The Rural Gardener - March, in like a Lion and out with the Rabbits!

Bare stems, catkins and the crocuses of early March have now made way for blossom, daffodils and magnolias. A fresh spring green is creeping along hawthorn hedges and clothing the weeping willows. If you only have the space for one small flowering cherry, consider Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’

This lovely little shrub has attractive zig zag stems which are covered in pink buds opening to white flowers in mid March. This photo was taken before the blossom was fully open. The leaves turn a good russet/red autumn colour and at only 2.5 metres this shrub makes a good subject for even small gardens. It is best grown in a sunny spot if possible and doesn’t seem to like too much competition from neighbouring plants. Under planting with Anemone blanda or other small subjects is fine but when over crowded by perennials during the summer it wont make a good shaped framework.

Rabbits.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case in life, there is no magic solution to the problem of rabbit damage in the garden!

Gardeners who battle with a heavy unworkable clay may not be bothered by a large rabbit population and should take a minute or so to realise that a heavy clay soil is not all bad news! Urban gardens pose their own set of challenges, perhaps being overlooked or shady, yet often remain rabbit free!

For the many gardeners who have experienced rabbit damage, it could be worse - elephants, kangaroos and elk are all quite destructive and much more difficult to fence against.

Rabbit resistant plants are not absolutely rabbit proof! You can never be sure that you wont get the rabbit that doesn’t know what plants are on the list! People used to say that aromatic plants were less likely to be eaten but I have seen lavenders chewed off at the base. 

The following list of plants is a slightly reduced version from an original list from Gardening Which 2003, that I have found to be reliable in our area.  

Shrubs.Berberis, Buxus, Choisya ternata, Cornus, Cotoneaster, Elaeagnus, Fuchsia, Gaultheria, Hypericum, Ilex, Olearia, Ruscus, Sambucus, Taxus and Viburnum. (Roses on the original list I have found to be particularly vulnerable!)

Perennials and bulbs. Acanthus, Aconitum, Anemone, Colchicum, Convallaria, daffodils, Digitalis, Eryngium, Euphorbia, Geranium, Helleborus, hyacinth, irises, Ligularia, lupin, Osteospermum, peonies, poppies, Sedum, snowdrops and Solomon’s seal.

Vegetables. Broad beans, potato, celery, tomato and parsnips.

Fencing rabbits out of the garden is the ideal solution if this is possible. Rabbit fencing can be made by using 31mm hexagonal mesh netting of at least 1.2m high and 1.5m if possible. Bury the bottom 15cm of mesh, angling it outwards to deter the rabbits from digging underneath. If it is not possible to bury the netting, lie the lower 30cm on the soil surface and weight it down until vegetation has grown through to secure it in place. The netting can be attached to an existing fence or make a new fence using stakes every 5m and running a straining wire along the top. 

If you have a boundary hedge, cut this harder back than usual and erect your fence close to the hedge, allowing the new growth to grow through the wire. Some conifer hedges will not respond well to cutting back hard, always check up if you are not sure. Great care must be taken when trimming the hedge to avoid contact with the wire mesh.  Rather than fence the entire garden for rabbits, it might be more practical to fence specific areas. A garden designed in different sections would be an ideal way to fence certain areas. Rabbit netting can be made to look quite attractive when used with woven willow or hazel rods in a cottage style garden. In a more contemporary setting the wire could be used to cover a variety of panels to tie in with a design. Wherever possible, ensure that gateways in to a rabbit fenced area are kept closed with a gate covered in wire. Site gateways facing a french window or somewhere as close to the house as possible, so that when the gate is open it is not too tempting for a rabbit to enter.

Tree guards are effective for a few trees in grass and laying wire mesh or prickly rose prunings on the surface of plants can deter damage. Remember than once your plants grow through the mesh they may be vulnerable again.

Having made your garden less appealing and less accessible to rabbits, you are left with one concern……will the Easter bunny show up this year?

The Gardening Author - Compost rubbish

It’s said that absolute power corrupts absolutley and, in the case of some politicians, this is undoubtedly true. However, I’ve noticed that, at the moment, a lack of competition amongst television broadcasters in the UK means that the same is becoming true of them.

Last Friday, a program was broadcast on the BBC that I was awaiting with interest, because it directly affects me as a practical gardener. It was about the use of peat and it’s alternatives like coir and garden compost. I’ve always used peat and as a horticultural medium, it is unrivalled. It is light, contains air, holds moisture and buffers nutrients so that they’re not immediately washed through the compost. So any replacement has some pretty big shoes to fill. I also know that there are plenty of reserves of peat in Europe, it does begin reforming once the water is allowed back in and there are some areas that depend on it for their source of income.

That said, I’m open to other alternatives if they work. On the basis of this (and so I could write about it from a tried-it point of view) I started my tomatoes and peppers off in a peat-alternative compost last year. They died. All of them. It set me back weeks and as a result, the crop was poor. Out of curiosity, I tested the compost for nutrients to see what was wrong and found there was no nitrogen in it at all (nitrogen is essential for good shoot and leaf growth). So, that explained the deaths. Closer inspection showed that shredded woody material had been included that was still decomposing and taking out the nitrogen in the process.

I wanted to see both sides of the argument on the program and find out what strides have been made in finding good, reliable alternatives for the home gardener. Sadly, the BBC had already decided that peat is no longer acceptible and we must all save the planet by using other materials. An unbelievably one-sided stance from a supposedly impartial broadcaster. No-one else in Europe is dictated to in this way, they all carry on using peat at will. Unfortunately, the BBC are the only channel covering gardening at the moment.

Garden compost is not sterile, so can’t be used for seeds and young plants (fear of infection), and is not consistant enough for growth. None of this was covered.

It’s the duty of any writer or broadcaster to collect the facts before delivering an opinion and to give a balanced account of the subject. Otherwise, they risk losing that most valuable of assets, their credibility.

The Natural Pest Control Consultant - The first steps to protect your future investment

Last week I wrote about supporting “Home Grown” whether by the gardener or the grower. I was pleased to read afterwards that British Nurseries have now developed their own “Home Grown logo” that will help customers identify plants raised in the UK. According to the RHS garden magazine 90% of …

The Gardening Lecturer - Spring in the air!

Well that was a busy weekend! Saturday’s trip to Chelmsford for a 3-hour live phone-in gardening show on BBC Radio Essex was followed by a trip to Tunbridge Wells in Kent the following morning (and 5.30am starts on a Sunday morning stop being funny after a while!). This was another …

The Rural Gardener - Rabbiting on about rabbits

I do not consider myself to be a cold hearted person, immune to the charm and appeal of a rabbit. How could I forget Thumper, a childhood pet or Chloe, our daughter’s rabbit who walked on a lead? Like many other parents I have provided shoeboxes and words of comfort for various bunny burials over the years. I remember watching wild rabbits in the field behind the house where I grew up, when a small family group was still observed with pleasure during the aftermath of Myxomatosis which had descimated the rabbit population during the early 1950’s.

Whilst walking the dogs late one afternoon last week, we entered a large field on the ings by the river to be confronted by a frightening sight for any gardener. 

Watership Down!

Hundreds of rabbits, right the way across the field, nibbling and scraping away as they enjoyed the Spring sunshine. I remember counting over sixty in the same field last year and thinking that was an impressive gathering. 

Increasingly, it seems, rabbits are becoming more of a problem in many of the gardens where I work. Rabbits feed mainly during the night but can actually be seen at any time of the day, particularly dawn and dusk. The damage they do is extensive and you have to admit they are versatile little beasts who enjoy a balanced diet of roots and fresh green shoots which they seem particularly partial to in the Spring or whenever provided with tasty young plants at any time of the year. Of fruit and veg, they eat their five a day, including the bark from unprotected fruit trees which can result in the eventual death of the tree. For something with a bit more substance, they will munch their way through woody shrubs and newly planted trees. They prove to be quite adept at reaching up and pulling down hedging plants, (including prickly ones such as blackthorn and holly) to create a more comfortable working level for the nibbling out of the growing tips. Given a day or so more, depending on the length of the hedge and the size of the working party, the hedge could well have been effectively removed.

They don’t even have the decency to hibernate to allow the garden a respite. Their distinctive tracks can be seen in the snow where they scrape for roots and nibble the bark from the twiggy debris blown down from trees.

I am all for encouraging wildlife to the garden and would happily leave a weed or two and a pile of twigs if this would satisfy the little visitors. Pet rabbits munch through a pile of dandelion leaves at an impressive rate wheras their wild cousins often pass by lawn weeds whilst making a bee line for the border.    

As a garden pest, the rabbit has to be up there as one of the most destructive. Apparently 42% of people questioned by a Which Gardening survey in December 2008 said they had suffered from rabbit damage during the last year.

Squirrels and cats also took their share of the blame! Cats mainly for fouling in gardens and flattening seedlings. I find that sticking thorny clippings from Berberis, hawthorn or roses in to the soil will deter a cat who sees your sunny seedbed as a cosy place to snooze before a night on the town. Squirrels are habitual offenders, digging up bulbs and stealing bird food. ’Which’ recommended Squirrel proof bird feeders and said that covering bulbs with a 2cm layer of horticultural grit proved 100% successful at preventing bulb loss. This seems well worth the effort to me, especially if you have a passion for choice bulbs and a squirrel problem! Planting in pots covered with grit as advised allows pots to be grouped and enjoyed near the house or sunk in the desired place in the border.

With regards to the rabbit, what can be done to control the population? Rabbits do have natural predators including foxes, stoats, weasels and badgers along with domestic cats. Any drop in population numbers through predation or by measures such as ferreting or shooting will only be temporary if a suitable habitat remains. Cold wet winters do apparently take their toll, but the thing about rabbits is they breed so well!

The Myxomatosis virus introduced to Europe with the release of two inoculated rabbits in France in 1952 was such a severe strain that 90% of the wild rabbit population in the UK had been wiped out by 1954. The virus also killed 40% of commercially farmed rabbits too.

The virus is notorious for it’s ability to mutate from year to year and the background immunity in the wild rabbit population also varies. This means that the number and severity of outbreaks varies over time.

There is actually a really interesting essay about Myxomatosis http://www.burrill.demon.co.uk/meddoc/myxo.html which starts with a Philip Larkin poem which is rather thought provoking.

All of this chat about the wild rabbit population does not really help you get to grips with a rabbit problem in your own garden! Please join me next week when I will be tackling this subject!

The Gardening Author - Hard times

I suppose it happens in every recession (I’ve never been in a position to notice it before), but some companies seem to become locked in to a downward spiral. Take consumer gardening magazines, for instance. A few years ago, the UK gardener could choose from about 6 main titles and a whole host of smaller specialist publications. Now the average sales rack in a shop will contain maybe 6 titles in total, all much thinner than before and full of adverts (and those awful flyers that fall out all over the place when you open the page).

The articles are still interesting, but if you kept a full reference library of magazines, you would see that many of the photos are being re-used, some with new text to accompany them, some with the original article almost intact (depending upon who wrote it and whether they will need paying again if it goes out unchanged). Writers are being used because they have something to sell (such as a new book or programme) or something to offer (such as a free photo location), rather than because they are the best person to cover the subject.

Magazine staff are being squeezed into producing the same content on a reduced budget, and in some cases, people who leave are not being replaced, so fewer staff are being asked to do the work of everyone. This means that they can no longer afford the time to go and attend events to write them up, so the topical news element is lost. The articles become formulaic - which, to be fair, is probably easier in gardening than some subjects, as the seasons don’t change much and neither do the times of planting - but readers are lost if they don’t find the material interesting.

Magazine sales across the board are falling, as people have less money for non-essentials and more access to that font of all knowledge, the internet. It’s up to the producers of these magazines to decide if they really want the business to survive, because they will need to show faith if they do.

Last Friday, we went to the Preview evening of the latest Royal Horticultural Society show in London, featuring orchid producers from all over Europe. The plants were magnificent, the sellers were helpful and the range was utterly stunning. And how many consumer magazines were represented there to pass this on to the majority of the UK population, who would not be able to make the trip to the capital? One. In total, there were 6 members of the gardening media there, representing 2 newspapers, one trade magazine and one consumer. So how many people will hear about it, or see pictures of the beautiful displays? Relatively few. Bear in mind here that orchids are currently one of the top-selling UK houseplants and that yesterday was Mother’s Day, when mums throughout the country will have been given orchids they have no idea how to care for.

Writing for magazines is fun, because the style is so different to a book. It’s less formal, more chatty - almost as if you’re talking to friends. I’ll be very sorry to see any more go under, but it seems inevitable that they will. It seems crazy to lose them when gardening is the most popular pastime in the UK and is worth millions of pounds every year to the trade. People will still need information and help - and without good magazines, where will they turn?

Obviously, I hope they will turn to websites like ours at www.thegardeningchannel.net but I fear there will be many people who lose interest in their plants if help is not at hand when they need it.

The Natural Pest Control Consultant - Support Home Grown…

Talking to my colleagues in the garden centre sector; all products relating to Home Grown are selling very well. This is great news, as it means more and more of us are trying to produce our own produce. This has obvious health and environmental benefits.

However it is not only gardeners …

The Gardening Lecturer - Growing Interest

It seems that every other question I get asked at the moment is about how to grow food, either in the garden or in containers - and looking at the sales figures for plants and seeds this year, it’s no surprise. In a recent UK chart of the top 50 …

The Rural Gardener - Frogspawn and Frosty Mornings

At this time of the year, especially after a winter when many gardening tasks were hampered by frost and snow, be wary of looking at the garden and seeing only a list of jobs needing attention. 

Throughout Autumn and Winter, many herbaceous perennials still provide interest by literally drying where they stand. Although essentially dead material, this enriches the garden with colour and movement as well as providing shelter for over wintering wildlife. Seed heads rimed with frost make christmas baubles look tacky by comparison. 

Then suddenly, some time in early March, as fresh new growth shows at the base of old stems, everywhere just looks in need of a good clear up.

The only sense evoked now is one of panic! I have been busy in all of my gardens with routine tidying work and there is still more to do!  Design work sits unfinished on the kitchen table as I try and sort out what is already there.

However busy things get, (I worked Saturday morning this week too) it is worth stepping back now and again to appreciate what is happening in the garden. Much of it, without any help from you!

A frosty morning in March often evaporates into sunshine by 9.00am. It is so much easier to wonder at the beauty of it when you know it is not going to hang around all day! Take a few moments to look at bare stems before they are covered with foliage for the summer. Shrubs such as Euonymus alatus with it’s corky wings is well worth a closer look just now. This plant is also fantastic in the Autumn when it turns  a brilliant red. In a small garden try E. alatus ‘Compactus’ 

Working by the pond in Yvonne’s garden was proof if needed, that Spring is really here. The previous week saw the first frogspawn of the year in this particular pond and by Saturday the water was alive with coupling pairs and the garden was filled with their croaky purring song. It is comforting to know that the frogs have got their act together even if we are playing catch up just now. A good example of nature finding her own way, without our interference, came whilst checking on dahlia tubers lifted last Autumn and stored in an outbuilding. We discovered a handful of bulbs left on a piece of plywood, obviously overlooked and unplanted last year. A sweet little display of tiny Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete now stood there before us, each one trying valiantly to stand upright.   

Having given some thought to garden paths last week, I would like to close now with a few points about surfaces.  When deciding on a surface, start by considering what the path will be used for. Cobbles or gravel are not easy surfaces to push a wheelbarrow along. Natural stone is always a good investment if you can afford it. To make it cover a larger area, consider setting stones in amongst gravel. By setting out paving stones first, it is possible to decide on a practical and aesthetically pleasing design before the path is actually laid. If using a manafactured slab, try and find out what it will look like if a corner is knocked off. Some slabs are noticably different in colour and texture inside.

Gravel paths look attractive and can be useful in announcing the approach of both visitors and intruders. Loose gravel can stick to wet or muddy shoes, so decide if this will be a problem for you. When laying a gravel path, it should ideally be put down in layers. After a base of compacted hardcore, apply approximately 5cm mixture of sand and coarse gravel, before a finishing layer of 2cm of gravel. Rolling and raking the path and applying water can help to compact the surface.

Although concrete is not an attractive material in itself, with a little imagination it can be used to create relatively inexpensive and  interesting paths. Concrete can be coloured or given texture by pressing pebbles or grit in to the surface. 

If you fancy a project and want to express your artistic side, have a go at a pebble mosaic. Designing your own unique path, using pebbles or even pieces from a favourite broken tea service, is what makes your garden special to you! For inspiration, check out pictures of mosaic work from the continent and remember to keep designs as simple as possible. Let the children help with a section each.  Cobbles and mosaic work are probably better kept to areas of lighter traffic or where they can be walked around if possible.

The Gardening Author - Generations

Gardening in our house has always been a family affair - Steve and I doing it and our two sons getting dragged along to every event and garden we visit from the time they were born. I wish I could say that it’s given them a love of the subject, but (outwardly at least) it’s had quite the opposite effect. If you asked them, they’d both say they would rather walk on hot coals than come with us now they’re older. Gardening is many things, but these days, it’s not “cool”.

How ironic, then, that our newest website venture involves the eldest not just spending hours in the garden filming us, but then more hours in front of the computer, editing what he filmed. When he went off to university to study the process of television production, little did he realise it was just equipping him to work with us in the garden! 

Not just that, but our younger son was roped (reluctantly) into helping us at Hampton Court Palace flower show last summer. Set the task of selling a single variety of plant (Verbena ‘Seabrook’s Lavender’), he and his girlfriend took to it like ducks to water and they were the first to sell out each day. They would sit gloating in the sunshine outside the somewhat sweaty tent as we laboured to sell our Begonias. I like to think it was because their plants were smaller and easier to carry, but I suspect the buying public were just entranced by these two enthusiastic teenagers!

While researching the newsletter for the website last week, I was pleased to see that the grow-your-own boom this year is being fuelled by the younger 20-35 age group, who are finding that the credit crunch is making them think twice about buying vegetables they could try and grow at home. This can only be good. I learned to garden with my parents, who had learned from their parents, but the next generation seemed to have grown up in a convenience age where they could buy what they needed and not worry about the cost. We were in danger of becoming a nation who were forgetting how to garden. It would be great to see a rise in younger gardeners, getting exercise and growing produce that is fresh and clear of chemicals for themselves and, one day, their children.

The downside of this news was the fact that the traditional market for the same young plants, the older generation, aren’t buying this year as money is tight. I can only hope that they’re growing from seed this time, perhaps sharing and swapping seedlings with friends to keep the costs down. If the young plants were too costly, then the finished articles will be worse and older folks need vegetables just as much as anyone else.

Gardening is therapeutic after a day in an office, good for exercising and getting the heart going, and nothing tastes as good as freshly picked fruit and veg. Maybe one day, our boys will take it up. After all, the younger one did announce in passing yesterday that the lawn looked in need of a good feed! Hmmm. Learning by absoption, maybe? There’s hope yet…..

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