Garden News March 12

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JOBS TO DO THIS WEEK!

✔ Plan & plant a colourful border ✔ Divide grasses ✔ Trim winter heathers

Fork! Rake! Feed!

YOUR SPRING ACTION PLAN

with Chris Beardshaw

GROW STRAWBERRY HANGING BASKETS for an early treat!

Classic

COTTAGE STYLE! TYLE! S ge roses ta in v g in n n tu S ● ted lilies n e c S ● s e is ir id ● Viv iniums ● Majestic delph

TOMATO SPECIAL

Our guide to growing the best!

AboutNOW Revamp for organic centre College students to be involved in new look

New plans will improve layout and pathways

Words Ian Hodgson

R

Photos: Garden Organic

yton Organic Gardens, headquarters of Garden Organic (GO), the UK’s foremost organic gardening charity, are to be completely redesigned. The new initiative will see much of the current layout swept away, with a fresh new approach, focusing on education. This is the first wholesale reworking of the grounds since they first opened in 1986. The intention is to complete works in time for the centre’s Diamond Jubilee in 2018.

“Just as organic horticultural knowledge and practice has evolved, we felt it was time the overall design of the gardens evolved too,” said GO’s chief executive, James Campbell.

“It’s important our gardens continue to demonstrate the best organic practice, to inspire and educate the growers of today and the future.”

Leading the project is 11-time Chelsea Gold medal designer David Stevens, who will work with a team of three design students from Sparsholt College, Hampshire. “The new layout will

make better use of the site, with better focal points that will draw people from area to area,” David told Garden News. “Planting will be redesigned so it can be cultivated using organic principles, but condensed for ease of maintenance. The opportunity to help the next generation of garden designers makes it all the more special.”

The existing Paradise Garden (above) and the Vegetable Garden (below)

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shrubby honeysuckle grown for its edible blue berries is heralded as a new fruit crop for Scottish growers. Honeyberry, Lonicera caerulea edulis, produces its inch-long fruit in June, after flowering in March. Larger, sweeter fruit from recent breeding in the USA and Canada has improved on East European varieties currently available to home gardeners.

“It’s an ideal crop,” said Stewart Arbuckle, who has established 12,000 plants on his family farm in Perthshire.

The six varieties used all have whimsical names such as ‘Blue Moose’, ‘Giants Heart’ and ‘Strawberry Sensation’.

“Coming from Siberia and northern China, it‘s a really tough plant, surviving to -40C (-40F). Even the flowers tolerate

4 Garden News / March 12 2016

-7C (19F), so it can be grown outside without protection, and doesn’t need pruning for 10 years!” Stewart also mixes varieties to help bees crosspollinate flowers, a common problem of why they fail to set fruit.

Healthy soil also helps improve yield.

“Although tolerating a wide range of soils, they like plenty of organic matter.

We also apply compost tea and feed based on kelp seaweed.”

“While we see the main market as frozen berries, we’re also exploring making alcoholic drinks, such as fortified wine and gin.”

Future plans also include selling the new varieties to both the trade and the public, potentially through garden centres from autumn.

Unpollinated

Photos: Stuart Arbuckle

Honeyberry has a sweet future

Pollinated

Bee pollinated honeyberry needs different varieties to ensure fruit sets properly

Vegetables, alpines and perennials are the focus of attention in events this week Edible Garden Show back in Warwickshire

Joe designs health gardens B exploration’ using bright colours and sensory elements.

“From patient consultations, I realised seasonal change in the garden is an important part of the design and planting,” said Joe to Garden News. “All Horatio’s gardens are designed to be high, not low maintenance, to deliver a beautiful, constantly changing space, that always looks well cared for, tended by a head gardener and volunteers.

“I think Horatio’s Garden can change perceptions of garden design – that they can be transformational, rather than seen as a luxury.”

The Edible Garden Show & Goodlife Live, Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, Warwickshire CV8 2LG . Tel: 0871 230 3451 or visit www.theediblegarden show.co.uk Everything for GYO enthusiasts.

Lectures from Christine Walkden, Pippa Greenwood and James Wong, and Q&A sessions from other gardening experts.

BBC Radio 4 GQT programme to be recorded on Sat March 10. ● Admission: £14 online, £16 on door; Concessions £9 online, £12 on door.

Adrian Young

BC Gardeners’ World presenter and designer Joe Swift (above right) is to develop a new garden for an NHS spinal treatment centre in the Midlands. The Horatio’s Garden at Stoke Mandeville Hospital at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, will offer a tranquil and uplifting space for patients and their families.

Details include a water feature, raised beds for growing plants, an easily accessible greenhouse and an all-weather garden room. A new children’s garden will create areas for ‘fun and

Fri 11-Sun 13 March, 10am5pm Fri/Sat, 10am-4pm Sun

Alpine saxifrage in tufa at Waterperry

Seeds recently collected in the wild by UK plant explorers have been found to be illegally collected, Himalayan authorities have said. An investigation by the BBC discovered that a member of the RHS-affiliated Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group had allegedly sourced seeds in Sikkim in 2012 and 2013 without requisite permissions being in place.

The situation highlights the increasingly stringent control over sourcing and disseminating wild-collected flower seeds and plants.

The Nagoya Protocol, an international treaty established in 2014, now prohibits collection of plant material without prior agreement with host countries, including any benefits that may Himalayan Primula accrue, such as the farinosa in sale of seed or plants. the wild week * More in GN next week.

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Saxifrages and alpines in Oxfordshire

Sat March 12, 10am-4pm

Waterperry Gardens, Nr Wheatley, Oxfordshire OX33 1JZ. Tel: 01844 339254 or visit www. waterperrygardens.co.uk Over 800 species and varieties of engleria and kabschia saxifrages and other alpines on display in the tufa garden and alpine nursery. National Collection Holder Adrian Young and other experts from Europe will be there to provide informal advice. Rare and unusual saxifragas for sale. ● Admission to saxifrage event free. Gardens £7.20.

Children 16 and under free.

Alpines aplenty in North Lancashire Saturday March 12, 10am-4pm

Alpine Garden Society

show, in conjunction with the Scottish Rock Garden Club, Kirbie Kendal School, Lound Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 7EQ Breathtaking specimens of choice alpine plants on display in competitive classes. Nine specialist nurseries also a ending, with a wide range of plants and sundries for sale. Hot and cold refreshments available throughout the day. ● Admission £2.50

Perennial appreciation in Hampshire Weds March 16, 10:3012:30pm. Early spring flowering perennials.

Cost £15

Hardy’s Cottage garden Plants, Priory Lane Nursery, Freefolk Priors, Whitchurch, Hampshire RG28 7FA. Tel: 01256 896533 or visit www.hardys-plants.co.uk for availability of places.

Gold-medal winning nurserywoman Rosie Hardy is presenting a couple of seminars, on appreciating and using early flowering perennials.

AGS

Shu erstock

Wild seeds ‘taken illegally’

Pippa Greenwood at the Edible Garden Show

Show

Joe’s new garden will support visitors as well as patients

The Edible Garden

Horatio’s Garden

Plants & Pla ce s

Beautiful alpines at the Kendal Show

March 12 2016 / Garden News 5

What to do this week

ON YOUR FRUIT & VEG PLOT

Ste p by ste p

1

Clear around fruit trees

F

ruit trees perform best when they have no competition so, if you can, create a circle around the base and keep it weed free. This is easily done when you grow them in a lawn, but less so in a mixed border.

If they grow in a border, try to keep other plants away from the base for a foot or so. You can install a weed suppressing membrane or thick mulch to help maintain this, and taller herbaceous plants will help hide it.

In grass, draw a neat circle around

the base of your fruit tree – you can use a string tied loosely around the trunk to do this. Remove the turf using a spade, and neaten the edges with a half moon turfing iron.

Scatter some slow-release fertiliser pellets (or chicken manure pellets) around the base to give the tree a feed.

Wood ash from a fire is also a good top dressing, because it’s rich in potassium, which helps trees set fruit. Finally, introduce some valuable humus to the soil by top dressing with compost.

GEOFF HODGE

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

Pot cleaning is an essential job that some gardeners don’t get round to often enough. So now is the time to set to, before your garden puts on its spring spurt.

Ground-on dirt, old soil or compost, grime and algae will spoil your pots’ appearance and, in the case of terracotta, clog up pores and prevent them from breathing properly. But, more importantly, the build-up of diseases and dormant pests can damage young plants and seedlings. A pot-cleaning brush is the perfect answer for scrubbing them pristine again.

40 Garden News / March 12 2016

Weed around the base of the fruit tree, removing any turf or weeds.

2

Neaten the edge of the circle using a half moon edging tool.

3

Feed the tree with slowrelease fertiliser pellets or chicken manure.

Geoff Hodge tests pot brushes to brighten your containers

BEST POT BRUSH

Nutscene Plant Pot Brush £13.50 and £15

These brushes made short work of caked-on dirt and algae on the terraco a, stone, wooden and plastic pots I tried them on.

The tapered brush heads with their flat bo oms are the ideal shape for reaching right into the edges of any pot shape. The small size has a head tapering from 11cm (4½in) to 7cm (2¾in), and the large from 15cm (6in) to 10cm (4in). The handle is made from beech wood. The small size is also available from Harrod Horticultural and Nether Wallop Trading Co. ● Suppliers: Nutscene, 01307 468589, www.nutscene.com; Harrod Horticultural, 0333 400 1500, www.harrodhorticultural. com; Nether Wallop Trading, 01963 363809, www. netherwalloptrading.uk

BEST LONG-HANDLED POT BRUSH

Fallen Fruits Flower Pot Brush £8.99

If you have large hands or prefer a brush with a longer handle to help provide a deeper reach into deep pots, this is a great choice. Like the Nutscene brushes, it did a good job on all the containers I tried it on. The rounded brush head, 10cm (4in) in diameter, is made from coco bristles – from coconut husks – which are strong, light and fairly elastic. This combination of long handle and smaller, rounded brush head gives good flexibility for ge ing more easily into tight spaces.

The 17.5cm (7in) long handle is made from ash wood. ● Supplier: Fallen Fruits, 01584 873377, www.fallenfruits.co.uk

Prep your veg greenhouse

MEDWYN WILLIAMS

Growing for

SHOWING

You’ll be needing the space in your greenhouse soon for lots of plants and tools, and space will be at a premium, so before it all gets too crowded in there prepare it now, if you’ve not already done so. Creating a clean, healthy greenhouse will ensure your plants are growing in the best environment they can be. Remove all the plants in there briefly, and clean the structure itself with special greenhouse cleaner – or household detergents will do. Brush all the dirt out, or vacuum if it’s possible, and then, for good measure, clean out your gutters and water butt.

Spring clean your greenhouse!

Winner of 11 Chelsea golds and awarded an MBE!

My tomatoes can be transplanted now

Medwyn Williams

Daytime highs and night-time lows Winter fleece helps me counteract cold

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Support summerfruiting raspberries

If you’re planning to plant some new summer fruiting raspberries, don’t forget to install supports. Canes can grow to about 1.5m (5ft) tall and, if left unsupported, they can become a bit of a mess, making it harder to harvest the fruit and then prune them. The best way to support them is by erecting two posts either side of the row and stretching at least two wires between, one at the top and one about half way up. These will allow you to tie in the long canes as they grow, with twine.

Carefully a ach wires with pliers, tying it to your supports

t this time of year, a couple of days of nice sunshine can be very deceiving. The first day of spring isn’t until March 20, so we could easily have some hard frost or even snow to contend with. However, we’re also starting to struggle for space inside the glasshouse, with benches brimming over with trays and pots of veg. Fortunately, I’m able to move quite a few into the double-skinned half of my polytunnel, which gives a good level of protection.

Some hardier plants, such as cabbages and early cauliflower sowings, can be moved into a cold frame, but when the sun’s shining, temperatures can rise considerably and even the cold frame might need ventilating in the day. Conversely, night-time temperatures can drop below zero, which is when a piece of carpet is useful to lay on top of the glazed panels.

To absolutely maximise your greenhouse space, you can form temporary benching out of planks.

It might not look attractive, but at least your plants can keep growing until they’re moved to a cooler area.

Lightweight horticultural fleece is well worth having to protect plants at night – look for 35g winter fleece, which is double the thickness of regular fleece. Make sure you remove it during the day to allow maximum light to your plants.

My six large onion plants from Bill Jones are doing very well and went from their 3-litre pots straight into 30-litre polythene pots. These are a new innovation, made from the same black and white polythene

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I use to cover onion and leeks beds.

They address one of the big problems with growing onions and leeks in large black pots, which can get very hot during the growing season. Poly pots are white on the outside, so will hopefully keep the compost relatively cool in summer.

I’ve had excellent germination from all my tomato seeds, which are nearly ready for their first potting on. I like to transplant once the seedling leaf is fully developed but before the first proper leaves appear.

With tomatoes, you can utilise plenty of roots on every plant and when the seeds germinate and the radicle is anchored in the compost, the natural roots are developing.

The next stage is to carefully remove the seedlings by holding them by the seedling leaf and levering them from underneath with a split cane or old fork. They will go into their first pot (usually 9cm/3½in) of Levington M2.

When potting on at this stage, I make a hole in the compost as deep as I can and then drop the seedling into it until the leaves are nearly sitting on top of the compost.

This will help generate a second set of roots, because the tiny hair-like structures along the stems are actually adventitious roots. Once they come into contact with warm, moist compost, they quickly develop into proper roots.

I’ll continue in the same manner when I pot them on again, or plant them into their Link-a-Bord raised beds in the greenhouse. I create beds three boards deep to give plenty of room for the roots.

March 12 2016 / Garden News 41