Innholdsfortegnelse for Oct-15 i BBC Gardeners' World

Your mix of 50 FREE tulips contains: • ‘ Queen of Night’ Dark maroon Height 60cm • ‘ Madame Lefeber’ Red with black centre H 30cm • ‘ Purple Prince’ Purple/lilac H 45cm • ‘Gavota’ Red/yellow H 50cm • ‘ White Dream’ Pure white H 50cm • ‘ Flaming Flag’ Purple/white streaked H 45cm MORE OFFERS ON SPRING-FLOWERING BULBS Galanthus elwesii This ‘giant’ snowdrop produces large flowers up to 2.5cm long, with a honey scent. Plant it in dappled shade at the base of trees and shrubs. Height 30cm 10 bulbs £6.99 20 bulbs £8.99 SAVING £4.99 Tulipa ‘Blueberry Ripple’ A spectacular tulip offering long-lasting, fragrant blooms. Each white petal is licked with a purple-blue flame. The flowers stand upright on sturdy stems. H 45cm 16 bulbs £11.99…

Write to Have your say, Gardeners’ World , Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT or email letters@gardenersworld.com and you could win National Garden Gift Vouchers Why do you work – or volunteer – in gardening? I read with interest the comments of Sue Beesley and Adam Frost in Over the fence (September issue) about whether it’s worth working in horticulture. Six months ago I would have said no it’s not. But then I was made redundant from a well-paid and stressful managerial role. By chance I visited my local garden centre and saw a vacancy advertised – I applied and was offered the job. My salary has more than halved, but my family has commented on how much I have changed for the better. A weight has been…

Neither animals nor plants, fungi are a separate group of organisms. Unlike plants, which produce (via photosynthesis), they consume, but not internally as animals do (in the gut), but externally, sending microscopic root-like hyphae through the soil. Largely regarded as decomposers, they can recycle dead and decaying matter, but can also parasitise plants and animals. Usually all we see are the fruiting bodies, which cast spores into the air, and come in various shapes and sizes. As the fungi’s cap expands, it pulls away from the stem, leaving a torn ‘ring’ of tissue, which can help identify them. Toadstools are any of the stalked, domed fruiting bodies, but traditionally the term ‘mushroom’ means only the edible white fleshy species – the common mushroom, the field mushroom and the poisonous yellow-staining…

F&F quilted gilet A great-value option with leather-look trim, two pockets and press-studded tabs. Machine washable. RRP £19, from Tesco or clothingattesco.com Quilted softshell waistcoat With classic style, this gilet is windproof, shower proof and has a micro-fleece lining. A matching fleece is available. RRP £44.95, 01844 338666, gardengirl.co.uk Barbour Landry gilet A quilted outer combined with a fleece lining provide superb warmth. There’s a detachable hood, too. Available in pink or grey. RRP £139, 0800 917 3000, barbour.com…

HISTORY In 1999 Sir Charles and Lady Legard commissioned plantsman and designer Piet Oudolf to create a contemporary new garden in Scampston Hall’s walled kitchen garden, which had been derelict for nearly 50 years. GARDEN ROOMS In the walled garden are several distinct areas, including the minimalist Silent Garden with a pond and clipped yews, and The Mount, which gives views across the garden. VISIT Open Tue-Sun until 1 Nov, 10am-5pm. Use your 2-for-1 Gardens to Visit card – for details see gardenersworld.com/ 2-for-1-gardens. Adult £7, child (5-16) £3.50. Scampston Hall, Malton, N Yorks YO17 8NG, 01944 759111, scampston.co.uk. 2 for 1 entry Scampston Walled Garden is just one of 360 UK gardens offering 2-for-1 entry with the Gardeners’ World Card & Guide 2015 , free with the May issue,…

The shorter , cooler days of autumn are perfect for putting in new hardy plants or moving existing ones. Good plants aren’t cheap, so give them the best possible start in life to ensure they not only survive, but thrive to give many years of pleasure. Our guide covers everything you need for success and is packed with advice, including tips from top plant specialists. Autumn planting produces excellent results with minimal aftercare. Conditions are ideal as the soil has thoroughly warmed over summer, and as leafy growth slows dramatically, plants can concentrate energy on rooting without being stressed. Also, rain is usually plentiful over the coming months so there’s little need for time-consuming watering. The plants will continue to root through winter and be well established and ready to…

These high-rise garden favourites deserve premium treatment during soil preparation and planting. Not only do they support an enormous quantity of growth in relation to the amount of ground space they occupy, but they also have to cope with soil at the base of walls and fences that is usually poorer than in borders. And to make life even tougher, the roots tend to be cramped into a small area, and water can be scarce as they’re often sited in a rain shadow. This also means that vigorous climbers and wall shrubs do best, in the long term, when grown in the ground where their roots can spread, rather than being constrained in a pot. 4 steps to planting a climber 1 Make sure your plant support, be it trellis,…

It was a great wrench of course, moving from a garden I had sculpted and planted over more than 20 years. But every now and then in life one recognises when the moment has come for a sea change or, in this case, for a change of earth. I felt that had at least one more garden in me, and we had always fancied a Georgian house. They don’t come up very often, so when a modest-sized farmhouse came on the market just a couple of miles from Barleywood, where I filmed Gardeners’ World for seven years, the opportunity seemed too good to miss. There were, to be honest, other attractions as well – the soil was rather better than the chalk, clay and flinty mixture we left behind (although…

An autumn-flowering favourite of Alan Titchmarsh (see p72), Nerine bowdenii bear bright colourful blooms on sturdy stems that make attractive cut flowers. They are best planted in tight clumps for a dramatic late-season display. Bulb size 12/14cm 1 N. bowdenii ‘Pink’ Easy to grow, with an impressive display of rose-pink funnel-shaped blooms. Height x Spread 45cm x 8cm 5 bulbs £9.99 2 N. bowdenii ‘Alba’ Crisp-white starry blooms with curved petals held aloft tall stems. H x S45cm x 10cm 5 bulbs £9.99 3 N. bowdenii ‘Stefani’ These white and shell-pink bi-coloured flowers have a wonderful spicy fragrance. H x S45cm x 15cm 5 bulbs £9.99 4 N. bowdenii ‘Isabel’ Dark-pink flowers add a bold statement and contrast beautifully with paler blooms. H x S60cm x 20cm 5 bulbs £9.99…

PRUNE NEW PLANTS • Cut back weak stems hard to promote strong, vigorous growth from the base Autumn is an ideal time to prune deciduous woody plants – as they shed leaves, their framework becomes clearly visible, making it easier to see what needs cutting. And in the milder autumn weather, cuts heal quickly. Remove dead, diseased or damaged growth annually, before the problem worsens or is exacerbated by severe weather. Autumn is also prime planting time, and most deciduous hardy stock really benefit from initial pruning straight after planting. There are, however, plants that you shouldn’t prune now; mainly evergreens and anything tender. Evergreens continue to grow all year, albeit more slowly in winter, and pruning not only exposes vulnerable cut surfaces but may encourage soft new shoots liable…

After our trial was finished, the testers came up with a list of the key features they would look for when choosing a shredder. 1 Rigid collection box, so you don’t have to sweep up the shreddings afterwards. 2 Detachable hopper to make the machine more compact for storage. 3 Handles, so it’s easy to tilt and move around. A taller model makes this easier. 4 Reversible blades, to clear blockages without having to handle the blades.…

STEP BY STEP Get cleaning FUNGAL SPORES and many types of pests in their overwintering stages can accumulate or take refuge in the structural crevices of your greenhouse, as well as among old pots and other debris. The best solution is to remove everything from your greenhouse, including the plants (protect the tender ones), and do a thorough clean. Then ventilate to dry it out Use a stiff brush and a solution of greenhouse disinfectant and water to scrub the structure and benches, right into all the corners. For any crevices or corners that are too small for the brush, try using a plant label or similar to remove accumulated debris. Clean the glass with detergent and wipe off with a rubber window blade to maximise incoming light over…

PLANT UP BORDERS OR POTS with late-flowering plants such as Michaelmas daisies and sedums, to provide a source of nectar and pollen for late-flying insects. Continue to collect fallen leaves from lawns and paths but avoid taking them from garden borders and beneath hedges, where they will provide a valuable hibernation habitat for hedgehogs and other mammals. Start regularly leaving out suet products for garden birds, which will appreciate an extra portion of fat as temperatures fall. Collect windfall apples and pears to feed birds through winter. It’s a good idea to halve them so smaller birds and late butterflies can feast directly on the flesh. Clean out nests from bird boxes to get rid of fleas and other parasites. Wash the inside of the box with boiling water and…

Cabbage whitefly are a very visible pest on a range of brassicas in mild autumns, when the warm weather has allowed populations to build. These sap-sucking insects excrete a sticky honeydew that can lead to black or grey sooty mould on the leaf surface. The adult whiteflies lay eggs that hatch into flat ‘scales’ – an immature form of the pest that also feed on the leaf. Cold weather will quickly put paid to the insects themselves where they are exposed, but in mild weather they can survive in folded leaves of cabbage and other brassicas. In fact, what may appear as a huge problem at the start of October, may well be a distant memory by the end of the month. The combination of insect pest and mould can…

The garden’s colours may be deepening, its autumn clothing being revealed, but the earth is still welcoming and full with life. October is the month to cut your losses on the ragged tails of summer and breathe new life into pots and borders. A late burst of growth now gives many plants the start they need to supercharge their reawakening next spring. It’s time for some spadework! Planting isn’t hard to do – after all, there’s little mystery in putting a plant in the ground: make a hole, pop in the rootball, water it in. Easy! Yet, in preparing this issue and talking to leading growers, the team has uncovered dozens of expert tips for you to try that should make a real difference to how well your plants establish.…

One of our most valuable garden trees, the mountain ash has flowers, fruit then autumn foliage coming to the fore as the seasons roll by. There are many varieties. So which to choose? How about one with even more features? Step forward the Japanese rowan, Sorbus commixta, an Asian species with heads of white flowers up to 15cm across that show themselves off in April and May against bold, glossy, pinnate foliage. In August and September, there are clusters of red berries and finally, in October and November, the autumn colour develops – usually purple or purplish-red at first, turning into a brighter, fierier shade. The berries are often still awaiting the birds as the foliage turns, so we enjoy a dual autumnal display. Three things in particular set the…

It’s almost a shrine for many people. They feed it, stir it, turn it upside down and even wee in it. But do we really need a compost heap? It takes up precious space, especially in a small garden, and that matters if you’d rather have plants than rotting vegetation to admire. But you may wonder what you’d do with your vegetation if you didn’t have a heap? What’s the alternative? The alternative is to strim your flower beds and veg patch at the end of the season. If you don’t have a strimmer, try a pair of shears or a battery hedgetrimmer. It’s best if you can cut the foliage down gradually, making smallish pieces that then drop on to the soil surface and turn into mulch. You’ll find…

Still going strong at 80 Jim McColl has celebrated his 80th birthday to become the UK’s longest-serving TV gardener. Jim, who’s even outgardened Percy Thrower, has presented Scotland’s The Beechgrove Garden since 1978. A special programme celebrating Jim’s career will air on 27 September on BBC One Scotland. Dinosaurs pushing up the daisies Fossil pollen grains from the daisy family have been discovered in Antarctica, proving that daisies have been on our planet for 80 million years. This means they were present at the same time as dinosaurs. Scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Luis Palazzesi, Marie Curie Fellow at Kew, says: “Fossil finds like this are hugely important in our task to fill the gaps of knowledge on the evolution of plants.” Devastating risk to topiary Box plants…

Gardeners’ World Carol begins a mini series investigating the science of how plants work, looking at roots, stems, leaves and flowers. Rachel visits the garden of Philip Mould from Fake or Fortune, and Joe looks round Griff Rhys Jones’s garden. Plus Monty has tips from Longmeadow. Fridays, 8.30pm, until 23 October, BBC2 Beechgrove Garden The team are wrapping up the garden and battening down the hatches for the winter weather ahead. Thursdays, 7.30pm, BBC2 Scotland, until 15 October, and Sunday mornings, until 18 October, BBC2 Gardeners’ Question Time This month the team travels to Gartmore in Scotland, the Beaulieu Motor Museum and Sparsholt College to answer your questions. Fridays 3pm, rpt Sundays 2pm, Radio4 Natural History Heroes Investigating the lives of great botanists, horticulturalists, naturalists and zoologists. Monday-Friday, 1.45pm, until…

As the cold months creep in and the nights get longer, you’ll naturally retreat to the indoor comforts of your own home. Heating starts to become a high priority, but rising energy costs might make you hesitate before reaching for the thermostat. However, you can dramatically reduce your heating bills while turning up the temperature if you install an air source heat pump from Samsung. For every 1kWh of energy input, it can produce 4kWh of output, achieving an efficiency of 400 per cent*. Compared to conventional boilers that average an optimum performance of 95 per cent, it can be four times more effective as a heating solution. A Samsung Eco Heating System works much like a refrigerator in reverse: a compressor positioned outside moves a coolant around to absorb…

Herbacious perennials die back to the ground in autumn and regrow their foliage in spring, so planting them now means they can get established in the warm soil before winter sets in. You can also lift, divide and replant existing large clumps now, if they have become old and tired, with a bare centre, fewer flowers and overcrowded stems flopping outwards. The more vigorous outer sections can then be replanted around the garden or shared with friends. It is a great way to get more plants for free. Another option is to buy good sized, well-established plants in large pots (2-3 litres) and divide them straight away. 4 steps to planting a herbacious perennial 1 Clear the area of weeds, taking care to remove the roots of any perennial weeds,…

Autumn is a great time to plant these future prima donnas of the garden, as it gives them maximum time to establish a good root system that will support strong branches and a lush canopy of foliage during the following growing season. In order for them to get the best start in life and to encourage roots to grow out in search of water and nutrients, prepare the soil thoroughly over a much larger area than just the planting hole. Make sure that you break up any compaction at the base of the planting hole to allow deep rooting. If planting in a lawn, maintain a grass-free circle around the base of the tree extending 50cm from the trunk. 4 steps to planting a tree 1 Stand the tree in…

INSECT-FRIENDLY PLANTS INCLUDE: Agastache Alliums Asters Blackthorn Buddleia Campanulas Ceanothus Cherries Cornflowers Cosmos Cotoneaster Echinops Evening primroses Foxgloves Fruit trees Geums Hardy geraniums Hawthorn Hollyhocks Lilacs Mahonias Mallows Poppies Roses Salvias Scabious…

Bamboo-like Euonymus cornutus quinquecornutus reaches nearly 3m in a large container The pots are arranged up to four deep to create many layers of interest Purple-leaved Strobilanthes dyeriana is a striking evergreen that’s moved into the conservatory in winter The cascading grass Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ softens the path edge A chimney pot, capped with a dish, provides water for birds While most gardens have a few pots, is it possible to create a beautiful garden almost entirely in containers? Mary Thomas’s Nottinghamshire garden proves it is. Far from being disappointed by a lack of generous borders, she actively chooses to grow in pots – around 400 in total! Pots allow you to grow a range of plants that…

1 Observe the path of the sun, so you know where to put your sun/shade-loving plants and seating areas. 2 Plan on paper by all means, but nothing beats marking out new beds on the ground. Use builder’s aerosol, plus canes to show the position of trees, then observe them from the house and adjust until you’re happy. 3 Don’t be afraid of height – you own the garden up to the sky, and it will have much more stature if it contains at least a few small trees. 4 Introduce several places to sit and enjoy your garden and admire the view. 5 Add eye-catching focal points and remember that vistas add both form and shape in a garden, and offer an enticing choice of routes. 6 Make curves…

Pruning immediately after planting is known as formative pruning, as it directs the future shape of the plant. The aim is to develop a balanced structure of branches with an even spread of foliage, flowers or fruit. Because plant growth hormones are concentrated in the shoot tips, shortening or removing stems redirects hormones to produce more and stronger shoots, so weak stems should be pruned hard and vigorous ones lightly. Unpruned growth can become long and straggly; the exception is where a tree or shrub has a single main stem or ‘leader’, which shouldn’t be touched. The amount of pruning depends on plant type: deciduous hedging plants, raspberry canes and currant bushes are cut hard back all over, while most trees and shrubs need selective, formative pruning. Newly planted rambling…

Your shredded garden waste can be used as an ingredient for making garden compost or as a mulch around mature trees. Fresh shreddings must be left to rot down for a few years before they are incorporated into soil. Those (such as fresh clippings from shrubs) that haven’t rotted down will rob soil of nutrients while decomposing, rather than adding nutrients. Why shreddings help to make good compost • The material is chopped up small, so has a large surface area for composting organisms, such as fungi, to get to work on, so it breaks down more readily. • Shredded material contains pockets of air, providing composting organisms with plenty of essential oxygen. • As the stems are finely chopped, they pack down to fit into the compost bin neatly,…

Making compost MAKING garden compost may not be the sexiest of horticultural jobs, but putting the garden’s own matter back into the soil to enrich it is rewarding. Plus, the result has so many uses – mulch, soil conditioner, sieved and mixed with sand and loam for potting plants on. At this time of year, you can feed your compost bin with materials from tasks such as cutting back perennials, raking up leaves or giving the lawn a last clip. Your compost blend should be like a good cake mix – a balance of wet and dry. You also need a combination of nitrogen from ‘green’ ingredients and carbon from ‘brown’ ingredients (see below). A compost heap is full of life and performs better and more quickly if given some…

Make more woody plants TAKING HARDWOOD cuttings is an easy and reliable way to increase your stock of woody plants. This simple technique can be used to propagate deciduous shrubs, such as roses, philadelphus and cornus (pictured), climbers such as clematis and honeysuckle and fruit bushes, such as currants and gooseberries. Hardwood cuttings are best taken in mid to late autumn, when the plants are dormant and their leaves have fallen, although you can take them right up until late winter. They are placed in a simple trench, where you can forget about them until spring. If your garden is exposed or cold, protect the cuttings with a double layer of fleece. The following spring and summer, keep the bed weed-free and watered during dry spells. They should be ready…

Q Do I need to rotate crops in a small veg plot? David answers A Where space is limited, moving crops around the plot may not be entirely necessary – especially if you’re only growing salads and summer crops. Many vegetables can be grown in the same place year after year, as long as the soil is kept in good condition by adding organic matter and manure or fertiliser to provide the plants with the basic nutrients that they need to grow. Having said that, there are several good reasons why crop rotation is carried out and it pays to consider these, even if you’re growing on a small scale. Perhaps the most common reason that keen veg growers (and commercial growers and farmers) move their crops around to different…

Zinnia-mazing Thank you for the free zinnia seeds, which came with the March issue. My garden has been an absolute picture, with a mass of butterflies and bees. This was a new plant for me, but now it’s one I’ll grow every year. Jill Hobbs, by email Creating a buzz We had a visit from some bees this summer. They stayed for about three hours then, just when we thought they’d settled, they took off in a huge swarm. A local beekeeper told us bees send out scouts to find a suitable nesting site. Rob Dixon, Shropshire Correction: The letter ‘Isn’t she lovely?’ (September issue) was incorrectly attributed to Rob Dixon (see above). It was sent in by Jimmy Waters, Essex. The woodpile in my meadow is popular with insects,…

Plants 1 Red-flowered chrysanthemum x 1 2 Heuchera ‘September Morn’ x 2 3 Carex ‘Red Rooster’ x 2 Embracing the rich, earthy tones of autumn, this eye-catching container display is just the thing to brighten your patio or doorstep. The cheery chrysanthemum adds plenty of colour at the front of the display, while leaves provide texture and movement towards the back. Deadhead the flowers as they fade to keep things looking fresh, and move the carex and the heuchera to the garden when the pot begins to look tired. 1 Fill a large container two-thirds full of multi-purpose compost. Mix in a measure of slow-release fertiliser. 2 Add the plants one at a time, teasing out the roots of each as you go. Fill any gaps with more compost. 3…

Go to any big flower show and there will be dozens of stands selling variations of summer houses and glorified garden sheds – yet it is something that we members of the gardening media rarely cover. Over the past couple of years I have filmed 22 different gardens for the BBC television series Big Dreams Small Spaces and well over half of them have had significant buildings, including garden offices, loggias, gazebos, pergolas, studios, children’s play rooms, dens, tea houses and just somewhere to go and sit and eat on a lovely evening. I have been preoccupied with this because all this year we have been threatening to put up a building on The Mound – the glorified spoil heap at Longmeadow that has evolved from where we dumped all…

• Recently on Gardeners’ World Monty had some good suggestions for dry shade: ivy-leaved cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium), Geranium cantabrigiense ‘St Ola’ and sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum). Whatever you plant will need to be watered for the first season, until they become established. Pete8 • I never water my sarcococca (sweet box), which is happily growing in the roots and shade of my holly tree, and it does very well. Lou12 • Some grasses, such as Anemanthele lessoniana and hakonechloa, do well in shade and can look dramatic. If it’s a very large pot, Fatsia japonica would be great. punkdoc • Variegated pieris gives year-round interest, with attractive flowers and striking foliage. It is evergreen, needs ericaceous compost and rainwater. Patsy F • Quite a lot will survive dry shade, including…

Gardening products firm Westland will be removing green waste from all its Sinclair composts for 2016. Keith Nicholson of Westland said: “We believe green waste is not up to the standard or consistency required by all and is not delivering the results our consumers deserve.” Our very own Carol Klein has released a new book, Making a Garden (Mitchell Beazley, £25), which explores gardening in harmony with nature. Carol takes inspiration from meadows, woodland, hedgerows, the seaside and exposed spaces. It’ll provide plant solutions for your garden, whatever your growing conditions. The Cheltenham Literature Festival puts the spotlight on gardening next month, with Chelsea gold medallists Andy Sturgeon and Jo Thompson, and Gardeners’ Question Time’s Matthew Wilson joining an expert panel to discuss how to get the most from your…

Joe's garden notebook Ornamental grasses and late-flowering perennials woven together in drifts look spectacular from midsummer right through autumn, then laced with frost they carry the garden into the depths of winter. You can see this type of prairie planting at its best at Scampston Hall in North Yorkshire. Here, the 18th-century walled kitchen garden has been reinvented by one of the pioneers of this garden style, Piet Oudolf. The design of this garden cleverly leads you most of the way around the perimeter wall without an open view of the centre until finally all is revealed. First there are dramatic swathes of molinia grasses with lawn in between, then as you move into the centre of the garden different rooms open up – some are boldly minimal, while others…

Woody-stemmed shrubs of all sizes, including modern bush and shrub roses, form the permanent framework of most garden borders. There is a wide choice of these hard-working plants to choose from, offering all kinds of attractive foliage and flowers in every season. While container-grown shrubs can go in at almost any time of year, planning for autumn planting really pays dividends, as does thorough soil preparation beforehand. Dig over the whole border to at least one spade’s depth, removing all weeds, especially the roots of perennial ones. Then fork in lots of well-rotted garden compost, along with planting fertiliser, to get your new shrub off to a good start. 4 steps to planting a shrub 1 Water the plant thoroughly before planting, so plants in leaf take up plenty of…

Not only is autumn the best season for new plants to get established, it’s also a great time to buy hedging plants, as they’re often available as cheaper bare root plants, instead of container grown. Garden centres usually sell hedging plants root-wrapped in bundles of ten, or you can order larger quantities direct from nurseries. Bare-root plants become available in mid- to late autumn, so ground preparation is best done now. Dig the soil in a continuous strip, 60-90cm wide and 30cm deep, incorporating plenty of garden compost, to encourage the roots to spread far and wide. Then remember to mulch around the base after planting, to hold in mosture. 4 steps to planting a hedge 1 Unwrap the bundle of bare-root plants as soon as they arrive and stand…

Spectacular colour-changing foliage displays for years to come ACER COLLECTION 1 SAVE £15 The following three plants, delivered in 10.5cm pots, for just £14.99* (RRP £29.99). 1 Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum’ The classic red-leaved maple, its deep burgundy-purple leaves (shown) turn bright red in autumn. Height x Spread 4-8m x 4-8m 2 Acer palmatum ‘Butterfly’ A fantastic variety with lacy, fine foliage. Its leaves are grey green and beautifully margined with cream tinged with pink which deepens in autumn. H x S2.5-4m x -1.5m 3 Acer ‘Orange Dream’ Its bright-orange new growth (shown) fades to yellow in the autumn. This is a great specimen shrub that grows to 3m over 20 years. H x S2.5-4m x 2.5-4m ACER COLLECTION 2 SAVE £25 Larger 50cm plants of the following varieties – Acer…

1 Make a pond, ideally with a sloping beach, for wildlife to live in, bathe in and drink from 2 Provide shelter, cover and hibernation sites by leaving log piles, bundles of sticks and fallen leaves 3 Tolerate weeds such as nettles and nectar-rich daisies and dandelions 4 Leave patches of long grass and they will soon be teeming with all kinds of small creatures 5 Grow single not double flowers, and lots of different varieties to bloom across the year 6 Avoid pesticides, herbicides and fungicides as they are indiscriminate and upset the natural balance…

1 Don’t water lightly – give plants a thorough watering so the roots are well soaked, and only water when needed. 2 Mulch with gravel, grit or bark chippings to keep moisture in and deter weeds and pests. 3 Stand pots on feet in winter to avoid waterlogging, which can damage plant roots. 4 Use multi-purpose compost for most annuals, perennials and small shrubs, and for larger shrubs mix it with John Innes No.2 or 3 or ericaceous compost. 5 Add slow-release feed in early spring if you repot, root prune or top dress any plants.…

Disposing of shrub and hedge prunings can be a major operation, either bagging them up for collection or filling the car so you can take them to the recycling centre. But if you have a garden shredder, there’s no need to bother with all that, as it turns them all into small chips that can be mixed into the compost bin or used as a mulch. Just make sure you use an RCD on the electricity supply when using any shredder. With big piles of woody and fresh prunings destined for the chipper at Sparsholt College, we had plenty of material to put the selection of eight electric shredders to the test. Our test score criteria: • Operating: feed tube size, self-feeding, switches, blade adjustment and noise. • Cut quality:…

THE GARDENER notices more changes in October than perhaps any other month, and this changeability – of weather, colour and light – affects how I feel about the garden and what I try to get done. It can be stunningly beautiful, especially if late summer has been marked by warm days and cold nights, stimulating deciduous leaves to display the full range of their autumnal hues. But weather dictates everything. Mild weather blunts the edge of the October display, cloud obscures and smudges it, and rain and wind bash the leaves around, blowing the latter into ponds, necessitating repeated leaf-fishing before they rot down and spoil the pond water. The line between fading glory and abandonment can be very fine in October, and the gardener’s time begins to run out;…

Grow hardy broad beans SOW HARDY varieties of broad bean, such as ‘Aquadulce Claudia’, in autumn to get an early crop from late May onwards. If sown this month, seeds should germinate quickly in the warm soil and put on strong growth before winter sets in. Choose a bright, open position with free-draining soil. Make a 5cm- deep channel with a spade and sow seeds in a double row 25cm apart, with seeds 15-25cm apart along each row. Sow a few extras in small pots or at the end of rows to use as gap-fillers later in autumn. Cover with cloches over winter in cold areas or on exposed sites. Sign up to Seed Club Join our Seed Club, in association with Thompson & Morgan, for a helping hand with…

Clear away fallen leaves SWEEP LEAVES from pathways, steps and gravel, where they can form a dangerously slippy mess. Also rake them from lawns so they don’t smother the grass, and pick them off groundcover plants and alpines. Put netting over ponds to catch falling leaves, as they can contaminate the water as they decompose. But leaves on bare soil can be left to rot, and for worms to pull down and feed on. Spruce up shaded areas SHADY AREAS of your garden can make great spring features, full of early flowering plants taking advantage of the light let in by the bare tree branches. A bit of work now will improve the quality of your spring display next year. Remove any weeds, cut back old flower stems and reduce…

Matt Biggs Matt trained at Kew and has been gardening professionally for more than 20 years. Pippa Greenwood Pippa is one of the foremost experts on pests and diseases. She gardens using organic methods. Matthew Wilson Garden designer Matthew was curator of RHS Hyde Hall and Harlow Carr, and often appears on television. Q Can I save my damaged tree? Gwen Crowe, Essex A MATT SAYS Cut back all the broken branches on your Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ to the swelling near their base using a sharp saw or pruners. Leave clean, smooth cuts to aid healing and deter infection. Also consider cutting back any other low-angled branches by a third to reduce their weight, or support them with props, to prevent any more storm damage to this beautiful but…

You know the feeling – there is a plant in your garden that looks good and someone asks what it is. You knew it yesterday, you will know it tomorrow, but right now, as they wait for your sage answer, its name escapes you and you are left feeling, at best, inadequate and, at worst, downright stupid. The answer is a label. Oh, but don’t you hate gardens that look more like graveyards, so prominent are the name tags on the plants? They sit there, bright, white and upright so that it is they that become the eye-catchers, not the plants they are identifying. So to alleviate this, you write the names out with a felt-tip pen and push the labels in next to the plant, burying them so that…