Gardeners Tips » Novice Gardeners Advice and Pointers

Rose Pruning in Spring is a Snip

hortoris — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:28:38 +0000

Rose Pruning In Spring

Pruning in Spring will generate good growth and flowering later in the year.
To avoid weak stems prune hard leaving about 12″ on tall Old Fashioned or HT roses and 6″ in short roses. Cut out all spindly growth and very thin stems.
Prune in spring to encourage strong stems in an open cup shape of branches.
Prune at 45° slopping away from an outward-facing bud.
Use good sharp tools it makes rose pruning easier
Feel free to reshape your roses at anytime as you would other plants. Roses want to grow and produce seeds via flowers and they will benefit from deadheading and judicious trimming.
Water, feed and mulch after pruning.

See how the experts prune:

Rose Snip Tips in Spring

The Bourbon type rose De la Maitre-Ecole above will have a fantastic scent when in bloom during mid-summer if you care for it from spring.
Fertilize with rose fertilizer that has equal amounts of NPK plus trace elements.
Mulch new and young plants with well rotted compost or bark not grass clippings.
If planting new roses some people put a banana skin at the bottom of the hole for extra potassium but I would be happy with bone meal.
New trees need watering particularly if there is a dry spring.
Spray with a fungicide in March or April
Give roses space to develop but you can under plant with small bulbs or violets

Other Resources
25 Types of Rose
Royal Horticultural Society RHS ‘Gardening for All’
National Council for Conservation of Plants and Gardens ‘Conservation through Cultivation.’
Garden Organic National Charity for Organic Gardening.
BBC Gardening

Photo Credits
from Getrud K CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 source
our roses by EssjayNZ CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Snip away at your roses in spring before Easter and the new stems and leaves will help produce some great summer flowers. For big flowers on HT roses dis-bud so just one good one is allowed to flower per stem and you will be rewarded by potentially growing the ‘best in show’.

Hellebore Heaven or Hell

hortoris — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:15:32 +0000

I get fascinated by different plants at different times of the year and currently it is the colour of Hellebores that are exercising my imagination. Am I right in contrasting the deep purple bracts above with a devilish or even hellish colour. Perhaps that is taking things a bit far for a plant that starts the year as the Christmas Rose and becomes the Lenten Rose.

So to a heavenly colour for the angels to ponder. A clean white flower with only the yellow stamen and leaf green to set it off.

Back to a photograph of the first plant with the velvety colour and texture but spiny edged leaves. Is someone taking the pistils with the black filaments amongst the creamy white stamen?

Help Get your Hellebore to Heaven not Hell

Five Soil Types

hortoris — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:27:18 +0000

There are potentially as many soils as there are gardens but they can be classified into five types.

Heavy Clay Soil
Minute particles of clay stick together in a gluey mess when wet and go rock hard when dry.
Often clay soil is very fertile. Clay soils can be improved with drainage, coarse grit, or the addition of coarse organic matter as humus.

Sandy Soil
Sand particles are much larger than clay making sandy soil free draining, light and quick to warm up in spring. Nutrients wash through quickly and watering and feeding of plants is needed. Sandy soil can be improved with the addition of humus.

Lime free Soil
Peaty or dark lime free soils are generally rich in organic matter. Acid in nature, below ph7.0, they tend to be moisture retentive and suit acid loving plants. In extremes they may be hard to re-wet if they dry out too much. Perennial plant selection

Alkaline Soil
Limey soils are often pale, shallow and stoney. They are free draining and quick to warm up in the sunshine. Moderately fertile they benefit from the addition of organic matter.

Average Soil

The dream of every gardener and found when soil has been well cultivated and enhanced for many seasons. Local conditions make a fixed definition hard but reasonable drainage and neutral to slightly acid soil makes for an average soil that is suitable for the majority of plants.

Soil Tips

Consider your own soil by looking at the colour, feeling the texture and observing the plants that grow best in yours or local soils.
Avoid boggy soil that will not drain as plants need air at their roots or they rot or drown. Airless soil also attracts moss.
Impoverished soils have the nutrients leached out with water or taken by earlier crops. Add back humus as well as general NPK fertilisers.

Credits
Soil Color and Quality by elvisripley CC BY-NC 2.0

Bits of Gardeners Jargon

hortoris — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:04:31 +0000

Gardeners Jargon

By Will Barrow and Connie Ferr

Pricking Out

After seeds have germinated and started to grow they are pricked out to give them space to grow.. That is separated individually from other seedlings and replanted.

Thinning Out

This process takes weaker seedlings out to give others space and chance to grow.

Planting Out

When a seedling or plant has been grown indoors or in a greenhouse it can be planted out into the garden after it has been acclimatised. This acclimatisation is called hardening off.

Going Out

This is what gardeners have too little time to do except occasionally to the pub.

Hardening Off

Gradually introducing seedlings or plants to normal gardening conditions so they can get used to wind and temperature changes is called hardening off.

Hardy

Used to describe a plant that can stand our British weather conditions. So a plant that will live through our winter is said to be hardy as in hardy perennial or hardy geranium.

Hardwood

This is wood from a broad leaved deciduous tree such as oak, ash, maple, sycamore, walnut or often an imported wood such as mahogany.

Hardened Gardener

What we all become when pests have eaten our prized exhibits, fungal infection has infested our fruit trees and it has rained every day during our summer holiday that we chose to take in the garden.

Forcing

Encouraging a plant to grow or flower earlier than nature intended. Giving extra warmth and light are the usual methods but Rhubarb and chicory are forced by excluding light.

Propagation

Generally plants increase naturally through seed, bublets, layering or root growth. When a gardener gives nature a hand it is called propagation and when a scientist gives a hand it may be via tissue culture or micropropagation.

Heeling In

Occasionally trees or shrubs need a temporary home prior to being planted in their permanent position. To ‘heel in’ dig an angled trench in the ground and lay the roots of your trees in the angled trench. Fill in the trench covering the tree roots with the dug out soil. Water generously and keep moist until you are ready to plant.

Tips for Growing Sweet Violets – Viola odorata

hortoris — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:06:09 +0000

A century ago Sweet Violets were part of the Victorian way of life. Florists and street vendors sold them and ladies carried or wore them. Since ancient Greek times and through medieval times Sweet Violets were more than a flower or scent, they were used as a sweetener, a deodorant and medicinal uses. They were also a symbol of love used on St Valentines day and there are many Violet stories surrounding Napoleon and Josephine where the flowers are still popular in France.

Gardeners Tips For Growing Sweet Violets

Grow from seed or propagate from the stolens (runners)
Sweet Violets like a moist soil.
Feed them with a high potash feed or low nitrogen feed to optimise the flowers.
Violas are very easy to grow and tolerate of most soil types.
Viola odorata are perfect for partial shade and once established multiply quickly.

Recognising Sweet Violets – Viola odorata

Viola odorata is a perennial that spreads by runners and grows about 4″ high.
In the wild they grow in light woodland or under a hedge row in a humus rich soil.
The scented flowers are available in white as well as the deep violet.
Viola odorata has short spurred flowers that are very fragrant and a dark – purpleish blue colour.
The leaves are rounded, almost heart shaped with crinkled edges.

Also available in Pink is the viola odorata subcarnea.

Other Links for Viola odorata

Read about Growing Dogs Tooth Violets
For other fragrant and scented plants read Gardeners Tips
Look at the Violet Group on Flickr

Viola varieties available from Thompson & Morgan

Credits
Sweet Violet by Strobilomyces cc
Viola odorata var. subcarnea by –Tico– CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Maarts Viooltje by hans zwitzer CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Growing Cosmos – Easy Annuals

hortoris — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:25:19 +0000

Cosmos! What a stonking name for a plant evoking all the constellations in the Universe.

Growing Cosmos

Cosmos flowers are a ring of broad petals and a center of disc florets similar to a daisy.
Cosmos flowers are 2-4 inches in diameter.
There is a lot of color variation including white, pink, orange, yellow, chocolate and scarlet colors.
Most Cosmos bloom heavily but die with first frost.
Leaves are fine and delicate and therefore the plants do not over shadow other flowers.
Cosmos get quite tall at up to four feet but in rich, fertile soils tend to produce unusually tall, lanky plants.

More Growing Tips from Seed

Smaller Cosmos are lovely in containers, showing off some of the finest lacy foliage of any annual.
Sow 3mm deep in spring at 21-24C in a good seed compost. Keep soil damp but not wet, sealing in a polythene bag after sowing is helpful.
Germination usually takes 5-10 days.
When seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant and grow on in cooler conditions.
Gradually acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10-15 days before planting out after all risk of frost 60cm apart.
Plant in a sunny spot on light even poor quality well drained soil.

Useful Links

BBC Gardeners World – Gardening site of BBC

Royal Horticultural Society

Thompson Morgan seed varieties available

See more tips and help on Help growing Cosmos or search in the box center right.

Autumn Blues

hortoris — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:34:59 +0000

Every colour has its day and for blue that is often in Autumn. This is a selection of our blue to purple plants showing off during mid to late October.

There are not too many plants that form a blue leaf or needles in this case. Eventually this Firs young needles will turn green.
Some Hostas are said to have blue leaves or blue/green.

Michaelmas daisies are one of our favourites on Gardeners Tips as you may have noticed.

Blue is a tough colour to get right in the garden. Roses, Dahlia and Narcissus are renown for not having blue varieties. I have cheated with this hard Geranium that was in flower earlier in the year.

Garden Terms for Beginners

hortoris — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 09:19:09 +0000

What is a Tree or Shrub

There are no hard and fast horticultural rules for these perennial plants. Trees are generally larger than shrubs and bushes.

A tree is a woody plant that produces a single trunk and an elevated head of branches. Small trees are defined in the UK as 15-30 feet tall whilst large trees are over 60 feet tall.

A shrub is a woody plant which branches from the base or near the ground with no obvious trunk hence the term shrubbery. Large shrubs are over 10′ but less than 15′, medium 6-10′, small 3-5′ and dwarf and prostrate under 2′.

A bush is a shrub with stems of moderate length and is smaller or more compact than a shrub. Common parlance has currants, gooseberries and roses as bushes

Cordons, Espalier, Pyramids and Fans are tree or shrub shapes created by training and pruning.Topiary is pruning and shaping to a shape of the gardeners chosing.

What is an Herbaceous Plant

This is a plant with soft (none woody) stems that dies back to soil level at the end of the year. Many are perennials growing again in following years.
Herbaceous borders are beds for growing your herbaceous plants but a mixed bed is most popular.

What is a Perennial

This is a plant that lives for more than two years given reasonably favourable conditions.

What is a Biennial

This is a plant, often a flower, that is sown one year and performs in the second year then expires.

What is an Annual

An annual is raised from seed, grows and dies in one year. A hardy annual can be sown outside in spring a half hardy annual needs a bit more warmth and protection and is sown indoors or later in the year.

What is the difference between Deciduous and Evergreen

Deciduous plants and trees loose there leaves each year and grow new leaves to replace them.
Evergreens, as the name implies, keep their leaves all year round. Most conifers (cone bearing trees and shrubs) are evergreen except Larch.

Plant Hardiness Ratings

hortoris — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:51:15 +0000

You want your plants to survive our British climate so it is worth understanding the hardiness ratings. Plant hardiness is based on the lowest temperature that a plant can normally withstand during winter.

Categories of Hardiness

Hardy plants are those capable of coping with temperatures as low as -15º C.
Frost-hardy plants tolerate temperatures down to -5º C
Half hardy plants should survive in temperatures above zero.
Frost tender plants may be at risk below 5º C.

Hardiness Zones

The USA is so large and covers many different climates that it relies on Hardiness zones for horticulture and gardening.
These hardiness zones are geographically defined areas where temperature will dictate what plant life is capable of growing.
Zone 1 is -50º C, Zone 8 equates to -7º C and Zone 10 is zero.
England is generally in zones 7 – 10 Scotland is cooler and Ireland warmer due to the warming effect of the gulf stream.

Plan Your Hardy Garden

Frost will run or fall down slopes and collect in ‘frost pockets’. Be careful what plants you put at the bottom of slopes.
Frost on young buds may not hurt but a rapid thaw caused by spring sunshine probably will. Camellias get frost burn and loose their buds if facing an easterly rising sun.
Your garden will have a series of micro climates so map out those areas that are suitable for special plants.
Allow your plants to acclimatise. Sudden drops in temperature can be more deadly than cold.
Be aware of heat hardiness as some plants will not survive hot temperatures.
Fertilizer hardiness is an issue not fully understood so watch out for sufferers.

Tactics of Hardy Plants

Hardy herbaceous plants allow the foliage to totally die back in autumn. The roots remain viable under the soil and regrow in spring.
Some hardy plants allow the stems and leaves to fall on the root crown to create a warming mulch until next spring.
Sappy growth is a target for frost so hardy plants stop growing in summer allowing the twigs to toughen up. Do not feed plants with high nitrogen feed in late summer if you want them to remain hardy.
Trees and shrubs take the sap back down into the plant and branches so that twigs are too dry to be damaged if they freeze.
Plants will grow less well and be prone to winter injury if the soil is heavy, wet, of low pH or low fertility, or in general not suited to the plant.
Some plants grow more sugars in summer to sustain them through cold winters.
Thermal insulation from snow cover helps plants survive normally deadly winter temperatures

The Hardy Plant Society

The Hardy Plant Society is a UK charity that was formed to foster interest in Hardy Plants.
The Society informs and encourages the novice gardener.
There are 40 regional groups so you can join one near you.
They have specialist societies for Geraniums, Peony, Pulmonaria, Variegated plants and Ranunculaceae

Sources of further information

Jungle seeds address the ‘question asked by everyone with ambitions to grow hardy and semi hardy tropical plants in the UK’.

The British Fuchsia Society has an official list of fuchsia plants that are capable of being over wintered in the garden

Funs, Puns, Quips and Snips for gardeners

hortoris — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:17:38 +0000

Gardening is no Laughing matter, the joke is usually on the gardener

Naughty Gardeners Quips
There was a young man from Australia
on his bottom he painted a dahlia
the heat of the ball
caused the petals to fall
and the scent was a bit of a failure

What is long and thin, covered in skin,
red in parts and goes in tarts?
Rhubarb

‘I think the answer lies in the soil’ Arthur Fallowfield the man who put the sex in Sussex but left Scunthorpe alone.

Clean Gardeners (I don’t believe it)
What is the difference between bogies and broccoli? Kids wont eat broccoli
The snowman asked can you smell carrots?
Does okra come from Okrahoma
What is a vampire’s favorite fruit? A: A neck-tarine
What is orange and sounds like a parrot? a carrot

The older the better unless you are a banana
Are 2 banana skins a pair of slipper
What is green in the morning, yellow in the afternoon and brown in the evening? another banana

Going to the Flicks
Who framed roger raddish, 20,000 leeks under the sea, butch celery and the sunflower kid, the lawn ranger, Quatermass and the Pip, The magnificent five-a-day, Snowwhite and the 7 Dwarfbeans, Okrahoma, Rocky soil II,