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6 Garden News May 12 2009
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k e e w g in n e d r a g r u o Y The key things you should do over the next seven days P12 containers P13 essential JOBS P6 and P7 Fruit & VEG P9 and P10 FLOWERING CORNUS
This week’s tips, ideas and reminders are brought to you by gardening expert Martin Fish. This week he concentrates on border planting and how to get your spring-flowering shrubs in great shape
‘Replacement’ prune for spring-flowering shrubs SPring-flowering shrubs have just about finished flowering now and can be given a prune. Annual pruning isn’t necessary on most, but in order to stop them from getting too large or over-crowded, it is a good idea to prune them every two or three years. This type of pruning is called replacement pruning
– in other words, cut out some of the old wood to make room for new branches. This keeps the shrub healthy with a balance of new and older wood. When only lightly pruned, spring-flowering shrubs will make new growth over the coming season and flower as normal next spring. Where shrubs need more drastic
pruning to reduce their size, you may not get many flowers next year, but it is worth sacrificing them to get the shrub under control. Shrubs that can be pruned now or as soon as they finish flowering include Kerria japonica, flowering currant, forsythia, Spiraea ‘Arguta’ (bridal wreath), exochorda and berberis.
It’s time to get
planting borders Kerria japonica benefits from pruning every few years. If it isn’t pruned it becomes very thick and congested with lots of dead wood in the centre of the shrub. Cut out any brown dead stems at ground level and thin out the upright stems by around one-third to create an open bush.
1
The flowering currant (ribes) makes a stunning display in April, but if not pruned can grow very large. Shorten the taller branches back to a side branch and thin out some of the old wood low down in the shrub to encourage new branches to grow from the bottom.
2
May is a good time to plant in beds and borders because the soil is moist and warm which encourages strong root growth. It also gives the plants a full growing season to establish before winter. Another good reason for planting now is the choice of plant material which is much larger than during
autumn and winter. I would much rather plant perennials when they are growing and in full leaf, than when they are dormant in a pot. Not only does this give you an instant effect in the garden, but I also think it is much easier to plan the border with plants that are actively growing.
Planting at this time of the year means the plants will need more water during the summer than if they were planted in autumn. I’ve recently altered the shape of the borders in our new garden in North Yorkshire and want to introduce some new plants so we can get the benefit of them this summer.
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May 12 2009 Garden News 7
Other jobs to do...
Make sure the ground has been well prepared by forking the soil over to remove any weeds and to work in some well-rotted organic matter. I also sprinkle a little general fertiliser over the area.
1
Plants
Position the plants where you think they will grow and look best. It’s worth spending a little time arranging the plants to create the effect you want and to save having to move them at a later date.
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GET PLANTING If you’ve bought plants recently from a garden centre or show, but haven’t had time to plant them, stand them somewhere sheltered and remember to water every couple of days to keep them growing in their pots. The sooner you can get them in the ground the better.
Containers BEDDING PLANTS Now is the perfect time to plant up a selection of containers with summer bedding plants. Once planted, protect them from late frosts by standing the containers in a greenhouse or conservatory, or alternatively outside next to a warm wall and drape some fleece over them at night for protection.
3
When planting, dig a hole half as big again as the pot, position the plant in the hole and back-fill with soil, firming as you go.
Borders WATCH FOR PESTS Check roses and other plants in the garden for signs of pests such as aphids. If there are only a few, don’t worry too much as blue tits and other birds will feed on them. If the infestation is heavy and the plant is being damaged, you can rub them off by hand or spray with an insecticide.
Wildlife YOUNG BIRDS
Be aware of fledging birds in the garden at this time of the year. They can easily become trapped in sheds, garages and greenhouses when you close the doors. If you find any young birds, simply lift them out into the garden where their mother will find them.
Lawns When the planting is finished and you’ve lightly forked the soil surface to remove footprints, give each plant a good watering to settle the soil around their roots.
4
top Tips for ESTABLISHING PLANTS
ENever allow new plants to dry out while they are establishing a root system. In dry weather, water around the base of the plant to soak the roots. EDon’t water too much. It’s better to soak the soil around the plants once a week to encourage the roots to grow down in search of moisture. A light daily watering over the plants encourages roots to grow up to the surface and also creates ideal conditions for slugs – cool and damp. EMulching around the plants with compost after watering will seal in moisture and keep the roots cool in hot weather.
REPAIR THIN PATCHES There is still time to repair thin patches on lawns with grass seed, especially if the soil is moist. Rake the grass to loosen the soil before sowing and try to rake the seed into the surface to keep it in contact with the soil. Water the seeded patches every few days in dry weather until the seed germinates.
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12 Garden News May 12 2009
t h g i l t o sp
ful shrubs ti u a e b f o p u ro g a n o s p Top ti
Flowering dogwoods They’re great value if you’ve got the site
C
ornus are bestknown as colourful plants for the winter garden, but the flowering dogwoods, which will be reaching their peak in the next few months, are some of the most beautiful shrubs and small trees. They hail from North America and Asia and unlike Cornus alba and our native C. sanguinea, they are rather more sensitive about soil and site. Most prefer slightly shaded, woodland-type conditions and at least neutral soil, preferably acid. They do not like lime and chalk. Flowering cornus are usually only available as small plants so they don’t give you instant impact, but they are beautiful, graceful shrubs that give many months of interest – and they flower when few other large shrubs are at their best. If you have a suitable site and room to let them grow unhindered, you will be glad, in 10 years’ time, that you made the investment. Cornus nuttallii thrives best in the west of the country where the climate is milder and moister than the east, but others prefer the warmth of more eastern counties to ripen their growth in summer. If you find the right sheltered spot they will grow almost anywhere, though protection from late spring’s frosts is advisable wherever they are planted. ‘Eddie’s White Wonder’ is one of the best and is
By Geoff Stebbings garden Writer
commonly available. It will eventually grow into a large shrub or small tree with two seasons of interest. In spring, the showy flower-heads with four large, broad bracts cover the branches and in autumn it is covered in bright autumn colour before the leaves drop. It is a cross between C. florida and C. nuttallii combining two American species from opposite sides of the continent and can be recommended because of its vigour and beauty. Cornus florida reached our shores in 1730 coming from the eastern states of the USA, which were the first to be discovered by Europeans. It is a neat, large shrub, reaching about 5m (16ft) in time. The four bracts, which surround the tiny flowers, are heartshaped and there is usually a larger pair and a smaller pair. It is totally hardy, but needs hot summers to ensure the new growth is fully ‘ripened’ or it can be damaged by cold winters. It thrives best in the south east of the UK. Although the bracts are usually white, some of the most popular varieties of C. florida have pink ones. ‘Cherokee Chief’ has bracts of dazzling bright pink while C. florida rubra has mid-pink bracts. To add to the beauty of this plant, some selections have attractive leaves too.
Four large bracts surround the tiny actual flowers of these cornus
‘Rainbow’ has leaves edged with gold, making a nice contrast to the white bracts and ensuring that the autumn colour of purple and scarlet is even more exciting. Cornus kousa is probably the most common in garden centres and catalogues and is native of Japan and Korea. It is a superb large shrub with an upright habit and pretty bracts that face upwards along the spreading branchlets. In late summer these are transformed into strange, pinkish strawberry-like fruits which brighten the bronzy autumn foliage. Its only fault, for some, is that it dislikes chalky soil. It is always worth getting a named form when buying a shrub as special as this and ‘China Girl’ flowers freely, even as a small plant. The variety C. kousa chinensis is the one that you will see most often and has bracts that open greeny white and change to white and pink as they age. ‘Milky Way’ is one of the best of these with masses of flowers. Cornus kousa is the female parent of one of the most popular flowering cornus, ‘Norman Hadden’. The cross occurred in the garden of the man with the same name in Somerset. It’s semi-evergreen, but there is usually some good autumn colour. The bracts are creamy white and very showy when they open in early summer, changing to pink as they age. Cornus nuttallii is the dominant species in the Pacific North West of the USA where it grows under the shade of trees and flowers in May. It prefers moist conditions and dislikes lime, but on acid soil it is a marvellous small tree with broad white bracts and yellow or red autumn colour. Also look out for new ‘Venus’ from Notcutts, a hybrid of C. nuttallii and C. kousa chinensis, with huge creamy white bracts in May.
‘In spring, the showy flower-heads with four large, broad bracts cover the branches’
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May 12 2009 Garden News 13
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Cornus kousa ‘China Girl’ flowers freely, even as a young
Gardening in
THIS WEEK: BRUGMANSIA
containers By Clare Foggett gardening editor
PIC TO BUY GAP_0093067
The pretty pink bracts of Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Chief’
‘Venus has large flowers plus great leaf colour in autumn
Growing tips
Brugmansias are happy potted up in a mixture of multipurpose compost and loam-based John Innes No 3. They’re thirsty and hungry plants and to get the best displays from them you need to feed and water regularly
Cornus Fact file
Origin There are about 50 species, mostly deciduous, from the northern hemisphere. Size Up to 10m (30ft). Pruning They are best grown with minimal pruning Soil Light, acid to neutral soils in a sheltered spot. Reason to plant For their bright bracts in late spring and the colourful fruits or autumn colour. Most are attractive large shrubs or small trees, suitable for small gardens.
Our love affair with exotic plants continues. Angel’s trumpets, or brugmansias, never seem to have been more popular than they are now. More often than not they’re grown in containers. They’re tender shrubs and not many of us have a garden warm enough to be able to plant them in the ground and leave them outside. We need to be able to move them indoors to protect them over winter, so containers are ideal. Their common name – angel’s trumpets – perfectly describes those impressive tubular flowers we all covet, most of which are also heavily scented, particularly at night (it is only Brugmansia sanguinea that is not). But these plants are far from angelic. Members of the Solanaceae family, along with potatoes and tobacco, every part of the plant is highly poisonous and in their native South America, all sorts of myths and folklore surround them. Legend has it that you should never fall asleep beneath the branches of a brugmansia tree because there’s a danger you could become so intoxicated you might never wake up. Luckily, back home our container-grown brugmansia rarely get big enough to fall asleep under, so we can enjoy our angel’s trumpets without fear! Many gardeners are confused about the difference between brugmansia and datura. It’s no wonder, as these plants have had their fair share of name changes. All the plants started out as datura. Then botanists separated the shrubby kinds with pendulous flowers and called them brugmansia, leaving just herbaceous and annual plants under datura.
Irresistible, heavenly-scented angel’s trumpets
Prune brugmansias in spring to encourage new growth throughout the growing season. In spring, after the end of the frosts, move them out of your greenhouse or conservatory (or wherever you’ve been over-wintering them) onto your patio to enjoy their flowers and scent at close quarters. You could keep them in your greenhouse if you wanted to, but damp it down and mist the plants regularly to keep the atmosphere humid and discourage red spider mite, to which brugmansias are particularly prone.
As for overwintering, depending on the temperature you keep your greenhouse at, by spring you may find your brugmansias are still in growth, but more likely, in a cold greenhouse like mine, you’ll find last season’s stems have died back. Prune these dead or rotting stems back to firm, healthy wood and the plants will soon produce new shoots as temperatures and light levels increase again. If your greenhouse is warm and your brugmansias do stay in growth all year, they can also be pruned hard back if you need to in order to limit their size. Brugmansia are easily propagated too. Take cuttings from the tips of new growth in summer. New growth is easily identified as it’s green – don’t take cuttings from brown, older growth as it won’t root. Look for little white bumps on the surface of the bark. If your cutting has these, it’s practically guaranteed to root, as these are where roots will grow from. They’ll root simply placed in a jam jar of clean water, or dib them into a pot of freedraining cuttings compost in the usual way.
Two brugmansia to try
Cornus kousa produces strawberry-like fruits in late summer
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EBrugmansia suaveolens – The one to grow if you want that intoxicating scent. Comes in creamy-white, yellow or pink-tinged versions, with flowers some 30cm (12in) long. EBrugmansia sanguinea – Traffic-stopping flowers of red, yellow and green from early summer to autumn, but unfortunately they’re not scented. They look fantastic among other exotics in a brightly-coloured tropical border.
B. suaveolens
B. sanguinea
22 Garden News May 12 2009
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Strawberries fit for the Queen Secrets of Ken Muir’s success – and how you can do it in your garden! By Greg Loades garden Writer
P
ay a visit to Ken Muir’s exhibit in the Great Pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show and the sweet smell of summer strawberries is overpowering. An early treat in mid-May, the strong scent and ripened fruits leave you in no doubt that summer is on its way. Ken Muir’s plants are a firm fixture at Chelsea, where they have exhibited since 1970.
“We have tried to include raspberries in the display before, but strawberries just seem to fit better with the Chelsea Flower Show,” said Roger Muir, managing director. “It’s nearly June and people are starting to think of Wimbledon and strawberries.” One person who certainly thinks of strawberries at Chelsea is the Queen, who visits Ken Muir’s exhibit each year and tastes the strawberries. “The Queen is offered a strawberry from our display to taste,” said Roger. “Apparently she is very fond of them.”
Creating a perfect display of strawberries by mid-May is no easy task, but after years of show experience, Ken Muir have it down to a fine art. Strawberries for the display are grown in pots, planters and Ken Muir’s famous strawberry towers, which are individual planters stacked up to create strawberry skyscrapers. The strawberries for the display are grown in a 21m by 9m (70ft by 30ft) heated greenhouse at the company’s headquarters in Clactonon-sea, Essex. New plants that have been kept in cold store in the winter are potted up in early March in a mix of John
‘Each year the Queen is offered a strawberry from our display to taste’ Innes No 3 compost and coir (coconut fibres). The greenhouse has a box full of mason bees, which are used to pollinate the strawberry plants. “Years ago before we had bees, my father (Ken Muir) used to pollinate the plants using a rabbit’s tail!’ said Roger. Three batches of strawberries are potted up from March onwards to make
sure that enough are ready in time for Chelsea. “Some plants are ready too early, so the staff get to eat the fruits, while slower varieties often need bringing on to get them fruiting in time. We have to move them to the hottest part of the greenhouse,” said Roger. The strawberries are fed with Ken Muir Strawberry Feed once flowers appear but Roger says that early
strawberries don’t need a lot of feeding. “There’s usually enough goodness in the compost to keep them going,” he said.
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Ripe home-grown strawberries knock spots off supermarket ones
May 12 2009 Garden News 23
Getting ready for Chelsea Ken Muir’s tips for growing the best Grow in pots or well-rotted compost
This strawberry colander is being grown for a Chelsea garden Under glass water sparingly until fruits set EWater the pot NOT the plant – overhead watering of strawberries encourages crown rot. EOnly grow container plants in well-rotted homemade compost; compost that’s still active can burn roots. EPicking rotten fruit is as important as picking good
Ken Muir’s famous towers are almost ripe and ready for Chelsea
fruit because it stops the spread of botrytis (grey mould). EPeat-based composts with lots of coir give best results. EIf you grow strawberries in large pots (7.5l or bigger), don’t water in trays because the plants don’t take up enough water.
EDigging up and moving established strawberry plants (not new runners) is not advised because disturbing the roots can reduce or stop fruiting. EGrowing strawberries in growing bags gives good results – especially if you fit in an automatic watering system.
Number crunch!
1970
The year of Ken Muir’s first Chelsea Gold Medal
70ft x30ft The size
of the ‘Chelsea’ greenhouse Number of varieties of 19 strawberry grown for the Chelsea display this year Number of gold medals 13 Ken Muir have won over the years at Chelsea
7.5
The size of pots in litres used for Ken Muir’s Chelsea display
324
Number of containers planted up in the Chelsea greenhouse
Every fruit stalk is held up with an individual cane
Ken Muir in the ‘Chelsea’ greenhouse One strawberry that is always part of the display is one of Ken Muir’s own varieties ‘Chelsea Pensioner’. “We had this new variety and
it just seemed the obvious name for it,” said company founder Ken Muir. All the strawberry plants are taken from the greenhouse in Clacton-on-Sea to Chelsea in two lorries. To keep the potted plants safe, each one is placed in a cardboard box tightly packed with straw. The biggest challenge during the set up for Chelsea is protecting the fruits. As soon as blossom appears, each fruit stalk on every plant is tied to a thin cane to keep it upright and prevent the fruits from damage. This also makes the fruits hang neatly under the leaves
to create perfect-looking plants for showing. “We put our display together on the Sunday before Chelsea, and give ourselves a day to put it all up. We build the staging two months before. “It takes about two hours to put the staging in place, then we have to put in all the strawberries,” said Roger. “If you put your hands on the fruit at any time, you’ll mark it and be able to see fingerprints,” said Roger. This is a challenge for staff when putting the pots in their final positions at Chelsea. “It’s a nerve-wracking moving the plants into place without
‘Chelsea Pensioner’
Grow early strawberries EGrow them in a heated greenhouse or polytunnel. EPlant cold stored plants in pots or growing bags in February or March. EKeep temperatures at 13C (55F) to start with. Increase to a minimum of 17C (66F) once flowers appear. EMaintaining these temperatures at night is crucial for getting early fruits. EOpen vents/doors when daytime temperatures
Last year’s gold medal display at Chelsea damaging them,” said Roger. “Fortunately our staff have been doing this for a number of years. They know what they’re doing!”
“There’s a limit to what you can do with a display of strawberries but our Chelsea exhibit is not just about design,” said Roger. “We
increase to let air circulate. EWater sparingly until fruits have set – don’t constantly saturate the compost. EFeed with a high-potash feed once blossom emerges. EIncrease watering after the fruits have set – you may have to water twice a day when temperatures are high. E‘Chelsea Pensioner’ and ‘Hapil’ are two of the best varieties to force under glass.
show different varieties and give a detailed description of each as part of the display. It’s really 50 per cent design and 50 per cent education.” Will it be another gold medal winning year for Ken Muir? “Everything’s on target so far this year,” according to Roger. Whatever the result, in the words of company founder Ken Muir himself; “Chelsea wouldn’t be Chelsea without strawberries!”
Contact details
EFor more information
about buying plants from Ken Muir, tel 01255 830181 or visit www.kenmuir.co.uk
26 Garden News May 12 2009
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If you have a passion for growing your own, this is the series for you
Getting started
U
nless you’re retired with nothing else to do, plan to ease yourself into veg growing over three or four years. Grow maybe one or two fruits and three or four veg in the first year and build it up year on year, as opposed to planning great things over the winter, rushing out buying all the seeds as if they were going out of fashion and then finding time isn’t on your side due to weather, work and family commitments. My assumption is that what I did the previous year will become second nature and so on as the years progress. Liam Dennehy, West Cork, Eire (has been growing fruit and veg for one year).
EJacques Portal says: I only have a limited amount of free time, so I made my plot small. It’s 2.4m by 1.8m (8ft by 6ft), so it won’t take too much effort to keep on top of it and there’s enough room for five rows. I removed the turf when there was still snow on the ground. That was hard work, but since then I’ve dug and turned it over every weekend and it only takes half an hour. The soil is still heavy but should be a lot better next spring.
Take a tip from me! Here’s some great advice for new veg growers...from new veg growers!
EMichelle Jones says: Treat your fruit and vegetables like you would a child. Feed, water and take care of them and don’t leave them alone too long or they will go out of control! E Stefanie Browne says: Don’t run before you can walk. I have very stony soil and discovered early on that carrots just wouldn’t grow in it without a lot of work. So I worked with what I had to begin with and grew things that suited the soil before I tried to grow things that need special treatment. I discovered that potatoes loved my soil and so I concentrated on those until I found my feet. Now I’ve started growing carrots in tubs instead, where I can control the texture of the soil better. Try to work with things that are going to give you a return for your efforts in the first year, otherwise you just won’t want to continue. Don’t get disheartened by the things that go wrong. I made all sorts of mistakes when I first started. E Sarah Grange says: Grow what you will use! Look at your weekly shopping list and see what you get through most of. It may be tomatoes and onions – it may be salad leaves and lettuces. There’s no point growing plants that you aren’t going to use, especially if you’ve only got a small plot. At the same time, don’t over plan.
OUR veg-growing PANEL Jonathan Green
JACQUES PORTAL
Michelle Jones
Stefanie Browne
Milton Keynes Growing fruit and veg for one year
Peterborough Growing fruit and veg for two years
Rutland Peterborough Growing fruit and Growing fruit and veg for one year veg for three years
Inez Hardie
Rob Yarnall
Scotland Peterborough Growing fruit and Growing fruit and veg for three years veg for one year
Sarah Grange
Laura Fanthorpe
Lincolnshire Peterborough Growing fruit and Growing fruit and veg for two years veg for three years
One or two courgette plants are usually enough
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May 12 2009 Garden News 27
Pricking out and transplanting E Jonathan Green says: My tomatoes grew really leggy from seed and I thought they wouldn’t be sturdy enough. Then discovered that you can plant the tomatoes deeply as they continue to root from the stems leaving the plant to grow strong and sturdy.
Comfrey leaves make a great organic feed
ELaura Fanthorpe says: Protect tender seedlings from pigeons and slugs as soon as they are above the soil surface. Otherwise you will check them two days later and find only stumps left! Prevention is better than cure.
Feeding tips
Spindly or leggy tomatoes can be planted deeply for strong, sturdy plants
E Jonathan Green says: I was passed great info from an ‘old hand’ when I started growing my own on how to produce my own organic feed. Luckily I had a lot of comfrey growing wild on my allotment. At first it’s a pain because it’s hard to get rid of but I dug up what I could and replanted them at the end of my plot. I now harvest the leaves and stick them in a large tub and fill it with water. After a couple of weeks it stinks to high heaven but my tomatoes absolutely love it.
potatoes
EInez Hardie says: I’m chitting my potatoes again and will be growing them in bags. I did that last year and it was very successful. They tasted much better than bought ones and hardly needed any cleaning.
Keep newly-planted fruit trees well watered
Growing fruit
ELaura Fanthorpe says: When planting out pot-grown fruit trees, remember to keep on watering them regularly for a good few months. They quickly dry out without you realising.
Chitting potatoes gets them off to a good start
Sowing seeds
EJonathan Green says: One piece of advice I can give regarding courgettes is to hold off sowing until mid to late May when the temperature is a warm constant. I’ve found the plants grow really quickly, have a better start and produce heavier crops. Also, depending on the size of your family, don’t sow too many seeds! I found out in my first year when I sowed a pack of 20 seeds I had more courgettes than I, my family and my friends could handle! Two plants would give at least four courgettes a week, which is more than I used to buy from the grocers.
E Inez Hardie says: My beetroot was a disaster in the garden last year so this year I’m starting them off in pots and will only transplant them when they are large enough and strong enough to withstand our late frosts and snow. E Sarah Grange says: If you’re planning to sow root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips, make sure, before you start, that you’ve dug the soil down deep enough to allow root systems and the vegetable itself to grow long enough. This might be back-breaking work at the beginning but it will all be worth it in the end.
Invest in good quality crop protection...and you’ll prevent many problems with pests
E Laura Fanthorpe says: I would suggest not sowing all the seeds in a packet, otherwise you end up with far too many seedlings. It is a bit soul-destroying when you have to bin half of them! And don’t be over eager and start seedlings off too early in a propagator or cold frame. They will only end up spindly. ERob Yarnall says: Be patient. Don’t plant things out too early, and don’t use too much seed as you are likely to be more successful than you think. Mark out where you have placed your seed because it is hard to differentiate between weeds and seedlings.
E Inez Hardie says:I planted a ‘Victoria’ plum tree about two and a half years ago and was thrilled when I had six plums from it the first year. However, last year I had no plums at all, because I think the buds got frosted. Now, as the buds are coming, I keep a careful watch on the weather forecast – I use the internet for this as I can get spot-on forecasts for my area including hour by hour through the night – and I keep fleece ready. I also bought lots of netting to protect the fruit. I have a birdfriendly garden and I reckoned they would love the fruit. To distract them, I made sure there were feeders well away from my netted trees to encourage birds to feed there and not on my fruit. This seems to have worked and none of the birds have been caught in the protective netting either.
When it goes wronG EMichelle Jones says: Persevere! I’ve grown veg plants from seed, put them in the ground and they’ve been eaten overnight, or sometimes they catch a disease or don’t even come up from seed. The trick is not to get annoyed and give up, just keep trying and adapt to what you have to deal with. E Stefanie Browne says: I went into growing with rosetinted glasses, thinking I was going to have perfect vegetables with no problems. So the first piece of advice is to be aware of the environment you’re in and what might be a danger to your plants. Living in Rutland, I have an abundance of rabbits and birds. I didn’t really think about this and just planted my veg. Needless to say, they got eaten. So I now have rabbit fencing around my plots to protect them and so far nothing has been eaten! Same goes for netting from birds. I guess it came down to underestimating
how much destruction wildlife can do! Stefanie Browne, Clipsham, Rutland (growing fruit and veg for one year). ESarah Grange says: Invest in some good quality protection to keep your precious seedlings and shoots free from pests such as slugs, butterflies and cats. Use netting from the garden centre or better still, a strong wooden frame with netting should be sufficient. For next spring, look at getting a fleece blanket for protection against early frosts. There’s nothing worse than growing veg from seed only to see the pests decimate it!
‘Invest in some good quality protection to keep seedlings pest-free...’
Share your experiences E Inez Hardie says:I became a member of GN’s online gardening forum. It’s a great place for information and advice and people are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable in lots of different areas. Some have got their RHS qualifications, others work in garden centres and nurseries and the practical gardeners with hands on experience know what works, if not all the reasoning behind the theories, so there’s a wealth of knowledge and help to be had. EVisit www.liveforgardening.com now for the best advice and the friendliest forum!
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34 Garden News May 12 2009
k e e w e h t fordshire d e B , m a h m ro B f o , is rr Mary Mo
Artist’s eye for mixing colour W
hen Mary Morris moved into her Bromham home 30 years ago she took over an uninspiring garden of scruffy hedges and narrow borders. From these bare bones she has created a garden full of colour and variety. Mary says she didn’t have a grand plan, but her artist’s eye for detail and watercolour painter’s appreciation of colour groupings was an excellent place to start. For the first few years Mary had to garden with her sons in mind, accommodating plants around the need for football games and space to play. But once her boys had abandoned their games, Mary was free to indulge her passion for plants and has spent the last 15 years really developing her ideas. Mary, now 65 and retired, is happy to admit that she was quite naive when she started, not realising the huge amount of work that gardening on heavy clay would require. As she says: “I wish I’d known you can’t put rhododendrons on my clay soil.” The garden is south facing, around 45m (150ft) long, and sheltered by tall shrub hedges. Mary started by widening the very narrow borders, using sweeping curves to draw the eye around the garden and creating distinct areas, including a woodland area with camellias and many spring flowers and bulbs, mixed herbaceous borders and a vegetable plot. Taking a stroll around it’s clear that Mary’s eye for
Bromham’s Mary Morris colour has guided much of her planting. Lush herbaceous borders full of perennials have been carefully colourthemed, beginning with a white border that drifts into soft pinks and mauves and through to stronger, darker colours in shades of red and orange before flowing away into yellows and blues. Concave trellis panels divide the herbaceous border and add height and support for the planting. Tall shrub hedges create a strong backdrop to off-set the vibrant colours of herbaceous planting and divide the different areas of the garden. Mary says that she has taken inspiration for her planting from gardens she has visited over the years, particularly Hidcote in Gloucestershire and Coton Manor in Northamptonshire. Using ideas gleaned from her visits, she has successfully
See Mary’s garden Mary’s garden is at 59 Grange Lane, Bromham, Bedfordshire MK43 8PA. Visitors are welcome by appointment during May in aid of the National Gardens Scheme. E Admission £3. E Tel: 01234 822215 or email: mary.morris59 ntlworld.com
combined shrubs and perennials with contrasting leaf forms and textures as well as with some striking complementary colours. Geraniums in shades of pink and mauve spill over onto the lawn, while heuchera, euphorbia, aquilegia and lavender combine with alliums, foxgloves and cerinthe in the deep herbaceous borders. Elsewhere in the garden she has used gravel and paving to create hard standing for her large collection of imaginatively planted pots and containers, while a pergola is used to add height and support a climbing rose. In the vegetable garden Mary has built timber-edged raised beds to grow all her own produce. She has been completely organic since 1989 and is a keen advocate of companion planting, particularly in the vegetable garden where she grows plants such as tagetes and poached egg plants to attract hoverflies and other beneficial insects. She also grows brassicas in fine mesh cages to keep pests away and her home-made bird scarer made from a potato and some feathers also seems to work well. Mary has spent many years improving her heavy clay soil and firmly believes that understanding and feeding your soil is the key to successful gardening. Her rich and workable soil is the result of 25 years digging in manure, home-made compost and mulch and her garden incorporates a large composting area. All this hard work has clearly paid off as Mary has created a beautifully soft and relaxing garden to wander around and enjoy. And the garden continues to develop. Mary’s recently edged the borders with paving to neaten the lawn, make mowing easier and ease the maintenance workload a little.
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What we think By Jackie Whittaker garden Writer
ESoftly curved herbaceous borders make Mary’s garden wonderfully relaxed. By combining plants with different textures, but keeping the colours complementary, Mary has created a well-balanced planting scheme with a harmonious look. ETried and tested gardening methods are often the best and the potato and feather bird scarer certainly does the trick in Mary’s garden and doesn’t look out of place in her traditional veg plot.
Make life easy
A neat row of bricks laid around the edge of the lawn makes mowing much easier and keeps the lawn smart.
Clever contrasts
Sun-loving tangerine helianthemum thrive at the front of this border and contrast brilliantly with the bright pink gladioli.
May 12 2009 Garden News 35
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Divide and conquer
ideas to steal for your garden
Trellis panels divide Mary’s striking border into sections for her colourthemed, artistic planting
Glorious gladioli
Magenta pink Gladiolus byzantinus add fantastic colour, and they’re hardy so can be left in the ground.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT Don’t be afraid to experiment with colour. Harmony doesn’t have to mean soft and subtle so try putting opposing colours together; the trick is to restrict yourself to just a few different plants rather than a whole host.
ADD HEIGHT AND INTEREST
If your garden is all on one level, add height and interest with a wooden pergola or similar structure. Use it to grow permanent climbers such as roses or seasonal favourites such as golden hops or clematis.
CREATE A REAL FOCAL POINT
A large, carefully placed pot can create a focal point in the garden, whether planted up, left empty or filled with long straight stems as Mary has here. It will draw the eye to a particular area of the garden and adding interest.
DO-IT-YOURSELF Potato BIRD SCARER
Easy to make and practically free, sometimes the old solutions to problems are the best. This potato and feather creation keeps the birds away from Mary’s vegetable patch.
Next week A clematis-packed garden
in Droitwich, Worcestershire
PROVIDING A PERFECT PURPLE FOIL Low-growing phuopsis is the perfect foil for purple granny’s bonnets and hardy geraniums. Mauve bearded iris and blue delphiniums continue the theme later in summer.
Put your garden pictures online EYou can put pictures of your gardens online at our great new gardening website, www.liveforgardening.com
s n o i t s e u your q
36 Garden News May 12 2009
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No specific law to say bonfires are illegal Q
Is it illegal to have a bonfire on your own plot? T A Lord, Melton Mowbray, Leics.
A
I am not a legal expert and am not qualified to advise on the finer points of the law. For specific advice, you would be wise to consult your local authority Environmental Health Officer. Your allotment association could also seek expert legal advice. There is legislation in place to prevent air pollution but, according to my research, there are no specific laws which state that bonfires are illegal. Smoke from a bonfire can
be deemed a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act of 1990, but that nuisance has to be proven to be substantial or persistent. Try www. gardenlaw.co.uk for more information. A constant, smoky fire would be anti-social anyway, regardless of the law, but the occasional bonfire with a careful eye on safety and wind direction, does no harm. However, if you garden well and compost practically everything, a bonfire should hardly ever be necessary. At home, I burn personal papers as a precaution against identity theft, but nothing more.
Question of the week
Martyrs to lily beetle!
‘Bramley’s Seedling’ is a reliable cooker
Guidance on pollen groups
Q
I WOULD like to buy three apple trees for my garden – two dessert and one cooker. I plan to buy them on dwarfing rootstock (M26), but need guidance on the right pollen group. A Briddon, by email.
A
For advice on bonfire ‘etiquette’, consult your local authority
Spray for potato blight after early June Q
How soon would you start spraying for potato blight? Tim Booth, Truro, Cornwall.
A
Expect blight any time after early June, following damp weather, especially when the wind is from the south or south west. In Cornwall, you are likely to be the first region affected. You can also look out for local blight warnings.
Spray potatoes early to protect against blight
The rootstock you have chosen is ideal for smaller gardens and lends itself particularly well to apples grown as cordons or espaliers. The roots of M26 are not vigorous, so you will need to stake your trees carefully for the first few years of their lives. I would also recommend that you wait until autumn, for planting, and that you source your trees from a specialist fruit nursery. A good nursery will give useful advice, as well as tree suggestions. Here’s my selection: E‘Discovery’ is one of the earliest producing juicy, red, aromatic apples. E‘Worcester Pearmain’, classed as mid-season, is also red-fruited crisp and luscious. EMy favourite maincrop is blood red, crisp ‘Spartan’ whose flavour contrasts with the nutty-flavoured ‘Egremont Russet’. EAmong cookers, everyone swears by ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ which is a successful self-pollinator. The apples are large, tart and solid. EFor a more challenging flavour, ‘Blenheim Orange’ is good and if fully ripe, can be eaten raw. All these apples are in the same or neighbouring pollination groups.
Q A
Do lily beetles attack any other plants apart from lilies? Something has decimated my crown imperials this year. Mr M Seldom, Dunstable, Beds.
Crown imperials are martyrs to lily beetle. They are particularly vulnerable to this alien pest because they grow so early in the year when there is little else around to the beetles’ taste. Lily beetles also attack the smaller, more delicate snake’s head fritillaries, and other members of this lovely group of plants. If you look at the ruined plants, you’ll
probably find the black, sticky larvae which cover themselves with their own excrement as a protective device. The adults are little red beetles, a bit like oblong ladybirds without the spots. If you see one catch it quickly, before it falls off the plant. Their defence is to drop off the leaf as soon as they are threatened. Once the damage is done, there is little you can do. However, if you have lilies, your crown imperials are greatly at risk. You can try to pick off as many insects as possible but it might be safer to spray all target plants with Provado Ultimate Bug Killer, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Provado is a systemic insecticide and will give lasting protection.
Dead frogs had a red rash on chests Q
we noticed several dead frogs in our garden during March. They had a red rash on their chests. What’s the cause? Bob and Barbara Bellis, Wirral.
A
Frogs can get badly fatigued after spawning and it is quite common for some of them to die. However, where large numbers are perishing, the most likely cause is a widespread disease caused by ranavirus. The problem was first
spotted back in the 1980s and was known as red-leg because in many – but not all cases – the animals developed red skin rashes as a result of secondary infections. As with most viral diseases, there is no cure available and no vaccine has been developed. Advice from the charity Froglife is to allow the epidemic to take its course. A proportion of the population will recover and it is likely that natural immunity will develop in time as
Frogs can die after spawning resistant frogs breed at the expense of susceptible individuals. Froglife can provide more information and would benefit from your support. Their informative website at www.froglife.org has details on how you can help or you can phone them on 01733 558960.
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May 12 2009 Garden News 37
Tip of the week This is the ideal week for sowing your runner beans outdoors. The soil has warmed up and should be easy to work into a good seed bed. Dig a trench deeper than needed for the seed and partially backfill with lawn mowings or compost before replacing some of the soil. Sow the bean seeds, 5cm (2in) apart and 2.5cm (1in) deep.
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Cut back low growing herbs
Q
With low growing herbs like thyme and oregano, would it be alright to cut them hard back now to encourage more young growth? They are rather straggly at present. Mrs O Smallwood, Coventry, West Midlands.
Sow your runner beans this week
Protection from magpies
Q
How can I protect fledglings in my garden from magpies? We seem to have more of these destructive birds every year. Rebecca Pilton, Kent.
A
Crown imperials are attractive to lily beetles
It is almost impossible to protect nestlings which are vulnerable to a wide range of predators besides magpies. Mortality is high among newly-hatched birds, but large numbers are still produced each year. Reasons for the decline of such species as song thrushes are not fully understood, but are unlikely to be caused by nest predation when others such as blackbirds are not declining.
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Where can I get bottomless pots?
Cell trays are a good alternative for seed or cuttings
Q
Bedding plants I ordered from Thompson & Morgan were supplied in bottomless bitumen pots approximately 25cm (10in) across and 35cm (12in) deep. Can these be purchased by amateurs and if so, where? Roy Glitz, Bedford.
A
These might be Fyba shortlife pots which are supplied to the trade by William Sinclair Horticulture, Firth Road, Lincoln (www. william-sinclair.co.uk), but their literature says the pots come in packs of 2,000! There are lots of alternatives, available in
smaller numbers. Two Wests & Elliot (www.twowests. co.uk) offer an ‘Eco pot maker’ which consists of moulds for making your own pots out of paper of cardboard. They also supply a range of other products including Jiffy pots – ideal for starting courgettes, cucumbers and melons
– bottomless pots and more. Cell trays are the best alternative for seed or cuttings-raised plants. Even vegetables like carrots and spinach can be sown in cell trays, individually or in small groups, and will transplant safely without their growth being checked.
A
Honesty seedpods – the flowers attract orange tips
Encouraging orange tips
Not only alright, but advisable! Take care with old thyme bushes, since they might die from the shock, but otherwise, give herbs a spring chop and expect a new flush of tender stems and leaves.
Q
Am I too late to divide lilies?
Q
I love seeing orange tip butterflies at this time of year and would like to encourage more in the garden. How can I do that? F Lawrence Tenterden, Kent.
Am I too late to divide up my big pot full of lilies? The shoots are about 30cm (12in) tall. Alan Firkins, Wellingborough, Northants.
A
A
Grow their food plant. The female lays her eggs on cuckoo flower, Cardamine pratensis, in May and early June so if you have a damp corner or any rough grass introduce this pretty, lilac-flowered native. They are also attracted to honesty, Lunaria annua.
Pot up lilies now rather than dividing them
Give herbs a spring chop to keep them compact
I think there would be a risk of damaging them if you divided them now. However, you could pot them up into a larger container now and put off dividing up the clump until autumn. A bigger pot would give them a little more root room for the summer.
Do species tulips need dead-heading? Q
My species tulips, from a reputable supplier, have flowered nicely. Should I dead-head them as the blooms fade or leave them alone? Pat Brooks, Lichfield, Staffs.
A
With big hybrid tulips – the types mostly used for bedding and borders – it’s wise to remove the capsules or fruits as soon as the petals have fallen. This prevents the seed from being formed so the plant can concentrate on building up food supplies in the bulb. Smaller, botanical tulip species have a different habit,
Leave species tulips to seed but dead-head the hybrids usually bearing smaller blooms supported by plenty of foliage. If you remove the seed heads, the bulbs might grow larger, but if you allow the flowers to mature
naturally, self-sown seeds may germinate and help to increase plant numbers. With species such as T. turkestanica, this is a rapid way to build up numbers. My policy, therefore, is to allow natural species to grow, flower and seed as they will, but to dead-head all garden hybrids. Some species, particularly Tulipa sylvestris have a habit of going ‘vegetative’ and can sometimes be reluctant to come back into flower. Dead-heading might help, with this, but I suspect that growing conditions have more to do with the plants’ behaviour.