Innholdsfortegnelse for 13 December 2025 i Garden News

Welcome to our bumper issue – 84 packed pages of garden goodness! There’s oodles of festive features, and with the weather being decidedly unpredictable, it’s the perfect companion to a brew in front of the fire. Even the hardiest among us need a little inspiration now and then when it’s cold and wet outside, and hopefully this issue will do just that. Whether it’s projects for Christmas (page 16), gift ideas from the garden (page 20), great seasonal planting ideas (page 24), the history behind the veg on your dinner plate (page 28) or our pick of winter ferns (page 34), there’s a stack of reading to get your teeth into. We’ve even got a Christmas quiz (page 68) for you to enjoy. Putting together this bigger-than-usual issue has been…

I love to give plants as presents. I regularly gift them to friends and visitors throughout the year but now is especially appropriate. It helps to know what kind of gardener they are (not everyone has room for a tree or wants something hard to grow). But I always have the caveat that I’ll never ask how it’s doing. No pressure! Gift plants shouldn’t involve immediate work; we’re all busy at this time of year preparing for Christmas, so we don’t want someone arriving with something to plant when we’re making mince pies! If you’re giving a patio pot plant, pot it first so it can be put into place straight away. Evergreens are attractive; popular choices are bay trees, clipped box and skimmias. Wrap the pot in colourful paper…

Follow Naomi's progress as she gets to grips with her tiny urban garden on heavy Bristol clay The fruit crop this year has been absolutely phenomenal and, try as I might, it’s been quite a job to keep up with the fabulous bounty. But now the prepping and preserving pressure is off, it’s time to look at the apple and pear trees and see how they’ve fared, and tackle the various other pruning jobs, too. One way and another, the plants seem to have coped well with the highs and lows of high temperatures and periodic heavy rainfall, so there’s a reasonable amount to address. Therefore, with an eye to joint care and minimising repetitive strain injury both at home and when working elsewhere, I was interested to check out…

Every year I try to grow a few of the vegetables for our Christmas meals. This year, I’ve grown the onions, leeks, tomatoes and red peppers. Aubergines were a huge success – my best year yet for growing them. Sadly, the sweet potatoes were tiny, but that’s the way things go. Each growing season is different, and I’m pleased with the few vegetables I’ve managed to produce. If you’re catering for vegetarians over Christmas, they’ll love this delicious dish. The chestnuts and sweet potatoes make it special and it can be made in advance to save time. Just serve with green vegetables. Ingredients Serves 6 FOR THE BASE ETC 1 tbsp olive oil  2 red onions, chopped  1 white onion, chopped  1 small leek, sliced  1 aubergine, diced  250g carrots, diced  1 red pepper, chopped …

1 What Christmas plant grows high up on the branches of a host tree? 2 Which Christmas houseplant is famed for its colourful bracts? 3 In what way does frost change the taste of vegetables such as parsnips? 4 Why does Norway gift a Christmas Tree to Britain each year? 5 According to the well-known folk carol, which tree wears the crown? 6 What country do amaryllis bulbs originate from? 7 What C can be added to oranges to make a pleasant-smelling Christmas decoration? 8 Which type of palm tree found in the Middle East produces fruit often eaten at Christmas? 9 Prince Albert is often credited with popularising the Christmas tree in England, but who set up the first known tree at Windsor in December 1800? 10 ‘Bedford Fillbasket’,…

1 PUT TOGETHER AN EASY FESTIVE CONTAINER The plump, deep red buds of skimmia bring weeks of winter interest to pots and pair beautifully with other acid-loving plants, such as the vibrant, berry-laden gaultheria. Ivy makes an easy, festive addition to any container or basket, or for a change, try trailing vinca – its greenery may even surprise you with the occasional winter bloom. 2 CREATE A WREATH WITH A TWIST If you like having a traditional wreath but want to give it a bit of a new spin, try adding a few clusters of the jewel-like purple berries of callicarpa. Along with some skimmia berries, they’ll make it pop with colour and your front door fancy will be the envy of the street! Attach the berries as a finishing…

The latest from Carol's beautiful cottage garden... plus her diary for the week! Christmas fare – food, gifts, decorations – have been in the shops since September. No sooner had the ‘back to school’ stock been cleared from the shelves, the mince pies and Christmas bric-a-brac were taking its place. When we’re out doing our shopping it’s impossible to avoid the festive onslaught, so how lovely to take a little time out and make a few decorations of our own. Many of us are short on time but there are a few things we can put together ourselves that will make a festive contribution, cost little or nothing and make our homes a bit more Christmassy. It's easy for me to talk about going out and raiding the garden, but…

Winter’s the perfect time to take stock of your plot, make changes and repair any damage. It’s also a great opportunity to go all out and have a full garden refurb. Think about how you used your garden this year. Are there any improvements that would be helpful? Can you add an additional walkway or border? Do you need to replace rotten woodwork or hard landscaping? Last winter was crunch time. Our deck had deteriorated to the point of collapse, so urgent action was required. The existing rotten deck was removed plank by plank to reveal what had been hiding beneath: a drain and an enormous tree stump. Much elbow grease was needed to cut this monster down to ground level. What remained was a large area, which had turned…

If you have established rhubarb clumps, you can look forward to early, tender ‘forced’ rhubarb next spring. Normally, you can harvest garden rhubarb from April, but forcing lets you pick even earlier, and the stalks develop sweeter and pinker in the dark. Only mature plants (at least two years old) can be forced – don’t try this with new plants, and always let roots recover for a year after forcing. The simplest method is to cover a clump with a large, upturned pot or a rhubarb forcer in the coming weeks. The shelter and darkness encourage long, tender stalks, which are ready to pick from March. Stop picking in May and let the plant regrow naturally so it can recover for next year. For the earliest harvest, you can dig…

The world’s finest share their tips for success Get ready to refresh your collection with the latest fuchsia introductions for 2026. From eye-catching singles to lush doubles, this year’s line-up offers exciting colours, unique forms and a variety of growth habits. Discover the standout varieties set to make an impact in your garden next year. ‘Aisha Mae’: A new show-quality fuchsia from Mal Wilkinson. This has compact, self-branching growth with dark green foliage and red stems. The plentiful single flowers have an ivory white tube with slight striping, ivory-blushed sepals with pink on top and underneath, and a pale mauve quarter-flared corolla maturing to a deep cerise pink. From PF. ‘Barbara Mary’: The first new introduction for 2026 from Geoff Gill. This is a strong upright grower that needs to…

‘Bix’ One of the earliest multi-flora varieties to bloom, this New Zealandbred variety is cream with a strong pink edge. Reliable and prolific in flowering, with a strong scent, it’s good for the garden and cutting. H: 1.8m, S: 30cm. Price: £5/10 seeds. From: englishsweetpeas.co.uk ‘Claire Mitchell’ Attractively bicoloured in crimson and magenta, the naming of this sweet pea was a gift to Claire from her husband Ruari for their 10th wedding anniversary. It was bred by Phil Johnson. H: 1.8m. Price: £5/10 seeds. From: englishsweetpeas.co.uk ‘Willow’ With beautiful large pink flowers on strong stems, this highly scented variety bred by Phil Kerton of Kerton Sweet Peas is so versatile – grow it for garden decoration, exhibition and for cut flowers. H: 1.8m, S: 30cm Price: £3/20 seeds. From: kertonsweetpeas.co.uk…

Meet Addison, the smallest of my children. She loved helping out last summer with the watering. All the children love to water the garden for me every year. The sound of their giggles and belly laughs as they enjoy it make the water bill a distant memory! Laura Clinton, by email Basil (the brush), helping out after some potting up, with Norman Gnome supervising! Gertie, by email When Holly and Neve visit they like getting their hands dirty! Sue Johnson, Batley, West Yorkshire Betty helping with the dahlia cutting! Peter Clear, by email I bet my six-year-old granddaughter Liv that she couldn’t transplant a tomato seedling on her own with no supervision. I lost a pound. Better than dieting!! Paul Perry, Halesowen, West Midlands Our little pug, Vera-Louise, is three…

Making the most of my harvests Tom Pattinson A garden full of unusual plants and a big collection of fruit and veg in Alnwick, Northumberland. As autumn’s colourful leaves fade, evergreen conifers and variegated and winter-flowering shrubs step into the spotlight. Yet, bright rudbeckia and cosmos are still blooming, refusing to fade. With the drop in late October temperatures, it was time for a quick salvage. Tender potted collections, such as streptocarpus and zonal pelargoniums, moved from the cold greenhouse to the garden room, where the heater keeps it at 12C. The greenhouse can drop to -4C in winter, so Ficus benjamina ‘Variegata’, Coffea arabica and Begonia rex also moved indoors. Their space on the bench is now home to pots of early bulbs and roots of chrysanthemums, packed in…

Award-winning designer, TV broadcaster and best-selling author who makes the ordinary extraordinary What could be more welcoming for yuletide guests than a beautifully planted pot cheering up your front door? I’ve created numerous versions of these over the years with different themes and I hope one of my recipes might just suit you! I’ve limited the plant selection to what I know works through the coldest spells, hence suggesting using cold-hardy cyclamens rather than winter pansies, which often stop flowering when it’s truly chilly. Christmas classic Red, gold and green embody traditional Christmas for me, so I’ve used this set of plants and decorations in those tones many times. Start by placing a conifer of around 50cm tall in the centre of a 20-30L pot. Aim for a dense plant,…

Helping you get your best-ever fruit and veg The year may be nearing its end, but autumn has been milder than usual across much of the country. Here in Yorkshire, plants that are normally dormant or dying back by now have stayed green and active for weeks longer. My asparagus, for example, has finally all turned yellow, which signals it’s time to cut it down to soil level. The old stems should be destroyed rather than composted. Although they might look like good organic matter, their hollow centres provide the perfect hiding place for asparagus beetles to overwinter, ready to attack new growth in spring. Removing and destroying the foliage now prevents a fresh infestation next year and keeps your plants strong and productive. Once the stems are cleared, weed…

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 Why have I had problems with parsnips and carrots? Graham Fletcher, Alcester, Warwickshire Stefan says: Let’s work through this logically. You’ve been growing parsnips in one of your raised beds. It has about 45cm of a mixture of garden soil and garden compost, on top of which you put stable manure that a friend supplies free of charge. You try to operate a crop rotation and had cabbage and Brussels sprouts in one year, then onions, then potatoes and, this year, root crops of carrots, beetroot and parsnips. And it’s this year the real problems have arisen. The beetroot, you say,…

I canna believe it! Due to the lovely summer weather my pots of canna lilies were exceptional this year, with multiple blooms on each variety. But now they’re back in the greenhouse to stay cosy over winter. Annie Ashmore, by email A nerine dream My lovely nerines showing off their beauty. I wondered if maybe they wouldn’t flower this year, but they’ve certainly lived up to my expectations. Ann Giles, by email Woolly wonder It was so lovely to see one of the local postboxes be given a themed knitted top and lovely that the community is working to enhance the town. Well done Hexham. Steve Watkin, County Durham Homegrown happiness Why not bring the garden into your home with your favourite flowers? I absolutely love my alstroemeria ‘Indian Summer’.…

Shorter than most gladioli, ‘Gladdies Trio’ offers a profusion of flamboyant flowers in a more manageable size. Erect flower spikes carry up to 20 large, funnel-shaped blooms in a superb range of colours above clumps of sword-like leaves. Flowering from midsummer to autumn, bulbs can be planted at intervals for a longer-lasting display. Loved by florists for their strong stems and striking presence, these are ideal for borders, containers or cutting for vase displays. H: 60-80cm, S: 15cm. Each collection includes: ‘Gladdies Emmy’ ‘Gladdies Kim’ ‘Gladdies Amber’ Gladioli bulbs are despatched in January, the perfect planting time. You might also like... Nerine bowdenii ‘Pink’ With dramatic deep green, recurved leaves and vivid magenta-pink, funnel-shaped flowers, Nerine bowdenii ‘Pink’ brightens up autumn borders as other blooms fade. The hardiest species, it…