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Gardening articles that may not include tips

Types of Apple Rootstock

Types of Apple Rootstock

Big apple trees may give you the pip but smaller trees can be a delight.

Modern apple trees are grafted on to a root stock that will govern the vigour and eventual size of the tree. These are the vital statistics of some common rootstocks.

Name

Nature

Height ft.

Spread ft.

M 27

Very Dwarf

4-6

5

M 9

Dwarfing

6-8

9

M 26

Semi-dwarf

8-10

12

M 106

Semi-vigorous

10-13

12

M 111

Vigorous

13-15

15

The larger the tree the more fruit it should bear up to 300 pounds on a mature orchard tree on M111. The smaller trees bear fruit after 3 years, larger trees need 3-4 years

  • Apples are potentially long lived trees and the small trees are often pruned into pyramids and central leaders. For an espalier tree get a root stock that is M26 or M106.
  • Semi dwarf and semi-vigorous can be grown in containers but need care with water and feeding
  • Smaller trees need staking all their life

There are many professional fruit tree firms like Ashridge, Ken Muir and Blackmoor but Amazon also offer a range using their supplier base.

Ecology of Water in the Garden

Ecology of Water in the Garden

Watering

Why is Water Important in the Garden

  • About 90% of active plants cells are water.
  • Water is the means of a plant obtaining dissolved nutrients to feed the plant
  • Water moves chemicals and hormones from the roots of plants to the growing parts of the plant
  • Water maintains a plants health
  • The presence of water can be necessary to germinate seeds or stimulate natural growth.

Water for Plants and Trees

  • Precipitation in the form of rain, drizzle, dew, and fog all have a place in providing water
  • Hail, snow, sleet and hoar frost also provide limited amounts of water.
  • Ground water from springs underground streams and the natural water table can contribute to the soils water content.
  • Gardener introduced water augments the natural systems.
  • Irrigation is a form of transporting water through channels or pipes.
  • Foliar feeding can provide limited amounts of water via a plants leaves.
  • Watering devices, sprinklers, hosepipes and watering cans are the gardeners best friends in dry or drought conditions.

Problems Caused by Lack of Water

  • Deprived of water to transport food a plant may starve
  • Biological malfunction caused by lack of water can cause irreparable damage to a plant cells leading to loss of turgidity and death.
  • Lack of water may cause structural instability in the plant.
  • Water shortage can make a plant more susceptible to heat.

Rain Zones in the UK

  • High ground in the west of Scotland, Wales and Cumbria has the most rainfall. .
  • Cyclonic or convection rain can occur over low ground such as East Anglia but this is low in frequency and volume so flat areas have low or very low average rainfall.
  • 30″-45″ are annual average levels of rain but there are many surprises within averages. London with 25″ pa is drier than Rome or New York. Colchester can be drier than Beirut or Jerusalem
  • Thunderstorm rain can be damaging by flattening crops or causing excess splashing back off the soil. This is not zone specific.
  • In addition to volumes of rainfall the frequency or consecutive number of days without rain can be crucial. Apart form the south east most zones seldom exceed 30 days without rain and in Scotland and Ireland it rains even more regularly.

Water Retentiveness

  • Water retentiveness is crucial for a healthy trouble free garden.
  • Improved soil structure by the addition of compost and manures increases the water in the soil.
  • The addition of a top layer or mulch holds water in the soil reducing evaporation
  • Alginates like seaweed increase water retention and improve the crumb structure of the soil.
  • Retentiveness is damaged by compacted soil that water is unable to penetrate.

Gardeners Water Tips

  • Understand your plants and select them based on their need for water. How much and when are valid questions
  • Too much water can be as bad as too little so ensure you have the right drainage in your soil not a sticky mess.
  • When augmenting natural supply of water do a thorough job of watering then leave for a few days. Little and often can bring roots to the surface and not penetrate to the deeper drinking roots
  • Do not plant water hungry plants in heavy rain shadows caused by walls hedges or other plants.
  • Be aware of the prevailing wind that brings the most rain from the west.

What is in my Water

  • Oxygen and hydrogen are the elements that have combined to form water. They are not available separately except for an amount of oxygen that may have been dissolved in the H2O. Pond fish and algae need this dissolved oxygen.
  • Hard water contains dissolved mineral salts (this is what makes up the fur or limescale on a kettle). Hard water may be drawn straight from the tap in many districts of the UK where calcium and magnesium are present. This water is often detrimental to young plants.
  • Soft water has little or no dissolved mineral salts and like rain water is better for seedlings and young plants. Distilled water and ionised treated water is rendered soft by the process.
  • Sea water and brackish water contains dissolved salt (sodium chloride)that will kill most plants. It is no use in gardens.
  • Stagnant water and old water from butts will contain algae or microscopic life. I have found that this often results in moss or growth on the top of seed pots before the seeds germinate. Clean water is best for seeds and greenhouses.

 

Top ten green garden habits
See our report on ‘Organic pond habitats for green gardeners’.

Planning to Grow Fruit Trees

Planning to Grow Fruit Trees

So you want to grow Apples, Plums, Pears and some orchard type fruit trees. Well stone me these are right pips fresh from our garden tips.

Novice gardeners can expect to get fair crops from Fruit trees and bushes without too much effort. With extra care a great deal more can be achieved.

Beginners Tips
Go for well know fruit types do not start off with the exotic.
Buy good quality plants from a local nursery. Ask nurserymen what varieties grow well locally and do they need other trees as pollinators.
Give them enough space to grow in fair soil with some sunshine. Do not just cram them into a small corner space.
Trees need time to establish themselves but get better with time so do not rush the crops.
Bushes and canes will produce a crop quicker.

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RHS Recommended Lilies

RHS Recommended Lilies

To end our lily week we go back to an earlier post about RHS lilies.
.a title=”Wet Evening Lily Buds by brianpettinger, on Flickr” href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/hortoris/3746351513/”>Wet Evening Lily Buds

Each month the Royal Horticultural Society offer a plant collection or two for sale with the Garden magazine. Back in 2009 the RHS Lily collection included three varieties.

Lilium Vico Queen with orange, trumpet shaped flowers up to 6 inches long on plants 6 feet tall. The outward facing, slightly pendant blooms are well scented and are good for the middle or back of the border.
Lilium paradalinum giganteum can grow 10 feet tall can carry stems with up to 30 crimson, turkscap flowers speckled with yellow & scarlet. A variety that tolerates alkaline soil.
Lilium leichtlinii has rich yellow flowers heavily speckled with reddish-brown

Cultivation of Lilies

Lily Photos for All Seasons

Lily Photos for All Seasons

Spring, summer or autumn there are Lilies for all occasions, even hatches, matches and dispatches.
Asian lily

Beware garish garden centres selling plants that defy belief or at least defy the seasons. I have just returned from a weekend break and can contrast a plant nursery that I visited with a so called garden centre. The later was selling these lilies in full April flower.
These colours are not those you expect or associate with spring flowers! I am all for ‘shock and awe in the garden but you would want plants that last longer than a couple of days and look more natural than these Lily photos.

Asian lily
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Smoke Bush – Cotinus coggygiria

Smoke Bush – Cotinus coggygiria

Electronic smoke from cigarettes but not from these smoke bushes.

cotinus-coggia

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

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Tips for Garden Tools

Tips for Garden Tools

Tool heads

  • Get the key tools right to make your garden easier and more pleasurable.
  • A Spade that is light enough for your physique and a stainless steel blade will not get claggy with soil.
  • Secateurs for snipping, pruning and cutting. Have one good pair for important work and another for the ‘grunt’ jobs that are a bit tougher. I have a good bypass (scissor type) pair for pruing and an anvil pair for hard work
  • Lawn mower electric or petrol depending on the lawn size. As the adverts said ‘its much less bovver with a hovver’.
  • Trowel made from forged steel will stand hard work and cut into soil easily
  • Wheel barrow with a pneumatic tyre carries heavy loads and I prefer it too the ball type wheel

Gardeners Tips

  • Buy the best quality you can afford if you are going to make a lot of use of the tool. It is surprising how many tools don’t get used all that often so plan out what you need. Over 80% of the work will be done by the items in the list above.
  • Hire the tools and equipment you only need occassionally. Be sure you are trained on the use and risks of hired tools.
  • Pay a tree surgeon to cut hedges, prune and trim trees. They will have the right equipment andwill side away the waste.
  • Maintain the tools you have:
  • Put linseed oil on wooden handles to keep them smooth and in good condition
  • Store metal wheel barrows upside down to help slow rusting from the rain
  • Keep blades clean and honed I use a wet stone to remove dried sap and keep sharp
  • Power tools need a cutout and an extension lead if your garden is large
  • Spray tools with WD40 or similar to keep rust free and moving
Gardeners Tips for Choisya

Gardeners Tips for Choisya

You pays your money and you takes your Choysia- ternata, pearl or sundance it is up to you.

Choysia

This Choisya ‘Sundance’ is an evergreen shrub grown from a young shoot cutting. The plants are trouble free and create a dome shape 4-5 feet high and spread in a similar number of years.

  • Grown mainly for the bright yellow of the new leaves they can be nipped brown with late frosts. Such damaged, scorched or wing burnt leaves should be cut off.
  • The small star shaped white flowers in April and May are very aromatic. A second flush of flowers may be obtained in Autumn.
  • Leaves also smell of basil or a bit citrusy if crushed
  • Choisya ternata ‘Aztec Pearl’ commonly called Mexican Orange blossom has narrower divided leaves and I find it is a bit thin in habit. The flowers are more numerous.
  • Choisya ‘Sundance’ is quite dense and the leaves, even when they have turned green, remain attractive and glossy.
  • Choisya will stand partial shade and can be used as part of an informal hedge
  • Propagate in Summer or Autumn, cuttings are easy to grow
  • Prune to keep in shape and cut out a third of the branches to renew from the base when needed.

Gardeners Tips 2011 Choysia

Plants For a White Garden

Plants For a White Garden

On 1
st August the white Rose should feature on any self-respecting blog. It is Yorkshire day and this is our emblem.

white-hot-pokers

For me a garden needs a series of themes and contrasts. Showy annuals, intense herbaceous borders, seasonal planting and elegant shrubs are important features. When planning a ‘restricted colour garden‘ as in the white garden you are really planning for subtle contrasts and breathtaking clarity that is both calm and soothing. Grey foliage and variegated leaves will take their place amongst some of the purest or showiest flowers. To make a point and emphasise neutral colours a pure self colour may be introduced but there are shades of white and don’t forget buds, sepals and stamen bring shades of colour.

White Rose of Yorkshire

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