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Aug 31 2010

Orchids Bloom at Police HQ

category: Garden plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

The headquarters of North Wales Police at Colwyn Bay may not be the first location you think of when it comes to rare flowers, but the premises have caught the eye of gardeners across Britain, thanks to its late summer grass-cutting regime.

For the past seven years, Conwy County Council, which has responsibility for keeping the police HQ’s lawns trimmed, has allowed some of their grassy areas to grow wild for a little bit longer. In most cases, grass is not cut until the end of August.

Supported by the RSPB, keeping lawns a little longer for a little longer not only helps to protect the native birds and small mammals’ food supplies and habitats, it also gives Britain’s wild meadow flowers an opportunity to bloom.

In the case of the Colwyn Bay police HQ, the strategy has seen wild bee and pyramidal orchids growing on the lawns, according to Conwy County Council’s Biodiversity Project officer Anne Butler.

She told the BBC that it was a particularly good find “because it’s on a natural slope, down to the helipad, the area wasn’t as fertile as it could be.”

“The orchids were at their best in late June and each year the variety of flowers seems to be increasing.”

Ms Butler’s top tip for a good wild meadow lawn is that grass should remain uncut until the end of August, and all cuttings should be collected.

“Removing the cuttings is important,” she said. “Most soils are too fertile for orchids and wild flowers, but if you remove the cuttings once a year, the fertility will reduce and you’ll get more interesting species in a few years’ time.”

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Aug 26 2010

Now is the Time to Tend Those Perennial Plants

category: Latest news, Perennial Plants author: Daniel Coysh

The Daily Telegraph this week offered top tips on how to make sure that your perennial plants flower properly.

Its gardening diary pointed out that now is the time to ensure that garden plants don’t suffer from lack of water – a somewhat redundant tip for many in the rain-washed UK, perhaps.

With so many flower buds for the next year being formed soon after the end of this summer’s flowering, the diary stressed that action now will prevent the disappointment of withered or non-existent blooms next year.

It also urged gardeners to help cultivate rich, well-drained soil at the moment, with lots of compost and mulch. During the spring and summer months liquid fertiliser is also a very good idea.

The Telegraph focused on agapanthus, osteospermun and scented pelargonium plants. It said that agapanthus varieties, such as the African Lily, requires a warm, sunny spot in order to flower properly, along with regular water and feed throughout the growing season. However, during winter such plants should be kept in a “cool, bright place” and not allowed to get either too wet or too dry.

Another perennial plant that can be prone to poor flowering is the peony. The Telegraph urged gardeners to make sure that peonies are planted to the same depth as they were when they were potted – and to avoid planting them too deep.

Nevertheless, it stressed that newly planted peonies will require three years to become established and to flower at their very best, leaving the gardener with wonderful blooms, such as those to be found on the Paeonia lactiflora Sarah Bernhardt, or Herbaceous Peony.

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Aug 18 2010

Make the Most of Space With Climbing Plants

category: Climbing Plants author: Daniel Coysh

Climbing or hanging plants are ideal for gardens or patios where there is very limited floor space. When flower beds are at a premium, they are perfect for giving a garden richness and texture – and many offer bright blooms that are both annual and perennial.

When it comes to sheer simplicity of growth and maintenance, the philodendron or pothos varieties of plants are pretty hard to beat. They are very easy to take cuttings from, and these cuttings can be easily rooted and replanted to fill any gaps in the parent plant that may form through time.

Rapid growers such as spider plants and English ivy are also excellent choices to add large amounts of greenery to a garden space. As with philodendron and pothos, pups from spider plants can be picked off and replanted – the only worry is that it might grow too quickly!

One of the prettiest climbing plants for a garden is morning glory, which has varieties suitable for every kind of soil. Although they can be quite invasive, they have very attractive blooms, so as long as they are planted in an area where they will not choke other flowers, they are a great choice.

Sweet smelling blooms are also the reason many people choose climbing plants such as clematis, honeysuckle and jasmine. Wisteria is another hardy climbing plant, with beautiful flowers. The Black Dragon variety, for instance, produces long streams of highly fragrant violet flowers in late spring, which endure for a long time afterwards.

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Aug 13 2010

The Satisfaction of Bamboo Plants

category: Bamboo plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

Over the past few years, bamboo plants have become a highly popular feature in gardens across the UK, providing gardeners with a hint of the exotic Orient and proving a hardy yet attractive addition to more traditional plants and flowers.

Some gardeners are wary of introducing bamboo plants to their gardens because many varieties are known to be invasive. This can be avoided by choosing one of the delicate Fargesia bamboos, such as Fargesia, or the Umbrella Bamboo. This comes in many different varieties, such as Fargesia angustissima, Fargesia murieliae, Fargesia Rufa or the large and impressive Fargesia robusta Campbell.

For a more colourful bamboo, the golden striped variety known as Phyllostachys aurea is a great choice, as is the bright yellow Phyllostachys aureosulcata Spectabilis. There are few other foliage plants that stand out quite as brightly as these varieties, and can easily be stopped from spreading by removing the underground rhizomes as they appear.

Black bamboo has become very popular in the UK, partly due to the large amount of positive press it gathered through repeated appearances on the BBC Ground Force series.

There are more than 80 species of the main black bamboo plant, Phyllostachys, such as the “zigzag bamboo” known as Phyllostachys flexuosa, Phyllostachys nigra, with its jet black canes, and the towering black and yellow Phyllostachys vivax Aureocaulis, which can grow up to several metres high.

With just a little tending – and a firm eye kept on the plants themselves to ensure they don’t overstep their boundaries – bamboo plants can add colour, texture and spice to any garden.

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Jul 30 2010

Wales Businessman Creates Local Allotments

category: Garden Trees, Garden plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

A businessman in north east Wales has given something back to his local community – transforming the gardens of his private residence in Flintshire into a public allotment.

David McLean, who used to head an eponymous multi-million pound building company was dismayed to find out via his local paper that there was a severe shortage of allotment plots, and a massive waiting list for those that became available.

He and his wife moved to Soughton House, Sychdyn, near Mold a decade ago, and have been steadily renovating its Victorian walled garden ever since. They have since declared it perfect for amateur gardeners in dire need of their own allotment space and have made most of it available, with 14 lucky applicants granted their own plot after a quizzing by head gardener John Hughes.

“We’ve got teachers, surveyors, college lecturers, a chauffeur, and two people who ran their own businesses and are now retired,” he told the local paper, revealing that his only major requirement was that allotment holders had to live within three miles of their allotment to ensure that they would be able to visit the plots often enough to keep them well maintained.

Fruits and veg are all grown in the gardens and its attached greenhouse, with tomatoes, cucumbers and squashes being a particular favourite.

There are also two peach trees, an apricot tree and a fig tree in the greenhouse, with plans to add more, such as a lemon tree and a satsuma tree.

The Soughton House Allotment Association has been formed by plotholders, and it meets once a month.

Mr Hughes said: “When Mr McLean bought this 10 years ago it was in a state of disrepair, it was overgrown and derelict.

“We now have a garden which is quite a unique piece of ground, feeding 14 families.”

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Jul 23 2010

Butterflies in Danger

category: Garden plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

Conservationists warned this week that half of all the common and garden butterfly species in the UK are facing extinction due to a combination of bad summer weather in recent years and intensive farming practices.

With numbers at an all time low, wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation said that 70 per cent of British butterfly species are in decline and also blamed the proliferation of gardening fashions such as decking and patio paving for this, urging gardeners to preserve butterfly habitats by planting and maintaining the sorts of plants and flowers that the pretty insects adore.

There are a large number of attractive flowers that attract butterflies, brightening up a garden in more ways than one. The most well-known is – naturally – the Butterfly Bush, more properly known as the Buddleia Pink Delight. This impressively-sized and highly fragrant plant features spiky pink and orange blooms and will act as a veritable butterfly magnet.

There are many other forms of buddleia for smaller spaces and with different coloured flowers – all of which will attract butterflies. Varieties include the miniature Buddleia Blue Chip, with its lavender-blue flowers and the Buddleia Silver Anniversary, which has, as its name implies, beautiful silvery blooms.

Butterfly Conservation is urging households to spend time in their gardens between 24 July and August 1 to note which butterfly and daytime moth species they can spot. This mass observation survey will help the charity to build up a composite picture of the distribution of butterflies around the UK and help them to better co-ordinate conservation efforts.

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Jul 17 2010

Garden Planters and Annual Blooms – A Perfect Combination

category: Garden planters, Garden plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

A great way to add spice to a small garden, patio or balcony is with the use of garden planters brimming with the bright colours of annual blooms.

The great benefit of planters is the degree of control they give the small gardener over their space – and vibrant annuals are perfect for the task, thanks to their swift growth and flowering alongside their blooms’ longevity. Many also have a wonderfully aromatic fragrance which adds another level of enjoyment to a balcony or patio area.

There are a wide range of annual plants that are perfect for garden planters, many of which, thrive in the shade, such as the rich blue periwinkle and the deep purple Lobelia, or cardinal flower. Other easy to care for annual flowers love the sunshine, such as the Shasta Daisy and dazzling marigolds.

Before deciding which flowers to go for, the gardener must first decide where their planters are to be located and figure out what the sunlight levels of each location will be – full sun, partially in the shade, or fully shaded. Plants which require different levels of sun should never be planted in the same planter.

Other than that, the gardener can be as creative and quirky as they want, when it comes to colour arrangements and the height of their blooms. The best time to visit plant nurseries is in the spring, when the range of annual flowers is at its best, although the autumn is nearly as good for many varieties.

Most annual flowers are not good at coping with frost, however, so be sure not to leave it too late to plant them and get them bedded in.

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Jul 12 2010

Sissinghurst Castle Inspires Gardeners

category: Garden Shrubs, Garden plants, Latest news, Perennial Plants author: Daniel Coysh

Some of England’s castles and stately homes can be an absolute treasure-trove of inspiration for gardeners, with amazing and lovingly-tended combinations of plants. Recently the Daily Mail newspaper took a trip to Sissinghurst Castle in Kent to look at some of its famous garden displays – and to take notes.

The key lesson to be learnt from Sissinghurst is its reliance on simple, but gorgeously effective, combinations of roses, shrubs and perennials to create a riot of colour and form that lasts from early spring right into the middle of autumn.

Over 170,000 people visit the castle every year to either appreciate the six-acre gardens or to pick up some pointers. The Purple Border area features clematis jackmanii, along with Polish spirit and perle d’azur growing against the wall. Dark-leaved shrubs, like cotinus coggygria and dark delphinium black knight complete the scene.

However the most celebrated part of the castle’s gardens is the White Garden, which is enclosed by hedges and walls and packed with beautiful white flowered plants, offset with grey foliage. In the centre of the beds, a visitor will find a central ironwork bower covered in the frosty blooms of rambler rosa mulliganii.

Other inspiration can be found in the Cottage Garden, which is covered with irises, tulips and bright perennials with their red, orange and yellow blooms. In midsummer visitors can enjoy the horned poppies and yellow iris flowers as well.

The nearby Rose Garden features rosa fantin-latour plants alongside brighter pink rosa complicata and verbena pink silver, with tall growing pink foxgloves.

Literally everywhere you turn at Sissinghurst is another gardening idea, and it is the perfect way to combine a great day out with a planning sortie for your own garden space.

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Jul 04 2010

New RHS President Attacks ‘Dumbed Down’ Gardeners’ World

category: Garden plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

The Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) first woman president has called on the BBC to stop the “dumbing down” of its gardening shows.

Landscape architect Elizabeth Banks accused the BBC of being “scared of plants” and of patronising the UK’s gardeners.

Interviewed by the Sunday Times, Ms Banks said that long-running BBC programme Gardeners’ World needed sharp improvement – firstly by focusing more on garden plants and by using their proper Latin names, as common names vary from country to country.

“The plantsmanship, the excitement, the range of plants seem to have gone. I do feel the BBC is scared of plants and plant names,” she said.

“It’s almost as if they are talking down to us. They are scared of being too snobby.”

Ms Banks said that she planned to meet BBC bosses to discuss the broadcaster’s £1 million a year contract to cover the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which expires in 2013.

“I will certainly look at our contract with the BBC to cover the Chelsea Flower Show and see if we can get a bit more quality. I think they’re making a mistake in dumbing down,” she warned.

A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC works very closely with the Royal Horticultural Society which has reiterated to us that it is delighted with our coverage of gardening and the relationship it has with the BBC.”

“We absolutely refute any suggestion that the BBC’s coverage of gardening is in any way ‘dumbing down’. Gardeners’ World’s core values and passion remain the same with weekly tips and advice on what to do in your garden.”

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Jun 28 2010

Great Combos for Climbing Plants

category: Climbing Plants, Garden plants, Latest news author: Daniel Coysh

Climbing plants remain a firm favourite among gardeners for both their versatility, their foliage and their gorgeous colours.

With the right combinations of climbing plants, a horticulturalist can create amazing visual displays, with the blooms and the different leaves complementing each other perfectly. Plants with a variety of different flowering seasons can be used to extend the overall flowering season of the display, or to cover up seasonal die-back, whether one uses show plants or perennials.

The Guardian newspaper recently recommended some of the best climbing plants to brighten up a garden, such as the Golden Hop (Humulus lupulus Aureus), with its luminous golden foliage, and the perennial Spanish Flag (Ipomoea lobata), with its rows of blooms coloured from scarlet through orange and yellow.

It also recommended combining Wisteria floribunda Alba – also known as White Japanese Wisteria – with Clematis Lasurstern, in order to make the most of the former plant’s elegant creamy-white clusters of sweet-smelling blooms, which blossom in May and remain until late June.

Although it is not as hardy as other forms, White Japanese Wisteria, it will flourish trained up against a wall that receives a fair amount of sunshine and pruned a couple of times a year. It also has more long-lasting foliage, which works well with Lasurstern, which is known for a strong bloom of flowers in the early season and a later, less intense flowering.

There are many other combinations of climbing plants, and it is worth investing a little time and effort to find which ones are best for your own garden and your style of gardening.

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