garden notes

News, products and advice for the new season

SEASONAL SENSATION Japanese quince

With its profusion of eyecatching flowers carried on leafless branches, the Japanese quince is the perfect plant to light up a dark corner in spring. Available in a range of colours, including white, pink and crimson, it grows to a metre tall by two metres wide, and its spreading branches can be trained up a wall or trellis.

Parsnip Planning

Parsnips need a long growing season, so sow them as soon as the soil has warmed up, preferably by early May. Use fresh seed, because parsnip seed doesn’t age well. Sow it 1.5cm deep in rows 30cm apart. Don’t be tempted to dig in manure; too rich a soil will cause parsnip roots to fork.

Mark up

White plastic plant markers have been the go-to option for most gardeners for years. But plastic is problematical, and white looks distinctly dull. Colourful wooden plant markers, like these from sarahraven.com, solve both problems. And by colour-coding your pots of vegetable seedlings you can see what’s what at a glance!

Sunny outlook

Now’s the time to sow sunflowers for a super summertime display – and a seedy autumn feast for garden birds. Sow sunflower seeds individually, 3cm deep in pots of multipurpose compost on a sunny windowsill or in a greenhouse. Transfer young plants outdoors when the danger of frost has passed.

Red Alert

For the best possible colour effect, prune the stunning red stems of Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ back hard in March or April, leaving just two buds on each stem. This will encourage a crop of brilliant red new stems in place of the older, more weathered ones.

Decidedly Different

Achocha vines may look exotic but they’re surprisingly easy to grow. Start seeds off indoors in spring and transfer plants outdoors once the frosts are over. Provide something to climb up and they’ll be two metres tall before you know it!

fruits taste much like green peppers and are

Cherry picking

Love cherry blossom but don’t have much space? Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’, the dwarf Fuji cherry, has a height and spread of two metres and grows happily on most soils and even in large containers. Every spring its zig-zag stems will be laden with masses of small, pale pink flowers. You can find ‘Kojo-no-mai’ at Braithwaites, Leeming Bar (braithwaitesnursery.co.uk).

Handsome hurdles

Traditional is trending! These hazel hurdles from Fall Timber at Leeming Bar Industrial Estate (falltimber.co.uk) are ideal for establishing boundaries, separating sections of the garden, and creating screens or windbreaks. Hazel hurdles are attractive, hard-wearing and eco-friendly, and their natural colouring makes the perfect backdrop for pretty much any style of planting.

This smart stainless steel RHS-endorsed scoop from Burgon & Ball (burgonandball.com) is ideal for filling pots and containers without annoying spills and wastage.

Divide And Rule

Now’s the perfect time to divide water lilies –something you’ll need to do every few years to maintain their vigour. Remove the tubers from their pond baskets and cut them into 8–10cm lengths, making sure each section has at least one bud. Repot these in aquatic compost and you’ll soon have a host of new plants.