Garden News Mini Mag

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June 25, 2016 £1.99
Britain's
most trusted
voice in
gardening
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Worth
7
quick salads to
harvest all summer
2 x FREE SEEDS
Worth
£3.98!
Carol
Klein
"Plant my
midsummer
dream –
violets, thyme,
& oxslips"
Make colourful
cistus the star of
your border
TIPS FOR PRUNING
SPRING-FLOWERING
SHRUBS
"Try squash
that tell you
when they’re
ready to eat!"
says
Rob Smith
Get Weird your &
cacti
wonderful
blooming
blooming!
cacti!
Summer
beauties!
Grow your best-ever roses
Easy-care giant clematis
Colourful alpine stunners
DRAMATIC DAHLIAS!
The secret to guaranteed success

Easy summer salads
P.20
Roses are
rewarding me
for my work
I have a beautifully-scented old
climbing rose (‘Maigold’) that arches
around the kitchen window. Last
winter I gave it a prune – a real short
back and sides. While I was doing it,
I decided a change of style was also in
order. I took a new shoot and trained it
not over, but under the window. When
I’d finished I must admit it looked
rather scalped. What had I done? Well
fast-forwarding to now, having given it
a good spring feed, I know it’s forgiven
me, as I’ve been treated to masses of
blooms both under as well as around
the window. Each stem now has
twice as many flowers. Now
I’ve just got to get
deadheading! For more
on roses turn to page 14.
Garden News Editor
Britain’s most trusted
voice in gardening
P.42
Sow giant
pumpkins
P.14
Grow you best
roses ever
P.32
Prune early
flowering
shrubs
Our cover star:
‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is an upright
vigorous rose that flowers around now,
in early summer. It has beautiful, pink
double rosettes and an exceptional,
heady, old rose fragrance. It’s very
healthy, reliable and repeat flowers.
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Look inside!
About Now
4 News from the gardening world
5 Plant of the week: Cistus
6 Know Your Enemy
7 My life in Plants
9 Very Important Plant P.5
11 Wildlife & Garden Naturally
12 Top 5... time-saving mulches
Features
14 Grow you best-ever roses
20 Easy summer salads
22 Garden of the week
27 Easy-care summer clematis
30 Carol Klein: Create a
Shakespeare-inspired bower
58 Homegrown: Summer stems
What To Do This Week
33 Sow summer peas now
32 Prune early flowering shrubs
36 Sow your free seeds
39 Rob Smith sings the praises of
‘Honey Boat’ squash
41 Martin Fish on prurning
grapevines
42 Sow giant pumpkins
43 Plant outdoor tomatoes
43 Medwyn Williams is sowing
lettuce and carrots
45 Terry Walton has lots of salad
crops and potatoes to enjoy
The Experts
47 How to have healthy and
damage-free dahlias
48 Keep alpines flowering
49 Weird and wonderful cacti
50 Tony Dickerson answers your
questions
You and Your Gardens
52 Readers’ gardens
54 Your letters and photos
66 Gardening genius
Offers & Competitions
57 Prize-winning crossword
60 Save £7 on six hardy fuchsias
61 Buy 24 perennial jumbo plugs
for £14.99
62 Free ranunculus and cyclamen
bulbs for every reader
June 25 2016 / Garden News 3

Plant
OF THE
WEEK
Six to try for fabulous colour
Shutterstock
Cistus!
Delicate-looking blooms will
flower now on this tough shrub
C. albidus
Large, bright pink, jagged
flowers with yellow
stamens. Height and spread:
1m (3ft 4in).
Alamy
‘Prostratus’
Small, white saucer-shaped
flowers, with yellow centres.
Height: 45cm (18in), spread:
90cm (3ft).
Crocus
Shutterstock
June hails the start of a
steady stream of beautiful
papery cistus, or rock rose,
flowers – if healthy these plants
will tumble forth with a
profusion of intricate blooms,
each one lasting just a day. It’s
fascinating to examine their
poppy-like petals, crumpled up
and extremely delicate looking.
And yet the shrubs themselves
are really rather tough,
originating from dry, sunny
Mediterranean areas, evergreen
and hardy through most of the
UK. It’s their drought tolerance
that shows the extent of their
robustness though, coping with
dusty, dry conditions, harsh sun
and salty, coastal gardens.
Keep them happy
Cistus tolerates poor soils and
good soils, but isn’t keen on
chalky soils. They need
extremely well-drained compost
and lots of sun. Try them in a
rockery but be sure to plant it
now, so it gets settled in before
autumn. They need minimal
pruning, just trimming off dead
flowers and dead foliage.
● www.crocus.co.uk,
tel: 01344 578 111.
● www.burncoose.co.uk,
tel:01209 860316.
In 1895, cistus at the Royal Botanic Gardens
at Kew were wiped out by a frost – all except
one, its extra hardy Cistus laurifolius.
C. purpureus
Dark pink flowers
attractively splashed with
maroon splodges. Height
and spread: 1m (3ft 4in).
‘Decumbens’
Large, pure white flowers
with deep maroon central
splashes. Height and spread:
1m (3ft 4in).
Crocus
Shutterstock
‘Silver Pink’
A free-flowering profusion
of beautiful baby pink-white
blooms. Height and spread:
90cm (3ft).
‘Sunset’
An eye-catching vivid
pink, just like a rose or
peony. Height: 60cm (2ft),
spread: 90cm (3ft).
Crocus
Burncoose Nurseries

AboutNOW
Enter the
garden of
smiles
Temple-like topiary, magical
sculptures and a nod to Blighty
With more than 30
themed gardens,
there’s a nod to
every culture and
animal kingdom
If you’re visiting Thailand this
summer, the NongNooch
Tropical Botanical Garden
between Pattaya and Sattaheep
is well worth a daytrip or two.
First opened in the 1980s,
NongNooch is host to weird
and wonderful attractions and
themed gardens, including a
Bonsai Garden, Desert Rose
Garden, European
Garden, Orchid Garden,
Floating Garden, animal
sculptures and a real zoo.
There’s a hotel and
eateries on site so you
can stay long enough to enjoy all
there is to offer. You could even
make your way around the site
by bike or pedal boat hire – or if
you’re not
scared of heights, the 3km Sky
Walk! Visit www.nong
noochgardenpattaya.com
Photos: Shutterstock
Butterfly House opens
Next week sees the opening of the
National Botanic Garden of Wales’ brand
new Butterfly House – Plas Pilipala.
More than 20 butterfly species will arrive as
pupae, including species from Central and
South America, the West Indies, Caribbean,
Tonga, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. It
opens to the public on July 1 and will also
highlight the scientific research the gardens
are doing with bees, pollen, honey, hoverflies,
moths and other pollinators.
The move comes as part of a larger drive to
make the gardens more appealing as a family
attraction. This will include holding more than
100 days of family activity events, such as den
building and pond dipping, a £50,000 new play
Some of the new butterflies
Polymorphic
longwing
Blue
morpho
park, a water zorbing pool and a new straw
bale maze.
For further information visit www.
botanicgarden.wales, tel 01558 667149.
Tailed
jay
The Butterfly House at the
National Botanic Garden of Wales
Asian
swallowtail
National Botanic Garden of Walesw
Shutterstock
How to help
hedgehogs
Who doesn’t love seeing a
hedgehog snuffling
around in their garden?
Yet, surprisingly, a survey by the
RSPB has revealed 24 per cent of
280,000 people asked have never
seen one in their plot. Now the
charity is urging people to make
their outdoor spaces more wildlife
friendly to encourage more visits.
In particular, hedgehogs are
attracted to wild patches, and places
to shelter such as woodpiles or a
specially-made hedgehog house.
Also, make sure your garden has a
small access space, such as a 15cm
(6in) hole under your fence or gate.
They’ll repay your hospitality by
keeping your tender plants free
from nibbling slugs and snails.

Garden
OF THE
WEEK
Gardener Roger Roberts
Location Wharfedale,
34 Broadway, Duffield, Belper,
Derbyshire, DE56 4BU
Size Third of an acre
Soil Mildly acidic, loamy with
clay areas
Aspect South-west facing
Been in garden 22 years
Open for the NGS Saturday July
30 (11am-4pm), Sunday July
31(10.30am-5pm). Admission
£3.00, children free.
More info visit www.ngs.org.uk
Labour
of love
A whole world of design and spirited planting has been transported
to a rural garden set among the hills and fields of Derbyshire
The atmospheric
Italian garden is
a place to relax
and reflect
Words Karen Murphy
Photos Neil Hepworth
Roger Roberts, an
untrained but keen and
conscientious gardener
from Belper, was attracted by the
blank garden canvas before him
when he moved in to his new
home 22 years ago.
There was just a mossy lawn,
a high hedge, no shape or
structure and rectangular lawns,
front and back. “All the better
to sit back, take a look at what
I had and decide what I was
going to do with it – there was
so much potential.”
Roger did as much
research as possible, pausing
to consider the garden’s aspect,
wind patterns, soil and also
where he wanted paths, grass
and structures.
After a couple of years
enjoying the process of mulling
it over, he set to work. Working
full time, he was often away from
home, but managed one garden
project a year over 15 years. It’s
now finished and in just a third
of an acre he has 12 distinct areas
of the garden,
each planted up in a different
style or theme according to parts
of the world or planting styles
that he loves.
Roger sees himself as a plant
collector, and has more than 500
species in his garden. Every plant
he has is documented, as well as
when and how to look after or
propagate it through the year.
“I’ve tried many systems, but

The Japanese garden,
complete with mossy banks, a
stream, tea house and classic
red planting, with blood grass
and photinia on the left
have the perfect one now. It’s
so much easier to garden – you
need to know what you’re
looking after!”
Once the plants and
positioning became clear, then
came the inspiration and design.
Roger’s favourite area, owing to
his time travelling abroad, is his
Italian garden. His time in Italy
cemented his love for their
gardens and countryside, and he
was keen to bring a sense of that
home to Derbyshire.
“I love statuary,” he says, “and
have some marble busts, a statue
of the Roman goddess, Hebe and
some dramatic stone columns
and pillars – they look great.”
A terracotta wall is matched by
a 12m (40ft) terracotta pinkstemmed
birch – Betula
albosinensis septentrionalis
– while a pencil conifer, juniper
‘Skyrocket’, looms behind
atmospherically. Chopping down
Continues over the page
Roger’s pond has
quickly become a
home for fish and frogs

Garden
OF THE
WEEK
heavy trees
in this area
meant there’s
more sun now,
perfect for an Italian
garden full of Mediterranean
herbs and 80 pink hybrid tea
roses. A seating area by the
terracotta wall is the perfect
place to sit with a gin and tonic,
in front of a large mural painted
by the local schoolmaster. Roger
laughs, “he only used three pots
of paint, a blue spray and 15 years
later it’s still there!”
Another standout feature of
the garden is the stunning
Japanese area, the inspiration of
which is purely from books,
garden visits and research. “I’ve
been to Italy a lot but never been
to Japan,” says Roger. “I have
joined the Japanese Garden
Society though.”
One area of the garden was
distinctly mossy, so he decided
not to fight it and, with the help
of his graphic designer son, has
created a wonderful tea garden,
complete with teahouse. “It’s
difficult to create a mossy garden
from scratch, so I just went with
what I had,” he says. “The birds
peck at it, meaning it needs
manicuring regularly. One day a
month, I’m on my knees,
painstakingly combing through
and keeping it all trimmed
back.”
The north-facing fernery in
this area is a key element, with
easy-care blechnums, osmunda,
dryopteris, aspleniums and
athyriums to give an exotic feel.
The view from the teahouse was
important to get right, in order
to see the winding stream
leading to a thriving pond. The
pond is a marvel in itself, and is
perhaps the lowest maintenance
part of Roger’s garden. “I don’t
have to do anything to it at all, I
planted some yellow flags and
other pond plants there, and
they keep the water clear and
A stylish oriental
moongate, left, separates
the Japanese garden from
the rest. Right, exotic
looking martagon lilies
are easy to grow in the UK

Roger’s pick
for structure
dmitro2009 /Shutterstock
Colour is key in Roger’s
garden, with themed
areas of monarda and
lilies in bright reds and
yellows
fresh all the time,” he says. There
are newts, frogs and dragonflies,
but incredibly about six or seven
fish have found their way in.
Used to planting one each of
everything, Roger has recently
discovered the benefit of
planting perennials, as what
once was the Mediterranean
garden is now a Piet Oudolfinspired
naturalistic haven. This
by no means large area is packed
with teems of colour-coded lilies,
monarda, eupatorium,
heleniums, echinacea, asters,
sanguisorba and dots of grasses
between. A large Trachycarpus
fortunei that never stops growing
has huge yellow flowers in June.
There are plenty of jobs for
him to do now in the garden, but
his next one is to unwrap the
exotics for the summer, plus his
beech hedging and conifers need
pruning in a week or two.
And has the garden turned out
as he planned? “I do worry about
maintenance,” he says. “Do I
simplify the garden as I get older
or leave it in all its glory? But it’s
as perfect as it can be, and there’s
no space left to add anything.”
Tilia cordata ‘Greenspire’
This compact, neat and tidy small-leaved
lime is ideal for pleaching. Height: 12m (40ft),
spread: 17m (58ft).
Aesculus pavia ‘Atrosanguinea’
Hailing from the horse chestnut family, it has
red candles and bronze-green leaves. Height:
5m (17ft), spread: 3m (10ft).
Cercis canadensis
Spectacular red-pink leaves glow through
spring and summer, deepening to orange in
autumn. Height: 10m (34ft), spread: 10m (34ft).
Roger’s rules for success
1Get planning - it’s everything
and cataloguing is a
fantastic idea. Organisation is
the key to making things easy
for yourself.
2Learn to propagate as it’s
beneficial to your garden,
and to others if you give
cuttings away as gifts - it’s so
Shutterstock Shutterstock
Alamy
easy to do once you know how.
3Decide what you want your
garden for – mine is for me
and my passion for plants. It’s
very high maintenance! It
reflects me and my interests
and is an outlet for creativity.
4Add height and
imagination to your patch.
Ilex crenata
A bushy evergreen shrub, perfect for clipping
into Japanese ‘cloud tree’ shapes. Height: 4m
(13ft 6in), spread: 3m (10ft).
Acer griseum
This slow-growing acer has attractive peeling
bark. A tree that’s beautiful all year. Height:
10m (34ft), spread: 10m (34ft).
Trachycarpus fortunei
Exotic large green palm fronds and yellow
flowers in June. Needs winter protection.
Height: 20m (65ft), spread: 2.5m (8ft4in).
I see many gardens that are
all exactly the same and
planted at one level – why not
try something new and
different? Climbers can work
wonders, so go for an akebia or
Tropaeolum speciosum
growing up an up obelisk – it’ll
look wonderful.
Shutterstock Shutterstock

CAROL KLEIN
This week
AT GLEBE
COTTAGE
Shakespeare’s moving
dramas and sonnets give
us lots of information
about his life and times,
including the sorts of plants,
both wild and cultivated that
were of interest in that era.
However, of all the references to
flowers and plants in his work,
perhaps the best known is
Oberon, King of the fairies’
speech in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, where he tells us:
“I know a bank where the wild
thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding
violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with
luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and
with eglantine…”
The delightful oxlip is a rarity
nowadays, though thankfully a
few specialist growers continue
to produce plants and Hayley
Wood in Cambridgeshire is
one of its last wild outposts
and a great place to see them. I
filmed there for our Wild About
The Garden series made for
Channel 4, maybe 20 years ago.
Primrosecoloured
oxlips
are a rarity in
the wild
A Midsummer Night’s
Dream!
Use roses, violets, oxlips and honeysuckle to create
a bower inspired by Shakespeare’s seasonal play
Oxlip flowers are slightly more
fulsome than the narrow bells of
cowslips but with the pale colour
of primroses. It’s a pretty plant
and easy to cultivate but, as
with many primroses and
polyanthus, it benefits from
being divided every couple
of years to keep healthy.
Gertrude Jekyll
recommended splitting
polyanthus ‘when the
flowers were on the
wane’, which is about
now. Roots should be
trimmed to about 10cm
(4in) so they don’t wrap
back on themselves
when replanted and also
to encourage the
formation of fine, fibrous,
feeding roots.
Perhaps Shakespeare was
Shutterstock
adopting a bit of poetic licence
when he mentions thyme in the
same breath as oxlips. Thyme
prefers a sunny, well-drained
position, where the redolent oils
on its tiny leaves are released
freely in the heat of the sun. On
the other hand, ‘nodding violets’
as an accompaniment to oxlips is
an entirely plausible proposition.
They both enjoy the same
shady conditions and humusrich
soil, as does the ‘luscious
woodbine’, the name by which
honeysuckle went. Honeysuckle
is essentially a woodland plant,
but, like so many shady climbers,
it relishes having roots in shady
soil but its head in the sunshine.
The woodbine of which
Shakespeare writes was almost
certainly Lonicera periclymenum,
our native honeysuckle, and still
the most widely-grown and
highly-valued climbing plant for
evening perfume. It starts to
pump out its delicious fragrance
of honey and nutmeg in the
evening. Its long corolla tubes
are pollinated by moths.
Shakespeare mentions roses
frequently and although we
might recognise some of them,
there would have been few of the
multifarious hybrid roses that
grace our gardens today. Most of
those he referred to would have
been wild roses – eglantine is
Rosa rubiginosa, the sweet briar
rose whose foliage and stems
have an apple scent. Its flowers
are pink with slightly waved
petals and its hips are decorative.
The sweet musk-rose was
almost certainly native Rosa
arvensis, a strong climber with

‘Most of the
roses Shakespeare
refers to would have
been wild ones’
My gardening Diary
Potted verbasums
add drama
Shutterstock
Dark-leaved
heucheras
for my talk
Shutterstock
heads of creamy, highly scented
flowers. It’s more likely
Shakespeare would have seen
R. arvensis. We all know our
R. canina dog rose but it’s nice
to be reminded we have more
than one native hedgerow rose.
Brilliant
yellow
tuffets are
erupting
Garden World Images
Mr Bowles’s golden sedge is
probably the most exciting
plant in our garden now. Huge
tuffets of slender leaves of the
most brilliant yellow have
erupted in several small beds
in the brick garden. They were
planted to give the impression
of moving through these small
beds and helping integrate
them into one garden.
Romantic roses
are mentioned
frequently in
the Bard’s work
If you wanted to create
your own Midsummer Night’s
Dream venue, then planting
honeysuckle, roses, violets and,
perhaps, a pretty oxslip or two
should enable you to weave a
magical scenario.
What’s looking good now
Glowing golden sedge
A.E. Bowles loved finding
and collecting strange and
unusual variants of native
plants. Whenever he found
them, he’d dig them up and
plant them in his ‘Lunatic
Asylum’ – a special bed built to
accommodate his quirky finds.
We often find self-sown
seedlings in spaces between
paving stones and the path
bricks; invariably they’re the
same bright glowing yellow as
their parents, they never seem
to revert to type.
Beside purple-leaved
Clematis recta ‘Purpurea’
and chunks of brilliant blue
provided by Anchusa azurea
‘Loddon Royalist’ they make
a winning combination.
Jonathan Buckley
MONDAY Verbascums potted up from open-ground
plants have reached gigantic proportions. We gave them
plenty of root room and they’ve repaid us with a sterling
performance – their spikes are nearly 1m (39in) high. To use
the drama to full effect, they’re standing one to a
terracotta pot across the length of the front terrace.
TUESDAY Our new 126-compartment module trays are
splendid. They’re designed for vegetables but are ideal for
small perennial and biennial seedlings. Only problem is
getting the plants out again once they’ve rooted. Neil’s
working on an invention to extract them easily!
WEDNESDAY While filming recently for a forthcoming
‘Right Plant, Right Place’ piece for Gardeners’ World in a
Herefordshire meadow, the soil was as heavy and wet as in
our field yet it contained such a wealth of wild flowers.
Beginning to believe we could grow such beauties, too.
THURSDAY At the Birmingham NEC for Gardeners’ World
Live. It promises to be a little different this year and the
layout of the marquee has changed to make selling and
buying plants easier. There are more gardens too, including
a rose-swathed gothic ‘ruin’.
FRIDAY Tearing around various stages and theatres
within Gardeners’ World Live. Today’s talk is based on my
book Making a Garden. One of the great advantages of
being at such a show is that there are plenty of plants
around and exhibitors seem very helpful and willing to
lend their wares.
SATURDAY Planning to talk about container planting
while filling a roomy container with a dark eucomis as its
centrepiece, surrounded by dark-leaved heucheras and
dahlias with loads of brilliant yellow flowers to be picked
up by cosmos ‘Zanthos’.
SUNDAY One batch of our seedlings are
looking decidedly unhappy, with different
varieties that were potted into the same
compost all suffering similar
symptoms. I’m going to send it off to
the RHS to get it analysed.
Carol Klein

Easy summ
Delicious to eat and foolproof to grow – here are
our seven top choices for salad crops to sow now
1
RADISHES
are the ultimate
fast food crop.
Their small, peppery,
colourful roots are
ready to harvest just
three to four weeks
after sowing. Given a
good free-draining soil
which retains moisture,
they’ll cause you little
trouble, but do tend
to bolt quickly if they
dry out or are left for
too long once roots
are ready to harvest.
To give you a reliable
supply, small quantities
are best sown thinly
in drills about 10cm
(4in) apart every two
weeks up until August.
Radishes grow well in
pots but keep them
well watered to
prevent bolting.
TRY ‘French
Breakfast’, ‘Cherry
Belle’ and ‘Mirabeau’.
Attractive, long
radish ‘French
Breakfast’
Photos: Shutterstock unless stated
Delicious,
fresh sugar
snaps pep
up a salad
3SUGAR SNAP
PEAS are perfect for
a quick summer crop in
around eight weeks. They need
to be picked early or they’ll
develop into not-so-sweet
plump pods. See if they’re ready
by snapping one in half and
listening for the distinctive
‘snap’ sound. Try growing up a
cane wigwam support, sowing
seed 5cm (2in) deep. Tie in
growing shoots regularly and
protect plants from mice and
slugs with netting and organic
slug pellets. Horticultural fleece
will protect during summer
against pea moth.
TRY pea ‘Sugar Snap’ for extra
sweet pods.
2
BABY
COURGETTES
are sweet, glossy and often
still have their flower bud
attached. Courgettes can be ready
to pick in just eight weeks, so sow
outdoors now for a summer crop.
These hungry plants like fertile
soil in a sheltered spot and should
be spaced about 90cm (3ft) apart.
They thrive in growing bags or
large containers, but need regular
watering and feeding with a tomato
fertiliser once fruits are forming. Cut
courgettes when 10cm (4in) long to
encourage more fruit.
TRY ‘Defender’ or yellow ‘Parador’
4
BABY
BEETS
and their beautiful,
red-veined leaves,
make a brilliant addition
to salads. These reliable
performers are tolerant
of most garden soils, but
need a deep pot for roots
to swell quickly. Sow your
seeds thinly in short rows
15cm (6in) apart every three
weeks from now to the end
of July for a continuous
harvest. Small baby beets
are ready for picking after
seven weeks and should
be about the size of a table
tennis ball after 9-10 weeks.
Bolt-resistant varieties
‘Boltardy’ and ‘Pablo’ are
trusted choices.
TRY yellow ‘Burpee’s
Golden’, or striped ‘Chioggia
Pink’ as summer alternatives.
Pick baby beets
after seven weeks

er salads
Super quick-grow spring
onions are ready in just
over a month
5
SPRING
ONIONS
are compact and simple to
grow, making them ideal in
containers and window boxes, but
in the garden, you’ll need a soil that
can be raked to a fine tilth to get
consistent germination. They’re best
sown in drills 10cm (4in) apart, right
until the end of June, for harvesting
throughout the summer. They first
reach a usable size after about six
weeks and it’s best to pull them
quickly before the bulbs get too big.
TRY ‘White Lisbon’, ‘Ramrod, or
purple-tinged ‘Apache’.
Sweet, crunch
carrots can
produce baby
roots in under
two months
A mix of potted
salad leaves makes
for easy pickings
6 CUT-AND-
COME-AGAIN
LEAVES are ready
in four weeks. A whole variety
of loose-leaf lettuces and other
leaves, such as mizuna, oriental
mustard, pak choi and rocket,
can be sown individually or
mixed for a combination of
colours, flavours and textures.
To harvest, cut young leaves
about 2cm (1in) from soil level,
leaving the central growing
points intact to give two or
three more harvests. Grow in
well-watered pots, window
boxes, or decorative rows in the
garden. Sow every two to three
weeks outdoors until August.
TRY lettuces ‘Green Salad Bowl’
and ‘Catalogna’, rocket ‘Apollo’,
or one of the seed mixes available.
7
BABY
CARROTS have
such a sugary crunch
they’ll be lucky to make it
as far as your salad bowl!
Early, rather than maincrop,
varieties are particularly fast
growing and should produce
baby roots in seven weeks.
Seeds are best sown about
1cm (½in) apart, in shallow
drills 15cm (6in) wide, in
fertile, well-drained soil.
You can do this until the end
of this month. Carrots also
flourish in deep pots, where
their feathery foliage looks
attractive. Protect crops from
carrot fly by growing under
horticultural fleece.
TRY fast-maturing ‘Ideal’
for a rich taste.

What to do this week
IN YOUR FLOWER GARDEN
Prune early
flowering
shrubs
Do it now so they have time
to mature flowering wood
It’s time to prune deciduous spring flowering
shrubs such as forsythia, lilac and fothergilla.
Wait until the last of the flowers have faded
then dig out your loppers. Pruning straight after
flowering means the shrub will have the summer
to mature plenty of flowering wood for next spring.
If you only have five minutes, just trim the stems
back to remove old blooms. But if you want to
maximise flowers, the best approach is to remove
whole stems down to the ground after flowering.
This will stop the structure becoming
overcrowded, prevent stems rubbing together and
encourage new stems to grow from the base. Aim
to remove about one in five stems, distributed
evenly through the shrub. Also remove any that are
rubbing together or damaged.
After pruning, sprinkle a handful of slow-release
fertiliser around the base to give it a boost.
If your shrub has been clipped and is too dense
to start pruning in this way, you can
opt to ‘renovate’ it by cutting it
right down to the ground in
winter. You’ll lose the
flowers for one season
but be rewarded by a
more graceful shape
the following year.
Garden News
RECOMMENDS
3 to cut back now
Bauer
Bauer
Bauer
Weigela
Stems are smothered in pink or white blooms
through late spring. To maximise them, prune
the oldest stems to the ground now. Height:
2.5m (8ft 4in).
Viburnum bodnantense
Flowering in winter and very early, this shrub
will be in leaf by now. This is the latest you can
prune to preserve next year’s flowers. Height:
2.5m (8ft 4in).
Halesia carolina
This large shrub has pendant clusters of
dainty white flowers. It likes a sheltered spot
in neutral to acid soil. Tough winged fruit
remain on tree in autumn. Height: 8m (26ft).

Summer
prune now
Trim your grapevines
back to energise them!
Greenhouse grapes have the advantage
of a much longer growing season
than vines planted outside, which
hopefully results in a larger crop at the end
of the season. Although vines are totally
hardy, they need sunshine and warmth
through the summer to make sure the
grapes develop properly and ripen. A
greenhouse or polytunnel helps to
provide these growing conditions.
Most vines can be vigorous and, if they’re
not pruned regularly, would simply fill your
greenhouse with a mass of long stems and
foliage. In winter, all the previous season’s
growth is cut back, and then at this time of
year we need to carry out summer pruning.
My vine is trained as a single rod (main
stem) tied to a wire running along the ridge
of the greenhouse. It’s currently in full
growth and forming grapes. Pruning is fairly
simple and basically consists of trimming
back all the long shoots to a couple of leaves
past the small bunches of grapes.
If two bunches have developed on one
stem, I usually cut the weaker one off to limit
it to just a single bunch per stem. This way
Jobs
to do now
MARTIN FISH
The undercover
GARDENER
Former head gardener, TV and radio broadcaster and RHS judge
you get slightly fewer bunches, but they’re
better quality. If you want, you can also thin
the grapes in each bunch, but this is very
time consuming. I only remove a few
bunches if I think the vine’s carrying too
many to support.
Once all the long growths have been
shortened, the vine’s energy is diverted into
grape growth, although new shoots will also
develop from where you cut back to and
these will need trimming back right
through summer.
A little water while the fruits are swelling
and a high-potash feed will keep everything
healthy. Then it’s a case of waiting for the
grapes to ripen later in the summer.
Sponsored by
Healthy new
bunches of
grapes forming
Tel: 01531 633659
www.haygrove.co.uk
Photos: Martin Fish
Clear potatoes and replant
with more vegetables
We’ve been lifting potatoes in the polytunnel
for a couple of weeks, despite the cold spring
weather. Once they’re cleared, I’ll replant
with some more veg.
Prick out sweet williams
and grow them on
I’m growing sweet williams from seed for
some early cut flowers next year. Seedlings
are now ready to prick out and grow on before
being planted in large pots in the polytunnel.
Deadhead pelargoniums
Pelargoniums and geraniums
are flowering well in the
greenhouse. Deadhead them
regularly to keep the
show going.
Next week: Streptocarpus
care and propagation

Gardening with the
EXPERTS
The world’s finest share their tips for success
Strong, well-fed
plants will produce
lots of flowers
Dave Gillam
A grower for 25 years, in 2012
Dave won National Individual
Champion awards at each of
the English (Shepton Mallet),
Welsh and Scottish National
Dahlia Society competitions,
the first time this has ever been accomplished.
He’s very busy on YouTube, where you’ll find
dozens of videos on how to grow dahlias.
From June to August, dahlias should
be happily growing in our beds
and borders. However, as with any
leafy plants, the moment they go in the
ground you might just as well ring the
dinner bell for all the local slugs, snails
and aphids. Then, as the buds come
along, earwigs join the party, too!
The dwindling range of chemicals
and controls makes things harder for
us all, but fortunately, plant foods seem
to be on the increase, and encouraging
our dahlias to grow strongly helps
keep them ahead of the pests.
Hungry feeders
Dahlias are naturally hungry plants,
so providing regular feed helps them
on their way. There are three basic
food types that should be applied at
different stages to fuel plant growth.
I feed with high nitrogen (N) in June,
which promotes strong plant and leaf
growth, to build a strong base. This is
commonly found in soluble lawn foods.
July is the time to use a balanced feed
of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) in
almost equal parts. This strengthens
dahlias and starts hardening the plant
ready to flower. General soluble foods such
as Miracle-Gro or Gro-Sure are ideal.
To aid flowering by stiffening the
stems, apply a high-potash feed in
Potash improves
flower size
Photos: David Gillam
Add petroleum jelly to
stems to stop earwigs
in their tracks
How to have healthy and
damage-free dahlias
Now’s the time to feed to keep plants strong
August. The Potash (K) ripens growth
and stems and improves flower size, as
well as making the plant more weather
tolerant. Suitable products include
tomato feeds and most garden centres
stock a box of sulphate of potash.
Phosphate (P) is found in nearly all
foods. It helps root growth and is only
needed in small quantities. An initial base
dressing of bone meal or blood, fish and
bone is normally enough without the need
to add more. Phosphate can remain in
the soil for a long time so overapplication
isn’t a good idea.
If you’re just growing
dahlias for flowering
in the garden, a couple
of balanced feeds and a
couple of potash feeds of
2.5-5 litres per plant will
make a lot of difference.
For show purposes, to get
the full potential from your
plants use the different
products as described
above every 10–14 days.
For weaker-stemmed
varieties, apply a dressing of
sulphate of potash in mid-July
Tackle pests early for
pristine flowers
and water in. It takes a while before the plant
can take it in, so it needs doing in advance.
Pest control
I find off-the-shelf chemicals for pests work
well enough, but for more stubborn pests I
increase the recommended dose. To avoid
pests and diseases, regularly check your
plants and start any treatment at the first
sign, rather than waiting for an outbreak.
Spend enough time with your plants and
you’ll recognise if there’s a problem.
I use a light application of slug pellets
prior to planting and then use them lightly
after that. Don’t overuse them – only 10-15
pellets per square metre is required, and they
contain an attractant so if you over-apply
them, you’ll simply encourage every slug
around to your plants. I use organic-based,
wildlife-friendly pellets from Growing
Success because they drive the slugs
underground to die, which means they’re
less likely to be picked up by feeding birds.
Earwigs don’t become a problem until later
in the season. They’re nocturnal so they hide in
the day and feed at night. A smear of petroleum
jelly applied a few inches below the bud helps
prevent any strays from feasting on the buds of
large flowers or those needing extra protection.

Readers’
gardens
now!
Over the
FENCE
Wallflowers
and alliums
make a striking
contrast
Echinopsis
‘Bourne
Sparkle’
It’s busy on
the plot!
Derek
Brooks
Prize-winning
veg from the
allotment and
a smaller garden
in greater Manchester with
impressive summer bedding.
Photos: Richard Torr
Bedding plan’s a triumph
Richard
Torr
Trent Valley
garden with
a cottagestyle
feel and
an extensive greenhouse
collection of cacti and
succulents.
Mixed hostas
add interest
for an NGS day
The garden’s full of bloom,
especially from shrubs
including the magnificent
white-flowered Viburnum
plicatum ‘Mariesii’, a narrowleaved
form of Choisya ternata
(Mexican orange blossom) and a
variegated weigela.
In preparation for our two
National Gardens Scheme open
days recently, I displayed several
hostas in pots at the front of
the house. Although in full
sun, with plenty of water the
plants are thriving and have
unfurled fresh, bright foliage.
Bearded iris are in bloom,
including a particularly nice
dwarf blue variety with Iris
sibirica starting to show plenty
of flowers for the follow-on
display. ‘Handel’ and ‘Albertine’
roses are the first to show and
Geranium palmatum is
producing an eye-catching
mass of pink.
A bed of Allium hollandicum
Rose ‘Handel’ is
first to bloom
‘Purple Sensation’ underplanted
with orange/yellow Siberian
wallflowers was a triumph, with
the wallflowers continuing to
bloom as the alliums fade.
Tomato seedlings planted out
in the greenhouse border are
growing strongly. Flower buds
are appearing, so I’ll feed them
soon with a high-potash
fertiliser. I’m growing heavycropping
cherry tomato ‘Sweet
Million’, old favourite ‘Ailsa Craig’
and beefsteak ‘Super Marmande’
with French marigolds planted
in between to deter white fly.
After a few weeks of growing
on in the greenhouse, the
planted wall baskets of multiflowered
begonias and pink
trailing geraniums look fantastic
on the house walls.
Cacti and succulents continue
to flower well, especially
echinopsis ‘Bourne Sparkle’,
with 15 iridescent red/pink
flowers out in one day.
Photos: Richard Torr
Weeds are springing up
persistently and
before I plant
anything in the allotment, I’ve
got to weed the beds again! At
least the weather’s been dry
enough to plant out celery, ‘Show
Perfection’ peas, spray
chrysanths, dahlias and tender
veg, including runner beans,
Lawn looks
healthy after
a spruce-up
Linda
Coy
Spacious cottage
style garden
near York filled
with perennials
around shrubs and trees.

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