The Gardening Author - Oh dear!

Well, there’s less than a week to go now until the RHS Hampton Court Palace flower show opens and do we have our exhibits ready? Not a chance! It is with both fear and trepidation that we face the prospect of not having enough material to fill the stand. The RHS don’t look kindly on that (the RHS don’t look kindly on very much when it comes to its flower shows, actually, ask anyone who’s ever exhibited for them) so we could be thrown, quite unceremoniously, out.

So what’s gone wrong? Well, mostly a lack of communication by the look of it - which is not good from people like us who work in the world of communicating information.

We haven’t grown any of the plants ourselves. we’re acting on behalf of several nurseries, to promote their new plants. All well and good, but assumptions have been made that things were happening that weren’t. Hindsight is always 20:20 and this won’t happen again, because we’ll know what is likely to go wrong, but that doesn’t help us for this year.

Anyway, with the assistance of some colleagues and a healthy dose of luck, we’ll get sorted by the weekend and have our two stands looking acceptable ready for Press Day on Monday and opening on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.

If I don’t appear here next week, it’s because I’m at the show, so forgive me. I’ll let you know how it goes…

The Natural Pest Control Consultant - Summer pests and cures

It is great to see some sunshine this week, it really lifts the spirits [mental and alcohol based!]. From the pest point of view it is also good news for them and some have become very apparent in my garden over the last few weeks. My roses look fantastic this …

The Gardening Author - Hampton frought

How do people go through the year doing show after show?? Some exhibitors do the entire summer season on the road, going from one show to the next. They have my full admiration, they really do.

We do an exhibit at Chelsea most years and now, for the second time, something at Hampton Court too. In fact this year, we have 2 stands at Hampton Court, something we may never repeat! It seems like such a simple idea, in the depths of winter with the Show a good 6 months away, to have the space to show lots of new introductions and help push British growers and their plants.

The reality? Well, that’s proving a bit different. One stand is growing well: 2 walls and a pyramid of Littletunias and 3 new hardy Verbenas. We’re going to Norfolk again tomorrow to see them, but the pictures Delamore’s nursery keep sending look really positive and healthy.

The other stand is a disaster. Thanks to a breakdown in communications, the plants for that one have either been sold or have no flowers on. The 2 nurseries concerned are being as helpful as they can, but you can’t make flowers happen if they’re not there. We’re now having to rethink the display so we can keep the main plant (Agapanthus) - which may or may not be in flower - and still make a good show. Cut flowers may be involved - if we can get them.

On top of all this horticultural angst, the RHS are sending more paperwork than you need to light a fire. Risk assessments, fire regulations, bomb search information, forms for this, more forms for that, extra forms if you need a forklift or extra tickets … oh, it’s endless! And each goes back to a different department in a separate envelope. We’re keeping the postal service afloat.

The Show starts in a little over a week with Press Day on July 6th, so keep your fingers crossed that we manage to put both exhibits together and still stay sane.

Oh, and it doesn’t stop there, either, because we had co-opted our younger son and his girlfriend into helping us sell throughout the week of the Show. He’s the badminton fanatic and, over the last fortnight, he’s had offers of work and training that he just can’t turn down - and yes, every one of them falls during that one week.

If this comes together it will be nothing short of amazing.

Do you ever get the feeling that something is just not meant to be?

The Rural Gardener - Pushing the Boundaries?

Gardens come in all sizes ranging from postage stamp to large country estate. The style and plantings within them is equally varied, a reflection perhaps of the interests, or in some cases even the lack of interest shown by the current custodian! However large or small and whatever the shape may be, all gardens have a boundary. I will be writing about using hedges and screens in the garden next week, but at the risk of stating the obvious, it is worth giving some careful thought to the garden boundary and the implications of what we do with it first!

It seems to me that far too often this simple demarcation line, essentially between what is our garden and what is not, can become our main focus of attention and even neighbourly disputes, when we should be busy spending time enjoying the area within our boundary.

I have designed and worked in several gardens where clients have had concerns about various boundary issues! Sometimes the clients themselves feel unhappy, perhaps with the height of the neighbours hedge, sometimes they themselves want a tall hedge putting in, to screen a new building and sometimes they simply dislike the fence which their neighbour has not repaired for many years. On one occasion, when I asked if the clients had informed their neighbours of the work we would be doing, I was told that they would not be talking to the neighbours about it, because the neighbours moaned about everything. Apparently when my client recently replaced his fence which ran between the two properties, the neighbour complained that it was inconvenient and she had wasted money on straining wires at her side for training plants up. 

Sometimes it is easier to be objective when you are not living in either property! Most people reading this will view the situation from both sides…it would perhaps help if we viewed our own boundary antics from the other persons view point. In fact, my client did own the fence and his neighbour should have asked if she could put wires and plants on her side, though not everybody realises this. Equally, it would have been neighbourly of my client to give her reasonable notice that he intended to replace the fence!

We did notify her of the garden design work and though it did not directly affect her I am sure this was the neighbourly thing to do.

When you really think about it, boundaries have always been a source of conflict. Most of Britain’s beautiful hedgerows which we now see as wildlife corridors, were planted by wealthy landowners during the Enclosures Acts, to keep commoners from grazing land they had previously had access to. These dramatic changes in the countryside forced many facing hunger and hardship to leave their rural lives and look for work in the towns. Ofcourse, there is something very reassuring about, ‘knowing one’s boundaries,’ as most well behaved and happy children prove! Even the most gregarious and friendly of folk are just as keen to establish the areas included on the Title Deeds of a new property as the most private individual. It’s a case of ownership and control. Just like those wealthy landowners of long ago, we usually like to erect some sort of physical structure to protect our privacy and property and to stop the locals grazing their goat on our lawn, or whatever!

Considering the fact that most of us are probably united in our desire to create some sort of physical barrier between our garden and whatever lies beyond, what could possibly be the problem?

The problems arise because different people have different views on how to tackle the boundary issue, either how to mark it or even where it is in some cases. Often there are insufficient guidelines and even within the law, too much scope for neighbourly conflict! The majority of, ‘boundary disputes,’ do not start out as a malicious act by one person trying to antagonise their neighbour, but gradually degenerate into a miserable state of affairs, in extreme cases becoming an all consuming feud!

I hesitate to say we need yet more rules and regulations, we already live in an age governed by red tape and bureaucracy, I am not suggesting that this spills over into the private sanctuary of our garden. However it does seem a little odd that a whole host of Planning Laws exist to control building Development and yet in most cases, planting a Giant Redwood in a small garden without permission would be allowed.  Conversely, if living in a Conservation Area, although we can plant any tree we choose, however unsuitable, it is then necessary to apply for permission to remove it.

Quite often when a new home is acquired, an existing wall, fence or hedge is already in place between the garden and that of the neighbours. In certain cases properties come with strict guidelines regarding the height and material and who is responsible for the maintenance of boundaries. It is essential to establish all of the facts before considering making any changes.

You can not simply assume that you can cut back that rather dominant evergreen hedge between you and next door, this may actually have been planted well within your neighbours garden and you need to make sure you are not cutting back beyond your land! Don’t assume that you have an automatic right to train plants up that rather ugly fence, or even paint it, without checking who owns the fence. As a general rule, the fence posts are on the side of the fence of the person who owns it. Some fences, walls and hedges are jointly owned and both parties are equally responsible for the upkeep.

The best line of approach is always to talk to your neighbour about any queries or plans you might have for change! If everybody was honest, open and reasonable and prepared to compromise if necessary, this would avoid most potential problems. Lets face it, it should be as much about what seems reasonable to all parties as who owns this or who has the right to do that! Human society, on the whole, tends to choose to live in dwellings grouped closely together, then seems dead set on making each individual home as private and secure from the neighbours as possible.

Sadly, there are always going to be a small minority of people who are, ‘beyond the pale’, (another boundary reference!) but hopefully by following a few common sense ground rules, most of us should manage to get along with our neighbours! 

Know your facts regarding where your exact boundaries are. Talk to your neighbour if you intend to make major changes, even if it is your hedge or fence! Good neighbourly practice is often quoted as being an important factor when disputes have ended up in court. If you are planting a hedge, carefully consider the long term effect and allow room on your side of the boundary for the full width, unless you have agreed with your neighbour to allow some of the width to be at his side. If your neighbour’s hedge or trees are growing over your boundary, you can cut back to the boundary line. If your neighbour wanted any wood or fruit you have removed, it is actually his. (This does not mean that you can throw hedge clippings and tree branches in to his garden if he does not want them!) 2 metres is usually considered tall enough in most average sized gardens for walls, fences and hedges along a boundary with a neighbour’s garden. This allows for privacy at ground level whilst maintaining light and allowing for ease of maintenance.

I hope that I have not frightened anybody off, who had previously considered planting a hedge. The right hedge in the right place can last a lifetime and is an asset to the garden!

The Gardening Author - Full circle

The best news I’ve seen this week as I’ve searched out juicy stories for www.thegardeningchannel.net website news is that small nurseries are enjoying a boom season. An industry survey has found that the current recession is causing a bit of a sea change in peoples’ attitudes to their gardens.

They are spending more time at home and are going back to having a nice garden, rather than an “outdoor room”, so they are seeking out different plants. The lack of choice and good advice available from most of the chain garden centres and DIY sheds is driving them to seek out the small nursery, where they can chat to the staff and get valuable growing tips as well as quality plants. The average spend per head is down on last year, but the customers are becoming much more selective.

Realistically, this can only be good for horticulture and gardeners. For years, the chain gardening centres have had an “import them cheap and pile them high” approach to the plants they sell and they’ve skimped on staff training to the point where many plant area staff can barely tell you which way up to plant something. They’ve systematically driven small nurseries out of business or bought them up to close down the competition. This stifles choice and actually depresses the market, because left with little selection, people often give up looking.

Now, with competition from the internet and the rise of the small specialist again, the choice will expand and a new generation will realise just how many plants are out there to be used. One Chrysanthemum grower, who exhibited at Chelsea for the first time, has found himself with more orders than he can cope with. Younger gardeners were delighting in the plants they recognised from their parents’ and grandparents’ gardens, but had forgotten about.

This is the direct fault of television gardening shows and gardening magazines, which dwell on the trendy at the expense of the plants themselves. When did you last see conifers, heathers, alpines, Rhododendrons, Dahlias or trees (and the list goes on) mentioned in depth?

My advice to people these days is to go to Shows and local Open Gardens whenever they can. People like my fellow blogger, Julie, work very hard to keep gardens like these looking good and are usually quite willing to chat to and help visitors. Many sell plants, too, and this is the sort of place you can pick up a real treasure, not the garden centre. Go there for the cheap compost! Maybe then, if they see their sales falling, they’ll get the message and improve their act.

The Gardening Lecturer - Just another weekend

You can tell we’re in June - we’re getting a shower of rain most days.
This is great for the plants, because the year (so far) has been quite dry. That said, the flower displays have been great, due in part to the unusually cold winter we had causing important chemical …

The Rural Gardener - Alchemilla mollis

When you ask a gardener to give a list of plants to provide a show during the winter, I imagine many of us would include similar subjects. Winter Jasmine, snowdrops, hellebores and Winter aconites might be amongst many peoples favourites. Equally, it is difficult to think of a garden during the Spring without visualising Spring flowering bulbs and blossom.

As early summer arrives, it seems to bring with it an ever increasing profusion of growth and flowers. I drove past a show stopping display of white flowers on a  Hydrangea anomala spp. petiolaris  the other day, which totally transformed an entire gable end wall of a house. It always feels like summer to me when roses come into bloom, as they are now doing. Choosing a favourite is difficult and not necessary, have more than one!

When it comes to herbaceous perennials, there are so many show stoppers at the moment it is difficult to single out individuals. Perhaps the oriental poppies are worth a mention now whilst they are at the peak of their flowering season. Having such large flamboyant flowers which finish early, leaving rather unattractive foliage, can make these plants more difficult to place than others. The key to success is thinking ahead! The foliage can be cut back after a couple of weeks and if the poppies are placed amongst plants which will continue to spread and perhaps flower later on, you will not have a gap.  Papaver orientale ‘Patty’s Plum’  is a dusty plum/blackcurrant colour and looks lovely with silver foliage provided by many  Artemisias  which will fill in the space left after the poppies have finished.  I love  Papaver orientale ‘Perry’s White’  in pure white with a deep purple centre that looks lovely with silvers, pinks and mauve’s and I like to plant it amongst Nepeta and Salvia   varieties to avoid any gaps in the border.

There are indeed many plants looking particularly spectacular just now and no doubt there will be Open gardens and plant nurseries everywhere where gasps of admiration and the rumaging for cheque books reflects this.

Sometimes in gardens, (as with life in general I suppose!) it is the true all round performers that we take for granted. For this reason, I would like to take time out today to talk about one of my all time favourite plants, the humble Lady’s mantle, Alchemilla mollis.

Alchemilla mollis is a hardy perennial with attractive soft pale green foliage which forms a mound of between 12 - 18 inches in height. The leaves are almost round, made up of nine toothed lobes and it is this leaf shape which the ‘mantle’ in the common name refers to, supposedly looking like a cape. The leaves are covered in fine hairs which give the plant one of it’s finest qualities in my opinion! These hairs are not rough as in plants such as comfrey, but soft and velvety. To see exactly how soft the leaves are, pick one and rub it on your cheek, it feels soft in every direction. (A bit like a mole, though I wouldn’t advise doing this with a mole!!) After a shower or a heavy dew, water droplets collect on the leaves and reflect the light creating a sparkling effect. 

Alchemilla flowers are held on quite stiff stems above the foliage and are in clouds of tiny greeny yellow sprays. The airy and light chartreuse flowers set above the attractive foliage, brings me to the main quality of this plant. Alchemilla mollis is a plant that seems to associate with anything. It complements hard landscaping and looks lovely planted along the edge of a path. The acidic quality of the colour enables it to complement just about any colour you can think of. It sets off big blousy blooms and does not over power delicate ones. Those orange and red oriental poppies look great with Alchemilla mollis flowers!

The flowers are great for flower arranging too, making wonderful fillers for those of us with limited floristry skills. Try hanging bunches upside down in a dry airy place and they last for years. The plant has various medicinal qualities according to various herbals and we have used it along with comfrey to prepare a general cattle tonic!

This plant will grow in most soils, but does best in a well drained and humous rich one. It will flag a little in very dry and hot spells if not in moisture retentive soil, but will usually revive when conditions improve. Grown in sun or shade, it makes excellent ground cover, spreading slowly but not invasively. It does seed about the garden if the old flower heads are not removed. Once the plant has become reasonably established, you can increase it by division. It will usually keep it’s foliage throughout all but very severe winters and then benefits from a tidy up in early Spring to reveal the attractive Spring growth.

For a plant with more upright flowers you can try  A. mollis ‘Auslese’  and there is a cultivar called A. mollis ‘Thriller’ which is more compact and has greener flowers. For a very similar plant on a smaller scale, try A. erythropoda. 

The Gardening Author - Starting out

I’m late writing my blog this week, I know, but I do have a good reason. I’ve been completely tied up helping my elder son start up his new business. It’s one of those times when “Of course I will” is out of your mouth before your brain has had the time to catch up and work out the implications. Now I find myself with a huge commitment just as we go into the run-up to the one show of the year where we not only stage and run 2 exhibits, but sell plants too.

To be fair, he’s working really hard, too, and we don’t see that much of him even though he’s only upstairs at home. He’s trained in producing broadcast-quality visual material (television, web, etc) and is branching into making short information films for companies to mount on their websites. Like any new business, the hard part is getting the first few customers, but he has 14 clips to work on already - and that’s where I come in, because at the moment, they all involve gardening (well, they would, wouldn’t they?). So I have the responsiblity of keeping the various projects alive and healthy while the filming goes on through the season. No pressure then!

You have to bear in mind here that we have one of the smallest gardens in the world (well, it feels like it at the moment) and just finding somewhere to keep everything is a logistical nightmare. What I wouldn’t give for another area the same size just to keep the new plants! Actually, I’m going to ask our dentist if she’ll let us use part of her large garden - she adores plants and many a dental exam has been passed surprisingly pleasantly while discussing what she’s been planting lately (obviously she does most of the talking!).

It’s quite amazing how what you thought was a well-laid plan can suddenly go completely to pot. I thought we’d got Hampton Court sorted out, with Steve and I manning one exhibit and our younger son and his girlfriend the other all week. Hard work and long hours, but fun. Now I find that the Level 2 badminton coaching certificate training he’s been waiting to do falls in the same week and we’re going to lose him on at least one day, if not 2. Aaargh! One person can’t cope all day on their own, so I’m now scratching round to find a willing mug (oops sorry, volunteer) to help us.

I know I’d go mad if my life was quiet and peaceful and I wouldn’t swap what I have for the world. Two people we know have died very suddenly within the last week and it puts a new perspective on things to know that can happen. Live life as if every day is your last - one day, you’ll be right.

The Rural Gardener - We all Need a Little Support at Times!

Today has been a typical sort of Tuesday for me. After taking the dogs for a walk I drove to Stillingfleet Lodge Gardens at the other side of York and spent the day doing routine work for early June. There are usually one or two herbaceous plants in need of a little support by late May or early June in most gardens, recent drying winds, sudden spurts of growth and the heat all seem to combine forces to cause previously upright sturdy subjects to look drunk and disorderly!

Knautia macedonica  was one such casualty today, of course it will still produce it’s lovely crimson flowers even if it has flopped over somewhat. The stems of many herbaceous plants are prone to splay outwards or forwards in the border, although the flowers will often still hold themselves upright at a lower level. You simply have to decide if this is acceptable depending on the individual situation. Providing some sort of structure to keep the individual stems upright and together is often necessary to avoid a central gap, surrounding plants being swamped and to create an attractive clump of foliage and flowers at the desired height.

There are various plant supports available to buy in wire and plastic which can be placed in situ as plants start to grow and these are soon hidden from view if carefully positioned. These can be rather flimsy and not always of the correct proportions for the job in hand. Another method is to use a few canes or small stakes driven in to the ground around the clump, with one or two horizontal rows of twine to finish the structure. If the ground is hard, using a metal spike or a fork tine can help avoid snapping canes. Stakes can be hammered in with a mallet. Good supports are those that do the job but don’t show, so remember to use canes or stakes that will have a final height slightly lower than the foliage height. An exception here is when plant supports are used as a feature in their own right. Obelisques made out of metal or timber and willow or hazel wigwams and lobster pots can all be used to create height in the garden even before the plant they are there to support has started to climb.

Whenever possible, my own method of choice is to use natural woody plant material from the previous season. Shrubs such as Buddleja davidii  and  Sambucus nigra, or any woody shrub you have pruned during the Spring can be used as plant supports. If you leave some short side shoots on the main upright, this alone is enough of a structure to prop up lighter flowering stems. A more substantial structure can be made in exactly the same way as you would using garden canes and twine. Because the woody stems look natural and they can be cut to whatever height you need, they blend in well.

At Stillingfleet today, I used Hazel sticks which Vanessa saved after pruning earlier this year.

Whilst weeding the long borders, the irony of how well certain weeds support themselves with no help, does not escape me! Bindweed winding it’s way up individual host stems and cleavers going for more of a blanket approach.

Today was especially hot and we were all feeling slightly droopy along with the plants at times. Mick was thinking maybe his black Tshirt was not such a good idea after all and Maxine emerged from the poly tunnel periodically, looking a few degrees hotter each time.

Our support came in the form of Vanessa bearing icecreams for our afternoon tea break! 

Further stimulation for me, was provided during a trip to the wild flower meadow which is particularly beautiful at the moment. There are flowers everywhere, including the stunning magenta  Gladiolus communis byzantinus.  The species roses are now flowering and looking lovely and will perform again in the Autumn with a display of hips too. Amongst the flowers and grasses, Vanessa pointed out several chimney sweep moths which fly during daylight, particularly in bright sunshine, from June to August. These little moths are quite striking, all black with tiny white wing tips and apparently the larvae feed mainly on pignut.

By creating the original wild flower meadow, it is amazing to see how the area continues to evolve by itself. A self sown orchid is just one of the many plant species which have arrived as if by magic. In turn, the meadow now supports an ever increasing number of insects, the Chimney sweep being just one of them.

The Natural Pest Control Consultant - No excuse for using Metaldehyde slug pellets

A recent report in the magazine Horticulture week describes another incident of a pet dog being killed by eating Metaldehyde based slug pellets. There really is no excuse now for using these type of pellets. I find these stories particularly distressing being the owner of two dogs. There are now …

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