Innholdsfortegnelse for 23 August 2025 i Garden News

The positive effects gardening can have on our mental health are well-documented, although I do wonder if the people who really understand them are already gardeners. To us, it’s obvious that just being outside is good for the soul, even in a year such as this when the weather has conspired against us! Just being in the fresh air, keeping mind and body occupied, is a privilege in itself; enjoying the sights, smells and taste of our labours is a bonus. But we can also transform our gardens into peaceful sanctuaries, somewhere to get away from it all. When we’ve finished our labours, finding a quiet spot to sit and read, contemplate or just have a cup of tea is one of life’s great pleasures. On page 12 we have…

In Georgian and Victorian eras, the landed gentry used to hide edibles away in walled gardens, while in more recent times, ordinary folk grew them in dedicated patches tucked away at the very back of their gardens. However, there’s no reason for crops to be raised out of sight. All you have to do is pick vegetables, fruit and herbs that have attractive leaves, stems, blooms or fruit, or boast architectural good looks, and they won’t look out of place alongside ornamentals. Start filling those gaps now and you’ll soon have a patch that’s as gorgeous as it is delicious! Growing in beds and borders In the past, many crops were grown alongside flowers in traditional cottage gardens. Take inspiration from our ancestors and fill bare patches of soil in…

SPONSORED BY The online specialist gardening retailer, run by gardeners for gardeners Some wins and some wobbles! Christine High A Norfolk garden, with shady borders, wildlife areas and a large herbaceous bed. The long spell of hot, dry weather is starting to take its toll – on both the plants and the gardeners! The roses gave a brilliant, if brief, display, with blooms lasting just a couple of days. I’ve been deadheading daily, but the repeat-flowering varieties are holding back on a second flush. Fingers crossed for a decent bit of rain – there’s still time if the weather shifts. The rugosa roses are already covered in large, glossy hips – very early again, thanks to the short bloom period. That said, plenty of plants are thriving. Echinops and eryngium…

TV and radio broadcaster Martin is an RHS judge and former head gardener Since being a young gardener, propagating plants has always fascinated me and as a student I always looked forward to lectures and practical sessions on propagation. One technique that always amazes me is leaf cuttings. One plant that can easily be increased this way is Begonia rex and its many hybrids. These have beautiful leaves, many of which are coloured with attractive markings. Whenever I buy a new plant, I always try to take a cutting or two so I have a few spares to give to friends and family and also as insurance in case the original plant dies – I suppose it’s the nurseryman in me! These large, leafy begonias can easily be propagated from…

Rain arrived just in time to plump up the blackberries. Heatwave temperatures and drought meant that the berries had been looking small and shrivelled and more like currants. But virtually overnight they turned plump and juicy. Perfect for making jam and puddings, including these tasty little blackberry friand-type cakes. This recipe is adapted from a River Cottage Handbook, published by Bloomsbury. Ingredients Makes 12 cakes 175g unsalted butter 225g icing sugar 100g plain flour 125g ground almonds 1 tbsp toasted flaked almonds 6 egg whites 40g blackberries FOR THE CITRUS FROSTING 1 tbsp orange juice 1 tbsp lemon juice 100g caster sugar 1/2 tbsp lemon zest for decoration Method • Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. • Melt the butter in a dish in the microwave in 30-second bursts. •…

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 What can we do about badgers? Bert and Eileen Acreman, Benfleet, Essex Stefan says: You’re issuing a plea for help since you have a badger (or badgers) coming into your garden every night, digging up your plants and excavating huge holes in the borders. You fill in the holes and rescue the plants into pots where possible but then wake the following morning to find you’ve had another visit, leaving absolute devastation yet again. You say it’s just soul-destroying after nurturing the plants from seeds. You live in an urban area and don’t know where they come from, but you do…

Tutti-frutti flowers! It’s always so lovely when my potted lilies come into flower, and this year there’s a real orange-and-lemon flavour to the pots, with my five-year-old diascia blooming its heart out beside them. Helen Tapscott, Plymouth Perfume & perches It’s been a wonderful year for my lilac tree. The colour is glorious and the perfume intense, perhaps thanks to a wet winter? Grown from suckers gifted by a neighbour, its bare winter branches add structure and make the perfect spot to hang bird treats at Christmas. Brenda Wilson, by email Mealworm masterplan! Fed up with jackdaws and pigeons stealing mealworms, I repurposed an old hanging basket. A small saucer with food sits inside, topped with a larger one upside down. It lets smaller birds feed safely and deters bigger…

Now the season is starting to close in on us, it’s time for all those jobs you can’t really do during high summer because you’re much too busy on the plot, or out enjoying yourself. Handily, there always seems to be a slight lull at this time of year – we’re starting to reluctantly wave goodbye to the peak of the season but it’s not quite new planting and tidying up stage – so why not take advantage of the situation and spruce up fences, other garden features and hard landscaping? It’ll give that little boost to your worn-out garden and make it look lovely as we go into autumn. Have a walk around, looking closely at all your non-planted areas to see what needs doing. You may well notice…

Chillies and peppers have done well this year, thriving in the heat – even those grown outside on patios. As they continue to flower and fruit, they’ll need regular watering and feeding, just like tomatoes. A weekly dose of high-potash fertiliser (such as tomato feed) will keep them productive. Chilli plants vary in size and vigour, but most benefit from support. Tie taller varieties to a cane to stop them flopping, while dwarf types usually stand up on their own. Chillies tend to produce more fruit than sweet peppers. Large-fruited peppers take longer to ripen, and leaving the first fruits on the plant too long can reduce the overall crop. It’s better to pick them when green or just starting to colour. Chillies are more forgiving – you can let…

Agapanthus ‘Emerald Ice’ is the world’s first green-and-white agapanthus! Pale greenish flowers, deepening to emerald at their base, are densely packed into each umbel above bright green, strappy, semi-evergreen foliage. Resistant to pests and diseases and winter hardy to -10C, this low-maintenance, water-saving perennial is ideal for drought-prone borders and pot displays. H&S: 50cm. Supplied as 9cm potted plants from August onwards. Agapanthus ‘Black Jack’ Winner of the Chelsea Plant of the Year 2023 competition, agapanthus ‘Black Jack’ features silky, purplish-black buds which open to shining, deep purple flowers. Its colour oozes luxury and classic style, blending effortlessly with any palette. The open-facing, tubular flowers are held in spherical clusters, standing proudly on strong stems above semi-evergreen, strappy foliage. THREE EASY WAYS TO ORDER TM_GN491/TM_GN492 ONLINE www.thompson-morgan.com/TM_GN491. Garden News subscribers…

Sedum ‘Seduction La Vie en Rose’ A compact, herbaceous perennial with variegated foliage from spring onwards and pink flowers that pollinators love. Full sun to light shade in any well-drained soil or containers. H&S: 35cm. Price: £9.99/9cm pot. From: marshallsgarden.com Sedum spurium ‘Spot On Deep Rose’ Low-growing and hardy with large, starry flowers from midsummer. Good for hot, sunny borders or wall tops. Cut back dead foliage in spring. Any well-drained soil in full sun. H: 15cm, S: 50cm. Price: £5.99. From: webbsdirect.co.uk Sedum ‘Dark Canyon’ A compact perennial with almost blue-black foliage and delicate pink flowers from late summer. Great for containers and bed edges in full sun, in any well-drained soil. Trim back old growth in late winter. H: 20cm, S: 50cm. Price: £20/3L pot. From: goldenvalleyplants.co.uk TRIED…

Nature and my garden have always been a place for me to relax and de-stress, but after experiencing health problems over the last few years, both have become even more important to me in my recovery. There’s an increasing amount of scientific research that shows gardening is good for us both mentally and physically, so much so it’s been dubbed ‘Vitamin G’. By harnessing this research and understanding more about how our minds and bodies work, it’s possible to make our gardens even more effective at helping us switch off from the demands of modern life and healing us if we’ve been unwell. Make a few little changes In my own garden I’ve made some simple changes, which have allowed me to appreciate it even more. For instance, I moved…

The latest from Carol's beautiful cottage garden... plus her diary for the week! When we first moved to Glebe Cottage 47 years ago, there wasn’t much surplus money to buy plants. I grew from seed and experimented with cuttings. My mum brought gifts; each time she drove down from Manchester, she brought divisions from one or two plants in her garden along with steamed jam pud, fruit cake and homemade pies. Eventually it became two-way traffic (not of the baked items!), as I expanded my gardening repertoire. Her garden was small, but packed with treasures. On one occasion she brought a chunk of a white phlox I’d always admired. Nowadays in Alice’s garden, there are more than a dozen clumps of it – all from that original present. It’s a…

Love houseplants? Propagating is a satisfying way to increase your stock for free. Try cuttings, dividing and offsets in soil or water. Busy gardeners will rejoice at growing cuttings in water; hydroponics is the quickest, easiest method of propagation. Simply take cuttings and pop them in a glass of water. You can even grow the desirable Monstera deliciosa, or Swiss cheese plant, in water; cut a stem with three or four leaves and ideally an aerial root too. Ensure leaves sit above the water line to avoid rotting. Use sharp, clean tools and a sterile growing media like a peat-free houseplant compost, or make up your own mix to adjust the combo of peat-free compost, sand, grit, Vermiculite, Perlite or bark to suit specific plants to ensure roots are well…

Helping you get your best-ever fruit and veg As late summer rolls in, it can feel like the focus is purely on harvesting and looking after what’s already growing, but with a little sowing now, you could be picking fresh veg in just a few weeks and even well into next spring. Lettuce is a great one to start with. I like to gather up any half-used seed packets, mix them together and sow thickly for cut-and-come-again leaves. These will give you a lovely mixed harvest in just three or four weeks, and you can thin out some seedlings and transplant them to grow into full heads in early autumn. It’s a good way to use up older seed, which may not store well until next year, and gives you…

Pre-planted ‘Pansy Cool Wave’ Enjoy a real breeding breakthrough for better performance in hanging baskets. These baskets are quick and easy – just hang them up and enjoy fabulous garden colour. We’ve done all the work for you: each basket is pre-planted with pansy ‘Cool Wave’, known for its large flowers that trail up to 60cm. They’ll give you effortless colour through winter and into summer, and the durable green plastic baskets can be reused year after year. • Item 450024: 2 x 25cm baskets – £19.99 Pre-planted Pansy ‘Top Wave’ Add instant impact with the world’s first extra large-flowered trailing pansies – exclusive to YouGarden! These ready-to-hang baskets are packed with bold, long-lasting colour from autumn to spring, featuring blooms 25% bigger than our best-selling ‘Cool Wave’. Fast-growing, reliable,…