Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2018 i BBC Gardeners' World

Meet Adam next spring Join presenter Adam Frost next spring, on our exclusive river cruise to the Dutch bulbfields, which departs 7 April 2019. Find out more on page 100. NEW video guide Cordless power tools are fast becoming the choice for many, thanks to their efficiency and ease of use. Watch our video guide to this month’s On Test at gardenersworld.com/multi-tools Great days out Have fun visiting gardens this year, while saving £££s, with our entry card & guide. Buy a copy for your glovebox and pay just £5.99 per copy. Go to gardenersworld.com/2-for-1-gardens/order-now Spotlight on plastic If your issue came in a wrapper, it’s recyclable where collections take plastics marked PP or 5. Find ideas on reducing plastic use at gardenersworld.com/plastic Our promise to you... Every month we…

For years we only grew two geums: the red (‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’) and the yellow (‘Lady Stratheden’). Combining brilliant colour with a naturally informal style, these tough, long-flowering perennials were valuable ingredients in sunny summer borders. But then varieties in softer colours, including G. rivale ‘Leonard’s Variety’ (antique rose) and ‘Lemon Drops’ (pale yellow) became popular. New geums were bred with new colours – Cumbria’s East of Eden Nursery has introduced more than 60 new varieties – and the Cocktails Series from the US combines large flowers with interesting hues. We’ve also seen improvements on those old red and yellow favourites including ‘Blazing Sunset’ and ‘Sunrise’. All in all, geums are definitely on the up. The fact that they’re hardy and easy to grow is a help, so look out…

Monty is an inspiration I entirely agree with Monty Don’s view of his role as being “to inspire people to have a go” (March issue). Gardening can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task, particularly for beginners, so all inspiration is welcome. Monty’s honesty about what does and doesn’t work is a big help. It’s easy to look at manicured gardens and feel hopeless about being able to achieve similar results in our own imperfect spaces, with limited resources. Thanks for inspiring us to enjoy the effort, however mixed the results! Sue Tucker, Warwickshire Badger deterrent We were delighted when a badger appeared in our garden, and watched him one evening in awe. The next morning however, we found he had dug up some of the lawn, hunting for food. We…

It is all a bit of a gamble but over the years I have learned that by observing the following few pieces of advice you have a fighting chance of growing a pretty wide range of tender plants even if you have a cold, wet garden like mine. • Be wary of a sudden improvement in spring weather. It is always better to be too late than too early. • Harden off properly anything that has been protected over the winter months. In practice this means putting it outside in a very sheltered spot for at least a week, and preferably two, before planting it out and having some fleece to hand to give it extra protection if there is a late cold snap. • Wind chill applies even on…

Buying and planting • Plant this entire scheme in spring. Prepare the soil well, incorporating plenty of organic matter to reduce future watering and weeding. • Try to get a good deal on the amelanchier, as it will have finished flowering by now. • Space the plants carefully – they will grow at varying rates, but will knit together to cover bare ground over the next couple of years. Simple to maintain • In winter, prune the amelanchier if necessary by taking out any crossing, damaged, dead or diseased branches to maintain an open shape. • Cut the hardy geranium to the ground in late winter. • In early spring, comb through the clumps of anemanthele with your fingers (wear gloves) or with a wire rake to remove the old…

Although hardy perennials will continue to flower year after year, their performance may diminish after a few years if left untouched. Here’s how you can keep them pumping out the blooms: Add mulch now Apply organic mulch such as garden compost or well-rotted manure around plants in spring when the soil is damp and has started to warm up. Feed when plants are growing Flowering is a high-energy exercise for a plant and depletes its resources, so to help your plants maintain peak flower production it’s a good idea to feed during the growing season. A balanced liquid feed, preferably organic, can be applied to the surrounding soil and in a weak solution as a foliar feed to anaemic looking plants. Always water first before applying feed. Deadhead regularly Deadheading…

Fresh herbs really bring your cooking to life, but those little packets of cut leaves are pricey in the supermarkets. For much the same money you can buy a whole plant or some seeds instead. Grow your own herbs at home and you can have fistfuls of fragrant flavour for your cooking every day if you want – and you don’t even need a garden! Herbs are nature’s survivors and need very little to thrive. They’re right at home in containers and so versatile. There are herbs to suit every spot, from a sun-baked courtyard or shady balcony, to the kitchen windowsill. We’ve put together three herby container combinations so you can fill any corner with fabulous flavour. Sunny spot Shrubby, woody Mediterranean herbs love to bake in gritty soil…

1 Geranium Copper-bottomed ground-cover plants with bright summer flowers that will cope with many inhospitable situations in sun or shade. They die down in winter but spring up afresh each year. Flowers May-Oct Height x Spread 40cm-120cm x 40cm-120cm 2 Euonymus The two evergreen shrubs ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’ and ‘Emerald Gaiety’ will bring variegated brightness and will even climb up a wall if they are planted alongside brickwork and stonework. HxS60cm-100cm x 90cm-1.5m 3 Bracchyglottis We used to call it Senecio ‘Sunshine’ and its bright-yellow daisy flowers carried on the greeny-grey evergreen leaves keep going sporadically into autumn. As an alternative you can also clip it into domes. F Jun-Jul HxS1.5m x 1.5m 4 Penstemon Tall spires of foxglove-like flowers on slender stems are much tougher than they appear. A…

• Shoulder strap and lower handles The strap clips onto the upper part of the unit and is length-adjustable to take much of the weight. A multi-tool should always be used two-handed: the upper hand can hold the shaft or the loop handle. • Safety kit Glasses and gloves will protect eyes and hands when working and if you’re using powered tools for a long time, put on ear defenders. It’s also advisable to wear a helmet when working under branches. Powered tools make short work of the hardest tasks from cutting hedges, branches and brambles to tackling long grass and lawn edges. Each job needs a specific tool, which means either having several different ones or having a multi-tool that comprises a single powered base unit with interchangeable attachments.…

With generally warm, long days and high light levels, plant growth can let rip in May. There is usually enough moisture in the soil to cater for deep-rooted trees, shrubs and perennials and they use it to fuel soft shoots covered with leaves that can produce sugar and fuel more growth. Where the tips of main shoots are left to their own devices they will tend to develop ‘apical dominance’, meaning the topmost growth grows in preference to the side growths. Unchecked, this can result in plants outgrowing their position as well as becoming tall and lax. Judicious pruning now can nip back those vigorous shoot tips to promote the development of sideshoots and create more compact plants. There’s a very good reason why this month is also known for…

1 Take out plants grown in humid propagators in daytime for a few days but in again at night. Slowly lower a heated propagator’s temperature over a fortnight. 2 Shut the lid of a covered cold frame at night and open it during the day for about a fortnight. This protects plants from wind while acclimatising them. 3 Be aware of local weather forecasts and if a cold night is due, use fleece or a cover that will give some protection to plants that are already out in the garden. 4 Tender plants are particularly susceptible to pests that enjoy the soft, fresh growth. Slugs and snails are a real issue, so take steps to deter them.…

There is something comforting about growing plants from tiny plugs. The tricky part of germination is taken care of and you have a collection of mini plants that stand every chance of succeeding if you treat them well. Plug plants are seedlings that are a few weeks old, with well-established roots, growing in small cubes of compost, meaning they can be transplanted to a wider spacing in a more compost with little shock to their system. They’re available online and from seed merchants, so there’s plenty of choice and they vary in size from those the size of a small flowerpot, to those as small as the end of your little finger. They are useful at this time of year when they can be planted out in just a few…

Composting weeds Weeds are a valuable source of material for the compost heap. Soft sappy ones will add nitrogen and older stems or woody prunings add carbon. You do, however, need to ensure your compost is not contaminated by weed seeds or parts of the plant that can regrow. Tubers, rhizomes and stems of vigorous plants like willow may all start growing in a damp, warm compost heap. So cut off any seedheads and don’t put tubers and rhizomes directly in your compost. These can be left in a bin bag or submerged in a bucket of water to rot down until they are safe to be placed on the heap. Water in new trees and shrubs Give new border plants, trees and shrubs a good soak straight after planting,…

Watercress You don’t need your own stream! Grow these peppery leaves in a pot on the patio THREE WAYS TO TRY • Simmer with spring onion, garlic, mint, peas and stock, then blend with crème fraîche to make a delicious soup • Toss with avocado, pink grapefruit, burrata and vinaigrette for a zingy, refreshing salad • Fry with spring onion and add eggs to scramble. Top with avocado, tomatoes and more watercress for a healthy breakfast Watercress Nutrition Watercress is so rich in calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C that the Victorians called it the ‘poor man’s bread’. How to grow Plants can be grown in pots from seed or propagated from watercress bought from the supermarket. Sow seeds on the surface of moist, peat-free compost in spring, once…

Runner beans 1 Push five canes into the soil to make a circle 40cm wide, tying them at the top to make a wigwam. Push two seeds into the soil either side of each cane 5cm deep. Water well. 2 If you don’t have time to sow seeds, buy young plants. Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions and plant out when you don’t expect any more frost. Gently ease them out of their pots and plant one on either side of each cane. Firm the soil around the plant and water well. 3 Tie in runner beans when newly planted, thereafter just twirl them anti-clockwise (viewed from above) around the canes. Keep the soil moist and when plants reach the top of the canes, snip off the tops. 4 Keep picking…

Soil is the lifeblood of any garden. It provides nutrients, water and root anchorage to plants, but lurking within it are a host of sub-surface scoundrels. These are essentially soil-dwelling fungal and bacterial organisms that can have devastating or fatal consequences for your plants. Probably the four most common forms are rose-replant disease, clubroot, honey fungus and phytophthora root rot. So how can you identify these potential plant killers, and what can you do about them? Symptoms and solutions Rose-replant disease affects roses, apples and other plants in the Rosaceae family, when they are planted into a spot where the same type of plant was previously growing. Symptoms usually occur in the first year and include poor growth, yellowing leaves, no flowers and occasionally even the death of the new…

We have two bank holidays in May to enjoy, offering much-needed gardening R&R, but I suspect time will be in short supply for many of us. So, to help out, we’ve plenty of time-savvy tricks in this issue. Choosing plants that won’t let you down is the key to no-fuss gardening. Read on to discover inspiration from Joe, Carol and Alan that’ll keep your borders high on impact but low on maintenance. And our new 30-minute veg plot series (from page 146) has been created by busy mum Alex to prove that fresh, home-grown food can be for everyone. Whatever your gardening goals this summer, there are others out there who’ve found the solutions – and I think visiting gardens is among the best ways to get new ideas. So…

“I have made half-hearted attempts, but the report card says, ‘Must try harder’” I keep a spreadsheet of every article that I have ever written. There are thousands – millions – of words going back over 30 years. Its main purpose is to remind myself what I wrote about when, and looking back to four years ago I see that on these pages I wrote about the increasing use of plastic in our gardens and how disastrous that was. I did this having made a Radio 4 programme for the Shared Planet series, about the effects of plastic on our oceans. Since then, public awareness of this problem has risen greatly, due in no small part to the championing by David Attenborough. But while I raised concerns four years ago,…

The categories 1 Fantastic Flowers This is the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine category – we’re looking for gorgeous photos (landscape format) of individual plants, borders or combinations. The winning image will appear in our 2019 calendar. 2 Design Details Photos that capture beautiful garden features, which aren’t just about plants. 3 Beautiful Garden Views Photos that show a wide shot of a garden and how it relates to the landscape in which it sits. 4 Garden Wildlife Photos that show garden wildlife at work – bees, butterflies, birds, and more … 5 People in Gardens Photos that show a garden in action with visitors, young and old, enjoying the space. 6 Town Gardens Photos that show a beautiful garden in an urban setting – no plot is too small for…

Never too late... If you’d like to buy 2 for 1 Entry Cards & Guides 2018 for friends and family to enjoy, order them from gardenersworld.com/2-for-1-gardens/order-now for £5.99 each (subscribers: see p5 for discount code). 1 THE SAVILL GARDEN Englefield Green, Surrey TW20 0UJ With its proximity to Windsor Castle, The Savill Garden is located at the heart of Windsor Great Park. Created in 1930 by Sir Eric Savill, the garden offers 35 acres of interconnecting gardens, each coming into its own through the seasons. Highlights include Autumn Wood, The Azalea Walks, The Glades, Golden Jubilee Garden, The Hidden Gardens, Rose Garden, The New Zealand Garden, Spring Wood, The Summer Gardens and Queen Elizabeth Temperate House. A restaurant, cafe, plant centre and gift shop are also on site. OPEN all…

LOW MAINTENANCE It’s easy to create a border that will almost look after itself - just follow Joe Swift’s simple plan Low-maintenance gardening often conjures up uninspiring images of municipal planting in supermarket car parks and on roundabouts, but it doesn’t have to be that way. While low-maintenance schemes have to put functionality first, this needn’t mean that the combination of plants has to be boring. I’ve designed many low-maintenance areas that look great, yet are quick and easy to look after. So don’t despair if parts of your garden are tricky to keep under control – perhaps you’ve inherited a particularly high-maintenance garden or just don’t have the time or energy you once had – my border plan should help to make things beautifully simple. The choice of plants…

We gardeners often find ourselves wishing for just a little more growing space to fit in a few more plants. But making the most of what you’ve already got is key. By re-evaluating your garden or outside space, you will soon see that there are many places where you can squeeze in extra colour, scent and edible plants. Walls, fences, window ledges and the side of a shed are all areas where you can add plants. It’s easy to think that because there’s no space in a bed you can’t grow anything, but by thinking creatively, you’ll discover there’s all sorts of ways to green up your vertical spaces. Adding plants to your walls and fences not only looks attractive, but with enough plants you can also help to keep…

In a small garden, it can be hard to find room for a tree. But, there are many varieties that will grow happily in a large container – so even if you only have a balcony or tiny patio, you can still fit one in. A tree brings so much to a garden – it will provide scale and movement, as well as helping to screen views in and out, giving you privacy. And of course, the branches provide a welcome perch for visiting birds. Here, we share the best trees for pots and how to ensure they thrive. Choose the best The ideal types of tree to grow in pots are slow growing or dwarf varieties. Fruit trees are often sold attached to a rootstock that controls how big…

• TOOL PREPARATION Ease of assembly/ clarity of instructions/battery charging, fitting and removal/charge time/ease of fitting and removal of each attachment Some attachments required tools to fit them to the power unit or shaft. Charging time varies according to battery size and charger type. • HANDLING Weight (base unit plus attachment)/noise level/safety features and precautions/ease of use/other features such as harness straps Not all models featured an extension pole. Active-feedback sensors were a safety plus. • PERFORMANCE Battery capacity (voltage and amp hours)/run time/range of attachments/standard of cut and finish for each one Battery power varies from 36-56 volts. Motors vary between 300 and 600 watts of output and had up to three operating speeds. Smaller motors may not be powerful enough for large tasks. Hedge trimmers can cut 15-20cm…

Hebes root easily from cuttings, particularly in the summer. They can be placed in a propagator or in a tray on the windowsill with a clear polythene bag as a cover. 1 CHOOSE thick, compact shoots from a healthily growing shrub. 2 REDUCE them to 8-10cm long then remove the lower leaves, leaving three sets at the top. Pinch out the soft tip and trim the base to just below where a leaf has been removed. 3 MAKE a hole in the compost with a dibber and insert the cutting. Firm it in, then soak thoroughly with tepid water.…

STEP BY STEP Make more supermarket herbs Pots of herbs sold in shops are mostly grown from seed. Each pot contains a mass of seedlings, so you can split them up and grow on to keep the supply going for the rest of the summer. These can be placed on a sunny, warm windowsill or planted outdoors in pots or in the herb garden after the risk of frost has passed. Basil, coriander and dill will be great all summer, but chives, mint and sage can take a permanent spot in the garden. 1 SUPPORT the plants with fingers widespread before turning the pot upside down and gently knocking out the rootball. 2 PULL the roots apart to give several small clumps of seedlings. Trim the base of the roots…

1 Unpack and inspect the plants as soon as they arrive – they should look strong and healthy. Place them in good light and keep moist in a tray of water. 2 Transplant the plugs as soon as you can into small pots of peat-free multi-purpose compost or trays of the same. The plants should be given room to expand. 3 Fill in with compost around the roots and lightly firm into place. Alternatively, tiny plugs can be spaced out and planted in trays using a dibber of an appropriate size. 4 Stand the newly-transplanted plugs in a bright, frost-free place and keep moist. Tiny plugs will need to be potted on. After four to five weeks they can be hardened off.…

Like any busy working mum, the thing I have least of is spare time. But it’s amazing how many delicious vegetables you can grow even if you have only a few free minutes a day fitted around work and the school run. Starting now, and over the next two issues of the magazine, I’ll show how to grow a packed raised bed of salad and vegetables from scratch in only 30 minutes a week. Start off with this month’s veg and if these crops don’t appeal to your tastebuds, there will be a whole new set next month. The 30 minutes a week covers sowing, planting and caring for your veg, as well as harvesting – but you will need to find a little extra time for trips to the…

After a frenzy of spring seed sowing I am usually left with open packets of half-used batches of seeds. I like to keep them to sow successionally over the summer or for displays next year, so they need to be stored somewhere suitable and safe. Some gardeners keep their seeds in fridges, and conservationists, such as the Millennium Seed Bank in East Sussex, keep them in the freezer! Depending on their type, seeds can remain viable for decades or even centuries – at least 80 years is recorded for some poppies. To germinate, seeds need a combination of the right levels of moisture, light, air and temperature. Some require chemicals, such as a special type of acid found in leaf litter. These conditions signal that they are in a favourable…

Q Could I use hanging basket liners to mulch strawberries? Christine Crossley, by email A CHRISTINE SAYS Yes this would be possible. I suspect you may have to cut them so they lie flat on the ground and ensure you don’t use them if you have had any plants that had become diseased, as the spores could be carried on the material. You will also need to use a lot to get a good coverage over your patch. Q Can I start flowers now for a January wedding? Joe, by email A MATTHEW SAYS January isn’t the most abundant time for flowering plants, but there are a few that you could try for event decoration. The more plants you grow of different varieties the greater your chances of success. Hybrid…

kills shortages occur in all professions from time to time and horticulture is no exception. We all know that gardening is good for us – it’s therapeutic and often a way back into a rounded life for those who have had a setback. But horticulture is more than that – it’s a vibrant and vital profession that has a huge part to play in the well-being of us all, physically and spiritually. Yet careers advisers seem to regard it as a last resort, suitable only for those unable to do anything else. Nothing could be further from the truth. Taking up a position in horticulture need not mean signing up to a life of nothing more than weeding and mowing. If that’s what floats your boat, fine, but I can…

Are these floral spectacles a good source of ideas or are they out of touch with real gardeners? these are ‘show’ gardens; their primary purpose is to show off During show season I often find myself in spirited debates. One of the most frequent is that show gardens have no connection with ‘real’ gardeners. Here is an idea: think of show gardens as a Premier League football match. Very few get the chance to play for Man City or Chelsea, and watching these teams won’t make you a better player, but it will inspire you, excite you or, sometimes, frustrate and annoy you. The same with show gardens, they are there so you can see the sublime work of the best designers, the most skilled craftsmen and the finest nurserymen…

1 Astrantia ‘Roma’ Providing your soil is not thin or too dry, astrantias are a major stalwart in beds and borders in sun or part-shade. The papery bracts around their pin-cushion flowers last for ages and more flowers are produced over a long period. A. ‘Roma’ is sterile and has pink bracts. A. major has white and green flowers and there are crimson-flowered varieties, too. F Jun-Sep H x S 60cm x 60cm 2 Dahlia ‘David Howard’ Though dahlias are tender, they are long-lived and require little work other than lifting and storing in winter, and repotting in spring. From June until the first frosts they produce an array of blooms in a kaleidoscopic range of colours. F Jun-Oct HxS 75cm x 75cm 3 Eryngium alpinum There is something about…

There’s nothing like having your own pond: water reflecting the sky, the peace and tranquillity of water lilies, and the untold benefits to wildlife. They bring so much to a garden. And it doesn’t have to be a huge project: a pond in a container provides all of these things, and can be up and running in an afternoon, with no need to hire earth movers or wrestle with yards of costly butyl liner. When choosing aquatic plants for your mini pond, check labels for key information on the water depth needed, the plant vigour (not too invasive) and the best aspect for plant health, which is usually sunny. Include oxygenating plants to help keep the water clear. We’ve done all your homework for you with these three gorgeous watery…

It’ll soon be safe to put tender plants outside, but if you take them straight from a warm greenhouse, cool night temperatures can still scorch leaves and winds may dessicate them. So gradually get plants used to the garden by putting them out in the day, then protecting them at night. Do this over a week to a fortnight and use a max-min thermometer to monitor the temperature. There are regional differences to when we can expect frost-free nights: mid-June in the north and mid-May for the south, but look at the forecast in case of surprise frosts. Fuchsias, flowering annuals and pelargoniums are the first tender plants to take outside, shortly followed by beans, courgettes and tomatoes in the veg garden. Wait another month to ensure tropical plants survive.…

Bedding plants like verbenas root easily from cuttings, especially now. They can be placed in a tray on the windowsill with a clear polythene bag as a cover or kept in a propagator in the greenhouse. These cuttings are known as softwood as they are taken from the soft new growth at the tips of shoots. This kind of growth forms roots easily so it’s worth having a go as this is a cheap way to make more plants. Once they’ve formed roots at the base, they can be potted into individual pots to grow on for free bedding plants next year. 1 Choose strong nonflowering shoots from a healthily growing plant. Reduce them to 8-10cm long. 2 Remove the lower leaves, leaving the top ones. Pinch out the soft…

STEP BY STEP Interplant between onion rows 1 MARK A LINE halfway between the onion rows and use a cane or the edge of a trowel to make a straight 2cm-deep drill. 2 SLOWLY WATER along the base of the empty drill and allow it to really soak into the soil. 3 SOW SEEDS along the drill by hand, spacing them 2-3cm apart to minimise the need to thin out the seedlings later. 4 DRAW THE SOIL back into the drill, covering the seeds with a 1cm layer. This leaves a slight depression along the drill, which directs water to the emerging seedlings. Tamp down the soil gently with the back of the trowel. Onions are slow to grow into the space they eventually need. This makes it a perfect…

YOU WILL NEED • 6 reclaimed bricks • Half a bucket of chunky gravel or crushed stone • 6 flattish pieces of rockery stone • 4-5 rock garden plants (choose plants that flower at different times of year) • Spade • Trowel 1 Dig out a shallow hole on the front edge of a border, with one end deeper than the other towards the back. Position bricks in the bottom of the hole, sloping back to allow water to drain off. Ensure that the front edge of the bricks sit below the surrounding soil level. 2 Add a layer of gravel or crushed stone to cover the bricks. Spread it out so that it is level and aim to make the layer roughly the depth of one stone. It will…

May June July August In your June and July issues, you’ll find out how to keep your veg plot productive for months to come…