Gardeners Tips – Page 192 – Tips and advice for gardeners about gardening

Sea Buckthorn – Hippophae Superfruit

September 6, 2011 hortoris

Sea Buckthorn is one of the Hippophae species. The fruit have some medicinal properties and the shrubs have been cultivated for many,Â centuries. The deciduous shrubs are Dioeceus having male and female plants.

Common sea-buckthorn has distinctiveÂ pale silvery-green and branches that are dense, stiff and very thorny.

Propagating Sea Buckthorn

Many seeds are available from the ornamental orange berries.
Seeds should be pre soaked for 24 hours prior to sowing. Old seed is less viable.
Hard wood cuttings taken in winter can increase stock of the shrubs.
Bundles of cuttings are soaked in water and covering 2/3 of their length until the beginning of formation of roots.
Cuttings can also be treated with rooting hormone and placed in pots filled with peat in a bottom heated propagation box. Cuttings can be transplanted when the roots are 1-2 cm long directly to the field.
‘Softwood cutting (15-20cm long) are taken when shoots begin to become woody, remove the lower leaves, leaving 2-4 leaves at the tip and dip into rooting hormone before rooted in media such as sand or perlite and keep special attention to the moisture of media.’ Quote from seabuckthorn.co.uk

Read Hippophae Orange Berries

Superfruit Health

Sea Buckthorn oil appears to prevent the effects of aging or to help restore damaged skin.
Some haircare products are made with Sea Buckthorn oil.
Sea Buckthorn oil may help to heal burnt skin. If you have acne, dermatitis, scar tissue, old burn tissue, or radiation markings, try it for a few months to see if there is a noticeable improvement.
Sea-Buckthorn berries have a unique composition including vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotenoids
Seed oil is a good source of anti oxidising essential fatty acids and may be used as a dietary supplement.

How To Take Cuttings for Big Shrubs

September 5, 2011 hortoris

Forget 6 inch cuttings, for bigger shrubs use bigger cuttings. Giant cuttings of 18-36 inches may be worthwhile on the following:- Cistus, Euonymous, Hebe, Leycesteria, Weigelia, Pyracantha or Kerria japonica. I have a friend who excels with Roses taken this way.
Also read Gardeners tips Taking cuttings for beginners

Proceedure for Cuttings

Water the host plant well the evening before taking cuttings.
Take cutting early in the day, keep out of the sun and spray with water to minimise wilting.
Select a shoot with plenty of new growth. Cut it off cleanly at the base where it comes from a branch or cut below a swelling leaf node instead.
Remove any flowers, lower leaves and soft tips by pinching out
If the cutting has a woody bark remove a sliver an inch long to aid rooting.
Have available one litre pots full of a free draining mix of grit and multipurpose compost.
Dip the end of the cutting in fresh hormone rooting compound, such as Murphy’s, plant and water in
Place in a humid environment eg. a plastic bag over the pot supported by canes, so leaves don’t touch the sides, and tied with a rubber band.
Keep in a shady spot removing dead leaves regularly.
In about 5-6 weeks, when rooted, acclimatise to outside conditions and overwinter in a sheltered spot
Plant out in March

Climber Cutting Tips …

Read More Read More

Local Show Tips

September 4, 2011 hortoris

I entered 10 classes in our village show including a vase of flowers with these Cynar cardunculus. The rules were to have a minimum of three varieties so I included some Sedum and Buddleia to give an Autumn feel to the vase. On the ‘basis of less is more’ I threw away a lot of flowers I had taken but didn’t use. I ended up with a second prize to a marvelous display of umpteen varieties in an airy display.

Local Show Tips on Time

Arrive for benching within the stipulated hours and remember it will take you longer than you expect. It gets just as rushed as Chelsea even for your village show.
Allow time for tweaking your exhibits, turning to best advantage and cleaning around your exhibit.
Judging will be at a set time when everyone had to leave the hall and our show opened to visitors in the afternoon.
Speeches, raffles and prize giving took up ‘gardening time’ towards the end of the show before the uncollected exhibits were auctioned off.

Local Show Tips – Presentation

Standard vases were provided for floral displays but fruit, vegetables and potted plants used your own imagination.
Onions were displayed on sand or rings except some giants that stood out on there own.
I entered 3 fruit classes and stood the apples on squares of white paper. I left the natural ‘bloom’ on the apples and came second, again, to some highly polished smaller fruit. (What to do next year?)
Several exhibits were mounted on doilies which probably says something about the age of our village. (Seriously with lots of classes for children there were lots of young villagers around.)
The best tip I have is aim for zero imperfections, a good small one will beat a big imperfect specimen.
Keep the exhibit clean and tidy using only black or white presentation aids.

Local Show Tip – Keep Too Schedule

Read the schedule if it says 5 items they do not mean 4 or 6, even if you think it looks better.
Make sure you are in the right class and leave the correct marker. We are give a reference ticket to leave under our exhibit so the judges do not know whose entry they are judging but can get a subsequent reference back.
I may have been disqualified in the french bean class when I entered flat pole beans, anyway they were nowhere near good enough.

End of the Show

I may not have thanked the organisers and volunteers adequately at the Menston 2011 Show so I do so now.
Our show will donate the proceeds to the Royal British Legion 90th anniversary appeal. They had a stand, bunting and poppies on display
Local shows are for fun and it is the taking part rather than the winning.
However you can get a first by being the only entry in a class or in my case by being lucky on one entry. ( not my Pelargoniums or Fuchsias unfortunately)

Read more about Growing Show Gladioli and Show Shallots.

Check out Giant Pumpkin Growing Tips

Budget Busting Gardeners Tips

September 3, 2011 hortoris

Sun and rain are free so optimise the use of these natural resources

Garden on a Low Budget

Collect seeds and start to raise your own plants. Use resources like books, the web or seed company advice flyers to find sowing and storage information. I have several interesting roses grown from collected hips.
Buy small plants so the can establish well and mature. Larger perennials can often be divided before being planted out.
Mulch you garden and key plants with 2-3″ of well rotted organic material. It will condition the soil, keep weeds down and improve water retention. Mulch on top of damp soil not dry soil.
Scare birds off your brassicas with a potato stuck with birds feathers and suspended from a near by tree or make your own scarecrow.
Reuse plant labels after rubbing them down with an abrasive or cleaning agent.
Grow new plantsÂ such as fuschia, chrysanthemumns, marguerites and pelargoniums. Many others plants will grow from cuttings.
Buy secondhand tools and invest in a sharpening stone to hone them down.
Make your own compost mixing green and brown waste.
Scrounge form other gardeners, they often have more plants or seeds than they need and most are good hearted souls.

Make do and Mend

Reuse and repurpose items into the garden. You can find interesting containers this way. Just make sure there is a drainage hole.
Repair broken items that can be used in the garden.
Use hazel twigs as canes to support your growing plants.
Make your own crazy paving from ‘found stones’. I have rockeries and small walls from stone I have collected along the way.
Stables often offer free horse muck if you collect it, ditto seaweed.
Do not bother with chemicals in the garden. Sure you may loose some plants but an organic garden tends to get into a form of balance with nature.

Winter is Coming to Your Garden

September 2, 2011 hortoris

First the bad news! The London Met Office has warned that the winter 2011/12 will be similar to our last three winters with cold and snow caused by high pressure trapped around our Islands.
Now the good news! These long range forecasts are usually rubbish and the opposite may be true.

Even better news for your garden is if you prepare in advance and now is your big opportunity to plan and execute.

Gardeners Tips Preparing for Winter

Leave the berries on your shrubs to provide food and energy for birds.
Do not be excessively tidy, piles of leaves and twigs make safe havens for overwintering wild life.
Stake susceptible trees and check ties to avoid wind damage.
Bring all none frost proof containers into shelter. Wrap tender subjects in hessian.
Take cuttings of plants you want to try overwinter just in case. Keep them in frost free conditions.
Do not worry snow is a good insulator but the weight can bend even strong branches so be prepared to knock it off before it piles up.

Keep Smiling Plan for Spring Round the Corner

Buy and plant bulbs to cheer yourself up during warm spells.
Winter pansies, wallflowers, primulas and other plants planted now can get spring off to a colourful start.
Get construction and heavy maintenance jobs out of the way so you can concentrate on plants and gardening when the weather improves.
Dig your vegetable patch and leave large clods of earth to be broken down by the frost.
Sit back, buy your seeds from the many catalogues or mail order and dream of warm spring and summer next year.

Grow Seedheads for Wild Life

May 20, 2011 hortoris

What you can do to help feed wild life and your garden birds.

Leave seed heads on your plants like the Teasel (above) which are great for Goldfinches
Small mammals like the bigger seeds such as nasturtiums and pulses. Peas and beans can be left on plant not only to collect seeds for next year but as a food for wildlife.
Berries are looking good at the moment. Enjoy their looks and as they ripen the birds will also enjoy them as dinner. Pyracantha and cotoneaster seem to be favourites at the moment.
Most importantly plan now to have more seed heads for next year
Do not be over keen to tidy up. A rough area encourages insects many of which like a feast of seeds. Insects are also more than food for thought.
Sun flowers are popular so try several varietiesÂ from a seed catalogue
Grasses with plumes and arching flowers look good and taste good
Echinacea and Amaranthus are prolific seeders

Try reading a specialist book for more ideas Seedheads in the Garden

I have often wondered if birds and insects can tell different flavours of seeds. Humans could tell an Allium from a Sunflower or a Poppy from a Dill seed so may be wild life can too.

Sea Holly or Eryngium giganteum variety Miss Willmotts Ghost (below) will produce seedheads full of nutritious seeds for the birds and insects.
With all that pollination going on I am not surprised.

Hedgerows

One of the best places to grow seeds is in your hedges.
Wild life has shelter safety and food on tap in a hedgerow.
You do not need to have an untidy area of the garden.

Hawthorn and Holly are two typically British hedgerow plants that feed our native wild life.

For a slender and graceful specimen tree that will help feed wild life you could try growing a Mountain Ash, The Rowan or Sorbus aucuparia

For those without the desire to grow there own seeds for the benefit of wildlife then there are many great feed mixes available. RSPB supply in large sacks and there are a host of other retailers.
Please be consistent if you start to feed with bought seed products and wildlife become reliant on your supply.

Read Pollinators for Green Gardening

Florists for Gardeners

May 12, 2011 hortoris

Florists are Great

Florists have knowledge and skill when it comes to conditioning cut flowers to prolong shelf and display life.
They have methods of keeping displays watered and fresh including the bag of water or the buttonhole test-tube.
Out of season flowers can be imported by floristry suppliers and we can even get southern hemisphere plants in our winter.
Good florists display bunches and bouquets of flowers and foliage to artistic advantage.
A wide range of floral material is part of a florists stock, when a garden may only have a few species ripe for picking.
Florists produce the wreaths and family occasion flowers when gardeners are too busy or otherwise occupied.

Gardeners and Florists Together

Gardeners are best if QBE (qualified by experience). Florists can opt to train at a college, either full or part time or on the job.
Florists want long flower stems and long life of 3 weeks in shop/vase. Gardeners want insect and disease resistance, variety of colors, and fragrances plus a pleasing growth habit.
One good plant probably equates to the cost of a good bunch of flowers. I know which I prefer.
Florists are unlikely to be a retail outlet for the produce from a garden. You would need to have a specialism and be able to supply over a long period not just when your crop gluts.
I am less happy about the florists trend to supply potted plants but that is one area where the allotment gardener could form a trading relationship with the local florist.

Floristry Qualifications

Tips for Selling to Florists

â€œConsistency is important. Some growers have been disorganized. They want the money up front. This can be a problem in dealing with larger businesses that prefer to send checks once or twice a month.

Bunch properly (check wholesale guidelines). Usually bunches are 10 stems. Bunches should be of consistent quality. Growers who come in with a bucket full of stems in different lengths and quality wonâ€™t make a good impression.

Donâ€™t just show up. A lot of local people wait too long to contact the florist. â€œSomeone will just show up with a trunk full of pussy willows, and Iâ€™ve already ordered them. Don’t just show up. Call and ask if weâ€™re interested. Have a sample.” And let them know when a product is close to harvest.” source Rodale Institute

Turn your floristry purchases into botanical works of art – here are some examples and clubs you could join.

See flowers as a business

Herbsville a Home for Herbs

May 12, 2011 hortoris

I grow Herbs in a herb wheel and I call this home from home ‘Herbsville’. You can design your own herb home – it is a snip!

Herbs can be grown in a wide variety of situations.

Windowsills with 3 ” pots are fine for quick growing herbs you want to snip for the kitchen.
I have an old cast iron wheel and the spokes separate out 6 herbs. The larger varieties tend to grow over onto the other sections but the appearance is fine. Rather than call this a herb wheel I have christened it ‘Herbsville’.
You can interplant your veg patch or rockery with a range of herbs.

Oil Based Herbs including Lavender, Thyme, Lovage, Rosemary, Sage and Bay are perennial plants

Water Orientated Herbs like Basil and Dill are best treated as annuals

Of the other herbs, Chives & the Onion family need renewing from bulb stock but will last several years.

Parsley gets leggy but can be kept over winter.

Cherville, tarragon, summer savory, oregano, cilantro, marjoram, chervil andÂ mint are all herbs that can be grown in your herb garden with a small amount of effort.

Spices such as cardamom, star anise, juniper, coriander seeds, nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin andÂ cloves are all native to hot and often tropical climates. They are not for the average garden in the UK.

Plant Pots that Push the Boat Out

May 10, 2011 hortoris

If bunches of flowers can be arranged in a wide variety of containers and vases why not growing plants.

I liked this boat on a wall at Scarborough which was cheerfully full of Pansies. The variegated Ivy provided a bit of light green colour and texture and even the plastic sunflower was not out of place.

Tips for Unusual Plant Holders

If you make a creative container ensure there is drainage so plants do not drown. I guess these boats were holed below the plimsoll line!

Containers under the eaves of houses or in a rain shadow from the wall will need watering more frequently.

Ensure the container can hold enough compost or soil for a good root run.

Use water retaining gel or special container compost.

Pick of dead flowerheads to encourage new blooms.

This boat was in a park at Ross on Wye and it would be hard to tend the plants in the middle as the boat was quite large. It creates a whole new mean to houseboat as this is a real gardenboat.

Read Collecting Containers and Growing Veg in containers

Know Your Onions they are Alliums

May 9, 2011 hortoris

Alliums are a significant species of bulbous, herbaceous perennials that usually have an onion odor and taste.

Indeed garlic, leeks, onions, chives and shallots are all Alliums.
Many alliums are grown as decorative flowers rather than as a food crop.
Plants have bulbs that reform annually from the base of the old bulb, or are produced on the ends of rhizomes or the ends of stolons.
The bulbs have outer coats that are commonly brown or grey, with a smooth texture, and are fibrous, or with cellular reticulation.
Many alliums have basal leaves that go white or wither away from the tips downward before or while the plant flowers.
Flowers are produced in groups forming a globe or umbels where the outside flowers bloom first and flowering progresses to the inside

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