GARDEN NOTES

garden notes News, products and advice for the new season

SEASONAL SENSATION AUBRETIA

The perfect perennial for a pop of spring colour, aubretia is best grown in full sun on top of a drystone wall, in a rockery or in tall pots. Once established it will form a lush, vibrant, flower-studded cascade from mid-spring through into early summer. Braithwaites in Leeming Bar (braithwaitesnursery.co.uk) has a wide selection in stock.

Divide and Rule

New hosta shoots will soon be peeping above ground, and when they do it’s your cue to divide large clumps and spread these fantastic foliage plants around your garden or share them with friends. Simply uproot a clump, divide into quarters with an old breadknife and replant the divisions in a moist, shady spot.

SOW AND SOW

Now’s the time to begin sowing small batches of beetroot and carrot seed, repeating every fortnight to ensure a succession of tender young roots from summer through to mid-autumn. Early direct sowings can be protected from cold weather under plastic cloches; once May is in sight they’ll likely survive unprotected.

KEEP OFF!

Once the soil warms up you’ll be eager to plant out your new seedlings – and the neighbourhood mice and pigeons will be equally keen to tuck into them! Wire cloches, like this one from gardentrading.co.uk, are a stylish way to prevent hungry wildlife from scoffing your precious young plants.

StunningCerinthe

Cerinthe major subsp. purpurascens, the honeywort, is a handsome hardy annual whose purple, bell-like flowers and bluetinted leaves make it an eye-catching summer filler for cottage garden borders. Sow Cerinthe under cover now and it will be ready to plant out in June. Save the seeds in autumn for next year’s crop.

PLANT IT NOW

CANDELABRA PRIMULA

With their tall stems bearing whorls of white, pink, purple, red, orange or yellow flowers, candelabra primulas are an excellent choice for bringing colour to pond edges and boggy garden corners in spring and early summer. If the soil is reliably damp they’ll tolerate full sunshine, otherwise they will do best in part shade. Candelabra primulas self-seed freely, so refrain from deadheading them.

Marvel Arch

An attractive arch like this one from harrodhorticultural.com will create an attractive focal point and add height and interest to your garden. Use it to grow honeysuckle, climbing roses or clematis, but make sure to choose compact varieties. Vigorous cultivars would soon swamp your structure and create an untidy tangle.

POCKET POND

No room in your garden for a pond, but keen to do your bit for water-loving wildlife? This ‘pond in a pot’ kit from primrose.co.uk includes a watertight trough, gravel and three colourful aquatic perennials. Just right for a sunny spot in a courtyard or on a patio.

LION TAMER

Spring brings with it a golden tide of dandelions, whose long, tough taproots make them remarkably difficult to prise from the ground. This handy RHS-approved dandelion weeder from Burgon & Ball (burgonandball.com) provides just the right combination of grip and leverage to get the job done quickly.

Training Session

Climbers such as clematis will soon be putting on a spurt of new growth. As soon as this happens you need to tie wandering stems to supporting wires or trelliswork, otherwise they’ll most likely head off in the wrong direction or – worse still – twine themselves round other plants.

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