Innholdsfortegnelse for 21 June 2025 i Garden News

A few weeks ago I spotted a small wasp beetle in the garden – a funny little black and yellow thing going about its business. With its striking colouring, I thought how interesting it was, but then realised I had no idea what it actually contributed to the plot. A quick internet search gave me my answer – they help with the decomposition of dead wood, which their larvae feed on, and the beetles themselves act as pollinators while females also prey on aphids (thanks, Woodland Trust). So in short, they’re fabulous! Indeed, beetles play a huge role in our garden’s ecosystem – check out our feature on page 18 to find out the benefits and, crucially, what we can all be doing to help them thrive. We’re getting into…

The latest from Carol's beautiful cottage garden... plus her diary for the week! Campanulas, or bellflowers, are a garden stalwart, so I’m taking the opportunity to outline some I love. Stately C. lactiflora, the milky bellflower, has numerous small bells – lovely in a shaded spot among shrubs or tall in a border. It may be blue or white, but blue flowered forms always have white mixed in, and the white of the white forms is always tinged with blue. An established C. lactiflora can make as many as 20 or more symmetrically arranged stems over a summer, as high as 1.2m. When the initial flowers have faded, a swift decapitation allows subsidiary flowers on sideshoots to open fully and prolong the performance; not as billowing and cloudy as the…

Helping you get your best-ever fruit and veg As we head gently towards summer and all its promise of sun-ripened harvests, it’s goodbye to one of my favourite spring vegetables – good old asparagus. It might only crop for a short window, but that’s part of the excitement. For me, it’s a reminder that growing your own is all about eating with the seasons and enjoying what is ready when it’s ready. I’ve just made my final cut of those tasty spears and, as always, it’s a little bittersweet as they won’t be on the menu again until next spring. After that last harvest, I give the bed a proper tidy. A good weed, followed by a generous sprinkle of slow-release organic fertiliser, helps the plants as they move from…

Professor Buczacki is a horticultural expert, writer and former chair of Gardeners' Question Time Got a problem? Our Problem Solver can help! See our contact details on page 3 #GNASKTHEEXPERTS Do pheromone traps work? Andy Waddell, Crewkerne, Somerset Stefan says: They are useful for what they do, which isn’t primarily to control pests, something that may come as a surprise to many readers. Let me explain. A pheromone is a chemical produced by an animal that activates a response in another individual. They are especially well understood in insects, where sex pheromones produced by females serve to attract males. By producing artificial equivalents of natural pheromones, it’s possible to trick male insects into believing a female moth is the origin. And if the pheromone is incorporated onto a sticky card…

This collection of French agapanthus are tougher and longer lasting than other varieties, providing you with plenty of colour and interest year after year. From June to September, exotic-looking, trumpet-shaped blooms are held in clusters above strap-shaped foliage. Perfect for planting in containers and borders, they are also well-suited to coastal gardens. Supplied as 9cm pots, delivery in 7 days. THREE EASY WAYS TO ORDER ROGN ONLINE VISIT www.hayloft.co.uk/ROGN. BY PHONE Call 01386 554 440 and quote code ROGNBY POST Cut out order form and post orders to Garden News Offer, Hayloft Plants Limited, RUHB-AKRA-ZXBK, Pershore Road, Little Comberton, Pershore, WR10 3HF. Offer closes July 31, 2025 Please note your contract for supply of goods is with Hayloft Plants Limited, Hollyoaks Nursery, Pershore Road, Little Comberton, Worcestershire, WR10 3HF. Full…

The online specialist gardening retailer, run by gardeners for gardeners Blooming great garden views! Geoff Stonebanks A seaside garden in East Sussex that opens for charity, featuring sculpture and reclaimed objects. Professional photographer Jon Santa Cruz took a wonderful photo of the garden using a drone. It really gives a great insight into the structure and layout at the back of the house. You can just see me kneeling, bottom centre. This is certainly not something I can do at the moment, being several weeks into recovery from knee replacement surgery, but with that said, I was able to get out and potter fairly quickly. I decided to delay the garden opening until now to ease the burden a little. This year I haven’t been able to place too much…

TV and radio broadcaster Martin is an RHS judge and former head gardener Topiary is the art of clipping trees and shrubs into various shapes. Some can be very ornate and intricate, others may be in the shape of animals, or you can go for simpler cones, spirals, balls and pyramids. To create these, almost any shrubby plant can be used but evergreens such as Laurus nobilis (bay), Buxus sempervirens (box) and Taxus baccata (yew) are the most popular, although in garden centres you’ll also find photinia, ligustrum (privet), Lonicera nitida (shrubby honeysuckle), Prunus lusitanica (Portuguese laurel) and many other shrubby plants trimmed into shapes. These can be used in many ways around the garden. They look great in containers close to the house or on a patio, or they…

Taking advice from Chatsworth House gardener, Glenn Facer, I plunged my rhubarb crowns into black plastic dustbins and placed them in the polytunnel. The result was super sweet and tasty forced rhubarb. I’ve used the last supplies to make this delicious creamy pudding, which has a crunchy oat and nut topping. Crowns will now be planted out and left to grow for a few years to recover. Outdoor rhubarb is also cropping well so there’s lots of fruit for drinks, smoothies, cakes and crumbles. It’s such a worthwhile and versatile crop to grow! The crumble is adapted from a Sarah Raven recipe. The separate layers can be made the day before and combined when serving. Ingredients Serves 7-8 FOR THE CRUMBLE: ● 60g plain flour● 60g roughly chopped blanched hazelnuts●…

SLUGS: FRIEND OR FOE? Dr Hayley Jones £12.99 • This illustrated guide to the various species of slugs that inhabit gardens will help gardeners broaden their appreciation of their role in garden ecosystems. Annotated artworks of each species provide diagnostic features, while the chapter on controlling them biologically will help manage them more effectively. RHS/DK AROIDS: PLANTS OF THE ARUM FAMILY Deni Brown £60 • The third edition of this book about the arum family has been fully updated and revised, with new taxa and updates to research included. An expanded and illustrated section on aroids in cultivation ensures that it remains the essential reference for enthusiasts and the book is fully illustrated throughout with photography, colour illustrations and line drawings. RBG Kew SAVING ORCHIDS Philip Seaton & Lawrence W Zettler £25 •…

There’s rarely a month when we can’t take cuttings in the home or garden. Soft tip cuttings of fuchsias and hydrangeas all root easily if taken now. Some houseplants that grow rapidly can often ‘outgrow’ their space, and taking cuttings is a way of keeping them contained as well as making more plants. The tall ‘cane’ begonias quickly become unstable as they grow and require repotting. But the tips are easy to root to make new plants. If you cut the main plant back it will sprout from the base, too, and make a sturdier, bushy plant. Other begonias are also easy to grow from leaf cuttings. Hydrangeas will root quickly. Select non-flowering shoots that have grown this year and reduce the leaf area by cutting the leaves in half.…

With warmer weather here, flowers and vegetables should be growing well. But one of the most common problems that occurs is when vegetables bolt or run to seed. This happens most often with vegetables that are naturally biennials, usually bulbs or swollen roots. These grow and make a swollen root in the first year and, if left in the ground, would flower the second year. But sometimes things go wrong and they flower the first season, meaning they don’t make a good bulb or root. Often this is caused by a check to growth and it’s sometimes weather related. There isn’t much we can do about this but there are other causes, which we can help to avoid. Any check to growth can cause bolting. Drought is frequently the cause…

Fluff and feathers I’ve been putting up wall baskets and lining them with old compost bags (with holes poked in). On the outside I’ve used the fleece that comes in my meal delivery parcels. And I don’t mind when the sparrows pluck it out to line their nests because when they fly away with a beak full, they look like fancy moustached gentlemen! Gertie, Southport A spring spectacle This is one of the spring highlights in our garden this year. Instead of going to Amsterdam, or any tulip festival, we decided to plant our own tulip fields/beds. Zyra April Martinez, by email Dig, sit and solve! Another busy day in the garden and on the allotment but so glad I’ve got my new Garden News puzzles and plants book to…