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November 22, 2014
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SOLUTIONS FOR ACID SOIL Shrubs & perennials that will thrive
SPRING CLEMATIS Try early-flowering Atragene varieties
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WINTER READY! lourful pots co , h es fr r fo s ea id t gh ri B oking good lo s er in ta n co ep ke to How vice Step-by-step planting ad
Carol Klein "My favourite shrub with variegated leaves"
CHRIS BEARDSHAW Why it's worth sowing peas in autumn
TULIP TIPS Planting secrets from a stylish London garden
Help fuchsias survive the winter months Plant hippeastrum bulbs Grow a crop of onions on your windowsill!
Plant of the week FACTFILE
ARBUTUS UNEDO Evergreen tree or shrub Full sun Hardy in sheltered gardens Well-drained soil, preferably acidic Flowers: Autumn plus autumn fruits Height: up to 8m (25ft)
Saving the best FOR AUTUMN
Plant a strawberry tree if your garden needs an exotic late season treat
4 Garden News / November 22 2014
autumn and into the festive period to give your garden a natural, festive quirkiness. Throw in the added bonus of the plant being evergreen and you end up with a tree that truly has a style of its own. When so much else in the garden is looking tired and weary, the strawberry tree is in the finest flush of health in three departments, never mind one! And if you are already thinking that this plant is a bit of a show off, mature strawberry trees also have attractive flaky bark. Sadly the word ‘flaky’ also hints at this tree’s weakness. It is a lover of a warm spot – aren’t we all! – and plants can be severely damaged if exposed to cold winds. Protect young trees by covering them with fleece in the first two winters after planting to help them establish. As the trees age, their resistance becomes stronger and they are less
likely to succumb in harsh weather. To stack the odds in your favour, a south-facing home near a warm wall will help if you want the plant to be a healthy, significantlysized specimen. While the fruits have a style of their own, look closely at the flowers and they may seem familiar. This is because strawberry trees are in the same plant family as blueberries and pieris, bearing similar blossom, albeit at a different time of year. But, while these relatives grow best in acid soils. A. unedo is surprisingly tolerant of chalky soils. If you want to grow them in containers, use lime-free John Innes. It’s this autumn’s flowers that will bear next autumn’s berries, giving you the most interesting display, so remember that cutting GAP Photo
WITH A LATE BURST of growth in a warm end to summer, some plants can produce flowers and berries Greg Loades together almost ‘by accident’. But the GARDENING strawberry tree EDITOR (Arbutus unedo) performs this multi-tasking trick as standard, each year showing off both springlike blossom and distinctive bobbly-edged red balls of fruit. But are the fruits good enough to eat? The clue is in the Latin name ‘unedo’. The word means ‘I eat one only!’ In other words – once bitten, twice shy! The fruits are used for jam and in Portugal in brandy – but the raw fruits aren’t tasty enough to eat. These fruits are like homemade winter decorations for the plant, hanging in clusters like baubles all through
Large branches have a ractive rusty, flaking bark
off branches that flowered this year will minimize the effect of next year’s display. Once established, the plants only need pruning if you are unhappy with the shape or size of it. A. unedo is slow growing, so pruning will undo a lot of work. It
DID YOU KNOW ?
Strawberry trees are nat ive to the Mediterranean and the south-west coast of Ireland
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Fruit and flowers appear together
“These are easy trees” Tony Kirkham Head of the Arboretum, Kew
this will mean you’re pruning off smaller branches. If you wait until it is older and remove thick branches, the tree will have large pruning wounds, which are more noticeable. Prune in July because sap will still be flowing but the plant has done its growing for the year. This will allow the pruning cuts to callous. This is a good rule of thumb for all evergreens.
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● Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, TW9 3AB; www.kew.org
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Three ways to use a strawberry tree in the garden
Garden World Images
Garden World Images
Garden World Images
The flowers are similar to blueberries and pieris
will be a large shrub for many years before achieving ‘tree’ status. Once it has, the leading shoot can be pruned out to make the plant bushier, but only if desired. If you need to prune, cut back the plant, in early summer. Early spring is the time to plant or pot one up. Now is simply the time to admire the strawberry tree and be inspired by its multi-faceted beauty!
The pH of the soil at Kew is 7-7.5, but strawberry trees here are tolerant of the soil, despite being acid-lovers. However, the soil does need to be free-draining. They will struggle if it’s waterlogged. They are tough trees that should survive down to -10C (14F) and they are shade tolerant too. They are definitely a low-maintenance tree here at Kew. The key is early pruning. Decide if you want to grow the plant as a single or multi-stemmed tree. Prune in the first couple of years to create the shape you want. Pruning off the sideshoots to raise the crown of the plant helps show off the bark, which is one of the tree’s a ributes. Prune when it’s young, because
In a container
As a shaped tree
As a border shrub
Growing in a pot is great for cold gardens, so you can move the tree to a sheltered spot if very low temperatures are forecast. Keep it in a sunny place in summer and move close to the house in winter so you can enjoy its colourful show.
Once the tree has reached the height you want it, trim it into a shape and it will become a more prominent feature in winter when its structure stands out. Use secateurs or bypass loppers to prune back branches in early summer.
The shorter-growing variety ‘Compacta’ only grows to 1.5m (5ft) tall, making it a highimpact evergreen for growing among shrubs and perennials in a border. Prune out the leading shoots to encourage more branching.
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November 22 2014 / Garden News 5
Scrubbed up nicely: birch grove bathed in dramatic light after cleaning
ories this week The big gardeningEditst ge ed by IAN HODGSON Editor-at-lar
Barking up the white tree
Light show illuminates other features in the garden
Gardeners prepare for show spectacular
S
TAFF AT A National Trust garden famed for its winter displays, recently showed how well their birch trees scrub up. Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge attracts thousands of night-time visitors annually, who walk through a plantation of brilliant white Betula jacquemontii, with branches illuminated by light. Shady conditions and smooth bark encourage algae to grow, which must be removed for the display. “We originally used a bucket and scrubbing brush, taking three days,” said Assistant Head Gardener David Jordan. “Now it only takes a morning with the power washer. This process doesn’t damage the birch. But people should never tear bark off, because
this can scar the tree.” A thick mulch of dark home made compost adds the finishing touch, then more than 4,000 shocking pink tulip ‘Little Beauty’ pop through to continue the display into spring. “We’ll be adding another 100 young birch next year, doubling the plantation,” said David. “We’ll then be able to create even more effects in future, perhaps pruning to create multi-stemmed specimens.” The nine evening event has proved so popular tickets are already sold out to 13,500 visitors. The winter gardens will open as usual during the day. Tickets for next year’s show are on sale from summer 2015. ● Visit: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ anglesey-abbey
32 Garden News / November 22 2014
Gardener Angus McLaren removes algae from the bark
Solutions for
acid soil Soil pH is hard to alter, so work with what you’ve got
F
OR MOST PROBLEM spots there are usually plenty of solutions – lots of things that can be done to remedy things and help you turn them into a garden to be proud of. If it’s your soil that’s the ‘problem’ however, it’s a more difficult thing to fix. If your soil is acid, it’s virtually impossible to turn it into anything else, so the solution is to work with what you’ve got. Soil pH, the 1-14 scale used to measure acidity and alkalinity, is usually determined by how much alkaline calcium is in the soil. Alkaline soils over calcium-rich chalk or limestone have a pH over 7, whereas sandy soils, through which any calcium quickly leaches away, are more acidic, with a pH below 7. Alkalinity can be increased with an application of lime, but its effects are short-lived and if you wanted to permanently change the pH you’d need to lime forever. It’s much easier to accept your soil’s acidity and stick to plants that are happy in acid conditions. Most garden ornamentals will grow in a pH range of 5.5 to 7.5. The only plants you’ll struggle to grow if your soil is more acid than that are lime-lovers such as knautia, Lychnis chalcedonica, dianthus and pulsatilla. Console
yourself with the knowledge that you’ll be able to grow all the beautiful plants that people on limey soils envy: rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, enkianthus, pieris, and kalmia to name a few gorgeous shrubs. Or, what about meconopsis and gentians. Many acid lovers have the added bonus of fantastic autumn colour. If you desperately want to grow the kind of plants that would turn up their toes in acid soil, you can always build raised beds. Make sure they are deep enough to contain an ample quantity of bought-in topsoil, perhaps mixed with mushroom compost, which is naturally alkaline. Put a layer of permeable membrane at the bottom of the bed, to keep its soil separate from your garden soil. There’s another problem you’re likely to encounter if your soil is extremely acidic – they tend to be very infertile. This can be remedied with liberal dressings of well-rotted farmyard manure and garden compost, but you’ll need to make it an annual event to keep your soil fertile. There are plants that will grow in extremely acid, infertile conditions – ones you find in the wild on acid moorlands or in peat bogs for example – such as calluna and gorse.
50 Garden News / November 22 2014
Testing your soil’s pH Test your soil by taking several samples from across the plot in a ‘W’ pa ern – this helps ensure you get soil from all areas. Each sample should be roughly a spoonful of soil from about 15cm (6in) down. Mix all the samples together and spread the soil out in a plastic tray, then leave it somewhere warm to dry out. For a more accurate test, you can also sieve the soil to remove more organic ma er if you wish. Some tests do allow you to test soil straight out of the ground without drying – check which kind you have. Mix the soil sample according to the instructions on your soil testing kit. Most kits use barium sulphate powder that is mixed with either indicator liquid or water in a test tube to provide a colour result. Compare the colour of the sample with the chart provided.