Jeremy Clarkson of BBC Top Gear offers a radical way to deal with those pesky weeds (presumably effective for dealing with slugs as well…)

Easy Dahlias
Dahlias are the showiest of flowers with a wide range of flower types. If you want neighbours to stop in amazement to gaze at your garden give dahlias a chance. The colours available are brilliant and clean with a showy appearance. If kept deadheaded they will flower strongly until the first frost.

How to Grow Easy Dahlias

• The biggest and widest range of dahlias are grown from tubers (the thick finger like roots often sold in plastic bags at garden centres)
• Select your varieties via the pack picture and read the label to see what sort of flower to expect. There are good value mixed packs available
• Plant in the garden from early April about 6 inches deep or per the instructions on the pack. Give the plant space to grow, big varieties need 24 inch spacing.
• Growth comes from where the stem meets the tuber so take care not to damage that part. A tuber finger on its own will not grow. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming soon to a garden and hedge row near you the fresh green plants with the primrose yellow flowers.

• Primroses are part of the Primula family of  over 400 species of which cowslip oxlip and primrose are the 3 UK natives.
• They are easy to grow from seed or by division after the plants have flowered.
• Primroses like some afternoon sun to really shine but grow in hedge rows and woodland
• Try a plant pot or garden urn full of spring primroses but keep the soil moist

My garden is a thing of beauty and a job for ever.

My photos however are shaky double exposures.

Pelargonium more often called Geranium Something Special – Fir Trees

Throughout January  this Pelargonium has been in constant pink flower on my desk.  Each of 14 pips or mini buds opens to a 5 petal flower in a bunch of florets to make up the overall flower head. Three or four are in colour at any one time.

I left the plant too cold and dry and some leaves went a dark red but normally the leaves are a clear green. Some pelargonium leaves are banded and have good colour schemes. Betty Shellard for example has tri-coloured golden leaves.

I know it is the wrong time but I had a leggy Blackdown Sensation, which has large cerise blooms.  I wanted to knock it into shape so I have taken various cuttings. I have got out my seed propogator for the seed sowing rush that will begin shortly but in the meantime I have put the pelargonium cuttings in the box. I will let you know my success rate  but working on the basis all plants want to survive I remain hopeful. If all else fails I have the stock plant, all be it a lot shorter after its haircut.

Drought or a rainy wet summer whatever we are going to get there is a book by the doyen of British gardening Beth Chatto. Her garden in Elmstead Market Essex is worth a visit for the gravel garden alone and her treatise on Drought Resistant Planting or gravel gardens are equally captivating.

If you imagine a wet spring and summer are in prospect then bog gardens and ponds may feature in your plans. Again Beth Chatto’s garden can give you inspiration but if you can’t visit have a look through her book Beth Chatto’s Damp Garden.

Control & Click on these books to buy from Amazon

Harlow Carr has a garden guardian angel amongst the trees and rhododendrons in the RHS garden. The stainless steel works well in winter with the dark looming trees in the background. This sculpture is one of many that have been introduced into the garden since the RHS took over from the Northern Horticultural society and Matthew Wilson became curator.

An amusing giant wire mesh teapot acts is used for collecting fallen leaves. Woven sculptures made from willow and hazel also feature with large scale ships and fish ready to entertain summer visitors.

Gardeners Tips on Garden Sculpture

• Give sculpture a chance in your garden but be selective about the pieces you choose and don’t cram in too much. Aim for impact.
• Sculpture does not need to be formal and can be used as gentle entertainment. This way you can end up with a decorative conversation piece and focal point rolled into one
• If the sculpture is valuable insure it, secure it firmly with bolts and an alarm if necessary.
• Position sculptures in strategic places. A figurative sculpture may fit in a bower and use an obelisk at the end of a vista.

Indoor plants that are in full flower in January include the strongly coloured Primula Obconica shown above. They look good in traditional blues, pinks and white with the new Twilly series including a strong red. There are plenty of long lasting blooms particularly if you pick off dead flowers. The hairs on the back of leaves can be an irritant so take care if you have sensitive skin, the plant is also known as Poison Primrose.

Grown from seed but needing dark to germinate they flower the following spring/summer in the cool greenhouse or as a houseplant.

Other species of Indoor Primulas include Primula malacoides and Primula sinensis

Quick Tips

• Plant new bare rooted blackcurrants two inches lower than they were grown in the nursery to encourage branching from the bottom. This helps to create a strong shrub.
• Best fruit yields are obtained from wood grown in the previous year so older wood can be pruned out to an inch from the ground
• Buy disease free plants and watch out for big rounded buds harboring gall mites. Pick off and burn infected buds and if badly infested destroy the plant
• You can get a yield of up to 8 pounds from a strong bush. Net bushes if birds are a problem
• Favourite include varieties Ben Lomond, Titania and Ben Hope.
• Planting should be completed by the end of March. Discourage fruiting in the first year to build up strength.

Steps for February

Fruit

• Prune outdoor vines, blackcurrants and gooseberries using off cuts as cuttings
• If you are troubled with moss on tree trunks use lime wash to remove it.
• Spray peaches against leaf curl

Vegetables

• Order any seeds and sow early carrots, parsnips or parsley
• Draw up soil around spring cabbages
• Plant out autumn sown lettuce and broad beans

Flowers and Shrubs

• Plant anemonies, ranuculus gladioli nd tiger lilies in groups where you want them to flower
• Divide clumps of perennials
• Prepare a sweet pea trench and sow hardy annuals in shelter
• Plant evergreens like ivy & Laurel
• Cut back winter flowering shrubs as they finish flowering

Lawns

• Aerate and rake  as often as possible
• Dress with sand or fine compost
• Repair edges

Greenhouse and Indoor Plants

• Sow sweet peas and other seeds if you have heating. Keep them well lit to encourage sturdy growth
• Remove dead or dried leaves from indoor plants
• tak cuttings of Regal Pelargoniums
• Plant out any bulbs which have finished flowering to naturalise. Cyclamen can be dried off until Autumn for use next year.

General

• Get prepared for your busy period by cleaning and repairing anything you have been leaving on one side
• Oil and sharpen tools
• Sweep paths and treat with a moss killer if needed