Amateur Gardening 9-Apr-2022

“Good news has been in pretty short supply recently, but this week we have a positive report about hedgehogs on page 6. According to the latest study, hedgehogs in urban areas are on the increase. How good is that? This is largely as a result of people (such as AG readers) making the effort to create hedgehog highways, leaving out food and creating hibernation opportunities. When it comes to conservation, I am reminded of the old supermarket slogan: ‘Every little helps’. There may be times when you wonder if those little things you do to try and help really count, and I think this is proof that they do. So don’t stop doing them – they make a difference.” Contact us: Subscriptions: 0330 333 1113 Editorial: 0330 3903732 Email: amateurgardening@futurenet.com Advertising:…

THIS week it’s been the turn of our potted shrubs to receive some TLC before they really get going for the summer. Their numbers include a young bottlebrush that has yet to flower, a skimmia, twisted willow and a hydrangea that needed completely re-potting. There is also a lemon and an olive, both of which survived our relatively mild southern winter in a sheltered corner of the patio. They will need pruning and topdressing but I am loathe to do this just yet, because if last April taught us anything, it’s that bitterly cold weather isn’t restricted to what we think of as the ‘traditional’ winter months. So I will leave these more temperate plants undisturbed until the end of April when hopefully the weather will be reliably warmer by night as…

ALTHOUGH most container shrubs can be re-potted or topdressed in ‘normal’ (ie John Innes No3 and/or multipurpose) compost, some others need slightly different treatments. Acid-loving plants such as members of the rhododendron family, blueberries and the evergreen dwarf shrub Gaultheria procumbens needs ericaceous compost to grow well. Use it when you re-pot and topdress (Gaultheria can handle a mix of ericaceous and multipurpose) and feed with an ericaceous fertiliser. Watering with a solution of sequestered iron or seaweed feed will also give them an immediate boost. Many edible plants can be grown in containers and a potassium fertiliser will help them flower and fruit well. When I topdressed our blueberries with ericaceous compost I added some potassium-rich wood ash to the mix. Roses are hungry plants and definitely need extra nutrients when growing in a…

SNOWDROP fans, or galanthophiles, are renowned for spending crazy amounts of cash to feed their addiction. This spring the bar was raised yet higher when one anonymous snowdrop collector bid a record-breaking £1,850 for a single bulb on the auction site eBay! The variety called ‘Golden Tears’ was bred by renowned nurseryman Joe Sharman, also known as ‘Mr Snowdrop’. It is a descendant of the variety ‘Golden Fleece’, which Mr Sharman bred and sold for £1,390 seven years ago. ‘Golden Tears’ has been described by AG’s Val Bourne, herself an ardent galanthophile, as ‘neat and yellow’. Its petals are substantial and shapely with distinctive yellow markings. They are almost infinitely variable Snowdrops have more obsessive collectors than almost any other plant since the arrival of ‘tulip mania’ in the 17th century. The different varieties all…

THE latest report charting the fortunes of one of the UK’s most iconic and threatened mammals reveals some good news after years of decline. However, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), the charities that compiled The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2022 report, say we must not get complacent. While populations of hogs appear to be stabilising and even increasing in urban areas thanks to the diligent work by gardeners, in rural districts numbers have fallen between 30% and 75% nationally since 2000. Fay Vass, CEO of The British Hedgehog Preservation Society said: “The reasons for their decline are complex and aren’t yet fully understood, but two of the main pressures hedgehogs face in both rural and urban areas is lack of suitable habitat and the…

AG READERS are being asked to help the gardening industry’s campaign to take aid to those suffering, homeless and displaced in war-torn Ukraine. An appeal led by Gardening Express, the UK’s leading online garden centre, in conjunction with the Red Cross has already sent trucks laden with practical aid to eastern Europe. A crowdfunding page set up by Chris Bonnett, the company’s chief executive, has already raised thousands of pounds and organisers hope the generosity of the UK’s gardening community will keep pouring in. Chris said: “We were quite quick off the grid when the war started because we trade over there and have contacts in Eastern Europe telling us what’s going on. We decided to do something because everyone feels for the people over there and we have the capabilities to help…