory.com

Words: Lucy Purdy Photos: Shu erstock

M Mary to shine at Chelsea Bake-off presenter and RHS ambassador Mary Berry is to launch a new namesake rose at this year’s show. Bred

by Harkness Roses, repeatflowering Hybrid Tea ‘Mary Berry’ has a strong perfume and floral tones that vary from rich Devon cream to light golden-yellow. Keen gardener Mary recently declared if she could swap places with anyone ‘it would be with a presenter of the Chelsea Flower Show’.

Get pruning now!

J

6 Garden News / January 30 2016

Shu erstock

A S h a d e G re en er

Harkness Roses

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n its ongoing bid to refresh the show, the RHS has unveiled new exhibitors and dramatic theatrical displays for the plant pavilions.

At the monument site, Bowden Hostas is set to wow visitors with its £250,000 homage to plant hunters of yesteryear. Centrepiece is a 19m (64ft) long 60.9 tonnes (60 ton) period carriage from the Orient-Express, through which visitors can move to view the 6,500-strong display of hostas, tender and tropical ferns, bamboos and cycads. “It’s a logistical nightmare, but hopefully the result will blend style, grace and finesse,” said Bowden director Tim Penrose, speaking to GN. The carriage will be guided into position on May 12.

After 20 years as a monument exhibitor, Hillier nurseries has moved to an adjacent plot to create ‘Hillier in Springtime’. Designed by gold-medal winner Sarah Eberle, the exhibit will showcase a wide range of trees and shrubs in a contemporary setting.

anuary is the time to prune apple and pear trees, so it’s also a great opportunity to ponder the great variety of these most English of fruits. From vivid green to yellow mellow, there are many delights to be had – and growing your own is preferable on so many levels to buying fruit imported from far-flung shores. There are thousands of native apple varieties, from the ‘Blenheim Orange’’ which originates from Woodstock near Oxfordshire, to the ‘Worcester Permain’ which dates back to 1873. Conservation charity The People’s Trust for Endangered Species is developing a digital record of fruit varieties, a searchable online version of which is expected to be available this spring. The charity is working with private orchard owners and the National Trust to improve the distribution of rare apple varieties.

6

snowdrop walks to visit now

Make the most of these pretty little plants while you can!

Words Karen Murphy

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t this time of year, there’s nothing quite so beautiful as dazzling white seas of

Anglesey Abbey, Lode, Cambridgeshire

snowdrops. Here is our pick of the National Trusts’ stately homes with winter gardens that simply sing with stunning displays of them…

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Snowdrop walks: February 6–7, 13–14, 20–21, 27–28, 12pm–5pm This spectacular riverside Sunday in the month, showing estate of 320 acres has a off the garden and a stunning stunning display of snowdrops backdrop of sweeping vistas. and other spring bulbs You can also buy snowdrop throughout February. Snowdrop plants in the garden shop. walks run every Saturday and Tel: 028 8778 4753

Snowdrops spring to life in the ancient woodland at Nymans

Nymans, Handcross, West Sussex

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Kingston Lacy, Wimborne Minster, Dorset

The grounds of the Jacobean abbey are transformed into a sea of white

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The Argory, Dungannon, Co. Armagh, Northern Ireland

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Photos: National Trust Images, unless stated

Snowdrop season up until the end of February, 10am-4.30pm Anglesey’s garden has over 300 varieties of snowdrop, sca ered across 114 acres. Meander along the paths and soak up the fabulous show.

Snowdrops aren’t all you’ll see: the Winter Garden is packed with vibrant colours and the heady scent of winter-flowering shrubs, as well as a Himalayan birch grove. Tel: 01223 810080

Chirk Castle, Chirk, Wrexham

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Snowdrops can be seen from January 30, 10am-4pm Chase away those winter blues with a bracing walk around 480 acres of beautiful woodland at 700-year-old Chirk, and the smaller 5.5 acres of garden. Glimpses of snowdrops can be found throughout, sca ered between clipped yews, shrub and rock gardens, as well as in drifts along the woodland floor.

Tel: 01691 777701

Wallington is surrounded by open moorland and hectares of woodland

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Snowdrops can be seen between February 1-29, 10am-4pm Kingston Lacy is a whopping 8,500 acres, but you won’t have to venture that far to see beautiful plant life. The garden wakes up in January and February, when thousands of snowdrops transform the landscape. Special snowdrop openings have long been a tradition at Kingston Lacy so visitors can salute this first welcome sign of spring. Explore the Japanese Garden, too. Tel: 01202 883402

The gardens are open daily, 10am-4pm Nymans is famous for its rare plant collection, but you can spot snowdrops, as well as camellias and magnolias, under-planted with a host of daffodils and grape hyacinths. The bulb meadow in the walled garden is full of snowdrops, early narcissi and rare hellebores, too. By Valentine’s Day, over 150 different plants are flowering at Nymans and snowdrop drifts contrast with fiery witch hazel oranges and rich red dogwoods. Tel: 01444 405250 l See www.nationaltrust.org.uk for more details on all the gardens. Normal garden admissions apply to all.

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Wallington, Morpeth, Northumberland

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The gardens are open daily, 10am-6pm Set among streams and woodland, Wallington’s snowdrop display includes less common varieties, such as the Northumbrian Galanthus nivalis Sandersii Group, and the pre y ‘Flore Pleno’. Don’t forget to visit the winter garden with vivid purple irises, too. Tel: 01670 773600

January 30 2016 / Garden News 7

MARTIN FISH

The undercover

GARDENER Former head gardener, TV and radio broadcaster and RHS judge

Time for a sort out!

It’s quiet in the greenhouse now, so I’m making sure everything’s ready for the new season

A stiff brush helps to remove algae

Jo b s to do now

Cleaning up auricula plants My auricula plants in a cold frame have overwintered well and will soon start to make new growth. Now’s a good time to check them over and remove any dead or yellow foliage.

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his time of year’s fairly quiet in the greenhouse, with many plants just ticking over. Yet, in a few weeks’ time things will really start to get busy, with sowing, potting and taking cuttings as spring approaches! But while it’s calm, it’s a good time to catch up with a few things to make sure everything’s prepared for the new growing season.

One job that I’ve been putting off for a while is sorting out all the plant pots, seed and plug trays. This is partly to tidy them up, but also to take stock of what I’ve got in a crate under the bench!

Over time some pots get broken and others are given away with plants, so it’s good to find out exactly what I have. That way I can

work out if I need to buy in some more pots and trays for spring.

I’m going to be ruthless and throw away any pots I’m never likely to use. These are odd sizes and shapes, and any of those brightly-coloured brightly-colou pots that some plants are sold in. I’m never likely to use them, so I might as well get rid!

As well as sorting the pots, I’ll also give th them all a good wash in hot, soapy water to get rid of any cobwebs and, in the case of terracotta pots, p the green algae that develops on them. Once Onc sorted and washed, my pot store will be ready rea for a busy growing season.

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Photos: Martin Fish

I’m having a good tidy up while it’s quiet

Sowing early broad beans

r to a ag p ro g p n in ea spr l C r k: y fo e weread t ex 30 2016 / Garden News 33 NJanuary

To get some early broad beans I’m sowing seeds now in cell trays.

These will be germinated in the frost-free greenhouse, and the seedlings planted in the polytunnel in March.

What to do this week

IN YOUR FLOWER GARDEN

Sow hardy a annuals under cover There’s enough light now for germination

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he weather may have turned chillier, but you can still take advantage of seed sowing indoors to get colourful hardy annuals off to a head start.

Sow them now if you have a cool but frost-free greenhouse, or space on a windowsill in a cool spare room in your house.

Days are getting longer so there is enough light to kick-start germination, even if it’s still cold.

If your seedlings have a cool greenhouse and frost is forecast, loosely lay a sheet of horticultural fleece over the top.

One of the drawbacks of sowing hardy annuals in spring rather than autumn is that they will flower later, but in autumn, flower beds are often being used for herbaceous division and bulb planting, so it’s difficult to find room for annuals. Late winter sowing now, when light levels are increasing, will give you earlier flowers than sowing in spring.

There are some problems to watch for. Under glass, hardy annual seedlings can suffer from damping off disease, so only use tap water when dealing with seedlings. Water from butts can carry the spores that cause the disease. Likewise, compost that has been hanging around for a while can harbour it, so use newly bought good quality seed compost for your early sowings.

Overfill half-size seed trays with the compost and push off the excess with a straight-edged piece of board or wood. Using a piece of board or stiff cardboard cut to just smaller than the size of the tray, lay it over the top and firmly press down to compress the compost. You should be left with a smooth and even surface on which to scatter the seeds.

28 Garden News / January 30 2016

On smoothlypressed compost, sow seed thinly

Sow your seeds thinly. Don’t be tempted to finish the whole packet – save some for another day! It means you won’t overfill your tray and have to prick out too many seedlings.

Use a sieve to cover the seeds with a light sprinkling of more compost. A good rule of thumb

is to cover them with their own depth, but if they are tiny, such as poppy seeds, they don’t need to be covered at all. However, watering can be tricky as it will wash the seeds into a corner.

The answer is watering from below. Place your seed tray in a shallow bath of water, letting it

sink down slowly. Don’t push it down because this may cause air pockets to burst through the compost. The compost will slowly suck up the moisture until it is damp. When you can see the wet on the surface, remove the tray and place it where the seedlings are to grow.