8 minute read
Gardening
Water-wise gardening
Long, dry springs appear to be becoming a regular feature in recent years and although we don’t know what the summer will bring, it makes huge sense both financially and environmentally to become a water-wise gardener. And less need for watering means less time spent attached to the business end of a hose pipe. Choose plants that naturally tolerate drought and your garden will look fantastic even when there’s no rain for weeks. These plants have features like thick, waxy foliage; leaves that are narrow and needle-like or covered in fine hairs; or silvery and light-reflecting. Some create their own ‘heat shield’ by evaporating essential oils to create wonderful scents, including popular herbs like rosemary and lavender. Plan your plantings with a blend of foliage and flowers: create the ‘bones’ of a garden with strong structural foliage such as elaeagnus, bay, olearia, and Box, which look good all year and make a beautiful contrast to colourful flowers. For some planting inspiration, I recommend a trip to South West Water’s visitor centre at Roadford Lake, near Broadwoodwidger, where the garden I was commissioned to design has recently been completed. For pots and borders, succulent plants with fleshy leaves are great as they store water in their leaves and need far less water than many patio plants. However, do bear in mind that drought tolerant plants hate sitting in wet ground for any length of time, so if your soil is poor-draining, create raised beds or plant on mounds so they don’t succumb in periods of heavy rain. For general container planting, improve drought tolerance by planting in large pots (small ones dry out incredibly fast) and group containers close together so they shade each other. Collecting and saving rainwater rather than using tap water can be done in lots of ways. Water butts are simple and
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low-cost (SW Water offer these through www.savewatersavemoney.co.uk) and there are lots of more ornamental designs too, including a clever design that combines planters around the butt. Or, hide your storage out of sight with a low, wide tank beneath a deck or patio. An alternative to lugging cans around is a little solar-powered or electric pond pump. Timing your planting is an excellent way to save water and end up with much better plants in the long run. Planting now means watering for months whilst plants are in full growth, but anything hardy is best planted in autumn, when growth is slowing right down and the soil is warm and moist, ideal for root growth so the plant establishes itself during autumn and winter. Then come spring, when the plant explodes into growth, there’s little or no need to water.
Seasonal gardening jobs
Stake tall-growing perennials early rather than waiting until stems start to topple. Either buy grow-through supports, use twiggy prunings, or canes and string. Tender vegetables like courgettes, marrows, sweetcorn, runner and French beans can be sown outside now. Buy ready-grown plants of tomatoes, peppers, chillis, and cucumbers. Feed hardy plants growing in containers, using controlled release fertilizer that will last the whole season.
Inspect lilies for bright red lily beetle and the orangey slime-covered larvae. Hand picking and squashing is the best control, or use preventative chemicalfree sprays, although these need re-application after rain.
ENDSLEIGH GARDENS NURSERY
Milton Abbot Tavistock
PL19 0PG
Tel: 01822 870235
www.endsleighgardens.co.uk
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VISIT
for our great range of Roses, Shrubs, Climbers, Perennials & Trees
Pop in for a chat! We’re happy to advise how you can improve your garden. OPEN EVERY DAY! Well worth a visit !
Euphorbia martinii Prune spring-flowering shrubs like forsythia and flowering quince, as next year’s blooms will be borne on growth made this year.
Sue Fisher
GARDEN DESIGNER & HORTICULTURAL SPECIALIST
Inspirational ideas to transform your garden
• Advisory visits • Planting plans • Complete designs tel: 01822 841895 email: suefisher@talktalk.net www.suefishergardens.co.uk
Wild about High Fliers
Wild about Gardens is a collaboration between the Royal Horticultural Society and the Wildlife Trusts, to encourage gardeners to take action in support of nature. This year’s theme is ‘Wild about High Fliers’ to help those soaring superstars of the skies: swifts, swallows, and martins. These amazing birds fly from Africa to breed here from spring to autumn. Sadly, numbers have declined, and swifts and martins have been added to the Red List of globally threatened species. But there’s lots gardeners can do to help, by providing nesting sites, materials, and food. These birds are all insect-eaters and feed on the wing whilst in flight, so you’ll never see them at your bird table, but boosting insect populations gets them swooping over your garden and nearby. Do this by having a pond, bog garden, or moist ground that is a magnet for insects; turn a part or all of your lawn into meadow; and grow plants that attract pollinating insects. Swallows, swifts, and house martins nest under the eaves of buildings, both out and in, where you can place ready-made nests and ‘swift bricks’, and allow access to outbuildings by making a small hole in a door top or taking out a couple of bricks. Create a path of moist, muddy soil outside for use in nest building. And yes, they do make a bit of a mess below the nest but a bit of tarp can easily be rigged up as protection. Encouraging these wonderful birds is well worth the slight inconvenience. For more information see www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk
Sue Fisher The Garden House is a 10-acre gem near Buckland Monachorum which has been described as ‘one of the finest gardens in Britain’ and is a favourite in the horticultural world for Carol Klein, Toby Buckland, Alan Titchmarsh and Arit Anderson. Although it is a garden for all seasons, June and July are two of the most spectacular. Nick Haworth, head gardener says: “I love to walk through the Summer Garden and one of the highlights is the repeat flowering of deep ‘navy blue’ agapanthus set against striking persicaria and swathes of swishing grasses. Even on a cloudy day it reminds me of holidays, blue sea and blue sky!” The Garden House is open daily from 10.30am to 5pm (last entry 4.30pm). Enjoy the special Platinum Jubilee ‘Royal Menu’ in the café throughout June, and visit the exhibition by renowned local artist Anita Nowinska. For more info see www.thegardenhouse.org.uk.
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A second chance for ash trees
In our day-to-day lives, we pass dozens, if not hundreds of trees - though we never really stop to think about the maintenance that goes into keeping each tree safe and healthy. Dartforest Tree Works, a local arboricultural company working throughout Devon, is responsible for preserving ash trees - an incredibly common type of tree in the UK - from dying as a result of a fungal disease known as dieback, or Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (previously Chalara fraxinea). Links Magazines caught up with professional tree surgeon, Daniel Chew, to learn what causes this disease, and how he and his colleagues at Dartforest are able to extend the life of these beautiful trees.
“We can’t prevent ash trees from getting the disease, but we can maintain trees that have it,” Daniel Chew explained. “The fungus is of an East Asian origin and has been sweeping across Europe for the past few decades, decimating our ash trees. Some ash trees are resilient to it - meaning they can get the disease, but are able to live with it; whereas some will die, quite quickly as well, by losing their leaves, so they don’t have the usual leaves you would expect to find in summer conditions.”
Daniel describes the fungal disease as a spore that spreads through air via wind, and causes leaves to fall off branches and the tips to turn black. Dartforest pollards ash trees in order to give them another chance at growth. He says: “The key is that we are not reducing the tree to ground level, we are retaining it so the thousands of species that rely on an ash tree for habitat are still able to live on it.” Dartforest leaves the cut wood in the woodlands, allowing it to rot and turn into compost, feeding back into the woodland’s ecosystem. The company also makes benches, bird boxes, and more from leftover wood, and even carves bat and bird houses into tree trunks which are no longer viable. “More recently, we have been branching out into woodland management - we try to keep anything we have cut on site so we are not taking anything away from the woodland. We create things like benches, and features like Norwegian log piles.” Although some ash trees tolerate the disease well, where trees are seriously diseased and growing near buildings or roads they need to be regularly assessed. Dan explained that any ash tree can be affected, young or old: “The fungus can enter the tree at any age, from small, roadside ash trees to trees that are hundreds of years old. The fungus isn’t picky!”
Joe McCormick
Contact Dartforest on aran@dartforesttrees.co.uk or 07594 680168.
HIGHLY EXPERIENCED & FULLY QUALIFIED TREE SURGEONS & TREE CONSULTANTS
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Aran Kimberlee
BSc (Hons) Arboriculture, M Arbor A
