News
Take cuttings to over-winter tender perennials safely
THE MAJORITY of gardeners will treat their summer bedding favourites – Pelargoniums, Petunias, Fuchsias etc - as annuals because they die off as late autumn sets in. However, a lot of our summer favourites are actually classed as tender perennials. If you keep them at a temperature of 7-10°C (44-50°F) through winter you can get them to flower year-after-year and end up with some very large specimens for the garden.
Larger over-wintered plants become harder to work with in creative basket and bedding displays however, and will take up more space in the winter greenhouse. Rather than keep the same plant going it is often better to take cuttings now
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 25/08/2010
New Land's End garden opens at Barnsdale
Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland, the home of the late TV gardener Geoff Hamilton, has opened a new garden based on a seaside theme. It has been created by award-winning garden designer Adam Frost, who used to work as a gardener at Barndale. Inspired by Adam’s love of Southwold on the Suffolk coast, this latest addition to the garden is a seaside retreat. Key features include a blue and white beach hut and decking with steps up to a staged area, with deckchairs and scatter cushions.
The planting is designed to offer year-round interest and colour, with drifts of coastal plants growing amongst gravel and sand. Gabion seating surrounds a raised fire pit for
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 23/08/2010
Green composts under fire
PEAT COMPOSTS could be kinder to the planet than many ‘green’ alternatives, claims a shock report. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) spent £29,633 studying greenhouse gasses associated with growing media (compost). But the report concluded that UK and Irish peat, along with coir, “emitted the least greenhouse gasses (GHGs)” during all life cycle stages. It added: “Peat imported from Finland, bark and ‘green’ compost emit the greatest amount of GHGs, while vermiculite, wood fibre and perlite occupy the middle ground.” But the report contradicts its own findings saying that where carbon
Read onSource: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 18/08/2010
Cut back border perennials
FROM AN early age, gardeners are taught (or they instinctively know) that the end of the growing season is the time to cut back border perennials. Cutting the plants back keeps them tidy, makes them well-placed to produce new growth shoots for the following year and, more importantly, it gets rid of old growth that will die away anyway, which if left, could encourage rots, moulds and pests.
We’re still a way off from the end of the growing season, but early-flowering perennials, such as Dicentra (pictured), Cranesbill Geranium, Delphinium, Aquilegia and Oriental Poppies will have started to die back. These types would have flowered in June, soaked up as
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 16/08/2010
Going on holiday?
Tips to keep your garden blooming while you're away
MANY OF us will be taking a summer holiday over the next few weeks. Of course, it won't just be us soaking up the sun, our garden and house plants will, too. Without water they'll become a dried up, wilting mess, and it'll be so frustrating after months of work getting them to look good! The ideal scenario is for a neighbour to take over the watering and feeding while you're away - letting them harvest any crops and flowers that are ready, in return. However, this isn't always possible, which is why you need a back-up plan. So, for peace of mind, follow my 10 pre- and post-holiday jobs.
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 13/08/2010
Taking ‘mallet’ cuttings
Kris tries this alternative to heel cuttings, which promises better results.
Late summer is the ideal time to propagate your favourite shrubs and climbers using semi-hardwood cuttings. This season's growth is well on its way to hardening up, providing plenty of suitable material for bulking up your stocks. The 'mallet' cutting is so called because the material taken from the plant resembles a hammer in appearance. If you have tried to take 'heel' cuttings before now and had little success, don't give up, try the mallet cutting as it offers several advantages.
A mallet cutting holds more material for the new plant to root from, and
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 04/08/2010
Gardeners 'at sharp end of conservation,' says Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh has urged gardeners to hang on to old plant varieties rather than continually seek out new plants. Alan, who is the new president of Plant Heritage (formerly the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens) said: "There is a great temptation in the trade to keep bringing new varieties out. Yes, we need them to refresh but we shouldn’t let good old ones slip away." He went on: "We should be looking for all around performance and not just new for the sake of new. There is a danger of bringing in plants for the sake of them being new when they haven’t been tested as thoroughly as they should have
Read onSource: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 02/08/2010
Small scale water garden
Many gardeners would love to have a pond in their garden, but if there are young children around the safety aspects of creating a full-scale pond are unrealistic. However you can have a good compromise, by creating a container water fountain. Although you could focus on water movement, plant lovers prefer some greenery and flower present.
You don’t need a large body of water to grow pond plants - any water tight container that will hold more than 4 gallons (two average-sized watering cans) of water will be sufficient to support a few pond plants - ideal if you are working with a small space or just want to experiment before taking the plunge with a full
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 28/07/2010
First hose ban in four years in force
Millions of gardeners have been hit by the first hosepipe ban in Britain for four years. United Utilities imposed the ban at 6am on 9 July. Any gardeners caught flouting the rules risk fines of up to £1,000. United Utilities, which supplies seven million people in the north west, said it was facing its driest start to the year since 1929. Despite widespread flooding across the region last autumn, reservoir levels are now reported to have fallen to less than half their capacity.
"This is not a decision we have taken lightly," said United Utilities' John Sanders. "But a hosepipe can use as much water in an hour as a family of four would use
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 26/07/2010Electricity - shock statistics
The Electrical Safety Council has launched its Plug into Safety campaign, urging us all to be more careful with electrical wiring and appliances around the home and garden.
According to the Council, every week in the UK someone dies in an electrical accident at home, and one in eight has had a serious electrical shock.
New research shows just 'how little' the UK thinks about electrical safety. Findings include:
- In the past 12 months more than half of us haven’t checked our electrics - or had them professionally checked
- A third of us say we are not concerned about electrical safety
- Almost 13 million homes in the UK do not have
release date: 12/07/2010
Hose ban fear after dry spring
The spectre of hosepipe bans looms once again after spring and early summer turned out to be the driest in nearly 50 years.
Experts predict that gardeners in the north west of England could be hit with watering restrictions this summer. The prospect of a hosepipe ban will come as a surprise to many gardeners. The UK has experienced several washout summers in a row, while parts of Cumbria were devastated by flooding last autumn.
Met Office forecasters said last week that rainfall totals across the UK have been the lowest for 46 years for the first five months of 2010. A Met Office spokesman said: "Between January and May, average UK rainfall amounts were
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 06/07/2010
A rosy summer ahead
Although roses are much easier to look after these days, AG’s Kris Collins says there are still summer jobs to do.
To my way of thinking, a garden wouldn’t be a garden without a rose bush or two. And, when you think about it, they needn’t be bushes, for there are climbers, ramblers, ground-hugging roses and miniatures that can stay in pots all year round. It is true that in the past roses have been considered ‘high-maintenance’ plants. They had a reputation for always getting diseases, or it seemed as though you needed to feed them every five minutes, or their pruning was so difficult that if you did the wrong thing at the wrong
Source: Amateur Gardening Magazinerelease date: 05/07/2010