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General gardening tips and hints

Prize Gladioli Growing & Showing

Prize Gladioli Growing & Showing

glaDThe Gladiolus family are fine addition to the colourful garden. They also make fascinating subjects for the gardeners who like a challenge of the show bench.

Tips for Growing Prize Gladioli

  • Raised beds are good for soil fertility and can help you get some stonking great Gladioli.
  • Mulch the bed heavily to reduce the amount of watering you need to do and feed with blood fish and bone.
  • Plant 6″ deep and at least 4″ apart (more for show varieties).
  • Do not plant dormant corms but wait until small root swellings appear around the base.
  • Dust or dip in fungicide before planting.
  • Plant when the soil has warmed up on a layer of sand or vermiculite to aid drainage.
  • To keep the stems straight tie to a cane below the first bud and add loose ties as it grows.
  • A tee-pee of horticultural fleece can help prevent late frost damage or the bleaching effect of too much sun on red gladioli.
  • During the heat of the day tease flowers forward to get them to open to the front – in the cold they will break off.
  • Leave at least 4 leaves on the plant when cutting to ensure the new corm swells.
  • Lift 5-6 weeks after flowering, dry off, label and store for next year.

Show blooms

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Best Gardens In China for a Visit

Best Gardens In China for a Visit

lingering-garden

China is one of the great destinations for visiting gardens. The influence over garden design and the vast array of plants and flowers is secondary to the investment in time and dedication demonstrated in so many great locations. This is just a selection of those you may consider visiting if you can make the journey..

The Garden of Contentment has an evocative name that for many sums up the essence of gardening. This feeling of tranquility will be found in many of the gardens we are considering visiting but this Shanghai location is an exceptional place to start our virtual garden tour.

YuYuan Garden

Whilst in Shanghai it is worth a visit to the local Botanic Garden with its collection of old bonsai and many acid loving plants.

For a strange, modern, garden in Beijing the Grand View Garden was built in 1984 to represent a fictional garden replicating one described in a classic Chinese tale ‘ A Dream of Red Mansions’ available in English

For keen gardeners the best location must be the ‘Silk City’ of Suzhou where you have a choice of choice gardens to visit.  The name Lingering Garden makes me want to invent a name for my own patch, perhaps that should be the patchwork garden. The image is of the Lingering garden from Wonderlust and Lipstick inspiring women travellers.

Humble Administrator's Garden
The Canglingting or Dark blue wave garden is deceptive in its use of pools and local scenery whilst the Humble Administrators Garden is anything but humble as the largest garden in the city. The Circular Grace  Mountain Villa blends with the rocky out crops making traditional use of the landscape evocative of Chinese painting.

The star amongst so may great  cultural heritage sites is the The Master of the Nets Garden a household garden and one of the smallest but highly recommended. It is about one thousand years old and is inspirational particularly in the design and linking with the living accommodation.
Imperial Garden in the Forbidden City

See more information courtesy of Travel Guide China
The Master of the Nets Garden

‘Even more than the architectural achievement is the mood of tranquillity and harmony that this humble garden embodies.
This exquisite garden was first designed during the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279) as part of a residence that was used until the Taiping Rebellion in the 1860’s. It was later restored and became the residence of a government official from whom the garden got its name.
The garden is divided into three sections: a residential section, the central main garden and an inner garden. The main garden has a large pond that is surrounded by pathways and a variety of buildings such as the Ribbon Washing Pavilion, and the Pavilion for the advent of the Moon and Wind. There are many more buildings that are situated so that there is never a sense of crowding, but always of spaciousness. As is common in Suzhou gardens, the pond has a small pavilion in it. Here the pavilion is accessible by a bridge that is less than one foot wide.
As you walk about the gardens and along the walkways, there are often views through windows onto beautiful flowers or plants framing them from a distance and drawing you to a single sight, a moment of peaceful natural beauty. As you walk through the buildings, it is easy to imagine the life that the original residents lived in a feudal society where these gardens were solely for their pleasure and the pleasure of their guests. The various buildings are constructed so that you can always access the main garden from any room.’

Guo Zhuang Botanical Garden and traditional private gardens are often on the tour circuit on trips to Eastern China. Other Botanic gardens to consider include Sun Yat-sen Botanical Garden in Nanjing , South China Botanical Garden, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden
Kunming Botanical Garden, Wuhan Botanical Garden Lushan Botanical Garden, Hangzhou Botanical Garden and Guilin Botanical Garden.

Book Cover

Great book on Great Gardens in China by Peter Valder
From amazon ‘Valder’s illuminating compilation of more than 200 gardens promises to provide the ultimate resource for future travelers before mbarking on a trip they can study and savor images and information on diverse horticultural realms located throughout China… A lavish record of famed Imperial gardens as well as fascinating examples of lesser-known temples, parks, and botanical arboreta… Encompassing a treasury of plant portraits, stunning architectural details, and awe-inspiring vistas, Valder’s chosen topic is rendered in such depth as to rouse armchair dreamers and act as a call to action for avid garden trekkers.


Credits
YuYuan Garden by Wolfgang Staudt CC BY-NC 2.0 ‘Yuyuan Garden, first established in 1559, is located in the center of the Old City next to the Chenghuangmiao in Shanghai.
Humble Administrator’s Garden by Jan Langhaug CC BY-NC 2.0
Imperial Garden in the Forbidden City by ajft CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Yuyuan Garden by ksbuehler CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Yuyuan Garden

May Seed Sowing Guide for MVUF

May Seed Sowing Guide for MVUF

Veg Seed Sowing Plans for May
To ensure a continuous harvest throughout the summer rather than a glut successional sowing of salads, radishes, beetroots, carrots, autumn giant leeks and spring onions and peas should continue.
Sow basil, particularly alongside tomato seedlings to help draw white fly away plus spinach, rocket and ornamental salad leaves.
Globe Artichokes and Swiss Chard for looks as well as food.
Pole, French and above all Runner Beans
Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Savoy Cabbage, Kale and Calabrese

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Perennials for Poor Soil

Perennials for Poor Soil

Anemone Japonica
Anemone Japonica

Many gardens have soil that is too poor to be worth improving particularly when some perennials would thrive there anyway. Here is a top 14 selection of perennial plants that are tolerant of poor conditions.

Spring Flowering

Alyssum – yellow flowering

Aquilegia – mixed colours likes light  shade

Digitalis – Foxgloves with purple or white spikes

Doronicum – early yellow flowers, die back quickly

Lamium – ground cover bicoloured leaves and purple flowered

Vinca – arching stems with a prostrate habit and blue flowers

Summer Flowering

Acanthus – bears breeches, spikey leaves with purple flowers

Geranium – species with low habit and pink, blue or white flowers ( not Pelargoniums)

Hemerocalis – Grass like foliage Day lilies

Hypericum – St Johns Worts shrubs with yellow flowers

Nepta – silvery foliage cat mints

Saxifrage – white and pink starry shaped flowers on a neat mound

Autumn Flowering

Anemone Japonica – Pink or white flowers clump forming

Solidago – Erect yellow flowers best in a limy soil

 

Cornwall 151

Simple Compost

Simple Compost

I promised a simple approach to thinking about your compost.  Compostable materials are either Green or Brown and you need a good mix of both. If you want the full scientific monte then you need a book.
Green Compostables include grass clippings, tea bags, old flowers, nettles, weeds, comfrey or rhubarb leaves, pond algae, spent bedding plants, rotting fruit and vegetable peelings – these provide the nitrogen and bacteria to generate heat.

Brown Compostables include twigs, prunings, leaves, straw, cardboard, straw, wool, feathers, shredded paper, wood ashes, vacum bag contents, pine needles and egg shells and provide substance in the form of carbon and mixed chemistry.

Good compost is made from a mixture of  some or all of these components with air, moisture, heat and bacteria. Too much green and it will be a smelly, slimy mess. Too much brown and it will remain uncomposted as twigs and ants. Mix up your heap with browns and greens, add some garden soil with worms to help bacteria if you wish. If the heap is dry, water the browns if it is soggy and green add some paper or cardboard.

Book Cover
A scientific approach to creating good compost with good photographs can be found in this book.

Or a simpler organic view in this book.
Book Cover

Animal Manure

Rotted manure from grass eating and vegetarian animals probably contains more fertiliser than compost. Dog and fox feces should not be spread on the garden or put in the compost bin.

Help with January Gardeners Jobs

Help with January Gardeners Jobs

The new year gets gardeners all enthused but it is also a time to show patience. The gnomes wont rush to help you anytime soon Hi-ho.

Helpful Tips

  • Beware experts – book learning may not translate into a better garden.Most experts make me worry.
  • Worry less about experience. Applied experience as a result of your own gardening is better than the secondhand variety.
  • Maslov’s hierarchy of needs applies to garden plants as much as gardeners. The basic needs of food, water then shelter in an appropriate home need to be taken care of first. No need to rush into being an exotic all knowing gardener.

Guardians of the Mint

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jobs left from Last Year

  • Clean pots, ornaments and seed trays, insulate outdoor taps and do those maintenance jobs you have avoided.
  • Build compost heaps, raised beds and hard landscaping when weather permits.
  • In dry weather treat wooden furniture and structures.

Plant Matters

  • Prune soft fruit bushes and apple/pear trees.
  • Force rhubarb by covering with a bucket filled loosely with straw.
  • Sow alpine seeds and plant winter flowering clematis cirrosa or napaulensis.
  • Check over wintering tubers, cold greenhouse plants and pinch out the tops of sweet peas to get bushy well rooted plants.
  • Prune grape vines before the sap rises to avoid bleeding.

Crops

  • Keep taking the green and look after the sprouts.
  • Bring hyacinth bulbs indoors for scent and flowering.
  • Gather leeks and root veg roughly clearing the ground.
Help with Bindweed Elimination or Control

Help with Bindweed Elimination or Control

Bindweed after being sprayed – note the stick it has been trained to grow up makes it easier to spray”. Bindweed will grow up living plants and throttle them if left unchecked.

My first garden in Oxford had been neglected for 10 or 20 years. Bindweed had run rampant throughout the garden, there was no alternative but to spend many hours and many years before I was able to bring it under control.

This is the strategy I used for bringing a bindweed garden under control.

Bringing Bindweed under Control

1. Dig up Roots. If bindweed is well established, it will have developed an extensive system of roots which will make it resistant to the odd spray. I suggest starting by having a thorough dig taking a section of the garden one at a time. Don’t try to dig the whole garden as you will be depressed at the scale of the job. Start with a manageable section and dig deep to get as much of the white root as possible.

If the soil is dry it is easier to separate the roots from the soil. It actually becomes quite satisfying job, seeing how much of the white roots you can dig up. You will want to go at least as deep as a full spade blade. Lift up the soil and shake of the soil surrounding the roots. Be relatively gentle as the roots are quite brittle and new weeds will grow from even small bits of root. When the ground is dug over, you can start planting as you won’t have to dig it again.

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Beetles that Help Gardeners

Beetles that Help Gardeners

Beetles that are soil dwelling can be good friends to the gardener. Rove beetles stahylinids and ground beetles or carabids are both useful. In adult and larvae form they eat insects, slugs and other invertabrates.

Ground Beetles

  • As predators of invertebrates and many pests these black or brown beetles are considered beneficial.
  • Most feed at ground level but some will climb to eat aphids.
  • Carabus is a larger carabid and will feed on slugs, leather jackets and cutworms. (Mmmm juicy)
  • The caterpillar hunters Calosoma are famous for their habit of devouring insect larvae and pupae in quantity.
  • A few beetle species are herbivorous pests like Zabrus.
  • Poecilus cupreus is shiny black with long legs and powerful jaws.
  • One for the goulish kids, many ground beetles eat by vomiting on their prey and waiting for their digestive enzymes to make their food more fluid and easier to eat.

Rove Beetles

  • Devils coach horse or Staphylinus olens is one of the larger rove beetle at up to 30mm. It is often found under pots or rotting logs.

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Prune Witch Hazels for more Flowers

Prune Witch Hazels for more Flowers

Witch Hazel

The Witch hazels are great winter flowering shrubs and small trees. If your garden is on the small side the Witch Hazels or Hamamelis can be kept in check by judicious pruning. Take care not to prune off and stop the scented winter flowers. Careful annual pruning can encourage the formation of more flowering sideshoots.

Witch Hazel Cultivation before Pruning

  • Witch Hazels are slow growing and can take 10 years to reach 10-12 feet.
  • Cultivars prefer full sun and in deep shade they grow sparse with few flowers.
  • If space is at a premium they can be pruned annually. Other pruning should be restricted to removing dead or damaged growth.
  • Do not plant too deeply and thus cover the grafting point.
  • Watering, feeding and mulching encourages a strong Witch Hazel

Pruning to Restrict Size

  • Prune in early spring as the flowers fade but before the leaves open.
  • As with other pruning remove congested, crossing growths, diseased wood and weak shoots.
  • To restrict an established plant cut back only two or three longer branches to a well placed side branch.
  • This thinning of the longest branches reduces height and spread.
  • Annual pruning should encourage a dense shrub that flowers well.

Harder Pruning and Suckers

Japanese Garden at Giggle Alley Eskdale

Japanese Garden at Giggle Alley Eskdale

Japanese Garden

Features to Expect in a Japanese Garden

  • In Giggle Alley there are winding pathways, stone steps, rockeries and pools of water.
  • The Japanese style bridge over a gurgling stream is pictured below.
  • The planting includes excellent Maples and colourful leaf combinations.
  • Azaleas waft scent around the glades and provide further colour and a sense of harmony.
  • A venerable old Magnolia looks half dead but is flowering at the top of several 20′ high branches.

Giggle Alley Design

  • Designed in 1914 and left to become overgrown since 1949, the garden at Eskdale is currently being renovated.
  • The Forestry Commission created a Design Plan for the Japanese garden 2006-2011 see it on this pdf. You can contribute ideas and comments to the next plan and phase of renovation.
  • This Japanese Garden, in Giggle Alley forest, was the jewel in architect James Rea’s horticultural crown.
  • There are thickets of bamboo, a stunning display of Japanese maples and the heady scent of azaleas in the spring.
  • The whole forest is open to the public.

Japanese Garden

Wild Life in Giggle Alley

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