Somerset Country Gardener Winter 2020

Somerset Issue No 177 Winter 2020 FREE

www.countrygardener.co.uk

COLD COMFORT

How your garden

can help wildlife make it through this winter Plus:

The rise of the eco-gardener; Buying and caring for your Christmas tree; Planning your garden for spring; Where to see this winter’s snowdrops; Potato days; Venus fly traps; Christmas garden events in Somerset

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CUTTINGS

Gardeners cuttings

in Somerset

A LOOK AT NEWS, EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN YOUR AREA

Somerset garden secrets revealed in new book A new book celebrates the gardens of Somerset, offering privileged access to 20 inspirational gardens and revealing their history, design and plant collections in the company of their devoted owners, custodians and head gardeners.

gardens and the capital in The London Garden Book A-Z.

Secret Gardens of Somerset, by Abigail Willis and acclaimed photographer, Clive Boursnell, takes the reader on a tour of the county.

Abigail is a member of the Critics Circle and the Garden Media Guild and has lived in Somerset for nearly 20 years.

Each garden has a unique story and personality, from Harold Peto’s Iford Manor on the eastern border of Somerset to Joan Loraine’s organic coastal garden at Greencombe in the far west, to the newly minted American Gardens at Claverton Manor as well as busy productive gardens, idyllic cottage gardens and much more.

Some of the other gardens which are featured include East Lambrook Manor, The Newt in Somerset, Yeo Valley Organic Garden, Hauser and Wirth Somerset and Kilver Court.

Abigail pursued a career in the art world before turning to writing and gardening. She is the author of Bloomsbury Ceramics and the popular guidebook, Museums and Galleries of London. She combined her love of

Clive Boursnell is a Abigail Wiilis with Lucy renowned photographer of architecture, gardens, landscapes and people. He turned to photography as the culmination of a career that included classical ballet and working as a woodsman, a farmhand, a miner, a prospector and a mountaineer. He lives in London.

Price £14.99 Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd

Christmas decorations workshops at Hestercombe

Horticultural charity changes its working name It can be hard to change the name of a charity when its heritage is part of its DNA. This was the challenge faced by the WFGA (the Women’s Farm and Garden Association), the horticultural charity founded in 1889 to educate and provide employment opportunities for women working on the land.

The charity has broadened its reach to include men as well as women, both as members of the WFGA and as trainees in its WRAG (Work and Retrain as a Gardener) scheme. And although learning about vegetable and fruit growing is still encouraged, the emphasis is no longer on traditional farming practices. The new name better reflects the current activities of the charity, whilst at the same time continuing to reflect our heritage.

At the charity’s AGM members voted to change the working name to Working for Gardeners Association. The WFGA acronym remains the same.

Hestercombe gardens just outside of Taunton is hosting some willow themed and Christmas decorations workshops in the build up to the festive season.

On Saturday, 22nd November there’s the chance to learn the ancient and creative art of making a five-foot willow angel with expert tuition from Lynn Kentish. The morning workshop costs £45. Then on Saturday, 29th November, Sunday, 6th December and Sunday, 13th December you can join artisan flower grower and florist Jan Boddington for a morning workshop to make a beautiful Christmas wreath for your home. Price £45 starting at 9.30 am.

Book at www.hestercombe.com/event/wreath-making-workshops Hestercombe Gardens, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton TA2 8LG

Wildlife trust’s warning as hedgehog numbers decline Wildlife Trusts through the south are encouraging people to make their gardens more hedgehog-friendly ahead of their winter hibernation.

An annual an online survey to monitor hedgehogs, has revealed their numbers have declined by 30 per-cent in the past 10 years.

Hugh Warwick from the Hedgehog Preservation Society says people can help by creating more spaces in their own gardens, like woodpiles and bramble patches.

He also urged people to take care when lighting bonfires –one of the biggest cause of hedgehog deaths in the autumn.

Country Gardener works hard to ensure we have up to date and correct information when it comes to garden events and openings. However, events can be cancelled at short notice with the uncertainty surrounding Covid 19, so we urge readers to double check with venues before setting out on a visit. www.countrygardener.co.uk

Look out for the March 2021 edition of Country Gardener available to pick up from 27th February 3

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Glow

Selected dates 19 Nov - 2 Jan Timed entry and limited capacity, book all tickets online at rhs.org.uk/rosemoorglow RHS members go free Your visit supports our work as a charity RHS Reg Charity No. 222879 / SC038262

4

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CUTTINGS

GLOW ready to dazzle visitors AT RHS ROSEMOOR Tickets for the popular garden illuminations Glow at RHS Rosemoor which is well worth a slightly longer trip out of Somerset,are now on sale as the gardens prepare to light up this winter for magical events throughout the festive season.

RHS Rosemoor’s illuminated trail attracts visitors from all over the south west

The winter at the Rosemoor is always one of the most beautiful sights in all seasons. In addition to its day-time beauty, once again visitors can see the garden transformed at night too by innovative colour-changing lighting into a magical festive trail around the trees, shrubs, water features and sculptures.

The RHS has put in place a number of measures to ensure everyone can enjoy the events with confidence. These include mandatory advance booking, one-way routes around the gardens and limits on numbers at any one time.

Glow runs from Thursday, 19th November through to Saturday, 2nd January.

RHS Garden Rosemoor, Great Torrington, Devon EX38 8PH 01805 626810

SYDNEY GARDENS IN BATH TO UNDERGO YEAR -LONG UPGRADE A year-long construction and landscaping project to rejuvenate the UK’s only surviving Georgian Pleasure Garden has begun.

Bishop’s Palace IN WELLS

receives grant to ensure full winter opening

The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens in Wells has received a grant from the Culture Recovery fund to enable it to stabilise its operations post-lockdown and start to rebuild the much-loved garden and grounds as a vital Somerset visitor attraction. The popular venue in the centre of Wells received £364,000 from the fund which will be used to ensure that the site can stay open through the winter months for the public to visit and enjoy. The funds will cover staff costs, Covid safe alterations to the working and visitors environment and digital updates including a new website to enable visitors to research the site and learn more about the palace and its gardens and to be able to book tickets online.

£364,000 grant for Bishop’s Palace, Wells

The Somerset venue is one of 445 heritage organisations set to receive a lifesaving financial boost from the government thanks to the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bishop’s Palace Trust chief executive Rosie Martin said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have received this vital funding. After suffering catastrophic losses earlier in the year, we had serious concerns about our ability to keep the site open to the public. This funding means that we can continue to employ all of our staff and make appropriate changes to ensure that they can work safely”.

...and funding support also agreed for

Hestercombe gardens Hestercombe Gardens Trust and the National Trust’s Wellington Monument will share £1,058,400 of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage.

The funding will help with costs for operating, reopening and recovery as well as allow construction and maintenance, helping to preserve visitor attractions and protect livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable heritage specialists and contractors in the sector.

Hestercombe Gardens Trust chairman, Sir Andrew Burns said:

Sydney Gardens in Bath, a favourite spot of Jane Austen dating from 1795, will benefit from a new large play area for all ages, improved tennis courts and a new Community Pavilion in a major project joint-funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.

“This new boost to our funds will help us recover some of the losses the charity incurred due to the national lockdown and will enable us to continue welcoming visitors to these world-famous gardens and sustain our important role within the local community.”

Conservation work will be carried out on the key listed buildings, the Temple of Minerva and Loggia and the Edwardian iron toilet facilities will be restored.

SOMERSET PARKS WIN GREEN FLAG AWARDS

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s parks team is leading the refurbishment project, named Sydney Gardens: a 21st Century Pleasure Garden, with all design and contractor teams based in Bath or within the South West.

The parks team and The Friends of Sydney Gardens have been working for the past three years with other organisations including the Holburne Museum, Residents Associations, the Canal & River Trust, Julian House, Age UK Bath and local schools on the project.

The Bishop’s Palace, Wells BA5 2PD

Parks in Taunton, Wellington and Minehead have been judged among the best in the country under the Green Flag Award Scheme.

Minehead’s Blenheim Gardens received a Green Flag Award for the first time, while Vivary, Victoria and French Weir Parks in Taunton retained theirs, as did Swains Lane Nature Reserve in Wellington.

Wellington Park kept its Green Flag Heritage Award, one of only two in the South West, and Comeytrowe Park again has a Community Green Flag Award.

www.countrygardener.co.uk

5

SNOWDROPS

Snowdrop special in Somerset Now is a great time to plan to visit some of the wonderful snowdrop collections that can be found in Somerset.

One of the most uplifting sights in early spring is to see swathes of snowdrops and crocus, and there are Somerset gardens opening for the National Garden Scheme where you can visit to see great displays, while helping to raise much needed funds for nursing and caring charities.

ROCK HOUSE Elberton

to ten people between January and March. Contact the garden owner, Myra Ginns on 01454 415396.

SNOWDROP VALLEY Exmoor

EAST LAMBROOK MANOR East Lambrook near South Petherton

A two-acre garden with pretty woodland vistas with many snowdrops and daffodils, a cottage garden, old yew tree and pond, is opening for the NGS on Sunday, 31st January and Sunday, 7th February from 11am until 4pm.

GREYSTONES Hollybush Lane, Bristol Opening for the NGS on Sunday, 7th February from 12pm until 3pm.

Greystones is a peaceful garden in a quiet corner of Bristol, with places to sit, an interesting courtyard with raised beds, conifers and shrubs leading to a secluded garden of contrasts; there’s a small orchard and koi pond.

ALGARS MANOR AND ALGARS MILL Iron Acton, Bristol Opening for the NGS on Sunday, 28th February between 2pm and 4pm.

Algars Manor has two acres beside the River Frome, with a mill stream, mixed planting (magnolias, azaleas, rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs on display later in the spring) and swathes of snowdrops and daffodils.

Algars Mill is also a two-acre garden, but bisected by the River Frome, and the mill race still runs through the old mill house (not open). As well as snowdrops and other spring bulbs there’s the lovely sight of wild Newent daffodils.

1 BIRCH DRIVE Alveston, Bristol There’s a ‘new’ snowdrop opening, this time by arrangement, for the NGS. With about 100 named varieties of snowdrops, opens for groups of five 6

Famed as the former home of the celebrated 20th century plantswoman Margery Fish, opens on Sunday, 14th February for the NGS during its third snowdrop festival, which will run throughout February.

The popular gardens will be celebrating the snowdrop season with its third Festival of Snowdrops, running throughout February. In addition to the snowdrops growing in the garden, the festival will feature displays of unusual cultivars so that they can be appreciated at close quarters.

“The Ditch looks fabulous when the sides are carpeted with snowdrops,” explains owner Mike Werkmeister, “and they have hybridised over the years resulting in several rare snowdrops being found and named after previous owners. We now have over 150 different varieties and a popular feature of our festival is the raised snowdrop display bed and the many individual varieties in clay pots throughout the garden.”

Throughout the festival the garden and nursery open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Entry £6, over 65s £5.50, under 16s free. www.eastlambrook.com

Apart from the NGS charity openings, other Somerset venues will be open for snowdrop visits:

Wear warm clothes and walking boots for the trails through the privatelyowned, hidden Snowdrop Valley in Wheddon Cross. The Badgworthy Land Company will let visitors to walk through the area which is carpeted well in snowdrops.

FORDE ABBEY AND GARDENS Chard The stately home of Forde Abbey is known to have a rich culture and past.

It has 30 acres of well-manicured lakes and greens still being operational as a working estate and family home.

The gardens are open for visitors every weekend of February to admire snowdrops in thousands, rising from the ground to symbolise the dawn of spring.

FYNE COURT Bridgwater Located in the heart of Quantock Hills, witness the wild garden of Fyne Court in National Court where you can explore the blankets of beautiful snowdrops adorning the woodland floor with the pops of colour from yellow archangel, primroses, and bluebells.

PRIOR PARK LANDSCAPE GARDEN Bath It is the 18th century’s intimate and stunning landscape garden near Bath which boasts striking Palladian bridge. It is really wonderful to witness all the year round. It is beautifully set in a valley where visitors can capture the views of the cityscapes and countryside of Bath.

Country Gardener

Pre bookings only for NGS garden visits At present the online booking system for tickets to visit these gardens stays in place, but keep checking the NGS website for more information on booking and visiting the gardens that will open, and for any cancellations.

The NGS have told Country Gardener that the 2021 handbook and the county yellow booklets are going ahead for next year as normal with the dates the gardens are all hoping to open if all restrictions are lifted. At the current time and probably almost certainly for the snowdrop openings early next year it is foreseen that visiting the gardens will be by pre booking only.

The dates that the gardens intend to open, as they will appear in the handbook and booklets will at least let potential visitors know when gardens are likely to be open but it is essential that people check on the website for up-to-date information on openings and current restrictions.

Don’t forget that the money raised from visiting gardens opening for the National Garden Scheme goes to the nursing charities it supports, and who need the funds more than ever.

They include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Carers Trust, and The Queen’s Nursing Institute.

In 2019 the NGS donated £3 million to these and other caring charities, but this pandemic year has been so difficult for fundraising, with a great number of gardens not being able to open as planned. www.ngs.org.uk

THE NEWT - new and inspirational

The gardens alongside a boutique hotel in Bruton and recreated over 30 acres are set to be one of the sights of Somerset

The gardens at The Newt opened in May 2019

The Newt, Hadspen, Bruton, Castle Cary BA7 7NG

The gardens at the Newt, a working estate set in the Somerset hills between the Mendips and Blackmore Vale, are by any stretch of the imagination quite remarkable.

“It’s best to think of the Newt as a garden with a hotel attached rather than a hotel with a garden attached,” is how visitor manager Arthur Cole puts it.

The estate has 300 years of horticultural history to draw upon – the original estate featured a French garden of limes and elms; the great garden designer Penelope Hobhouse lived there until 1979.

So unlike Heligan, in Cornwall, the gardens had not been abandoned for years. Penelope Hobhouse, who created the Queen Mother’s garden at Walmer Castle in Kent, established the centrepiece, a parabolashaped walled garden, in the 1960s. The parabola walled garden was developed later by Nori and Sandra Pope into a colour-themed garden ,very popular with visitors for many years until they returned to their homeland in Canada.

Just as she had been inspired by the beauty of the winemaking region in her native South Africa, new owner Karen Roos, along with her husband, fell in love with the countryside of Somerset. The egg-shaped parabola has been restored with discreet terracing and an extraordinary collection of trained apple trees, arranged in a maze.

All the apple-growing counties of England are represented — so, too, are Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Some of the saplings are arranged into elaborate designs, one remarkably representing the double helix www.countrygardener.co.uk

of DNA. They’re a masterclass in showing how, with the right expertise, you can train a fruit tree into any shape.

At present, the Newt still looks and feels incredibly new.

From the vast yew hedge (shipped in fully mature from Belgium) that surrounds the badminton court, to the state-of-the-art cider-making facilities and gardento-table restaurant, the whole place has a no-expensespared vibe about it. The Newt is named after the 2,000 crested newts that occupy the site – but its scale is more like that of Jurassic Park.

The estate is home to a colony of 2,000 newts — all three UK species: great crested, palmate and smooth.

Many of the water features have strips of timber to provide ladders for the newts, whose presence as protected species resulted in delays to the project.

Three single colour-themed gardens run along the edge of the Long Walk in honour of colourists Nori and Sandra Pope. In the White Garden, plants include Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Diane’, Achillea millefolium and the nodding flowerheads of Pennisetum villosum.

In another of the three colour-themed gardens that run parallel to the sunken Long Walk, the fiery reds of Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Lobelia tupa and Salvia microphylla are softened by textural grasses of fluffy Stipa tenuissima and tall Stipa gigantea, alongside structural plants, such as Melianthus major.

As a garden visit, it is more akin to Alnwick or the Eden Project, which are as much ‘visitor attractions’ as they are gardens. There is can be little doubt that The Newt will please many visitors in the years to come.

7

Winter walks in Somerset gardens Gardens represent different pleasures at different times of the year and Somerset gardens remain open throughout the winter months for very different experiences

More of us are now realising that winter gardens are to be enjoyed rather than endured and over the next weeks and months will take us from autumn colours to the start in February of the delights of snowdrops.

Gardens in winter hold a very different magical appeal to that of a summer garden. There’s a need to keep moving, stride out and perhaps not linger so much.

Somerset has some wonderful winter walking gardens. We would urge to check with each of the gardens as during the difficulties associated with Covid 19 it is possible there will be changes to the planned openings.

Hestercombe Gardens

Prior Park Landscaped Gardens, Bath A beautiful and intimate 18th-century landscape garden with picturesque walks which loses nothing in terms of it s natural beauty during winter months.

One of only four Palladian bridges of this design in the world can be crossed at Prior Park, which was created in the 18th century by local entrepreneur Ralph Allen, with advice from ‘Capability’ Brown and the poet Alexander Pope.

A five-minute walk leads to the Bath Skyline, a six-mile circular route encompassing beautiful woodlands and meadows, an Iron Age hill fort, Roman settlements, 18th-century follies and spectacular views.

Hestercombe’s 50 acres of land features everything from temples and terraces, cascades and courtyards, to ponds and pergolas. All of this, combined with its situation on the southern slopes of the Quantock Hills, means you are sure to stumble upon something of interest even in the fading sun of colder months.

Open at weekends from 10am to 5pm during November and December.

Advanced booking is essential at www.national trust.org.uk/prior-park-landscape-gardens

their curvaceous shape, which has remained ever since: proof that winter can be wonderful.

Tel: 01935 823289 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/montacutehouse montacute@nationaltrust.org.uk

NT Prior Park Landscape Garden, Ralph Allen Drive, Bath BA2 5AH

The Walled Gardens of Cannington, nr Bridgwater

Montacute House and Gardens, Montacute, Somerset TA15 6XP It is a great walking garden.

Hestercombe brings together three centuries of garden design: an 18th-century landscape garden, a 19th-century Victorian Terrace and shrubbery and the early 20th-century Edwardian formal garden.

Should the weather take a turn for the worse, there is also plenty to see indoors with tearooms, an art gallery and the recently restored 17th-century Water Mill with its Dynamo House and Mill Room with historical machinery on display.

Barrington Court, Ilminster Barrington Court is a popular National Trust property near Iliminster in Somerset, a Tudor manor house complimented beautifully with Gertrude Jekyll-inspired gardens, apple orchards and a working kitchen garden.

Located in the village of Cannington, Somerset, The Walled Gardens of Cannington lie within the grounds of a medieval priory and many of its fine buildings, including the walls of the garden, remain offering lots of interest in winter walks.

Visits to the gardens, gallery and shops at Hestercombe must all be pre booked. Hestercombe is open from Wednesdays to Sundays each week 10am to 6pm.

Hestercombe Gardens, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton TA2 8LG

Montacute House, Montacute Although the National Trust’s 16th-century house is closed for the winter months, visitors can still take a stroll through its adjacent formal gardens or, for the more energetic, its 300-acre estate all year round.

Some of the garden highlights include the Stuart and Tudor pudding houses, pavilions where the gentry would retire after dinner in order to enjoy their desserts amongst the tranquillity of the gardens. During a heavy snow storm 66 years ago, snow settled on the hedges for three weeks moulding 8

Winter at Barrington Court offers the opportunities to enjoy walking through the several sections the gardens are divided into.

The gardens are noted for the Arts and Crafts style for which Jekyll provided planting plans. The walled areas include a white garden, a rose and iris garden and a lily garden The house was originally surrounded by a medieval deer park and in the 17th Century a formal garden was constructed and it remains a real winter walking garden. www.nationaltrust.org.uk › barrington-court Barrington Court Barrington, Ilminster TA19 0NQ Gardens open everyday 10am-4pm Country Gardener

You can explore the state-of-the-art botanical glasshouses that are home to arid, sub-tropical and tropical plants from seven different climate zones. A lot the plants grown here are for sale in the plant and garden centre which, along with the tearooms, also remain open.

The indoor tea room is now open but is currently limited to 16 customers (four tables of four seats).

Takeaway is still available and the tearoom patio offers more tables and seats weather permitting.

Track and trace is in place.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday between 10am and 4pm. Last entry at 3pm. Admission: £2.50.

Tel: 01278 655042 canningtonwalledgardens.co.uk walledgardens@bridgwater.ac.uk The Walled Gardens of Cannington, Church Street, Cannington, Nr Bridgwater TA5 2HA

READERS STORY

The time warp

THAT IS MY GARDEN

Freelance writer and passionate gardener Emma Jennings has a view that time spent in the garden seems to belong to a parallel universe with no relation to our normal clocks

A sunny morning in Hampshire and a gentle preamble down to the arbour where the rose dead heads look rather sorry for themselves and need some attention.

This thought leads to the need for my secateurs which are a bit further down the garden in the shed.

Once I have those it occurs to me I might need something bigger for the job and fetch the pruning saw.

On the way back a huge thistle catches my eye, which needs attention, and how did that flowerpot get into the middle of the lawn?

Almost without thought the tasks get linked to one another.

I head back to put the kettle on.

I have been in the garden for 40 minutes! How did that happen?

So not for the first time I am left believing I have entered a parallel universe where time seems to speed up alarmingly out of my control. It isn’t an unpleasant feeling just surprising.

Gardening expands to exceed the time available and you look round still to see tasks undone.

I wonder how many gardeners find this strange phenomenon?

I read something recently about some fairly obscure research suggesting that tending to a garden can have an almost magical effect, even changing the passage of time.

I’m not alone in this belief. Many gardeners past and present have written about the same experiences of switching off from their busy lives or troubles when they’re in the garden.

Gardeners usually say that time in the garden is shorter than it actually is; that planned hours simply slip away. The beginning and end of gardening depends on the tasks that day, or physical limitations such as darkness falling.

Tasks such as weeding or checking on progress are never-ending; mowing the grass is episodic – it happens regularly, but each time the task is finite. Natural time relies on sunrise and sunset, and seasons, determined by something beyond us.

Working with garden time or perhaps nature’s time disconnects me from externally imposed rhythms of activity punctuated by events such as school runs, writing sessions or meals.

Perhaps the garden itself has a role to play: tempting

us out to see what might have happened in our absence and what needs doing next.

Time slippage isn’t confined to a single day. I am sure a few days ago it was spring and now autumn is here. How did that happen? Surely I only just finished picking daffodils for the house and now the leaves are sweeping across then lawn and I need to get next springs bulbs in the ground while it is wet and warm outside.

Physically escaping from inside to outside, being somewhere peaceful away from home or my desk, where I can feel the sun or wind on my back, is relaxing in itself. This is a vital aspect of gardening for me, and reflects the ‘being away’ element of it all.

Whatever their size, gardens take you into a totally different world.

Extent is the idea that gardens are connected physically and virtually to other parts of the gardener’s life, their past, present and future.

Extent configures the garden as a repository for memories and emotions, a place where different times intersect. For instance, I always plant Alchemilla mollis or lady’s mantle in my garden, not only because I am fascinated by the way its leaves hold raindrops, but also because it reminds me of my grandparents. When I see A. mollis, I hear my grandfather saying its name and remember how he always found it funny. Memories can be manifested by physical acts of gardening, too. A man I interviewed about his allotment realised that, when he was digging, he was making the same movements as when he was a teenager working in a foundry, and it took him back immediately to his younger self.

For him, being physically active was psychologically and emotionally meaningful, and gardening is compatible with who he was and what he can do in the present.

Gardening is a relaxing and rewarding hobby. It provides an opportunity to escape and reflect away from our daily routines, and to relish the intensity of fascination. But it is more than that.

The psychological power of gardening derives from the garden’s reach beyond the here and now. My contention is that different and complex forms of time are continuously interacting through the garden and the gardener. Past, present and future collide in a flowerbed, enticing the gardener to lose himself or herself in the pleasure of just being out there.

“Gardeners usually say that time in the garden is shorter than it actually is.”

Someone else can worry about lunch! www.countrygardener.co.uk

9

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

garden advice The queries and problems facing Country Gardener readers continue to reach us in record numbers as more time in the garden seems to need more answers

I have a lovely holly bush at the corner of the house which has in the past always looked shiny and healthy and has been traditionally full of berries but this autumn it looks very sick with blotches on almost all the leaves.

Is it dying or can I do something to help it?

Peter Nolte

I’d like to grow some hops in the garden but a neighbour told me not to bother as the process is difficult and long-winded.

Will Daleman Wells Growing hops is certainly a challenge in the garden- but not impossible. Many gardeners grow hops for their ornamental value. The further south you go the easier it gets. Hops require a high attention to detail throughout the year but most especially in the growing months.

Many cultivars grow to 25 feet so it is important to match the cultivar to the size of your garden. For a relatively small, easy to pick variety opt for ‘Prima Donna’ which is a manageable 6ft in height. Hops (Humulus lupulus) thrive in a neutral to alkaline soil well drained and in plenty of sunshine. Significantly they will need wires or poles –often 10ft tall.

This isn’t to say they aren’t fun to grow thought you will have to wait three years to have a decent crop.

Holly leaf miner (Phytomyza ilics)

Martock The chances are this is holly leaf miner (Phytomyza ilicis), a disease which causes irregular blotches about half an inch or more on leaves. Holly leaf miner can cause gardeners a lot of concern but apart from disfiguring the leaves does little real harm. The miner flies appear in early summer and lay eggs on the underside of the leaves which soon hatch into leaf boring larvae. The real damage is only really seen in autumn and winter. There really isn’t anything which will deal with them.

Picking off and burning the leaves should help but the plant will recover and it is at least re-assuring there is only one generation of flies per year.

Growing hops – challenging but rewarding

I have a new garden to look forward to and after being advised by my daughter what the priorities should be on what trees I can plant to support wildlife?

Frank Kaye Porlock Autumn is the perfect time to plant a tree of large shrub and you will find real value by purchasing bare root specimens. One of the best is Viburnum opolus whose white flowers are rich in nectar while its shiny red berries are devoured by birds. In autumn the leaves turn a wonderful colour. Make sure you don’t buy the sterile form ‘Rosa’ which is the snowball bush and which although pretty has no berries. Another option is Sorbus shrubs available with red, yellow, pink or white berries and rich in autumn foliage. Crab apples (malus) are also excellent for wildlife.

Patience is needed when growing lemons from pips

Is it worth planting up germinating lemon seeds? I remember we did it at school many years ago but can’t remember whether anything came of the experiment.

Maurice Hale Weston-Super-Mare It is possible to grow lemon trees from pips but the bad news is it will take many years before the plants produce fruit, if at all.

Commercial lemon trees are grown from selected cultivars and their seeds are unlikely to produce plants that crop. The plants can also be quite weak looking and spindly but still good fun to see growing.

Sorbus trees offer wonderful pickings for birds 10

Country Gardener

We had three willow trees at the end of the garden which this summer have died a few months apart. Finding the cause has become a bit of a mystery.

Do you have any ideas?

Justine Atkinson Bristol Willow trees are prone to anthracnose disease that can cause premature defoliation in summer which alongside other stresses might cause the slow death of the trees and pass the damage on to its neighbours. Honey fungus is another possibility and the clues here are bark peeling off the tree and a ‘mushroomy’ smell. This autumn look out for honey brown toadstools in the garden and that may be the answer to the mystery.

Can I keep my fuchsias to grow next year? I haven’t had much luck in the past.

Pam Reading

Wild garlic can become invasive

We have lots of wild garlic plants in our borders and for a couple of years this seemed to be a nice thing to have but it has now become invasive and I am not sure how to get rid of it permanently.

Linda Eydmann Dunster Wild garlic in gardens can be very invasive and digging up the bulbs will be a laborious job especially if as you say they have been in your soil for some time and are continuously shedding seeds into your soil. You can weaken them by hoeing off the plants every spring. Or you can spray them with an organic weedkiller but you may need to be patient with this approach.

My three citrus trees are looking unhealthy and have all been losing leaves and flowers all summer. I have been moving them in and out of the greenhouse but I don’t think I have ever sorted out where they should be sited.

Andy Burrow Salisbury Poor growing conditions such as low light levels, erratic watering, lack of feeding and low temperatures can all contribute to the state you find your trees in. If you think the trees are in a serious state of health remove them from the pots and check the roots. If they are congested tease them out and repot. If this doesn’t seem to be a problem look in detail about how you are growing them. Citrus trees respond to generous feeding using a high nitrogen liquid feed right through to the autumn. Leaf fall or yellowing of the leaves is the first sign of a rotting root system and overwatering causes most of this.

Remove the tree from its container and cut away damaged roots and the surrounding compost. Repot and to encourage new root growth grow on in a cool position and keep the soil little more than just moist. Remember citrus plants prefer a cool winter rest.

Uneven ripening is another problem from insufficient watering

Keep fuchsias moist and warm

Chard Yes you can. As soon as the weather starts to get colder and there is a danger of frost protect the plants by putting them in the greenhouse or a sheltered spot- and keep them moist -but no more than that.

You can prune the plant back now or wait until the spring when they will also need re-potting.

Because they do not need a lot of light another option is to keep them in a shed but don’t let then dry out. They should come back in full glory in the spring without too much trouble.

High nitrogen will help with leaf drop

For the first time in many years although my tomato crop has been excellent they have suffered from really tough skins and uneven ripening.

I can’t imagine what this is caused by.

Mark Pritchett Petersfield Tough skins on tomatoes are associated with insufficient watering and excess heat. It may be you need to shade the greenhouse next year. A number of gardeners have found that the spells of hot weather this summer have made greenhouses difficult places without shade. Uneven ripening (greenback) is caused by the fruit being exposed to extreme sunshine. It is warmth, which ripens the fruit not the sun. You can remove lower leaves to increase the air circulation but don’t expose the fruit to extreme sun. www.countrygardener.co.uk

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Make your garden fruitful It doesn’t matter whether you have a small patio with containers or a large orchard there’s no mystery in growing a wonderful variety of fruits next year It’s the time of year for making plans for next season.

While the boom in grow-your-own continues there is one aspect which has, it seems, continues to capture the imagination of more gardeners than ever before - fruit growing.

It is perfectly possible to grow several of your favourite fruits whatever size of garden you have and that opens up the possibilities for fruit trees, bushes, canes and soft fruit.

The basics too are simple. You need a sheltered, sunny site in the garden which avoids frost pockets. You need to choose the varieties you like to eat and choose the right cultivars. Then make sure you grow the types of fruit which suit the soil and position in your garden. Finally be aware that you can choose dwarf rootstocks where space is limited.

The most commonly planted fruit trees are apple trees but you don’t always have to follow convention. Pear, plum, fig and medlar trees can also produce good results. Different varieties produce their fruit at different times of year. The fruit of early ripening trees tends not to keep well whereas later ripening varieties are suitable for storing over winter.

A key factor in getting a successful crop is the tree’s rootstock. To ensure a productive tree, nurseries attach part of one tree to another recommended for growing fruit. This is called grafting, allowing you

to benefit from the healthy rootstock of one tree and the tasty fruit of another. Rootstocks come in various sizes. Look for ones labelled M27 or M9 which suit most gardens, or ask your nursery.

You also need to be aware of the potential size your tree will grow to and whether it’s self-fertilising. Self-fertile trees will produce fruit without the need for another tree to pollinate it. If your tree is not self-fertile it will need to be paired with another one.

Trees can be bought either in a container or bare-rooted. In both cases look for well-developed fibrous roots. For container grown trees, check that roots aren’t congested and choose younger trees ,one to three years which tend to establish quicker. Avoid plants that show any sign of disease.

A great way to make use of limited space is to train the tree along a south-facing wall or fence. Using a wall or fence allows for a longer ripening time as the wall will soak up the heat.

Make sure the structure is strong enough to support the tree in crop.

The sweeter the fruit tastes, the more sun it needs. Therefore grapes, kiwi berries, strawberries, figs, apricots, nectarines, peaches, greengages and cherries are ideal for suntraps.

Grapes and kiwi berries can ramble over archways, strawberries can nestle in pots or vertical plant pouches, and the remaining trees on the list are excellent candidates for fan-training.

FIVE FRUITS FOR SMALL GARDENS Blueberries Blueberries are both delicious and high in antioxidants which is why it is known as a superfood. Plants are easy to grow as long as you use an acidic or ‘ericaceous’ compost. The pH should be as low as 5.5 with a tasty crop of blueberries.

Blueberries are ideal for large containers, where they flower and fruit freely, bearing delicious berries that can be eaten as they are, or saved for later use in recipes. In a smaller garden you can opt for smaller varieties such as ‘Bluetta’ and ‘Top Hat’.

Figs Figs positively thrive in pots and will produce more fruit and less foliage if they are planted in containers. Planting in containers restricts root growth so that the tree does not grow over-large, and fig trees in containers are best grown as dwarf half-standards. Be sure to keep the pot well-watered, and each spring top-dress with fresh soil mixed with some slow-release general fertiliser.

Pears Similar to apples, pears are often grafted onto quince rootstocks, to prevent them growing too tall. The ‘Concorde’ variety of pear is particularly well suited to small

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gardens, and pears can offer a tasty and unusual addition to your garden. Pears need more warmth and sunshine and are more susceptible to frosts, so make sure to protect them when needed.

Grapes Grapes are no longer exclusive to hot countries, with new modern varieties of grape available to grow in your small garden and varieties including ‘Dornfelder’ and ‘Regent’ being particularly well adapted for colder regions. Alternatively, grapes can be grown in a greenhouse or a warm, sheltered spot in the garden.

Redcurrants and whitecurrants Another unusual plant, redcurrants and whitecurrants thrive in smaller gardens and are some of the most easily grown fruit bushes. Redcurrants, and whitecurrants are both cared for the same way. They produce tasty nutritious fruit and they are also just pretty little bushes.

Redcurrants and whitecurrants are both completely self-fertile, so you only need one plant for a crop. They prefer good, well-drained soil with a neutral pH to slightly acidic

Fruits if you want to try something different 1. The Medlar (Mespilus germanica) It has been a cottage garden favourite for centuries and its ideal for smaller gardens. Its slightly fizzy leaves turn to excellent autumn leaf shades and its large single white flowers appear in May.

2. Honey Peach Peach trees are a favourite with gardeners but one very different variety is Saturn - the Honey Peach has a noticeable flattened, even squashed shape to the fruits. The flesh is white, juicy, and very sweet hence it’s name. It isn’t as hardy as a normal peach and does really well in a sheltered position.

3. Asian Pear This is a cross between an apple and a pear tree and is a different tree for the orchard. It resembles a pear tree more but the fruits resemble neither.

Rounded, with a rough amber colour skin, the dense and juicy fine white flesh is an eating sensation and the delicate, subtle flavour a revelation.

There are four named varieties and you need to find the warmest, sunniest spot in the garden.

4. Apricots Available to buy all year round as bare root trees and are becoming very popular. They tend to be vigorous in growth; allow for an eight foot spread and a similar height. Training against a warm sunny wall is often a good space saving option; or look out for the dwarfing variety ‘Isabelle’ which is smaller.

GROWING FRUIT IN CONTAINERS POT GROWN BLUEBERRY Careful selection of the right cultivars and appropriate growing methods is the key to growing fruit such as apples, cherries, pears and plums in containers. This is a great way to grow fruit in a small garden, particularly as it keeps trees smaller than if they were grown in the ground.

Fruit in containers is usually a little more hassle than growing fruit in the open ground. You need to position fruit plants in full sun and water generously but allow the compost’s surface to dry out before the next watering, without it becoming bone dry.

So what varieties do you need to look out for? All the tree fruits in our suggestions pollinate each other.

Cooking apples: ‘Arthur Turner’, ‘Bountiful’ and ‘Howgate Wonder’.

Dessert apples: ‘Alkmene’, ‘Discovery’ ‘Falstaff’ and ‘Sunset’.

Blueberries: Most cultivars will grow well in pots, but particularly half-high blueberries such as ‘Northsky’, ‘Chippewa’ and ‘Northcountry’.

Figs: ‘Brown Turkey’ and ‘White Marseilles’ will not need pollinators.

Grapes: ‘Seyval Blanc’, ‘Siegerrebe’ and ‘New York Muscat’ (no pollinators are required).

Pears: ‘Concorde’, ‘Conference’, ‘Doyenné du Comice’ and ‘Red Comice’.

Plums: There are no suitable culinary cultivars, but the there are some dessert varieties which will grow well in containers - ‘Blue Tit’, ‘Opal’ and ‘Victoria’, which are self fertile.

Strawberries the one fruit you must grow What is not to like about growing strawberries - very easy to grow, little maintenance and supplying large crops of delicious fruit.

Growing strawberries in a raised bed makes them easier to pick and highlights the fruits, pretty leaves and clusters of cottagey flowers. It’s also a good option if you have very heavy soil.

You can make your strawberry patch any size you like, but a metre square bed will accommodate nine plants - enough for several punnets of fruits.

Strawberries are short lived. After three years dig out the old plants with new, planting in a different position or into new soil or start a completely new bed in year two for continuous harvest.

5. Boysenberry There are a number of options for gardeners to come from inter crossing various Rubus species. The greater majority of the rare or unusual will be found in this group. Most of them were raised by inter crossing various Rubus species - Blackberries and Raspberries for the most part, although the group has become a bit of a catch all. The best option is boysenberry - a superb blackberry with a deep damson purple colour and rich taste that has become legendary for jams and preserves or pies. Grow just as you would a blackberry and it’s thornless! www.countrygardener.co.uk

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READERS LETTERS

Have your say...

Country Gardener readers are still very active and keen to share 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

WE ALL NEED TO EMBRACE FRONT GARDENS MORE Your recent piece about a reader who invested lockdown time in his front garden really struck home with me. As a nation we get top marks for our back gardens but only a ‘could do better’ for those at the front. During lockdown I put much more effort into my front garden, which I openly admit I had neglected since we move in two years ago. As I worked on making the front garden a better garden, I could see it was starting to endear itself with the neighbours. Strangers would – at social distancing- stop, chat and take photos. Before long others started asking about the plants I’d used, those same plants later appearing in their gardens. So these are more than front gardens they are an important social bridge that encourage dialogue, a building block of community. It is time we embraced front gardens more.

Paul Ardle wins a stylish Haws metal watering can for his star letter of this issue

STAR LETTER

Paul Ardle Exeter BUY BRITISH THIS YEAR MORE THAN EVER I work part time with a local garden centre and this year again selling our own Christmas trees is going to be vital for our finances. I would urge the readers of your excellent magazine to ‘Buy British’ more than ever before.

There is still the threat that imported Christmas trees provide an overlooked route for non-native pests and diseases.

Tighter plant imported restrictions are now in place for larger cut trees but nothing for trees less than 3ft.

Our trees are healthy and ‘red white and blue’ and great value.

Annie Morgan Christchurch

Deer assault on my garden We returned to our Somerset garden after two windy weeks in Cornwall looking forward to the shelter and comfort of the garden. What we found was the site of carnage caused by deer.

We know they were the culprits as on the day of our return there was one enjoying itself on a sorbus. In the space of a couple of weeks some fledgling fruit trees were gone, all the bark chewed off two lovely old apple trees and a pear tree on the ground and uprooted. My point in emailing you is to see if any of your readers have been able to solve deer attacks. We back on to open fields so preventing them entering the garden is not easy. I have read everything which might be a deterrent from lion dung, soap, wolf’s urine, human hair but everyone suggesting these options confirm they don’t work. One suggestion was that a certain sort of whistle on a bamboo pipe will send them scuttling off. I wondered if anyone had any more horticultural sound ideas which actually work? My wife suggests in desperation a shotgun but that too a little drastic!

Alan Edwards Lydyeard St Lawrence

‘Thumbs up’ from my aubergine After seeing the strangely shaped tomato in your last issue I couldn’t be out done and thought you might enjoy this ‘Thumbs up’ of an aubergine which clearly didn’t work out right. Maybe it was saying its neighbours in the greenhouse were Ok- which they were.

GROWING OLIVES ON THE DEVON COAST We have had an unexpected delight in the garden this summer-lots of our own olives, which we just didn’t expect. The two olive trees up again a south facing wall were really bought for the attractive foliage. We are always worried if the trees would be cold weather damaged and thought the one or two harsh frosts of last winter might have done some damage.

However this summer seems to have provided the ideal growing conditions. We have been careful to water properly and added grit for drainage so I guess the trees have been very well cared for.

They stay outside all winter and as I say there has been a bonus of a lovely crop of olives. It’s nice to think we do something right in the garden.

Graham Anderson Salcombe

Weaving a garden structure for children

Mike Aston Waterlooville

Missing house sparrows

WOOLLEN LININGS

I live next to cultivated fields and 14 years ago house sparrows were a pest but in the last ten years I have seen only the occasional adult and for three years saw none.

I have read that the cause for this has been put down to changes in agricultural methods and the loss of habitat.

The loss of winter stubble and improved hygiene measures around ground stores are also mentioned.

For those readers who enjoy hanging baskets I have experimented over the last few seasons using sheeps’ wool collected from hedges and fences. The wool retains moisture quite well, sticks together, can be prised apart to insert plants and is environmentally friendly. The only slight setback is that it is not an endearing colour.

Numbers of sparrows have nearly halved according to the RSPB and I am pleased to read that in many areas the house sparrow is red-listed as a species of high conservation concern.

The decline was also caused in part I believe by sparrow hawks which now kill other species. I still mourn their presence in my garden.

Gloria Blackwell Waterrow 14

Moira Langford Chepstow

Country Gardener

I often see articles or advertisements in your magazine about willow weaving and would like to suggest the success we have had using them as a garden play area for children. We have this simple yet fun structure in the garden which has become a real thing of fun for our children and visiting friends. The withies were planted through woven mulch matting for weed control and moisture retention. The structure grows a mass of shoots in summer, which is woven back in the winter months and easy to construct. It has been great fun.

Sanda Alexandra Yelverton

TREES FOR

Norway spruce

Christmas The options when it comes to buying Christmas trees are at last increasing with pot grown and container trees set to have a record year

The choices Norway spruce

For almost all of us, it’s unthinkable to celebrate Christmas without a beautiful tree in the living room decorated with sparkling ornaments and wrapped presents.

It wasn’t until the time of Queen Victoria that celebrating Christmas by bearing gifts around a tree became a worldwide custom. In 1846, Queen Victoria and her husband Albert were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle.

German immigrants had brought the custom to Britain with them in the early 1800s but the practice didn’t catch on. After Queen Victoria started celebrating Christmas with trees and presents hung on the branches as a favour to her husband, the tradition started.

And from that point mass production of Christmas trees was necessary to meet demand.

The latest figures show that there are now between six and eight million trees sold in the UK every year.

Garden centres are gearing up for what they believe will be a record number of containerised or pot grown trees sold this year.

Christmas trees sold in pots will either have been grown in their container or dug up and put in a container. If you are keen to try a Christmas tree which you can grow on in the garden or just bring back indoors every Christmas then look out for pot grown trees as they will last longer as they have a complete root ball. They of course can be planted out afterwards as a garden tree. You will have to pay more for these trees and they will be smaller than their cut tree relatives but that for many families is not such a bad thing.

Sadly the overall choice offered to the buying public when it comes to Christmas trees is slim- just ‘drop’ and ‘non-drop’ which indicated how well the cut tree might hold on to its needles.

In recent years there are however some different varieties which are growing in popularity.

Other points • Choose a locally grown tree to reduce its transport carbon footprint.

• Dispose of your tree after Christmas in garden waste, compost it or use the local Christmas tree collection service. Do not send it to landfill.

• Whatever cut tree you buy make sure it is kept well watered throughout the whole of the Christmas period. The tree will be healthier, stay fresher smelling and keep its needles.

• Large scale and dramatic shedding of needles after a few days indicates a serious problem with the tree and should be returned from where it was bought for a replacement or refund.

A classic well-shaped and dense Christmas tree, the Norway spruce (Picea abies) is prone to needle drop. So the trick is not to buy this tree at the beginning of December. If you can manage to leave it as late as possible before buying then the tree will last the 12 days as long as the room temperature is not too high and the tree is well watered. Once the tree has dried out the needles can fall dramatically. Planted trees if you do buy in a pot,will become very large in the garden when potted out.

Nordmann fir

Nordmann fir Nordmann Fir (Aies nordmannia) is the classic ‘non drop’ tree and as such likely to be more expensive. Firs are not as easy to transfer into the garden if you buy a container variety. It is probably best kept in a pot and moved in at Christmas. The problem with planting out is that wet summers can cause excessive growth and poorly spaced branch tiers which affect the overall look of the tree.

Fraser Fir

Fraser Fir Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) is another ‘non-drop’ tree which has become particularly popular in the United States and continues to increase in popularity for good reason in the UK. They have blue-green needles with silvery undersides. The branches are stiff and hold up well to ornaments.

The trees have a pleasant scent and needle retention is excellent.

Douglas Fir Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) has a strong and pleasantly good fragrance and its needles have one of the best aromas among Christmas trees when crushed. The needles radiate in all directions from the branch. When crushed, these needles have a sweet fragrance. Named after David Douglas who studied the tree in the 1800’s and this fir has a good conical shape.

Douglas Fir

Lodgepole pine A variety of pine trees can now be found on the market and they offer something different in terms of shape, being bushier and broader than the classic Christmas tree shape. Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) or Scots pine (P.sylvestris) are the most common to be found in the UK. www.countrygardener.co.uk

Scots pine

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GIFT SPECIAL

Christmas gifts with a gardening theme We all have gardeners or garden lovers amongst family and friends so that makes it a bit easier when choosing a Christmas gift.

It’s a sensible enough thought to want to give them a present that suits their pastime. But, if you’re not a gardener yourself, it may be hard choice ask.

This year has been the toughest imaginable for organisations such as the National Trust and the RHS. Both have worked incredibly hard to welcome back visitors this autumn and have further plans for even greater Covid safety in 2021 so a membership gift to either is back as an option. Membership to the National Trust is available in gift form for families, couple, individuals and young people with prices ranging from £36 for

membership for those aged 18 to 25 through to the National Trust ‘ best seller’£126 a family with two adults. It gives free entry to 500 venues throughout the country. www.nationaltrust.org.uk A one-year RHS gift membership pack is another ideal gift. For 12 months it means access to more than 200 stunning gardens including the four famous RHS gardens at Wisley, Rosemoor, Hyde Hall and Harlow Carr with a fifth at Bridgewater near Manchester opening next year and it also allows a family guest for every visit. As part of the gift membership it means enjoying priority booking, discounted tickets and exclusive members days at RHS gardens. www.rhs.org.uk

Stone Illusions offer great garden planting options

The unique planter from Stone Illusions was designed and made in the heart of Somerset and makes a thoughtful and unusual gardeners gift.

They are a great asset for both small and large gardens, adding a height to the garden in any aspect. These light weight planters can be planted with perfect winter colours such as small leaved Ivy’s or cyclamen mixed with primulas making a wonderful gift. The tops of the planters are screwed to the bases making them easier to move around as and when we gardeners change our gardens around.

Phone: 07707208328 Email: stoneillusions2018@gmail.com Website: www.stoneillusions.co.uk

Christmas gifts for everyone

We are delighted to introduce some of our new range - Bees and Butterflies Backdoorshoes® are lightweight, waterproof, durable and ideal for slipping off/ on when you need to go outside. Available in sizes UK 3-14 and we have over 30 designs online. We also have a range of Wellies and Chelsea Boots, something for everyone on your list and why not treat yourself too!

To see our full range visit www.backdoorshoes.co.uk or talk to us on 01202 232357

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Country Gardener

Seasons Green at Corfe Castle offers great plant themed gifts

Seasons Green is a gorgeous shop and gallery and also now online bursting with garden-inspired art and gifts based in Corfe Castle in Dorset.

Wooden Bird ornaments - £20, with a choice of hat - caught our eye, and would make quirky presents.

And you’re spoilt for choice if you are looking for women’s gifts: Bee Brooch £4.50; Earring Card £13; Seedbom £4; Soap £7; Real Flower Bangle £24; Chocolate £2.65. For your home, a beautiful piece of Painted Driftwood £50

by Emma Jane. There are more practical gifts too, such as home and gardening accessories, as well as a rainbow of coloured twines and raffia and other crafty bits.

Open every day in Corfe Castle, Dorset, online at www.seasonsgreen.co.uk or phone us on 01929 477 228

BACKDOOR SHOES, PRACTICAL AND DURABLE

No more ruined slippers or soggy socks, the hugely popular Backdoor Shoes range are the most practical thing to keep by the door and great Christmas gifts.

Backdoor Shoes is best-known for its lightweight, waterproof, durable garden clogs, which are available in women’s and men’s sizes and in an ever-expanding range of vibrant, fun designs. So the gift of these special all-weather shoes this year will always be appreciated. The company is always adding to its range of designs so they are worth checking out.

Sizes available UK3 -14 and prices start from £26.95 including free standard postage.

For the full range of Backdoor Shoes clogs and Chelsea boots please Tel: 01202 232357 or visit www.backdoorshoes.co.uk

SPUDS ONLINE! The passion many gardeners have for selecting and growing different potato tubers will be catered for this winter despite the Covid restrictions on events

Gardeners become passionate about many things- some logical and understandable and others slightly unusual.

One passion which has been simmering for the past 15 years or so is the seeking out and planting of the many varieties of seed potatoes now available on the market. Every January, February and March this has taken the form of potato days through the south and south west some organised by Somerset speciality nursery Pennard Plants.

Working with gardening clubs and associations these specialist days have been held in village halls in Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire an even London and have been hugely successful and popular.

The exception impact of Covid 19 has meant these days will not be running in 2021.

But the good new is Pennard Plants have switched the whole potato operation on-line so that anyone looking for something different when it comes to seed potatoes still has the selection choice which would have been available if the events had gone ahead.

Chris Smith from Pennard said the range available would be as large as possible with over 100 varieties to choose from.

“We are clearly disappointed not to be able to get out and about in the garden clubs and hold the events but it was clear from early on that it wasn’t going to be possible. We have however worked really hard with the gardening clubs and the venues and made sure that everyone is contacting their members to make it clear that it is business as usual.

‘The website at www.potato-days.net was due to go live on November 1st for ordering to start.

‘People will want to get their tubers in December so they can start getting them in the ground in greenhouses or polytunnels” “When we started the potato days 16 years ago we had 40 varieties available at one event in Shepton Mallet. Last year there were 100 varieties available and we attended 26 events and that I think just shows the interest there is in searching out, and trying different varieties which in turn reflect everyone’s personal taste in potatoes.”

Some gardeners attending the events like to buy just one tuber of a certain variety.

“I am afraid that won’t be possible as it isn’t economical but people can buy their potatoes by the kilo which will give them between 10 and 15 tubers and if that is too many for those with smaller gardens we hope they can share with someone.”

Pennard’s business online at the nursery has been hectic since the lockdown and they have become well versed in despatching orders and deliveries should be out in 14 days.

What’s the reason behind the huge interest in potato varieties?

“There is such a big choice now and clearly gardeners like to experiment what they grow to suit their own personal tastes. Whether it is growing for mashed potatoes, for jackets, new potatoes and so on.

Growing potatoes is something almost every one who grows their own vegetables wants to do and it’s a question of trying something different.”

Country Gardener readers can enjoy a 10 per-cent discount off the selection of potato tubers from Pennard Plants by quoting ‘Country Gardener Magazine’ when they order or by entering the code ‘growspuds2021’ at the checkout. www.countrygardener.co.uk

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JOBS FOR THE MONTH

Gardening jobs AS WE HEAD INTO WINTER MONTHS The garden undergoes a lot of change as we head deeper into winter, as its colours begin to fade and gardening tasks become less demanding than in late summer. There’s however plenty to get on with to prepare for next year, and there’s still much produce to savour and enjoy.

1

Make improving your soil a priority

Perhaps the best task you can get on with over the next few weeks is to improve the soil for the next growing season.

It is a generally accepted fact that once soil temperatures drop below 45°F (7°C), biological activity slows to a crawl, and the soil and all its life forms hibernate through winter. By this logic, soil cannot be expected to change for the better during the winter months, and yet it does when Your soil will need some help this winter given a little help.

1.In autumn it is better to mulch over vacant beds without cultivating them first.

2.Fallen leaves do a great job of protecting soil from the ravages of winter. But many other mulch materials work just fine, including wood chips – an increasingly popular mulch material in gardens with soil that has already been improved for several seasons.

3. Grow winter green manures. Many cold-hardy plants that make great winter green manures which are specialists at protecting the soil from erosion through winter, all the while developing huge root systems that increase soil organic matter content. When cut back to the ground in spring, winter green manures like hairy vetch or winter peas leave behind nodules of nitrogen, ready for use by the next crop.

4. Beds that will sit vacant until spring can be heaped up with compost (again without cultivating them first), and then covered with an old blanket or carpet. In this way, the bed benefits from a deep layer of compost at the surface, which is further enhanced by a cover which moderates how much moisture reaches the compost and soil below and cushions the bed, which reduces compaction caused by pounding rain.

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Look after hedgehogs

Depending on the temperature, hedgehogs will hibernate from November through to March or April.

During hibernation, a hedgehog’s body temperature can fall to less than 10°C, its heart slows to fewer than 20 beats a minute and it virtually stops breathing.

Hedgehogs build nests for hibernation under leaves or structures such as sheds or, unfortunately bonfires which is why it is essential to check before lighting.

It’s also well worth checking for hedgehog nests before chopping down any long grass. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant, so ignore the old wives tale and don’t leave out a saucer of milk. Provide fresh, plain water instead.

Too much neatness (such as decking and neat and smooth fencing) won’t help them. Talk to your neighbours and, if they agree, cut 13cmx13cm holes in your fences or dig a channel beneath garden boundaries to connect your gardens.

Force chicory for winter salads

Force chicory to make tender, blanched heads (chicons) for winter salads.

Buy plants in pots and cut back growth to leave short stubs. Put a bucket over the top, block out light with stones and put in a frost free place, such as a garage or shed. In several weeks, tender white chicons will have formed and you can cut at the base and repeat.

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2

4

An easy shelter for helpful insects

Bundle together stems which have been cut from herbaceous perennials and leave them in a sheltered, hidden place. Anything from ladybirds and other beetles to small mammals will take shelter here, being on hand to tackle early pest infestations in spring.

Roses need our autumn attention It is an important time of the gardening year to keep your roses as healthy as you can. If you are planting new roses, it’s important not to plant them too closely so that air can circulate between plants. And try and keep plants strong and shapely by pruning out old and weak shoots every year between November and March.

On a day when the weather is neither icy nor frosty, arm yourself with a sharp pair of secateurs and prune your rose bushes. Pruning will encourage them to produce lots of flower buds on a well-shaped framework of branches with an open centre.

As it’s the younger stems that tend to produce the best flowers, the aim is to prevent the plant from becoming congested. Remove any dead, damaged, diseased or weak-looking stems completely. Then cut back the most vigorous stems to within 25-30cm or three or four buds above last year’s cut. And the thinner stems back a little harder. Always cut to an outward-pointing bud, making a sloping cut about 6mm above the bud.

As thorns don’t tend to rot, put the dead material in the dustbin instead of the compost—especially if the plant has been infected by disease.

Country Gardener

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Bare root plants – great value and a better choice

November to March is the ideal time to plant bare-root plants. These are plants that have been grown in open ground, then dug up for despatch and planting during the dormant season. They are called ‘bare-root’ plants as they are supplied with no soil around their roots.

Bare-root plants are generally cheaper than plants grown in containers, and you’ll often find a wider selection of varieties this way. Planting them in the dormant season means that they should establish well – while the top growth may be brown and twiggy, the roots are busy establishing beneath.

All kinds of plants can be supplied bare-root, from trees to perennials.

Planting a hedge is much more economical if you buy bare-root plants and while not ‘instant’, they will knit together quickly. It’s a great way to plant beech, hornbeam or an ‘edible hedge’ made up of a mix of edible plants such as blackthorn, cherry plum and Rosa rugosa.

You can buy container-grown roses all year round, but for the best selection, it pays to plant them bare-root.

Try to plant them as soon as they arrive. Otherwise, give them a good soak in a bucket of water then roughly plant in a corner of the garden until you’re ready to put them in properly.

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Jobs in the winter vegetable patch Start planning next year’s vegetable crop to allow for a good rotation of crops. Growing the same type of crops on the same ground each year can cause a build up of pests and diseases affecting that type of crop.

Crops can be grouped as follows: roots, brassicas, legumes (peas, beans) and everything else (potatoes, onions, tomatoes). Move your crops around each year so that the same group of crops isn’t in the same area for more than one season.

• Sow pea tips. Sow a box or gutter pipe of pea tips inside, ready for salads, soups or risottos at Christmas. Scatter the seed across the length and width of the compost and put them anywhere

It’s perfect garlic planting time

Now is the ideal time to plant out garlic which likes a period of dormancy and cold prior to growing away in the spring. If you have a heavy soil that tends to hold water there is the danger of the cloves rotting. To stop this, dib your planting hole as usual and then drop some sharp sand or fine gravel in the base of the hole. An inch of sand or grit will provide enough drainage to save the day.

Fill the hole above the clove with compost and you should get them off to a great start.

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cool, but in good light. Sown now, you can pick straight from the gutter pipe – no garden required.

Sow hardy peas under fleece for an early crop next year.

Clear away climbing beans, then pull up, clean and store away canes and supports.

Improve soil, digging over bare ground and forking in bulky, well-rotted manure. Digging it now will allow time for cold winter weather to break down clay into a more workable soil.

Check stored potatoes for signs of rotting.

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Plant broad beans for early summer harvest Broad beans are one of the easiest vegetables to grow as the seeds are big and easy to handle – this also makes them perfect to try with children. You don’t need any special kit either – just a bare patch of earth is all that’s needed to get a crop underway. Broad Bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ seeds sown in October or November will form sturdy plants before the cold of winter sets in, meaning they will be ahead of those sown in spring. The seedlings will survive the winter, grow as temperatures rise and produce an early-summer harvest. Sow two rows quite close to each other, around 20cm, the plants will support each other as they grow. These would need to be protected and work best in a more sheltered, southern garden.

Winter herbs close at hand Choose your favourite herbs like basil, dill, chives and parsley that are all really useful to have to hand over the winter months. Pick a planter to suit your space – a recycled tin can be upcycled or choose an indoor window box or pretty herb pots that can often be bought in sets of three. Make sure you pick the sunniest windowsill or use an indoor growing light.

Sow one variety to each pot or you can put three varieties in a window trough. Cover the seeds lightly with vermiculite or a fine layer of the compost. www.countrygardener.co.uk

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And finally…..

It is of course time to take stock of your gardening year. Do not be disheartened by your gardening imperfections or failures, but devote some time to pondering what you will do differently in the coming year. One of the beauties of gardening is you can always try again.

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TREE SPECIAL

Why autumn is the perfect time to plant trees There’s still time in November to make the most of perfect planting conditions for trees and shrubs when the soil is moist and frost-free There’s an old gardener’s saying that trees are like hibernating animals, gorging themselves with nutrients before winter which can then be used to tick through the cold dormant months. Autumn root growth gives the trees the ability to cram themselves with food and hydration so planting a tree at a time to take advantage of this process is ideal.

When winter does arrive, a tree will go into full dormancy but will still root although very slowly.

So if you have wondered about the best time to plant trees? It’s right now, on autumn days when there’s a distinct nip in the air.

The falling temperatures mean that the enzymes that drive biochemical reactions like photosynthesis slow right down. The combination of this with shorter days mean that trees refocus their energy into their roots rather than their leaves. Since you want your trees to establish from their roots up, all this plays into your hands and makes autumn a great time to move or transplant.

Second, there is still some warmth in the soil. Tree roots continue to grow a little during dormancy and especially so when the soil retains a little warmth, as in autumn. The consequent root growth means that in spring a tree’s progress is more advanced because it is better placed to take up water and nutrients.

All of the above especially applies to pot grown, rootballed and evergreen trees which should ideally be planted up to the end of November.

Perrie Hale celebrates 60 years of quality trees Perrie Hale Nursery celebrates its 60th year this season having been established in 1957. The same family is still running the business today and is well known for its quality UK grown stocks of hedging plants, shrubs, broadleaf and conifer trees. Autumn into winter is prime planting time and using bare-rooted stock is both cost effective and less labour intensive.

So if you are looking to plant a hedge, screen, woodland or specimen tree contact Perrie Hale Nursery for advice. They are offering Country Gardener readers a five per-cent discount when ordering online or over the phone quoting the code ‘CG5’ (offer ends 21st December 2020).

Perrie Hale Nursery, Northcote Hill, Honiton Devon EX14 9TH Telephone: 01404 43344 Email: faye@perriehale.co.uk or online shop www.perriehale.co.uk

The secret to establishing new roots on your trees

Many people in 2020 have turned to gardening and one of the most important things they could plant this autumn is a tree. Trees are the lungs of the planet, store carbon, stabilise soils and support a vast amount of wildlife both above and below the ground. Below ground one of the most important fungi that help the tree grow are mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi naturally colonise any new tree in a couple of years, but why not give them a helping hand by planting the tree with rootgrow mycorrhizal fungi?

The friendly fungi will colonise the tree in a matter of weeks leading to better establishment, earlier growth and a happier healthier tree.

www.rootgrow.co.uk

NOVEMBER IS PERFECT FOR BARE ROOT TREES Adam’s Apples nursery in East Devon grow the largest range of fruit trees in the west country.

This includes over 200 apple varieties, plums, gage, pears, cherries, damson, quince and medlar. They also sell bare rooted soft fruit plants.

The company are passionate and award winning cider makers too, and grow and sell some of the best traditional cider apple trees from Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Herefordshire.

All the trees and bushes are sold bare rooted, available from late autumn through to spring.

Bare rooted trees are cheaper to purchase and easier to transport than potted trees and are the quickest way for trees to establish and thrive.

Adam’s Apples are happy to offer advice and recommendations for your garden, small holding, farm or community orchard. Delivery of trees is throughout the UK. Adam’s Apples, Egremont Barn, Payhembury, Honiton EX14 3JA sales@adamsappletrees.co.uk www.adamsappletrees.co.uk

Northcote Hill, Honiton, Devon, EX14 9TH Tel: 01404 43344

'Growing in Devon since 1957' Growers & suppliers of native & ornamental trees, shrubs & hedging for: • Native, Formal & Evergreen Hedges • Screening • Woodland • Amenity • Wood Fuel • Gardens Now stocking a large range of ornamental trees & top fruit Call us for friendly and expert advice for species selection, planting & tree protection.

We can also provide a planting & maintenance service.

5% READER DISCOUNT online or call quoting CG5 by 28/02/2021 Call us for friendly and expert advice • Delivery available

Email: faye@perriehale.co.uk www.perriehale.co.uk

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Country Gardener

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

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Eco-gardening - the way the experts do it

Three West Country eco-gardeners with a combined forty years experience share their secrets when it comes to gardening in a more environmental way

‘Natural, organic ways to deter pests is my eco priority’ ‘It doesn’t have to be all at once’ says Dorset gardener Simon Vaughan when it comes to taking eco friendly steps in your garden.

“You can take a few steps at a time, practical sensible things which will help the environment” Simon is a former head gardener at Sheffield Botanical Gardens and now has a two-acre garden just outside of Barnstaple.

“The end goal is to produce a beautiful, lively space that can be admired and enjoyed.

However, it’s important to be aware of the environmental impact you may be having and how to reduce this to become an eco-friendly gardener.

Here’s his advice: “When pests are apparent in your garden, it can be easy to turn to sprays or products that promise to deter them. However, full of chemicals, these sprays can be harmful to any food you are growing as well as wildlife it’s not intended for.

There are plenty of natural and organic ways to deter pests, which result in better health for your soil and wildlife, including:

• Encouraging natural predators to the area.

• Creating barriers using eggs shells, copper piping or fine sand for slugs and snails.

• Spraying a diluted soap with no detergent or additives on to plants.

• Placing garlic, cinnamon and coffee grounds around your plants to deter insects.

• Collect fallen leaves, hedge clippings and weeds and add them to the compost heap to create your own organic, healthy soil to use in your garden. The decaying organic substance mixed together creates compost that is full of nutrients.

• This will help you to reduce waste, whilst also having a fresh compost supply at all times.

Most importantly, it will also limit the use of chemicals in your garden.

• Aside from being a cost-effective option, making your own fertiliser is very environmentally friendly. Materials that were once considered to be waste, such as fruit and vegetable scraps, manure and other animal and plant matter will have a use once again. It will also mean you will be using a fertiliser that is 100 per-cent organic and natural for your plants too.

Egg shells create a great natural barrier against slugs and snails

Making your own compost is a garden’must’

‘Conserving water is a must for any eco-gardener’ Conserving water and proper irrigation is the first thing which comes to mind when professional botanist and Devon eco gardener Barbara Clarke lists her priority for anyone wanting to make more eco inroads into their garden.

Her tips are: Conserve water Water conservation is essential, so install a butt on every downpipe - you can choose weathered oak barrels or the ubiquitous green plastic tubs. If you have the space, consider an underground rain tank. Clever cost-cutting irrigation helps too. Don’t use a sprinkler on the garden - water the roots of plants without wasting it on the leaves; repair leaky pond liners; buy large pots for plants as they don’t dry out as quickly; and don’t mow the lawn too low in hot weather.

Rainwater is free of salts, minerals and chemicals and is the correct pH for the majority of plants. Tap water contains all of these things and they can be harmful to your plants in heavy concentrations Companion planting • Onions and chives grown around roses will help combat black spot disease.

• Grow carrots and leeks together to repel each other’s garden pests.

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• Pungent-smelling French marigolds will keep aphids off tomatoes.

• Grow basil to make tomatoes taste better.

• Plant horseradish near potatoes to increase their resistance to disease.

Improve your soil Lots of compost or well-rotted manure will keep your soil in what we gardeners call ‘good heart’. This creates a healthy soil teeming with essential microorganisms, which in turn gives you healthy plants that don’t succumb to pests and diseases. Compost soaks up water like a sponge, too – useful in free-draining sandy soils.

Create a natural garden ‘Plant according to the garden, not the gardener,’ is the ethos at the heart of the natural garden, and looking to nature will provide inspiration and a template to follow. Work with the characteristics of your garden, not against them.

For example, in damp shade, embrace woodland plants and those that grow on woodland margins. For sunny slopes, consider Mediterranean plants like rosemary, juniper, bay and sage – plants with silvery or blue-grey leaves that have naturally adapted to such conditions. Waterlogged soil? Choose wetland plants - not only will your planting visually sit more comfortably, but also promote happy, healthy plants and suffer fewer pests and diseases.

More popular now than ever, native plants are tough, easy to grow and provide food and valuable habitats for wildlife. Ideal for a more relaxed design, they will also help to preserve our threatened plant heritage.

Water conservation is essential

Improving your soil every season is essential

‘THE BEST SOURCED PLANTS WILL PROVIDE THE PERFECT HABITATS FOR WILDLIFE’

Choose lots of berry producing plants

Colin Kennedy from Petersfield in Hampshire is an award winning allotment holder who also has his own one-acre eco garden and is a regular speaker to garden clubs in Hampshire and Sussex.

His tips for anyone who wants to increase their eco credentials would be: Choose eco-friendly plants Choosing the best plants for the right location is important if you’re looking to create an organic garden. In an eco-friendly garden, the best plants will provide food and shelter, creating perfect habitats for beneficial wildlife. So choose lots of local berry-producing plants and trees, such as hawthorn, which might be growing nearby – birds and insects will already be used to them, so they’ll visit your garden more frequently if you grow them.

The key principle to planting is always putting them where they’re happiest. Contented plants take care of themselves, but stressed ones need

constant feeding and watering, so make sure you don’t plant your sun-lovers in the shade, for example, or vice versa. Matching the right plant to the right place will also help keep garden maintenance time to a minimum.

Eliminate limit peat-based composts Peat is dug from peat bogs, causing irreparable damage to precious natural habitats, and as it forms very slowly, simply isn’t sustainable either.

The problem is that it’s great for growing plants as it’s sterile, easy to handle, and holds onto nutrients and water like a sponge.

So you need to get peat based products out of your mind. Stop using peat as a mulch or soil conditioner, and instead use homemade compost, rotted farmyard manure and leaf mould, which perform better and are full of nutrients. Buy peat-free or reduced-peat compost for potting – it’ll say so on the bag – and you’ll now find that modern peat-based composts available to gardeners include some of the alternatives, such as bark, wood fibre, coir (coconut husk) or specially formulated green waste.

Substitutes do have their critics, due to poor products rushed on sale in the 1990s, but now most of the better peat-free alternatives perform well, although cheaper products will need beefing up with fertiliser and watering.

Recycle and reuse materials The main concern is the origin, extraction, manufacture and installation of materials in structures, paths, walls and patios. Using recycled materials instead is a great way to go green. Trawl through out-of-town yards and junk shops for materials.

Choose eco materials Green materials sourced and made by the local

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Woven willow panels make great fences

Use homegrown compost on beds as an alternative to peat based composts

community feature strongly in sustainable gardens. Choosing them helps to reduce your carbon footprint as they have few air miles attached, plus most of them use little or no cement. They also give gardens a ‘sense of place’ by linking them to the local surroundings, which is especially important in rural settings. Materials such as cob (clay and straw), oak, rammed earth, log walls, woven willow, chestnut paling timber and even straw bales are full of character.

What works best visually depends on where you live and what you can obtain easily, so find out what is available in your area.

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WILDLIFE

Wildlife in your garden month by month through the winter Winter is a key season for the wildlife garden. You can take a few simple steps now and help a host of animals to find plenty to eat and safe hiding places for the coming winter.

Gardens can look a bit dull in winter, but they don’t have to. As well as providing habitats for a host of overwintering residents, a good wildlife garden will attract flocks of birds. In fact, the harsher the weather and the less food there is in the countryside, the more important gardens become for our feathered friends. Feeding birds throughout the winter is important, because it increases their breeding success the following year. So start preparing now.

Gardens don’t need to be messy to offer a variety of wildlife habitats in winter. Natural foods for birds often look attractive brightly-coloured berries on trees, windfall apples and pears, ivy berries and the seeds of plants such as docks and teasels all work well.

But as winter progresses, birds will become more dependent on the food you put out. This is when they use feeders most heavily, so hygiene is important: clean your feeders and tables now by soaking them in sterilising fluid, and get into the routine of washing them regularly.

November Welcoming in many more birds At this time of the year birds become bolder, venturing into gardens in search of scattered scraps and well-stocked feeders and bird tables. Fallen apples can still be an excellent food source which you can supplement with sliced fruit from the kitchen.

You may be lucky enough to see more unusual visitors such as fieldfares and redwings looking for berries and fruit in cold weather conditions.

It is also the time of the year when birds such as the great spotted woodpecker may venture into urban gardens especially if you leave dead wood or provide a peanut feeder.

Why water is so important Water to bathe in is just as important for birds, especially in winter. It is essential that they keep their feathers in good condition. Bathing is an important part of feather maintenance. Dampening the feathers loosens the 24

Country Gardener

dirt and makes their feathers easier to preen.

When preening, birds carefully rearrange the feathers and spread oil from the preen gland so they remain waterproof and trap an insulating layer of air underneath to keep them warm.

Water is particularly important during the winter months when natural supplies might be frozen and in dry spells in short supply.

Birds have no sweat glands so they need less water than mammals.

However they do lose water through respiration and their droppings. Most small birds need to drink at least twice a day to replace the lost water.

Creating the perfect garden You can mimic the traditional hedgerow in your own garden by planting a fruiting hedge.

For example, you could mix native roses, elder and hawthorn to act as a wild food store, even adding a gooseberry or bramble if you have room. If you have a large garden, try growing hazel (Corylus avellana) for its nuts and attractive catkins.

This is a good time for planting all trees and shrubs, as well as hedges, to give them plenty of time to get established before winter. If you have room in the garden, you might like to plan a mini-woodland or new shrub border to attract birds all year.

Container-grown plants can be planted at any time of year, but you can save money at this time of year by opting for bare-rooted hedging, or root-balled trees and shrubs.

How to help hedgehogs in your garden In autumn, the breeding season for hedgehogs comes to an end and the young leave their mothers in search of independence.

Hedgehogs first time alone in the wild can be challenging as the autumn and winter months see their food supply (insects, worms, slugs and other garden creatures) beginning to dwindle. If they lack this food they can die during hibernation, so as the weather turns colder it’s good for them to have a comfy garden spot to nest in. In addition, being a key predator of garden pests such as caterpillars, snails and slugs, hedgehogs really are a gardener’s best friends so it’s worth making your garden a habitat they can explore with ease.

Stock up bird feeders Keep birds feeders full of calorie-rich food such as peanuts, sunflower hearts and suet products. Put seed mix, chopped apples and grated cheese on ground-feeding stations for ground feeders like robins, thrushes and blackbirds.

Leave seedheads Leave the seedheads of herbaceous plants, such as fennel, Verbena bonariensis, teasel and echinacea, for birds such as house

sparrows and goldfinches. You can also leave alone plants with attractive seedheads, to provide winter interest.

Leave ivy alone Don’t cut mature ivy back, where possible, as the flowers provide a fantastic source of nectar and pollen for late-flying insects. Later in the season the berries will provide food for birds, while the leaves offer roosting and hibernation shelter for many species, including the brimstone butterfly.

Plant crocus bulbs Plant up a pot of nectar-rich crocuses now to feed hungry queen bumblebees in spring.

Place the pot in a sunny spot and keep it watered.

Wildlife stacks Use the prunings and clippings of shrubby material to create a dry wildlife stack, out of the way, such as behind a shed or at the back of a border. Any clippings can be used and the pile added to throughout autumn. For bigger logs, try creating a dead wood habitat. Larger logs can also be piled up.

December Don’t keep turning the compost bin Avoid turning your compost bin or heap as it may be sheltering hibernating wildlife such as hedgehogs and other small mammals, as well as reptiles, amphibians and even bumblebees. Wait until April, when disturbance will be minimal.

A bee hotel will offer sanctuary Make a bee hotel for solitary bees, using an old wooden box filled with logs with holes drilled into them, bamboo canes and the stems of other hollow-stemmed plants such as teasel and sunflower.

Hang in the sunniest part of the garden (late morning sun is ideal).

Welcoming robins into the winter garden Robins are one of the first species to start singing in earnest with the males marking out their territories in readiness for the coming breeding season. They are also fiercely territorial and tend to drive away any rivals from their chosen patch. In contract other species such as finches are much more gregarious and will happily feed together in a flock. If you want to encourage a robin to breed in your garden put up an open fronted nest box.

Plant bare-root native shrubs for wildlife Plant native shrubs or trees such as hawthorn, holly, hazel, silver birch and guelder rose, which will provide a mix of flowers for pollinators, berries for birds and leaves for caterpillars (and therefore food for baby birds).

Look out for ladybirds Ladybirds will start gathering en masse under bark, in window frames and sheds/garages to spend the winter in torpor, while most beetles will be retreating underground or under logs. Many insects (even some amphibians) will overwinter in long grass and leaving an area of your lawn overgrown can be immensely valuable to their hibernation. If you can create a log pile, even better.

If you’re working in the garden this month you may dig up some small brown plastic-looking cases. These are the pupae of moths and beetles and if you re-bury them where you find them, they should pupate next year.

January Get planning for a new season wildlife garden The New Year is the perfect time to plan a wildlife garden. Try to ensure you choose native plants and shrubs - these will be better for birds and other wildlife as they have evolved to work in conjunction with the creatures in this country and wildlife has adapted accordingly. They are also better suited to our soil and climate. More suppliers are tending to stock plants that are good for birds and wildlife nowadays. So when visiting garden centres and nurseries there should be more choice available. Wildlife gardening doesn’t just mean leaving a patch of weeds! Many attractive plants are an important part of a wildlife garden so it can be beautiful as well as wildlife friendly!

Turn your Christmas tree into a wildlife home Recycle your Christmas tree by removing branches and bundling them together to make wildlife habitats to tuck at the back of the border. You can also chop up the trunk and add the pieces to your log pile.

Helping queen bees You may in January come across a queen bee struggling in the garden. Put her somewhere cold and dry where she can continue hibernating and offer her a sugar solution of equal parts sugar and water in a bottle top or something similar. This will boost her energy to provide a new hibernation site and she may even establish an early nest.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch month January marks a really important event for the UK’s garden birds as it is the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. The society will again be asking you to take over one hour during a specific weekend to watch the birds that visit your garden and record the results to send to us. You could use this is an opportunity to get out in the garden with your family or you can do it from the warmth of your armchair through the window! This event helps the RSPB monitor any species declines or increases and decide what they need to do to help!

www.countrygardener.co.uk

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The Garden House inherits some special snowdrops The popular garden on the edge of Dartmoor adds famous galanthophile Colin Mason’s hybrids to its already remarkable snowdrop collection The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum

The Garden House at Buckland Monachorum near Yelverton in Devon, which has ten acres of naturalised planting and a long established snowdrop collection, now has an exciting new collection for visitors to admire at their annual snowdrop festival starting on 15th January 2021.

The Garden House, situated on the edge of Dartmoor, between the villages of Crapstone and Buckland Monochorum, has inherited a special Galanthus (snowdrop) collection, inherited from the late

Galanthus ’South Hayes’

Galanathus elwesii

Colin Mason, a noted collector and breeder whose garden was at Kenilworth, Warwickshire and who died on 30th December 2019.

He was the owner of Fieldgate Snowdrops, making many successful hybrids and bulked them up for selling.

Matt Bishop, trustee of the collection and former head gardener at The Garden House liaised with head gardener Nick Haworth, and David Milburn, making two huge journeys in the February storms to rescue the collection. The snowdrop collection that is already at The Garden House was Matt Bishop’s.

Matt is the principal author of the galanthophile bible’, Snowdrops: a Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus’(Griffin Press, 2002) and now has his own worldwide snowdrop business. Matt added more to the collection in 2019, so it now numbers over 100 named varieties, some of which are extremely rare.

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Country Gardener

The Garden House display has become a must-see on the galanthophiles (snowdrop lover) calendar.

The new collection is mainly of Colin Mason’s elegant Fieldgate hybrids and his species collection, which he made over many years of travelling to see the plants in the wild in Europe, and particularly in Turkey.

When it had all arrived, the plant material was meticulously lined out, the plant lists studied, and plans made to plant the collection in the best situations for the different species. The planting was done as quickly as possible, keeping planting records, and was completed just before the coronavirus lockdown was imposed in March.

“Fortunately on-site gardeners were able to water during the long hot, dry spring and now we are looking forward to the next snowdrop season,” said Pat Eaton who is a volunteer caring for the specialist snowdrops at The Garden House. “We are so grateful to Sophie, Colin’s daughter, for giving The Garden House this wonderful collection.”

The Garden House is known for being at the forefront of a revolution in ‘naturalistic planting’ – working in harmony with nature rather than against it, allowing flowers to intermingle to provide living kaleidoscopes of colour.

At its heart is the walled garden, designed and planted by Lionel Fortescue and his wife Katherine in the mid-1940s. Lionel’s successor, Keith Wiley, added his own stamp to this part of the garden, particularly in the Ovals Garden, a sculpture in stone and planting centred on a thatched summerhouse.

Parts of the walled garden are being restored and rejuvenated in keeping with the Fortescue tradition of having only the best plants in the garden. This is being done by Nick Haworth.

The Garden House snowdrop festival will run from Friday 15th January on Fridays and weekends, running from 11am until 3pm on opening days.

It’s hoped that specialist snowdrop nurseries will hold sales on certain dates, including Avon Bulbs on Saturday, 6th February. For details and up to date information please check the website before travelling, especially due to uncertainties about the virus.

The Garden House, Buckland Monachorum, Yelverton PL20 7LQ www.thegardenhouse.org.uk Winter Opening hours: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 11am – 3pm

Colin Mason - a legendary snowdrop collector Colin Mason, the owner of Fieldgate Snowdrops at Kenilworth, Warwickshire, Fieldgate being the name of his house, produced many successful snowdrop hybrids, including ‘Fieldgate Tiffany’, ‘Fieldgate Sophie’ and ‘Fieldgate Superb’, and many more which are much sought after for their distinctive contribution to snowdrop collections.

Born in 1927, his work took him to travel extensively in Europe, particularly to Turkey where he saw snowdrops growing in the wild, which gave him his lifelong interest in the plants. In Turkey and Georgia, he went, sometimes on horseback, to find rare species of wild snowdrops. Some of these were successfully cultivated in his collection.

In 1981 he met Richard Nutt at a business lunch and they later travelled together to visit classic snowdrop sites. He soon became a member of the inner circle

of galanthophiles and arranged his own snowdrop lunches.

Colin learned how to bulk the plants for selling twin-scale snowdrop bulbs. He was very successful ,selling at snowdrop events and privately to snowdrop lovers for whom his garden was a Mecca every Friday.

Colin was responsible for bulking up, from just one bulb, the classic Galanthus ‘South Hayes’. He became a well known figure at snowdrop events, selling his snowdrops, giving talks at snowdrop galas, and Galanthus ‘Fieldgate Tiffany’ Galanathus ‘Fieldgate Sophie’ came to The Garden House; known as a respected Galanthophile his snowdrops were in demand not only died on 30th December 2019 and was buried with in this country but also abroad, selling to private his wife; family and friends planted snowdrops on foreign buyers for whom his garden was a great their grave. focus in the snowdrop season.

Following his death his daughter Sophie donated his In later years he nursed his wife Bridget during a collection to The Garden House, and the plants are long illness. At the age of 90 he broke his hip but now safely planted there for visitors to admire with even in hospital he was concerned that pots of rare all the other snowdrops in their collection. snowdrops at home might be getting too dry. He

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27

WINTER WALKS

Winter walks AND SNOWDROP DISPLAYS Winter gardens and fresh air are to be enjoyed not endured over the coming weeks either in the build up to Christmas or in the New Year when much anticipated snowdrops start to flower and gardens throughout the south west open to show off their displays.

The joy of spending time in winter gardens is becoming more appealing than ever. Whether it is walking on bright crisp sunny days, or enjoying winter planting displays, more and more organisations are now planting gardens for winter

interest and planning for the first snowdrops which will appear in late January.

So this winter more than any other isn’t the time to stay indoors, wrap up well and enjoy yourself. Many gardens look delightful after frosts and snow, so wrap up well and journey out and specially enjoy the snowdrops.

The first few months of the year can be gloomy, but seeing a swathe of snowdrops is one way to brighten the winter months. Despite the cold, these hardy flowers can be found thriving in pastures, woods, ditches and orchards everywhere. After a long winter their brilliant white petals and green leaves are a welcome sight, signalling the growth of new life. And

One and a half acres of snowdrop delight at Picton

The Picton Garden may be best known for its beautiful autumn displays but the less well known heritage of snowdrops has over the last seven years has been brought back to the fore. A visit to the garden in February offers visitors a chance to see the collection of more than 250 varieties of snowdrop alongside a wealth of companion planting. The one and a half-acre garden becomes a jewel box of delicate delights in late winter, many of which can be purchased in the adjoining nursery.

Old Court Nurseries LLP & The Picton Garden

Wander through drifts of Snowdrops at Batsford Arboretum While Batsford Arboretum may be famous for its spectacular autumn colour and spring blossom, there’s plenty to enjoy in the depths of winter and early spring too. Wrap up warm and meander along paths beside frozen streams and ponds and take in the views across the stunning Cotswold countryside.

During February, the arboretum is alive with drifts of beautiful snowdrops, plus aconites, crocuses and hellebores.

You can enjoy warming food in the Garden Terrace café, tempting plants and garden sundries in the garden centre and browse the wide range of gifts. Open daily, dogs welcome on a short lead.

Visit www.batsarb.co.uk Tel 01386 701441 Batsford Arboretum & Garden Centre, Batsford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos GL56 9AD 28

SPRINGHEAD TRUST -sustainable living in spectacular garden setting

certainly flowering between January and March, snowdrops are one of the first signs of life in gardens after the long winter months.

The scientific name is Galanthus which translates as ‘milk flower’ but over the year they have gained other names such as ‘ February fairmaids’ and ‘Candlemass bells’ .

One variation of the flower is called ‘ Green Man’ which is often used to represent the cycle of rebirth that happens every spring.

Gardens take great care of these delicate little blooms, carefully planting the many and varied types and monitoring each variety in great detail.

A fabulous snowdrop festival at East Lambrook Manor Gardens East Lambrook Manor Gardens in Somerset will be celebrating the snowdrop season once again with its third Festival of Snowdrops, running throughout February.

In addition to the snowdrops growing in the garden, the festival will feature special displays of unusual cultivars so that they can be appreciated at close quarters. Other gardens have carpets of Galanthus nivalis but East Lambrook want to demonstrate the diversity of the genus, from the common to the rare ones with yellow in the flowers.

Margery Fish, the grande dame of cottage gardening, collected snowdrops to plant at East Lambrook, her home from 1938 to 1969. She was one of the first galanthophiles, and amassed a significant collection; a heritage cared for today by the garden’s current owners, Gail and Mike Werkmeister.

“Our aim is for the best display of named snowdrops in the South West,” explained owner Mike Werkmeister Throughout the festival the garden and nursery are open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Garden entry £6, over 65s £5.50, under 16s free. NGS Open Day Sunday, 14th February.

RHS members free on Wednesdays.

East Lambrook Manor Gardens, Silver Street, East Lambrook, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5HH www.eastlambrook.com

The Springhead Trust is a centre for rural sustainable living, situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty in Fontmell Marna, south of Shaftesbury It has been an independent charitable trust since 1973. It comprises a complex of Grade 2 listed buildings, eight acres of spectacular ornamental lakeside gardens and a further seven acres of land given over to pasture and an extensive organic kitchen garden which are well worth visiting.

The trust is based on the environmental principles of its founder Rolf Gardiner who believed that people of all ages and backgrounds should be able to experience nature and beauty in rural Dorset. Today the The historic home of snowdrops in the heart of the Cotswolds and home to 350 trust’s main clientele are school named varieties. Open to visitors during children, who generally stay for the February display of these popular between one and four nights, flowers. Coaches are welcome by local people and a wide variety appointment: we offer both exclusive of interest groups. guided tours and self-directed visits for The Springhead Trust Garden coach parties. Colesbourne Park is on opens in February in association the A435 halfway between Cheltenham with the Shaftesbury Snowdrop and Cirencester. festival. Entry is free.

Or see our website: For more information please Mill St, Fontmell Magna, www.colesbournegardens.org.uk Telephone: 01242 870264 Shaftesbury SP7 0NU Email: hwg@colesbourne.net

Snowdrops at Colesbourne Park ‘England’s greatest snowdrop garden’

Country Gardener

Celebrate Christmas at Batsford...

Enjoy magical winter walks, browse our gift and garden shops and treat yourself to a home-baked lunch or afternoon tea in our café. A perfect day out for all the family - dog friendly too!

Old Court Nurseries & The Picton Garden

Open every day except Christmas Day.

It’s a great time to plan your 2021 autumn displays

The Michaelmas Daisy Specialists since 1906

MAIL ORDER CATALOGUE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST OR ORDER ONLINE www.autumnasters.co.uk FOR DELIVERY IN MAY.

Visit www.batsarb.co.uk for details on our Christmas events

Please ask to go on our snowdrop list and be among the first to see what we have available

BATSFORD ARBORETUM AND GARDEN CENTRE Batsford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 9AD.

Closed to visitors over winter but please ring or email for help and advice.

Tel: 01386 701441 E: arboretum@batsfordfoundation.co.uk BatsfordArboretum

@BatsfordA

@BatsfordA

OPEN EVERY FRIDAY 11AM - 4PM DURING FEBRUARY AND MARCH and FOR THE NGS ON 14TH AND 28TH FEBRUARY, 11AM - 4PM.

Tel: 01684 540416 www.autumnasters.co.uk

Old Court Nurseries, Walwyn Road, Colwall WR13 6QE

WINTER SPECIAL

NEW for 2020: Wonderland Sculpture Trail featuring work by Robert James Ltd

£5 entry

per person to the Gardens (includes a hot drink) Book online to save disappointment

www.abbotsburygardens.co.uk This offer will run from November 2020 to February 2021.

The offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Please check our website for opening times as we are closed some afternoons through the winter.

www.countrygardener.co.uk

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WINTER WALKS

COLESBOURNE PARK READY TO CELEBRATE WITH 350 SNOWDROP VARIETIES Started by Henry John Elwes FRS with the magnificent Galanthus elwesii, the historic snowdrop collection at Colesbourne Park is the acknowledged home of snowdrops in England.

The gardens, restored and extended by Sir Henry and his wife Carolyn, have around 350 varieties mixed with winter and spring bulbs: aconites, cyclamen, iris, miniature daffodils, snowflakes, hellebores and winter flowering shrubs.

Visitors can walk beside the beautiful blue lake and along the woodland paths of the 10-acre gardens to see the snowdrops and planting schemes of winter and spring bulbs which complement the snowdrops.

The gardens are open to the public Thursday to Sunday, from 1pm on 11th to 14th and 18th to 21st February. Plant sales are available (subject to relevant Covid-19 guidelines). Pre booked exclusive group guided tours also available.

Colesbourne Park is halfway between Cheltenham and Cirencester on the A435.

For more information email info@colesbournegardens.org.uk or go to www.colesbournegardens.org.uk.

Colesbourne Park, Colesbourne, Cheltenham GL53 9NP

Shaftesbury snowdrops set to wow visitors again The historic hilltop town of Shaftesbury in Dorset has become synonymous with the beautiful snowdrop.

The snowdrops bloom from late January to mid-March and include examples of rare and unusual Galanthus species and cultivars.

Shaftesbury’s snowdrop season is one of the biggest events of its type in the country and the town’s free snowdrop walks, including wheelchair and pushchair accessible routes, can be enjoyed by all, including dogs. Activities on offer during the season include an open snowdrop art exhibition at Shaftesbury Arts Centre, snowdrop-themed craft classes and visits to local landmarks.

Organisers have learned a lot about snowdrops and continue to learn more. With the help of Emma Thick, the Heritage Collection of rare snowdrops has been generously supported by visitors. Some of the many beautiful and varied plants can be seen each year in the displays, which are carefully and lovingly planted.

There are special snowdrops walks through the town from a 30-minute hilly walk to a longer three miles walk.

Full details can be found at www.shaftesburysnowdrops.org

Abbotsbury Sub Tropical gardens offer

calmness and serenity As winter sets into this ancient woodland valley, the pace and tone of the garden unwinds as the change of season, shorter day length and misty mornings bring a calm and serene atmosphere to the garden.

With the huge diversity of plants from all over the world comes an abundance of coloured fruits and turning leaves with brilliant yellows, reds and orange of Japanese maples and ginkgo trees. Throughout the winter months flowering mahonias, scented daphnes and early camelias continue to display along with the bold evergreen fatsias, architectural bamboo and striking exotic looking palm trees.

Then its time for the famous Abbotsbury snowdrops which provide a fantastic early spring display.

You can book tickets in advance and select an hourly slot to visit.

Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, Bullers Way, Abbotsbury, Nr Weymouth, Dorset DT3 4LA. Gardens direct 01305 871387 info@abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk www.abbotsburygardens.co.uk

Shaftesbury Snowdrops SHAFTESBURY RARE SNOWDROP SALE “The Best in the West”

Visit the beautiful cottage garden of gardening legend Margery Fish to enjoy the: * Snowdrop Ditch * Snowdrop displays * Snowdrop sculpture * Snowdrops for sale * Snowdrop tours *

Saturday 11th February 10am-3pm

The Guildhall, High Street, SP78LY Details of tickets from www.shaftesburysnowdrops.org or from the Tourist Information Centre on 01747 853514

Image: ‘Snowdrop Words’

by Jane Shepherd

GARDEN OPEN FEBRUARY 2021

In association with Shaftesbury Snowdrop Festival Come and see the beautiful drifts of snowdrops in the ornamental lakeside garden During the month of February, Springhead’s garden in Fontmell Magna will be open Monday to Friday from 10am - 3pm and also over the weekend of 13th - 14th.

Entry to the garden will be free but donations welcome Assisted wheelchair access Dogs on leads welcome The Springhead Trust, Fontmell Magna, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 0NU Tel: 01747 811853 www.springheadtrust.org.uk info@springheadtrust.org.uk Registered charity no: 1112083 30

F OF ST 2 R I £UR F ROP

YO OWDIS AD SN H TH WIT

Festival of Snowdrops 2nd to 28th February

Over 125 varieties of snowdrop with many rare snowdrops for sale.

Garden and nursery open Tues - Sun | 10am-5pm Entry £6.00 | Over 65s £5.50 | Groups £5.25 | U16s free East Lambrook | South Petherton | Somerset | TA13 5HH 01460 240328 | enquiries@eastlambrook.com Book online at eastlambrook.com

* Tours subject to prevailing Covid-19 restrictions.

Country Gardener

Nerine collection has new home

after rescue mission

The National Plant Collection of nerines, the much loved autumn flowering perennial, is safe and on full display at a famous Cotswolds nursery - thanks to a last minute dash The email Ed Brown from Cotswolds Garden Flowers found in his inbox at the end of February couldn’t have come at a worse time.

It was a note which threatened the future of the National Plant Collection of nerines, the much loved, showy, long lasting bulbous perennials which are also known as Guernsey lilies.

The collection was held by Steve Eyres at Bickham Cottage, just outside of Exeter and part of the Bickham House two-hectacre estate.

“Steve was moving home and that threatened the collection. He had nowhere to house them. It was a bit of a responsibility but I answered the email and was keen to take things over and save them,” adds Steve who already holds the National Collection of sambusucs or common elder at the Cotswolds nursery.

“The problem was the collection was 300 miles away and lockdown was Nerine bowdenii limiting travel. It looked like being a real headache and something which threatened the whole deal happening”.

So Ed managed to get special dispensation from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to make the journey and pick up the 450 strong collection and take them to a new home at Badsey just outside of Evesham the base for Cotswolds Garden Flowers, an award winning nursery started almost 30 years ago by Ed’s father Bob Brown.

“It was a weird journey down the M5, deserted roads and felt a bit surreal but very important and was a trip I just had to make”.

The nursery has a reputation for easy to grow and unusual hardy herbaceous perennials and smaller shrubs. Bob is a well-known speaker and garden writer as well as one of the most experienced nurserymen in country.

“The nerines blew my mind when I saw them”, admits Ed. “Nerines are astonishing sparkling lily-like flowers that flower autumn into winter and have beautiful decorative effect with flowers which seem to sparkle. They are also known as the ‘Jewel lily’ because of this ability to sparkle when the sunlight hits the petals. It is a privilege to be able to care for them”.

Nerines are grown for their showy, long-lasting autumn blooms in shades of pink, red and white, which provide bursts of colour to dull October and November days.

They produce three bulbs of six a year from established plants.

Steve Eyres, a member of the Nerine and Amaryllis Society held two national collections of nerine at his Devon garden. The collection of tender N. sarniensis forms were housed in a selection of greenhouses and polytunnels beside the house and the collection of hardy N. bowdenii cultivars have just been moved to a new display bed. The collection was open every year and hugely popular during the flowering season.

The RHS had completed a trial of hardy nerines Nerine flexuosa and a number of the better cultivars were added to the collection showing the range of colour and improved head shapes.

National Plant Collections are registered and documented collections of a group of plants.

These can be linked botanically by plant group, or perhaps have a shared history or geography.

They are made available for people to view, either by appointment, on special open days or as part of a garden open to the public.

Added Bob Brown: “You may have seen the hardier species Nerine bowdenii amassed in Nerine sarniensis guernsey lily front gardens. Nerine sarniensis is differently coloured (reds, mauves, whites and pink rather than merely pink or white). It leafs in winter rather than summer which is what makes it less hardy.

In summer it’s completely dormant. Flowering and leafing are initiated by a drop of temperature.

They’re housed now at the Badsey nursery and will be looking good in October, November and December.”

Nerines originate from South Africa, where the dramatically colourful flowering bulbs grow in the mountains of the southern Cape Province.

They arrived in Europe in the 1600’s and made their home on Guernsey, from whence they get their common name of the ‘Guernsey Lily’. Breeding and hybridisation of Nerine undulata nerines began as early as the beginning of the WHERE TO SEE THE NATIONAL nineteenth century with the work of William PLANT COLLECTION OF NERINES Herbert. A number of the Cotswolds Garden Flowers, Sands Lane, species of this genus are Badsey, Evesham, Worcs. WR11 7EZ cultivated as ornamentals, Tel: 01386 833849 such as N. sarniensis, N. www.cotswoldgardenflowers.co.uk undulata (N. flexuosa). N. sarniensis is, probably, the Open seven days a week 9am to 5.30pm, best known species of the 10am to 5.30pm at the weekends. genus. www.countrygardener.co.uk

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READERS STORY

Falling into the trap of a fascinating plant

Somerset businessman and part time gardener Tom Gooding developed a fascination with the Venus’ fly trap on his way to a new love of special plants Gardening passions are the oddest things. I spent twenty years of my existence worrying about clearing brambles, mowing lawns, tidying leaves- the real heavyweight manual jobs in the garden.

I didn’t enjoy it.

It seemed to fall into the same category as housework-only in the fresh air and as our young family grew up, keeping the garden tidy was about as far as my horticultural enjoyment would ever go.

Then as these things seem to happen I had a period where I had to lay still for a few weeks. I had in a moment of complete idiocy tried to pull a rusted old lawn roller stuck down a ditch in the bottom of the garden.

The sort of things silly middle aged men do.

I pulled a hernia which eventually meant an operation.

And during my own enforced lockdown in the wilds of Somerset, or at least the wilds of looking out on my Somerset garden, the more bizarre and dramatic aspects of gardening fascinated me.

I started to love orchids, their colour, drama, tenderness and the way they respond to care and attention.

But that’s for another time.

I also developed a fascination for the closing leafy jaws of the Venus’ fly trap (Dionaea muscipula). We inherited one from a neighbour who was moving to Italy for a few months and as it was always a thing to talk about when we were his guests he asked me to care for it.

If you haven’t been near one, seen one, taken the time to appreciate one- you’ve really missed something.

These plants, house plants of course, are native to a very, very specific area of the United States- a radius of 60 miles or so across North and South Carolina where they grow in bogs and savannah in wet, peaty soil low in nitrogen and phosphorous.

In order to survive the plant somehow managed to evolve the famous or infamous ability by which it catches and digests insects to provide it with these nutrients which it so badly lacks.

My wife thinks they are an unloved freak of a plant but I’ve become an enormous fan. Why? I guess because this is the exact opposite of day-to-day routine housework gardening. This is the exotic, dramatic way nature evolves into a plant with very specific skills and needs.

A showstopper I guess.

The copious notes left by our neighbour soon showed us they need special care and the plant can in many hands become a short lived novelty.

Full sun is essential and the higher the light levels the better the coloration.

Traps are usually green outside but a vivid red within. The other key ingredient is moisture. During the growing season the plant should stand in around an inch of water. You can’t use tap water as the chemicals it contains make it a poisonous ingredient to these most sensitive of plants.

32

But I’ve learned they are not tropical –far from it during cold periods they will become dormant and survive temperature of -10 degrees C and if wet will survive up to 49degrees C. They will grow well for about five years but then seem to lose their vigour.

In our house our plant has seemed very happy this summer indoors on a sunny ledge and while we now worry what will happen as the days get shorter and colder we plan a cautious approach and have a protected slot in out lean-to greenhouse planned.

So there are some facts gleamed during my research I would like to share with the readers of your excellent magazine.

The individual traps close and open just five times before they die just three times if the successfully catch flies.

After ‘digesting’ the fly, the plants So no, you can’t force growth will dramatically increase them to shut. And no, also it is not exactly an everyday occurrence. After an insect is digested, the plant’s growth will briefly but dramatically increase.

How does this seeming miracle of nature work?

The traps are modified leaves with two halves with spines running along the edge of each lobe. Significantly there are trigger hairs on each side-normally three each side. An insect landing in the open trap has to be a bit unlucky to initially land there but also then has to trigger a hair twice for it to shut.

As the second trigger is touched the outer cells expand and then dramatically shut in one tenth of a second.

I haven’t seen it as we seem to have lucky not unlucky flies in our house!

As the insect wriggles, the trap shuts tighter, forming a strong seal, killing the insect and stimulating digestion.

So it is a quite special plant and over a few days I became fascinated by what must be one of the most remarkable plant adaptions. My deeper hobby is now revolving around orchids, which I have bought carefully and learned to care for Beautiful plants, delicate and rewarding.

But it has been quite an experience tending for good old Dionaea muscipula and if I can persuade my wife that we are not letting a monster in our house, I plan to purchase one if not this autumn then in the summer.

I will re-assure her that it is a houseplant which is not a freak of nature or a horror sideshow but a quite wonderful example of plant evolution and survival.

Country Gardener

Mark Hinsley

MSc.Res.Man.(Arb), OND (Arb), F.Arbor.A

Arboricultural Consultants Ltd.

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Welcome the first signs of spring with the National Garden Scheme Snowdrop Festival ngs.org.uk/snowdrops

33

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO

prepare for spring We may be heading downhill into winter over the next weeks but planning for next spring should be uppermost on our minds as it will thankfully soon be with us

The reality is that over the next few weeks we will be delving deeper into winter, with shorter days and some days when gardening might not be possible.

But it is also true that over the next three months there will be lots of days when work in the garden is possible with one thing in mind – preparing for spring.

Spring will arrive and you’ll soon be caught up in a frenzy of seed sowing, growing, and nurturing your garden as it comes back to life.

So it makes sense now to make use of the quieter winter months to organise your thoughts and get a head start on the new gardening year.

TIME FOR A MORE EFFICIENT COMPOST HEAP? We can all perhaps do something better when it comes to the quality of our composting. If you haven’t already, now’s a great time to set up a compost area in your garden. This could be as simple as buying a ready-made compost bin or you could build your own using spare wood.

If you already have one check how it all worked out this year - too dry, too wet, too smelly - they are all regular compost bin problems which can be easily fixed.

Make sure you have a good mixture of grass clippings, vegetable peelings, paper and woody prunings. And to help the process along you’ll need to turn your compost with a garden fork each month to keep it aerated.

Order summer flowering bulbs This is the perfect task for a wet and windy, winter day. Flowers like lilies, gladioli and ranunculi can all be ordered in the winter for early-spring planting.

Make the most of those days you’re stuck indoors to browse the catalogues and websites for inspirational new varieties of seeds and bulbs to plant and grow this year.

Put real effort into a tidy up

Catch the water this winter Install a water butt in your garden this winter to make the most of seasonal rainfall. Most of the year’s rainfalls is in winter, so now’s the time to collect it! Harvesting rainwater is essential for environmentally friendly gardening.

Peak demand for water in the hotter months often forces water companies to resort to groundwater reserves and streams, which is harmful to the environment and costly for consumers.

And rainfall is the best type of water for plants. Ericaceous plants in particular, such as camellias, rhododendrons and blueberries do best with rainwater, since tap water is often slightly alkaline.

When you install your water butt, position it underneath a downpipe from your home or shed. If you’ve got a closed drainpipe, you’ll need to get a diverter kit to siphon off some of the rainwater.

34

Nothing is more useful in the garden than what can be loosely called a tidy up. It’s a task which combines a number of things from removing leaves and other debris from flower beds and borders.

You can cut back the old dead growth of deciduous grasses and herbaceous perennials now, although, if you’d like to be wildlife friendly, it’s best to leave these until early spring.

Clear borders and beds back to bare soil. Put the dead organic matter you’ve cleared away into your compost pile or bin to break down.

Remove any weeds you can see and either burn them or put them in your refuse bin. Don’t compost them as the seeds will germinate and cause you more problems later on.

If your soil is workable, dig a five cms layer of organic matter - such as well-rotted manure, compost or recycled green waste - into empty garden borders.

Country Gardener

SUBSCRIPTIONS

GREENHOUSE WORK OVER Is the greenhouse suffering after a busy season? Wash the outside of your greenhouse with disinfectant or detergent, to remove algae, moss and general grime. This will let in more light during the growing months, while removing potential homes for pests and disease. Make sure you disinfect the inside of the glass too - overwintering pests and disease can survive in the smallest nooks and crannies.

Sweep out any plant debris on the floor and benches, and wash with a hot solution of garden disinfectant. Wash pots and seed trays to help prevent diseases like ‘damping off’ from infecting your young plants. Remember throughout the winter to let air into the greenhouse so keep windows and doors open on bright sunny days .

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COLD The recent restrictions on our everyday way of life COMFORT How your garden have brought with them changes and frustrations. can help wildlife For Country Gardener readers it has meant it has make it through this winter been more difficult to obtain a copy.

The magazine is so popular that we know from many readers that even in normal circumstances our outlets run out of copies quickly because of the demands for the magazine.

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New Year planting plants One of the joys of nature is that different seeds need a longer growing season so in January and February you can start sowing the seeds of plants which need more time such as geraniums (pelargoniums), begonias, antirrhinums, peppers and aubergines. They’ll need to be started in a heated propagator or similar to ensure good growth.

Move those deciduous shrubs Winter is a great time to move any deciduous shrubs, as they’ll still be dormant. Move shrubs on a still day to prevent the wind from drying out the roots.

Dig a circular trench around the shrub, giving it a wide berth. Try to take as much of the root ball as possible so it can re-establish itself in its new location as quickly as possible. When you replant your shrub in its new position, place it at the same level it was previously in the soil, and remember to water in well afterwards.

PEST CONTROL IS AN ALL YEAR ROUND TASK Controlling pests in the garden is an all year round task so hunt down and remove hibernating pests now - it will save you a lot of trouble come spring and summer. Take a closer look at the crowns of your perennial plants and check for any slugs, snails and aphid colonies sheltering for the winter.

If you still haven’t cleared last year’s pots of summer bedding then do so now, checking for white-vine-weevil larvae, which live in the compost and feed on plant roots.

Get your tools ready for a new season Give your tools a clean and a sharpen during the winter months. Maintaining your garden tools will help preserve them, saving you money in the long run and helping prevent the spread of disease. Dirty secateurs are notorious for introducing bacteria and fungi to fresh pruning wounds.

Use strong detergent, hot water and a scourer to give bladed tools a thorough clean.

Sharpening your tools will also improve their performance; they’ll be easier to work with and will give cleaner pruning cuts. Once sharpened, apply some oil or WD40 to blades and hinges.

Plus:

The rise of the eco-gardener; Buying and caring for your Christmas tree; Planning your garden for spring; Where to see this winter’s snowdrops; Potato days; Venus fly traps; Christmas garden events in Somerset

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EXMOOR WILD BIRD FEEDERS Unique hand-made bird feeders cut from fallen Exmoor trees. Why not hang a little piece of beautiful Exmoor in your garden? www.exmoorwildbirdfeeders.co.uk

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Thrifty gardening for the new season

Cotswolds gardens open up for visitors

Early spring garden the events throughout Cotswolds to enjoy

WIN a pair of the best gardening gloves events The best April garden throughout Devon

Cotswolds ISSUE NO 148 MARCH

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37

TREE SPECIALIST

Why you should know the law

Mark Hinsley would like us all to learn more about the trees in our gardens to avoid the con artists who are most certainly around The law is clear what can and cannot be done when it comes to removing trees which block views

Would you consider yourself a vulnerable adult?

How would you define vulnerable? Perhaps most importantly vulnerable to what?

I recently had an email from a client who is the chairman of the management committee of a large block of seafront apartments - well, almost seafront.

Between the apartments, which tower up into the sky, there are trees.

Year on year, as the trees grow, another floor of the apartments begins to lose its view of the sea.

They have been clients for 25 years and I have dealt with more than one chairman. Constantly the battle rages between the Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s) which protect the trees and the desire of residents to preserve or gain a view of the sea.

There have been successes, particularly involving solid canopy dark evergreens, there have been failures and there have been proposals which I have refused to support.

There was even at one time a breakaway committee convinced that they could beat the local authority with an aggressive line and remove all the trees which blocked views - they failed to remove so much as a leaf.

The email I received related to a communication the chairman had received from a resident of the similarly massive apartment block next door.

Editorial

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

The thing is the clients involved are retired successful professional people.

They are intelligent, generally well reasoning individuals.

When the truth of what is happening is explained to them, they quickly grasp the fact that they were being sucked into a con.

They are mildly embarrassed if they are extracted before things get bad - they are mortified if they actually fall for it and spend money with these crooks.

So, what makes these people vulnerable to con artists?

It is a dangerous combination of a lack of knowledge of the law and science of trees and a desire for something that they cannot have.

It is part of what prompts me to sit down and write these articles about trees and their ways.

-I want you, dear reader, to know about the trees in your garden so that you cannot be conned by some plausible individual who comes out with a load of pseudo-science that offers you what you can’t have.

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

Time Off

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

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

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Magazines

Apparently, the gentleman from the block next door was at that level where the trees were growing up into the view of the sea that he had ‘purchased’ when he first bought his apartment.

However, he had found a saviour!

A tree surgeon who told him that Tree Preservation Order consent was not required for just trimming trees, and not only that, once the trees were cut down low enough to clear the view, the tree surgeon was going to spray them with a special chemical which would stop them from growing back up again!

All this for only £1,200!

The chap next-door had become a missionary for this new ‘arboricultural messiah’ and was busy trying to convert my client to the new faith.

My client was in two minds - why had I never imparted these arboricultural glad tidings? - or was it in fact too good to be true?

Fortunately, I was able to nip this in the bud and no illegal works were undertaken on either property.

I also warned the local authority tree officer that he had a bunch of ‘Herberts’ operating on his patch.

Although they do not stay long - they make their money and scarper leaving the people they have conned to deal with the criminal offence of aiding, abetting, causing or allowing a person to contravene a Tree Preservation Order.

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

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