Home & Gardens

Gardening...

...with botanist Dr Dave Aplin

DAMP DELIGHTS: Yellow flag seeds, left, and Ragged Robin Pictures: DAVE APLIN

Pond plants for a perfect perspective

In my last column I discussed the virtues of making a garden pond to enhance wildlife and our own mental wellbeing, if you missed it, you can find it online at stouravonmagazine. co.uk/issues/latest-issue/. This article focuses on the kinds of pond plants that could be chosen. Since the aim is to encourage wildlife, I will focus on native species; the elegance of some of these may really surprise. Pond plants can be divided into different habitats, those that live in the water and keep it oxygenated and those that enjoy the boggy margins of the pond and don’t mind their roots being constantly wet. Oxygenators are vital to any pond; they remove carbon dioxide during the day and release oxygen. An oxygenated pond allows a whole host of life to flourish in water that does not noticeably smell. When oxygen becomes depleted there is a change-ofguard at the microbial level and these new organisms give off the kind of smells you wouldn’t want in your garden. My choice of oxygenators are the native hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum) and water crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis). Water crowfoot lives entirely underwater except in June when slender stems emerge from below the waterline holding up white, buttercup flowers to pollinators. Hornworts, on the other hand stay underwater even when flowering with their pollen dispersing in water. Canadian pondweed (Elodea canadensis) is perhaps the best know oxygenator, but it is a thug, producing lots of growth and quickly reproducing from stem fragments. It is against the law to transfer it to a natural site because it can block waterways, so best avoided. Native water lilies (Nuphar lutea or N. alba) are too vigorous for small to mediumsized ponds and need water to a metre deep. The bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) is a good alternative. It takes its name from the resemblance of its leaves to beans, but this is where similarities end. The leaves emerge from underwater stems and poke above the water’s surface, but its most spectacular feature are its exotic-looking spring flowers. These are white with feathery margins to the petals. Like its name suggests, bogbeans need boggy soil up to a depth of 60cm. There are a host of native plants that can colonise the margins of your pool with one ‘foot’ in the water. These include the yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus) with attractive yellow flowers and architectural seed pods with tightly packed disc-like seeds. Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) reaches 120cm in summer and produce spires of pink-purple flowers before disappearing below ground in winter. Kingcups (Caltha palustris), also known as marsh-marigold are likely the first of the native pond plants to bloom in March and April producing buttercup-like flowers the size of a 50p piece. One of my favourite plants, Ragged Robin (Lychnis floscuculi), enjoys the moist ground surrounding my pond and happily self-seeds in damp places. A member of the carnation family, its pink petals have raggedy margins between May and August. Predominantly planting native plants in pods is a superb way of welcoming wildlife, but more than this, it provides opportunity to view a spectacular array of plants that you may otherwise seldom encounter.

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Benett begonias bring back the ‘best banter’

Hello petal! The Best Begonia is back The third annual ‘Best Begonia in the Benett Bar’ saw strong support from regulars of the Benett Arms, Semley, with lots of entries on show for judge Clare Gosling of the Thorngrove Garden Centre to assess. Class 1, ‘with lovely, big full plants and good flowers’, was won by ‘dark horse’, Hugh Burt of West Hatch while former winner, Jason Stopps of Semley, romped away with the Freestyle Class, thanks to his impressive arrangement of healthy plants and amazing blooms. Last year’s winner, Sue Malden of Shaftesbury, received a ‘highly commended’ for her entry of ‘nice big plants, full of flowers in an attractive planter’. Landlady Sam Hatcher flanked by the winners and their shields,pictured above enjoying the autumn sunshine, thanked all the competitors for their support of the pub and the entertainment provided by the months of ‘banter’ generated by the competition.

Jo Green is a former allotmenteer, forager, amateur herbalist, pickler and jam maker who squeezed her allotment greenery into her tiny garden When I announced that we had hops in our garden my husband looked hopeful. I have no doubt visions of a plentiful supply of home brew settled in his mind’s eye, but only for a second as I had to chase those images away with the reality of hop bags and hop tea! Hop bags are often used similarly to lavendar bags as the scent of hops is thought to aid sleep and relaxation. A sachet of hops in the beer lover’s sock drawer was my inner debate – would he like that or would it be a cruel heart-stopper? I decided instead to make some bags as presents for female friends. It doesn’t matter to me that my stitching lacks finesse –the personal touch makes up for that in spades. I also made some hop tea. First I dried the hop heads which you can see on the bine merrily snaking up our huge fig tree, in the photo. You can dry the hop heads by leaving them in a dry dark place for a few days or in the oven at the lowest heat for an hour or outside on a sunny dry day in a pillow case blowing on the line. Then just steep the dry hops (two or three heads) in boiling water and leave to stew for a few mins then strain into a cup. A bit of research on the internet and anyone can see they seem to be a bit of a super food (if rather bitter ) but erring on the safe side hops should not be taken by pregnant women or children.

HopefulHopeful aboutabout hopshops

Horticulture meets history for meeting

by Joanna Lewis

Wimborne Horticultural Society’s September meeting took the form of a tour around the beautiful garden of the Museum of East Dorset, led by our Chairman David Morgan, also a Trustee of the Museum. The medieval ‘burgage plot’ originally consisted of a narrow-fronted house on a long strip of land on which there would probably have been animals and vegetables. You could almost imagine the noise and smell in such a relatively small space, thankfully quite unlike today’s ‘green oasis’. The Tudor house we see today replaced the medieval property and, in 1872, the Coles family moved in and gave us the current garden layout. Points of interest included the forge used for the tinning of copper jugs etc; an oak door from the old Workhouse; a stained-glass window from the Crown Hotel and the Gunpowder Store last used for making gun cartridges when there used to be an ironmongers front of house. The lower part of the garden has a small vegetable plot and orchard including strawberry (yes there is such a thing), walnut and a 100year-old medlar, the fruit of which used to be used to flavour jellies and desserts. Past the raised Roman herb garden is a small shelter decorated with Roman tiles, tesserae and the Dorset Ooser. To learn more, why not pop into the museum where you can also attend workshops and talks (museumofeast dorset.co.uk). Our next meeting is on Monday, October 11, at 2:00pm at the Allendale Centre. Entry is £1 members and £3 non-Members n wimbornehortsoc.wixsite. com/website

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