Amateur Gardening 11-Aug-2018

WHEN we experience a summer as glorious as this one it is all too easy to devote your time to the garden, relaxing and nurturing your plants, while ignoring what’s going on indoors. But spare a thought for houseplants – it is their peak growing time, too. In the warm, still conditions created indoors they are at risk of drying out and are more vulnerable to pests. They need feeding and an escape from scorching direct sunlight. Consider watering them once a week, checking their compost beforehand to make sure they actually need it and avoid waterlogging. Stand plants on a saucer of gravel that will retain moisture and create a humid microclimate, which is healthier than the warm, dry atmosphere of a typical house. Dust and pests accumulate on foliage, blocking photosynthesis,…

1 Lay crocks at the base of the container, especially if there are no drainage holes, to help prevent waterlogging. 2 Start adding compost and plants. A compost designed for cacti and succulents will give them the best growing environment. 3 Use a collar of newspaper when planting cacti – it will give you more protection and flexibility than gardening gloves! 4 Place somewhere light, warm and well-ventilated, but out of direct sunlight. Water when compost is almost dry and feed monthly April-September.…

LEAVING your houseplants to their own devices when you go away can be a cause for concern, but there are many things you can do to keep them healthy in your absence. Capillary matting, which is widely available from garden centres, is a great tool for preventing plants drying out. Lay a strip over a draining board with one end in a bowl of water and stand your plants on top of it. The water will rise up the matting and under the plants’ pots, giving them a steady source of moisture. Another good tip is to move plants into a cool room where they won’t dehydrate so fast, or simply draw the curtains to let in just a little light – this won’t hurt if you are away a week or…

It has been so relentlessly hot that any houseplants that were moved outside for summer will have benefited from a little shade. Orchids and bromeliads, for example, do well when hung from trees. It gives some protection from the sun and also keeps them above and away from many pests. Other plants should be fed and watered regularly. Watch out for pests, too. Vine weevils may be a problem, but scale insects and mealy bugs transferred from indoors will disperse in wind and rain or be eaten by predators.…

1 My neglected streptocarpus had outgrown its pot, its foliage looked dreadful and flowering has decreased. 2 Before re-potting, remove tatty or dead foliage to make room for new shoots to come through. 3 Using a pot one size larger than before, add gravel for drainage then some houseplant compost. 4 Slip the plant from its pot, tease out the roots and place in its new container. Infill and water well. 5 Place the re-potted plant somewhere light and warm, but out of direct sunlight. Keep it watered and it will soon recover.…

“Knotweed can break through walls and floors” JAPANESE knotweed is the most invasive plant in the UK – but a worryingly small number of people know what it looks like. Fewer than 19% of people polled by Environet, the UK’s leading knotweed removal experts, could identify what the Environment Agency calls ‘the UK’s most aggressive, destructive and invasive plant’. The most common plants that people confuse it with are bindweed, ivy, Russian vine and Houttuynia. • Russian vine is related to Japanese knotweed and grows almost as fast; • Ivy is a very common climber that can smother trees and walls, damaging plaster, but it is good for wildlife; • Houttuynia likes damp soil and spreads to create dense groundcover via underground stems; • Bindweed is a common problem, strangling cultivated plants. It is hard to remove…