Hellebore Done for Another Year
I was tempted to cut the leaves from my hellebore a bit early this year but have decided to wait a bit longer. Here is a selection of 2018 flowers from RHS and my garden.
Other Information
Photogenic & Aromatic Lavender
Some flowers look best in groups or large swathes. These fields of cultivated Lavender demonstrate the point clearly. Imagine the scent from all these individual stems of flowers a heady experience. For commercial purposes growing in rows makes Lavender easier to mechanically crop and maintain.
Uses of Lavender include: dried-flower production, fresh flower displays, fragrance, lotions, soap, oils and perfumes, edible flavoring, potpourris relaxation products and bath bags you can even make some pet products but for our purposes garden plants and small ornamental hedges are some of the prime uses.
Other pages with photographs worth viewing
British French and Spanish Lavender
Soil and Healthy Grass
Grass Land, Meadows & Lawns
- Getting to the grass root of the problem grass is the largest irrigated crop in the USA.
- Like other crops grass depends on the health of the soil in which it grows.
- Moisture and nutrient retention is crucial to keeping your soil in good shape.
- Clover is good news not bad news at least in moderation. I bit less attractive but a force for good with grass. Nodules on the clover store and deliver nitrogen more effectively than synthetic fertilisers.
- Home chemical applications tend to be significantly over done compared to agriculture. Less not more is far better.
- Water wisely in early morning. Evening watering can encourage some disease.
- Allow clippings to fall back on the grass and rot down to keep the soil in good heart.
- Higher cutting blades and grass helps prevent weeds and helps retain moisture.
Other Methods for Healthy Grass Lawns
- Scarifying – rake out the dead leaves and detritus
- Aerating – spike the soil to allow air in and de-compact the ground
- Feeding – nitrogen rich food is the grass’s choice
- Top Dressing – a bit of sand and soil brushed in helps new roots
- Moss Control – get rid of moss in spring
- Weed control – selective chemical weed killer
- Damage Repair – even the best lawns can get damaged – patches reseeding or just turning the edge of a turf around can help
Who Cuts the Grass
Woodbank Nursery in Harden W. Yorkshire has an interesting line in old garden equipment and mechanical ephemera. The various items are best seen over afternoon tea in the cafe where they complement the good healthy stock of plants. The exception is this lawnmower ‘recycled’ for the missus to use. The sign says ‘Does your wife cuts the lawn? If the answer is yes, why not spoil her rotten and buy her a ride on mower? You can even treat her again next year by adding some gears.’
Another feature of this nursery come retail destination is the stock of inanimate animals and the very animated ‘Elvis’ the shop parrot.
Every year Woodbank grows over 2 million plants on their 10 acres across an extensive range. Woodbank partners with the parent operation ACW in Bradford which has less space but quick through put sales of annuals, shrubs and trees.
My Spring Actions
2019 was off to a great start in Yorkshire; weather-wise at least.
Never knowing how many more springs I will be gardening I resolved to try the new and not to repeat the same mistakes as previous years. Surprisingly this philosophy has delivered several new tips that may be worth sharing.
New Spring Tips
- Why have I never watered my dry compost before seed sowing. I use commercial compost for starting dahlias and summer bulbs into growth in frost free conditions. This year they have gone into predampened compost and the results are encouraging.
- The daffodils have been great and I am photographing the garden in sections to see where they excel and where I can add new bulbs for next year.
- Members of the primula family are also benefiting from the good damp ground that has followed a virtually snow free winter.
- I can’t compete with the price of a bunch of daffodils from the supermarket so I am not trying. The space is too precious. However gardeners can compete on variety and specials and I have them in a dozen deep plant pots .
- On miniature varieties of daffodils gardeners can compete handsomely as prolific results and good naturalisation seem to be easy. That is where I am setting my stall out.
Trying the New
- I chop and change my selection of plants to grow each year. It means I get to select and buy new items that take my fancy. I do try to be loyal to a species for a couple of seasons but I think my auricula love affair is waning.
- I have already dropped my membership of the Cactus Society and just composted the last specimens.
- This year I am majoring on cyclamen which may take some years to reach excellence level. So to compliment that I have opted to try some indoor and outdoor Gloxinia.
- I have returned to seaweed extract and just tried to perk up the lawn with a special watering. I will see how that goes.
Design Tips for a Physic Garden
The design of the Chesea Physic Garden dates back to 1673 when it replaced market gardens and orchards on the same spot alongside the Thames. Intended to be a physic garden ‘pertaining to things natural as distinct to metaphysical’ it is exceptionally practical rather than being design led.
Design Features With Appeal
- Many excellent descriptions of plants with their practical or medicinal uses, in my view put it ahead of the RHS show gardens.
- Rectilinear beds are arranged and labeled in botanic classification.
- Old walls and old trees give shelter and help create a micro climate but there are also hot houses for exotic tropical plants.
- Because the garden is not about gardening in a modern sense there are many features that need to be studied to take in the benefit from a visit to the garden. I liked the slate beds for pot plants, the variety of berries and seedheads (see below) and the statuary.
Incorporate Helpful Plants
- Plan your garden with a good herbal or read up on plants before you select your range of subjects.
- Consider viewing points and natural aspects of your garden.
- A few of the plants that profit from being grown together include:
- Marigolds and roses, aphids are lured naturally by roses, and these feed on the flowers and leaves. By planting marigolds around the roses, they will keep at bay insects.
- Garlic, when grown in annual and perennial gardens, aids in warding off insects that feed on leaves.
- Monarda or Bee Balm is not only an herb but also a striking flower, and this plant draws bees, and butterflies to the flower garden to assist with pollination.
- Dahlias hold off insects and enrich the soil with nitrogen but otherwise are big drinkers and feeders. …
Getting Good Results from Japanese Maples
Japanese maple or Acer palmatum are popular trees and small shrubs. They are grown for an attractive habit and dramatic foliage. The purple, crimson or creamy green leaves change to russet or scarlet in autumn. These leaves can scorch and dry and turn brittle when water is lost from the leaves by frost, wind, hot sun or salty air but they are worth the effort of giving them ideal conditions.
Ideal Growing Conditions
- Cool dappled shade is preferable to open, windy locations.
- Red leaved varieties need some sun to intensify their colour
- Plant Japanese maples in slightly acidic well drained soil that doesn’t dry out in summer nor become water logged in winter.
- The shallow roots benefit from an organic mulch.
Growing In a Pot
- Some smaller varieties adapt well to growing in a pot that has good drainage and aeration.
- Crock the pot and fill with loam based compost and mulch the top to avoid water loss.
- Water every day especially during hot weather.
- Repot in spring every 3 or 4 years before they restart in growth.
- Protect roots in the pot from very cold, wet weather.
A Quick Spruce Up
I am not thinking of a Spruce conifer but an early smarten up and tidy of your garden. Here are some instant and relatively easy wins.
- Â Initially focus on areas you can see from your windows and main viewing points. Then tidy, trim and weed even if it is still wintery.
- Turf out any old pots, hanging baskets or unsightly remnants that will never look as good again.
- Give borders a 10 minute make over to remove the worst looking offenders.
- Brush paths and tidy hard landscapes.
- If time and weather permits cut your lawns on a high setting for the first time this year
- Renovate and fill any bird feeders.
- Paint or clean garden furniture
Other quick improvements to your gardening enjoyment include:
- Treat yourself and garden to some seasonal gap filling plants such as bulbs or primulas.
- Plan or start a new project to give a bit of style to an area in your garden.
- Put some peat around ericaceous plants like rhododendrons and camellias and reapply bark chippings to improve appearances.
- Start your spring shopping with seeds or seedlings if you can protect them from frost.
Orchid Shows
Winter and early spring is often a good time for Orchid shows in the UK. We have already missed half a dozen shows in January.
|  Feb |  6 | Hinckley & District Orchid Society A.G.M and Quiz Barwell Constitutional club 7-300pm – 10-00     Contact: keith bates 01455444177 [email protected] Trade Attending :- |
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|      Feb |  9 | The North of England Orchid Society Monthly Show and AGM Barton Village Hall, the A6 north of Preston 10.30am – 3.30pm     Contact: George Barnes 01942 810958 or via website form http://orchid.org.uk/email.htm Trade Attending :- Phoenix Orchids, John Keeling |
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|      Feb |  20 | Royal Horticultural Society RHS Orchid Committee Council Room, Vincent Square 1130 –      Contact: Jill Otway [email protected] Trade Attending :- |
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|      Feb |  23 | The South West Orchid Society Annual Orchid Show West Monkton Village Hall, nr Taunton TA2 8NE 10.30am – 4pm     Contact: Marian Saunders 01278455170 [email protected] Trade Attending :- |
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|      Feb |  24 | East Midlands Orchid Society displaying at the Harrogate OS Annual Show Pavilions of Harrogate, Great Yorkshire Showground, HG2 8NZ 10:00 – 16:00     Contact: Melv. Stephen 01159 198124 [email protected] Trade Attending :- |
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|      Feb |  24 | Harrogate Orchid Society Annual Show The Pavilions Harrogate Showground Wetherby Road Harrogate HG2 8NZ 10.30am – 4.00pm     Contact: Ivor Pawson 01909 477832 [email protected] Trade Attending :- |
However here are some as listed by the British Orchid Council to tempt you in February. I will be going as a spectator to the Harrogate show and potential some others. The trade usually attend to show their products and will offer advice to the novice. For other pending shows see orchid.org
January Rose Pruning
I was reading an old book by Adam the Gardener the Sunday Express tipster and looking at his suggestions for January.
Rose Pruning In January
- In January your roses should be dormant and some pruning has advantages.
- Winter pruning can therefore be done lightly leaving harder pruning to be completed in march or april when you can see how the tree is responding.
- This pruning reduces wind rock that can lead to frost getting down to the roots from loose soil.
- Start pruning by removing dead wood and growth that crosses and crowds the center.
- Standards and wispy growth should be pruned harder. Floribunda varieties need more top growth for a mass display
- Tools should be really sharp to prevent bleeding and branch damage.
- Do not prune during hard frosts.
I have been astonished how many rose trees I have growing in the garden. It was only when I embarked on the January prune/trim that they became visible and obvious. The rugsa roses that I cut back in autumn were treated to a bag of horse manure to set them on their way in spring.