Amateur Gardening 11-Dec-2021

“There’s nothing like raking leaves for a good workout, and I leave raking mine until the last leaf flutters down to the grass. By this time, it’s tougher to move and so it’s a fight to drag the fresh and decaying leaves with the claw-like tines of my rake. This is not only good exercise – those weeks exposed to the elements have advanced the deterioration process and in the due process of time, I’ll have gorgeous crumbly leafmold. My crop from two years ago is about to be used on the borders: all for free!”…

THIS is the time of year when indoor plants really come into their own Whether they are gifts or long-standing residents, they definitely add so much to the house, and science has proved they are good for our mental and physical wellbeing. I love houseplants and though I am probably not their ideal custodian (many of ours seem to thrive on neglect), I get a real sense of triumph when they burst into flower year after year. My current delights are a venerable Christmas cactus that is weighed down with pointed pink buds, and a pair of streptocarpus with beautiful flowers of the deepest purple. Winter is a tough time for houseplants because many of them hail from temperate, humid climates and are not well suited to our dark, dry, centrally-heated homes. Make life easier…

Good and bad: Next week Team AG will show you their gardening successes and failures this year. What were yours? Tell us via amateurgardening@futurenet.com 1 Orchids: Moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) are hugely popular and flower for ages. Place them in good light in winter and move to a shadier spot in summer. Feed and water regularly when growing and re-pot every two years. 2 Anthurium: Striking plants with glossy leaves and waxy flowers. They like a light, warm spot and their compost should be damp but not soggy. Put them outside in a warm spot in summer, bringing them in before frosts. 3 Calathea: Commanding foliage plants with green, red and variegated leaves. They like a warm, light spot out of direct sunlight and damp compost. Mist the leaves occasionally and cut off dead…

Got a story? email ruth.hayes@futurenet.com RARE and heritage varieties of tulips and irises, as well as several other varieties of at-risk plants have been discovered growing on the nation’s allotments. Such is their importance that horticultural conservation charity Plant Heritage have taken five allotment sites and added them to their prestigious National Plant Collections. These include collections of irises in Suffolk and tulips in Wiltshire, plus new findings of Tradescantia and Verbena and a collection of Kniphofia and Echinops on an allotment in Leamington Spa. Vicki Cooke, Conservation Manager at Plant Heritage said: “There are a handful of National Plant Collections held on allotments across the country, but as they’re not the obvious location choice for a collection they’re often overlooked.” Passion for plants The Kniphofia (red hot poker) collection is the result of allotmenteer Andrew Gladman’s…

THE National Garden Scheme (NGS) has re-opened applications for its Community Gardens Award programme after a year’s break caused by the Covid pandemic. In 2020, 44 grants amounting to more than £97,000 were awarded to community allotments and gardens, as well as rehabilitation and regeneration projects to support mental health and wellbeing. Reducing the stigma of dementia The last batch of awards included a £4,000 grant to New Leaf allotments in Newbury, Berks to help gardeners continue their work helping people with mental health issues. Other schemes include the Antur Aelhaeam garden project in North Wales, which works to lessen the stigma of dementia. Schemes in Lancashire and Essex also received funding to help the vulnerable and those with mental disabilities. NGS chief executive George Plumptre said: “These grants provide funding to amateur gardeners from…

Top Tip Stand plants in water before planting so the rootballs get a good soak and are easier to slip from their pots BRIGHTEN your patio in time for Christmas by planting containers packed with winter colour and interest Winter bedding and a wide array of plants chosen for their intriguing and varied foliage mean that you can create pots that will keep the colour coming right through to spring. I selected a multipack of pansies, a couple of primulas and gem-bright cyclamen, all offset by trailing variegated Vinca minor, a funky-looking trailing Muehlenbeckia on wiry stems and grey-green sage and thyme for scent. My central plant is a frost-hardy winter cherry or Solanum capsicastrum, which has sweet white flowers followed by little round orange fruits. The plants are hardy perennials so they can be planted…