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Category: Novice Gardeners Advice and Pointers

Learning to garden is part trial and error and part recommendation, learning and application of information.

Growing Peony or Peonies

Growing Peony or Peonies

double peony

For centuries Peonies have been great favourites of the Chinese and are one of their national flowers. Peonies are easy to care for once established.

Peonies are shrubby herbaceous plants that will come back perennially (year after year). They can live 75 years and still produce a brilliant profusion of flowers. Herbaceous means the leaves and stems die back at the end of the season and new growth will start again in Spring.

Growing Peonies

  • Flowers are often strongly scented to attract bees and have double or single blooms.
  • The colours are deep red through pink to white.
  • Peonies do not like to be disturbed or moved once they are planted.
  • Because they will live in the same spot for many years add some bone meal and good compost at the bottom of the planting hole.
  • Peonies are best grow from plants bought at a nursery
  • Plants are hardy but may make take some time to flower.
  • Only plant Peonies at the same depth as they were grown, never deeper.
  • Peonies and special fertilizer from Thompson & Morgan

Tree Peonies are harder to grow successfully and cost more to buy but can have show stopping displays of flowers once they mature.

peonie

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Tips for Growing Nasturtiums

Tips for Growing Nasturtiums


photo by Photofarmer

Even young children can manage to plant the large seeds of nasturtiums and watch them grow into Triffid like flowering plants in reds, yellows and oranges.

Tips for Growing Nasturtiums

  • Plant the seeds individually in a sunny spot in poor soil straight in to the garden.
  • Climbing nasturtiums will spread for several feet or clamber up a near-by support. These are the sort to amuse the kids.
  • The dwarf nasturtiums are better behaved and will flower well without any fertilizer.
  • Handle the stems with care as they are brittle and easily snapped.
  • Nasturtiums are no use as cut flowers but you can pick and eat flowers and leaves.
  • Collect the fallen seed for next year. You get 3 big seeds per flower.
  • Plants are loved by black fly that may colonise the underside of leaves. Wash off with soapy water or use an insecticide if you are not going to eat them.

One variety you can plant in a hanging basket is Jewel Mixed which adds fragrance to the dwarf trailing habit. Alaska has variegated leaves and two tone flowers. Black velvet is very deep purple that it looks as it says on the packet, black.

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Tips for Growing Gazania

Tips for Growing Gazania

Gazina mixed colours


Gazanas are brightly coloured flowers that are easy to grow on dry sunny sites. Many of the plants flower with a striped effect on the petals that open to resemble a 6 inch daisy. The leaves are a narrow grey-green or silvery and the plants grow 6-10 inches tall.

Choose the right variety. Seed is available in a range of varieties like Mini-star White, Tiger Stripes and the Kiss seriessuch as the ‘Kiss Rose’.
Harlequin are slightly larger, growing to 15” tall spreading 18” and come in a mix of colours.

How to Grow Gazania. If buying plants choose healthy well formed clumps of lower leaves. You can buy when at least one flower is open so you have an idea of the colour you are buying but a mix of hot oranges, yellows and reds is quite popular. If you grow from seed, sow 8 weeks before the last frost is expected and keep in the warm, then gradually acclimatise them outdoors.
Whilst the plants may survive British winters, you could take cuttings in Autumn and protect from frost, however, I would treat them as annuals. The plants produce lots of flowers but you can deadhead (cut off faded flowers) to encourage more blooms.

Where to Grow. Gazania is a bright filler plant for in between shrubs or any hot dry part of the garden. They grow happily at the seaside as they are not affected by salty air. Sandy, well drained soil, that Gazanias get in there native South Africa, is best. They are  also fine for window boxes, tubs or planters and can survive if you occasionally forget to water them.
The flowers are borne on short stems making them excellent for windy sites.
Aka the Treasure Flower, Gazania have delicately cut, silvery-white foliage which makes the plant a pleasure  with the bright blooms, opening in the sun and closing at night.

 

I have cheated for 2015. I have just bought a pot of germinated seedlings from our local garden centre. For £2.99 I got and pricked out 40 plants which I will grow on until May before planting out.

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‘Ready’ Primula Plants for Spring

‘Ready’ Primula Plants for Spring

It is mid July and I have just placed an order for some colourful spring Primulas.
Choosing from a good selection at   Jersey Plants Direct  I opted for Auriculas and Rosebud Primroses.  As an alternative I could have ordered  Polyanthus (primrose flowers on stems) or a wide range of self-coloured primroses.

 

What and Why Buy Now

  • Ordering now, the plants should be delivered in good time to be planted and settled whilst the soil is warm and getting damp.
  • I do not do well growing these plants from seeds (which is very expensive) so I find the investment in plants well worthwhile.
  • My supplier offers various sizes of seedlings from 160  plugs 4-8cm, ‘Ready’ plants 6-10 cm, jumbo 7-11cm and super jumbo 8-12 in 5.7cm wide modules. I opted for the ready size as growing on small plants in the past has caused me higher losses
  • The quantities mean I can split the delivery into two and plant half in a cold frame and half in their flowering position to see which section performs best.
  • As recommended by Jersey I will grow some Rosebuds in pots for the house.

 

Photo credits
frosted auricula by framheim CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
primrose happiness by windsordi CC BY-NC 2.0
Auricula Dolly Viney by abriachan nurseries CC BY-NC-ND 2.0  ‘Auriculas are one of my favourite flowers, they are so unique and cheerful.
We grow and sell a wide selection of Auricula at the nursery and send out our catalogue and mailorder all over the UK.’

Auricula Dolly Viney

Rose Pruning in Spring is a Snip

Rose Pruning in Spring is a Snip

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

    our roses
    Other Resources
    25 Types of Rose

    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’.

Tips for Growing Annual Lobelia

Tips for Growing Annual Lobelia

Fine seed slow to bulk up – our tip is to buy kinder pots or germinated seedlings unless you want a lot of plants.

Photo cc by storebukkebruse

Lobelia annuals can be excellent fun to grow. Given the right conditions they can grow quickly after a slow start and   flower from June until late autumn.

The blue or purple Lobelia are often coupled with Alyssum for the edge of borders to give a cottage garden effect. …

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Grow Heathers – Ericas, Callunas and Daboecia

Grow Heathers – Ericas, Callunas and Daboecia

Will you go lassie go?
Heather on the Dales way or Le Tour d’Tykeland
dales way2 039

If you grow heathers you will know why we do and these recommendations come from other Heather growers.

Reasons for Growing Heather

  1. Heathers can provide a rich and changing variety of colour from both foliage and flowers all year round.
  2. Many of the easiest heathers are at their best in the drabbest months.

    3. Heather april
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Start Gardening by Getting your Soil Right

Start Gardening by Getting your Soil Right

Where there’s muck there’s brassed off gardeners unless they have the right soil to take the extra nutrient.

Book Cover

‘The Gardeners’ Book: For the Gardener Who’s Best at Everything’ is really grand for novice gardeners taking up gardening for the first time or those seeking to grow some green fingers.

Improve Your Own Soil’s Consistency

  • Great soil contains air, water and nutrients appropriate for the plants you want to grow.
  • Digging soil over introduces air then weather breaks it down into a fine tilth.
  • Worms aerate soil and improve the texture. They feed on humus or rotting vegetable matter so encourage worms by feeding the soil with humus.
  • Sandy soil needs more humus to help it retain water. Clay needs more humus to hold the soil open for delicate roots.
  • Soil should drain excess water away so some stones are not a problem. If there are lots of stones and rocks remove them or grow plants that like those conditions.
  • Do not walk on very wet soil. Use a plank or duck board.

Bought Soil and Compost

  • Compost in bags can be perfect for pots and containers. It usually has some fertilizer, some wetting agent to make it easy to water and is of a consistancy that helps plants grow. It is not economic for larger garden areas although I use it in the greenhouse beds.
  • Peat, as well as being out of favour as unsustainable or eco-unfriendly, has no nutritional value and is hard to water once it dries out.
  • Top soil can be bought in various quantities but may contain stones, weeds and poor soil so beware.

The Right Soil Chemical Content

  • Plants need Nitrogen, Phosphates and Potassium (NPK) as food from the soil. Sun is the enegy to turn this food into growth through photosynthesis.
  • Hearty soil will have accessible NPK that can be augmented, for heavy feeding plants, with a balance fertilizer such as Growmore or Blood, Fish and Bone.
  • Some plants prefer a slightly acid soil from which to extract the nutrients and animal manure and peat mixed with your soil will increase the acidity.
  • Vegetables often prefer an alkaline soil so you can add a dusting of lime.

I thought my humus was a funny bone until they gave me the elbow.

Grow Green Tulips

Grow Green Tulips

It is almost too late to plant your tulips for this year but if you have some unplanted bulbs get them into the ground before the worst frosts.

Take a note book when you visit a spring garden and record the plants you want to grow for next year. When the Tulips are in flower look for those with a green band particularly on the outer petals as this adds a new dimension to your traditional tulip.

Types of Green Tulips

  • Viridiflora Tulips can have a lot of green on the outer petals. ‘Florosa’ is a pink and white with a slim and elegant lily shaped flower. ‘Spring  Green’ is cream and ‘Greenland’ is rose but my favourite is the terracotta coloured ‘Artist’
  • Amongst Parrot tulips ‘Super Parrot’ has ivory and green petals that look a bit like a leaf and make a good cut flower.
  • Some of the new multi-flowered tulips have green tinges like ‘Ester Rynveld’ and ‘Greenwave’
  • Traditional cottage tulip ‘Palestrina’ combines Salmon pink with  a green vertical band.
  • Fosteriana are very early flowering and ‘Exotic Emperor’ is one of the best. See pictures on Tulips in the Wood
  • ‘Doll Minuet’ is a deep pink flower with a rich green at the base of each petal.

Tulip viridiflora

 

More Sources

Cut Flower Tulip varieties

More Scented Tulip varieties

Reasons to Order Tulips

Roots and Root Care

Roots and Root Care

Get to he root of the problems of growing great plants.

Root bound

Basic Roots  Knowhow

  • Roots grow below the soil to anchor and feed your plants.
  • The root only grows longer at the tip. This is where root hairs develop.
  • Root hairs take in water and nutrients through a permeable membrane.
  • Root hairs are usually fragile and short lived but as one dies one or more grows in its place.
  • Generally the root system thickens with age and anchors the plant as well as conveying nutrients to the stems and leaves.
  • Active growth tissue called pholem and xylem carry nutients up the plant and sugars back to the roots after photosynthesis.

Water Logging the Roots