Devon Country Gardener June 2025

Gardeners cuttings in Devon

A LOOK AT NEWS, EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN YOUR AREA

BOMBED IN 1942, RESTORED AND OPENING 80 YEARS LATER

Once a nursery school and orchard but struck by a bomb in 1942 and a ruin ever since, the Garden School Orchard in Wonford Road, Exeter is now opening for the first time in 80 years, for Hospiscare on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June.

After the World War II bomb devastated the orchard, it was left as a ruin, just rubble and brambles, with only a few original fruit trees surviving. Now it’s being carefully restored and opening to the public for the first time in 80 years, raising funds for Hospiscare. The ruin has been secured, pathways laid and new trees planted alongside a wildlife pond.

This hidden gem in St Leonard’s district of the city will be open from 2pm until 5pm on both open days. Admission £7, under 12’s free. Refreshments available, and dogs on leads allowed. No wheelchair access due to narrow, uneven paths. Parking in nearby streets.

Garden School Orchard, 58 Wonford Road, Exeter EX2 4LQ.

DAWLISH LAUNCHES GARDEN PROJECT TO AID MENTAL HEALTH

A new allotment project to help with mental health has been launched in Dawlish.

A ‘social prescribing’ plot has been earmarked at Browns Bridge allotments, thought to be the first of its kind in the area.

The project has been in the planning for more than six months and emerged from the Allotment Association working in collaboration with Dawlish Town council, the leaseholders of the site and the Social Prescribing team at Barton Surgery in Dawlish.

The collaboration came as Barton Surgery has many patients struggling with mental health and asking for help and support.

Alongside medication and counselling, the plot will allow patients to be prescribed regular sessions working on the allotment in fresh air.

The aim is to provide access to the benefits of gardening and the outdoors.

The town council says currently, nothing of this kind is available locally.

APHIDS ON THE WARPATH WARNING ACROSS DEVON

Aphids are plaguing gardeners this spring due to the warm weather, with higher numbers of the rose-killing bugs expected to thrive because of climate breakdown.

The sap-sucking insects have topped the ranking of gardener queries to the Royal Horticultural Society, with many of its 600,000 members having complained of dozens of aphids on their acers, roses and honeysuckle plants. They thrive in warm, dry weather, exacerbated by climate breakdown. Additionally, they can be killed off by frost, and the change in weather patterns is making frost less regular.

Hayley Jones, the principal entomologist at the RHS, said: “Climate change and more pronounced warm spells in many parts of the country could be a boon for some of the 500 species of aphid found in the UK.”

Aphids are also spreading to plants they never used to feed on in the UK. The RHS is calling on gardeners to support research into an aphid that has only recently affected buddleia, causing distinctive distortion to the leaves. There are more than 500 species of aphid found in UK gardens, and they are commonly known as blackfly, greenfly and plant lice. They can be red, yellow, black, green, brown or pink insects and feed by sucking sap from plants.

GARDEN HOUSE CELEBRATES 80TH ANNIVERSARY WITH FUND RAISING EVENTS

One of Devon’s most beautiful gardens is celebrating its 80th anniversary with special events and a fundraising programme.

The Garden House, near Yelverton in West Devon, described as ‘one of the finest gardens in Britain’ needs funds to ensure its future.

What is one to say about June – the time of perfect young summer, the fulfilment of the promise of the earlier months and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh beauty will ever fade. GERTRUDE JEKYLL

The anniversary year is being marked by gardening talks and lectures celebrating horticulture and Devon gardens. The highlight is a talk by BBC TV gardener Frances Tophill on Thursday 26th June at Tavistock Town Hall.

“We are regarded as one of England’s most beautiful gardens – so we’re holding a major fundraising initiative during our anniversary year to help ensure the garden survives and thrives for the benefit of future garden lovers,” said Garden House chairman, Mark Brunsdon.

“To safeguard the garden for the next 80 years future we need extra funds to maintain the garden’s outstanding presentation, carry out repairs to our buildings and invest in new styles of planting.

“We’re seeking to raise £30,000 from our anniversary year appeal.”

Created by Lionel and Katharine Fortescue in the 1940s, The Garden House is on the site of Buckland Monachorum’s former vicarage.

In addition to repairing its ancient buildings, it needs to improve facilities for disabled visitors and introduce new planting.

The Garden House, Pound Rd, Buckland Monachorum, Yelverton PL20 7LQ

RESTORED ORANGERY HEADS GARDEN OPEN OFFERINGS

Five gardens, including one with a beautifully restored Orangery are opening in the picturesque coastal town of Teignmouth for the National Garden Scheme on Saturday, 14th and Sunday, 15th June from 1pm until 5pm each day. There’s a wide range of garden styles and sizes to be explored, from very small but inspiring manicured gardens to large wildlife havens. Features include Mediterranean courtyards, greenhouses, pollinator friendly planting, exotic plants, streams and ponds, fruit and vegetable beds and stunning sea views. Joint admission £6, children free. Home-made teas can be enjoyed at LOWER COOMBE COTTAGE. Plants for sale. Partial wheelchair access at some gardens. Dogs not allowed.

SOCKS ORCHARD at Smallridge, Axminster, Devon, EX13 7JN opens for the NGS on Friday 27th, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June from 1pm until 5pm each day. It’s a large plantaholic’s garden designed for year-round interest and colour with many specimen trees, a large collection of herbaceous plants, more than 200 roses, alpine troughs and alpine house, scented leaf pelargonium and succulents collections, woodland shrubs, a small orchard, and vegetable patch. There’s a steep bank with trees, shrubs and wild flowers and a viewpoint at the top, and there are chickens in the garden.

Admission £5, children free. Homemade teas in aid of Axminster Hospital League of Friends, plants for sale, wheelchair access but dogs not allowed.

For more gardens opening for charity go to page 32

I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June. L. M. MONTGOMERY

Socks Orchard, Axminster

FUTURE OF PIONEERING GARDEN IN DOUBT

The Agroforestry Research Trust wants to buy its pioneering garden from landowner the Dartington Hall Trust following the shock decision to end a long-term tenancy. The garden, near Totnes has a worldwide reputation as a pioneer in agroforestry, a method of growing trees and food on the same piece of land in a way that can be both more productive, profitable and conserve natural resources compared with monoculture farming.

NEW HEAD GARDENER MAKES IMPACT AT OVERBECK’S

The sustainable garden is home to 500 edible plants along with nut trees, fruit trees, shrubs, perennial vegetables and medicinal plants that have been planted to mimic a natural woodland.

It requires just a few hours of maintenance a month giving it a naturalistic feel and is said to attract thousands of people around the world. Founder, Martin Crawford insists the forest garden does not incur the trust any costs and says it has brought in more than 50,000 visitors to the estate, hosted important scientific research on carbon storage, and become what is often described as one of the best examples of a food forest, or forest garden, in the temperate world. They must leave the two-acre site within a year.

Overbeck’s, the renowned subtropical garden sited above Salcombe’s coastline, has welcomed Ian Trought as its new head gardener. He brings expertise from his tenure at RHS Garden Wisley, where he managed the Piet Oudolf-designed landscapes. He steps into the legacy of dedicated gardeners who have shaped Overbeck’s since 1895.

His passion for gardening was ignited as a volunteer at Ham House in Richmond, leading to an internship at Nymans in West Sussex and further training through the heritage and botanic garden trainee programme at Cliveden.

“It’s an inspiring palette of subtropical plants that thrive in this mild climate. I look forward to observing how the garden develops through the seasons in this coming year, and how our visitors interact with the space.”

KNIGHTHAYES WALKING TRAIL FOCUSES ON CHAMPION TREES

NT Knightshayes is offering visitors the chance to discover the veteran and champion trees that grow in the gardens on a circular walking trail. Champion trees are the largest of a species at a county or country level. Veteran trees are very old, very large or have cultural or conservational significance. Knightshayes is home to over 18 champion and veteran trees and along the route you’ll see county and country champions, including the tallest redwood in Devon and the biggest turkey oak in the UK. Knightshayes, Bolham, Tiverton EX16 7RQ

DEVON INSPIRED GARDEN MAKES A BIG CHELSEA IMPACT

A garden inspired by the Devon landscape has made a huge impact at Chelsea Flower Show. Influenced by her childhood in Devon, designer Zoe Claymore worked with The Wildlife Trusts to make a garden that showcases the rainforest habitat which once covered the western coasts of Britain.

The trusts said it hoped the garden, sponsored by charity Project Giving Back, would show people how nature-friendly gardening can help British wildlife.

DEVON DAY CELEBRATIONS AT ARLINGTON COURT

Arlington Court, the popular National Trust property near Barnstable, is holding a craft fair to celebrate Devon Day—a day dedicated to the county.

Devon Day Craft Fair, takes place from Wednesday, 4th to Sunday, 8th June.

Starting on Devon Day, the event is a celebration of local craftsmanship, bringing together some of North Devon’s finest artists, makers, and producers. Set in the beautiful surroundings of Arlington Court, the fair is a great opportunity to explore unique handmade goods and support local talent.

NT Arlington, Arlington EX31 4LP

ROSE LOVERS GET READY FOR ROSEMOOR ROSE CELEBRATIONS

Rose lovers really have one date in their diary for the next few weeks – and it’s the spectacular four plus weeks of the RHS Garden Rosemoor Festival of Roses. The popular annual event opens on Saturday 14th June and runs through to Sunday 13th July. Visitors can revel in the scent and sight of thousands of rose buds and blooms, a sensory celebration of summer.

Rosemoor has always been famous for its roses and puts special focus on these rose weeks. Brought to their peak by the ideal conditions, there is no better place to admire the breadth of colour, shape and habitat of these national favourites in early summer. It represents one of the UK’s largest collections of roses; Rosemoor is home to more than 200 different varieties and over 2,000 specimens, ranging from traditional cottage garden climbers to modern varieties.

The Rose Weekend runs from Friday 20th June to Sunday 22nd June where you can enjoy family entertainment and an artisan craft and food market. Normal garden prices apply and no booking is necessary.

Summer sculpture exhibition set to wow

The spectacular John Hadfield Summer Sculpture Exhibition opens in the Rosemoor gardens and runs until 1st September. John works in stainless steel, first drawing the bird or animal and then welding and manipulating the steel. All of his sculptures are one-offs, as each piece of art is made by hand, and although they can be similar, they are never exactly the same.

He grew up as the son of an engineer in the small village of Taleford, just outside of Ottery St Mary in East Devon and now lives in a cottage near East Budleigh. He now has more time to enjoy his real love of sculpting the animals and birds.

Free garden entry for members. For non-members, normal garden admission applies.

RHS Rosemoor, Great Torrington Torrington EX38 8PH

Ms Claymore: “Some of my happiest childhood memories are playing in and around Lydford Gorge, which is a British rainforest on Dartmoor, because my grandparents had a house with a woodland garden, and we just went into the woodland from the garden, and it was really magical.”

Ms Claymore said she also drew inspiration for the project from visits to the woods in Devon Wildlife Trust’s Dart Valley.

The British rainforest garden features a raised wooden walkway, a water feature based on the River Dart, lichen covered birch trees, ferns, bluebells, and moss.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

If you have any thoughts, ideas or views you would like to share with Country Gardener readers then email us at editorial@countrygardener.co.uk

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

I visited my dad’s allotment the other Sunday and saw this sign on the entrance. ‘Welcome to our allotment where the gardening season officially begins on 1st January and ends on 31st December'. Olga Rankin Exeter

Plant dill if you want to attract butterflies

If any of your readers want to attract butterflies into their garden. I have the answer- plant the herb dill. Butterflies aren't just visually pleasing; they're important pollinators that contribute to the overall health of plants. The best plant that particularly attracts butterflies with its feathery and aromatic leaves is dill.

This culinary herb, often used to flavour dishes produces nectar-rich flowers that lure butterflies.

How foxgloves have saved my garden

My rather neglected garden this spring has been saved by one thing - wild foxgloves. In amongst all the weeds there must be at least 100 of these wonderful digitalis purpurea plants spiralling up and some of them in flower in early May. They started appearing in February as tiny plants and I’ve been keeping my eye on them throughout the last few months. When we were growing up we were always told to beware of them as of course they are poisonous. Bees love to get inside the flowers and although a biennial if you just leave them they will self-seed as my garden bears testimony to.

Mary Preston Plymouth

Why reducing the size of your lawn is a must

I have been reducing the size of my lawn over the past four years and I just wish I had started earlier. When we moved into the garden it was one big lawn which wasn’t in particularly good shape anyway.

I decided then the future was less lawn more garden but I was going to do it gradually, and a little at a time reducing the works in the long run. I now have many painted ferns, boxwoods, azaleas, camel grass, crape myrtles and six fruit trees in a 40x40 metre area that looks like a botanical garden. And considering that they are native plants, I only need to water weekly. The garden takes less work - I garden only 30 min a day as I return from work. Slow and steady wins the race once you have less lawn.

Eric Hadden Ilfracombe

Specifically, the Black Swallowtail, often spotted around Devon, and the Anise Swallowtail butterflies are known to feed on dill leaves and lay their eggs on them to nourish caterpillars.

If you're considering adding dill to your garden keep the plants intended for pollination separate from herbs you intend to eat.

Gina Turberry Bath

TEABAGS WILL HELP YOUR BASIL CROP

Here's a trick my fellow allotment holders have been sharing for a couple of seasons now. It is all to do with our passion for growing herbs and specially basil. Basil is one of the easiest herbs to grow, but it needs a lot of warmth and you’ll get a crop which will help you in the kitchen all summer long. This is one particular trick that some gardeners swear by. They grow basil by adding teabags into the soil. As they break down in the soil, used teabags release beneficial nutrients that can boost the health of basil plants, making them a fantastic natural fertiliser.

Steep the bags in hot water, let the liquid cool, and then utilise it as a mild liquid fertiliser. Andy Harris Burnham

Forced to ask the council to act on bonfires

I have been asking my local Somerset council to ban people from having bonfires in their gardens, with the aim of reducing pollution. It would prevent burning household or garden waste outside, but would not apply to barbecues, domestic fire-pits and indoor wood burning, so I believe there is a lot of common sense in the proposal.

Bonfires in this part of Somerset have never been worse than in the last months of winter and early spring. So I have been driven to this course of action. People are thoughtless and just don’t seem to appreciate what damage smoke can do.

A new by-law can take up to six months to establish, requires a public consultation and the outline of the by-law must also be approved by the Secretary of State.

The council must carry out studies of the borough's domestic wood burning emissions and an analysis on the impacts of outdoor fires on public health.

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, councils must investigate smoke complaints if it is considered a "statutory nuisance" which can lead to an abatement notice requiring it to stop or be reduced.

It is a shame it has come to this. Fran Peters Wellington

LONDON PRIDE APPEARS IN THE HERB GARDEN

I am always amazed what appears in my garden – I presume brought in by birds. This spring for the first time we have got some London Pride or as I now know Saxifraga umbrosa. It got me doing a bit of research. It is a very dainty and almost fragile thing and is said to have got its name when it started to appear on London bomb sites during World War II. It also featured in Noel Coward’s song of the same name which features the flower. So all in all I am looking after it, unaware of how it got here but proud to have it and hope it’s a permanent visitor.

Di Edmondson Minehead

Gardening nurtures community spirit at Kenwith Castle care home

Set within the picturesque countryside in Abbotsham, Kenwith Castle care home offers more than just comfortable living— it provides a vibrant community where residents get to continue following their passions and interests. Surrounded by beautifully maintained grounds, the home encourages residents to stay active through gentle exercise while getting close to nature through shared gardening projects.

Gardening offers gentle physical movement, mental stimulation, and social interaction. Residents are invited to take part in a range of activities, from planting and potting out seasonal flowers and herbs and watering the planters on the balconies, to light digging and helping with garden planning. These sessions are carefully adapted to be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability and previous experience, ensuring that everyone can be involved in a way that is meaningful to them. The gardens serve as more than just a scenic backdrop; They are a place where friendships grow alongside the plants. Regular group sessions provide a relaxed setting for residents to connect with one another while enjoying the calming benefits of being outdoors. Whether working together to pot up summer blooms, tending to the flowers on the balcony areas or simply sitting amongst the greenery with a cup of tea, the garden naturally helps to brings people together.

Kenwith Castle, which is part of the not-for-profit charity, Care South, provides residential, respite, and dementia care to residents. The garden has been designed to offer a sensory space for residents, including those living with dementia or a sensory impairment. Scents from sweet peas, lavender and roses can stimulate memories, whilst

the sense of touch can be stimulated through tree bark and grasses, and residents can hear a host of sounds from bees and birds who visit the garden.

The garden features wide, flat walkways and raised flower beds making them accessible to all, with plenty of outdoor seating areas and benches for enjoying some quiet time. It’s also the perfect setting for residents to enjoy a host of garden parties and barbecues to make the most of the sunnier weather, with friends and families always encouraged to join in the fun.

The care home benefits from expansive landscaped grounds featuring a picturesque lake with stunning countryside views, offering quiet spaces for moments of reflection. The spacious grounds are also home to a community of assisted-living bungalows, Kenwith Castle Gardens and Kenwith Meadows, as well as The Pavilion, which offers a sociable meeting hub and facility for the

exclusive use of the residents.

Special events through the year will see the community gather in the garden of Kenwith Castle to celebrate Care Home Open Week with an open day event on Saturday 21st June from 2pm to 4pm featuring live entertainment, farm animals, a barbecue, arts and crafts and garden games. Residents and staff at Kenwith Castle will then host their Summer Fayre on Wednesday 27th August from 2pm to 4pm featuring stalls, entertainment, and a tombola. Both events are open to the wider community to come along and experience the warm, friendly and inclusive atmosphere of the home.

The Kenwith Castle care home team host their ‘Welcome Wednesdays’ session every week from 2pm to 4pm for visitors to enjoy activities and socialise with the residents over tea, coffee and cake. There is no need to book –just drop in on the day!

the QR code to find out more about living at Kenwith Castle and meet the Home Manager.

Heavenly honeysuckles

These fabulously colourful plants, also known as woodbines provide the most powerful scent and are a magnet for wildlife.

With distinctive, bugle-shaped flowers giving off a powerful scent and lush foliage, it’s no wonder that honeysuckles are so popular amongst gardeners. Also known as woodbine, these woodland and hedgerow plants are vigorous climbers with clusters of scented flowers which attract bees and butterflies in summer followed by berries for the birds in the autumn.

They are a must for any garden arch, pergola or fence and often grow better on these than roses.

Climbing honeysuckles flower in summer, in shades of white, cream, lemon yellow, pink, orange and raspberry red. They’re perfect plants for an informal or cottage garden style, and look good combined with roses for a romantic display. They are also a magnet for wildlife. The scent of their nectar-rich flowers attracts bees and butterflies during the day and moths at night – their colour changes slightly once pollinated.

Growing honeysuckle

Grow climbing honeysuckles in moist but free-draining soil in partial shade, ideally with the roots in shade but the stems in sun, such as at the base of a west-facing wall or fence. Give them a sturdy frame to climb up, such as a trellis or wire frame.

Water plants in dry spells and feed with a general purpose fertiliser in spring.

Deciduous honeysuckles are best planted in late winter, evergreen honeysuckles in spring or autumn.

When planting any honeysuckle, dig in some well-rotted organic matter, such as garden compost or well rotted manure, into the soil before planting. Dig a hole that is the same size as the rootball, and plant at the same depth as the plant was in the pot. Firm in wall, water deeply and finally mulch with organic matter to help with water retention. Many shrubby honeysuckles can be planted as cheaper, bare-root plants in autumn or winter. For a dense hedge, plant five small plants per metre.

Caring for honeysuckle

Water all honeysuckles in dry spells in summer. Feed with a general-purpose fertiliser in spring to promote good growth and plenty of flowers.

Beware of the ‘rain shadow’ that can occur at the base of walls and fences, where rain doesn’t reach the soil. Mulching around the base of climbing honeysuckles in spring with well-rotted manure or garden compost can help to retain moisture.

Honeysuckle pruning depends on the type of honeysuckle you are growing - climbing or shrubby.

Climbing honeysuckles

Those that flower early in the summer should be pruned after flowering. Cut back by about one third to maintain a neat shape. Don’t remove the dying flowerheads as these will become berries. Those that flower later in the summer should be pruned lightly in spring. These flower on the current season’s growth, so don’t cut back too hard or you’ll risk losing the flowers.

Shrubby honeysuckles

Deciduous shrubby honeysuckles can be pruned after flowering in late spring or summer. If your plant is very overgrown, you can cut it back hard in late winter or early spring.

Problem solving

Honeysuckle aphid can be a real problem for climbing honeysuckles. Leaves become distorted and curled as the sucking insects feed on the plant. The aphids excrete honeydew, which then leads to sooty mould. Plants that are in poor health are more prone to infestation. Honeysuckles can also be prone to powdery mildew –again, growing in partial shade can help prevent this, as can mulching around the base in spring.

Chosing your honeysuckle

Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’ is a vigorous, deciduous honeysuckle climber with scented, creamy-white flowers that are streaked with raspberry red. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Lonicera periclymenum ‘Scentsation’, as its name suggests, has strongly scented flowers in shades of white and pale yellow, from midsummer to September.

Lonicera ‘Mandarin’ is a new variety with striking but unscented orange flowers from June to August. It is a vigorous, deciduous climber. The new foliage is a richbronze colour, before maturing to deep green. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).

Best honeysuckle for fragrance

The scent of a honeysuckle’s flowers wafting through the air on a summer’s evening is something special. While many honeysuckles are scented, boasting delicate notes of vanilla, jasmine and orange blossom, some varieties are known to have a particularly fragrant aroma.

Both ‘Sweet Sue’ and ‘Heaven Scent’ could justifiably claim the title of being the best honeysuckle for fragrance, the sweet bouquet of their blooms leaving a lasting impression on the nose without ever being overpowering. If fragrance is your planting priority, grow your honeysuckle over a seating area pergola to make the most of the smell.

Best honeysuckle for wildlife

The inviting trumpet shape and abundant nectar of the honeysuckle flower is known for attracting bees, butterflies (like the white admiral) and moths, while the autumn berries are a firm favourite of songbirds and dormice.

In fact, the Wildlife Trusts even go so far as to refer to honeysuckles as wildlife ‘hotels’, though we’re yet to see them produce any fancy mini toiletries we can pilfer, so the jury’s still out on that front. Ultimately, most honeysuckles are good for wildlife, so you don’t need to worry too much about specific varieties, just know that, by getting a honeysuckle, you’re doing your bit to encourage more wildlife to visit your garden.

Lonicera periclymenum ‘Scentsation’

Lonicera ‘Mandarin’

Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’

The old are the best

An old garden rose is defined as any rose which existed before the introduction of the first modern rose in 1867. Alternative, old-fashioned, heritage or heirloom roses are the ancestors of today’s roses and are still grown for their delicate beauty and delicious perfume. Interest in them is now off the scale.

What is an old garden rose?

It is a rose being of a class in existence before 1867. This is the year a rose named ‘La France’ was introduced. La France is considered to the be the first hybrid tea rose and after that everything changed in the world of roses.

It is the offspring of the hybrid ‘Madame Victor Verdier’ with the tea rose ‘Madame Bravy’. What marked ‘La France’ as being different from other roses was the high centred blossom now associated with hybrid tea roses of today. The name hybrid tea in fact comes from a wedding of the classes of the parents of ‘La France’- a hybrid and a tea rose.

To grow old roses is to add richness to the garden when summer is at its peak. Liken growing them to adorning your house with genuine antiques, rather than modern reproductions. These are the originals, to whom many younger models owe their debt. True old roses bear just one flush of flowers rather than the two or three of many modern roses.

These old or heritage roses are now very much in demand and rose lovers believe them to be the only true classic rose. Demand has increased and their popularity increases year on year.

Old garden roses of European or mediterranean origin are once-blooming woody shrubs, with notably fragrant, double-flowered blooms primarily in shades of white, pink and crimson-red. The shrubs’ foliage tends to be highly disease-resistant, and they generally bloom only from canes (stems) which formed in previous years. Class of roses also brings us to the other part of the definition of old garden roses. Modern roses refer to hybrid teas, floribundas, miniatures -all classes within the label “Modern Roses”.

It’s the same with old garden roses. Old garden roses are not a class of roses but rather a group of classes that fit one definition. That definition is the class was in existence before 1867.

What are the classes of roses that make up old garden roses? There are a lot but generally they fall into two subclasses, antique and old roses.

Old roses are those found in Europe before the very late

1700s and antique roses. Antique roses are those who can trace part of their ancestry back to R. chinensis (The China Rose) which was the first true repeat blooming rose known in the west and was not introduced to Europe until around 1792.

Old roses for the most part do not repeat bloom and antique roses for the most part do. Why? Because of the influence of R. Chinensis into breeding programs. With this repeat blooming ability roses forever changed, Antique roses were born.

They are still widely available and passionate rose growers insist their quality in unsurpassed, disease resistant, powerfully scented and with huge blooms.

Old fashioned roses to drool over

Rosa gallica ‘Versicolor’

One metre tall and wide, this classic rose has the novelty factor for its masses of striped ‘raspberry ripple’ effect blooms, which look far too modern to be on a plant mentioned in Thomas Hanmer’s Garden Book of 1650, where he states that it was ‘first found in Norfolke a few years since.’ A real eye-catching feature when in full bloom.

Rosa centifolia

Gertrude Jekyll said of this cabbage rose that ‘it stands alone as the sweetest of all its kind, as the type of the true rose smell.’ The Centifolia roses date from around the

1800s and are so-called because they are said to have at least 100 petals. Rather crudely called the ‘cabbage rose’ because of the size of the many-petalled flowers, it has a rich scent that has delighted gardeners for centuries. Blooms are borne on long stems, making them good for cutting, although the joy of seeing an established specimen in full bloom may make it hard to sacrifice any flowers. Known as the apothecary’s rose, and the oldest widely available rose.

Rosa ‘Comte de Chambord’

This has true old rose character. Dating to 1860, its prickly stems bear full pink flowers with a strong and delicious fragrance from summer into autumn.

“Pruning a heritage old rose bush is not unlike giving a home haircut to a small child: you do the best you can, secure in the knowledge that if it turns out odd-looking, new growth will quickly hide your mistakes.” - Liz Druitt, The Organic Rose Garden

Rosa ‘Alba Semiplena’

This is the rose for those craving elegance and simplicity in the garden. The near-single flowers are highly scented and have been used for the production of attar of rose, the fragrant rose oil . It makes a large garden shrub, that can reach two metres tall, and established plants will be covered in clusters of flowers in early summer. It is possible that this rose is the original white rose of York, the heraldic symbol adopted by the House of York during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century.

Rosa ‘William Lobb’

The purple flowers of the especially desirable moss rose have a rich perfume and are borne in clusters. The petals fade to a mysterious mauve and grey as they age and the flowering stems and buds are shrouded in a frothy ‘moss’. Growth is lax but this can be overcome by inserting a plant support when the plant is young, or training it as a climber, so the exquisite blooms are displayed at their very best.

Rosa ‘Tuscany Superb’

A wonderful choice for those craving intense summer colour, this has an exceptionally rich colouring that is typical of the Gallica roses. These flowers have a loose frilliness, with cheerful buttercup-yellow centres creating a contrast to the silky, reddish-purple petals. The Gallica roses are known for being stout, bushy plants, but this one is a particularly strong grower reaching two metres tall and suited to being planted at the back of a border.

Rosa ‘Variegata di Bologna’

Raised in Italy in at the end of the 19th century, this tall, lax rose can be grown as a shrub or a climber, its creamy white flowers striped and splashed with raspberry red. The flowers are very fragrant, with a rich, fruity old-rose perfume and the rose can reach two metres tall.

Rosa ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’

If scent is the most prized asset of a rose, then this robust shrub, introduced in the mid-1800s, should be top of the wish-list. There are prettier old roses on the market, but on breathing in the sweet scent of these large, hot-pink blooms, all is forgiven. A hybrid of R. rugosa this rose assures the gardener of strong growth (even on light soils), clean foliage in summer and the welcome autumn bonus of attractive hips. This is the perfect starter plant for those who are new to old roses.

Rosa ‘Madame Hardy’

Grown in British gardens for nearly 200 years, this is a tall damask rose full of opulence, fragrance and blowsy abundance. The double blooms are gently frilled, manypetalled and strongly scented – a hallmark of the damask roses – with a fruity, lemon perfume. The flower buds are fringed with fern-like growth and foliage is exceptionally healthy. When fully open, the blooms display a prominent green eye in the centre. It is a superb rose for adding a fresh feel to the garden in early summer, it will create an ethereal scene if planted among cow parsley.

Rosa ‘Ispahan’

This is the first old rose to mark the start of a new season of roses. This damask rose is frilly, loosely shaped with pink flowers and a very stong fragrance. It grows to two metres and will add masses of flowers at the back of a border.

The art of pruning old roses

When in doubt, the best policy for old roses is to do nothing. Old garden roses don’t need or like the kind of heavy pruning that is beneficial to modern Hybrid Tea roses. The primary goal is to remove dead, weak, or sickly plant material that can drain the energy of the plant, without ruining the shape.

Pruning old roses - when in doubt - do nothing

Remove all spindly growth and any shoots skinnier than a pencil. Thinning superfluous growth increases sunlight and air circulation to the centre of the plant, creating a drier environment that is less hospitable to fungal infections. It also stimulates new cane growth, which brings new flowers.

The only really hard and fast rule that applies to old rose pruning is: prune immediately after flowering. This means that if a rose blooms only once a year, it should be pruned right after the flowers have finished. But try not to overdo summer pruning, since it can result in loss of too much sap.

WAS Ellen Willmott GARDENING’S ‘BAD GIRL’?

by Vivienne Lewis

She just couldn’t stop adding to her collection of plants in her sumptuous gardens, but after winning major horticultural medals and prizes the heiress who went through a fortune died almost penniless and alone

Ellen Willmott was an extraordinary character, born in 1858 to a wealthy family. They moved to Warley Place in Essex in 1876, and Ellen inherited a fortune from her godmother in 1888. She went on a spending spree - buying plants for Warley Place’s garden, on the restoration of a garden in France, and then another garden in Italy. At one point she was employing 100 gardeners at Warley Place, taking photographs of them in their smart uniforms every year.

She was proud, bossy, and authoritarian, with a reputation for meanness, and not giving her gardeners good references if they tried to leave. She even had trip wires put in her daffodil fields against any intruders bent on picking them, and had a loaded revolver in her handbag in case of attack.

But she was the type of intelligent, wealthy woman who could through her forceful personality, class, and knowledge break into the predominantly male horticultural world. She was the first woman to be elected to the Linnaean Society; Ellen and that other great plantswoman, Gertrude Jekyll, were the only female recipients of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour when it was instituted in 1897. She was active on various RHS committees and at the age of 75 was still a member of the Floral Committee and the Lily Committee.

She was also a great sponsor of plant hunting expeditions, helping to sponsor Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson on his exploration of south west China at the turn of the 19th centurybut she named the plants grown from seeds he brought back after herself. She did, though, become famous for her ability to nurture rare species, employing top gardeners who were given time to produce results.

The beginnings of an extraordinary lifetime in gardening

Ellen’s mother and sister Rose were keen gardeners, but it was Ellen Ann who really transformed the grounds of Warley Place into one of the most celebrated gardens in the country. Her father died in 1892 and her mother in 1898, and with her sister Rose having married into the Berkeley family in 1891 and moving to Spetchley Park, near Worcester, in 1897, Ellen was left the inheritor of Warley Place and its extensive estate.

Years before that, in 1882 Ellen, at 24 years of age, started on her new alpine garden at Warley Place. It was a major undertaking, involving building a ravine with a stream running along it and a special cave for her filmy ferns. The ravine and the massive rocks exist to this day, but sadly there is no sign of the original plants.

Her first love were daffodils, then primulas and roses. She eventually had more than 100,000 varieties of plants at Warley Place and she won four consecutive Royal Horticultural Society gold medals for her daffodils.

In 1890 Ellen bought a chateau near Aix-les-Bains in France, again spending lavishly on the house and garden. In 1905 she bought a garden in Italy, La Boccanegra near Ventimiglia. Ellen is quoted as saying that ‘my plants and gardens come before anything in life for me, and all my time is given up to working in one garden or another.’

In 1909 she published Warley Garden in Spring and Summer; she took up photography and it contains her own photographs of drifts of daffodils and spring flowers, and the luxuriant summer herbaceous borders. She commissioned the artist Alfred Parsons to make 132 drawings for two-volume Genus Rosa, which unfortunately was a publishing disaster.

Disaster looms

But with investments losing their value and her colossal over-spending, she was forced to take out mortgages and to sell family treasures including valuable Amati and Stradivarius violins - the family were very musical. Even as far back as 1907, the French chateau was badly damaged by fire. It was uninsured, but Ellen spent lavishly on rebuilding and restoration, having to take out a mortgage on it.

During World War I the army took over the Warley Place estate, and ruined the rose collection. Eventually the wonderful garden she had spent so much money on, became a wilderness. She was even falsely accused of shoplifting. Becoming more paranoid, as she aged, the loaded revolver kept in her handbag in case of attack.

Ellen was helped by her family and friends but she died alone and almost penniless in September 1934. Gertrude Jekyll called her the greatest of living gardeners. Some obituaries were kinder than others, as she had not endeared herself generally to people.

Many of the rarer plants were removed to her sister’s family at Spetchley Park to be cared for by the Berkeley family in that lovely garden.

The house was sold and permission sought to turn it into a luxury housing estate. This didn’t materialise and the house was demolished in 1939, the garden reverting to a wilderness. It was leased from the grandson of the 1939 purchaser to the Essex Naturalists’ Trust (later Essex Wildlife Trust) in 1977 and has gradually been brought up to its present standard as a nature reserve, but still retaining as many as possible of the features of the original garden.

Ellen Willmott’s name and her remarkable story lives on in the many plants named after her.

Warley Place

Warley Place, Warley Road, Great Warley, Brentwood CM13 3HU is open every day during daylight hours. The 25-acre reserve is now maintained as a nature reserve by Essex Wildlife Trust. There are some spectacular flowers to be enjoyed throughout the year, especially in the spring.

Paeonia obovata var. willmottiae

Warley Place, in Essex, Ellen Willmott’s home for almost

Ellen Willmott became one of the great gardeners of her time Country Gardener

Some of the plants named after Ellen Willmott

• Narcissus ‘Ellen Willmott’

• Primula willmottiae

• Rosa willmottiae

• Tulipa willmottiae

• Willmott’s willmottiae and warleyensis cultivars such as Veronica prostrata ‘Warley Blue’

• Ceratostigma willmottianum

• Aethionema ‘Warley Hybrid’,

• Potentilla nepalensis ‘Miss Willmott’

• Campanula pusilla ‘Miss Willmott’

• Syringa vulgar ‘Miss Ellen Willmott’

• Lilium davidii var. willmottiae

• Iris warleyensis

• Paeonia obovata var. willmottiae

• Epimedium x warleyense

Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’

Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’ - the plant probably most linked to Ellen Willmott

Sea hollies make a bold statement in a sunny border or gravel garden. ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’ is named after Ellen Willmott as she liked to secretly scatter seeds of the plant in other people’s gardens. The RHS plants website states that the name could equally apply to the plant’s appearance, with its ruff of large, prickly, steely-grey bracts that shine a ghostly silver in the sun, and it adds that the marbled, heart-shaped foliage is attractive too, and shown off to best effect planted in gravel, or in bold clumps among grasses, perfect for use in dried flower arrangements; the variety is biennial, but self-seeds freely.

Ellen Willmott’s garden in France

Ellen Willmott’s chateau in Tresserve, near Aix-les-Bains, France is now the Mairie (town hall) of Tresserve and is largely much as it was in Ellen Willmott’s day. It is preserved by the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Patrimoine de Tresserve and one of their members, Geneviève FriehGiraud, has written a book, La Mairie de Tresserve, about the building and its owners. She concentrates mostly on Ellen Willmott, and her material is based on original research both in France and in Britain. More details can be found on the Essex Wildlife Trust website at www.essexwt.org.uk and following the links.

If you want to read more about this extraordinary horticulturist, there’s Miss Willmott of Warley Place: Her Life and Her Gardens by Audrey Le Lievre and Miss Willmott’s Ghosts: The Extraordinary Life and Gardens of a Forgotten Genius by Sandra Lawrence.

JOBS IN THE June garden

There’s something joyous about a June garden. Annuals and perennials are bursting with colour and interest and, for many gardeners, this is the best month for blooms. Flowers are starting to appear in abundance and the harvest has started in the kitchen garden. Keep on top of supporting your plants and keep an eye out for cold nights at this time of year, as some plants will still need protection.

It’s also a time to prune, mow and weed, as natural growth starts to run riot. And don’t forget to water. Watering in the hotter months is always best done in the morning or evening to avoid scorching plants in the heat of the day. Keep tubs and planting containers well-hydrated too, even in rainy weather, as much of the water runs from the leaves over the side.

1

Give your plants some urgent support

Many border plants will need support to help them to perform best. The key is to do this early on so they grow through and around the frame you are using, giving them a more natural look. Taller, more fragile, herbaceous plants, such as delphiniums and peonies, are best suited to metal link stakes, which come in various heights and link together to strengthen the support they offer. Often green in colour, these blend in and do not detract from the glorious blooms above. Annuals like sweet peas, like to climb on branches of hazel or silver birch woven into artistic structures.

Plan for your tulip harvest next spring

2

Tulips can be kept in the soil all year round to reflower the following year, but you may find they don’t put on as much of a display and may be shorter and have smaller flowers than previously. To prevent this, it’s important to ensure as much energy as possible from the leaves is returned to the bulbs. Deadhead plants after flowering to stop them wasting energy on producing seed (the exception to this rule is for species tulips, which should be left to develop seed and naturalise around your garden). Don’t cut back foliage until it has turned yellow, which will be about six weeks after flowering.

3

Sow fast-growing annuals

There’s still just enough time to sow fast-growing annuals to flower this year. Choose from clarkia, Virginia stock, candytuft and calendula (pot marigold) to fill empty spaces. They should flower within 10 to 12 weeks.

Most bedding plants will last all summer if you look after them. Don’t let them dry out, especially if they’re planted in containers and hanging baskets. If you want value for money, look for bedding plants that flower from May or June right into autumn. Bedding plants that flower for the longest time include cosmos, begonias and geraniums. Check the plant label for flowering times when you buy.

4

Time to sow sweetcorn

There’s still time to sow sweetcorn seed in small pots or modules in June and plant out into rich, moist soil in a sunny spot, when all risk of frost is passed. Sweetcorn is wind pollinated so plant in blocks, rather than rows. Water plants regularly, and consider mulching around the base of each plant to lock moisture into the soil. Harvest the sweetcorn cobs when the silky tassels turn brown and the kernels, when pressed with a thumbnail, exude a milky liquid.

Syringa vulgaris Rosa willmottiae Lilium davidii var. willmottiae

Watering is a key task

Watering the garden is one of the most important gardening jobs to do in June. You should focus on anything that you have recently planted in your borders and containers and hanging baskets. It is better to water borders thoroughly once a week than a splash of water every day. However, containers need watering at least once a day. Ensure that the water is directed at the soil rather than on the plant leaves to avoid scorching, which will damage the plant.

Filling in the June gap

Most spring flowers have come and gone, leaving gaps in your borders. So, if you’re in need of a splash of colour then dahlias maybe the answer. There’s no end to the choice of colour, shape and size available. Easy to grow, they will continue to flower right up to the first frost.

However, if you want a bloom that truly captures the season, then nothing says ‘summer’ better than a vibrant sunflower. They can be sown directly into the soil, where they will quickly germinate and grow.

Taking softwood cuttings

June is the perfect month to take softwood cuttings from lavender, forsythia and fuchsia.

Take 10cm cuttings from the tips of your chosen shrub, making a sharp horizontal cut just below a pair of leaves, and remove any lower set of leaves or buds.

Fill a small pot with gritted compost, and push the cuttings in, parallel to the side of the pot. Space cuttings equally, water and place in a greenhouse or warm windowsill.

If your lavender is flowering, then take cuttings and bring indoors. Simply bunch together, tie and suspend somewhere where you can enjoy its fragrance.

Look out every day for pests

Think about autumn planting

It’s hard to fathom, but in a few months, autumn will be here, so consider sowing some of those autumn plants, such as pansies and polyanthus. Simply sow seeds onto a tray of fine compost, water and cover lightly. Then place in your greenhouse. Check tray regularly to ensure germination has occurred, and don’t let seedlings dry-out.

Pests and diseases will be at their worst, so keep a lookout. If you’ve been growing lilies, check foliage for the dreaded lily beetle, and if found remove and dispose accordingly. Red mite may start appearing in greenhouses, so it’s a good idea to dampen down the paths each day to deter them, and keep doors and windows open for plenty of ventilation 6 13 9 7 12 11 10

Don’t forget your pots

Feed fuchsias, petunias, and any other flowering plants with a fertiliser once a week to boost flowering. start feeding when you notice buds forming on the plants and continue until the plants run out of steam in early autumn.

Give tuberous begonias a boost by removing female flower buds to allow the plant to put all its energy into producing attractive male flowers.

Female flowers are easily recognisable, as the blooms are single, smaller, and less showy.

8

Tending tomatoes

Whether you’re growing cordon or bush varieties, your plants will be taking on a lot of growth and producing trusses. Pinch out side-shoots, and ensure your plants are secure, and cordon tomatoes are tied in. With flowers on the plant, this is the time to start giving your tomatoes a weekly potash feed to encourage the fruit to swell. This also applies to peppers, aubergine, and chilli plants.

Take cuttings of dianthus

Dianthus are very popular plants due to their spicy clove scent. June is a good time to take cuttings of these plants. Take the cuttings from young non-flowering shoots cutting about five leaf pairs from the tip. Pull off the bottom pair of leaves and place the cuttings round the edge of an 8cm pot filled with compost. Water in gently and keep in a shady place. Do not cover as the cuttings may go mouldy.

Action on the fruit front

Don’t allow black, red, or white currants to dry out during warm weather or your crop will be spoilt. Water every seven days, depending on the weather. Water potted plants before the compost dries out.

Tidy up early fruiting strawberries. After you have picked the last fruit, cut back foliage to about two inches, exposing fresh leaves. Give plants a boost with a general-purpose fertiliser.

Apple crops can be ruined by codling moth caterpillars tunnelling through the fruit. Reduce damage by hanging pheromone traps in trees to lure away male moths.

Protect fruit bushes from birds by covering them with netting.

Marble Yellow Mauve Pink Marl

Primrose Pink Sunset

Mint Cream

Bold Green

Dusty Lilac Blue Hydrangea

Denim Marl Navy Dark Charcoal Black

“Beautiful soft cardigan in a lovely colour.” Lydia, Lyme Regis

Garden advice for June

The gardening advice being sought this month ranges from winter damage to trees to spring bulbs and readers needing help on watering and compost. If you have any question you need answering email editorial@countrygardener.co.uk

I purchased a five-foot umbrella pine last year. I wrapped it in bubblewrap this winter to protect it from frost and winds but most of it is now brown. The tips are green. The brown needles are not falling off yet and they are still flexible. I live in Dorset and really love this plant I want to know if it will ‘re-green’ up. I have done some research and can’t find an answer.

Helen Down Christchurch

If the branch tips are green your umbrella pine (Pinus pinea) may be OK as they are tough trees. The brown needles will unfortunately never re-green themselves as the tissue is dead; you will have to rely on the branches sprouting new shoots. It’s normal for stone pines to hold on to their brown needles for a while before dropping. Hopefully by summer your pine tree will show new signs of growth.

As a relatively new gardener I am bemused about how much water I should give my plants and I am always reading how damaging too much or too little water can be. Is there any simpler rules to follow?

Faye Morgan Minehead

The simple answer is, most plants need about an inch of water per week, considering all sources of water. So, if that’s rainfall great, that’s it. But usually, you’re supplementing the rainfall with your own watering. But who really measures an inch when you’re out there supplementing? Not many. Just keep an eye on the soil moisture. You just want even moisture. You don’t want it to be too wet; you don’t want it to be bone dry. Your plants will show you they’re unhappy, and you’re going to have to come up with your way to know that your plants are getting enough water.

The best time to water is either early in the morning, so the plants have time to take up the water before the stresses of the day come on, or late in the day, when there is less heat stress and less evaporation. Either way, get the water to the soil and roots without getting any of the foliage wet.

How do I know if my plant needs repotting, and how do I do it?

May Johnson Plymouth

The distress signal of the ill-accommodated plant takes numerous forms (although a few can be symptomatic of inadequate light levels and root rot), and include wilt, quick-drying soil and roots creeping out from the drainage hole, if your pot has one. Yellowing may also occur when insufficient or “tired” compost leads to a lack of available nutrients. To repot, edge around the pot with a trowel before transplanting into a larger container preprepared with fresh compost. A good rule is to bump up pot sizes incrementally: a small plant in a large container leads more quickly to rot, with soil remaining soggy where roots cannot yet reach it.

How often should we replace the soil in garden pots?

Keith and Paula Gordon Bristol

Eventually, container plants need to be moved to a bigger pot, which should be done in early spring. You usually have about three months’ worth of usable food for your plant in your compost. To add fresh compost to your container, first remove a little of the old compost. Then replace a third of the existing compost with fresh. When repotting isn’t required, remove five cm of old compost from the top, and replace it with fresh.

Is there a rule of thumb on sowing seeds? Do we use seed trays and ‘prick out’ or plugs and then pot on? Also do I need to vermiculite or just use the compost to cover them?

Anna Moore Barnstaple

If you are sowing larger, quick growing seeds such as sunflower, sweet pea, marigold, and calendula for example, then you can get away with sowing them straight into cells in late spring and early summer. Because these seeds germinate and grow quickly, then they will need the space provided by a plug much sooner than smaller seeds would, and they will not be at such a risk of rotting.

Most other seeds will be best started in seed trays. Many need light to germinate so it is important to read the sowing instructions carefully. As a rule of thumb however, you can cover the seed with a sprinkling of vermiculite that is roughly equal to the depth of the seed, i.e larger seed can have a good sprinkling, while very tiny seed probably won’t need any at all .The only other point is to follow the sowing instructions on the pack as some seed do have very particular requirements.

How do I know what soil combination to use in my new garden? We want to grow vegetables and shrubs and be as organic as we can be.

Sammy Walker Painswick

There will be a different answer for each individual garden based on where you live, depending on the soil in the garden or what you have available to fill your beds with, each space can be so different. Does your soil feel clay-like? Is it rocky? Is it depleted of nutrients? Does it need compost added? Should I make my own compost? What can I add to my soil to make it more nutrient-rich?

But you don’t have to over-think it. Over time (especially in raised beds) it’s good to either test your soil, or add organic compost such as rinsed egg shells, saw dust, peat moss, hay, leaves from your garden, or even just purchasing some soil activator. You must at every stage test your soil with a small test kit..

The top six inches of your soil is the most important in gardening, especially in raised beds. So, if you are needing to save a bit of money, fill your bed with clean soil, and then make sure the top is filled with composted or more nutrient-rich soil, not old pot container soil, sand, or soil that is depleted.

I have spent a lot of money over the last five or six years on planting daffodil and tulip bulbs. The displays this year have been fantastic but I want to make the most of what I have now and not spend any more money. Is there a set of rules to follow to make sure they keep up the standard of displays?

Maggie Horton Poole

You are right in what you suggest which is spring bulbs need a lot of after care if they are going to continue to be at their best season after season. Snip off the dead heads of the flowers as they go over. That means they will concentrate all their efforts on creating next year’s flowers in the bulb.

Many gardeners also recommend adding a liquid feed at this point. If you mulch your soil regularly it should be quite fertile already, but extra fertiliser does lead to more flowers, so I think this is a question of personal preference. If you have a very dry spring, then water your bulbs from about three weeks before flowering to a few weeks afterwards. That will help next year’s flowers. The other thing you should do – every three to four years – is to dig up over-crowded clumps of daffodils. Divide them up and replant some of them where they were and some elsewhere. This means more daffodils for free and it also helps stop daffodils going ‘blind’ or not flowering. It is now accepted that tie-ing up daffodil foliage is damaging and means fewer flowers next year. Leave the leaves to go brown and die back naturally.

We have just moved form a city centre flat in Bristol to the Devon countryside and to a large country garden. Are there any first steps you would recommend for city gardeners with limited space who would love to create a welcoming habitat for wildlife?

Jackie Redburn Dawlish

Whatever your space you can help wildlife. On balconies and roof gardens you can grow Mediterranean herbs in pots and let them flower for pollinators, leave a dish of water for passing birds and small mammals to drink from. If you have a larger garden then grow flowers but if you have space add in a few native shrubs and ‘weeds’ that moths will lay their eggs on. A pond is one of the best wildlife investments you can make as it will more than likely attract aquatic invertebrates and frogs while a patch of long grass will help beetles and moths, which are food for many species further up the food chain. Taken alone, your garden won’t do much but linked with other gardens it will become part of a much wider, wilder landscape, which will help huge numbers of species.

I have worked hard to try and grow an avocado tree. It now has tiny fruit but no flowers. Is this typical for such a specialist tree. It’s about three years old.

Pauline Trenton Bath

It is true that you need to be very patient with growing avocados. It is possible that what has happened is that some of the flowers were pollinated, then dropped. This is on the early side of producing fruit, and it will pick up in a couple more years to get to the fruit staying on the tree.

I was listening to ‘Gardener’s Question Time’ on the BBC the other week when a question came up about tomato suckers. I was amazed to hear the advice was you can leave them and don’t always have to pinch them out. I thought pinching out side shoots was one of the great must do’s in vegetable gardening.

Walter Cruise Torquay

What to do about tomato suckers is also among the popular gardening questions this time of year. A sucker is that little shoot that comes out between the main stem and the side branch at a 45-degree angle. So, the question is, do you pull those off? And here again, you get people on both sides of the fence: Yes, you pull it off because it’s going to detract from the energy that the plant needs. And no, you don’t, because you’re cutting down on the overall production. The best choice is whatever works for you.

Each sucker that emerges on your plant is going to become a fruit-bearing branch of its own. That can be a good thing if you have room for those branches without sacrificing light and air circulation. Light and air circulation are super important because tomatoes are so susceptible to various diseases, and one of the ways that you can minimize that is to provide plenty of sunlight and air circulation.

Cutting off suckers on a caged tomato plant, which has little room to spread, is usually the way to go. But your plants may be also trellised with plenty of room to grow. You can also choose a hybrid method — don’t take them all nor leave them all. Assess every plant in real-time and remove the suckers that lack the trellising or cage space to support them.

Why are my tulips so short? It seems to happen a lot and is very disappointing considering how expensive the bulbs are.

Nic Vine Exmouth

This is one of the most asked spring gardening questions. And that’s because we’ve had another dry spring this year. The dry soil doesn’t allow for the sheer growing power of the bulbs – hence they get stunted. So generally, tulips are shorter this year than in the past and Princess Irene in your photograph is definitely supposed to be taller. If you want your tulips to have maximum size and performance, then water them about three weeks before they’re about to flower and that should give them a growth spurt.

I have some well-established hydrangeas which have always done well but over the last year or two have started to fade. I haven’t really pruned them but wonder if after this summer I need to do something.

Davine Paxman Taunton

Most pruning of hydrangeas is carried out in late winter or early spring. However, climbing hydrangeas are pruned after flowering in summer.

Although the blooms on mophead hydrangeas can, in mild areas, be removed as soon as they have faded, it is best to leave them on the plant over winter to provide some frost protection for the tender growth.

A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers. Remove the dead flowerheads in early spring, cutting back the stem to the first strong, healthy pair of buds down from the faded bloom.

Lacecaps are hardier, and the faded flowerheads can be cut back after flowering to the second pair of leaves below the head in order to prevent seeds developing, which saps energy from the plant.

HEDGEHOGS in crisis

Anna Coulson works for a county wildlife trust and spent a week going round Devon schools talking about the threats to hedgehogs. She ended the week of talks even more worried about what needs to be done.

I’ve been passionate about hedgehogs since I was a teenager -maybe even before that. It is part of the reason I chose to get a job after university with a wildlife trust because I wanted to do something positive about wildlife which I care very much about. I read your magazine every month and it has helped me become a better gardener. I wanted to write to you as I have just completed a week of talks and lectures at schools throughout Devon talking to primary and secondary schoolchildren about hedgehogs and trying to inject in young people the enthusiasm, I had from an early age for them. The talks were all part of Hedgehog Awareness week held in early May.

I am afraid I finished the talks being concerned still about how little we are doing to look after these animals. Hardly any of the children we talked to had seen a hedgehog in the wild. Not many of them knew there was a problem. So there is a lot to do

Industry experts estimate that hedgehog numbers have been decimated in the last 20 years, and, sadly, new research indicates that millions of Brits have never had the privilege of seeing a hedgehog in the wild. To help raise awareness of the issue, Hedgehog Awareness Week, had the aim of educating as many as possible on how serious the issue is, and how they can support these stalwarts of British wildlife. Now, according to new data 25 per cent people in this country have never seen a hedgehog in its natural habitat and that fact was backed up in our schools talks. And it’s a problem that seems to be getting worse. While more than 80 per cent of the over 55s we surveyed had seen wild hedgehogs, in the 18 to 34 age range this dropped to only 60 per cent. This means experts believe numbers to have declined by 75 per cent since the year 2000. Despite now being rare, they are still one of the nation’s favourites. A whopping 83 per cent said they found hedgehogs cute. And a third stated that hedgehogs were their favourite British wildlife animal, and they’re ready to help, too. Happily, nearly three quarters say they would be interested in helping hedgehogs live safely in their locality. Gardens are vital to keeping hedgehogs safe and protected, and significant improvements can be made while balancing it with the reality of what is achievable in most gardens. From building a hedgehog house, to providing access between gardens, there are options for everyone.

Adapting gardens has been credited by hedgehog experts as making a massive difference to the welfare of hedgehogs. It’s the message we gave to the kids. Simple changes can make such a difference, and don’t have to cost much, either. Consider leaving wild areas, installing a little hedgehog house, and covering up any drains or holes that could be a hazard.

I ended a busy week being more worried about the future of these animals than when I started.

How to make your garden hedgehog friendly

• Build a hedgehog house - habitat loss hurts hedgehogs so make your garden their home.

• Mowers beware - check before you mow - hedgehogs could be hiding.

• No pesticides - don’t use pesticides - this could accidentally poison hedgehogs.

• Feed the hedgehogs - food is scarce - leave meaty pet food and water out for them - but no milk.

• Cover drains - hedgehogs can fall easily into drains - cover them up.

• Provide access - hedgehogs roam at night - leave space for the them to explore.

• Goodbye panel - help hedgehogs roam - cut a hole in your fence.

OUTDOOR ACCESSORIES boost property prices

It seems that the property market is taking more attention now on the state and quality of a garden. More homeowners are now investing in accessories to their homes which not only increases the pleasure of a more outdoor lifestyle but also adds value to properties.

One of the primary reasons homeowners invest in landscaping such things as verandas, greenhouses, sheds, outdoor kitchens and even firepits is the expected increase in property value. According to experts, a well-stocked, neat, and tidy garden with quality outdoor eating and dining facilities can add to 20 percent to the value of a home.

This significant increase is due to the aesthetic appeal and functional improvements that a landscaped garden provides.

Investing in a garden veranda offers a stylish and functional way to extend your living space and enjoy outdoor living. Verandas can be used for various purposes, such as dining, relaxing, or even as an outdoor office. They can also increase your home’s value and curb appeal.

Property expert Hugh Saunders said homeowners started to invest more in garden accessories during Covid when they spent more time in their garden and wanted to improve things.

“That boom hasn’t stopped really and with good summers the trend is now to invest and enjoy in products which make outdoor living more comfortable.”

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Enjoy your garden throughout the year, whatever the weather with a stylish Eden Veranda and now available with a superb finance deal – buy now, pay later plus you can save up to 25per-cent off* in a unique summer sale.

Constructed from the highest quality materials and bespoke manufactured, an Eden Veranda is a stunning addition to any home. With optional accessories such as intelligent heating and lighting you can spend more time ‘outdoors’ in comfort. Every Eden Veranda is powder coated with a hard-wearing weather-proof finish, available in a choice of 56 colours and installed by our experienced engineers.

To benefit from these offers, visit edenverandas.co.uk or call 0800 107 2727 and use code CG020625 *Terms & Conditions apply, see website for details.

Safe and effective unique controls for all your shrubs and climbers

You can control your shrubs and climbers this year using Rivelin Glen Products uniquely designed Wire Anchors. They are quick and easy to attach to concrete posts (without drilling) to act as an ‘eye’ by threading wire through them to create a trellising system. The Gripple Trellising System is ideal to use with the anchors as the wire does not stretch, takes up to 100kg load & has a life of up to 15 years. Multiple rows can be achieved with one length of wire and two tensioners. No more sore hands or sagging wires!

Rivelin Glen Products are the main stockists of the Gripple Trellising System. Prices: Wire Anchors from £10.25 for a pack of three; Gripple Starter Kit - £20.25 Details available at: www.rivelinglenproducts.com Email: info@rivelinglenproducts.co.uk Tel: 01246 462666

Blackcurrant bonanza !

Blackcurrants are the biggest yielding of all the currants providing nine to 10 pounds of luscious fruit per plant. The other good news is they are very simple to grow

Seeing blackcurrant bushes bending over with the sheer weight of fruit is one of the sights of the growing season.

Of all the currants these are the ones which can please the fruit gardener the most. Once established you can easily get nine pounds of fruit per bush, year after year repaying the cost of the plant many times over.

Not only are they great value, but the taste of homegrown blackcurrants will surpass anticipation every year: when deep in colour and completely ripe, they are complex, full of flavour and with sharp and sweet in glorious balance.

Growing blackcurrants is as simple as you’d hope. Give your plants the sunniest, most fertile position you have and allow them five feet from their neighbour. Water well in the first year as they establish and through dry spells, mulch with manure or compost in winter and all should be well. They have a tart flavour, are an invaluable source of vitamin C and can be used in pies and jams and to make cordials and cassis.

SITE AND SOIL

Blackcurrants tolerate a wide range of soil conditions, but prefer welldrained, moisture-retentive conditions. They need a rich, heavy soil. Blackcurrants prefer full sun, but will tolerate light shade. Avoid frost pockets – frosts can drastically reduce yields, even on some modern cultivars that are later flowering.

BUYING AND PLANTING

Always buy certified stock to avoid virus problems. One bush should yield about nine or ten pounds of fruit Grow blackcurrants as stooled, or multi-stemmed, bushes. In small gardens, blackcurrants can be grown in containers. Plant bare-root blackcurrants in late autumn; containerised plants can be planted at any time of year if the soil is not too wet.

A few weeks before planting, clear the soil of all perennial weeds and enrich it with a generous amount of well-rotted manure. Add a compound balanced fertiliser at the rate of 85g per sq m.

Dig a hole at least twice the circumference of the pot in which the blackcurrant was purchased if not bare-root. Space blackcurrant bushes six feet apart. Add controlled-release fertiliser like seaweed or poultry manure pellets on poor soils for individual plants if compound fertiliser wasn’t added when preparing the soil.

Set each plant at least six cms deeper than it was previously, so it develops into a multi-stemmed stool bush. Deep planting encourages young, vigorous shoots to develop from the base. Mix the soil from the hole with well-rotted organic manure and backfill the hole. Firm it in well before watering.

When planting container-grown blackcurrants from mid-autumn until late spring, cut all the stems back to one or two buds above ground level to encourage strong shoots to develop from the base. If planting between early summer and early autumn, wait until the plant is dormant before pruning all the stems.

PLANT CARE

Water blackcurrants during dry periods in the growing season. Hand weed and mulch around the plant in late winter using well-rotted manure to suppress weeds. Avoid hoeing near the base of the bush because the hoe might cut through new shoots developing at the base of the plant. Re-pot container-grown blackcurrants every two or three years. Pot back into the same container or one slightly larger. Trim back some of the roots and tease away the old soil replacing it with fresh John Innes No 3 Compost.

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of pruning: you can keep it very simple. Cutting one-third of the branches to the base each year encourages new growth and maintains a vigorous plant: prioritising the removal of older branches that become less productive keeps you in maximum fruit, too. You can do this in the winter if you like and prune when the currants are ready to harvest, killing two birds with one easy snip of the secateurs and stripping the branches of their fruit in the kitchen with a trusty fork.

TRAINING AND PRUNING

Prune blackcurrants when dormant – from late autumn to late winter. Bushes fruit on the young wood, mainly from one- or two-year-old stems, and it is important to bear this in mind when pruning.

Up to and including the fourth year after planting, remove weak, wispy shoots, retaining a basic structure of six to 10 healthy shoots. After year four, cut out about one-third of the older wood at the base, using a pair of loppers or a pruning saw. This will encourage and make room for younger, healthy wood. Also remove weak shoots and low ones leaning towards the ground

Pests and Diseases

Blackcurrants are prone to attack by birds, so cover the plants with taut netting as the fruits ripen.

American gooseberry mildew: Flower frost damage and fungal leaf spots and mildew can also cause problems, as can the following more specific problems. Big bud mite: These mites infest the buds of blackcurrant bushes. ‘Ben Hope’ is a resistant cultivar.

Blackcurrant gall midge: Tiny, white maggots feed on the shoot tips of blackcurrants, preventing leaves from reaching their full size; affected leaves dry up and die. Shoot tips can also die back. There is no cure available to the home gardener. Cultivars such as ‘Ben Connan’ and ‘Ben Sarek’ are resistant to blackcurrant gall midge.

Capsid bugs: These green insects suck the sap and cause small holes to appear on the leaves, which sometimes develop reddish brown spots. Spray with an organic soap based spray as soon as the symptoms are noticed.

Reversion: This virus is usually transmitted by big bud mite. It causes the leaves to turn yellow, and flowering and yields are dramatically reduced. There is no cure for this problem and plants should be removed immediately. Always buy certified virus-free plants.

HARVESTING

Harvest the fruit on modern varieties such as the Ben series by cutting the strigs (bunches of fruit) as they turn black. Older types of blackcurrant varieties ripen at different times, with the currants at the top of the strig ripening first. The fruit should therefore be picked individually.

Eat fresh blackcurrants within a few days of harvesting. Alternatively, they can be frozen, cooked, or made into jam or jelly.

Growing your own blackcurrants allows you to choose the fullest-flavoured varieties. When selecting cultivars, you’ll be safe with any that have ‘Ben’ in their name.Careful choice of variety can give you a long season, too: ‘Ben Connan’ and ‘Ebony’ are the earliest to grow, starting their harvest spell during the last days of June here in the South-West, with ‘Big Ben’ following closely behind. If you live in an area prone to late frosts, ‘Ben Tirran’ is a fine option, flowering as it does later than most and delivering a later harvest. ‘Titania’ is another to consider: this Swedish mid-season variety has large, juicy, aromatic and deliciously sweet fruit with just the right degree of sharpness. Blackcurrants freeze well, so you can enjoy them at any time of year. Better still, once frozen, topping and tailing — ordinarily one of the dullest tasks there is — becomes so much quicker and easier: you can scrape a thumbnail or knife across both ends without fear of squishing the fruit. You freeze them in yoghurt pots, holding about 250g–300g, until you are ready to use them.

Blackcurrant crops will repay the cost of the plants many times over

In brief

• Space the plants five feet apart.

• Remember the yields on blackcurrants can be large established bushes give 10lbs or more.

• Siting – full sun to partial shade- the more sun they get the better the crop.

• Soil – any reasonable soil with adequate drainage.

• Plant – October to April as bare root, pot-grown at other times

• Pruning – remove a proportion of older stems, cutting out at the base in winter.

Bountiful BASIL

All types of basil are members of the mint family and some basil varieties have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years and there’s more opportunities these days to experiment with growing different varieties

Basil is an incredible herb, a must-have for any edible garden. Garden-fresh basil is, after all, one of the quintessential tastes of summer.

You might think there’s just one type of basil to enjoy—most likely Genovese basil, a type of sweet basil In fact there are many varieties, each with different levels of spice and sweetness, and each as beautiful as the last.

The best way to experience as many different types of basil as possible (not to mention the freshest flavour) is to grow them yourself.

This sun-loving herb is easy to start from seed, it grows prolifically, and the more leaves you cut from it, the more it gives you.

The best variety to grow for flavour is sweet basil

Thanks to its incredible fragrance and flavour, sweet basil is one of the most popular and widely used herbs around the world. Sweet basil, specifically a variety of sweet basil called Genovese basil, is the star of the Italian classic, pesto, as well as many other sauces and soups. It’s also easy to grow and will give you an abundance of big leaves you can toss onto your meals.

The best variety to grow for basil flowers is Thai basil

Thai basil has purplish stems, produces long stalks of the most beautiful purple flowers, and boasts a liquorice-like aroma. If you really love the flavour of liquorice and anise, try liquorice basil, a type of Thai basil.

The most striking variety to grow is purple basil

This variety is just so pretty, especially when its deep purple leaves stand in contrast to the typical greens of your herb garden. Flavour-wise, purple basil can add a slightly spicy, clove-like kick to your meals.

If you want to be more adventurous with growing different varieties, then here’s a few to try.

GREEK BASIL

This type has smaller leaves but grows tall and wide, making it a great ornamental plant for large containers. Its leaves boast a sweet flavour.

HOLY BASIL

This variety, known as “the queen of herbs,” is native to India and used

more for medicinal purposes than culinary ones. The leaves have a peppery flavour and are believed to reduce pain and inflammation and lower blood sugar. The plant produces beautiful flowers and has a wonderful sweet but musky aroma.

CINNAMON BASIL

This fragrant basil smells of—you guessed it—cinnamon! With reddishpurple stems and pink flowers, this variety makes a beautiful addition to any herb garden. Dry the leaves for a cozy cup of tea.

LEMON BASIL

This tangy variety is great for making pesto or tossing onto pasta. Crush or tear the leaves to release the aroma. It’s a more compact plant that’s great for containers.

AROMATTO BASIL

The leaves of this basil have a spicy scent but taste even sweeter than Genovese basil. This is a great type to grow for cut flowers.

LETTUCE LEAF BASIL

Another type of sweet basil, lettuce leaf basil grows huge but mild-flavored leaves that are great for salads.

LIME BASIL

Every bit as citrusy as you’d expect, this zesty variety is great in iced tea, salad dressing, or marinades.

PURPLE RUFFLES BASIL

This variety has ruffled edges and green leaves streaked with purple. It looks beautiful as a garnish or added to cut flowers in a bouquet.

HIGH SUMMER and the gardens are calling

No-one needs an excuse to take time off from their own gardens in June for a day off and a day out.

It’s the time of the year when gardens are at their best and nature, flowers and plants are calling whether it’s a visit to one of the famous formal gardens of the south west or any one of a number of specialist plant fairs which fill the calendar over the next few weeks offering value for money high quality plants in lovely settings.

National Garden Scheme open garden days are plentiful, and villages and towns chose June for their garden open days many of them offering a once a year opportunity to visit. You don’t have to look too hard to find some lovely opportunities for that day out. Here’s some which might catch your eye.

Enjoy a unique summer of creativity at Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, the iconic country home of William Morris

Award-winning poet Robert Seatter and acclaimed visual artist Jessica Palmer will bring the fascinating stories and compelling atmosphere of Kelmscott Manor to life as part of the Manor’s programme of learning and public engagement alongside an inspirational new exhibition on ‘William Morris and the Book’ (5th June to 25th October).

In mid-June, Jessica will create a large 3-D model of the Manor out of recycled materials, enabling visitors – and especially families and children – to experience the house up close and personal.

Inside the Manor, visitors will be led on a special audio trail of 10 short poems by Robert Seatter directly inspired by spaces and objects in the house. Kelmscott Manor is open to the public Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from April to October. Visit www.kelmscottmanor.org.uk

June is perfection at Hartland Abbey

June is a fabulous time to visit Hartland Abbey and gardens. The Walled Garden comes into its own; the walks through rhododendrons in the shrubbery and shady Bog Garden lead to this most lovely place to sit and relax with only the sounds of the birds and bees for company. The walk to Blackpool Mill, soon to be seen in ‘The Salt Path’ is a must with the wildflowers on the cliff at their best – thrift, kidney vetch, bladder campion, wild carrot, tiny gentians and blue squills. The wonderful foxgloves mark the spots where St Nectan’s blood dripped as he carried his head under his arm around the parish! There is so much to see in the house too.

Hartland Abbey, Hartland, Stoke, Bideford EX39 6DT Tel: 01237 441496 www.hartlandabbey.com

Barthelemy & Co – the Japanese maples specialists

Barthelemy & Co from Wimborne in Dorset was established by a French nurseryman almost a century ago and the Skinner family now specialise in propagating and growing acer palmatum – or Japanese maples as they’re known.

Throughout spring, summer and autumn the delicate foliage of the acer presents exquisite shadings of Mother Nature’s gold, pink, purple, green, yellow, orange and red. Acers are a delightful addition to anyone’s garden, giving an aura of peace and tranquillity. The ten-acre nursery at Stapehill has a huge collection of Japanese maples to choose from and expert staff are on hand to help select the right variety and to offer advice about caring for the trees in future. Over 100,000 acers are produced at every year approximately 10-12,000 of them are grafted named palmatum varieties, as one of the largest specialist growers of their kind.

Barthelemy & Co, 262 Wimborne Road West, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 2DZ Tel: 01202 874283 www.barthelemymaples.co.uk

Cadhay hard work pays off with summer sensations

The Cadhay gardens are resplendent in June as all the work through the winter and spring starts to pay off. The rhododendrons around the medieval ponds, which form the backbone of the gardens, will still be in flower and the water lilies will be starting. Meanwhile the borders will be abundant. There are a few new allotment holders this year and it will be interesting to see their changes making an impact.

Cadhay is open on Friday afternoons throughout the summer from 2pm and afternoon teas will be available until 5pm.

Cadhay, Ottery St Mary EX11 1QT contact jayne@cadhay.org.uk or 01404 813511

Wolf Hall returns to Forde Abbey and Gardens

The spectacular, award-winning gardens are a must visit at any time of the year but in June and high summer they are breathtaking and include topiary-lined vistas, colourful herbaceous borders, an arboretum, and a bog garden, which provide all year-round interest. The gardens are a huge attraction but Forde Abbey is now famous for its events ,many musical and one this summer sees the invitation to visitors to Step into History for a special display of Wolf Hall costumes from the recent BBC TV series.

From 1st June for eight weeks, it’s the chance to discover the world of Wolf Hall with an exclusive costume and filming display inside the house– including outfits worn by Henry VIII - Damian Lewis, Thomas Cromwell - Mark Rylance, Jane Seymour - Kate Phillips, and Margaret Douglas.

Date: the event runs from 1st June to 28th July Opening times: 12pm -to 3.30pm Daily except Saturday and Monday.Adult £19;child £6. The gardens and house are open now through to 31st October.

Forde Abbey, Chard TA20 4LU

Great Summer Days Out at Rare Plant Fairs

There are three Rare Plant Fairs taking place during June, all held in unique gardens with their own individual style, making a summer visit to one (or more!) of the events a great day out for all gardeners. A fabulous selection of specialist nurseries attends each of the fairs , all of whom are experts in plants that they grow. The full programme is: High Glanau Manor, near Monmouth, Sunday 1st June, 11am to 4pm. These beautiful Arts and Crafts gardens have been lovingly restored by the present owners and offer spectacular views over the Vale of Usk.

Waterperry Gardens, near Oxford, Sunday 8th June, 10am to 4pm. The former teaching gardens at Waterperry have now been transformed into stunning ornamental gardens at this iconic venue, including a rose garden, formal knot garden and a canal studded with waterlilie Lamport Hall Gardens, Northants, Sunday 15th June, 10am to 4pm. 10 acres of stunning, historic gardens, as featured in Monty Don’s Great British Garden on BBC 2 in January.

Please visit the website at www.rareplantfair.co.uk for full details, including admission charges and a complete list of the exhibitors attending each one.

High Glanau Manor

Waterperry Gardens

Festival of Roses

Revel in the scent and sight of thousands of rosebuds and blooms, a sensory celebration of summer.

Sat 14 Jun – Sun 13 Jul

Join us for guided walks, an artisan food and craft fair and live music on our Rose Weekend (Fri 20 – Sun 22 Jun )

Your visit supports our work as a charity. rhs.org.uk/rosemoor

GARDENS & TEAROOM

Open every Friday 2pm - 5.30pm from 2nd May to 26th September

Also last weekend in May & August Bank Holiday weekend - Sat, Sun & Mon GARDENS: adult £6, child £1

CADHAY, OTTERY ST. MARY, DEVON, EX11 1QT 01404 813511 www.cadhay.org.uk Member of Historic Houses

Hartland Abbey & Gardens

Visit this stunning family home with wonderful wildflower walks to the beach

Beautiful walled and woodland gardens. Enjoy our ‘William Stukeley – Saviour of Stonehenge’ exhibition. See where Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’ is filmed.

* Dogs really welcome *

* Holiday Cottages *

* Delicious light lunches & cream teas * House, Gardens etc and Café open until 2nd October Sunday to Thursday 11am - 5pm (House 2pm - 5pm last adm 3.45pm)

For more information and special events see www.hartlandabbey.com Hartland, Nr. Bideford EX39 6DT 01237441496/234

Tea Room & Walled Garden Nursery

WELL BEHAVED DOGS ON LEADS WELCOME

Marwood Hill Gardens is a tranquil 20-acre private garden nestled in a North Devon valley near Barnstaple. Established in 1949 by Dr. Jimmy Smart, this 20-acre garden has evolved into a horticultural haven, featuring three serene lakes, a variety of sculptures, and an impressive collection of plants from around the world including four National Collections, Champion Trees and Marwood is also Camellia Garden of Excellence.

Indulge in homemade cakes and light lunches in the award-winning tearoom, while the plant nursery offers an unusual array of plants for sale.

Enquiries & Tea Room 01271 342528

Plant Sales & Nursery 01271 342577 e info@marwoodhillgarden.co.uk w marwoodhillgarden.co.uk

Marwood Hill Gardens, Marwood, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 4EA

Rosemoor celebrates high summer with Festival of Roses

Enjoy the fragrance and spectacle of thousands of roses blooming in two dedicated gardens at RHS Garden Rosemoor this summer. Boasting the largest rose collection in the south west, you’ll find more than 200 varieties and over 2,000 specimens, ranging from traditional cottage garden climbers to modern roses, in different settings and combinations in the heart of the garden.

Join a tour every Tuesday at 12pm throughout the festival to learn more about these beautiful blooms or speak to the RHS Advisory team every Thursday to get expert advice on how to care for your own. If you are considering adding a rose to your garden, this certainly is the place to do some window shopping, with many varieties in stock in the Garden Centre. You can, during Rose Weekend on 20th to 22nd June, also enjoy family entertainment and an artisan craft and food fair.

RHS Garden Rosemoor, Torrington EX38 8PH

Summer sculptor exhibition highlight in Bishop’s Palace Gardens

From outdoor theatre and re-enactment days to family-friendly crafting, storytelling, inspiring exhibitions and beautiful gardens, The Bishop’s Palace in beautiful Wells is a summer paradise. Hidden within the ancient ramparts and protected by the moat, 14 acres of stunning landscaped gardens await visitors. These are among the finest gardens to visit in Somerset, offering beauty, history, and tranquillity.

This summer, the historic gardens will host a captivating solo exhibition by acclaimed stone sculptor Pippa Unwin. Running from June through September, the exhibition will showcase Unwin’s distinctive animal and nature-inspired carvings, thoughtfully placed within the Grade II listed gardens. Unwin returns to her roots with this exhibition, bringing her deep connection to the Somerset landscape and its rich heritage. Her sculptures, crafted from limestone, marble, and alabaster, reflect a profound respect for traditional stonemasonry techniques, capturing the essence and spirit of the natural world. Exhibition opens 13th June until 14th September and is included with standard admission to The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens.

The Bishop’s Palace, Wells BA5 2PD

Abbotsbury Plant Fair is back on June 8th

Its’ back! - the big Plant Fair at Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens. This year it’s a little earlier on Sunday 8th June but it promises to be another successful event with a wide range of specialist growers, nurseries, wildlife stalls and a handful of craft stalls.

Last year nearly 1,300 people enjoyed a glorious day at the fair, supporting plant conservation and education work in Dorset. This year, admission remains at £7 and this includes free access to the extensive gardens (normally £13.95).

Take a mixture of cash and cards for the stalls. Free parking, dogs welcome on a short lead.

The fair is open 10am to 3pm but the gardens remain open until 5pm. Abbotsbury Gardens is just off the Dorset Jurassic Coast Road (Postcode DT3 4LA).

Bullers Way, Abbotsbury, Weymouth DT3 4LA

Whatley Manor country house style and quality

Whatley Manor Hotel & Spa is a country house hotel set in 12 acres of English country gardens. New for this year is small plates dining in Grey’s serving a multitude of delicious dishes that feature the best of tasty seasonal ingredients every evening.

Afternoon Tea is served daily in the Drawing Room or Reception Hall, and now includes a Children’s Afternoon Tea for children under the age of 12- £19.75. Afternoon Tea £39.50 or Sparkling Afternoon Tea £49.50.

For an extra special evening book the Michelin-starred restaurant for dinner – choose either a seven-course tasting menu or full menu www.whatleymanor.com Call 01666 822 888 or follow @whatleymanorhotelandspa

Summer at

The Bishop’s Palace & Gardens

14 acres of tranquil RHS partner gardens, moat, medieval Palace building and award winning Bishop's Table café in the heart of medieval Wells.

Plan your visit: www.bishopspalace.org.uk

Country Gardener

Summer is on its way at Marwood Hill Gardens

Long warm sunny days entice the herbaceous plants into flower, at Marwood Hill gardens with multicoloured candelabra primulas snaking along the stream and around the lakes. By the end of the month, they are joined with gorgeous drifts of our Plant Heritage National Collections of japanese iris and astilbes.The herbaceous borders are aglow with colour, and our Mediterranean border in front of our award winning tea-room provides a visual feast to view while enjoying a delicious cream tea from the tea room. Alpines planted along the scree-bed continue to provide an amazing contrast of foliage and flower while above creamy cornus kousa flowers burst into bloom.

You can visit the plant sales for unusual, as well as the tried and tested plants. most of the plants sold come from cuttings or divisions from the gardens itself.

Marwood Hill Gardens Nr Guineaford, Barnstaple, North Devon EX31 4EA Tel: 01271 342 528 Email: info@marwoodhillgarden.co.uk

NGS - great gardens, great cakes, great causes

From stately acres to country cottage gardens the National Garden Scheme opens exceptional private gardens across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. In June, thousands of beautiful spaces open, many serving delicious home-made refreshments and plants for sale, all offering wonderful value for money while helping to raise millions for nursing and health charities each year. Visit a National Garden Scheme Garden in June and be inspired. Find a garden open near you. www.ngs.org.uk

Bampton hosts a huge variety of garden styles

The Hidden Gardens of Bampton is a must for all those who enjoy plants and gardens - and the Devon countryside. Most years, there is a group of private gardens open to the public for one weekend in the summer. This year the special event takes place over the weekend of 28th and 29th June.

There is a big variety of styles to see, large and small, with several beautiful gardens tucked away behind shops. You will also find refreshments and a plant stall. Some of the gardens are new each year, and there are changes in more familiar ones, so there are plenty of new things to see. Hidden garden tickets cover both days from 11am to 5pm.

As with a number of Devon villages these gardens are genuinely hidden and the weekend offers a rare chance to see them in all their mid-summer glory.

Twenty five gardens prepare for Cerne Abbas Open Gardens day

Cerne Abbas’s Annual Gardens will take place from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June. Some 25 gardens will be open around the ancient village covering a whole range of sizes and styles. The gardeners will be available to answer your questions and share their love of their gardens.

Entrance to all gardens is by a map which also serves as a single day ticket, £8 for adults, accompanied under 16s are free. A few gardens are accessible by wheelchairs and most gardens accept well behaved dogs on leads.

There is a well-regarded plant stall and home-made teas are provided by the local Youth Club, both commencing at 1pm. Almost all gardens are within easy walking distance of the free car park and are located on the maps. The proceeds will be divided between our Cerne Valley Cricket Club and The Dorset Wildlife Trust. www.cerneabbasopengardens.org.uk

Saturday & Sunday 28th & 29th June 11 o’clock to 5 o’clock

Flexible ticket: £6 valid on either or both days.

Under 16s free when accompanied by an adult.

Available in advance from Bampton Fresh, and on the day, between 10am and 4pm, from Riverside Hall, along with light refreshments and a place to rest.

Further information: email bamptoninbloom@gmail.com

SPECIALIST PLANT & GARDEN FAIRS

GARDENS

www.abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk/gardens/events/ www.plantheritagedorset.org.uk

Crossword

WIN £100 IN RHS GIFT TOKENS

Our popular gardening themed crossword is compiled by Saranda which over the past year has become enormously popular with readers. The winning entry to be drawn by us will receive £100 of RHS gift tokens. Completed entries should be sent to Mount House, Halse, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3AD. Closing date Friday 27th June. The April issue winner was Angela Mowbury, Cirencester.

The Country Gardener Quizzing Dozen

Twelve questions to test your knowledge

1. Charles Darwin described this carnivorous plant as the most wonderful plant in the world?. What is the name of this plant?

2. What is the sacred flower of the Buddhist religion?

3. Some types of peas are called mangetout. What is the translation of mangetout?

4. What causes tearing while cutting an onion?

5. What was the name given to the area of Central Park dedicated to the memory of John Lennon?

6. What is the name given to the female reproductive organ of a flower?

Word Search

7. What do yew; laburnum seeds & mistletoe berries have in common?

8. What is the meaning of giving a white rose?

9. From what kind of lumber did Noah build the ark?

10. What tree is classified as a grass? Some of these plants can grow up to one meter a day. This ornamental grass is said to bring good luck.

11. What is the only native British broadleaf tree to produce pine cones?

12. Which tree do we get turpentine from?

ALOE VERA

ARALIA

ARECA PALM

ASPIDISTRA

BOSTON FERN

DEVILS IVY

EUPHOERBIA

FICUS

FIDDLE

INCH PLANT

INDIAN LAUREL

LADY PALM

MONEY TREE

MOSS POLE

PARLOUR PALM

PEACE LILY

PENCIL CACTUS

PEPEROMA

RED SHIELD

RUBBER PLANT

SNAKE PLANT

STRING OF HEARTS

WHITE WAVE

YUCCA

ZZ PLANT

ACROSS

1. Phleum pratense or timothy grass (8)

5. Common name of Carpobrotus edulis (9-3)

12. Smart or showy in appearance (8)

13. An effigy of a man to frighten birds away from seeds (6)

14. Belonging to them (5)

16. Common name of Bouteloua dactyloides (7, 5)

17. Large heaps of dried grass (8)

18. A flat surface on a television or computer (6)

19. A magical phrase in the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (4, 6)

23. Heaps of potatoes stored under earth (6)

24. Spartan hero's name given to a certain Cyclamen hederifolium (8)

25. Tetraclinis articulata or Sictus tree (4)

29. Self-pollination and fertilisation of an unopened flower (10)

30. A peace movement to suspend warfare in the Middle Ages (5, 2, 3)

32. Agave americana or American ____ (4)

33. Plants with large green leaves eaten uncooked in salads (8)

34. White poplar trees (6)

37. English actor (1909-84), star of The Pumpkin Eater (5, 5)

38. A rose window or rosette (6)

42. A wheeled vehicle for delivering post (4, 4)

43. The stem of a South American curare plant used in medicine (7, 5)

45. French flower! (5)

46. Common name of New Zealand genus of grasses Austroderia (6)

47. A hormone that promotes flowering in angiosperms (8)

48. A large fleshy tropical fruit with a sweet yellow pulp (7, 5)

49. A beautiful youth loved by Selene in Greek mythology (8)

DOWN

1. A winter melon with a wrinkled yellow rind (6)

2. A pink flower often found on sea cliffs (6)

3. American novelist and playwright (192484) (6, 6)

4. In a state of luxury due to this plant (2, 6)

6. Occurring infrequently and irregularly (10)

7. Name of root vegetable in genus Colocasia (4)

8. Common name of tree Picea abies (6, 6)

9. Common name of plants in genus Arrhenatherum (3-5)

10. Common name of Tagetes patula (6, 8)

11. In botany, bent to and fro, and marked with wavy lines (6)

15. Green sour apples originating in Australia (6, 6)

20. Fruits of the genus Sambucus (12)

21. Mimosa, thorntree and wattle belong to this genus (6)

22. These flowers belong to the Calochortus genus (8, 6)

26. A crunchy salad vegetable with a pungent flavour (6)

27. Plant parts that are packed into a dense clutter (12)

28. Rubus saxatilis, the stone bramble (7, 5)

31. Originally from Africa, this domesticated bird is a tasty alternative to chicken (6, 4)

35. Genus of plants with common names including coral bells (8)

36. A chemical compound found in certain plants and used to treat psoriasis (8)

39. Name sometimes given to Indian gooseberry or amla (6)

40. Capital and largest city of the Central African Republic (6)

41. A bitter compound present in bark, leaves and fruit (6)

44. Cut or gather crops (4)

Ernest Wilson,

Frank Kingdon Ward, 3. George Forrest

Reginald Farrer,

John Tradescant

QUIZZING DOZEN: 1. Busy Lizzie, 2. Lotus, 3. Eat it all, 4. Sulfuric acid, 5. Strawberry Fields, 6. Pistil,

7. They are all poisonous, 8. Marriage, spirituality, a new rt,sta 9. Gopher, 10. Bamboo, 11. Adler, 12. Pine

Caring for god’s acres

Over the next few months, a new campaign is to be stepped up to highlight the gardening potential of over 20,000 cemeteries - to improve their beauty and to make a significant impact on the future of wildlife

If you were to put all the churchyards in this country together in one place, they would create an area the size of a national park.

So, what we do with these green spaces around our churches could have a profoundly significant impact on the future for wildlife. The big challenge with looking after church land is that it is often seen to be most cost effective to mow everything, prune everything, and concrete over everything else!

But the reality is that if we were to leave small areas un-mown and plant the areas up with native wildflowers – or if we were to bring in fruit trees to provide a source of food for wildlife – the costs are modest and the benefits for our declining flora and fauna would be substantial.

New initiatives are in place to bring the future of the churchyards back into more prominence by:

• Urging communities to treat them as gardens which need tending, planting and work.

• Encouraging gardening clubs to become custodians of the local work providing volunteers.

• Campaigning for local authorities to provide basic funding for gardening projects.

Churchyards are often seen as being creepy places but in reality they are peaceful havens for both people and wildlife. Most have been protected from development and chemicals. As a result, they can harbour communities of animals and plants that may have been lost from the surrounding areas.

Churchyards are also havens for some of our least recorded species – lichen and mosses. A huge variety can grow on gravestones, and the sheltered conditions are perfect places for vertical lichen gardens.

Value your churchyard and burial grounds. This is the vision of Caring For God’s Acre –an organisation that champions the conservation of churchyards and burial sites across the British Isles. It began as a pilot scheme in the Shropshire Hills in 1997 and has now become an independent charity with a much wider coverage.

It is the only organisation in the UK to focus solely on the conservation of churchyards and burial grounds. They recommend a five-step programme of church grounds management:

1. Research existing records.

2. Map the site and start to fill in what you know and what you find out about plants, animals and built features.

3. Plan what you want to do and how you will manage the site. Talk to people and reach an agreement on management.

4. Inform people about the plans and invite them to become involved. Run events and training days, help people to learn more about the site.

5. Review the plan. Is it working? Check to see how practical it is and how people feel about it.

Churchyards can provide a home to tree species such as yew and oak, which act as shelter and nesting sites for many creatures including birds, bats and insects. The church itself can provide accommodation for bats, swallows and house martins, even peregrine falcons, and hibernation places for bats and insects in the winter.

Urban areas often lack space for wildlife and a churchyard can be an important ‘green’ island. Maintenance regimes can be changed to make churchyards more wildlife friendly and maybe even less demanding on the gardener!

Where possible, dead wood on trees should be retained for insects and birds such as

nuthatches and woodpeckers. Only remove branches that are considered dangerous, for instance where they are overhanging paths.

In many churchyards, grass is the predominant ground cover. If it is left uncut until June to August it can be managed as a wild flower meadow with paths cut through it to provide an attractive display of wild flowers. This longer grass allows cover for small mammals and insects such as grasshoppers and butterflies to thrive and these in turn attract predators such as owls, kestrels and foxes.

The tombstones and church walls often provide excellent surfaces for lichens to grow on and the different greys, greens and yellows give a sense of age to the churchyard and a feeling of warmth to the stones.

It is important not to clean tombstones as the lichens can take many years to grow. Flower beds and borders can be planted with species that flower and provide nectar for butterflies and bees and seeds for birds to feed on later in the year. Areas of brambles, honeysuckle and scrub may look untidy but are essential for providing food for many creatures and a small nettle patch can provide the food source for the caterpillars of some butterflies such as small tortoiseshell.

Stone or stone-faced walls also provide good habitats for many insects, small mammals and small birds to live in. Hedges should be managed in a sympathetic way to leave fruits and seeds into the autumn and winter and cover for nesting birds in the spring and summer.

Churchyards are vital havens for rare wildlife including dormice, bats and beetles, according to an extensive audit of burial grounds around the UK

Caring for God’s Acres mapped out 20,325 cemeteries, with 800,000 wildlife records submitted and more than 10,800 species recorded.

They discovered that these quiet sites are home to a huge variety of rare wildlife, with over a quarter of species recorded featuring on the Red List of endangered species. More than 80 of these were classified as threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

The charity is highlighting the importance of churchyards for wildlife and calling for them to be protected and bolstered so they can continue to play this role.In 2025 a new campaign will get under to inject new enthusiasm into the way churchyards are looked after.

There are more than 20,500 burial grounds across the UK, ranging from small areas of under a quarter of an acre, to expansive sites of hundreds of acres.

The charity’s biodiversity audit was compiled using records submitted by churchgoers as well as conservation organisations such as the British Trust for Ornithology, the British Lichen Society, Butterfly Conservation, and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. The public has been invited by the charity to visit their local churchyard and record the nature they find there. The organisation has so far managed to engage 30,000 people to contribute to their records.

Harriet Carty, director of Caring for God’s Acre, said: “The records show that over a quarter of the species documented are on the Red List, with more than 80 species classified as threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

“This includes species such as the dormouse, white-letter hairstreak, shepherd’s-needle and eagle’s claw lichen.”

Lisa Chilton, CEO of the National Biodiversity Network Trust, said: “Recording wildlife is essential to all our conservation efforts – after all, you can’t protect a species if you don’t know where it’s found”.

Suggestions for community activities

• Do not clean off gravestones, allow lichens to grow.

• Encourage wildlife by leaving wild areas.

• If you want a formal garden area, plant colourful nectar-rich flower beds for insects.

• Erect nestboxes in trees.

• Don’t mow the grass in some areas until late summer to allow wild flowers to grow and set seed.

• Find out if there are bats in the church and seek advice on enhancing the building for bats.

How to save water THIS SUMMER

With the prediction of a hot summer to follow the driest spring on record, the demand on watering our gardens looks like being huge so it’s a perfect time to think about water saving options

The concern about how much water gardeners are using at the start of a new growing season led to a Water Saving Week by Waterwise, a not-for-profit organisation encouraging people to use water efficiently. The awareness week served as a reminder that by making small changes at home, we can protect one of our most valuable natural resources.

Over recent years, the UK has experienced an increasing amount of fluctuating weather patterns and extreme heatwaves so it’s more important than ever to manage how we use water, particularly in the garden.

There are plenty of simple steps gardeners can take to avoid wasting water:

WATER AT THE RIGHT TIME OF DAY

Avoid watering plants during the hottest parts of the day, as most of the moisture evaporates before it reaches the roots and you will just be wasting the water. Early morning or late evening gives the water more time to soak into the soil where it can have a more gradual impact.

FOCUS WATER WHERE IT’S NEEDED

Use a watering can with a rose attachment or a funnel and apply water directly to the soil around the base of your plants. This prevents evaporation and avoids leaf scorch, especially in sunny weather.

COLLECT AND REUSE RAINWATER

Install water butts to collect rainwater from roofs and downpipes. It’s free, better for your plants than treated tap water, and reduces your reliance on the mains water supply. If your space allows, you can also direct rainwater runoff from patios or driveways, so it trickles into beds and borders.

MULCH TO KEEP MOISTURE IN

Adding a layer of mulch helps the soil retain water, reduces evaporation and suppresses weeds. In patio pots, decorative stone chippings can be used as an alternative mulch to stabilise the soil and lock in moisture.

MOVE CONTAINERS TO A SHADY SPOT

During hot or dry spells, move pots, tubs and hanging baskets into a cooler, shaded area to help them retain moisture for longer and reduce the frequency of watering required.

ADD WATER-RETAINING GEL TO COMPOST

Mix water-retaining granules into compost when planting containers to extend the time needed between watering and help your plants thrive during dry periods.

FEED YOUR PLANTS WELL

Well-fed plants use water more effectively. Provide your plants with a regular supply of nutrients to encourage strong root growth and help plants draw up moisture more efficiently.

KEEP WEEDS UNDER CONTROL

Weeds compete with your plants for both water and nutrients. By removing them, you ensure more of the available moisture goes to the plants you want to grow.

REUSE GREY WATER

Leftover water from washing vegetables, rinsing dishes or cooling the kettle can be reused in the garden, so long as it doesn’t contain harmful chemicals. It’s an easy way to reduce waste and give your plants an added boost.

CHOOSE PLANTS THAT NEED LESS WATER

Alternatively, choose drought-tolerant plants such as lavender, rosemary and thyme. These hardy varieties thrive in dry conditions and still bring colour, texture, fragrance, and even cooking ingredients to your garden.”

The guaranteed way to bring your garden to life

PONDS LOOK STUNNING, ARE A MAGNET FOR WILDLIFE AND CAN ADD VALUE TO YOUR PROPERTY

A garden pond is a guaranteed way to bring your garden to life, and is the only real way to bring a truly natural feel to your outdoor space.

Starting with the obvious, there’s no escaping the fact that garden ponds look simply stunning. The sparkling, rippling surface of a pond in the summer sunshine is a truly delightful sight, not to mention the beautiful focal point it adds to your garden. When surrounded by flowering plants, reeds and water lilies, a garden pond is a visual treat of colours and textures, plus a great source of botanical fragrances to enjoy while sitting in your garden. There are few delights that measure up to the joy of seeing wildlife exploring and enjoying your garden. Somehow it makes us feel special and incredibly privileged; and so it should. A garden pond is a true wildlife magnet, providing homes, breeding grounds, bathing spots, food and a watering hole for all manner of creatures including birds, frogs, toads, newts and insects.

If you’ve got a particularly large garden it’s common to see large expanses of plain patio or lawn, which is quite uninspiring as well as a waste of good outdoor space. This is where the garden pond becomes a great option, as it makes use of that empty space in a natural way that benefits the environment. Besides, less grass to mow and smaller expanses of patio to wash and weed can’t be a bad thing.

Relaxation soundtracks aren’t filled with the sound of babbling water for nothing. Water noises are famously very calming and enjoyable to listen to, so installing a pond with a water feature is the perfect way to turn your garden into a haven of tranquility and peace. Think of it as a natural source of stress-relief for your home; you’ll find you’ll want to spend a lot more time outdoors with a garden pond to enjoy. Even if you’re not considering moving home anytime soon, it can’t hurt to increase the value of your property while you live there. Property sales can be won or lost solely on the appearance of the garden, so adding a beautiful ornamental pond is a sure way to add that ‘buy me’ wow factor to your property and increase your chances of making a speedy house sale in the future.

A

POND CAN TRANSFORM MORE THAN JUST YOUR GARDEN

It becomes a sanctuary; a peaceful, living space where nature can flourish. Whether you’re hoping to create a tranquil retreat for wildlife or a striking centerpiece that adds movement and sound to your garden, the possibilities are endless.

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GARDENS TO VISIT in June

compiled by Vivienne Lewis

Here’s a selection of lovely June gardens opening for the National Garden Scheme to raise much needed funds for nursing and caring charities. So get away from the tasks at home and spend a relaxing time in someone else’s garden while helping to raise funds for deserving charities. We advise checking wherever possible before starting out on a journey as circumstances can force cancellations in private gardens. www.ngs.org.uk

STANDERWICK COURT

Standerwick, Frome, Somerset BA11 2PP

Open on Saturday 21st June from 11am to 4pm for the NGS, a hidden gem near the Somerset/Wiltshire border, with far-reaching views over the White Horse and Cley Hill, a garden around a stunning Queen Anne House nestled in 76 acres of parkland, with ha-ha and woodland partially surrounding the formal gardens recently redesigned by Mark Lutyens and Catherine Fitzgerald to include an Italian inspired terrace, walled garden with tiki hut, tennis court, greenhouse and pool garden. Admission £7.50, children free.

TULIP TREE

Donhead St. Mary, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 9DL

OHIO

Star Hill, Forest Green Nailsworth, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 0NJ

Opens for the NGS on Sunday 8th June from 12pm until 5pm, a medium sized garden on a slope with far reaching views with two wildlife ponds, plus dedicated areas for wildlife. Herbaceous borders packed with colour from perennials, bulbs, grasses, roses and shrubs, patios with many colourfully planted containers and pots, plenty of seating areas taking in the fabulous views. Admission £5, children free.

A new opening for the NGS on Sunday 22nd June from 2pm until 5pm, two acres of paddock with mown paths behind house and an acre of garden dominated by 120 year old Liriodendron tulipifera, and the Nothofagus trees from South America. The garden is divided into separate areas by mature hedges and old stone walls, with recent additions of the patio and rose garden. Admission £5, children free.

PENNARD HOUSE

East Pennard, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 6TP

Opening for the National Garden Scheme on Tuesday 10th June from 12pm until 5pm, two delightful separate gardens, both with extensive lawns, mature trees, rose beds, rustic topiary, a Victorian spring fed swimming pool and ponds. The garden layout dates from 1835 when the Napier family enlarged the main house and acquired the house next door. Next door, Pennard Plants, will also open for plant purchasing, with a selection of edible plants, fruit trees, herbs and seeds. Admission £6, children free.

THE GLEBE HOUSE

Church Lane, Shipton Moyne, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8PW

A new opening for the NGS on Sunday 8th and Monday 9th June from 12pm until 5pm each day. The four acres of gardens and grounds of the former Rectory has double herbaceous border, a walled kitchen and flower garden, ornamental statuary and water features, swimming pool garden, greenhouses and a paddock with goats, chickens and ponies; path through the orchard to a copse with a small folly; walks round the pond and stream to Hodges Barn or to another folly with views of the Church. Admission £7.50, children free.

STONELEIGH

Walditch, Bridport DT6 4LB

Another new opening for the NGS on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June from 1.30pm-5.30pm. An amphitheatre is the dramatic backdrop to this garden which is approached via a rockery and opens to terracing, busy borders, undulating lawns and groups of trees. Two ponds are linked by a stream and a raised area has a fish pond with fountain; bed of ornamental grasses, enclosed vegetable area, greenhouse and fruit cage, and large patio. Admission £6, children free.

MAWARDEN COURT

Stratford Road, Stratford Sub Castle, Wiltshire SP1 3LL

Opening for the NGS on Sunday 15th June between 2pm and 5pm, there are mixed shrub and herbaceous borders set around the 17th century house (not open). There’s a pergola walk, rose garden and white beam avenue down to River Avon, with pond pontoon and walk through newly planted woodland. Admission £6, children free.

MIDSUMMER HOUSE

Woolstone, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7QL

Midsummer Garden which opens for the NGS on Friday 6th June from 2pm-5pm (and other dates in July, August, September and October, see the NGS website above), was designed by Justin Spink for his parents, Anthony and Penny Spink, in 2015. In 2018 Mike and Ann Collins continued designing and planting the garden. Across the road is a newly planted arboretum and nature reserve established 2019. Admission £5, children free.

DRAX HOUSE,

Orcheston, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 4RL

A new opening for the NGS on Saturday 7th June from 1.30pm-5.30pm, a relaxed informal farmhouse garden that’s still evolving, lovingly reclaimed over the last 12 years with areas awaiting further work, with herbaceous border, small wildlife pond and some wilder areas. Walled kitchen garden with raised beds filled with vegetables and cutting garden. Several seating areas, some narrow and uneven paths and steps. Admission £5, children free.

BUCKS HEAD HOUSE GARDEN

Trengove Cross, Constantine, Cornwall TR11 5QR

An enchanting cottage and woodland gardens of native and rare trees, shrubs and perennials, opening for the NGS on Fridays 13th and 27th June, 2pm4.30pm each day, 1½ acres on a south facing Cornish hillside with panoramic views. Protected by essential windbreak hedging, the collection of plants has been chosen to create an intriguing woodland garden and increase biodiversity. Also open on dates in July and August, see the NGS website above. Admission £6, children free.

LOWER HOUSE FARM

Vine Lane, Sutton, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire WR15 8RL

Opening for the NGS on Sunday 8th June, 11am-4pm, this award-winning country garden surrounding a16th century farmhouse (not open) on a working farm has herbaceous borders, roses, box-parterre, productive kitchen and cutting garden, spring garden, ha-ha allowing wonderful views. Wildlife pond, numerous footpaths across the farm land. Home to Kyre Equestrian Centre with access to safe rides and riding events. Admission £5, children free.

MOELFRYN

Llandeilo Road, Castel y Rhingyll, Gorslas, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire SA14 7LU

Opening for the NGS on Sundays and Tuesdays throughout June from Sunday 1st, Tuesday 3rd; then dates in July, August and September, from 10.30am until 4.30pm each open day. (Check with the NGS website, above). A 1/3 acre Welsh hillside eco-friendly garden with herbs, fruit and vegetable, shrubs, perennials, trees, mini meadow and orchard; cranesbills, hydrangeas, clematis and wisteria; cold frames, wormery, hot bin, pond, stumpery, and a propagation area. Hen keeping and holding advice can be given. Admission £4, children free.

ERMECOT HOUSE

Ermington, Ivybridge, Devon PL21 0LH

A new opening for the NGS on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June from 12pm until 5pm each day, with 3½ acres of gardens and meadows located between the Erme and the Ludbrook managed to encourage wildlife and pollinators; a walled garden planted with roses and herbaceous borders, a newly remodelled vegetable and herb garden, a mature orchard, and river and meadow walks with views over the Ludbrook, which runs through it. Admission £6, children free.

WOODEND GARDENS

Woodend Road, Crow, Ringwood, Hampshire BH24 3DG

Two gardens opening for the NGS on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th June from 11am until 5pm each day, Trolls Mead a one-acre garden with yearround interest; the wooded area and lake is still under construction but all are welcome to explore; the bottom meadow with its mown paths has SSSI status with natural wild flowers including wild orchids. Hollyhurst is a two-acre site of mature trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials created on a freely draining acid soil, with ponds and small sculptures. Joint admission £10, children free.

MOWHAY

Merton, Okehampton, Devon EX20 3DS

Another new opening for the NGS on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June from 10am until 4pm, a developing three year old, ¾ acre garden with countryside views featuring ornamental ponds linked by a waterfall, cottage style interspersed with some unusual plants, variety of native/non native trees, a white garden, bonsai collection, roses, recycled structures/ornaments, areas managed for wildlife, a courtyard garden, and vegetable patch. Admission £6, children free.

MILL HOUSE

Vyne Road, Sherborne St John, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 9HU

Opening for the NGS on Thursday 26th and Sunday 29th June, 2pm6pm each day, set in a private valley, the three acres of domestic fruit, vegetables, wild flowers and casual planting are arranged around a power generating watermill. Sustainability and low maintenance lie at its heart. Open views, mature trees and livestock, with moving and static water framed in an undulating landscape. Admission £5, children free.

WELL HOUSE

Garway Hill, Hereford, Herefordshire HR2 8RT

Opening for the NGS on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th June, from 10.30am until 4.30pm, this hillside garden of about an acre with views over Orcop on Garway Hill created on a steep bank with steps and narrow paths, with nature in mind. Herbaceous beds, mature trees, shrubs, wide collection of acers and unusual plants, vegetable garden, polytunnel, bog garden seating areas, on a working smallholding with Dutch Spotted Sheep. Admission £5, children free.

TRELAN

Wharf Road, Lelant, St Ives, Cornwall TR26 3DU

Opening for the NGS on Saturday 28th, 2pm-5pm, Trelan has a distinctly tropical feel, with a swimming pond surrounded by lush vegetation, an Italianate sunken garden, a fern garden, numerous young trees and countless Echium pininana. There’s also an echium root sculpture and lots of pathways. Admission £6, children free.

Diary events from clubs and organisations in DEVON

Welcome to our June Time Off and details of gardening club and association events and meetings over the next few weeks throughout Devon. This is a popular, free service in Country Gardener and if you would like to take advantage of it and give events some publicity and promotion then email them to us at editorial@countrygardener.co.uk

My mission for front gardens

Local councillor Andrea Foster has been trying to get home owners to get involved in gardening and try and make their front garden more attractive for themselves and for the community.

I have been on a bit of a mission in Bristol.

It is all to do with front gardens – and how to make them a little more attractive.

Once upon a time and I guess in the days where there were no cars which needed a parking space, front gardens were things to be proud of- they may not have been very big but so many people produced mini gardens which were colourful and added to the look of the street and to their individual homes.

Then the car came along. People wanted to park on their own drive and what happened – the front garden was sacrificed. Along came paving. Out went plants and hedging.

Front gardens help turn our towns and cities into green and pleasant places to be. Yet many are being paved over to provide parking for the millions of cars we own. RHS research found that almost a quarter of the front gardens are now completely paved.

I’m a local councillor in the city and one of my wishes is that we get more residents interested in gardening and specifically interested in making the front of their house more attractive. We have been working for about a year on a careful and subtle approach to get the message over. We know people don’t have a lot of money but the big thing is to give them ideas and encouragement. I know many towns and cities have been trying to get this message over and it’s resulted in some collaboration between the council and homeowners.

If you need to park outside your house, the most logical solution is to pave over the garden. This is certainly a practical option, but with a bit of imagination you can combine paving with an attractive and welcoming garden. And by using materials that allow rainwater to penetrate the ground below, the hard surfaces you do install will shed less water that could otherwise contribute to flooding If the car is moved regularly, then there are plants you can grow that will tolerate being parked over. These need to be low-growing so the car does not brush them, and tough enough to withstand the occasional running over. One of our leaflets advises trying creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia), bugle (Ajuga reptans) and thymes such as Thymus serpyllum. Just leave planting pockets in the paving or gravel to ensure there is soil for them to grow in, rather than hardcore or a bed of concrete. This is what we have been advising and the message is starting to get through. Tips for squeezing plants into the front garden

1. Fill up the corners: you usually can’t park here so plant instead.

2. Go up the wall: climbers and wall shrubs take up little space. And they don’t only look great, they’ll insulate your home too, saving on heating bills.

3. Hedge your bets: rather than walls or fences, grow a hedge to filter out particulate (dust) pollution to help you breath more easily. It will provide a home for wildlife too.

4. Growing up: with a slender trunk, a tree can take your greenery up and over the cars.

5. No soil? Plant in containers: Even 100 per cent paved gardens can be made greener by using containers.

6. Keep paving to a minimum.

7. Remember it is possible to park and garden.

8. Keep dust and pollution on the streets with a hedge.

May

29TH

Budleigh Salterton Garden Club ‘TAMAR VALLEY CROCOSMIA & OTHER SOUTH AFRICAN BEAUTIES’ - MARK WALSH Details on 01395 445840

Exmouth Garden Club ‘MY TIME AS A SHOW MANAGER OF THE RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW’SAUL WALKER www.exmouthgardenclub.co.uk

June

3RD

Marldon Gardening Club ‘INTERESTING PERENNIALS FROM DAYSPRING NURSERY’ - PETER CANTRELL 4TH

Brixham Horticultural Society MONTHLY MEETING Details on 01803 842121 5TH

Teignmouth Gardening Club ‘COPING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE’SALLY MORGAN email: lenasalter@aol.com 7TH

Hardy Plant Society Devon Group ‘FRONDY FRIENDS’ - HELEN PICTON, OLD COURT NURSERIES AND PICTON GARDEN’ devon@hardy-plant.org.uk

Lower Holcombe House, Holcombe Village, Dawlish OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events

Oldway Mansion Gardens, Torquay Road, Paignton, TQ3 2TD OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events 8TH

Galmpton Village, TQ5 0LT OPEN GARDENS IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE

Admission by ‘Garden Passport’ £5 cash per person. U18s free www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events

Topsham Open Gardens Town Trail, 12 gardens - 12pm - 6pm. info@topshammuseum.org.uk 10TH

Exminster Garden Club ‘RUGS, CUSHIONS AND CARPETS’JENNY SHORT Details on 07749 726497

14TH/15TH

Gleam Tor, Brimley Road, Bovey Tracey, TQ13 9DH OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events 16TH

Meavy Garden Society

‘A GUIDE TO PRUNING IN YOUR GARDEN’ - SAUL WALKER Details on 01822 852672. www.meavy.org.uk/mgs

18TH

Torquay & District Gardening Club ‘TEN TIPS FOR TIP TOP GARDENS’ - DAVE USHER email: nickibaker222@gmail.com 19TH

West Down Gardening Club ‘THE DEVON GARDENS TRUST’ - DR DIANNE LONG Details on 01271 865554

21ST/22ND

Whimple

OPEN GARDENS SAFARI email: ocbarn@gmail.com

22ND

Cliff House, St Marks Road, Torquay, TQ1 2EH

OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events

24TH

West Parley Gardening Club MONTHLY MEETING - ORCHIDS Details on 07803 276251

26TH

Exmouth Garden Club ‘ALL ABOUT HESTERCOMBE’ - DAVID USHER www.exmouthgardenclub.co.uk

Budleigh Salterton Garden Club ‘GROW THE FOOD YOU CANNOT BUY’KATHARINE CROUCH Details on 01395 445840

28TH

Thorn Alpacas, Venn, Dartmouth, TQ6 0LF OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events 28TH/29TH

Oakdene CHARITY PLANT SALE 11am - 5pm. Email: amselling@yahoo.com 29TH

3, Drewsmead, Old Town Hill, Ilsington, Newton Abbot, TQ13 9RG OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events

Strangeways, Lawn Drive, Chudleigh, TQ13 0LT OPEN GARDEN IN AID OF ROWCROFT HOSPICE www.rowcrofthospice.org.uk/events

July

5TH

Royal Avenue Gardens, Dartmouth DART ART DAY

In aid of Children’s Hospice South West Email: tweed833@btinternet.com

Goodleigh Horticultural Society OPEN GARDENS

1PM. £5 per person, under 16s free Refreshments available

CLASSIFIED

ACCOMMODATION

Churchwood Valley

Secluded cosy cabins & lodges in wooded valley running down to Wembury Bay & SW Coastal Path

Plymouth, Dartmoor & lovely South Devon Villages & Towns in easy reach. Pets Welcome. Forest School. Tel: 01752 862382 www.churchwoodvalley.com

Carmarthen Bay South Wales Seafront chalet situated on estuary. Sleeps up to 6. Seaview. Well Behaved Dogs Welcome Free of Charge. Free WIFI. Open from 1st March - 31st Dec. For Brochure Tel: 01269 862191

West Dorset

Peaceful, comfortable apartment in Victorian stable block, 1/2 mile Charmouth, country walks, sunny garden, sleeps 2/4. No pets. Perfect for all seasons! rosemarylunn39@gmail.com Enquiries 07786 118762

BOSWORLAS, ST JUST.

Cosy Cottage sleeps 2-4. Please email info@bosworlas.co.uk for availability

GLORIOUS NORTH DEVON. Only 9 cosy caravans on peaceful farm. Wonderful walks in woods & meadows. Easy reach sea, moors & lovely days out. £125-395pw. Discount couples. Nice pets welcome. 01769 540366 www.snapdown.co.uk

ACCOMMODATION HOLIDAY COTTAGES

WYE VALLEY/FOREST OF DEAN.

Fully equipped single-storey cottage with two en-suite bedrooms. Wi-fi.Recently awarded Visit England 4-star GOLD. Rural retreat, shops/pubs one mile. Enquiries welcome. AS SEEN ON ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY! Tel: 01594 833259 www.cowshedcottage.co.uk

HOLIDAY COTTAGE SIDMOUTH, DEVON

A quiet holiday bungalow near Sidmouth, overlooking the Donkey Sanctuary. Ideal for walkers and nature lovers. Sleeps 4. Bookings from April to the end of October.

jandtmercer@gmail.com www.sandwaysholidaycottage.co.uk 07842 514296

NORTH DEVON S-C accommodation close to RHS Rosemoor. Sleeps 2-3. Modest rates. www.beehivecottagebeaford.com Email: beehivecottagebeaford@gmail.com

DEVON. TRADITIONAL COTTAGE SLEEPS 2-4, on small farm with private woodland walks for you & your dog to enjoy. RHS Rosemoor approximately 13 miles. Tel: 01769520266 Email: horrymill@aol.com www.horrymill.co.uk

ACCOMMODATION WITH BEAUTIFUL GARDENS

Gloucestershire Quality Bungalow B&B

Ensuites, rural, large garden, paddocks, sheep and fruit. Ideal Cotswolds, Malvern’s, Forest of Dean, cycle storage, ample parking, Wi-Fi £44 p.p.p.n. Tel: 01452 840224 sheila.barnfield1960@gmail.com

A range of over 200 greetings cards and prints from the flower paintings of ANNE COTTERILL

We sell to both individuals and trade. No order too small. Contact us for your free catalogue.

Mill House Fine Art Publishing, Bellflower Gallery, Market Place, Colyton, Devon EX24 6JS

Tel. 01297 553100 info@millhousefineart.com www.millhousefineart.com

GARDEN PLANTS/ACCESSORIES

THE GARDENER’S BLACKSMITH

Stratford-upon-Avon

self-catering cottage in peaceful location: large garden. Sleeps 2. Perfect for famous gardens, NT properties & Cotswolds. Tel: 01789 740360 www.romanacres.com

NORTH DEVON NEAR CLOVELLY. 3 delightful cottages situated in 12 acres of idyllic countryside. Sleeps 2-4. 1 Wheelchair friendly. Brochure: 01237 431324 www.foxwoodlodge.co.uk foxwoodlodge@outlook.com

jonne@jonne.co.uk 07770 720 373

Artist blacksmith based near Axminster designing and manufacturing garden plant supports, structures, garden art and fine art bronzes. Commissions welcomed. www.thegardenersblacksmith.co.uk ADVERTISE HERE FROM JUST £2 PER WORD Yenstone Walling Dry Stone Walling and Landscaping Patrick Houchen - DSWA member Tel: 07751278363 / 01963371123 www.yenstonewalling.co.uk

TOOL SHARPENING. WHILE-U-WAIT. Gardening and domestic tools sharpened by a 55yrs experienced tool sharpener. Very competitive prices. I call at various garden centres, willowbrook, sweetacre, cadburys, whitehall, mintys, barters and trowbridge. For more information call frank on 07562717620 or email franksynekartisan@gmail.com

GARDEN SERVICES

CARDS & GIFTS

IN PRAISE OF Fagus sylvatica

Mark Hinsley writes in praise of the wonderful common beech, a native British tree whose bright green and copper foliage takes a lot of beating.

I was stood in a lady’s garden in Dorset. A recent retiree, not long moved here from London, we were talking about the countryside and trees.

“Are you familiar with the beeches at Badbury Rings?” I asked (I was referring to the two and a half mile long avenue of 731 beeches planted either side of a newly built turnpike road by William John Bankes of Kingston Lacey House in 1835).

“No” she replied, “we prefer to go to Sandbanks!” (wrong kind of beach !).

Part of my gruelling commute takes me along that stretch of road twice a day.

Every year I wonder about the origin of those trees. Where did the seed come from? Did it all come from the same source?

The reason I wonder is that from the first specimens coming into leaf (which are always the same ones) until the last specimen breaks dormancy, takes more than a month.

The beech is a British native tree, despite Julius Ceasar’s claims to the contrary. He didn’t look very far, his ‘victorious’ trip was a PR exercise. A bit like J D Vance waving from the top of the airplane steps at an empty airfield in Greenland.

I came, I saw, I quickly went home again.

But the beech is not only a British Native tree. Beech are native to the whole of Europe, apart from Northern Scandinavia. Where the seed was originally sourced from can have an impact upon the time it comes into leaf, triggered mostly by day length.

Beech is not a timber used in the building of structures, however it is used extensively for the making of furniture. Good quality timber can also be used for making veneers. Beech wood turns nicely. Spalted beech, the wood with black lines running through it, is favoured for making wooden bowls etc. But a word of caution, those black lines are caused by fungi – so it is recommended to wear a mask when turning spalted beech to avoid breathing in the spores.

There are various varieties of beech – the most wellknown being the copper beech – loved by many, loathed by some. I remember sitting up on one of Dorset’s old hillforts looking down on the tree planting around a small country house where alternate copper and common beech had been planted. It struck me as the country estate equivalent of alternate alyssum and lobelia down the garden path.

The fastigiate beech is a narrow, upright tree useful for putting some native foliage into a confined space, whilst the weeping beech is handy if you have an acre of land that you don’t know what to do with. I will never forget the magnificent specimen at Knaphill in Surrey, walking under it was like walking into a cathedral.

There are other variants, my favourite being the cut leaf beech – Fagus sylvatica var. heterophylla. Alan Mitchell reckoned there were many of them in Bath, my favourites are at Stourhead. The way the sunlight filters through the fern cut leaves is magical. Walk under them and look up –not straight at the sun!

Surprisingly for such a potentially large tree, the beech makes a fine hedge. Here a phenomenon known as marcescence causes the old leaves to remain on the twigs right through the winter and only be shed in the spring when new growth kicks off. This only occurs in what we call the juvenile cone, so mature trees lose this trait as they develop.

But for all the varieties a magnificent specimen of common beech with spring sunlight on its bright green foliage takes an awful lot of beating.

Mark Hinsley, of Mark Hinsley Arboricultural Consultants Ltd, offering tree consultancy services. www.treeadvice.info

01823 410098