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Carol Klein 'My favourite
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Plant a mixed
hedge for nuts
and berries
brand new
dahlias to
grow in 2018!
Try hyacinths to
kick-start your spring
THIS WEEK'S JOBS
✔ Plant up a potted
bulb display
✔ Prune hydrangeas
✔ Take blackcurrant
cuttings 5
Plan for
a year of
success!
The eight plants you
can always rely on
PLUS Grow the surprise
plants you can eat!
sedges and rushes
for interest all year

WHAT TO DO
Meet
the
team
If you do
Ian Hodgson
Kew-trained horticulturist and
garden designer. Previously
with the RHS, Ian is interested
in all aspects of gardening.
just one job...
Repair
wooden
structures
Take the time to do it now
while it’s quiet in the garden
Karen Murphy
A keen all-round
gardener, Karen has
RHS qualifications
and also loves wildlife.
THIS
WEEK!
Martin Fish
Former head
gardener, TV and
radio broadcaster
and RHS judge.
Many features and structures in the garden, such as
fences, trellis, pergolas, sheds and summer houses,
are made from wood, and to keep them in good
condition they need a little attention occasionally.
The majority tend to be made from pressure-treated
timber, where the preservative has been forced under
pressure into the centre of the timber, and is often referred to
as tanalised. If you’re buying new fencing or other wooden
features, always go for treated timber, which will last for
many years, as untreated wood will soon rot in damp
conditions. In theory, pressure-treated timber doesn’t need
any additional preservatives painting on, but you can stain or
paint the structures in a colour of your choice and this is a
good job to do in winter, as long as what you’re treating is dry.
Winter winds can also cause damage to structures and
these need fixing as soon as possible. While it’s quiet in the
garden check sheds and other wooden structures and carry
out repairs. This might be as simple as nailing or screwing a
loose board, to replacing rotten or damaged wood with new.
Top
Tips
Make sure any wooden
uprights are sturdy after
winter weather strikes
Photos: Martin Fish, unless stated
1Check trellis panels
supporting climbers and if
some of them are loose, fix with
small nails.
Fences also need checking
2 over and any loose panels or
boards should be nailed or
screwed tight.
Check fence posts and the
3 supports of arches and
pergolas to make sure they’re
not rotting at soil level.
In dry weather freshen up
4 painted or treated structures
with a fresh coat, after sanding
any rough edges first.
Subscribe and get 4 issues for just £1! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn
January 27 2018 / Garden News 29

P.40
The best new
dahlias for 2018
Reasons to
be cheerful
Last week saw ‘Blue Monday’,
when apparently people are more
depressed than on any other day
of the year. A combination of bad
weather, short days and post-
Christmas malaise takes it toll, it
would appear – so on our Facebook
and Twitter pages we decided to
cheer up our followers with glorious
summer garden pictures, and
asked them to share their own.
The results were wonderful, with
lots of readers posting their own
pictures that certainly made us
smile here at Garden News!
So ‘Blue Monday’ was well and
truly put behind us and
now we’re looking ahead
to the colour of spring – it
will be here soon! Have a
great gardening week.
Garden News
Editor
Britain’s most trusted
voice in gardening
P.35
Add scent
and stature to
your garden
P.36
Take
blackcurrant
cuttings now
P.18
Garden of
the Week
Our cover star:
Edgeworthia
chrysantha rubra
The paperbush plant is a star of the winter
garden, bringing interest when little else
is in flower. Closely related to daphne, it
also produces an intense fragrance).
Marianne Maierus
Naomi Slade
Martin Fish
GAP
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Look inside!
About Now
4 News from the gardening world
5 Plant of the Week: Hyacinths
6 Top 5... Ornamental
sedges and rushes
7 My Life in Plants
9 Very Important Plant
10 Wildlife
Features
12 Create a fail-safe garden
16 What’s legally right and wrong
in the garden?
18 Garden of the Week
22 Grow unusual edibles
26 Carol Klein on her favourite
plants for winter scent
58 Homegrown: Celeriac
What To Do This Week
29 Repair wooden structures
30 Plant up a potted bulb display
33 Nick Bailey’s simple guide to
putting wire supports on a wall
35 Naomi Watts beats the January
blues with scent and stature
36 Take blackcurrant cuttings
37 Medwyn Williams is preparing
his beds for planting
39 Terry Walton gets a potato
surprise on his plot!
The Experts
40 Dave Gillam reveals his pick of
the best dahlias for 2018
41 Take cuttings of chrysanths
43 Tony Dickerson answers your
questions
You and Your Gardens
46 Readers’ gardens
49 Your letters and photos
Offers & Competitions
51 Prize-winning crossword
52 Save 25 per cent on begonias
53 Buy a native woodland collection
55 Agapanthus and iris Louisiana
for every reader
Get in touch!
P.5
Email gn.letters@bauermedia.co.uk
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Park, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA
January 27 2018 / Garden News

Letter of the la
Sometimes it’s unclear what’s legally wrong and right when it comes
to garden rules. Here are seven of the more common regulations
Words: Karen Murphy
OVERGROWN HEDGES
1It goes without saying that you’re
responsible for looking after your own
hedges, and making sure they’re not a
nuisance to anyone else. Always do some
research on what hedges are the best for
your plot before you go and make a planting
error! Chat to your neighbour reasonably
if the hedge on their land is too high, and
offer some gardening help if they need it.
If the hedge is stopping you enjoying your
garden, blocks your view or blocks out light
getting to your house or garden, you can
contact your local council, but only if your
neighbour isn’t taking your concerns into
account. A mostly evergreen hedge over 2m
(6½ft) tall constitutes a ‘high hedge’, and
can be considered in complaints.
Make sure your
planting won’t affect
neighbouring properties
Shutterstock
Alamy
A home bonfire
isn’t illegal but
can be a nuisance
GARDEN BONFIRES
2Contrary to popular opinion,
it’s not illegal to have a
garden bonfire, but if your
bonfire becomes a nuisance to
others, that’s where the problems
start. If your bonfire emits lots
of smoke, fumes or gasses that
endanger passersby or traffic,
you may be fined. Wait for a clear
day with no wind to reduce any
neighbourly disputes! Keep most
of your garden green waste for the
compost heap, but thick prunings,
logs and nuisance weeds are good
bonfire staples. Never burn plastic,
rubber or anything non-plant
related. And be aware of your
garden wildlife, too!
CHICKEN KEEPING
3Chicken keeping is quite
straightforward, but you must
consider their health and
welfare at all times, and provide a
reasonably-sized dwelling for them.
Make sure your chickens aren’t a
nuisance to neighbours, for example,
roaming freely and eating their
plants! Check that you’re allowed to
keep chickens too, as some house
deeds or council legislation states
you may not be allowed to. If you
intend to keep more than 50, you
must register them with DEFRA
– fewer than that and you aren’t
restricted and can happily sell or
give away healthy eggs.
Your chickens’ welfare
is the main priority
Alamy
Always check that any
garden buildings don’t
need planning permission
PLANNING PERMISSION
4When it comes to building
greenhouses and sheds there are
not usually any restrictions, but
there are a few pointers to note in some
cases. Will it obstruct views, be over 4m
(13ft) high, built in a front garden or be
built in a conservation area? If so, consult
your council. A garden wall that’s more
than 2m (6½ft) high may have to be
registered with planning permission, too.
16 Garden News / January 27 2018

w...
Are your garden
chemicals still in
date or legal to use?
Alamy
DISPOSING OF
GARDEN CHEMICALS
5Always check your chemicals
are in date and properly
labelled, and be aware that
some of your older ones may have
been discontinued. Visit www.rhs.
org.uk and search for ‘withdrawn
chemicals’ for more information.
Permitted chemical containers
must have their contents finished
up on a designated plant and rinsed
out carefully before being put in the
household recycling. Contact your
council waste disposal department
to ask where you can get rid of
withdrawn chemicals in your area.
Alamy
Try offering to help if
your neighbour lets their
garden become unruly
Trees can throw
up a number of
legal issues!
Alamy
NEIGHBOUR NEGLECT
6It’s disheartening when a neighbour neglects
their garden, particularly when you put so much
effort into your own! A friendly chat with them
always goes down well, and you can bring up your
concerns about encroaching weeds, for example. Plus
your gardening knowledge may be very welcome. If
they don’t comply with your neighbourly help, you can
contact your local authority if they’re spreading certain
weeds, such as creeping thistle and ragwort. Also if
they’re endangering anyone or obstructing rights of way
you can get the authorities involved.
Shutterstock
THE TRUTH ON TREES
7It’s tricky when it comes to trees – keeping them in check
can become a real job. There are a few important things
to remember if a tree becomes a nuisance. You can trim
overhanging branches from a neighbour’s tree, but only up
to the boundary line, and then you have to offer the trimmed
branches back to them. The same goes for overhanging fruit
or windfalls – always give them back to the tree owner, even if
they fall in your garden! Don’t just throw anything back over
the fence either as this is considered antisocial. Any tree on the
boundary line belongs to both parties and neighbours aren’t
obliged to clear their tree’s leaves unless a drain is blocked.
And finally, nests and roosts in any tree are protected by law.
Subscribe and get 4 issues for just £1! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn
January 27 2018 / Garden News 17

Grow
unusual
edibles!
Enjoy tasty treats from
unconventional sources
Words Karen Murphy
Be it border shrubs and bedding blooms, or more
recognisable fruiting bushes, there are lots of tasty
treats you can grow this year. Fear not if you
haven’t got a fruit patch, simply pack your beds with
edible plants! We’ve also chosen a few old fruiting
favourites, revamped for new taste, colour and form.
Alamy
New ways with old favourites:
Try these unusual selections
Raspberry ‘Autumn Amber’
A perennial fruiter, this gorgeous golden raspberry is
practically thornless and is high-yielding. This has been
well-bred at the famous fruit research institute at East
Malling in Kent to be highly resistant to disease and to fruit
every year. A delicious, eye-catching, apricot-coloured
treat for autumn! Plant now for this year’s fruit.
Supplier: www.lubera.co.uk.
Greencurrant ‘Greenlife’
A delicious, sweet currant that lacks the usual red-black pigment,
this is an attractive, leafy currant with unusual berries. A fabulous
addition to the fruit bowl, which has the added bonus of being
unattractive to the spotted wing drosophila (fruit flies) because of
its colour. It has been detected in our gardens recently and prefers
to attack unripe black or red fruit. Plant now potted or bare-root.
Supplier: www.lubera.co.uk.
22 Garden News / January 27 2018

Blueberry
‘Pink Lemonade’
One of the many merits of a
blueberry is its striking ornamental
value. This means you can quite
happily grow one in an acidic spot
in your garden, or as an individual
specimen in an ericaceous container.
This unusual ‘pinkberry’, which is just
as tasty as its blue cousins, needs a
sunny spot; pinkish flowers become
pink berries, deepening to a darker
colour. Plant now and feed in spring.
Supplier: www.lubera.co.uk.
Tasty flowers to try…
Eat these border blooms
Tulbaghia violacea
A very pretty member of the allium
family with pungent, garlicky leaves
and flowers – some say it shouldn’t be
used as a cut flower for this reason!
An easy container or border plant
that will pep up salads and other
cooking, like chives do. Its common
name is ‘society garlic’ as it’s said
the aroma and taste is less socially
unacceptable; perfect for society
functions! It can be used a companion
plant to deter pests, much like
onions and garlic. Order dormant
roots now for planting in May.
Supplier: www.unwins.co.uk.
Alamy
Photos: Shutterstock, unless stated
Actinidia arguta ‘Issai’
A fantastic, hardy, little snacking kiwi
that can be grown outside in our winters.
Smooth-skinned fruit the size of plums,
there’s no peeling necessary! It fruits in
late summer and doesn’t need a fertilising
companion. Supplied as a potted plant to
get in the ground now in a sunny spot.
Supplier: www.bakker.com.
Lubera
Aquilegia vulgaris
Lovely purple, spurred bonnet blooms of
this common columbine, which naturalise
fantastically in part shade. Short-lived
flowers in May and June but so worth it! Its
flowers are edible and sweet to taste. Sown
directly in March they’ll flower next year.
Supplier: Seeds from www.crocus.co.uk.
Viola odorata
Sweet violets have a heavenly scent
throughout early spring and are an
excellent garnish for salads and pasta
dishes, but a classic way to use them is
to crystalise them in sugar and use as
cake toppers. A swathe of these
growing in a dappled woodland shady
spot in your garden will bring
sumptuous scent to your plot. Bare
root plants supplied for planting now.
Supplier: www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk.
Hemerocallis
‘Stella de Oro’
Daylilies are little known
excellent edibles, and some
gardeners swear by their
blooms, which can be added to
salads and other dishes much
like courgette flowers. A hardy,
vigorous, late summer bloomer
for a beautiful border. Order
now to plant in mid-spring for
blooms in July and August.
Supplier: www.agroforestry.co.uk.
Subscribe and get 4 issues for just £1! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn
January 27 2018 / Garden News 23

Well I never knew that!
Four fruity bushes you can eat
Berberis vulgaris
Our very own native British barberry – an attractive, red-tinged,
deciduous, thorny shrub with lots of droops of edible berries in summer
and autumn. The fruits are sharp and lemony and are great to harvest
from a native hedge in your back garden! Plant berberis shrubs now.
Supplier: www.agroforestry.co.uk.
Mahonia aquifolium
Less prickly leaves than other
mahonias, and with puffed blooms
instead of tall spires. It flowers in
spring followed by berries. Mahonias
are fantastic shade lovers, which
are evergreen and very versatile.
Plant it under a hedge or as a
colourful utility shrub and ground
cover. It’s not just the berries that
are edible, it’s the flowers, too.
Supplier: www.agroforestry.co.uk.
Cornus mas
This winter-flowering cornus has its characteristic fluffs of
yellow flowers, which are a great source of food for early
bees, but it’s the glossy cherry fruits in summer and autumn
that make it a useful edible for the garden. These fruits taste
like plums. Plant now for blooms and fruits in future years.
Supplier: www.burncoose.co.uk.
Sorbus aucuparia edulis
This is a cultivated variety of our native rowan, which has particularly
edible berries and is thought to have been brought to cultivation in
the 19th century. It’ll stay relatively compact for many years as most
rowans do. Try the fruit in warming berry puddings or as rowan jelly.
There’s still plenty of time to plant bare-root trees and bushes now.
Supplier: Beechwood Nurseries – www.3fatpigs.co.uk.
GAP
24 Garden News / January 27 2018

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK
in your flower garden
Plant up a potted
bulb display
Celebrate the season
with a bright and
cheerful creation
Now’s the time of year when
gardeners get a little
excited about the
imminent influx of spring blooms
and new growth, as well as the
promise of much lovelier weather
to get out in! So to celebrate the
season and create something
pretty, why not get some
colourful planting underway
and jazz up your windowsills
and outdoor tables with a
selection of potted bulbs?
Instead of individual clusters of
plants, plant a few pots of bulbs
together in different sizes of shallow
bowls, with taller ones at the back or
in the middle, surrounded by smaller
irises and snowdrops, for example.
You could even daintily edge your
pots in low-growing winter aconites.
Tuck in a few and then backfill tightly
with multi-purpose compost, finishing
off with your mossy topper to add a
natural woodland feel to your display.
Nothing says ‘bring on spring’ more
than lots of early-flowering bulbs to
admire! Once they’ve all finished
flowering, leave their leaves for a few
weeks, then trim them right down.
You can plant them out in the garden
once they’ve gone over.
Garden News
RECOMMENDS
It’s easy to make an
indoor bulb display
to brighten a table
Photos: Neil Hepworth, unless stated
Winter iris
Garden centres have small pots
of winter iris for sale now for
an instantly colourful creation.
I. reticulata is most common
and also try I. unguicularis.
Alamy
Mini daffs
Pots of mini daffs are available,
with the classic ‘Tête-à-tête’
the most common, though look
around for other colours to mix
up your palette.
Alamy
Snowdrops
Potted snowdrops from garden
centres add woodland wonder
to your bulb displays. Once
gone over you can replant them
in the garden ‘in the green’.
Alamy
Moss topping
Use moss as a naturalistic
surface topper. It’s attractive
and also keeps moisture in.
Use flower arranging cushion
moss, sphagnum or lawn moss.
Shutterstock
30 Garden News / January 27 2018

Check tree ties
Young trees being supported by stakes and ties need
checking on a regular basis to make sure the tie isn’t too
tight and cutting into the trunk. On the other hand, check
the tie hasn’t worked loose, causing the tree to move
around against the stake. Ideally the tie should hold the
trunk firmly in position against the stake to prevent it
from rubbing. Buckle ties can very easily be slackened
off slightly or re-tightened as needed. Strap ties nailed to
the stake will need the fixing nail removing to allow you
to adjust the tie, before being retightened.
Freshen up gravel paths
Gravel paths can make an
attractive feature in the garden by
adding different colours and
textures. They’re also easy and
cost effective to construct and
maintenance is very simple. In
time a well-trodden path can
compact and the gravel can work
its way into the
sub-base, but with just a
little attention you can
easily freshen up a tired
one. All you need to do
is rake over the gravel
to move any loose
stones over the
compacted area and
then spread a layer
of fresh gravel thinly
over the area and
lightly rake it in.
Prune back your
potted hydrangea
It’s good to leave most hydrangea plants be once they’ve
gone over in autumn so they bring attractive stems to your
garden in winter and provide crispy cut flower material for
indoor displays. It also prevents frost from damaging the
plant. But now these stems will be slightly past it and in need
of a good trim down to give way for new growth. Cut each
flower stem right back to a healthy pair of new buds.
Wheelbarrow care
A wheelbarrow
is an essential
piece of
gardening kit
used all year
round for
many jobs,
such as taking
garden waste
to the compost
heap, carting
bags of compost around and transporting plants
and gardening equipment. So it’s essential it’s kept
in good running order. Tyres need checking and if
they feel a little soft, they should be pumped up. It’s
also worth adding a little oil to the bearing in the
centre of the wheel to prevent annoying squeaks
when you push it!
Lift invasive
ground cover
At this time of year you can see a bit
more of your borders and work out
what to keep and what needs keeping
in check. Decide whether you like
your spreading ground cover and
want to transplant some of it to
another spot in the garden, or
whether you get rid of a whole load.
Pictured are the leaves of reineckea,
an evergreen perennial with pretty
flowers that performs a great job as
shady ground cover, and gives
interest through the year. It can get a
little too happy and spread too much
underground. Invasive plants like
this simply need thinning out, roots
and all, transplanting to another spot,
potting up to give away or being
disposed of in your household waste.
Subscribe and get 4 issues for just £1! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn
January 27 2018 / Garden News 31

NAOMI SLADE
Notes from a
SMALL GARDEN
Award-winning horticultural journalist, author, broadcaster and designer
Adding scent
and stature
Cornus and sarcococca will lift
my plot from the January blues!
As I eye up my new plot, my thoughts
are of the verdant lushness that
will surely come. Ferns and hostas
should thrive in the shadier spots and there
are plenty of these – I’ve discovered that
in the weeks around the winter solstice,
my garden receives no direct sun at all.
The present reality is greyer, however.
And any herbaceous frivolity is still
some way off. But a garden really shows
its mettle in January; building up
good bones now will reap dividends in
winters to come and provide strength
and structure in summer, too.
My containers of clipped box balls and
small, soon-to-be-conical yews are parked
in prominent positions, awaiting planting
Sarcococca hookeriana
has a reddish tinge
Alamy
out. But plain old
evergreens can
be boring – and
nobody really
wants the graveyard
look – so I’m busy
introducing new
levels of interest,
colour and scent.
Cornus alba
‘Sibirica’ has always
served me well,
but I’m planting
the newer variety
‘Baton Rouge’ (www.
thompson-morgan.
com), which has a
brighter red colour,
and I may add an
orange dogwood as
well – C. sanguinea
The sarcococca’s
going in!
‘Midwinter Fire’ is popular but ‘Anny’s
Winter Orange’ is said to be better still.
While dogwoods are sometimes
derided as an obvious choice, this is a
little unfair. They’re hardy, relatively
compact and will take the shade and rather
claggy soil on offer here. Young stems
offer the best colour, so I’ll be cutting
back pretty hard in spring and feeding
liberally for vigorous new growth.
Of course, willows will do the same sort
of job and are at least as tolerant, but the
risk of them getting out of hand in such a
small space is not one I’m willing to take!
I also never make a garden without
sweet box, sarcococca. In the front I’ve put
adaptable S. confusa, and to the back, by
the deck, S. hookeriana, which likes partial
or deep shade and has pleasing, plummy
stems. Both have evergreen leaves and tiny
but perfumed flowers, so, whichever door I
leave by, I’ll catch an uplifting whiff of scent!
Naomi Slade
Avoiding invasion
It’s fine to have large or dramatic
statement plants in a small garden, but
anything invasive or badly behaved
simply has to be a no-no.
When my parents bought their first
family home, like so many people do,
they stuck in a few cheap and easy
plants such as ivy, jasmine and
Japanese anemone. It rapidly became
a lush wildlife haven, but we’ve been
trying to get it under control, on and off,
since about 1983!
My own garden contains a clump of
what looks suspiciously like Muscari
armeniacum, and while I have nothing
against grape hyacinths in principle,
this one has straggly, weedy leaves
and a tendency for overzealous
self-seeding. To my mind, there are
better candidates for the space and
better small bulbs, so its eviction is
underway, but tiny bulbils will be
hard to spot and I fear it’ll be popping
up for years to come!
Pretty grape
hyacinths can
soon take over!
Shutterstock
Subscribe and get 4 issues for just £1! Go to www.greatmagazines.co.uk/gn
January 27 2018 / Garden News 35

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