Hampshire Country Gardener Late Summer 2020

Hampshire Issue No 123 Late Summer 2020 FREE

www.countrygardener.co.uk

Come on in!

Gardens finally open for visitors to enjoy late summer beauty

Inside:

Plus:

Our popular guide to GARDEN CLUB SPEAKERS

Planning colour for next spring; How gardens thrived during lockdown; Autumn heucheras and raspberries; Rosy Hardy picks her favourite autumn perennials; Garden events returning

G A R D E N C E N T R E • F A R M S H O P • O W T O N ’ S B U T C H E R S • T H E N AT U R E C O L L E C T I V E • T H E O R A N G E RY T E A H O U S E Fontley Road Titchfield Hampshire PO15 6QX 01329 844336

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CUTTINGS

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A LOOK AT NEWS, EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN YOUR AREA

Gardens opening for the National Garden Scheme once again After months of lockdown due to the Covid 19 crisis, garden owners are opening their gates once again for the National Garden Scheme, raising much needed funds for the nursing charities they have supported over the years, including Macmillan and Marie Curie, and several are opening in late August and September.

Bickham House

Entry to all gardens must be by pre-booked tickets to allow for social distancing.

For more information about opening times and for booking tickets, go to the NGS website at www.ngs.org.uk and follow the links. Some of these gardens may not be up on the website yet, so keep looking. The NGS are posting gardens on their website that are opening in the following week or so, for people to book their visits to gardens.

ROSY HARDY TALK ON EARLY AUTUMN PERENNIALS

Since 1927 the National Garden Scheme has been opening exceptional private gardens to raise funds for nursing and health charities, raising almost £60 million and in 2019 made an annual donation of £3 million. Their core beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute. The Covid crisis has made a huge dent in the NGS fundraising effort for 2020, which they have tried to recoup by asking for online donations, and since June the gradual opening of some gardens has helped a great deal.

Rosy will be picking 24 early autumn flowering perennials from the nursery and talking about their attributes - how best to grow them, combine them with other plants to create great planting combinations and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Read more on page 16 about how the NGS has coped during the Covid crisis, with some garden owners during the lockdown selling plants and items such as home made bug hotels from their garden gates when they were unable to open on the dates they planned for.

There’s the opportunity to join 24 times RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist Rosy Hardy at Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants for a talk on early autumn flowering perennials on Tuesday, 8th September. Price £15.

Tea, coffee and biscuits included in ticket price. RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) members price £12. Non-RHS members price £15

Priory Lodge Nursery, Freefolk Priors, Whitchurch, Hampshire. RG28 7FA

HOST YOUR OWN Great British Garden Party Mary Berry, President of the National Garden Scheme is launching a major event that will celebrate the importance that everyone’s gardens have acquired during Coronavirus and to raise vital funds for nursing charities supported by the NGS. Mary said: “Gardens, allotments and balconies became havens for millions of people during the long weeks of lockdown. They have provided us with relief from stress, anxiety and isolation and shown us the importance of a breath of fresh air. At the same time, the nursing charities supported by the National Garden Scheme, have been heroically on the front line of the pandemic.

“So to celebrate your gardens and to give much needed support to these nurses, the National Garden Scheme is launching The Great British Garden Party. During the week of 14th to 20th September, the charity is inviting everyone to host an event in their garden. It’s a wonderful opportunity to share your own outdoor space – whatever it’s like - to remind yourself what a huge comfort it has been in recent months and to share those memories with friends, family and neighbours. Every penny will help, big or small.

“Joining this September couldn’t be simpler.”

For more information, including invitations and posters as well as menu and party ideas register your interest and sign up at ngs.org.uk/gardenparty

COVER IMAGE: Sutton Mead, Devon TQ13 8PW which will open on three days for the NGS - Friday 4th, Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th September. www.countrygardener.co.uk

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CUTTINGS

Calling Hampshire garden clubs and associations The spring and early summer Covid -19 lockdown meant gardening clubs and associations had to abandon their monthly meetings, speaker programmes and visits.

Country Gardener is keen to re-instate our hugely popular Time Off section which offers a regular free opportunity to clubs, associations, societies and organisations to publicise their events for free. Some clubs we know have decided not to organise any meetings this year, others are putting dates in their calendar for September and October events.

Most will certainly be hoping to get back to normal with a 2021 programme of events.

So if you belong to a gardening organisation and want to attract a larger audience to your events let us know over the coming weeks and months of any dates planned this year or even next year’s programme. Send to Country Gardener Magazines, Mount House, Halse, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3AD or by email to timeoff@countrygardener.co.uk

GARDENS WORK HARD TO HAVE SOME OPENING TIME THIS AUTUMN Private gardens, arboretums and gardens to National Trust properties throughout Hampshire been working at high intensity to open for visitors and provide some late summer and autumn garden visits for visitors keen to venture out.

While almost all the National Trust gardens are open, most of the houses remain closed. An increasing number of venues will have tearooms or outdoor picnic areas open.

The issue, since the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, has been for venues to comply with the Government’s Covid secure certification which include restricting daily visitor numbers, some who insist on pre-booking, one way routes, cashless payment systems and providing individual contact details.

EXBURY GARDENS & STEAM RAILWAY

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens

SIR HAROLD HILLIER GARDENS The popular Sir Harold Hillier Gardens outside of Romsey with 180 acres of stunning late summer colour are now fully opened after two weeks of phased openings to test safety measures. The gift shop is closed but many of the children’s play areas are open.

Visitors, both members and non-members, have to pre book tickets. Opening times are 10am to 6pm.

Exbury Gardens in Exbury is now also open to the public, with special measures in place to safeguard the wellbeing of visitors and staff. The good news for railway enthusiasts is that the steam railway has also returned.

With 200 acres of stunning woodland landscape to explore, the late summer gardens are now in full bloom. The gardens recommend purchasing admission day tickets to the garden. Steam Railway tickets must be booked at the visitor entrance upon arrival. No cash will be accepted.

Exbury gardens are open between 10am and 6pm every day until November.

Autumn borders may need the Garsons of Titchfield touch If your borders are looking a little lacklustre this side of the summer, then Garsons of Titchfield has a wide range of perennials and bedding plants to provide a blaze of colour through to the autumn and beyond.

You can fill the gaps with elegant Japanese anemones or add a splash of purple with an aster or transform a bare space or empty pot with winter-flowering pansies and violas. And late summer is the ideal time to plant trees and shrubs as it gives the roots chance to settle in before the first frosts come.

Garsons sources quality plants and many of its perennials and herbs are grown locally. All its hardy plants are guaranteed for life.

You can then enjoy a treat in The Orangery Tea House. Garsons is open Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, and Sunday, 10.30am to 4.30pm (viewing from 10am) and is located on Fontley Road, Tichfield close to junction 9 of the M27. www.garsons.co.uk

PETERSFIELD PHYSIC GARDEN

Petersfield Physic Garden is open but only has access through the High St gates is only available on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9am to 6pm.

COMPOSTING BOOMS IN HAMPSHIRE DURING LOCKDOWN Gardeners through Hampshire turned to the joys of composting in record numbers this spring and summer. During lockdown there was a marked increase in interest in home composting purchasing and gardening seeking help and advice on the subject. The Royal Horticultural Society website saw a 500 per-cent increase in visitors to its composting pages compared to the previous year, and an offer for free compost bins from Hampshire County Council saw a year’s supply taken up in less than 24 hours.

Most garden waste can be composted: prunings, old bedding plants and lawn cuttings (although mix these in with other materials to avoid suffocating your heap). But your compost bin can take a lot more besides these.

Food comprises 35per-cent of household waste in Hampshire. Much of the inedible food such as peelings, stalks, coffee grounds and eggshells can be added to your home compost bin. You may be more surprised to learn that three quarters of Hampshire’s wasted food was edible at some point (so need not have been thrown away).

Hampshire County Council’s Smart Living initiative aims to reduce household waste and has information on everything you can and can’t compost at home, as well as practical tips on making the most of your food shop.

Visit www.hants.gov.uk/smartliving or find us on Facebook Smart Living – Hampshire. www.countrygardener.co.uk

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CUTTINGS

The garden shed designed with relaxation in mind Those gardeners who spent more time than normal in their garden sheds might look on Mark Kellick with envy.

Hampshire shed enthusiast Mark is through to the finals of the national competition by transforming his shed into a homemade bar.

The baggage handler from Farnborough, Hampshire, designed the shed himself, as he wanted a place socialise with his family and friends as well as just be a garden shed.

Head judge and founder of the competition Andrew Wilcox Mark Kellick and the result of his lockdown hard work said: “More than ever, the events of recent months have shown us what a valuable role sheds can play in our lives. They are spaces where we can help our NHS heroes, educate our children and care for our family”

Arundel Castle Gardens opens new wildlife ponds Visitors to Arundel Castle in West Sussex can enjoy its recently opened new Water Gardens, with a variety of wildlife to observe and a new thatched boathouse and roundhouse.

A two-year project has preceded the opening of the Water Gardens, which has three ponds connected by a boardwalk and a rustic bridge.

The ponds themselves are the historic ‘stew ponds’ in which the Castle’s and Friary’s inhabitants kept fish for eating in stews.

Alfresco living is going to be on our minds more than ever over the next few weeks.

A record number of us will be staying at home and continuing to enjoy our gardens. However, this raises the issue of how best to improve the look of our garden stonework? Stonework deteriorates year on year regardless, without the added pressure of continuous and intensive jet washing, which is not only laborious but can cause further damage to the surface of patios, driveways and terraces.

From the first day stonework is laid, the next time it rains, millions of microspores are deposited. These originate from the trees, initially as tiny spores, similar in size to pollen. Propelled by the wind, they travel for miles, until it rains, when they are watered into the pores of the stone. For the first twelve months they lay dormant, until they begin to establish themselves by feeding off the minerals in the stone, finally germinating after two years, and appearing on the surface as “patio black spots’.

At this point they are almost impossible to remove, as they react to the minerals, growing both across the stone and putting down fibrous roots. Jet washing has little or no impression, and by focusing the pressure washing continually on one spot, damage can be caused by the vibration of the jet delaminating or eroding the surface.

Arundel Castle reopened its gardens to visitors earlier this month Special ticket prices have been launched, £10 for an adult gardensonly ticket or £15 for the castle and gardens.

Children’s tickets are just £5 and children under five years go free. The castle is open Tuesday to Sunday. www.arundelcastle.org

‘SPORES FOR THOUGHT’ when it comes to stonework

The new thatched boathouse at Arundel Castle

Plant Fair Roadshow at Borde Hill Garden Borde Hill Garden is hosting a Plant Fairs Roadshow, with specialist nurseries who will be setting up their stalls on the south lawn in front of the Elizabethan Mansion House on Sunday, 13th September. It is an opportunity to buy direct from the growers and to get free advice from the resident ‘Plant Doctor’, who will be on hand to diagnose plant problems and issue advice. There are also free garden tours at 11.30am and 1.30pm included in admission and bookable on the day.

Borde Hill Garden, Borde Hill Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1XP. www.bordehill.co.uk/events

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The system works on any type or age of stone, ultimately restoring it to the same condition when first laid. www.patioblackspotremoval.com

Look out for the Autumn edition of Country Gardener available from the weekend of 26th and 27th September 6

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Good gut health FROM THE GARDEN A healthy gut is essential to our overall health and gardening can play a huge role in priming your immune system to these chemicals have been associated with the development of cancers and other health problems. As for your digestive health, eliminating these additives eliminates the chances that your system might have a negative reaction to such, resulting in digestive distress.

Home-grown organic food contains a higher amount of vitamins and minerals which are essential to overall health and therefore likely to have a positive influence on your digestive health.

Vegetables provide anti-oxidants that help to prevent disease and are beneficial to both eyesight and energy. Many leafy greens contain magnesium which can improve energy levels.

Nutritionists also believe that eating your own produce can improve your happiness levels- the sense of achievement you get from gardening helps boost your mood and your general wellbeing.

Nutrition and gut health is acknowledged to be a key factor in our day-to-day health. Never before have so many people been concerned about where their food comes from, whether it is organic or not and what benefits it offers the body and mind.

We are all cottoning on to the fact that the gut is responsible not only for digesting food but also for regulating our immune system.

Research is on-going but there is growing evidence it can impact on obesity and weight management and conditions like Type 1 diabetes and arthritis.

Anyone who gardens will testify that it’s the best therapy, and can extol the many reasons why gardening makes us feel good - breathing fresh air, taking in the beauty of plants and insects, and even working up a bit of a sweat. It also benefits the gut in more ways than just the healthy food we grow.

If you are good to your gut (also known of course as your digestive system), it will help your health. Trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms live throughout your digestive system, and this microbiome communicates with cells throughout the rest of your body.

While scientists are still working to understand exactly how large of a role your gut plays in your overall health, experts know it can affect your immune, nervous, and metabolic system.

Growing your own food reduces your exposure to toxins.

If you choose to garden organically, you are reducing your exposure to pesticides, fertilisers and other chemicals. Long-term exposure

You will also be outdoors in the fresh air and ensuring your body synthesises Vitamin D. Studies have shown that deficient in Vitamin D can lead to an imbalance between different types of flora in the gut.

The garden is a great place to boost your whole immune system Professor Harriett Goss, author of ‘The Psychology of Gardening’ says that gardening has a significant impact on eating habits-people tend to eat more fruit and vegetables if they grow them.

This is particularly true for children who are introduced to gardening perhaps through school projects. In the UK there have been dramatic results when primary age children took part in activities such as growing and cooking food at school. A Soil Association programme found that the proportion of them eating five or more portions of fruit and veg increased by 28 per-cent.

Regular exposure to soil-based microorganisms through lifestyle choices—such as gardening, spending time in nature, and having pets—provides significant benefits as well.

For example, one bacterial strain found in compost and soil, has been clinically studied for the way it supports mood. Research indicates that serotonin synthesising neurons are activated upon exposure to this microbe, as well as neurons related to immune response—two great reasons to dig your hands in the dirt!

Improve your gut health by: • Growing kale and watercress. These two are particularly good for all round gut health. They contain an abundance of vitamins , minerals and antioxidants. All the dark green leafy vegetables such as rocket and broccoli are good for almost every cell in the body.

• Ditch the chemicals. Growing fruit and vegetables organically without chemical feeds or pesticides is a key factor in healthy eating a strong disease free gut.

• Getting your hands into the soil. A simple thing like touching the soil to make contact with good bacteria can be positive for your gut health • Grow more of your own food. Home grown food tends to be eaten soon after picking when it is still fresh which means it is likely to be full of vitamins and minerals 8

Country Gardener

‘Why I love autumn raspberries’ Dorset gardener David Leese has a passion for growing autumn raspberries, easier to grow, welcoming cooler weather and harvesting from late summer through to the first frosts of winter.

I love growing, harvesting and eating autumn raspberries.

They are a much better option I believe to their summer cousins and so rewarding to grow.

I favour autumn-fruiting raspberries over summer fruiters for two main reasons. The first reason is the perfect timing of that luscious harvest.

Autumn raspberries fruit from late summer right through to the first frosts, so when I’m struggling to keep up with the harvesting demands of ripe red strawberries before the slugs get them, I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do with a glut of raspberries too!

Summer fruiting raspberries crop heavily for a short period, while autumn raspberries crop more steadily over a longer period, so unmanageable gluts aren’t such an issue.

The second reason I love autumn raspberries is the pure simplicity of care they need compared to summer varieties.

Summer fruiting raspberries, known as ‘floricane’ varieties, fruit on last year’s wood. This means that the old canes need to be cut out every year, while the new green canes are left in place to produce next season’s fruit.

Autumn fruiting raspberries by contrast are ‘primocanes’, meaning they fruit on new wood.

Pruning involves cutting down all canes after

Did you know?

Unlike many other fruits, unripe raspberries do not ripen after they are picked!

harvest ends in late autumn, but before new growth begins in spring.

With both types you’ll need to remove any suckers that are growing away from the main row, and thin canes out in spring, but training autumn raspberries is simple. While summer fruiting raspberries require a sturdy system of posts and tiers of wires to control those long, arching canes, autumn raspberries are largely self-supporting. A single wire or length of strong string between posts is enough to keep them from leaning over pathways.

And if you want the best of both worlds, you can even double-crop your autumn raspberries. The idea here is that you cut out fruited canes and leave the newer, greener canes to produce an earlier crop next year.

Growing raspberries that fruit in autumn almost completely sidesteps the unpleasant issue of raspberry maggots.

Hot climates won’t do autumn raspberry plants many favours, as they need a good cold winter to produce plenty of leaf growth and lots of beepleasing flowers (and thus fruits). Raspberries will take the worst of what the winter has to throw at

Despite being most comfortable in cooler conditions, autumn raspberries love the sun and will produce their best crops, and ripen most quickly, if they can bask in a bright spot. They are tolerant of shade, however, and in hotter regions shade may even prove beneficial.

Poor, dry soils don’t please many plants, and raspberries are no exception. The archetypal moist yet well-drained, rich soil will keep them happy, especially if the pH tends towards being slightly acidic.

Raspberries are suckering plants from the woodland edge which naturally ‘walk’ as the forest expands to seek out fresh stores of nutrients. This means that those grown in one place within a garden can soon exhaust the nutrients found in the soil, which can result in viruses and other diseases taking hold. To replenish these nutrients it’s a good idea to mulch around raspberries with rich organic mulch such as well-rotted compost at least once a year.

Autumn varieties to try

Did you know?

Raspberries rank as one of the top five in the top 10 antioxidant-high fruits

them and come back raring to go in the spring.

‘Autumn Bliss’ good yields of medium - large and deep red fruit with and an excellent flavour. Best in sunny, sheltered site ‘Autumn Treasure’ thornless upright canes, large, easy to pick conical berries. It is said to be disease resistant and tolerant of poorer soils ‘Fallgold’ yellow fruited autumn raspberry ‘Himbo Top’ producing tall canes, strong grower. Berries of good size and flavour. Good pest and disease resistance ‘Joan J’ easy to grow, upright habit. High yields of well flavoured berries www.countrygardener.co.uk

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Country Gardener

September planting can bring the best results for early season colour. Inset: Scilla siberica (Siberian squill)

Pack your garden with bulbs SPRING BULBS WILL BE IN GARDEN CENTRES LATER THIS MONTH AND IT’S THE CHANCE TO PLANT AND PLAN IN SEPTEMBER FOR SENSATIONAL COLOUR NEXT YEAR Planting spring bulbs is one way of coming to terms with the end of summer. September is the best month to plant these bulbs, to make the most of the dry, warm days forecast when the soil stays warm and roots can get established.

If you lifted bulbs earlier this year and left them drying in a shed, or heeled them into a hidden corner of your garden and forgot about them, now is the time to replant – although you should leave tulips until October to avoid diseases.

dig holes two to three times the depth of each bulb.

Planting bulbs in the grass

You can plant daffodils (Narcissus), snowdrops (Galanthus), crocuses (Crocus), grape hyacinths (Muscari botryoides) and scillas (Scilla bofolia) in September,.

This is more easily done if the grass is short. This has the added advantage that you’ll see the flowers much more clearly with the grass cut short.

Anemone blanda, which comes in beautiful shades of blue and white, will give you lots of colour even in its first year and will happily seed itself around, but is never invasive.

Wherever it pops up, it makes a welcome sight in early April.

There are many types of narcissus to choose from. The early-flowering Narcissus ‘February Gold’ with its single flower per stem, is a welcome addition to any garden because it arrives so early, while the late spring Narcissus ‘Hawera’ with its multiple stems and delicate flowers will keep the spring colour well into April or even May.

The little corms are reasonably priced and look like little black rabbit droppings. Plant generously five inches beneath the surface. Combine with winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis), which is in the same family. It’s a little harder to establish, but worth the effort to get a carpet of blue and yellow in spring.

Plant them in groups – odd numbers work best - near the front to middle of your flower borders, using a trowel to

Iris reticulata is one of the earliest bulbs in the garden, some flowering in February.

When planting in grass, remember to go for a very natural look, avoiding straight lines and regimental spacing.

Scatter the bulbs from the bag with a sweep of your hand like a sower sowing seed and then plant each bulb where it falls.

On heavy soil, add a little grit or spent compost to the newly dug hole, drop in the bulb and move on to the next. As you cut the second hole, this dislodges the first core of soil still sitting in the bulb planter and this can then be placed over your first bulb.

There are a couple of final things to remember, don’t cut the grass and bulb foliage until all the bulb leaves have turned yellow and second, don’t add any fertiliser. This feeds the competing grass more than your bulbs. If the soil is very poor you can use a sprinkling of potash.

Bulbs for shade

Put out a spring welcome mat A shady front door with a paved approach can be brightened by the addition of spring colour.

Bulbs do really well in pots. A combination of narcissi, tulips and hyacinths in a limited palette of purples and whites creates a display with real wow factor. As bulbs fade, the pots can be moved around and replaced with those that are starting to bloom. You could go for a riot of colour for contrast, or a more subtle look in a limited colour scheme that complements with your front door or the materials in the paving or walls.

Scilla siberica – or the Siberian squill – is ideal for the problem of planting bulbs in the shade, producing lovely electric blue flowers that are either shaped like stars or bells with long, shiny, racing green leaves.

You will need to plant a couple of dozen bulbs at least to get a good show next spring, but the wonderful thing about scillas is that they spread like mad if the conditions are right.

Some of the best bulbs that bloom in the shade:

snowdrops

leucojum

crocuses

chinodoxia

early tulips

lily of the valley

miniature daffodils

www.countrygardener.co.uk

11

Lockdown meant I started to

love my garden Three Country Gardener readers are among many to share their experiences of spending more time than usual in the garden, organising projects and explaining how it helped them during weeks and weeks of lockdown

Annette Waller is from llminster in Somerset and moved in her 1930’s house eight years ago with her husband and two daughters. She always wanted to redesign and make their front garden more welcoming but couldn’t find the time – until this spring!

Our front garden has never been the most attractive thing about the house.

We love the back garden and that’s where we spend the time so its always been a priority, but the front always seemed to be somewhere we just quickly walked up the inclined path to get in and out of the house. Over Christmas we sat down and said giving the front garden a makeover was a priority – but when would we find the time?

Of course come mid March there was all the time we needed. Over the next few weeks work stopped, home schooling began and we had time on our hands. So out came the idea-let’s organise a project- the front garden. My husband was still working for a couple of days a week but I was at home all the time. Our goal was to create a tidier, natural-looking garden that would be of interest both from the street and from the house, and over all four seasons.

Our front garden is seen and used by so many different people: neighbours,visitors, passers-by, but it never added anything to the house.

We agreed we wanted to walk up the street and be greeted by a garden in harmony with the house, that looks like it belongs. We didn’t need heavy excavation work so it was a proper horticultural project.

‘We wanted to walk up the street and be greeted by a garden in harmony with the house’ After a couple of weeks of research we were able to get plants delivered from a whole variety of lovely and helpful nurseries who took our calls and were thrilled to have the business. The garden is south facing so after a huge tidy up which took two weeks we added low growing shrubs with light greens, reds and yellows the key colours. It was the time of year for new planting so we bought grass miscanthus, which gave us a light screen near the gate.

I tidied up and reseeded the small lawn. We had never made much of the 12

The whole front garden project ‘made a real difference’

borders either side of the path. There was a white rose which had been neglected and I managed to take out weeds, stake it and feed it. I dug up the border added some home grown compost from down the end of the garden and planted more shrubs which I though would suit the seasons like Nandina domestica or Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’. I planted mainly perennials and spent time making sure what I ordered would extend the season into early winter. I trimmed the hedge at the bottom quite drastically and took out old dead roots.

I washed down and re grouted the brickwork around the bay window. Oh and I sanded down and painted the front door a nice lime green. And insisted recycling bins never spoil things so created a special corner for them.

I did most of the work and became a bit selfish about the project. The wonderful weather throughout May in Somerset made it a pleasure to be out in the garden for hours on end. Without the lockdown it wouldn’t have happened and I hope it has been worth it. It isn’t a finished project but it has made a difference in more ways than one.

Country Gardener

gardener’s most important tool: their imagination.

Visualising an outcome is such a useful tool and none more than planning a new garden. A good imagination also helps overcome nerves about making bold changes such as the layout of your garden.

‘Having time at home and time to reflect was perhaps the biggest benefit. We decided not to rush, to take time and take stock’

Hard work and planning can transform a garden

Peter Cunningham started to create a Devon garden from scratch and during lockdown, and having a blank canvas to start ended up being a blessing.

Just after Christmas I moved into a new house outside of Barnstable. It was a bigger home for my wife and I than we had planned for but we took a risk and decided to stretch ourselves that bit more financially. What a time to have made such a decision!

The garden plot is about a third of an acre shaped around the house, west facing and had lots of potential, someone had told me. Our problem was we had no budget to do much with the garden and decided to wait until we had time and perhaps a bit more money. But lockdown changed all that. My work with a travel company was virtually stopped

and I faced being at home full time. My wife’s part time job was certain to end.

So in the sunshine of May weather we dedicated weeks to a new garden.

The combination of a heavy clay soil and no money was a challenge.

As I stood on the very first patch of earth I owned it was hard to imagine what I could do with a space overlooked from every corner by several neighbouring properties. What is more, the soil was overrun with weeds, the lawn was worn and full of moss.

Visualising the garden as you would like it plays second fiddle to one key thing: getting to know it as it is. We spent days preparing the soil and laying out where we thought a path might be and where we could have borders. We ordered roses which came in wonderful packaging from a nursery which was very helpful. I seeded a small area with grass and planted two small and cheap acers.

Over the course of these weeks I noticed what must be very important for gardeners, the movement of the sun and the position of light and shade This was as important as even than soil quality as time went by because it would determine the layout of my new garden and the position of the inhabitants within it.

In short, having the lockdown time meant me not rushing into my garden and helped me to see exactly what I had to work with and to develop a picture of what could go where. So that’s my first piece of advice.

Don’t rush a garden to begin with.

Sit back, relax and visualise. And use the time wiselyfor we certainly had plenty of that.

It was standing there that I began to use the

Andy Vernon used the lockdown time to build the garden pond in his Hampshire home his wife had always been talking about but really never made up her mind about.

“Should we have a pond in our garden? There are the cats to worry about and I think it’s a problem keeping the water clear! And it would be too much work for you. But it would be a nice feature wouldn’t it”. Such as been the regular conversations my wife has been having over the last few years.

I am 55 and a tolerant gardener but would never admit to loving gardening. My job was due to go into lockdown from mid April and I was facing being at home for weeks if not years if you read the wrong newspaper.

We became positive, and didn’t read every word written about the dreaded virus and decided to find things to do.

Our Hampshire garden is not huge but we have a lawned area down the end which was always likely to be a site for a pond. My wife loves wildlife and buys and plants things with wildlife in mind I like planning so I took on the role of pond researcher and probed gardening books, the internet and a helpful friend – and tried not to be overwhelmed by the amount of work. The first thing was to be sensible about the size. This was not to be a big pond.

We chose a flat and picturesque bit of the garden as the location .It got sunlight throughout the day. We have three active cats but no children so there was no need for any fencing.

Our biggest worry was that as lockdown became more intense would we be able to get supplies delivered? It wasn’t an issue and online ordering in April

was straightforward and quick.

The one lesson I would pass on from this experience is don’t skimp on the base or liner.

We bought the strongest high-quality polymer we could find, expensive but tear resistant. Weaker linings we were told meant frequent tears and money!

“My key advice is don’t skimp on the pond liner”

So I measured, marked out, sat down and reflected. The pond was two metres by four metres. Digging the soil out was something I dreaded. The restrictions meant I couldn’t ask my son-inlaw to come and help - it was down to me. I took my time, stopped and read up on the subject. It seemed like four weeks of digging. I am re-assured it was only one week.

Yes ,it was slow going .The angle of the pond seemed important to allow wildlife in and out with a sloping ‘beach’ on one side and 45 degrees angle on the other. I had ordered a huge sack of sand. Getting the lining in and straight and cut wasn’t easy. We wanted to have an area for plants round the pond also.

I loved having a project. It seemed a focus for all the worry and stress around us. It wasn’t something I would have taken on if I hadn’t been at home for weeks and weeks.

www.countrygardener.co.uk

13

AUTUMN IN FULL

heuchera colour!

Heucheras have been one of the boom plants in demand over the recent lockdown with record demand with online sales. New Forest nursery and specialists Heucheraholics share their expertise on this easy to grow plant

Recent development has seen massive improvement in flowering with strong colours and some claiming almost perpetual flowering all season.

Hampshire based heuchera specialists Heucheraholics have bred varieties with gorgeous flowers such as’ Megan’ with huge pink flowers,’Isla’ with beautiful pearly flowers and ‘Terraccotta Warrior’ ‘with strong stems of rich deep brick orange flowers.

Other super flowering varieties are’ Paris’ with vibrant pink flowers ,’Dewdrops’ with variegated foliage and strong pink flowers and ‘Ginger Ale ‘with large gingery flowers.

Heucheras are happy in most soils - provided that they have good drainage ,heavy wet soils bring significant problems death so growers need to give plants a good mulch to keep the soil structure open .

They are lime tolerant.

Heucheras are hardy - but they enjoy lots of air around them - when planting avoid plants hanging right over them - give the foliage some room to breathe.

Twenty years ago heucheras (also known as Coral Bells) were grown for their wispy flowers which grow on long stalks held high above their foliage. Now, however, the emphasis is on the wonderful and multi coloured foliage.

As summer days start to shorten and the nights are cooler and light levels drop off heucheras seem to come into their own once again.

Heucheras remain as popular as ever as they really are the most versatile and amazing plants and one of the easiest groups of plants to grow.

There’s a place in every garden for heucheras. They add colour and interest all year with their incredible foliage and some with amazing flowers.

•

There are heucheras for shade and for full sun and some that are happy in both.

Once established heucheras are drought tolerant so will withstand periods of dry very well.

There are heucheras with small leaves suited for window boxes , containers and rockeries -then there are the giants with huge dinner plate leaves that give structure in the border or large container.

Heucheraholics, Boldre Nurseries, Southampton Road, Lymington, Hants S041 8ND

The last few years have seen a revolution in the heuchera kingdom with more astonishing and magical colour changes than Joseph’s Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat!

The foliage keeps on stunning growers with shades of hot orange, squashed raspberries, shimmering silvers, marbled and frosted, moody purples, black in matt or gloss finish and acidic vibrant lime greens and a fantastic range of variegation in between.

Heucheras are ideal for hanging baskets with some of the fabulous trailing xHeucherellas for great all winter colour. These will look great tumbling down from baskets and containers and look gorgeous all winter.

Ones to try are ‘Copper Cascade’, ‘Redstone Falls’ and ‘Yellowstone Falls’.

14

•

Add some heucheras too for a winter basket that has winter colour and requires no maintenance until spring.

•

Autumn is a great time to plant tiarellas - commonly known as foam flowers . These are a relative of the heuchera and love a shady spot in the garden - planted now you will be rewarded with masses of foamy white flowers in spring.

Country Gardener

www.heucheraholics.co.uk Tel: 01590 670581

AUTUMN OPEN DAYS AT HEUCHERAHOLICS NURSERY Heucheraholics are holding two Autumn Open Day weekends at their New Forest Nursery over the next two months.

THE DATES ARE: Saturday, 5th and Sunday, 6th September; Saturday, 3rd and Sunday, 4th October.

Opening 9am to 5pm.

The nursery has put in place measures for social distancing including a new big shade area and plenty of room in the glasshouse.

There will be no refreshments and no toilet facilities available. Check dates nearer the time.

AVAILABLE ONLINE OR FROM ANY GOOD GARDEN CENTRE rootgrow.co.uk www.countrygardener.co.uk

15

HOW THE

National Garden Scheme COPED IN THE COVID CRISIS

by Vivienne Lewis The new garden opening season for the NGS was hurriedly abandoned in the Coronavirus crisis.

But resourceful garden owners organised plant sales, released virtual tours and much more to raise money - and now gardens are opening again.

Spring 2020 - and the gardening season was just getting under way.

Throughout the south and south west hundreds of lovingly tended private gardens were almost ready to open, preparing for a record season of raising funds for nursing charities.

The National Garden Scheme which has raised millions of pounds over the years for nursing charities had many new gardens opening.

Gill and Mike Farmer in their Gloucestershire garden at Perrywood House during the May heatwave

Then the Covid crisis struck and the country went into lockdown. At a time when the charities needed the funds the NGS raise, garden gates closed. The Covid crisis was a major blow in so many ways.

Never since the NGS was founded to support district nurses in 1927 has it been forced to cancel all of its garden openings, not even during World War II. In its 93-year history it has donated £58 million to nursing and health charities, and made a donation of £3 million in 2019. The NGS is the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK and beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

The NGS doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – the organisation is passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens, funding projects that promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2017, launched their annual Gardens and Health Week to raise awareness of the topic.

‘Garden owners at Algars Manor videoed their garden and provided commentary, explaining that as a family of doctors, they recognised the importance of supporting the key workers in the NHS’ The NGS started their ‘Help Our Nurses’ campaign to raise funds by donations sent directly to them, and soon started to put virtual garden tours on their website, showing beautiful gardens that could not be visited but also plant workshop demonstrations, that not only informed and benefited those who viewed, but also helped to raise much needed donations.

Gardeners are resourceful people and many garden owners who could not open for the NGS, decided to raise funds in other ways, selling plants from their front gardens and driveways, and making items such as bug hotels and bird boxes to sell.

16

Country Gardener

Gill and Mike Farmer at Perrywood House, Longney near Gloucester, first opened their Gloucestershire garden for the NGS last year. With no garden open days and a good stock of plants grown to sell to garden visitors potentially going to waste, the Farmers took action. They set out a plant stall outside their front gate with an honesty box for payment. It proved remarkably successful.

With only one way in and out of their quiet community a few miles south of Gloucester, their weekend plant stall was clearly visible to all passers by. As her garden shows, Gill likes growing a wide range of plants and enjoys taking cuttings, dividing perennials and potting up the resulting ‘extras’ to sell to garden visitors. She said, “I wanted to raise £650, to match the amount we took on plant sales at our opening last year. Putting out the plant stall at weekends means that I can keep it stocked with plants in flower. It looks good and customers can see what plants do.”

Plants flew off the stall and the sales target was quickly surpassed; to date over £1,000 has been raised. When early June saw the re opening of some NGS gardens across the country, Gill and Mike felt unable to open their garden safely on their June advertised dates but hope to open in September in time for the garden’s second burst of colour.

Myra Ginns, of the Bristol, Somerset and South Gloucestershire NGS team, told Country Gardener that “2020 has certainly been a challenging year! Since the coronavirus lockdown the NGS has supported volunteers and garden owners by offering suggestions as to how money can be raised for their ‘Help Support Our Nurses’ Campaign.

“Garden owners have created virtual garden visits for all to enjoy, keeping the gates open by encouraging virtual visitors to donate and support the NGS’s nursing and health beneficiaries. Our garden owners at Algars Manor videoed their garden and

within the garden.

Underpinning all of these efforts of course was a need to make sense of these difficult and testing times.

‘Devon NGS gardens are probably as weed free as they have ever been.’

“I know I speak for all the garden owners who are able to open their gardens this summer in saying a huge thank you to you all who come to visit.”

Lewis Cottage in Spreyton Devon – owner, Richard Orton was devastated not to be able to open for the NGS until very recently

provided commentary, explaining that as a family of doctors, they recognised the importance of supporting the key workers in the NHS. “From the beginning of June, visitors were able to turn their virtual garden visits into reality. In our region the first garden to open was Stoneleigh Down in Tockington. Visitors were able to book online for a slot lasting one hour. Over two days there were 126 visitors and proceeds, including plant sales, were £630!

‘Never since the NGS was founded to support district nurses in 1927 has it been forced to cancel all of its garden openings, not even during World War II.’ Miranda Allhusen, NGS, Devon County Organiser said: “With lockdown so many people took to their gardens and Devon NGS gardens are probably as weed free as they have ever been! Some gardens have been opening since 1st June with a pre-booking system. Many gardens are doing extra pop-up openings that are not necessarily in the yellow booklet, and in late August and September there are lots across Devon who would love to see visitors and some are offering teas again so we can feel nearly normal!

Pat Beagley from the Hampshire NGS said: ”Many garden owners became inventive, looking for something different to try - after all gardening is not an exact science and what works for one garden, may not work in another.

“The owners of 21 Chestnut Road, Brockenhurst, Ian and Mary Hayter, went one further and with the help of a few pallets and some silver birch created fantastic bug houses, which are also for sale.”

“Several of our Hampshire gardeners enlist the help of local organisations, on the day, such as the local church or the Women’s Institute. The help they can give is to provide the teas, organising the car park and manning the gate.

“By pulling together the NGS in Hampshire is managing to raise some funds but we need the support of the public to generate the income. Some of our open gardens are now providing refreshments - you may not get a china cup and saucer, but the cake will still be amazing!

“We are hoping for a late summer/autumn boost but it relies on our lovely garden visitors, so if you feel like a wander around a beautiful garden please look at our website to see which gardens are open. The gardens for the week are listed on Monday mornings and you can book right up to the opening time.”

And if your garden is looking good and you might be interested in opening for the NGS next year please get in touch Miranda@allhusen.co.uk Tel: 01647 440296.

Richard Orton, at Lewis Cottage, Spreyton, Devon said: “I’m delighted many of the private gardens that open for the NGS (including Lewis Cottage on on Sunday, 30th August and August Bank Holiday Monday, 31st) are opening their gates once more!

“As the consequences of lockdown began to bite, one of the few outside pleasures that we were able to enjoy was our garden.

Regardless of size, never was it more apposite to use whatever space we have to grow our own flowers and vegetables and took this to heart; so much so that seed companies began to run out of supplies. One of the biggest undertakings at Lewis Cottage each year are our open garden weekends for the NGS. In a year where this support was needed more than ever, it was a cruel blow not to be able to open our garden until recently.

“It was also an ideal time to do some major rethinking in the garden and we took the opportunity to revisit some of our oldest flower borders. Armed with spade and fork, we systematically removed almost every plant, removed the ground elder and bindweed that we battle with continually, split the herbaceous perennials where we could and replanted in a more simplistic fashion, resulting in borders that regained impact and scale and sat more comfortably

Alison Wright, NGS Dorset county organiser, said: “Sometimes the things that come to challenge us can make us stronger. As an organisation, we realised that we needed to think quickly and look at ways in which we could still engage with visitors and our garden community, so we launched a series of online virtual garden tours.

Over 200 videos were developed and can still be viewed online, we hope many people viewing them will consider making a donation: https://ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits/ “Many garden owners, volunteers and visitors supported each other as a gardening community and have come to appreciate even further the benefits and importance of being in our gardens.”

Clockwise from top left: Social distancing in action at Stoneleigh Down, the garden of NGS county organiser for the Bristol area Su Mills.

Many NGS gardens became creative and turned to plant sales to raise funds.

Ian and Mary Hayter from Brockenhurst branched out to make and sell bug hotels

Visit ngs.org.uk for up to the minute information on which NGS gardens are now open and how they are operating.

www.countrygardener.co.uk

17

WILDLIFE

SEPTEMBER and where do all the birds go?

Garden birds often seem to be rather thin on the ground in late summer and there is little birdsong to be heard. What are they up to?

While the dawn chorus was important in early summer, the breeding season is over in August and the need to sing out and defend territories goes with it

Blue tits often move away from gardens to tree canopies

Birds sing to establish and defend a territory and to attract a mate and so they sing during spring and early summer.

And as some raise only one brood they have little to sing about as summer spills into July. When chicks leave the nest, the adults no longer need to defend their territory so vocally. Many gardeners worry that something has gone wrong as the birds move away in late August and September.

It isn’t anything to worry about –just the normal change in their behaviour.

After all of the battling for territory, courting mates, finding nesting material, gathering food for young and chasing off predators, it is no surprise that some of the birds are looking a little worse for wear. Late summer is the time to moult all of the worn and damaged feathers to be replaced with a shiny new set that will keep the birds well insulated through the cold winter months.

During the moult, which takes a number of weeks, birds change their ways, becoming quiet and reclusive. They don’t want to expose themselves to predators whilst they do not have a full set of flight feathers which would make them much more vulnerable. They will still be around but skulking under hedges.

Another major event for birds at the end of the breeding season is their change in distribution. Many birds that have been holding a territory now have no need to secure this as their young have departed. This enables birds to leave their breeding haunts and head to areas where they can find food, possibly joining feeding flocks and being very mobile. You may see flocks of finches in open land, tits and warblers in mixed flocks in woodland and hedgerows and mistle thrushes can often be found in large flocks. Some of our migrant breeders may have already completed their breeding season and are now heading south, stopping off at sites to feed as they prepare for the long trip to the wintering grounds.

Natural food is also a key reason why many garden birds are not venturing into gardens or taking food that has been provided. During the late summer and autumn months there is a huge amount of food available for wild birds which is an irresistible attraction to even sedentary birds like the house sparrow. Other 18

species like blackbirds and starlings are also elsewhere as they take advantage of the fruit, berries and insects that can be found. If you have a hedge with a crop of berries coming, make sure you don’t trim it until the birds have had a chance to eat the berries; late winter cuts are the way forward.

In areas where farmland is nearby, house sparrows and many finches move out to fields to feast on the abundance of grain before it is harvested, and on the spilt grain after the harvest. Depending on the location, this can cause a sudden disappearance of these birds from gardens.

Even in cities, sparrows and finches are attracted to any piece of rough ground that provides a good crop of weed seeds. Tits tend to abandon their territories soon after their young fledge, and spend most of their time in the late summer (first in family groups, later in larger flocks) high up in tree canopies, where they are easily missed.

Birds often only return to our gardens when autumn frosts appear.

At harvest time many garden birds opt for the richer pickings in the nearby fields

These seasonal changes occur every year but changes in the bird world can be subtle. However, in some years these changes are highly visible and it can be worrying for all garden bird lovers.

Don’t panic, you have not done anything wrong. They are doing what comes naturally and they will be back in the next couple of months when they have a full set of feathers, have found their winter ranges and the natural food has started to decrease.

Country Gardener

Speakers List

Welcome to Country Gardener’s annual guide to gardening speakers and lecturers offering their services to gardening clubs, societies and organisations.

Gardening clubs and associations could never have expected what would happen to their monthly meetings in this strangest of years.

All gatherings cancelled, no visits, no much loved meetings when they were able to welcome guest speakers to talk on a range of topics.

None of it happened.

So there is special significance in our popular guide highlighting specialist speakers who offer their services to garden clubs and organisations.

Country Gardener has a close relationship with clubs and we know the vast majority decided to abandon any chance of holding meetings for the rest of the calendar year.

We also know their focus is on 2021 and that they already have started drawing up schedules for meetings - hoping that things will be able to get back to normal.

So our guide provides them with new options, ideas and possibilities to plan their meetings. We have full details of each speaker, including a synopsis of their areas of expertise and the subject matter of their talks.

If you come across speakers not on our list please let then know so we can include them in a later edition or update our information online. £A Price band £0-50

£C Price band £100+

£B Price band £51-100

£D Price band variable

£D

D

APPLEGATE, SUE Littlemoor Cottage, Beards Yard, Bow Street, Langport, Somerset TA10 9PS q 01458 250666 E susannah.applegate8@gmail.com Ħ www.poldenwines.co.uk

1. Tours & Tastings at my Vineyard

Small group bookings, max 10. This is a group visit to my vineyard which includes tasting the wines made from grapes harvested on this beautiful South facing slope on the Polden Hills.

£B

D

£E

Price band expenses only Slide presentations included

• Affordable at £50 • No mileage fees • Immediate alternative to a booked speaker cancellation

Talks outside with visits to my 2 acre vineyard and inside with a professionally produced electronic video downloaded with a one – time user code.

Polden Wines available at group discount rate.

Gift vouchers for Vineyard tour and tastings also available.

£A

BEASLEY, KAREN Little Acre, Dyers Lane, Iron Acton, Bristol BS37 9XW

B

q 07816 530270 E karen.beasley1@icloud.com

1. Planting up of seasonal containers - baskets and general landscape advice for small and large gardens.

2. Garden QA - With quiz to include the

competition and container/basket prize.

Completed many local talks for WI, Probus and Mothers Union groups. Feedback is always very positive and delegates always enjoy the holistic experience.

Website

A

Radius covered 0-25 miles

Plants or items for sale

B

Radius covered up to 50 miles D

£C

CROUCH, KATHERINE

£B

1 BroomHill Cottage, Broom Hill, Huntley GL19 3HA

www

Corner Cottage, Great Street, Norton sub Hamdon, Somerset, TA14 6SJ

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q 01452 830 258 E woodmansworld@live.co.uk

D

CARL WOODMANS WORLD

1. Trugmaking by a miserable old trugger - I think that’s what the wife called me

2. Besoms and Gypsy Flowers 3. Bees and their products

q E Ħ

07594 574150 info@katherinecrouch.com www.katherinecrouch.com

1. New Tricks for Old Gardeners 2. First Time at Chelsea - and Winning Gold!

C

Radius covered up to 100 miles Radius covered 100+ miles

EDMONDSON, ALAN 30 Belmore Lane, Lymington, Hants SO41 3NJ q 01590 610292 E alan@bowercotgardendesign.co.uk

1. Primulas & Auriculas 2. Gardening with native plants 3. The shady garden Other talks available.

3. Winning BBC Gardener of the Decade

2. Langport Irises & how to look after them 3. Peonies, beautiful Peonies Talks 2 and 3 are presented in video form, which can be streamed to a group in their own homes or a group meeting in a venue. Advantages are:

www

4. Plants That Should be Better Known

£B

CHEEK, ROY

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35 Wembdon Rise, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 7PN q 01278 451814 / 07788593674 E rvcheek@btinternet.com

1. Chelsea Flower Show - Creating 20

very different exhibits from bronze to gold.

2. Irresistible garden plants for butterflies - e.g. Bringing them winging in with just five new plants.

3. Insectivorous plants - Discover new hardy year round attractive ones for the garden or the windowsill.

5. The Hardy Exotic Garden 6. Grasses in the Garden 7. Self Seeding Garden 8. Bulbs That Should be Better Known BBC Gardener of Year 1999 BBC Gardener of Decade 2008 Chelsea Gold Medal 2013 Katherine has been a garden designer in South Somerset for 20 years and loves to talk gardens!

4. Fascinating Gardens - Choose from 50 worldwide from Cornwall to Costa Rica.

5. Holly & Ivy - Entertaining Winter Talk.

Many other talks, ask for details. Widely experienced and qualified, Roy progressed from Gardener to Director of parks and gardens around Britain. As senior lecturer and curator of gardens in Somerset he amassed ten thousand different plants, ten national collections and created new hybrids, diverse gardens and gold medal exhibits at Chelsea.

Now Chairman of an RHS trials forum, international tour leader, judge, advisor, designer and writer.

£A

B

DODD, SUE & SMITH, SUE Treetops, 11 Stony Riding, Chalford Hill, Stroud, Glos, GL6 8ED q 01453 882127 E sue-smith@11treetops.co.uk

1. Wildflowers of the Cotswolds Remedies, myths and legends 2. Gardening for butterflies and moths 3. The fascinating story of Britain’s wild orchids All talks are subject to Covid-19 restrictions for the year 2020-21. Please make contact (as above) for further information.

www.countrygardener.co.uk

£C

A

DOWN, FELICITY Former owner of Cleeve Nursery q 07739 977431 E downtoearthfd@gmail.com Ħ www.down-to-earth.co.uk

1. Encourage wildlife to your garden.

2. Fill those pots!

3. Plan it, plant it.

Informative talks to inspire both the beginner and the experienced gardener.

The Speakers List is our comprehensive annual guide to gardening and gardening speakers and lecturers.

If you would like to be part of our hugely popular Speakers List next year, email: classified@countrygardener.co.uk

19

£A Price band £0-50

£C Price band £100+

£B Price band £51-100

£D Price band variable

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FISHER, SUE

£E

Slide presentations included

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q 01822 841895 / 0781 775 7446 E suefisher@talktalk.net Ħ www.suefishergardens.co.uk

Sue offers a range of talks in Powerpoint form, fully illustrated with her own photographs, which can be given in person or via Zoom.

Topics include container gardening, wildlife, growing edibles, small gardens and climate change: please see website for more details or contact for further information. Practical demonstrations also available which are ideal for events such as garden shows.

£C

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FITZGERALD, ROSEMARY Beggars Roost, Lilstock, Bridgwater, Somerset TA5 1SU q 01278 741519 E ro@lilstock.eclipse.co.uk

Talks on how wild and garden plants interact. Lovely slides from UK, Ireland, and countries including Morocco, Iceland, Sweden and south-west China. Contact me to discuss ideas!

£B

www

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FLINTHAM, BECCA 39 Regents Park, Exeter, Devon, EX1 2NY q 07717 846814 / 01392 437792 E becca.redkite@gmail.com Ħ www.rowanleaf.co.uk

1. Wildlife Gardening - Attracting beneficial wildlife to your garden

2. Water, Water Everywhere - Ponds,

bog gardens and water-wise gardening

3. Food For Free - A guide to foraging for wild foods

£C

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q 01249 823200/07762 499416 E sales@floydsclimbers.co.uk Ħ www.floydsclimbers.co.uk

1. Floyd on Clematis 2. Floyd on Climbers Marcel is an experienced nurseryman specialising in climbing plants. Plus 40p per mile for travel.

£B

HAIG, GAVIN FRCS The Castle Lodge, Castle Street, Bampton, Devon, EX16 9NS

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q 01398 332419 E gavinhaig@googlemail.com

1. Creating a Wildlife Garden 2. The Healing Garden 3. Celebration of Devon/Somerset Wildlife 4. Trials and tribulations of being a Surgeon Practised as Surgeon and Doctor with a passion for attracting wildlife to our gardens.

Developed award-winning Wildlife Garden at Tiverton Hospital.

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Radius covered 0-25 miles

Plants or items for sale

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Radius covered up to 50 miles D

www

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HAZELL, GILL

q 01202 876177 E enquiries@treeadvice.info Ħ www.treeadvice.info

1. The Churchyard Yew 2. Trees in your Garden 3. Trees and the Law Please contact us to discuss requirements.

£C

17 Valley View, Clutton Bristol BS39 5SN

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q 01761 452036 E clutton.glads@btinternet.com

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3.

4.

Growing and Showing Sweet Peas Classic, Rare and Unusual Bulbs So you think you know Gladiolus!

Illustrated On-Screen Flower and Vegetable Quizzes

Other talks in relation to the above can be tailored to suit your society.

£D www

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HINSLEY, MARK ARBORICULTURAL CONSULTANT Office F11, 10 Whittle Road, Ferndown, Dorset, BH21 7RU

Rosy Hardy nurseryman partner at Hardys Cottage Garden Plants, deep knowledge of all plants grown at the nursery, entertaining and informative talks.

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Website

q 01256 896533 E info@hardysplants.co.uk Ħ www.hardysplants.co.uk

1. Seasonal herbaceous perennials 2. Freefolk Forever a Chelsea display Garden 3. Right Plant Right Place

£A

www

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HINCHLIFFE, ANN 11 Quarry Cottages, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 9UR

1. Six centuries of Historical Dance: from Geoffrey Chaucer to Jane Austen. Can cover whole period or

focus on one era; always illustrated with literary references, live music and some audience participation.

2. Why Music in Prison

Contribution & Legacy to C20 gardening

2. Garden Visiting - a very British Tradition - A lighthearted look at the many different aspects of why we visit gardens

3. Blaise Castle - A Stranger at Blaise – the development of the park & landscape with particular reference to Humphry Repton

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WHY NOT ADVERTISE YOUR SPEAKER SERVICES IN OUR CLASSIFIEDS SECTION? Email: classified@countrygardener.co.uk for more details.

HOPE, NICOLA 4 Avon Road, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 0DL q 07711285447 E info@nicolahope.co.uk Ħ www.nicolahope.co.uk

1. Organic Gardening ~ happy plants, happy minds 2. Tales from the Potting Shed ~ where gardening magic begins!

An organically trained gardener, Nicola has over two decades of experience working in prestigious public and private gardens. She is passionate about organic gardening. £D

Can’t wait until next years Speakers List?

Netherfields, Frog Lane, North Nibley, Glos GL11 6DJ

1. Rosemary Verey 1918-2001 - Her

www

q 01935 472771 E thedancingmaster@outlook.com

HOFFNUNG, MARGIE

www

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JAMES, ADRIAN Langdale, Church Street, Offenham, Evesham, Worcs. WR11 8RW q 01386 424880 / 07535 537137 E ajames@waitrose.com Ħ www.adrianjames.org.uk

1. Gardens of Paradise - The history,

design & symbolism of Persian style gardens.

2. Three West Country Gardens 3. Gardens of the Italian Renaissance Please see website or contact me for a complete list of garden talks. Travel radius over 50 miles is by special arrangement.

Talks at your venue or online.

£B

LOGUE, VICTORIA

www

Whitehall Farmhouse, Sevenhampton, Cheltenham, Glos, GL54 5TL

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q 01242 820772 / 07711 021034 E victoria@wfplants.co.uk Ħ www.wfplants.co.uk

Practical Propagation Getting the Most from your Garden Vegetable Gardening Wildlife Gardening

My talks are based on practical experience and observation. I am also a beekeeper.

Country Gardener

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Radius covered up to 100 miles Radius covered 100+ miles

£B

PAKENHAM, CAROLINE

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The Old Manor, Rudge, Frome, Somerset BA11 2QG q 01373 830312 E carriepakenham@gmail.com

1. The cultivation and uses of unusual herbs 2. Getting ready for winter Money from the talks is donated to the Wessex Therapy Center for Multiple Sclerosis. I always bring a large variety of herbs for sale and demonstration plus my book Making Jellied Preserves and the jellies.

£B

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q 07876 196074 E margiehoffnung@gmail.com

£B

FLOYD, MARCEL 36 Dowding St, Lower Compton, Calne, Wiltshire SN11 8QL

www

HARDY, ROSY Priory Lane Nursery, Freefolk, Whitchurch, Hants RG28 7FA

Yelverton, Devon, PL20 7BY www

Price band expenses only

PHILIPPS, LOIS Meadow Cottage, 42 Rivar Road, Shalbourne, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 3RL q 07740 636455 / 01672 871265 E downtoearth18@outlook.com

1. Garden to Globe 2. Making the Most of What you’ve Got 3. Down to Earth and The Art and Science of Compost Please get in touch for more details and full list. Zoom talks available. £D

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POWLES, STEPHEN Swallows, Withleigh, Tiverton, Devon EX16 8LA q 01884 242965 E stephen.powles@btconnect.com

1. Hedgehogs - in need of your help 2. Otters - Coming to a river near you 3. Hammer Scar - Five years together (all about the five years Stephen spent filming one individual otter in amazing detail) 4. Tawny Owls - coming to a wood near you 5. Hornets - Gentle Giants 6. Wildlife Photography - tips and experiences ... and more. Please contact Stephen for his full list of talks.

Zoom option available - and he can host the meeting for you.

Stephen Powles is a passionate naturalist, wildlife photographer and film maker. His specialist interests are otters, tawny owls and hornets - he, the otters and the hornets have appeared on national TV. Most off his wildlife subjects are found in and not far from his house.

£D

REED, MERVYN 14 Brookmead, Thornbury, Sth. Glos, BS352XG

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q 01454 415849 / 07429629588 E mervyn.reed@talktalk.net

1. Buying Abroad 2. A New Kind of Rose 3. A full list available on request by e mail Photographic presentations with Horticulture in mind. Using some of my experiences of 38 years in horticulture.

COMPETITION

£B

The Speakers List is our comprehensive annual guide to gardening and gardening speakers and lecturers.

If you would like to be part of our hugely popular Speakers List next year email classified@countrygardener.co.uk

£B

www

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SHELDRICK, CAROLINE

1. Medicinal Garden Plants 2. Flowers in Healing 3. Hedgerow Pharmacy Caroline is a qualified medical herbalist in practice in rural Gloucestershire.

£A

SQUIRES, MIKE & EDNA 1 Feebers Cottage, Westwood, Broadclyst, Devon, EX5 3DQ

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q 01404 822118 E feebers@btinternet.com

1. Feebers Garden 2. Plant Heritage Others by request.

Mike & Edna are long time members of Plant Heritage and are widely travelled with long involvement in RHS Shows. The garden is open for groups.

£C

The Haven, Hart Lane, Ruardean, Gloucestershire, GL17 9UT

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q 01594 541118 / 07767 690009 E mail2@thegardenlady.me.uk Ħ www.thegardenlady.me.uk

1. Planting and Plant Care 2. How to love your garden 3. Design and Create a Garden to be Proud Of Many other talks available, please ask for more details.

£B

Middle Path, Keble Road, France Lynch, Stroud GL6 8LN q 01453 884092 E cjsheldrick@gmail.com Ħ www.carolinesheldrickmedicalherbalist.co.uk

TOLMAN, ANDREW

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1. Off the beaten track, hidden gems 2. Glorious gardens, a gardeners choice 3. Art of Topiary & Ornamental Hedges 4. Stumperies, ferns & shady friends

£D

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TOWNSEND, PENELOPE White Fan Talks, ‘Starshine’, 15 Half Moon Court, Buckfastleigh, Devon TQ11 0GA q 01364 644028 / 07792517145

1. 301 years Tribute to Gilbert White, 1720-2021 2. Gardening with Jane Austen Both talks have powerpoint presentations.

Long journeys can only be undertaken in the summer months, from April till October.

WILSON, JEREMY

stylish Backdoorshoes flip-flops

q 07964 824673 E info@garden-together.co.uk

We’ve 20 pairs to be won

Ex Head Gardener of private estates and now specialist camellia grower of over 400 varieties and a wide range of fragrant plants.

£B

www

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UNDERHILL, TERRY MHORT Fairlight, Mill Cross, Rattery, South Brent, TQ10 9LA q 01364 72314 E terry@terry-underhill.co.uk Ħ www.terry-underhill.co.uk

Mountains to the Garden Mediterranean Garden Plants Autumn Colour Being a TV Gardener

Many other talks. Highly qualified, wide experience including TV, Radio and Magazines. See website for more titles. £B

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WIN a pair of supersoft,

17 Seymour Drive, Torquay, Devon, TQ2 8PY 1. Camellias 2. The Scented Garden 3. Blood, Sweat and TEA

Minehead, Somerset q 07546874083 E andrew@atpgardening.co.uk Ħ www.atpgardening.co.uk

WILLIAMS, CATHERINE

www

USHER, DAVID 10 Rowbarton Close, Taunton, Somerset, TA2 7DQ q 01823 278037 E dave.usher@hotmail.com

1. Gertrude Jekyll - Her Plants & Designs.

2. The Restoration of Hestercombe Gardens 3. Bedding Plants for your Gardens 4. Care and management of trees & shrubs 5. The history of our gardens 6. The answer lies in the soil 7. Herbaceous Plants David, a professional gardener for over 40 years, was Head Gardener at Hestercombe for 18 years. He is interested in all aspects of ornamental gardening and has given talks to a wide variety of groups. Contact him for a brochure about his talks.

Backdoorshoes® have won themselves a second to none reputation amongst gardeners for their colourful range of slip on gardening clogs and flip-flops.

What makes the whole range stand out is their colourful, decorated and unique patterns that include everything from chilies to dogs to sunflowers, poppies and vegetables.

It’s a range which has become very popular and in demand with gardeners.

In our August competition we have 20 pairs of Backdoorshoes® colourful range of flip-flops to win.

The women’s and men’s flip flops are a perfect accessory for any outfit.

Sizes are available from 3-13 each pair features a cool pattern to make sure your footwear is looking great. Choose any pattern from the unique range including meadow, poppy, grass, tree camo and more!

Sole made from a rubber/eva compound for maximum comfort and the bespoke colour strap is made from a soft compound rubber.

Backdoorshoes® are well known for the huge range of slip on gardening clogs perfect for those that love the outdoors. Lightweight, stylish and practical, our waterproof garden shoes are available in all popular sizes for men, women and even the kids. They may look strange at first, but you’ll be amazed at the comfort and practicality of thier gardening footwear.

Easy to put on and take off, Backdoorshoes® waterproof outdoor clogs are designed to keep your feet dry whilst removing the hassle of repeatedly tying and untying laces. Not only will these garden shoes stop your socks from getting soggy, their unique foam construction makes them washable and reusable for years at a time.

The company is British, its story is fun and the shoes are certainly light, comfortable to work in.

Stephen Avery had the idea: he needed a pair of shoes to get down the garden without putting on wellington boots or getting his indoor footwear dirty.

A medical friend offered him some white theatre clogs to try out… Stephen decided to funk them up and transformed them into the fun shoes that they are today, using computer-generated images. In the beginning there were only five designs now there’s a huge range with more on the way.

To enter just answer the following question...

Who came up with the concept of Backdoorshoes?

Put your answer on a postcard and sent to: Backdoorshoes Competition, Country Gardener Magazine, Mount House, Halse, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3AD. Closing date for entries is Friday, 2nd October. The competition winners will be announced in the next available edition of Country Gardener.

21

JOBS FOR THE MONTH

JOBS IN THE

late summer garden Victorian gardeners were known to say that late August and September were the time of year to enjoy the garden most of all. They felt the hard work of the season was over and it was only good, rewarding tasks ahead like harvesting fruit and vegetables and taking time to enjoy their seasons’ work. October meant planning for next spring and summer but there was a delicious gap. Even so, there are plenty of late summer tasks for everyone to get down to.

1

3

Give some thoughts now to spring bedding

Spring might seem like a long way off, but late August and early September is the perfect month to start making preparations for a floral display.

Plant spring bedding, such as pansies, wallflowers and sweet Williams. Water them well before planting and give them a good soak whenever the weather is dry Spring bulbs will do best in a warm sunny spot to help them establish quickly.

Buy spring-flowering bulbs.

September is the perfect time to be planting hardy spring-flowering bulbs such as narcissus (daffodil), hyacinth and crocus. These bulbs will do best in a warm, sunny spot and they all love good drainage. Choose firm, plump bulbs and avoid any with signs of mould. Plant them as soon as possible so they can start putting down roots. The cool, moist conditions of late autumn suit tulips best so wait until then before planting them.

If you’re planting them in a bed or border, dig a hole about four times the depth of the bulb and put a layer of sand and grit in the bottom of the hole to aid drainage.

Cover this with a little compost, then plant the bulbs under about two-bulb’s worth of depth of soil.

Try bunching six to ten bulbs together in one spot, placed one bulb’s width apart, or line a path with them for an impressive display.

2

Get ready to keep out early autumn leaves

Taking care of garden ponds Garden ponds also need early autumn preparations. If you don’t have fish swimming in it, you can drain the water by the end of September. Once you do this, you should put a polystyrene float, a ball, or anything else that can cover the draining hole. This way it will stay open even if the surface freezes in winter. Cover them with netting if you don’t want to be constantly clearing fallen leaves.

If you don’t want to drain the water from your garden pond this autumn, make sure you hire someone to cut aquatic plants and get rid of unwanted weeds. If you leave them there without tidying up, they will rot and increase the nitrogen levels in the water. September gardening may seem like a lot of work, but all of these gardening jobs are essential and will help you prepare your garden for the winter. You don’t have to tackle all of the tasks at once. Take your time and do them over the weekends. This way you will stay busy and keep your garden in top shape.

22

Country Gardener

Divide and double – there’s no better way to grow more plants for nothing

Divide perennials Now is a good time to divide clumps of perennials such as hemerocallis. Lift the clump and then divide it into pieces, either by prising it apart with two forks or cutting it up with a spade or bread knife. Each piece needs some leaves and roots. Older pieces from the centre of the clump should be thrown away, but newer pieces can be replanted or shared with friends. Some perennials, such as sedums, will benefit from being divided every few years to keep the clump growing vigorously.

Tender perennials such as fuchsia, petunia, salvia, verbena and chrysanthemums can all be propagated with cuttings.

This is a brilliant way to grow more plants for nothing.

You’ll need to find strong, young growth that hasn’t flowered this year and snip it off using pruning snips at an angle just beneath a leaf joint, leaving a stem of about five centimetres in length.

Next, strip off the leaves from the lower stem, leaving just one or two pairs towards the top. This will help to prevent the plant from losing too much water via its leaves while it has no roots to take moisture up from the soil.

Dip the end of the cutting in hormone rooting powder and plant in compost mixed with a little horticultural grit for drainage.

Put the plants in a propagator and cover them with a plastic bag to help retain moisture.

Place the cuttings somewhere bright and warm, but keep them out of direct sunlight until roots have formed (about six to ten weeks).

It’s a good idea to mist plants daily to ensure their water needs are met while they are still rootless.

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5

Boost the soil with green manures When you think you’ve harvested your last potatoes, carefully dig over the veg bed, collect those that were still lurking under the surface, and then dig over ready to plant some green manures. These green manures are useful in many ways; they protect the soil from erosion over winter, reducing the potential of any leaching of mineral and nutrients, and also protect soil structure, as well as boosting nutrients when dug into the soil.

They also provide a green carpet that helps provide shelter for beneficial insects through the winter, such as ground beetle, and if you leave a patch to flower they are loved by pollinators – Phacelia tanacetifolia for example, is one of the best nectar sources for the honeybee, bumble bee and hoverfly.

6

Prepare your penstemons

If you’ve been planning on planting a new tree in your garden, our advice would be to plan out which shrubs and trees you would like now. If you can get them planted in September, this will help them to get their roots established, so they can grow vigorously come next spring. Couple this with a mulch of well-rotted homemade compost in spring and your trees and shrubs should get off to a good start.

Penstemons can struggle to make it through winter, so leave plenty of protective growth on the plants and never cut them back hard. However, the tallest varieties, such as the lovely ‘Garnet’, can rock in winter winds and will benefit from a trim by about a third now. In April, cut plants back again to their lowest shoots. If you’re in any doubt about winter-hardiness, try propagating from your plants now.

Get ready to protect penstemons

7

Plan ahead for your trees and shrubs

September planting can give tree and shrub roots a positive start

In the vegetable garden • Bean and pea plants that have finished their harvest can be cut back, leaving the roots to be dug in to the soil to provide extra nitrogen for future crops.

• Sow spring onions – these will be ready to eat before the frosts get going in most parts of the country. Even if frosts are forecast, they are fine under glass or plastic to harvest through late winter and autumn.

• Remove any crops that have finished leaving unneeded areas clear – weeding and tidying for the winter. Keep an eye on your brassicas for butterfly eggs and caterpillars; these will most probably be under the leaves.

• Keep watering winter squash and pumpkins if the weather is hot. This will prevent their growth from being checked. Use stored rainwater wherever possible. Keep pinching out the tips of triffid-like pumpkins and squash.

They prioritise vegetative growth over fruit formation, and you may get fruit drop if you don’t keep them contained. With the tips pinched, all the fruit down to the base of the stem will now be ripening well. Place a tile under the largest fruit to stop rot creeping in where they sit on the damp soil. Leave pumpkins, squash and marrows to ripen in the sun as long as possible so that the skin can harden.

• Prepare a bed for autumn-planted shallots. Incorporate well-rotted compost into the area to improve fertility. If your ground is wet, a raised bed may be a better option. Plant the sets from the end of the month, with the tip just protruding from the soil.

All action still in the vegetable garden www.countrygardener.co.uk

23

GREAT PLACES TO VISIT

BACK IN ACTION! Finally gardens are open for visitors to enjoy and with so much hard work gone into providing safe and welcoming conditions, there’s hope for a late summer and early autumn days out bonanza It has been the most frustrating time for garden lovers who in this strangest of springs and summers, have been denied their love of getting out, and visiting and exploring gardens and nurseries on day trips.

There is now, at last, cause for celebration as almost every garden and nursery is back in business opening up as Government restrictions were eased. All have worked hard to provide the safest conditions for visitors to enjoy what’s on offer. And there is still so much late summer and early autumn colour, plants and shrubs to enjoy.

It’s now up to the visitors. Here are a few outings we recommend:

Perfect time to visit Old Court Nurseries Late summer and autumn are when the Picton Garden at Old Court Nurseries in Malvern really shines. The National Collection of Michaelmas daisies peak in late September and early October but the supporting cast of herbaceous, bulbs, trees and shrubs extend the season. Open by pre-booked time slot with limited numbers only, there will be plenty of room to safely explore the one and a half acre garden and the nursery.

Old Court Nurseries & Picton Garden, Walwyn Road, Malvern WR13 6QE

Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway is back on track The 200-acre woodland garden at Exbury Gardens in Exbury near Beaulieu in Hampshire has reopened -and there’s a bonus with the return of the popular steam railway running through the grounds.

The woodland landscape is stunning, and the late summer gardens are now in full bloom. The gardens recommend purchasing admission day tickets to the garden. Steam railway tickets must be booked at the visitor entrance. No cash will be accepted. Exbury gardens are open between10am and 6pm every day until November.

Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway, Exbury, Southampton SO45 1AZ

Dahlias the star attraction at Cadhay Manor Yet again dahlias promise to be the star attraction at the historic gardens at Cadhay Manor, five miles from the sea at Sidmouth as the garden has continued to build on the prize winning collection of dahlia collarettes inherited from an allotment holder. The allotments have never been so good as holders have been able to work on their plots throughout the lockdown and it really shows.

Visitors can see the collection of dahlias in late August and the vast array of lilies will still be magnificent. The gardens are open every Friday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm See cadhay.org.uk for further details.

Cadhay, Ottery Saint Mary EX11 1QT

BUSCOT PARK & & BUSCOT PARK THE FARINGDON COLLECTION THE FARINGDON COLLECTION One of Oxfordshire’s best kept secrets One of Oxfordshire’s best kept secrets

BUSCOT PARK &

Exbury

THE FARINGDON COLLECTION One of Oxfordshire’s best kept secrets

GARDENS & Steam Railway

Gardens & railway now open!

Visit now to see our beautiful landscaped gardens, brimming with summer flowers, wonderful birdsong and 200 acres of open space to roam. We’ve implemented a number of special measures to keep visitors safe. Find out more about these and our discounted summer prices on our website.

023 8089 1203 | www.exbury.co.uk 24

Open 1 April - 30 30 September September Contact: Info line 01367 01367 240932 240932 or or www.buscotpark.com for website www.buscotpark.com for opening opening times. times.

New Forest, SO45 1AZ Country Gardener

Open 1 April - 30 September Contact: Info line 01367 240932 or website www.buscotpark.com for opening times.

DELIGHTFUL GARDENS TO INSPIRE YOU PLANT AND GARDEN ADVICE Mail order and online ordering available, or pop along and visit us at the nursery Beautiful 13 Acre Landscape Garden Nursery, Gift Shop, Lunches and Teas Dalwood, Axminster

Open Daily from 1st April to 31st October 10am-6pm www.burrowfarmgardens.co.uk

Hartland Abbey & Gardens

Enjoy our beautiful gardens, walks, exhibitions and open spaces

Visit our fascinating exhibitions and display of filming, our gift shop, beautiful walled and woodland gardens and walks to the beach. CBBC location for Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’

Groups welcome by appointment Open 7 days a week from 1st March to 30th September Weekends 10am - 5.30pm, Weekdays 9am to 5.30pm

* Dogs welcome * Holiday Cottages * * Delicious light lunches & cream teas as takeaways * Gardens, exhibitions and Café: until 4th October, Sunday to Thursday 11am - 5pm

Sands Lane, Badsey, Evesham, WR11 7EZ 01386 833849 info@cgf.net www.cotswoldgardenflowers.co.uk

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

GARDENS HISTORY OUTDOOR THEATRE

NATURE

NOW OPEN DAILY 10AM-5PM

THE BISHOP'S PALACE & GARDENS, WELLS, SOMERSET

www.countrygardener.co.uk

01749 988 111 WWW.BISHOPSPALACE.ORG.UK 25

Cerney House - a romantic garden for all

COTSWOLDS GARDEN FLOWERS BACK AND FULL OF COLOUR

Cerney House Gardens, just outside of Cirencester, is a romantic English garden for all seasons. There is a beautiful secluded Victorian walled garden, which features herbaceous borders overflowing with colour. The informal planting in combination with a beautiful setting gives a unique and charming atmosphere. The summer months begin with the alliums and the then the romantic roses come to life and fill the garden with their wonderful fragrance. The kitchen garden produces wonderful vegetables grown from heritage seeds. Enjoy their woodland walk and nature trail. New for this year is the medicinal herb garden.

Visitors to the popular garden and nursery at Evesham-based Cotswolds Garden Flowers will be thrilled the site is back and fully open. The garden has lots of summer flowering plants.

You are now able to browse the borders where there is plenty of space to wander. You will be served outside during the current restrictions.

It is the chance to get some perennials for adding colour to your garden in August and later with heleniums and helianthus to echo the shape of sunflowers and daylilies and crocosmia to add to your colour palate.

Open: daily to October 10am to 7pm (during summer months). Adults £5, children £1, Groups welcome by arrangement. Tea, coffee and homemade cakes. Dogs welcome.

Cerney House Gardens, North Cerney, Cirencester GL7 7BX Tel: 01285831300 janet@cerneygardens.com www.cerneygardens.com

If you are thinking about structure and form as well – grasses are good to give you movement in the flowerbeds. Ferns can be used to complement your flowering plants.

Cotswolds Garden Flowers Sands Lane, Badsey, Evesham WR11 7EZ

Thrilling gardens open again at Buscot Park

DAHLIA FIELD AT GILBERT’S OPEN FROM MID AUGUST The sensational dahlia field alongside Gilbert’s Nursery at Sherfield English, Romsey opened in mid August to view a vast collection of dahlias of various types and colours.

Grass pathways lead you through the famous Hampshire collection.

Buscot Park is the family home of the Lords Faringdon, who look after the property on behalf of The National Trust.

Gardens around the mansion include the ‘Four Seasons’ set within the high walls of the old vegetable garden and offers year-round interest with sculptures and herbaceous borders. The Pleasure Gardens are in five sections between tree-lined avenues.

Due to the shutdown of the nursery and the furloughing of staff it wasn’t possible to plant out the whole field and with the lack of rain the nursery recommends visiting from the end of August onwards to see the collection at its best.

Gardens open Monday to Friday 2pm to 6pm and some weekends including Bank Holidays up to 30th September. Admission: £12 ;Over 65’s £10. Children (5-15) £6. National Trust Members free.

The whole nursery and tearoom are keeping to social distancing rules.

Gilbert’s Nursery, Dandys Ford Lane, Sherfield English, Romsey SO51 6DT www.gilbertsdahlias.co.uk

Buscot Park, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 8BU Tel: 01367 240932 info@buscot-park.com www.buscotpark.com

Old Court Nurseries & The Picton Garden The Michaelmas Daisy Specialists since 1906

Specialist nursery and beautiful 1.5 acre garden just waiting to be explored

A FAMILY RUN NURSERY FOR THE EXPERIENCED AND NOVICE GARDENER

Large Selection of Perennials (Cottage Garden Plants),Trees, Shrubs, Herbs, Alpines and Vegetable Plants. Plus large selection of Ornamental Trees, Fruit Trees and Climbers.

GREAT OFFERS ON COMPOST

(all compost we supply we use ourselves, so we can recommend it)

VIEW OVER

Open 11am - 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday in August, Daily September until 20th October.

Garden admission £4.00 BOOKING ESSENTIAL FOR NURSERY AND GARDEN, BOOK ONLINE OR BY PHONE.

400 VARIETIES OF DAHLIAS

IN OUR FIELD WITH GRASS PATHWAYS FROM MID AUGUST UNTIL FIRST FROSTS To see the collection at its best, visit late August/early September

Mail order available check online for stock list

Tel: 01684 540416 www.autumnasters.co.uk

Old Court Nurseries, Walwyn Road, Colwall WR13 6QE 26

Country Gardener

SUMMER AT BISHOP’S PALACE IS BACK The Bishop’s Palace & Gardens in Wells, is back in action with a revised programme for late summer and autumn.

The Palace had to cancel its popular public events programme, but has launched weekly family trails based on different weekly themes. The themes will include, Colour, Dragons, Water, Gardening and Animals at the Palace. The trails will lead families around the Palace & Gardens and, when completed, children will be able to collect a small prize on the way out.

The Palace will also run a photography competition

Hartland Abbey gardens During lockdown the Hartland Abbey grounds on the north Devon coast became a scene in ‘Sleeping Beauty’– the brambles grew ten feet, the grass waist high and the creeper grew over the windows and the front drive was impassable!

But happily the walled and woodland gardens, grounds and walks to the beach are open once again to welcome visitors. The exhibitions, displays and gift shop are open from 11am.

There is so much open space to socially distance and the gardens main objective is to keep everyone safe. The hydrangeas in the shrubbery and the walled gardens are at their stunning best. New this year is the display of Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’ filmed last autumn. The tearooms provide light lunches and cream teas as takeaways. Only a mile from Hartland Quay and its spectacular coastal scenery, a visit to Hartland Abbey makes a lovely day out.

Hartland Abbey, Hartland, Stoke, Bideford EX39 6DT www.hartlandabbey.com

for children over the holidays. Children are invited to submit their best photo on the theme of ‘My Summer at the Palace’. The photos must be taken within the grounds or buildings of the Palace, and there will be three separate age categories. Families can post/tag the image to the Palace Facebook or Instagram account with the hashtag #MySummer, or email to info@bishopspalace.org.uk.

A new ‘People’s Ticket’ is available for £15 for adults and £7.50 for children (5-17), which allows entry for one day and return for the following 12 months.

The Bishop’s Table café is open daily for take-aways with outdoor seating The Bishop’s Palace, Wells BA5 2PD

Burrow Farm Gardens - East Devon’s secret delight Burrow Farm Gardens, East Devon’s secret garden, situated in idyllic countryside between Axminister and Honiton, is a lovely place to visit during late summer/early autumn time.

There are over 13 acres of beautiful gardens to enjoy whilst maintaining social distancing. The late flowering perennials and hydrangeas will be out in full glory, in particular, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Lime Light’. You will need time to stroll through the grasses garden and be amazed by the seed heads of the Teasels, the variegated Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’ and the dierama igneum, all off set by the vibrant colour of the verbena bonariensis. The gardens, tearoom, nursery, gift shop and toilets are open. The gardens open daily 10am to 5pm, and there is no need to book.

AUTUMN BEAUTY AT STONE LANE GARDENS Stone Lane Gardens, Chagford, TQ13 8JU RHS Partner Garden Open all year round Woodland and Water Gardens National Collection of Birch and Alder

Summer Sculpture Exhibition “The Mythic Garden” www. s t o n e la n e g a rdens.co m

On the northeast edge of Dartmoor National Park near Chagford, the gardens at Stone Lane are looking wonderful in late August, thanks to the colours of the leaves as they put on a golden show. Following rain showers, spring water trickles down through the water garden as the sun sparkles in the glades. The garden boasts a National Collection of birch and alder and is an RHS Partner Garden, Stone Lane Gardens open every day all year from 10am until 6pm, or dusk in winter. For garden visitors the tearoom, open from 12 noon, serves coffee, tea and cakes and traditional Devon cream teas. Managed and run by volunteers, all tearoom profits go towards the maintenance of the gardens. Stone Lane Gardens (Charitable Trust No.1141252). For more information and Tree Nursery sales visit the website.

Stone Lane, Chagford, Devon, TQ13 8JU www.stonelanegardens.com.

Cerney House Gardens A Romantic English Garden in the UK Cotswolds

Walled garden set in 46 acres of countryside * Overflowing Herbaceous borders * Medicinal Herb gardens * Wildlife and woodland walks * Refreshments available

GARDENS & TEAROOM Open every Friday 2pm - 5.30pm until 25th September

Also August Bank Holiday weekend Saturday, Sunday & Monday GARDENS: adult £5, child £1

Open every day until 31st October 10am-7pm Admission: £5 adults, £1 children

Telephone 01285 831300 www.cerneygardens.com

Member of Historic Houses

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

Cerney House Gardens, North Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 7BX www.countrygardener.co.uk

27

HOW TO

HOW TO...

A regular look at practical solutions to problematic gardening issues

HOW TO GROW VEGETABLES THROUGHOUT THE AUTUMN

How to make more yew plants by taking cuttings Most gardeners will appreciate that the combination of blight and moth has made box (Buxus) a high risk hedging plant and shrub especially when buying or making new plants.

Lambs Lettuce (Mache)

One of the best ways to make your garden more productive is to keep planting until you run out of growing season. As soon as you have room, fill empty spaces with vegetables that grow well in the autumn.

Autumn vegetables normally fall into three planting groups based on two criteria: time left in the growing season and soil temperature. By August, time is ideal for broccoli, cabbage, and their close cousins in all but the mildest winter climates, but there is plenty of time to grow other cool-natured vegetables rated at less than 60 days to maturity. Keep in mind that when growing anything in autumn you should add about three weeks to the germination times on seed packets.

Just as soil temperatures near the surface rise rapidly late spring and early summer, they decrease quickly in late summer and early autumn.

The second group won’t germinate in warmer soil, but you can start the seeds indoors and set out young seedlings. The third group of autumn vegetables grow so fast you can wait until the soil cools down to plant them.

Signs of autumn are often apparent by the time the soil cools enough to grow the leafy greens that define many autumn vegetable gardens. Diversify by trying new varieties, especially Asian greens like mizuna and tatsoi.

• Rocket grown in autumn has wonderfully mild flavour, and autumngrown plants become large and leafy and rarely show interest in bolting.

28

• Coriander is another crop that bolts right away when grown in spring, but holds much longer in the autumn garden.

• Lettuce from your autumn garden may include the same varieties you grew in spring, or you can choose varieties based on their cold hardiness. Many catalogues offer cold-tolerant ‘winter’ lettuces.

• Mache (Lamb’s Lettuce) is the miracle green that sails through winter with minimal protection and fills your salad bowl first thing in spring.

• Mizuna and other mustards grow so vigorously that they can be used as edible cover crops.

• Turnips produce both greens and crunchy roots that will store in the refrigerator for several weeks. They are embarrassingly easy to grow.

However yew (Taxus) is increasingly being regarded as a good and perhaps even better substitute even for quite low hedges. It also makes the most magnificent green backdrop to any border. There is a misconception that yew is very slow to grow but given the right conditions it will put on between 15 cms and 30 cms a year and it does grow faster than box.

Yew cuttings needn’t take up much space.

Yew cuttings should be taken after the current seasons’ growth has hardened roughly eight to 10 inches back from the tip of the stem. An ideal cutting will have plenty of healthy foliage, no fruit or flowers and a stem diameter that is comparable to a pencil.

Yew cuttings require some light preparation before potting to increase the likelihood of successful rooting.

First, remove the needles along the bottom half of the stem, then scrape off a sliver of bark at the base of the cutting. Dust the defoliated portion of the stem with rooting powder. Create a planting hole for the cutting rather than simply pushing it into the medium, which would scrape off the rooting hormone. The hole should be deep enough to hold the bottom half of the cutting.

Warmth, moisture and light are the three key factors in the rooting process. Yew cuttings should be kept where temperatures stay around 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and where there is ample light, such as inside a cold frame or indoors near a west- or south-facing window.

Mizuna leaves will grow rapidly Country Gardener

HOW TO SOLVE COMPOSTING PROBLEMS ?

Few gardeners get composting right every time.

Common problems include smelly compost bins, slimy ingredients that have become excessively wet, or compost that has simply stopped rotting down before it’s ready.

The trouble is, few of us have the perfect conditions to make ideal compost every time.

Perfect compost has a fine, crumbly texture and pleasant, earthy smell like a forest floor.

The original ingredients used to make the compost will no longer be visible, having been transformed into dark-looking organic matter with an even consistency.

The most common problem is excess moisture, which causes foul odours, flies, and the production of substances harmful to your plants. Adding too much fresh material, instead of a balanced mix of fresh and dry materials, is the usual culprit.

Fresh materials such as vegetable peelings and grass clippings have a high water content, which makes them heavy. If too much is added to your compost heap at once it can become compacted, excluding air or filling air spaces with water. These oxygen-starved ‘anaerobic’ conditions enable harmful microbes to thrive – the same microbes responsible for creating the unpleasant smells that arise from such putrid conditions.

If your compost heap is too wet, dig it out completely, then turn the ingredients to incorporate more air before restacking. Add dry materials into the mix to get a balance of greens and browns, improve drainage and prevent the compost from clogging up again.

Ingredients such as shredded prunings, sawdust, straw and cardboard torn into smaller pieces will create channels within the compost that allow air to percolate and excess moisture to drain away. Scrunched up newspaper makes a good short-term option.

Grass clippings are often generated in large batches. Don’t be tempted to add thick layers to the compost bin just to get rid of them or they could create a soggy mat. Instead, sprinkle grass clippings in thin layers and balance them with dryer ingredients.

Never stamp or force materials down in order to fit more in, or you run the risk of overcompacting your compost ingredients and artificially stimulating anaerobic conditions.

Compost is naturally slightly acidic but sometimes an abundance of some ‘wetter’ ingredients can upset the balance. This can cause the compost heap to become smelly and slow to decompose.

Acidic ingredients such as citrus fruit can also contribute to an excessively acidic compost bin. Counteract the acidity by sprinkling handfuls of ground lime or wood ash into the mix, plus plenty of ‘browns’ if the bin is wet and other fresh, green material to kick-start the composting process again.

If your compost bin is too dry it will stop decomposing as the bacteria and fungi responsible for the composting process won’t be able to work effectively. Re-wet the heap by watering it - ideally with rainwater. Apply it evenly using a watering can fitted with a rose, mixing the materials at the same time.

too wet

too dry

too many greens

How to get rid of black spot on roses Black spot is a fungal disease (Diplocarpon rosae) that affects roses. The fungus develops as black spots on the leaves, which eventually causes the leaves to turn yellow and drop off. Besides looking unsightly, it can seriously weaken the rose plant. Black spot thrives during hot, humid, or rainy summers and hot days with cool, damp nights.

Spots begin on the lower leaves and move upward.

They can appear as early as when the leaves first unfurl. Affected leaves often fall off the plants, and if left unchecked, the entire plant can defoliate.

Black spot is easier to prevent than to cure. Existing spores can remain in the soil and overwinter on leaves and stems, waiting for favourable conditions.

The spores make contact with the rose by splashing onto it in drops of water.

A healthy, vigorous plant is less susceptible to problems. Roses prefer a sunny location with welldraining soil and regular, weekly watering.

Provide good air circulation around and through your rose plants. Do not plant your roses too close to other plants. Prune to open the spaces between

canes, if the plant gets too dense air cannot get through.

Avoid getting the leaves wet while watering. There is not much you can do about rain, but at least limit the time the leaves remain wet.

Remove any infected leaves and always do a thorough clean-up each autumn. Remove and dispose of any remaining leaves when you do your dormant pruning in late winter/early spring.

The distinctive and often depressing appearance of Black Spot on roses Apply a thick layer of mulch around • Bicarbonate of soda spray: Dissolve one teaspoon the plants. Mulch will prevent bicarbonate of soda in two pints of warm water. Add up water from splashing up on the plant and spreading to one teaspoon of liquid soap. Spray leaves thoroughly. spores.

This mixture works better as a preventive than as a cure.

There are commercial and homemade treatments It also offers some protection from powdery mildew. and DIY solutions you can use. The treatment may • You can use an organic fungicide, which is often seem time-consuming; it is a pesky problem. And, if sulphur added to regular insecticidal soap. The soap after you have treated it, the black spots reoccur, you coats the leaves and helps the fungicide adhere may need to spray your plants weekly starting in early to the plant. spring. www.countrygardener.co.uk

29

READERS LETTERS

Have your say...

After more than three months of lockdown and no Country Gardener magazine able to be published, readers have not been slow to write to us with their news, views and opinions. We welcome brief letters on any gardening topics. Write to Country Gardener, Mount House, Halse, Taunton TA4 3AD or email editorial@countrygardener.co.uk

SENSIBLE WATERING TO AVOID BLOSSOM END ROT About a year ago I found an old gardening diary belonging to my father who had been a gardener all his life and his great passion was growing tomatoes- so many varieties which seemed to last for months and months during the summer and autumn. In his diary, gardening notes is probably a better way to describe them, he wrote about blossom end rot which he said he rarely had any problems with.

I always do -so his words were especially relevant.

“Calcium is the problem. It moves into plants along with water through the roots. Irregular watering affects the rate the calcium is absorbed and this affects how the plants use the calcium. Leaves may get enough while the fruit

does not. Keeping soil consistently moist goes a big part of the way to prevent blossom end rot. Water the roots not the leaves. It often takes a bit a time and accuracy to water properly when the plants have grown but it is vital. Some plants may get signs of the disease early on in the season and after that the fruit grows normally for reasons I have never worked out.”

Wise words.

Annie Kobbe Exeter

STAR LETTER

Annie Kobbe wins a stylish Haws metal watering can for her star letter of this issue

A bad experience with grey water

PREDICTING THE FUTURE?

Your excellent magazine often urges readers to make the most of grey water from sinks and baths but this May during the really hot spell I have had a real problem.

We moved grey water from the bath very painstakingly into the 100-litre water butt sited on a west-facing wall.

It took only one used bath, soap and water to fill the butt but then it turned really smelly. Clearly its position catching the afternoon sun did not help. Rainfalls in early June did not flush the pathogens out and I have had to use water purification tablets to cleanse it. It seems the advice should be to only use grey water safely with the benefit of a good filter.

Before we all went into lockdown I was amazed that the first bloom of my 35 year old Camellia x wiliamsii ‘Saint Ewe’ which is about six feet high appeared in bloom on February 16th and looked magnificent.

There’s been a lot of publicity again this summer about using fresh grey water in the garden and on plants.

We have always been very careful of the ‘fresh’ element of this.

Even ecological products will leave a surplus of active ingredients in grey water which could weaken plants if applied directly.

I have never used grey water without leaving it to stand for a while. I am not sure where I learnt this from but I’ve met other gardeners who do the same. The rule is that by allowing the water to stand microorganisms can start to degrade these active ingredients and contaminants can sink to the bottom.

A rough guide is to let it stand for one day in summer, two in spring/autumn and three in winter.

Ian Simpson Stow –in-the – Wold

I keep a record of first blooms every year and this camellia normally blooms around the third week in March, which is when we all had such a change to our daily lives. This timing was quite extraordinary and I wonder if it knew something about what was to come.

Stephanie Findlay Oxford

When not to say thank you for a plant Twice in the last few months I heard or read about a bit of gardening folklore which my friend said I should write to our favourite magazine about. Apparently there is a widespread superstition among gardeners that if you say ‘thank you’ for a plant that’s been given to you as a gift, it will not grow. So you should keep quiet and no thank you note.

Some gardeners I am told believe that plants will grow so much better if stolen that when they give someone a plant, they will put it down and turn their back on it so that the other person can ‘steal’ it.

During lockdown I have become aware of the disadvantages of using bone meal in the garden as an organic fertiliser. In May we used it to give a spring boost to shrubs and in particular on a new border on the perimeter of our garden. One week after applying it we found the aromatic benefits of bone meal had over a period of a few days attracted badgers from the nearby field and then our own two labradors to dig huge holes searching for the delicacy and digging up most of our newly planted shrubs.

That is the end of that experiment for me!

Annie Thornton Devizes

Bernie Gudgeon

The origin of this is based on the belief that if you do something morally wrong like stealing a plant or not saying ‘thank you’ when one is given to you, the plant will then grow prolifically to remind you of your misdeed and make you feel guilty!

30

NO MORE BONE MEAL FOR MY GARDEN

Country Gardener

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The bigger the heap- the better the compost

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Your article in March on composting reminded me that I have long wanted to write to you about my experiences with composting.

Lockdown has given us all more time to do things like this so I have taken the opportunity.

I have five enclosures with the capacity of about two cubic yards of uncomposted material. The pens are built of timber with chicken wire with moveable fronts. One is dedicated to autumn leaves used for mulching, one of the current years’ produce and the third from the previous year. The other two are for garden and kitchen waste working on the cycle of the compost being at different stages in each heap.

I feel a lot of nonsense is talked about composting techniques and specially the need to turn the heap.

The average gardener doesn’t have the strength to turn several tonnes of material. My technique as such is to put everything in a heap and leave it. It seems to work perfectly. Scale is an issue with me- the bigger the heap, the better the compost.

I do however get upset about wasting resources. I have neighbours who burn leaves rather than compost them. In fact one set of neighbours hired a skip to clear their compost heap in order to keep everything neat and tidy for their prospective purchasers.

Terry Gibson Ashburton, Devon

Country Gardener reaches the Italian Alps In January this year we had a holiday in the Italian Alps which was memorable for lots of reason. When we were waiting to check in at the hotel there on the coffee table as we sat down were two copies of the winter edition of Country Gardener. How they got there heaven knows but it was at least a taste of home and the garden. A well-travelled magazine. We love it by the way and have missed it this spring.

Pauline Leslie Illminster, Somerset

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PALM TREE FLOWERING WONDER? I wonder how far from the warmer weather of the south west will a palm tree flourish and flower? I have a Trachycarpus fortunei which is ten years old and grows in a sheltered position but it has survived a couple of coldish and wet winters. We live ten miles out of Exeter.

Two years ago it produced two flowers, then three the year after and it clearly flourished in the warm summers we’ve had over the past two years. It does however attract a lot of attention and I am not sure if this is normal or not.

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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

garden advice The queries and problems facing Country Gardener readers have been reaching record numbers over the past few months, as more time spent in the garden seems to need more answers

I’d like to try a cultivated blackberry in my garden for next year but everyone tells me they are a dangerous thing to try as they can quickly run out of control.

Are they being scaremongering?

Andy Desborough Paignton It shouldn’t be a problem. Cultivated blackberries are more productive and better behaved than their wild relatives, and can be trained in a variety of ways.

Blackberries can ramble over arches, pergolas, and trellis and along wires on walls and fences.

If you are short on space there are compact, thornless types of blackberry Thornless blackberries grow well in containers that will grow perfectly well in containers.

However, there is an element of truth in what you have been told. Blackberries are vigorous and need regular pruning and training. Regularly tie in the shoots of newly-planted canes. Once these reach their first winter, cut back all sideshoots produced on these main canes to two inches. It is mainly from the resulting fruiting spurs that flowers are formed.

In the second year after planting the crown will throw up new canes from ground level. Loosely bundle these together; insert four bamboo canes in a square vertically around the crown and pull the new canes into the centre; then tie some sturdy twine around the square to hold the new canes in place.

Remove the one-year-old canes once they have fruited by pruning them into shorter sections with loppers, then extracting them carefully to prevent their thorns snagging on new canes. Then untie the twine around the new canes and train them along the wires. Beware that birds, especially pigeons, can cause an array of problems including eating seedlings, buds, leaves, fruit and vegetables.

Echinaceas need adequate air circulation

32

How can I make echinaceas last more than one summer? I love them in borders but for the last few years I have had an endless run of problems with them- the main one being they never seem to return for a second year.

Pamela Howe Barnstaple.

Many gardeners seem to have problems with these, among the loveliest of flowers. The complaints are that they will grow well for one or two summers and then disappear.

They do seem to attract a lot of problems with a variety of diseases, some which attack the roots and cause quite dramatic deterioration.

Stem rot, powdery mildew, and aster yellows are the most common diseases. Stem rot normally results from overwatering, as these plants are quite tolerant of drought-like conditions and require less watering than many other plants.

Problems with powdery mildew usually occur due to overly moist conditions and lack of airflow. This can be easily avoided by providing adequate air circulation proper spacing as well as keeping moisture to a minimum. Aster yellow is a disease that is most often transmitted through insects or poor growing conditions that make plants more susceptible.

Flowers become distorted, turn green in colour, exhibit stunted growth, and may even die. Infected plants should be removed and destroyed. You can easily avoid most problems by planting them in well-draining soil and providing them with adequate growing room. Good watering practices should also be used.

Country Gardener

How can I dig my vegetable plot without suffering painful backache? It often hurts me after about ten minutes and it is limiting my ability to garden properly, something I love now I have more time on my hands.

Peter Fletcher Taunton Firstly if your back is affecting you that badly stop and make some changes to how you are doing things. You might want to look at your tools, is your spade the correct height for you?

Do you dig in the right manner e.g. no stooping or bending –it can be done.

There are other options. Warm up before starting to garden by gently stretching your muscles. If it’s cold, wait until later in the day when it’s warmer. Use tools with long handles, such as forks and trowels. Some tools have extensions or telescopic arms which reduce your need to stretch.

Alter your posture regularly as you work

Avoid repetitive garden work. Alter your position regularly as you work, take regular breaks and drink plenty of liquid.

Don’t lift heavy objects. If you must lift something, remember to bend your knees and keep your back straight. Use a wheelbarrow to move objects where possible. Wear belts that support your back if necessary.

There is of course another option. No-dig gardening is a method that aims for minimal disturbance of the soil, so that the natural processes can be preserved. This allows the natural organisms to thrive, increasing the soil’s overall health and therefore that of your plants and of course means that your back is the biggest beneficiary. One of the leading authorities on the no –dig method is Bristol based Charles Dowding. www.charlesdowding.co.uk

A path around our newly built house leads down to the garden and in spring everything was neat and tidy. It is now a full time job keeping it weed free and I refuse to use chemicals but are there any gardening ‘tricks ‘which might help?

Anna and Mark Peters Portsmouth In a word –no. It requires hard work, often getting on your knees and being quick in tackling the problem. The first thing to say is to check there is a proper membrane under the gravel- without it thinks will only get worse Paving and gravel paths can quickly become colonised by garden weeds but the speed they take control depends really on if there is an adequate membrane to help in the fight. Even that won’t solve the problem 100 per-cent.

Always deal with weeds before they have a chance to release seeds. A single plant can produce thousands of seeds, all with potential to grow into new, seedproducing plants. Groundsel and hairy bitter cress, start flowering while still tiny, so be vigilant and remove them as they appear.

The best way to weed a path is to get down on your knees and do it by hand.

Use a kneeling pad or a low seat if it helps. Arm yourself with a sharp knife or bespoke weeding blade, and push it as deeply as possible into the gaps, hooking out weeds, roots, soil and all.

If you can’t get right down between the gaps, simply scrape the blade along the joint, slicing through weed stems. This will remove moss as well. Use a stiff broom to collect the weeds and soil, brushing in every direction to clear the gaps of debris.

Over the years, seeds from weeds and other plants will fall on gravel paths and take hold, even if a weed-supressing membrane has been laid beneath the path. Use a hoe to quickly remove weeds, pushing it back and forth through the gravel to chop up stems and roots. Good luck!

A thick membrane is the key – if not it’s hard work!

I have planted a number of climbing roses along a new arbour in the garden which runs for about 20 metres and they are enjoying their first year. They have established themselves well but I am nervous about how to prune them after such a costly outlay and there seems to be some conflicting advice on the best approach.

Malcolm Dawes Cheltenham The general advice from rose experts is to prune in late winter or early spring, when the first growth is beginning. This is generally between February and March.

It is okay to prune earlier, but it can be more difficult to identify the less healthy stems that you will want to prune out. The two important elements when pruning climbers are selecting and encouraging strong growth from the base of the plant and then training stems so

that they fan out and are near to horizontal to promote shoots along the stem.

The process will vary depending on the structure that the rose is growing against.

Your roses will still be establishing its roots to support growth in the future, so only very light pruning is required.

Cut away any growth that is growing away from the structure that cannot be tied back. Then follow the ‘four D’s’ – remove any dead, dying, damaged and diseased stems. Pull pull down the longer stems to 45 degrees or more and tie against your wires. Finally remove any remaining leaves to reduce the risk of disease spores being carried over. That’s all you need to do. In year two the growth will be more vigorous and congested so you will need to cut away more of the weakest growth

Where the sun sets is important in planning a roof garden

Prune climbing roses in late winter or early spring

We are about to move into a Torquay property which has space on the roof which could we think be turned into a roof garden. It is nine metres x 12 metres and while some friends are saying it is too much work we’d like some ideas.

Leigh Clarke Torquay If you’re designing from scratch then think about where the sun will set. A garden like this could be used mostly in the evenings, so think what will look most effective backlit by the setting summer sun (billowing grasses and airy perennials will look especially lovely).

A few trees will add height and drama as well as seasonal interest, but choose them wisely. Multi-stemmed trees, especially if they are lit from below, are www.countrygardener.co.uk

visually impactful. And a small multistem such as Amelanchier lamarckii will give almost year-round interest with beautiful spring blossom, pretty foliage through summer, and dramatic colour in the autumn.

Plan and install lighting at the same time as you add plants and structures; a well-thought-out scheme will make all the difference to how you use the terrace at night and also will make it a more beautiful landscape to gaze upon from a distance. Uplights will look effective with architectural plants (ferns, palms, and spiky yuccas, for example) while some simple LED festoon lights strung around walls or through a pergola will add atmosphere.

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Plymouth, Dartmoor & lovely South Devon Villages & Towns in easy reach.

Pets Welcome. Forest School.

Short Breaks available.

Winchcombe North Cotswold’s AONB Sleeps 2 ,en-suite, Central Heating.

Wood Fired Hot Tub. Central for Cotswold Attractions. Views and Excellent walking.

Tel 01242 604189 www.pinnockwoodfarm.co.uk ACCOMMODATION HOLIDAY COTTAGES

www.churchwoodvalley.com info@churchwoodvalley.com 01752 862382

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 BOSWORLAS NEAR SENNEN/ST JUST, CORNWALL. Cosy Cottage, rural views, Sleeps 2-4 01736 788709 www.bosworlas.co.uk

Seafront chalet situated on estuary.

Sleeps up to 6. Seaview. Well Behaved Dogs Welcome. Open from 1st March - 31st Dec. For brochure

SANDWAYS

HOLIDAY COTTAGE SIDMOUTH, DEVON Holiday bungalow situated at Stoneleigh Holiday Park, overlooking the Donkey Sanctuary.

Ideal for walkers, nature lovers and families.

Available to rent from April to October. Sleeps 4.

SELF-CATERING COTTAGES IN COUNTRYSIDE NEAR LYME REGIS. Japanese food available. www.hellbarn.co.uk 01297 489589 ACCOMMODATION WITH BEAUTIFUL GARDENS

CARDS & PRINTS A range of over 200 greetings cards and prints from the flower paintings of

ANNECOTTERILL

We sell to both individuals and trade. No order too small.

Contact us for your free 2020 catalogue Mill House Fine Art Publishing, Bellflower Gallery, Market Place, Colyton, Devon EX24 6JS

Tel. 01297 553100 info@millhousefineart.com

Lovely self-catering cottage in peaceful location: large garden.

Sleeps 2. Perfect for famous gardens, NT properties & Cotswolds.

Tel: 01789 740360 www.romanacres.com

GARDEN PLANTS/ACCESSORIES

THE GARDENER’S BLACKSMITH jonne@jonne.co.uk 07770 720 373 Artist blacksmith based near Axminster designing and manufacturing garden plant supports, structures, artwork and outdoor/indoor furniture.

Commissions welcomed.

www.thegardenersblacksmith.co.uk GARDEN SERVICES

www.millhousefineart.com

FERTILISER/PLANT FEED

A natural bio-stimulant made from sustainably hand-harvested seaweed in Dorset Quote code: 10CG2020 at checkout to receive 10% off. Valid 01/03/2020 31/08/2020. One use per customer. www.dorsetseaweeds.co.uk FOR SALE

Near Stratford-upon-Avon

34

HOME FARM B&B IN BEAUTIFUL COTSWOLD village nr Chipping Campden. Close Hidcote and Kiftsgate phone 01386 593309 www.homefarminthecotswolds.co.uk

PADSTOW HOUSE. 4 + baby, gardens, parking, Wi-Fi, Camel Trail, beaches 07887 813495 holidaysat55@gmail.com

CORNWALL, NEAR ST JUST. Chalet, sleeps 4, heated indoor pool, open all year – near gardens/coast, golfing nearby. Prices from £300 pw.

01736 788718

classified@countrygardener.co.uk

FRUIT TREES

NORTH DEVON NEAR CLOVELLY. 3 delightful cottages situated in 12 acres of idyllic countryside. Sleeps 2-4. 1 Wheelchair friendly. Prices from £190p.w. Brochure: 01237 431324 www.foxwoodlodge.co.uk

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

Tel: 01269 862191

ADVERTISE HERE FROM JUST £2 PER WORD

Tel: 01792 391212 www.penricecastle.co.uk

BED & BREAKFAST

WYE VALLEY/FOREST OF DEAN. Fully equipped 4-star single storey cottage.

Two bedrooms both en-suite. Central heating/bedlinen provided. Rural retreat with shops/pubs one mile. Short breaks available. Warm welcome.

Tel: 01594 833259 www.cowshedcottage.co.uk

Carmarthen Bay South Wales

16 holiday cottages on an 18th century Estate on the Gower Peninsula with beautiful Grade I listed historic park and gardens.

GARDEN FOR SALE (2+ bedroom Bungalow included) A mile from Wells, Somerset overlooking the Mendip Hills. Run organically for fifteen years.

Not ‘tidy’ but much enjoyed by wildlife.

No-dig vegetable beds. Fruit trees, vines and soft fruit. Small ‘pond’. Compost areas. Water butts. Large brick-base shed / greenhouse. About 600 sq. metres garden area. £320,0000 (negotiable).

For further information please email jennylinsdell@gmail.com or telephone 01749 670069

Country Gardener

Yenstone Walling Dry Stone Walling and Landscaping Patrick Houchen - DSWA member

Tel: 01963 371123 www.yenstonewalling.co.uk

Want this space?

ADVERTISE HERE FROM JUST £2 PER WORD

Email: classified@countrygardener.co.uk for more details

CLASSIFIED POLYTUNNELS

SPECIALIST NURSERIES & PLANTS FREE BROCHURE

Established 1984

We stock up to 200 varieties throughout the year

01363 84948 info@ferrymanpolytunnels.co.uk

www.ferrymanpolytunnels.co.uk

SPECIALIST GARDEN PRODUCTS

CustomTimberBuildings.co.uk Stables

Contact Gary: 01684 770 733 or 07500 600 205 Gary@cranesbillnursery.com www.cranesbillnursery.com

CERTIFIED ORGANIC VEGETABLE PLANTS

Trimplant Nursery, Combe Raleigh, Honiton, Devon sales@trimplants.co.uk www.trimplants.co.uk

Growers of many plants suitable for coastal areas including hedging plants

Want this space?

All propagated and grown in Devon

ADVERTISE HERE FROM JUST £2 PER WORD

Established suppliers to landscape designers

Catalogue available or visit us MON/ FRI or SAT 9 - 4pm, Yeovil Road, Halstock BA22 9RR

www.coastalhedging.co.uk www.seasideplants.co.uk

Consultation/Design & Landscape Service Tel: 01935 891668

Garden Offices

Try

www.growersorganics.com Tel: 01752 881180

DORSET WATER LILY COMPANY The Uk’s largest selection of established pot grown water lilies for public and landscape supply.

Looking for young, hardy garden plants to grow or plant?

Visit us at Kitley Farm, Yealmpton, PL8 2LT Or order plants at

Speciality hardy marginals and moisture loving bogside.

01935 891195 Garages

Tel 01404 41150

Free Guide & Catalogue on request

Discover the Diversity of Hardy Geraniums!

Polytunnels from £399 available to view by appointment

Log cabins

WHOLESALE NURSERY

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Ex-display buildings for sale | Anything to order

REACH 300,000* LOYAL READERS WITH

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*Based on 2018 Readership Survey Results

Heucheraholics Nursery Open Days 2020

SAT 5TH & SUN 6TH SEPTEMBER • SAT 3RD & SUN 4TH OCTOBER OPEN 9AM- 5PM

Come and join us on our nursery and take the chance to rummage around in the best selection of Heucheras in the Kingdom. All the latest varieties and trusty old favourites.

Top tips on getting the most out of your plants.

COVID SAFETY INFORMATION • In order to maintain social distancing and keep you all safe we would love an email / text or phone call prior to the event to give us an approximate time of your visit - this will help us to organise our safe spaces • The event is outside and in our huge spacey glasshouse with lots of room • Hand sanitiser will be available and payment by cards accepted

Heuchera ‘Wedding Bells’

Boldre Nurseries, Southampton Road, Lymington, Hants SO41 8ND TEL: 07973 291062 / 01590 670581

www.heucheraholics.co.uk www.countrygardener.co.uk

BUY ONLINE ANYTIME! 35

Rosy’s top picks

for autumn Multi RHS Chelsea’s Gold Medal winner Rosy Hardy looks ahead and picks out a selection of perennials and offers advice on how to care for them The award winning Hardy’s Cottage nursery in Whitchurch, Hampshire has a number of claims to fame.

The independent nursery is famous for its wide range of home produced herbaceous perennials and for growing plants in a traditional way making them tough and resilient.

PERFECT AWARD WINNING PERENNIALS Anemone ‘Frilly Knickers’ 60cm x 45cm

Significantly it also has in plantswoman Rosy Hardy, the pedigree of being awarded 24 Gold Medals at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

After the forced Covid lockdown, the family run nursery is now back to its ‘normal’ opening hours of Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.

And looking ahead to the autumn Rosy has offered her choice of the top picks of autumn flowering perennials.

Tel: 01256 896533 www.hardysplants.co.uk

CONTAINERS NEED A REFRESH - how about trying perennials?

Perennials can also prove economical with no need to keep replacing planting with the change of season. A great tip for ensuring continued seasonal interest is to have several pots and rotate them as the seasons change.

From a sustainability point of view, they are a winner too. Perennials thrive in pots for several years reducing wastage at the end of each season. If they become congested, it is easy to divide them, planting excess plants in the garden and return reinvigorated plants to their pots with some fresh compost.

Crocosmia ‘Firestarter’

Anemone ‘Frilly Knickers’

Pretty and delicate with its romantically ruffled semi-double petals, Anemone ‘Frilly Knickers’ has already won the hearts of many, winning the Horticultural Trades Association Virtual Plant Awards 2020 with an amazing 33 per-cent of the vote.

Says Rosy: “It is an anemone full of surprises. Its full buds hint of double flowers within but actually reveal semi-double blooms - each pure white petal being suffused with pale lilac and finely frilled, surrounding a boss of deep golden yellow stamens. Glimpse beneath and the petals are brushed with deeper violet, a gorgeous composition”.

Crocosmia ‘ Firestarter ‘ 75cms x 60 cms This crocosmia has a golden yellow base, edged with orange and an orange centre stripe radiates along each petal from the red centre of the flower.

This hardy variety is perfect for flower borders, adding a burst of colour from late June to early July to August. Best when grown in full sun and in well drained but moisture retentive soil.

It was bred by Paul Lewis and introduced by Hardy’s Cottage Plants two years ago. Price £9.50

Salvia Oriental Dove 100cm x 75cm

It prefers part shade but can cope with more sun, if the soil is sufficiently good, moist and humus -rich. Price: £7.50

Astrantia ‘Burgundy Dove’ 75cm x 45cm

Astrantia ‘Burgundy Dove’

fabulous combined with white and pink forms of astrantia, but for a more striking contrast try lime greens and oranges. This particular form was a seedling found in plantswoman Gill Richardson’s garden and named after her farm.

Price: £7

Large and very beautiful dark red flowers with centres like pincushions are held on reddish black stems high above the deep green foliage.

In full bloom in mid summer, it will establish itself quickly and repeat flower. It looks

A new introduction, ‘Oriental Dove’ has delicate flowers a vibrant shade of royal purple with the lower lips fringed in white, that glow against its fresh green foliage.

Flowering from midsummer through Salvia ‘Oriental Dove’ to autumn, it is perfect for injecting colour into the garden, bridging the August slump when earlier flowering perennials have faded and the autumn ones have yet to start. It thrives in full sun in a reasonable soil, i.e. moist but free draining. Price £10

Rosy’s tips for success!

“The larger the container the better! There will be less chance of the soil drying out and the roots of the perennials will have more space to grow.

“Selection of suitable growing medium for your perennials is important. Good quality peat-free compost is ideal. Over the last few years, we have grown our perennials in Melcourt multi-purpose 36

compost, which is a peat-free medium and has proven successful.

“Drainage considerations - make sure your container has at least one hole in the bottom, more is even better.

“As with any planting, ‘right plant right place’ still applies. On a south facing patio, drought tolerant Country Gardener

sun loving plants will thrive, whereas in the shade of a porch or on a north facing wall, a selection of shade loving plants would be more appropriate.

“Regular watering is important as containers tend to dry out more quickly than garden soil, particularly if in full sun.”

Robinia

Tradescantia

Threatened plants need you!

TEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLANTS INCLUDING AUBRIETA AND BERBERIS ARE NOW AT RISK AS THEY FAIL TO FIND A HOME IN NATIONAL PLANT COLLECTIONS Plant lovers throughout the West Country have been urged to help to save some spectacular UK’s garden plants, which it seems, are not being cared for properly.

Horticultural charity Plant Heritage is calling for anyone passionate about plants to help save ten plant groups which could be at risk, as part of its annual ‘Missing Genera’ campaign.

The campaign comprises ten different types of plants many of which are known and loved in the West Country, including Aubrieta, which is often one of the first bursts of colour in spring and the beautifully scented Hoya, perfect in any home or conservatory. These aren’t currently represented by one of the charity’s 650 plus National Plant Collections, which means that the range of species and cultivars are not being cared for and they’re at risk of being lost – something Plant Heritage has been working hard to prevent since 1978.

Vicki Cooke, conservation manager, explains: “The Missing Genera campaign showcases many types of garden plant that don’t have a National Plant Collection to look after them. Anyone can help by starting their own National Plant Collection, which they can care for, grow and ultimately help to conserve.”

THE TEN PLANT VARIETIES IN NEED OF A HOME ARE: Arisaema - Also called the Snake Lily, there are many species and a handful of known cultivars grown in the UK. These striking plants have unusual flowers.

Aubrieta - One of the firsts bursts of colour in spring, aubrieta boasts either pink, purple or blue flowers which light up a rock garden.

Berberis - Also known as barberry, these deciduous or evergreen shrubs standout due to their colourful flowers and berries - as well as their thorns!

Daphne - Native to Britain and other parts of Europe, these winter or spring flowering shrubs have incredibly fragranced flowers.

Elaeagnus - If a delicious floral scent is what you’re looking for in a plant, look no further! Also called silverberry they can flower in spring and early summer, or in autumn.

Gaura - Pretty in shades of pink and white, gaura flowers from late summer into autumn. They’re drought tolerant deciduous perennials.

Arisaema

Aubrieta

Berberis

Daphne

Hoya - These beautifully scented plants are perfect in a home or conservatory. Also known as wax flowers, there are 18 species and cultivars.

Elaeagnus

Papaver (oriental group) - These pretty perennial poppies are a stalwart of early summer. Since the 19th century oriental poppies have been bred to produce a range of coloured flowers, from pastel shades to deep plums.

Gaura

Robinia - With its eyecatching, hanging bunches of pink, white or yellow flowers, this tall member of the legume family needs space to grow - and for their beauty to be appreciated!

Tradescantia - A genus of two halves; the indoor houseplant boasts foliage of purple, green and white, often with no or insignificant flowers.

Hoya

Papaver

Anyone interested in starting a National Plant Collection of one of the groups, visit www.plantheritage.org.uk/national-plant-collections/start-a-national-plant-collection The Missing Genera campaign began in 2016 and every year Plant Heritage highlights ten different groups of plant not represented in a National Plant Collection.

Plant Heritage’s existing National Plant Collections are held in an array of spaces, from indoor shelves and small conservatories, to large gardens and greenhouses. Found in all corners of the country the National Plant Collections contain over 95,000 plants from miniature orchids to mighty oaks.

To find out more about Plant Heritage, its National Plant Collections or for information about how to become a collection holder, visit www.plantheritage.org.uk www.countrygardener.co.uk

37

TREE SPECIALIST

Green trees combat the

lockdown blues MARK HINSLEY CONSIDERS THE IMPORTANCE OF TREES THAT YOU SEE FROM YOUR WINDOW AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SHADE THEY OFFER At a time when we have been surrounded with gloom and isolation for months take a moment to consider just how important to you, if you have one, is the tree that you can see from your window.

Look out from your home, spot the trees on your horizon and imagine them not there – how does it look?

As we were swamped with statistics about death and fear did you see the trees coming to life with flowers and new growth in the spring?

Did it reassure you that life goes on after all?

The trees known to be the most important to how people feel about themselves and their home are the ones on their skyline. These are the trees that prevent your locality from being a concrete jungle, the trees that, subconsciously, make the one time hairy forest dweller that you are feel at home, the trees that allow you to say that you live in a ‘nice’ area.

Unfortunately, the tree that is closest to you, in your garden or immediately next door doesn’t have the same effect, partly because most of the time you are looking out past it.

This is also the tree that shades your garden and fills it with leaves, debris, dead sticks and presents from the pigeons. Many people still value their own tree for what it is and does, others (you know who you are!) do not.

Local planning authorities have reported a significant upsurge during the lockdown of applications for works to protected trees, probably because people have been spending more time in their own gardens.

So, I want to look at a benefit of the tree in your garden that is frequently undervalued – shade.

We have all heard of ultraviolet radiation, but what do we know about it?

Editorial

Publisher & Editor: Alan Lewis alan@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01823 431767

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is so harmful to our heath that the World Health Organization declared it a carcinogen, especially of the skin.

Depending on the wavelength of the UV radiation emitted, it can be classified as UVA, UVB, or UVC radiation.

UVA radiation is responsible for ageing, skin cancer, and wrinkles. Since the ozone layer barely absorbs it, UVA radiation accounts for 95% of the UV radiation that hits the earth.

UVB radiation makes up the remaining 5%. UVB radiation is responsible for the production of vitamin D in our bodies, but overexposure to this radiation causes skin cancer, sunburns, and even cataracts. In recent years, due to ozone layer depletion, more UVB rays have been reaching the earth, and such increases are correlated with an increase in skin cancer.

So let the mad dogs go out in the midday sun while you sit in the shade of your tree – if you haven’t already cut all the branches off - it just might save your life and a fortune in anti-wrinkle cream!

Mark Hinsley is from Arboriculture Consultants Ltd www.treeadvice.info

“The trees known to be the most important to how people feel about themselves and their home are the ones on their skyline”

Lastly, UVC radiation, is blocked almost completely by the ozone layer.

Time of year is an obvious one for concentrations of UV radiation, but time of day is also important - when the sun is high in the sky between 11am and 1pm, the distance the UV radiation has to travel to reach the earth is the shortest for that day, and so, the UV radiation is the strongest. In fact, almost one third of the UV radiation that hits the earth in a day occurs during these two hours.

Look out of the window and re-assure yourself life - and nature- goes on

Time Off

Cath Pettyfer - Devon cath.pettyfer@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01837 82660

Lisa Cawkill - Dorset & Hampshire lisa@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01945 450784

Distribution & Stockists

Advertising Sales

Corina Reay - Cotswolds corina@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01823 410098

Design & Production

Accounts & Payments

Classifieds classified@countrygardener.co.uk

Gemma Stringer gemma@countrygardener.co.uk

Kate Lewis timeoff@countrygardener.co.uk

Magazines

I didn’t know much so I looked it up. I found a paper presented by Samantha Jakuboski that I thought explained things very well.

Ava Bench - Somerset ava@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01278 786139

Aidan Gill aidan@countrygardener.co.uk

distribution@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01823 431767 Sam Bartholomew sam@countrygardener.co.uk Tel: 01823 430639

The Country Gardener magazines are distributed FREE at Nurseries, garden centres, National Trust Properties, open gardens, garden machinery specialists, country stores and farm shops in each county. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or made available in any form, without the written permission of the copyright holder and Publisher, application for which should be made to the Publisher. Unsolicited material: do not send or submit your only version of manuscripts and/ or photographs/transparencies to us as these cannot be returned to you. While every care is taken to ensure that material submitted is priced accurately and completely, we cannot be responsible or liable for any loss or damage suffered. Views and/or opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of Country Gardener or the Publisher.

38

Country Gardener

Know and love your soil Soil expert James Bamford says you can’t garden properly unless you have a detailed understanding of your soil Soil is amazing. It may look ordinary, brown and sometimes mucky but it provides a home for a massive array of plant and animal life upon which we rely and without which we would probably not survive.

It hides history, it is an ever-changing product of pre-historic processes and a good soil is every keen gardener’s best friend.

Observing the type of surrounding vegetation can sometimes give clues to the type of underlying soil present. Heathers for example usually grow on acidic soil with a low pH value; stinging nettles thrive on soils that are very fertile.

Soil acidity is a measure of the number of hydrogen ions in a soil or ‘potential Hydrogen’ abbreviated to pH. The pH scale used to measure acidity runs from 0 to 14, zero being extremely acidic, 14 being extremely alkaline. Most soils fall in the range 3.5 to 8. The majority of plants prefer to grow on soil that is neutral (7) or slightly acidic. The higher the pH value, the lower the number of hydrogen ions present.

Adding lime to a soil reduces its acidity and increases the pH value. On chalky, alkaline soils adding organic matter regularly will lower the pH and increase the range of plants that can be grown

IMPROVING AND FEEDING THE SOIL The primary aim of adding well rotted organic matter to a soil is to improve the structure and workability. Well-rotted garden compost or animal

manure can provide nutrients and maintain the fertility of the soil, but large amounts have to be applied on an annual basis to achieve this.

The regular addition of organic matter improves the structure of a soil and therefore improves the ability to hold on to nutrients and water. The term ‘humus’ is used to describe the animal and plant remains in the soil that decompose over a long period of time.

Humus is also formed by the regular addition of organic matter such as compost or manure.

The addition of small amounts of organic matter or humus to the soil does not directly improve the fertility of the soil, but it does start to improve the capability of the soil to hold onto the nutrients that it already has by binding the particles together to form crumbs.

Animal manures and garden compost are less concentrated than commercial fertilisers.

Concentrated commercial fertilisers for example blood, fish and bone are easy to use and apply but they do not improve the structure of the soil.

Regular addition of organic matter to clay soils will over time force the closely packed particles to split up giving the soil a much better structure, increasing the size of the pore spaces between the particles, which allows the better passage of air and water.

Such clay soils that have been improved over time with the regular addition of organic matter are some of the best soils on which to garden.

THE FIVE SOIL TYPES There are five main soil groups: clay, sandy, peaty, chalky and loamy. They each have different properties and it is important to know these to make the best choices and get the most from your garden.

CLAY Clay soils are usually heavy and cold. They are difficult to dig, especially when wet and are the most fertile and can hold a lot of water, but are poorly drained.

SANDY Sandy soils are the opposite of clay soils.

They are dry, light and feel gritty when rubbed between the fingertips. They also warm up quickly in spring, which means new crops can be planted on them earlier in the season.

CHALKY Chalky soils are moderately fertile. They often contain large amounts of stones or flints. They are free draining and leach nutrients. Chalky soils contain a large amount of lime that makes them unsuitable for many plants.

LOAMY Loamy soils are moisture retentive and fertile. These soils are neither gritty or sticky when rubbed between the fingertips, they are smooth and silky.

When wet, loamy soils take on some of the characteristics of clay, becoming heavy and cold.

PEATY Dark in colour, peaty soils have a spongy texture. They are rich in organic matter and usually acidic with a pH lower than 7.

Peaty soils are not very fertile, they are devoid of most trace elements.

“CLAY SOILS THAT HAVE BEEN IMPROVED OVER TIME WITH THE REGULAR ADDITION OF ORGANIC MATTER ARE SOME OF THE BEST SOILS ON WHICH TO GARDEN” www.countrygardener.co.uk

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