Gardeners Tips

Soil Conditioners and Conditioning

What is Garden Lime

I have just given a dose of lime to the areas in my veg plot that have been cleared for winter. I like to give a bit of extra magnesium to some soft fruit trees as well.
Often supplied as a powder of crushed limestone but also available as concentrated crystals.
Garden lime helps to maintain soil condition.
Calcium is consumed by vegetables and an extra supply is welcomed to replace calcium that has leached out of the soil by rain.
Lime reduces soil acidity.
Lime help break down heavy clay soils.

During the summer I have occasionally fed my tomatoes with liquid seaweed fertiliser and we have had a great crop but I think most other growers had a good tomato season.

Â What is Calcified Seaweed

- Calcified seaweed is dried seaweed and lime or other calcium based salts
- Calcified seaweed is an organic substance without any nasty chemicals. There is concern that it is no longer approved by the Soil Association for use in organic growing, due to concerns that the harvesting of this material is not sustainable and has adverse effects on the marine environment.
- Seaweed is rich in minerals, encourages beneficial soil bacteria, helps improve heavy soil structure and neutralises acid soils.

Uses of Calcified Seaweed

- As a soil improve and clay breaker it breaks up the heaviest clay without damaging soil pH.
- As a compost accelerator it speeds up the breakdown of organic garden waste.
- Seaweed adds trace elements and minerals to the soil.
- Calcified seaweed neutralises acid soil
- Adding seaweed is beneficial to bacteria and is used in lawn treatment.

Maxicrop Organic Cal-Sea-Feed Calcified Seaweed 6kg tub from Amazon

Food Plants for Birds

October 11, 2017 hortoris

Selecting plants that produce seeds and berries at different times of the year can provide food of birds through the seasons.

Berries

Ivy fruits in November and can last for 6 months so it is a winter staple. The early fruiting plants include Wild Cherry & Raspberries with Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Holly, Elder, Yew, Rowan and Guelder-Rose providing berries from August.

I have a large Berberis Darwinii whose plentiful berries are devoured by Blackbirds every year. They also like sloes, rosehips and haws. The Mahonia looses its berries to some birds but I can’t see who eats them from my window and it is often too cold to sit watching.

Soft fruit and crab apples seem to appeal to a range of birds as my strawberries get pecked over as do most similar varieties if left unnetted. Cottoneaster is pecked over but Pyracatha seems to last on the shrub until spring.

Gooseberries sometimes succumb to pigeons at the flowering stage and I put this just down to badness of the pesky overfed birds.

Seeds

In the garden the most popular seeds seem to be the expensive shop bought variety put out in even more expensive feeders.

Growing the right plants can provide the seeds and nuts birds crave. Teasel and thistles would be high on any avian menu. Beech, Hazel and Silver Birch or Hornbeam would be a main course. Centaurea, Sunflower and Scabious would suit Chaffinches while Coal Tits and Siskins like conifer seed.

All that food for thought but I still put out peanuts (crushed in spring), dried meal worms for the Robin and Niger seed hoping to get Greenfinches. In winter and early spring it is fat balls that I hope to tempt the taste buds with.

Edible Hedges You Can Grow & Pick

September 27, 2017 hortoris

Sloes and damsons are in good supply this September in your local hedgerows. I have relied on my own blackberries this year but from the train window yesterday there were masses of plump black fruit for picking.

Forage amongst the book shelves to get a cornucopia of edible wild plant ideas.

You can plant your own edible hedge now until late March which will give you a supply of edible fruit and berries for years to come. Bare rooted plants are very reasonably priced.

Easy Step by Step Hedge

Clear the ground to remove weeds and old roots by digging or using Glyphosphate based weedkiller. Leave for a few weeks.
Pick a frost free day and when ready to plant put bundles of bare rooted plants into a bucket of water to give them a drink.
Mark out the line of the hedgerow bearing in mind you will want two staggered rows of plants. You can put down mulch matting and plant through it if you wish.
You will need 4-5 plants per square yard.
…

Support Tips for Gardener’s Plants

September 24, 2017 hortoris

Great big flowering Dahlias need some good support early in the season. A walled garden helps but these 4 by 4 canes with string every 12″-18″ add that bit extra. When the plants leaf-up and start to flower they will be heavy and liable to damage without support.

Young trees sometimes called ‘whips’ need support and the ability to flex in the wind. These angled posts are ideal with a support about one third the way up the young stem. After 3 years they should become self supporting. The angle keeps the support away from the roots. …

Contorted Stems for Ikebana Flower Arranging

September 6, 2017 hortoris

Winter Interest

Growing Corkscrew Hazel for Flower Arrangements

Corylus avellana Contorta is also known as Harry Lauders Walking Sticks or Corkscrew Hazel
It is a slow growing deciduous shrub that can grow to 20′ wide and 25′ high when mature.
Corkscrew Hazel looks best in winter and from February-March there are pendant male catkins on the bare branches.
Propagation is best done by layering branches.
When in leaf the mid green leaves give an ugly deformed appearance.

Special Tips for Flower Arranging with Corkscrew Hazel

Use the twisted stems and bare twigs in winter arranging.
Twigs in bridal bouquets can add movement and interest.
Corkscrew Hazel are popular as a base for Ikebana
Catkins will gradually lengthen and become more yellow when kept in water for several weeks.
Twigs can be dried and used year after year. They can also be painted for Christmas.

A full array of books on Flower Arranging and related subjects is available from Amazon. You will find more advice and artistic inspiration amongst this selection.

Special Tips for Flower Arranging with Contorted Willow

I have included Contorted Willow with Corkscrew Hazel as the issues, effects, tips and methods are quite similar.
Twigs and stems can be dried and used several times or be sprinkled with glitter for Christmas.
The cut twigs will last several weeks and eventually the willow leaves will open on the stem.
Contorted Willow is available under several names including Salix matsudana Tortuosa (Salix babylonica tortuosa), Salix x erythroflexuosa or common names Dragons Claw and Tortured Willow.
Salix the Willow family are more vigourous than the Corylus Hazels

Credits
Ikebana by M. Martin Vicente CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ by Stadtkatze CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Spring by David Davies CC BY-SA 2.0
Contorted Willow by touring_fishman CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

To grow a generic mix of flowers for arrangements and bouquets check out Thompson & Morgan

Ikebana: The Art of Arranging Flowers by Shozo Sato and Kasen Yoshimura

Corkscrew Hazel and Contorted Willow are plants that both produce twigs that add movement and style when flower arranging. Mix with just one type of flower as less is generally more with Hazels and Willows.
Turn your arrangements into botanical works of art – here are some examples and clubs you could join.

Corylus avellana Contorta the Corkscrew Hazel aka Harry Lauder’s Walking Sick first discovered in 1863. Slow growing eventually reaching 20′ high and wide unless pruned for flower arrangements. Autumn cob nuts produced. Hazel catkins in spring. Cut twigs last well in water

willow leaves will lengthen. Catkins will open and yellow pollen will show
twigs can be dried by hanging upside down then used year after year.
twigs can be painted
use for christmas decorations, bridal bouquets
mix with flowers cut at different heights
Contorted WillowÂ Â Salix matsudana tortuosa aka S. babylonia var pekinensis, Dragons Claw, Tortured or Corkscrew Willow fast growing hardy deciduous tree
Salix x eryroflexuosa branches of rich chestnut colour and a ocher -yellow trunk – also hardy

Bindweed Wild Flower Varieties

August 30, 2017 hortoris

The bindweed family comprises of several varieties seen as wild flowers in the UK together with some other species including convolvulus and polygonum. They can be a nuisance in the garden with brittle roots that make them hard to eliminate.

BEST LEFT IN THE WILD!

Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)

Wild Bindweeds

Calystegia soldanella – Sea bindweed pink flowers with white stripe may-Aug

Calystegia sepiumÂ – Hedge bindweedÂ orÂ Bellbine, Rutland Beauty, Hedge False Bindweed, Wild Morning Glory with white funnel shaped flowers June-Sept

Calystegia silvatica – Large bindweed with white or pink striped flowers

Black bindweed is part of the dock family Polygonum convolvulus few flowers in pale green

Â Convolvulus arvensis – Field bindweed

Calendula Calendar

August 28, 2017 hortoris

Orange or Yellow are the signature colours of Pot Marigolds more correctly named Calendula officinalis.

Pot Marigolds are typically grown as an annual or biennials but can be cultivated as a short-lived perennial.

Calendula are also calledÂ English, Field Marigolds, Scotch marigold or Ruddles but are unrelated to African or French marigolds.

Varieties to Consider

Golden Princess;
Orange Princess;
Calypso Orange;
Radio;
Triangle Flashback with double flowers in shades of apricot-pink with a maroonÂ
Deja Vu
Pacific Beauty a mixture
Sherbet Fizz

Grow From Seed

Sow in autumn to over winter or start indoors before the last frosts.
Avoid warm propagation temperatures, as they will produce weak plants.
Keep the seeds covered with soil, as light inhibits germination.
After germination good light will help create bushy plants

They may look like daisies because they come from the same family asteracea

Hosta Little Tips

August 27, 2017 hortoris

I am no great fan of large leaved hostas probably due to lack of space in my garden where I prefer to grow other plants. However the dwarf varieties are easy to get on with.

An alternative name for Hostas is Funkia. That appeals to me and helps describe how the plants can create congenital abnormalities and abnormal formations. (Teratology).

Small Hosta Tips

There are a host of varieties to start to growing and collecting may become an obsession. There are 49 named varieties of ‘mouse-ear’ varieties alone.
Water well in spring even before the first leaves show. Roots need water particularly as the light increases.
The better the roots the better the plants will display.
In spring restart the plants with slug bait, slow release fertiliser and a mulch.
A weak solution of Tomorite makes a good foliar feed.
Epsom salts will provide needed magnesium when the leaves have hardened in early summer.
WaterÂ lightlyÂ in autumn to fatten up the roots for winter.
Allow plants to make good clumps. Leave for 3 years or so before dividing. I tend to be too impatient dividing to get more plants.
Encourage flowers and collect seed to increase your stock.
The more light a hosta gets the more water it needs.

Floral Language

August 21, 2017 hortoris

This curious 19th century craze which engaged the hearts and fancies of the Victorians had no historical or mythological basis but became the fertile sand on which a folklore was built. Using images from the Lindley Library this intriguing display tells the story of popular 19th century code used by lovers to exchange messages.The snowdrop signified friendship and forget-me-nots meant true love, but a gift of a pumpkin or a gourd was considered the height of bad manners â€“ find out why … and discover much more by visiting the display at RHS Harlow Carr Library

‘The Artistic Language of Flowers’, 1880, published by Meissner & Buch, Leipzig Â© RHS Library Collections Digitised version from Amazon

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