Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2018 i BBC Gardeners' World

Island paradise If you’re inspired by our pick of coastal gardens, don’t miss our reader trip of a lifetime, exploring the balmy Scilly Isles in style, this October. See p43. Hoses video guide Watering is a summer essential, so don’t miss our Best Buys, on p84. And for a full picture, watch our video guide to choosing hoses at gardenersworld.com/hoses Small space special Make the most of your outdoor space, however small, with our new, 132-page special edition. It’s packed with creative ideas and space-saving solutions. Find it at Waitrose, Tesco and WHSmith for £6.99. Day out with Adam Meet presenter Adam Frost in our exclusive autumn gardening day at Bowood, complete with his essential bulb masterclass and a tour of the incredible house and gardens. See p67. New ways…

There are, at the latest count, almost a thousand species of salvia. These include culinary sages, annual flowers for drying, tuberous patio plants, flamboyant summer bedding, twiggy shrubs and more – that’s a lot of salvias. And they all have different requirements. But the most reliable and perhaps most intensely colourful of the salvias are the herbaceous perennials. Steady clump-formers, they have vertical stems that are packed with two-lipped flowers for many weeks, or even months, and add a welcome concentration of colour while retaining an elegant look. Rich and deep hues predominate, especially violet and deep blue – some pastel shades have been developed, but relatively few of them make effective garden plants. Some perennial salvias are derived from our native meadow sage, while others have been bred from…

In your May issue, a reader asked a question about growing flowers for a January wedding – and one of the expert’s suggestions was hellebores. I arranged flowers for a wedding this January and, in addition to hellebores I added several white heather plants and early snowdrops. I also bought pussy willow, little cones and larch. The whole arrangement was completed with a small string of tiny battery-operated lights, and the effect was very pretty. I thought your reader might be interested. Yvonne Wadham, by email…

1 NATURE AUDIT Chris Packham is visiting 50 wildlife sites, 14-23 July, to highlight threats to wildlife. Follow him on social media or join him at a site near you. chrispackham.co.uk 2 RUNAWAY SUCCESS Winner of the 2018 RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year, Hydrangea Runaway Bride ‘Snow White’ was bred to have an abundance of delicate, white lacecap flowers on every stem. thompson-morgan.com 3 GARDEN STUDY FUNDS Students of garden history wanting to carry out research can apply for a £1,000 bursary from Birkbeck Garden History Group. pgtrust.org 4 SAVING OUR ELMS Join the Great British Elm Search by logging sightings on an online map, to help The Conservation Foundation discover the state of Britain’s elm population. conservationfoundation.co.uk/elms/map 5 TOP YOUNG GARDENERS GW TV presenter Frances Tophill is judging…

DRY COASTAL SOIL Create a thriving dry garden by following Joe Swift’s simple border planting plan Dry, sandy soils struggle to retain moisture and nutrients, but they have the advantage of being easy to dig, can be worked at any time of the year and warm up quickly in spring. Most coastal gardens, as well as many inland ones, have these conditions. Some of us have comparable pockets within our plots, such as in the rain shadow under the eaves of a roof, on a fast-draining bank or raised bed, or perhaps a new-build site with a thin layer of topsoil spread over rubble. I’ve planted many exposed sunny roof terraces and balconies (where everything is grown in containers), and for plants that will thrive, I always look to the…

I can remember the first time I took a cutting with my nan. It was from a coleus, and when it rooted after a couple of weeks I felt like it was something magical! I still feel like that now, and there aren’t many things more satisfying than creating new plants. People are often afraid to take cuttings because they think it seems complicated, but it’s easy to do and can be done with so many plants. Now is a great time to give it a go as the plants are actively growing, so your cuttings will root easily. If you’re growing tender plants, taking cuttings is also a good way to make sure you have extra plants in case of a harsh winter. Start with the basics Some plants…

1. Penstemon Beautiful bright flowers in late summer and autumn. Usually hardy unless you live in a very cold area. 2. Salvia A great garden plant for late-summer colour. Many salvias are tender, but root easily as a cutting. 3. Fuchsia There’s a fuchsia for every size of garden, from bedding varieties to large shrubs. Some are hardy and others very tender. 4. Pelargonium A colourful summer bedding plant. Taking cuttings of this plant is a great way to make more bedding for the following summer. 5. Clematis A super climber with so many varieties you could have a clematis in flower every season. Cuttings can be taken from any Clematis and used to grow lots of new climbers. 6..Flowering currant A great shrub for early spring flowers. Cuttings are…

Keep children occupied during the holidays with our easy gardening projects. Not only will they encourage them to spend more time outdoors and less time on screens, but it’s also a fun way to learn about plants and growing their own food. Our five projects are perfect for kids of primary school age – or even a little younger, with a bit more help. You don’t need any specialist kit and all the items are easy to find. Plus our free kids’ activity wall planner has 20 more activities to keep kids busy. Dinosaur herb garden You will need ★ Dinosaur plastic figures ★ Wine crate ★ Children’s non-toxic paint ★ Paint brush ★ Permanent black marker ★ Compost ★ 1 x parsley plant ★ 1 x sage plant ★…

Brightening shady corners with summery pots is easier than you think. It’ll involve ignoring the sun-lovers flirting with you from the nursery shelves, but you won’t regret the restraint by the time your displays are at their best. As these four projects show, the payback will be stylish containers suited to even the gloomiest conditions, so get planting now! Scent and sway Bright and breezy against a shadowy backdrop, this pretty container of grasses and nicotiana releases its heady perfume in the evening. Lovely for humans and excellent for pollinating moths. The grasses will romp on every year if replanted in the garden, but the tobacco plants are tender. Other plants to try Bowles’s golden grass Luzula sylvatica ‘Marginata’ Molinia caerulea White-flowered hardy geranium STAR PLANT…

Cut back spent oriental poppies right down to ground level for a new flush of fresh foliage Sprinkle organic fertiliser beneath late-flowering perennials to give them a mid-summer boost Sow collected seeds of alpines straight away, then leave the pots outside, exposed to the weather right through to spring Cut stems of lavender for drying on a dry day. Hang them in a dark, dry place, such as under a shed roof Order spring-flowering bulbs to get the best choice of varieties, as they can sell out quickly…

Using water wisely With almost every house in the land now fitted with a water meter, it is more sensible than ever for gardeners to save as much water as they can, not least to avoid squandering a valuable natural resource. And without water our plants wither and die rapidly, so anything we can do to conserve supplies makes environmental sense too. When you have to water – and fruit and vegetable crops, plus anything that is newly planted, are the priorities here – give the ground a good soak. Remember it is the roots that need the water, not the leaves. Try to water in the early morning or early evening rather than in the heat of the day when water evaporates rapidly. Check the weather forecast to see…

Garlic Easy to grow and bursting with health benefits, garlic is a kitchen essential THREE WAYS TO TRY • Roast whole cloves with Charlotte potatoes and rosemary for a fragrant side to shoulder of lamb • Fry chopped garlic with parma ham and chilli, add white wine and cook clams until they open. Serve on toasted sourdough • Whizz garlic, butter, sriracha and spring onions in a food processor. Fill gaps in a sliced baguette with the paste and a slice of mozzarella. Bake until gooey and golden Garlic Nutrition The amino acid alliin is responsible for most of garlic’s benefits. Also high in vitamins A and C, and minerals including manganese and calcium. How to grow Garlic grows best in the ground in a sunny spot, but can be…

When we think back to our earliest gardening memories, I’d bet that most of you recall as much about the mood of the moment as the task in hand? And after hearing Monty share his experiences with a group of readers on our recent trip to Ireland, it was clear that how we’re introduced to gardening can live with us for ever. Monty was set to work in the garden at a young age by his mother, so gardening was a task to be endured – until a ‘road to Damascus’ moment in his teens. He found the connection and gardening just felt right. My introduction was less extreme! Bathed in the carefree days of summer, grandparental indulgence and the ripe tang of tomato vines, I was hooked by the…

“We need to become water-wise... a wisdom that we should acquire now” As I settle at my keyboard to write this, Longmeadow is being steadily lashed with rain. So far, summer here is being typically British. But a few months ago I paid a visit to Cape Town, which had been suffering severe drought and its water had almost run out. Tankers of drinking water were being brought in from the Far East and it looked as though we could have the first situation in modern history of a city with absolutely no water of its own. If the drought continued, it looked like Cape Town would have to create a new supply, or up sticks and move to find water elsewhere. Either way, it would mean catastrophic change, heavy…

Astronauts on the International Space Station have been growing plants for years as a potential source of food while in space. But are there any benefits for terrestrial gardeners? Growing the perfect summer vegetable garden – with plump tomatoes and perky peas – is tough enough. Now imagine an environment where there’s no night or day, where seeds and soil float off into the air, and where water pools in weird ways rather than flowing freely. The challenges of growing plants in space are such that one wonders whether there’s any point to it at all. “They have managed to get zinnias to flower in zero gravity” But far from being an outlandish idea, space gardening is a flourishing area of scientific research with many benefits for us here on…

“Beth Chatto was a great influence on me and a great friend,” Alan Titchmarsh told us, shortly after the death of the much-loved gardener, writer and plantswoman on 13 May. He continued: “She was warm, wise and witty – we laughed almost as much as we swapped thoughts about particular plants. She opened all our eyes, especially in terms of what plants to put where – teaching us to garden with Mother Nature, rather than against her.” It was her belief of ‘putting the right plant in the right place’ that established Beth’s place in gardening history in the 1960s. This approach to gardening influenced the way we all grow plants, and is still at the heart of Gardeners’ World Magazine content today. She brought to life her ethos at…

• Rooting hormone powder Not essential for easy-to-root plants (see Adam’s top 10 over), but can be helpful for trickier cuttings. • Compost Good quality multipurpose compost, or gritty seed and cuttings compost. • Perlite Mix perlite with multipurpose compost to make it more aerated. This will reduce the risk of rotting. • 10cm pots Depending on your cutting, you might get several in a pot or just 0the one cutting. • Freezer bags After collection, stop your cuttings drying out by putting them in a bag. Some plants will also benefit from having a bag over the pot while you are waiting from them to root. If you’re taking cuttings from different plants, put them in different bags so they don’t get mixed up. • Labels Write labels as…

So, summer is upon us and everything in the garden is lovely - apart from those niggling little things that prevent the gardener from sitting back and enjoying the view with glass in hand. Now, I’m not a natural-born pessimist. For most of the time I’m a happy soul, capable of sitting down and admiring the view – once I’ve mowed the lawn, weeded the beds, watered the pots, worried over that sickly plant and… you get my drift. Try as we may, there are always things that don’t go according to plan – areas of the garden that aren’t performing as we had hoped. But with a little ingenuity and forward planning, many of these irritations can be solved. Crack the problem and your summer will be more enjoyable…

1 GIVE your pot drainage holes for excess water to escape. Plant roots can’t breathe if constantly saturated. 2 USE a peat-free multi-purpose compost and add slow-release fertiliser. Feed again after six weeks to give plants a boost. 3 PLANT tall plants in the centre, and low-growing and trailing ones around the edges. Fill in gaps between plants with more compost. 4 WATER well. Avoid splashing the foliage by pointing the spout towards the roots. Don’t allow it to dry out in the growing season.…

Expanding hoses are increasingly popular due to their great advantages of being super compact for easy storage and very light when empty. Sometimes called magic hoses, they expand to several times their empty length, but you must let them fill completely before starting to water. On the downside, they’re not suitable for use with pressure washers, sprinklers and watering systems. They should be stored out of the sun, and should be emptied after each use. Less robust than traditional hoses, tearing more easily, they consequently tend to have shorter guarantees – and cheap versions have a reputation for being short-lived. We found that the YOYO would be particularly useful for gardeners who lack strength, but the others were surprisingly hard to move around when full. We didn’t grade these hoses,…

Our trial assessed a wide range of hoses, mostly from specialist manufacturers, focusing only on the hoses and not their storage or accessories. All were put through their paces in a large garden, starting with entry-level hoses and working up through the range: uncoiling from new and coiling away for storage, watering around the garden and pulling hoses around corners. Hose construction, materials and features were looked at in detail too, including the burst pressure, which is a key consideration if using with a pressure washer or sprinkler. As well as checking for kinking or twisting during use, we did the ‘U’ test – bending a short section to see how readily it kinked (or not) and how well it straightened again. We also assessed the outer texture in relation…

STEP BY STEP Give your lawn a liquid feed After a few weeks of regular mowing, the grass in your lawn could probably do with a feed to keep it healthy, green and vigorous throughout the rest of the season. The fastest way to green it up and give it a boost is to use some nitrogen-high liquid feed specially formulated for lawns. Apply the feed on a dull day or as the sun goes down. Grub out any large weeds first so that you are not feeding them, too. You should notice an improvement within days. 1 FILL a watering can with water from the butt. If you are short of stored rainwater, tap water is fine. 2 FOLLOW the instructions provided with the feed and add the correct…

High summer means harvest time in the veg garden, but it’s also a great time to start off new crops. Whether you’ve already got summer veg on the go or are just starting out, a few minutes spent sowing seeds or planting out young seedlings now will give you rich pickings in autumn and winter and ensure your plot and pots are never empty. Like many people, I juggle my time on the veg patch around my work and kids, but I’ve found lots of time-saving tricks to help me – and you – stay on top of things in summer. Where to grow If you started growing crops earlier in the year, then by now your beds are likely to be full of beetroot, salads and carrots. As you…

Your essential guide to pruning With expert advice on how plants respond to pruning, where to cut and when to prune, this 132-page practical special edition is packed with easy-to-follow instructions, clear photos and simple diagrams to help you get the most from the plants in your garden. Only £7.99 incl. P&P at magsdirect.co.uk/GWPruning17 Creative Containers To inspire you to create great pots for every season, we’ve gathered 100 pot recipes in a 132-page special edition. With easy-to-follow instructions and beautiful photos Creative Containers will give you all the know-how you need for colour and interest all year-round. Only £7.99 incl. P&P at magsdirect.co.uk/GWContainer18 Small Space Gardening Make the most of your outside space, whatever the size, with our inspiring 132-page special edition. Full of easy…

• Male pollen from one flower is transferred to another of the same species in order to fertilise the female parts, producing seed. If seeds are not created, the plant responds by generating more flowers. • The collective term for the male parts of the flower is the stamen. The female part is known as the pistil. • Nearly all aphids are female and regularly give birth to live young without the presence of amale to fertilise them. • Viruses are spread by aphids penetrating the soft plant tissue with their mouthparts to feed, transferring viruses as they go from plant to plant. • Major nutrients in fertilisers are nitrogen (n), phosphorus (p) and potassium (k). • Potassium is the ‘go-to’ nutrient for encouraging flowers. Most liquid tomato feed has…

“I gaze out on a wildlife pond bordered by flag irises and bog bean, on whose surface waterlilies float and moorhens marshal their chicks. It is bliss” There is nothing in a garden that brings more joy – and grief – than water. Joy when it is crystal clear; when the sky is reflected on its mirrored surface, or when the movement and sound of a tinkling waterfall soothes the soul and cheers the spirit. But that joy turns to grief when the surface turns into a lawn of duckweed, the depths are overtaken by a tangled mass of blanket weed and your waterfall sounds more like a Shire horse relieving itself than a musical mountain stream. Yet still, in the face of marauding herons intent on gorging on golden…

In search of garden buddies I’ve battled with my mental health all my life. I have good days and bad months. There have been times when I was unable to leave the house for days, weeks and in one case 18 months. Two years ago I moved into a house in quiet, rural Scotland – it has a decent-sized garden and I started to make plans. But my illness began to take over. I tried to source some help but was unsuccessful. Gardeners were too expensive or wouldn’t travel to me, and local health support groups tried but couldn’t assist. So I’ve been thinking about a scheme whereby people like me could become ‘garden buddies’ in a group working on each other’s gardens. But I’m unable to cope with organising…

Discover more… Go to gardenersworld/gardens for our mobile-friendly guide. Use search features and maps to help you find the right destination in your region. 1 WARWICK CASTLE Castle Lane, Warwick, Warwickshire CV34 4QU Immerse yourself in 11 centuries of history in a fantastic day out at this magnificent castle, with its 64 acres of beautiful formal gardens and landscaped grounds. The whole family can enjoy endless activities and daily shows at Warwick, which include birds of prey in flight, sword fighting and bowman displays. Plus you can witness the trebuchet – the world’s largest working siege machine – in action with its twice-daily firing. OPEN all year, daily, 10am-5pm. Castle ticket: adults £26.40/£19.20, seniors £22.40/£15.80, children (4-11) £23.40/£16.80 (summer/ winter), under-4s free. Tel: 0871 265 2000, warwick-castle.com 2 EASTNOR CASTLE…

Buying and planting • The key to planting in very sandy areas is to try to give plants a good start, so add organic matter to each hole to help retain moisture and nutrients until the plants establish themselves. • Soak all plants in their pots before planting – dunk them until bubbles stop appearing. • Mulch plants with some form of aggregate such as gravel to retain moisture in the soil and keep the roots cool. • Now is not the ideal time to plant. Plant in autumn or early spring so that plants can put on some root growth to cope with the hot spells and dry conditions ahead. • While plants establish themselves, water in the early morning or evening. Year-round maintenance • It’s tempting to feed…

1 Select a healthy rosemary shoot, with no flowers, about 10-15cm long and cut from the plant using a sharp pair of secateurs or scissors. Place the cuttings in a plastic bag to stop them drying out before you plant them. 2 .Pull off most of the lower leaves so that there is a length of clear stem. This stops the cutting loosing too much moisture. Using a sharp knife, cut off the base of the stem just below a leaf joint. 3 .Fill a 10cm pot with compost. Using a thin cane, make a hole in the soil at the edge of the pot roughly the same depth as the clear stem of the cutting. Put the cutting into the hole down to where the first leaves start and…

1 CREATE your compost by mixing a 2:1 ratio of coarse sand or perlite, and pine bark or bracken compost. 2 REMOVE the plant carefully from its plastic container, shaking off loose soil and untangling any congested roots. 3 ADD some of your compost mix to the bottom of the pot, then position the plant in the centre. 4 FILL in the space around the edges of the pot with compost mix, gently firming the soil around the plant.…

Carefully composed container plantings are a sure-fire way of introducing instant colour to the garden. And at this time of year it’s easy to create them in a flash, thanks to the wide range of larger bedding plants available. Rather than waiting months for a pot to ‘fill out’, this recipe is all about the wow right now! Lots of bedding plants have double flowers that are difficult for pollinators to get into, but not this selection. They are all easily accessible and plants such as the cosmos produce thousands of tiny flowers in their composite daisy blooms. The colour palette in this mix is all about cool tones to balance the brash-brights elsewhere in the garden. The pale blues and whites are also a treat on summer evenings when…

Whether for watering plants, attaching to a sprinkler, pressure-washing the patio or cleaning the car, a hose is essential in just about every garden. Yet choosing the right one is far from simple: there’s a huge range on offer and apart from colour – and price, of course – they all look pretty similar at a first glance. But hose technology has made big advances recently, with lighter, stronger materials that are free of harmful chemicals. Having the right hose can make a world of difference between getting the job done quickly and smoothly and wasting time wrestling with kinks and tangles. As well as ‘traditional’ hoses, there’s now an increasing range of expanding types too. Our prices are for the hoses only, not the connectors. Although you can buy…

BEST BUDGET HOSE Gardena Comfort FLEX – a good, reliable performer at a reasonable price BEST MID-RANGE HOSE RHS Everflow Easy Control – easy to use and has a long guarantee BEST PREMIUM HOSE Hozelock Ultimate – this sneaked into first due to its keen price per metre BEST FOR EASE OF HANDLING Flopro + – light and very easy to handle HIGHLY RATED Claber Silver Green Plus ✔ Kärcher PrimoFlex Premium ✔…

The focus now may be on colourful bedding plants and herbaceous perennials, but don’t neglect your spring-flowering shrubs. They need pruning now so that all their energy is channelled into growth that will allow them to give the best show of flowers next year, but not outgrow their space. Midsummer is also a good time to shorten the soft, new growth on apples, pears and other top fruit, as well as red and black currants. This is crucial for keeping them compact and for directing water into the developing fruit rather than the foliage. It also exposes the crop to the sun, which will help it ripen over the coming weeks. Keep deadheading your bush roses as this will encourage more flower buds to form. Just pinch out the blooms…

STEP BY STEP Take holiday precautions If you’re away on holiday for more than a few days, you need a plan to keep your plants alive while you’re gone. Getting a reliable person to water them is ideal but not always possible. Put pots in a bucket of water to soak from the base a day before you go, then move pots and baskets temporarily into the shade to reduce their need for water. 1 INSTALL an automatic drip-irrigation system, and insert the pipes into pots and borders so all plants get a steady drip of water. 2 FIT a timer and hose onto your tap, then programme your watering at regular intervals and for specified lengths of time. 3 TIDY the garden, soak with water then mulch everything before…

Harvest new potatoes If there are flowers on your plants, then your new early potatoes are ready to harvest. Start lifting now to get the tastiest small tubers. Unlike maincrop potatoes that are lifted all at once and stored, earlies are best when fresh, so you lift what you need to eat. The later you leave them in the ground, the bigger they’ll be. Runner bean care Runner beans are hungry plants, so keep up with their feeding and watering. Dwarf varieties such as ‘Hestia’ are ideal for pot growth, but still need plenty of water sprayed at the flowers to improve pollination and bean set. Full-sized runners need some initial encouragement to climb up their canes, so tie them in loosely when they start and they’ll be self-twining after…

Japanese knotweed I was shocked to see Japanese knotweed growing close to native orchids, violas and polygonatum in a renowned European wildflower haven I visited recently. This invader, which hails from Japan, where it’s kept under control by local pests and diseases plus competition from other vigorous plants, has spread around the temperate world. Like bindweed, it dies down to the ground in winter, but regrows vigorously in spring. By now it’s horribly evident, the canes having grown from their spring start to the height of an average man. Even tiny pieces of the underground rhizomes readily grow into new plants, so it’s impossible for amateur gardeners to dig it out completely. This weed is so invasive it’s subject to legal controls. You mustn’t cause it to grow in the…

Anne Swithinbank A keen grower of fruit, veg and houseplants, Anne was formerly the glasshouse supervisor at RHS Garden Wisley. Matthew Wilson Garden designer Matthew was curator of RHS Hyde Hall and Harlow Carr, and often appears on television. Christine Walkden Garden writer Christine appears on BBC1’s The One Show. She is also a lecturer and tour leader. Q How should I treat my sempervivum after flowering? Bob Woolgar, West Sussex A ANNE SAYS Houseleeks are great, but once the rosette has bloomed it dies, leaving tiny ones (called offsets) around the edge, which can look messy and congested. Take offsets with short stems (they may have roots) and insert them individually into pots of gritty compost or their own space in refreshed compost, and they will grow handsomely. Q…