Garden News November 21

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November 21, 2015 £1.99

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PLANT ROSES! The best varieties for scent & health

USE UP ALL YOUR ROOTS!

Beetroot & carrot recipes

FORCE EARLY STRAWBERRIES!

Follow Chris Beardshaw's guide

JOBS TO DO !

THIS WEEK ✔ Get tasty garlic in the ground ✔ Add a tree for height & structure ✔ Have a go with home-grown mushrooms!

Make a colourful

headstart! lips ● Plant Carol Klein's favourite tu ● New gladioli for 2016 ● Try scented paperwhite daffs

The best perennials for winter seed heads!

AboutNOW

Disease threat to gin-juniper Tell-tale brown patches found on UK plant populations

Austrocedrus chilensis. For over 50 years the disease was only found in Argentina, but is now spreading in the UK. Scientis Scientists currently y have no idea how it got here. Although primarily affecting junipers, Plantlife also recorded the disease on 12 nurseries in the UK, and is capable of infecting Lawson cypress Chamaecyparis lawsoniana and Nootka cypress C. nootkatensis.

The disease not only spreads by air currents but also via infected soil water and soil on plant roots, or human activity. There is no known treatment available. The remote location location i off junipers j ipers would also

Andrew Gagg-Plantlife

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urvival of wild juniper in the UK is being hampered by the spread of a deadly root disease from South America. Specimens in native populations of Juniperus communis, particularly in the Cairngorms and Lake District, were found dying back, with the culprit identified as fungal disease Phytophthora austrocedri.

A recent survey by conservation charity Plantlife discovered 63 per cent of bushes with tell-tale brown patches. The disease is found to be more devastating when juniper is stressed by either waterlogging or grazing.

Only ‘described’ in 2007, the disease originated in Argentina where it affected native conifer Patagonian cypress

Wild juniper is facing a new, dangerous adversary

render any y attempt p uneconomic. Infected properties and sites have disinfectant mats at public entry points. ● The disease has also hit local micro-distillers of gin, with some makers collecting local berries rather than importing them from Italy.

One maker, Crossbill Gin, recently moved its operation to the Inschriach estate, near Aviemore, to harvest berries sustainably from the estate. Their unique gin also uses rosehips, which the company buys from local gardeners to ensure they have enough stock.

Paul Hermans/Wikimedia Commons

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Previously male, the Fortingall yew has produced female berries

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It’s never too late to change sex

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ne of Britain’s oldest trees may be undergoing a sex change. The Fortingall yew in Perthshire, thought to be between 3,000 to 5,000 years old, has long been considered male, producing only pollen, but now one of its branches has started to produce the distinctive red female berries. “Yews are normally male or female, so sexing yews is generally easy,” said Max Coleman of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. “So it was a surprise for me to find a group of

6 Garden News / November 21 2015

three ripe berries on this tree in October.”

Although yews and conifers that have different sexes can sometimes switch sex, it is odd for a tree that is either male or female to do so. “In the Fortingall yew it seems that one small branch in the outer part of the crown has switched and now behaves as female,” said Max. The three seeds have been collected as part of a project to conserve the genetic diversity of yew trees across its entire European, Asian and North African range.

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e Photos: Caerhays Estat

Charles today with his beloved magnolias

Charles Williams

MY LIFE In Plants

Owns and runs Caerhays Estate, and senior partner of Burncoose Nurseries Lives Cornwall Gardening type Historical

“Magnolia breeding is a lifetime’s work for few results” The first plants I ever grew The first plants I ever grew in a tiny greenhouse in the back yard at Caerhays were fuchsias under the tutelage of the head gardener, Philip Tregunna.

There were eventually, by the time I was 14 or 15 years old, some 100 species and varieties in the collection. The hardier varieties were planted out in a border outside the front door where a dozen or so still thrive some 44 years later.

The plant that shaped the gardener I am today My first garden was a sheltered and shaded bank by the lake where I grew old fashioned named daffodils and other woodland bulbs such as scilla.

Unbeknown to me then, many of the daffodils I grew had been bred by my great grandfather, J C Williams, at Caerhays in the 1880s and 1890s before his interests turned to new trees and shrubs arriving then from China. My favourite daffodil was ‘King Alfred’, which is still grown commercially today.

My favourite plant in the world Magnolias. Starting a National Collection at Caerhays some 20 years ago has built on the hybridisation work on magnolias done here by previous generations. The Magnoliaceae collection today has nearly 70 species and around 500 named varieties bred and developed by growers from around the world.

My life-changing plant Magnolias again! Formally registering five new Caerhaysbred hybrid magnolias with the Magnolia Society International in summer reminds one how we look forward to the splendour of tree magnolias in spring.

The plant that’s made me work the hardest Magnolia breeding breedin is a Charles’ fuchsias lifetime’s work fo few for won first prize results. Cross-pollinated Cross-pol in 1973

magnolia seedlings can take 12 to 20 years to initially flower.

Often the results are poor and the seedling gets chainsawed!

The plant I’d love to grow more of Enkianthus. There are only around 15 species and perhaps 25 named hybrids known in the UK. The opportunities for more hybridisation to develop new forms with garden merit is the challenge for the next 10 years.

This genus is little known and should be more popular.

The plant I miss most while I’m travelling The wonderful scented border here with sweet williams and Rhododendron fragrantissimum.

What a combination! ● Read Charles’s blog on the garden at Caerhays for his view on plants. Visit thediary. caerhays.co.uk

Poppies generate closer ties

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over £39,000 from the association.

“We are thrilled about our links to the hospital,” said Mr Fothergill’s commercial commercia director Tim Jeffries. “Our staff and the nation’s gardeners are committed in their thei efforts to raise money. This is a ‘win-win’ relationship relatio of which we are immensely proud.” ● Poppy ‘Victoria Cross’ costs £1.85 for fo 250 seeds. Tel: 0333 777 3936; or visit www. www mr-fothergills.co.uk

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

Mr Fothergill’s

eed and plant retailer Mr Fothergill’s has been appointed as the first corporate patron of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. The company has been chosen in recognition of its fundraising activity for the London home for military veterans.

Since 2014, the family-run company has donated 25p from every packet of seed it sells from Poppy ‘Victoria Cross’, pledging to do so until at least 2018, marking the centenary of the end of the First World War. To date, the home for old soldiers has received

Sales of poppy ‘Victoria Cross’ have helped London’s Royal Hospital

November 21 2015 / Garden News 7

WHAT TO DO Meet the tea m

THIS WEEK

Clare Foggett

Ian Hodgson

Karen Murphy

Melissa Mabbitt

Horticulturist Clare’s 50m (165ft) garden is home to fruit and cut flowers.

A Kew-trained horticulturist, Ian is also a garden designer.

Keen fruit, veg and container gardener, Karen also loves wildlife.

Having previously worked at the National Trust’s Bodnant Garden, Melissa has RHS qualifications.

If y o u d o ju st o n e jo b...

Plant garlic now It’s time to get cloves in the ground for a better chance of a bumper crop, says Ian

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weed free, so weed the growing area well and hoe in some general-purpose fertiliser before planting. To get the best results, choose a site that gets plenty of sunshine to ripen the bulbs.

When you are ready to plant, split each large bulb into individual cloves and plant each clove just under the soil and space 15cm (6in) apart. If you are planting in rows leave 30cm (12in) between the rows to allow you to hoe weeds without damaging it. It’s important to keep garlic free from weeds.

Protect the emerging shoots with a layer of fleece. This helps protect them from frost, and also stops birds from pulling the cloves out of the soil.

Once planted, garlic doesn’t need any special watering regime, spring rain will keep it growing, and summer showers will help the bulbs to swell.

Pop bulbs in a sunny spot now and protect young plants with fleece

Neil Hepworth

arlic needs a long growing season so get the garlic cloves in the ground now, and you’ll have a better chance of a bumper crop.

Just the smell of garlic conjures up hot sunny days, and tasty Mediterranean dishes.

It may not be Mediterranean weather in November but this is a vegetable that enjoys being planted in autumn.

It’s definitely a job to do before lunch, because as you split the large bulbs into individual cloves, the smell is irresistible, but however mouth-watering, don’t be tempted to use garlic from the supermarket. Growers invest time and money choosing superb varieties that are healthy and will grow well in the UK, so buy your garlic bulbs from a reputable dealer to make sure you start with virus-free stock.

Garlic needs fertile soil that is

Try planting some different kinds of garlic

Elephant garlic Not truly garlic, but a bulbous leek. Sweet, mild bulbs are available from Marshalls, on 0844 557 6700.

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

Marshalls

Marshalls

D.T. Brown

Hardneck This one copes well with cold. Purple-striped ‘Topinky Wight’ is new from D.T. Brown, on 0333 003 0869.

Soft neck Smaller bulbs with no stems.

‘Provence Wight’ is vigorous, and stores longer than hardneck. From Marshalls.

November 21 2015 / Garden News 23

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

Chrysanths are still flowering They’re continuing to get me out of trouble when I get home late!

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Jo bs to do n ow

Still plenty of blooms to pick

not as big as I had hoped, but they’ll add a lovely flavour to my wife’s soups. I kept them well watered, well-fed and removed the lower leaves, so why aren’t they bigger?

This year’s surprise vegetable, the oca, still looks superb out on the plot. Its tender green leaves and yellow flowers are more reminiscent of summer. I have been studying

Harvesting celeriac and, right, removing runners

Nature’s a great restorer The temperatures in the valley have been balmy for mid-November and this has brought in lots of fine misty rain and low cloud that shrouds the hillsides. I know the beauty of these hillsides has diminished as autumn has progressed, but they are still a pleasure to behold.

When I was a lad, I would have willed this cloud to hide what were then dirty, black-capped peaks. The valleys were scarred by the slag and debris that was brought out from deep underground in the quest for coal and dumped on the hillsides.

Our mining traditions are unfortunately long gone, but in their wake we are blessed with beautiful sights that change with the seasons. It is amazing how nature, with Autumn mist a li le help from in the valley mankind, can reclaim what’s hers, restoring natural beauty and obliterating all signs of that industrial past.

Subscribe now for £1 an issue! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn

Photos: Terry Walton

he chrysanthemums keep on flowering! Their tops should have been despatched to the compost heap by now and the stools residing in my greenhouse s of ready to start sprouting new ● Remove stored string g win sho cuttings for next season. are t onions tha .

But these late flowers are still ing ro of ns sig adorning our house – and helping pes . ● Drain and store hosepi to get me out of trouble whenever m 15c a in ● Plant mint roots I come home late! e ous enh gre the in (6in) pot Another unexpected job this late s. top ly ear e som for in the year is that I’m having to take runners off my strawberries. These beds have been long cleaned and tidied up, but there are new runners appearing in the rows. They take energy from the plants, which is not what I want. They should now be dormant and conserving all their energy in their roots for next year’s ar’s crop.

My celeriac has, at last, made roots that hat are big enough to harvest. They’re

when I should harvest its underground crop and, apparently, I have to wait for a frost.

Will we get one of those this year?

The pumpkins have gone and all that is left on the old compost heap are masses of yellowing leaves and long stems. These are cleared away onto the adjoining heap and their heap of two-year-old compost can now be used to improve my soil. This mixture of green waste and well-rotted manure has turned into ‘black gold’.

Throughout the end of summer and early autumn all the seed trays, cloches and nets were taken back into the garden shed. They’ve now accumulated into an unruly an l mess m and d there h is no room to get inside.

One of these mornings I’ll get this mess sorted out. Don’t be like me and hold onto everything thinking it will have a use.

Be ruthless and you may find you can actually get back in your shed again!

g in h s ni ch! i F n k: tre e e an w be News 33 xt/ Garden e e November 21 2015 N th