Garden News Jan 9

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

Plan your best year

EVER!

✔ Fill gaps in winter bedding ✔ Prune apple trees ✔ Enrich a border in your greenhouse

“What to change and develop in yo ur garden!”

TRY SOMETHING

SPICY!

Chimonanthus – tiny flower, big scent!

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fuschias tried & tested!

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6 1 0 2 r o f plants

AboutNOW

Botanist mystery ends

Pre-historic planting will stage the diplodocus dinosaur

Know

Wildlife areas will be significantly expanded

T

he body of a botanist missing in Vietnam for two years has been found.

Jamie Taggart, 41, went plant hunting in a remote mountainous region, but failed to return home in late November 2013 (see GN 4 Jan 2014).

After last being seen on the back of a motorbike, his rucksack and passport were found at his hostel on November 2. Despite extensive searches at the time no sign of the gardener-explorer was found.

Jamie ran Linn Botanic Gardens at Cove on the Rosneath peninsula in Scotland.

The garden, founded by his 80-year old father Jim, contained a wide range of exotic plants, many from seed

collected by Jamie on previous expeditions.

Although the official search ended in March 2014, thousands of pounds were raised by locals to continue combing the area, including a donation from actor Hugh Grant, who had family connections in the Cove area.

Just before Christmas Jamie was discovered in an area he was known to have been exploring for high-altitude plants.

Mr Taggart is reported as saying it was ‘not really a surprise, as it was becoming increasingly clear the odds of finding Jamie alive were nearly nil’ and that there were ‘no suspicious signs’, with Jamie likely to have ‘fallen and hit his head’.

Vine weevil grubs

Vine weevils may be on the prowl in spring and summer but, beware, they haven’t simply disappeared! Snug under the soil in your winter pots, the grubs can still be enjoying a feast. This winter has been unseasonally mild, so cold

Enemy

6 Garden News / January 9 2016

hasn’t deterred this voracious pest. The grubs favourite snack at this time of year is a mass of fat healthy roots. Primulas, heucheras and greenhouse succulents are top of their menu, with Christmas favourites such as ivy and young yew trees a very close second. Spot the damage early by inspecting the soil on top of and, if it’s possible,

in the compost, and you can tip the fat, c-shaped grubs out of the compost. Destroy them or put them on the bird table for the birds to devour.

Drench greenhouse plants with Provado Ultimate bug killer and grease the legs of greenhouse staging to stop the adult weevils from climbing up and into pots.

Shu erstock

YOUR

cent of the landscape will remain intact, with only the lawns being significantly altered to accommodate new features. Of two wildlife ponds, the smaller will remain intact, while the bigger one will be moved, along with much of the organic material it contains, and expanded in area.

“The museum anticipates working alongside a range of its own experts and external partners to ensure the new habitats are cultivated and encouraged to flourish,” said a museum spokesman. “The design makes a larger, more continuous green area around the museum, giving a more stable support for biodiversity across the whole grounds.” Work is projected to start from late 2016.

Photos: Linn Gardens

T

he grounds of the Natural History Museum in London, are to get a new look. Proposals include a new Jurassic-style jungle setting for ‘Dippy’, the museum’s iconic plant-eating Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton, expansion of the existing wildlife garden, and a new ‘living bridge’ entrance into the museum.

The design, by award-winning landscape architect Kim Wilkie, will illustrate the ‘beauty and science of the natural world’, showing how the various elements work together.

Running from east to west, the landscape will start with rock outcrops from the pre-Cambrian period, culminating in ‘Future Nature’, a themed area showing the natural resilience of a city experiencing a turbulent climate. The design reflects the museums ‘three great narratives’, namely the origin and evolution of life, the diversity of life on earth, and the longterm sustainability of our ‘custodianship’ of the planet.

Approximately 75 per

Illustrations: Natural History Museum

Museum to get new gardens

Jamie Taggart (below). Searches involved cu ing through thick jungle

Responsible for Eating roots, causing plants to die.

Affects Container-grown plants especially.

Wil dlife Wat c h

With Julian Rollins Photos: Shu erstock

Less is more You can attract more wildlife in 2016, by taking a hands-off approach!

S

o how are the resolutions going? Mine are shaping up well, because my only resolution is not to make New Year resolutions! It’s much the same in the garden, and I’d like to challenge you to adopt my anti-resolutions with me – six things we won’t do in 2016 that will make our plots more wildlife-friendly.

1

Let the grass grow

Mow less often and don’t do all your lawn at once, because grass that’s left to grow to 9cm (3½in) or more can tolerate drought better and has a stronger root structure. Longer grass is better for all sorts of invertebrates, resulting in more to eat for robins, dunnocks, slow-worms, toads and shrews.

2

Cut back on chemicals

In the short term you may zap a pest you don’t like, but you’ll pay in the long run through ‘friendly fire’ losses. Leave the bug spray in the shed (or better still the garden centre) and you’ll be doing the likes of ladybirds, lacewings and rove beetles a favour, who’ll then do the hard work for you.

3

Fight the need to ‘weed’

OK, there are garden thugs that will take a mile if you give them an inch, but most so-called weeds are easy to live

Dandelions are a welcome food source for insects

Make a chemicalwith. It used to free haven for irritate me that beneficial ladybirds my lawn is full o of dandelions, but now I think of them as just another cheery spring flower – as welcome as daffs and lesser celandine. Dandy flowers are a great food source for early insects and they’re kept in check by nipping them off before they set seed.

4

Go wild in autumn

If you let plants die back and set seed, there will be more for birds to eat when it gets cold, and insects will have places to overwinter. Dead wood and prunings left as log piles attract invertebrates as they rot down, which means there’s more for hedgehogs, newts and other insect-eaters to find. And, any windfall apples or crab apples you didn’t tidy away in autumn will make a welcome winter meal for blackbirds and thrushes.

5

Subsoil M 60 SECOND ost gardeners concentrate on working the soil surface, rarely considering what goes on under that thin skin of fertility. Digging a deep post-hole, however, may expose a whole series of different coloured soil levels or 'horizons', stacked like a layer cake and each with its own nature and behaviour.

The uppermost layer (topsoil or 'A' horizon) is usually darker than those below because of its higher humus content and biological activity. Most cultivation and root growth takes place here. Topsoil depth ranges from a few centimetres to a metre or more in very fertile ground and raised beds.

Below this is the subsoil ('B' horizon), which may be hard, lumpy or gravelly and is often paler because humus levels are low. There is an even deeper 'C' horizon, the rarely-seen parent material of the soil above that permanently affects its character and provides its main water reservoir.

The subsoil should never be brought to the surface during winter digging as it can take years to make it fertile and workable. If drainage problems lurk in the subsoil, simply dig down and loosen it by working a fork to and fro without excavating or inverting it.

Otherwise, keep cultivation to a minimum and within the topsoil: 80 per cent of the micro-organisms that recycle nutrients and support growth live in the top 5cm (2in) and are killed if deeply buried by inverting top- and subsoil.

Excessively deep cultivation can also speed up the decay of humus and nutrient loss in the form of gases escaping into the atmosphere.

Expert

Don’t buy a cat

I know it’s controversial, but domestic cats are bad news for wildlife. If you haven’t got a cat, enjoy the cute cat footage on social media. If, like our family, you have to have one, buy it a collar with a bell – garden birds soon get to know the sound.

6

Make a difference

Together, the UK’s 16 million gardens add up to a huge resource for wildlife, and even modest changes can make your living space just right to attract something new and different. It’s a magical moment when that bird, mammal, reptile or insect turns up for the first time. For more ideas, visit the wildlife gardening section of The Wildlife Trusts’ website, www.wildlifetrusts. org, accessed from the ‘how you can help’ drop-down menu.

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Organic layer Topsoil

Subsoil

Parent material

Bedrock

January 9 2016 / Garden News 7

What to do this week

ON YOUR FRUIT & VEG PLOT

Prune apples W

inter pruning is carried out while apple trees are dormant. It helps to shape newly planted trees, and keeps mature trees healthy by letting in light and air. Pruning at this time of year encourages vigorous growth.

This formative pruning is vital for newly planted apples, especially if you plan to train them as espaliers and cordons. But only winter prune young fan-trained and espaliered apple trees to form the tiers or fans of the tree. The main pruning is done in summer. Don’t winter prune stone fruit such as cherries and plums, or any members of the prunus family, because fungal disease can enter the pruning cuts.

Formative pruning To establish the shape of a young tree cut down the leader and

Ste p by ste p

1

reduce laterals (side branches) by about two thirds. Pruning creates the basic framework for your tree and you are aiming for an open bowl shape.

Mature pruning On mature trees take out any badly placed shoots, and reduce long shoots back to 3 or 4 buds.

Most apple trees bear fruit on spurs, but some such as ‘Discovery’, and ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ are tip bearers; prune these varieties by taking out just the tip of the branch leaders, and any overlong side shoots. Leave those that are less than 30cm (1ft) unpruned.

Rejuvenate neglected trees by taking out dead, diseased and damaged branches. Remove crossing stems but don’t take out more than a third of all branches.

Keep apple trees vigorous

2

Start by removing dead, diseased and damaged branches, and any that cross or rub.

On established trees cut secondary branches by a third and long shoots back to three or four buds.

Sow radishes

Garden News RECOMMENDS

28 Garden News / January 9 2016

Thompson & Morgan

Radishes grow so fast that they can be in almost continual production.

These peppery crunchy roots are great for winter salads, or eaten on their own as a healthy snack. Sow seed thinly in rows in growing bags or into individual cell trays of quality compost. Keep moist and warm, at 15-20C (F), and thin out seedlings to leave 2.5cm (1in) between roots. Harvest when the radishes are young and tender – depending on the variety this ‘Rudi’ can be anything from 22-70 days.

This crisp radish is slow to get Sow different varieties every few woody and has an RHS award of weeks for a steady supply. garden merit (AGM).

3

Make sure you always prune to an outward facing bud and cut cleanly, close to the trunk, to avoid snagging.

‘Rougette’

‘Mirabeau’

Another AGM variety. These small neat plants have a big crunch and peppery taste.

One of the prettiest cylindrical radishes, and one of the tastiest too. It also has an AGM.

TERRY WALTON

ALLOTMENT

Terry Walton

Tales from the Star of BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine Show and best-selling author

Different times

Jo bs to do n ow

’t l Keep off wet soil – don ure. uct str te ica del its y tro des l Plan what potatoes to grow this year. l Pick up loose debris from around the plot.

Warmer weather is bringing about changes to the way we garden

T

his January, strange things are happening, with yellow blooms bringing colour to corners of our plots! Yes, daffodils are blooming. Such is the change in the season’s patterns that strange phenomenon like this are becoming the norm. In my school days, having a daffodil from your garden on March 1, for St David’s Day, was classed as a near miracle.

Alongside my winter crops, self-seeded limnanthes (poached egg plants), which attract bees in summer, are a mass of tender

leaves and might flower shortly!

Gardening in the 21st century will mean many changes to old ways and the gardener’s challenge is to adapt and go forward.

Winter crops are struggling to cope with the constant wet and mild weather. My netted winter savoys and spring cabbage have black blotches on their leaves, which I’ve now removed. This might improve circulation around them and allow them to settle back into their normal winter mode, if the rain stops for a bit!

Also suffering the effects of this rain are my sprout plants.

Their cupped leaves on the top collect the falling rain, which cascades down the stalks, and some sprouts are turning black with this constant soaking.

On the plus side, my drums of carrots in the greenhouse have grown very well and are now supplying long, orange roots

through these dark days.

Despite the weather being warmer than norm, I’ve brought my well-rested paraffin lamp out of hibernation and placed it under the staging where my chrysanthemum stools are housed. By night I leave it on a low flame to encourage them to send up new shoots.

It won’t be long before they’re ready to have new cuttings taken, and my pots filled with a mix of multi-purpose and worm compost are ready and waiting!

Gather cherries quickly before the birds do!

The plant

DOCTOR

Photos: Shu erstock

STEFAN BUCZACKI

A paraffin lamp helps chrysanths into growth

Broadcaster and author of more than 50 books

Problem birds These welcome garden visitors can occasionally cause havoc!

M

ost birds are welcome visitors to gardens, and all caring gardeners encourage them – but it is inescapable that a few species can be destructive pests. They

Treatment l Stretch bird-scaring tape over crops. It’ll vibrate and produce a penetrating sound in the wind. l Cover veg with purpose-made ne ing. Never use threads.

are especially troublesome because of their ability to fly and so move quickly from place to place, and also because they can adapt swiftly to changing circumstances. Their rate of reproduction oduction compared with more re ‘conventional’ pests like insects sects and mites is relatively low. ow. But a low egg count iss compensated for by parental care of the young, the he relatively long lifespan off individuals, and by an alertt awareness of danger and ability ity to avoid hazards.

The he nature of bird damage

Qu ick ID

is not always obvious. Groups of crocus or primrose flowers lying on the ground, for example, may be the result of sparrows having nothing better to do – at least that’s more or less the experts’ interpretation! On the other hand, buds and fruit pecked from soft fruit plants, or brassica foliage torn to shreds in winter, are much more easily explained.

In Britain, almost all birds – except for a few designated pest species like magpies, wood pigeons, feral pigeons and collared doves – are protected by law and it’s illegal to kill

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l Flower heads pulled off and lying on the ground. l Stab-like marks and punctures in fruit. l Vegetable crops with ragged, torn foliage. them by shooting, trapping or other means, or to take their eggs and destroy their nests.

Only authorised persons are excluded from this – farmers, for example, may trap or shoot pest birds on their land. We gardeners must therefore rely on preventative measures.

January 9 2016 / Garden News 31