Layering a wide range of shrubs trees and climbers can get you lots more plants cheaply. This method encourages new root growth whilst a stem is still attached to the parent plant.

Some plants send runners that can be rooted.

Other plants send out suckers that can be used for new plants

How to Layer to get new plants

• Find a supple stem of the chosen plant in spring for evergreens
  • Bend the stem down to soil level creating a U shape or 45 degrees to the parent and vertical for the stem.
  • Remove leaves and side shoots except the top 12 inches or so.
  • Cut the stem about half way through or take out a sliver at the point where it meets the soil
  • Form a shallow hole 5 inch deep and peg the stem down with a wire hoop to the soil and mound over with soil and compost.
  • When there is evidence of strong new growth sever from the parent plant and grow on. Probably 12 months to be on the safe side
  • Try Acers, Roses, Rhododendron, Forsythia, Lilac and Azaleas by this methods

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Sunflower Food Crops

• Plants are grown commercially to produce sunflower oil and sunflower margarine.
• Do not eat the petals but you can grow sunflowers for their seeds to bake in to bread, use about a quarter of sunflower seeds to the amount flour you use.
• Sprouted sunflower seeds are full of goodness and easy to grow. Rinse your crop of seeds throwing away any floaters and leave in a jar of cold water. The following day pour away the water and leave he jar on its side until the seeds sprout. Check regularly throwing away any bad ones and rinse away the husks. In less than a fortnight you will have sprouts for a stir fry or sandwich.
• Seeds can be used as a garnish for salads or eaten as they are.
• Use seeds as a crumble topping with oats or add to root vegetable soups.
• Grow Jerusalem artichoke part of the sunflower family and eat like potatoes
• Birds love the rich sunflower seed

These pink cornflowers are two feet tall. In a vase cut 12 inches long they last 6 or 7 days and are attractive on there own or with simple foliage. They were bought from Wallis seeds and sown broadcast in late spring.

I didn’t even bother thining the plants out and they are robust and full of bud and flower, one of the successes of this slow summer so far.

Seeds for Next Year

• New catalogues have started arriving so I have started to list a few plants I have seen around that I want to try growing next for year.
• Cornflower are available in more than the powder blue of the fields. There are Pink, Red, White, Black and Blue in packets from 50p up to 25gms for less than £2.50 which will equate to a heck of a lot of flower power.
• The perennial Malva have flowered very strongly and I like this White Musk Mallow, Malva Mocschata alba agm. Next year I may also try M. ‘Appleblossom’

Hypericum is a large family of perennial shrubs with creeping roots. This specimen is three feet tall and attracts lots of insects from mid June. Often called St John’s Wort it is named after St John’s day which is 24th June when it’s flowers are collected for medicinal purposes.

In mild climates the shrub can be evergreen with glossy leaves. With several varieties having an award of garden merit this is a shrub that is well worth growing.

Flowers and Cultivation

• The single yellow flowers are often quite numerous as on this Hidcote variety. It is also known as the Rose of Sharon.
• Flower colour varies from pale lemon yellow to an umber or burnt orange-yellow
• There are 5 petals and a large number of stamen leading to another common name Aaron’s Beard.
• They flower at the end of branches or stems and create a spicy scent of curry.
• After the flowers there are fleshy red berries that contain numerous seeds
• The wild flower can be quite invasive spreading by roots or seeds dropped by birds
• Prune after flowering. They can stand a hard cut back and may even benefit.
• Grow the ground cover Hypericum calycinium Briggadoon which can flower July -October

Herbal and Medicinal Uses

• St. John’s Wort has been used for centuries to treat mental disorders and nerve pain. The flowering tops are used to prepare teas.
• Today, St. John’s Wort is used by some for depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders as well as a balm for wounds, burns, and insect bites.
• St John’s Wort contains lots of active ingredients including hypercin and hyperfloin and should be purchased in liquid or tablet form so the dose level is known and controlled.
• Photosensitivity and sunburn can be caused to users and it is not recommended for pregnant women

Other varieties to try

• H. beanii with graceful arching stems it is a parent to many varieties
• H. olympicum appropriate name for an Olympic year. AGM plant
• AGM versions of Hypericum include forrestii, moserianum, kouytchense, roeperianum ‘Rowallane’ and uniflorum ‘Citrinum’.
• Another one for the Olympics is H chinense hinting  where many Hypericums originate.

Cutting the grass is hard work, (you could just leave it like this natural meadow)

Gardening is a beautiful pastime, working with plants is one of the most rewarding activities. But, there are sill some jobs that never seem particularly attractive. These are some of the jobs I try to avoid doing, or at least get someone else to do. (It’s about time to invite my Mother to cut my edges)

1. Dealing With Slugs

There is no easy way to deal with slugs. Using pellets leaves a slight feeling of guilt. Any other method is either gruesome or hardwork.

2. Cleaning equipment after use.

When you’ve spent along time clipping a hedge, putting the clippings away, the last thing you wont to do is to clean all the tools you’ve used. But, it is an effective way to extend the length of tools.

3. Cutting the edges and picking up the clippings.

Mowing the lawn isn’t too bad, but, going round all the edges and cutting them is hard work with little reward.

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The Latin part of a plant name often gives a hint about the attributes of a plant or flower.

Maculatus or maculata means spotted in leaf, bark or this case flower. It also means spotted in the insect world.

Look out for other obvious hints like odorata and fragrans which will be scented . Alba means white whilst nigrescens will be black. The spellings may differ and it isn’t a fool proof method of plant selection but it may help.

Mulching is the covering of bare soil with a mulch. Mulch can be organic or inorganic and its purpose is to conserve moisture in the soil, suppress weeds and protect the roots of new plants. The right material will cut down on maintenance with less weeding and watering.

Choose a mulch that appeals to you and don’t be worried about experimenting.

Inorganic Options

• Shells are an idea if you aren’t trying to grow acid loving plants.
• Ground glass and rubber chippings are also now available
• Gravel and grit can be acquired in various size grades depending on the location and the requirement. Finer grit can be used on the top of outdoor pots but for a larger area or around larger speciems a bigger chipping is more appropriate
• Slate can give a texture and feeling to a mulched area that transcends the basic purpose and harmonises with the greens in the plants
• Coloured chippings are now available in reds, golds and greys as a result of the base stone used. select a colour that you can live with and that complements the garden
• Pebbles or round rocks or slabs mat also be appropriate

Organic mulches

• The good old stand by garden compost is one of the favourites that also adds some nutrition
• Straw was an old substitute but is less attractive although semi composted ‘Strulch’ is available as a proprietary product.
• Coconut coir and husks may be used but pets may eat it
• Pine needles and different sized of bark are now available. Chose a bark that fits the planting scheme

It is the scented leaves of Pelargoniums rather than the flower that attracts growers and collectors. They are often used in scented gardens for the blind but are useful in a normal garden border where they may be brushed or touched. As indoor pot plants they are ideal as living pot-pourri and may be hybrids or species in their own right.

Top 10 Scented leaved Pelargoniums

1. Pelargonium Fragrans Variegata a small plant with lots of scented green and white leaves with the aroma of spice, pine and lemon.
2. Mable Grey woody and harder to grow but heavy lemon scented leaves
3. P. graveolens Lady Plymouth a strong grower favoured for exhibitions with a rose like scent
4. Prince of Orange is an old variety that as the name implies smells of orange
5. Little gem is a dwarf grower with a spicy scent that remains fresh until late in the year
6. Attar of Roses is small and compact with plentiful multi lobed leaves
7. Other possible contenders for ‘a top of list’ include P tomentosum (peppermint), P clorinds (pine), and P. quercifolium an aquired pungency not to everyones taste.
8. There are a range of fruit and nut scented varieties like Countess of Scarborough (strawberry), Big Apple and Patrons Unique (apricot)
9. Not to my taste is the Chocolate Peppermint with brown leaves that are mint scented

Cultivation tips

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Georg Arends was a German nurseryman who bred many perennial plants. His business was successful until the second world war and Rosa ‘Georg Arends’ and Rhododendron ‘Georg Arends’ are named after him.

Plants he bred include ‘Arendsii’ versions of Aconitum, Arabis, Phlox and Hosta sieboldiana. He also specialised in Bergenia breeding ‘Abendglocken’, ‘Morgenrote’ and the white flowered ‘Silberlicht’. (I was told Bergenia were called Elephant plants because an elephant could stamp on them and they would survive. However a more popular name is Elephant Ears after the leaves.)

Red leaved plants seem to be doing very well in this wet summer. I spotted this healthy shrub at Harlow Carr on a recent visit. The name smoke bush comes from the clouds of very fine, fluffy, grey flowers that appear on panicles in such profusion that it looks like a cloud of smoke.

• This variety is probably Royal Purple both it and other Nocutts hybrids are easy to grow at home.
• Propagate by taking a spade to an existing shrub and chopping one piece out without lifting the plant. A sort of division in situ.
• They are deciduous shrubs and mine have a lax habit that probably needs a bit of pruning but I don’t want to sacrifice the flowers.
• The mature shrubs are a neat round shape.
• The leaves are also a neat round simple leaf
• Other varieties include a tree Cotinus cobovatus called the American Smoke Tree