Innehållsförteckning för March 2018 från BBC Gardeners' World

Trees don’t just provide us with clean air to breathe; they give our land life, colour and beauty. As well improving our physical and mental wellbeing, they offer spaces to relax and escape, while supporting thousands of species of wildlife. You can help hand over our natural heritage to the next generation to make sure the UK remains a green and pleasant land for our children and grandchildren to enjoy, so they too can connect with nature. The woods you love to visit and the trees you climbed as a child have endured through the ages, sustained communities and fuelled industry. They’ve witnessed crusades and coronations, survived battles and withstood fierce storms. Out in our ancient woodlands, mosses, lichens and fungi cling undisturbed to the bark of trees, while carpets…

• Use your patio for pots and short-term colour, which can be changed throughout the year, and planters to mix different heights and shapes for interest and shape. Use the walls to create height and colour with climbers such as Akebia quinata. Borderline • Place rough stone flags across the garden in a random chessboard effect, leaving out the odd flag and planting in the gaps. Keep to a restricted palette such as mainly green. Add repeating features like large terracotta pots. Perhaps you could squeeze in a water feature? IanC63 • You may find inspiration from this very interesting website of someone gardening in a small garden in London: www.jackwallington.com.You could even visit the garden! Papi Jo • Go for a few very large pots rather than lots of…

WHERE TO PUT YOUR PATCH To attract as many pollinators as you can, try to site your pollinator patch in a sheltered spot, as buffeting winds will make it a battle for insects to reach your plants. Choose a sunny spot – the heat of the sun will help you get as many flowers as possible, and keep your pollinators energised and buzzing round your plot. Plus, solitary bees like a warm place for their nests. GIVE BEES A PLACE TO NEST Solitary bees make nests and lay eggs in small holes and tunnels rather than living in communal hives. Adding a bee box, whether homemade or shop-bought, is a great way to give them a home, and on sunny days you will see them flying to and from your…

Lack of leaves Don’t worry if your citrus has defoliated quite a lot over winter – this is a sign of stress through too much heat, cold, incorrect watering or a lack of humidity rather than a disaster – and any ripening fruit stored near them will produce ethylene, which will also lead to defoliation. Sticky leaf residue The citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri) or scale insects thrive in warm, humid conditions. Often, the first sign you’ll notice is the sooty, sticky residue they leave (shown left) on the surface of leaves below them. But turn over the leaves above and you’ll see the pests sticking like limpets and extracting the sap. The best way to deal with this is to wash the leaves every now and then with a soapy…

Dappled shady woodland is a relaxing place to be, and even if you only have a single tree or a few large deciduous shrubs in your garden, you can recreate this atmosphere by planting some woodland dwellers. These plants tend to flower from late winter to spring, taking advantage of the light before the overhanging branches come into leaf and shade them out. They do well in light, free-draining, humus-rich soil (the result of years of decaying leaf litter), and I have used them in many side passages and shady basement wells in cities to help green up the space. Plants such as ferns, wood spurge, hellebores, pulmonarias, corydalis and sweet woodruff make up the palette, along with some spring bulbs, such as bluebells or erythroniums. They look best when…

Use ventilation to prevent mould Humidity rises when the air warms in the greenhouse and you will be adding moisture by watering more often this month. Soft new growth is vulnerable to damage from the fungal growth that can establish in such conditions, particularly in the propagator. Gentle air movement through ventilation is the solution. The best method is a combination of louvred side vents and open roof windows to draw up the air through the house. Opening the door on mild days helps too. It also encourages pollinating insects to come in and start their work. Hand-pollinate flowers Ensure you get an early crop of strawberries ahead of the main crop by hand-pollinating the flowers of your forced plants rather than relying on the early risers of the insect…

1 Select young shoots and cut from the base at or just below soil level. Put them into a bag to keep them fresh until you are ready to place into compost. 2 Remove lower leaves and tidy up the cutting’s base with a knife. If the leaves at the top are large, cut them all back by half to reduce evaporation of moisture. 3 Press some multi-purpose compost into a pot. With a dibber, make holes spaced around the edge and insert the cuttings, using the dibber to firm them in. 4 Soak the pot in tepid water from a watering can with a fine rose. Place in a clear plastic bag large enough to allow growth and tie the top to keep in moisture.…

Growing fruit trees, such as apples, apricots, cherries, peaches, pears and plums, in pots is rewarding, and great for small plots, patios and balconies. Fruit growers have developed rootstocks like Gisela 5, M9, Pixy, and Quince C to make dwarfing trees with enough vigour to grow well in a pot. You’ll find a wide choice of cultivars grafted onto such dwarfing rootstocks. Site your tree in the sun and find a pot that’s at least 45cm in diameter. Pot the tree in situ as it will be really heavy to move around. Help the tree establish good roots by using mycorrhizal fungi – these occur naturally in soil but won’t be in your fresh new compost. Soak the tree roots, then put the powdered fungi on the roots before potting.…

If vegetable plants are started off in plugs rather than sown directly into the ground, they can be planted out as robust young plants, no longer vulnerable to the weather and seedling rots. They may even withstand some slug damage. Plants can be spaced to their final distances, so no need for thinning later. Usually, beans, brassicas and lettuce are planted from plugs but you can use this method for almost everything if you prefer not to sow direct. 1 CLEAR WEEDS and disturb the soil, particularly the edges of raised beds where snails and slugs take refuge. Top up with compost and soil, rake level and firm it down. 2 PLUGS are ready to plant as soon as roots become visible at the base. Water first, then press out…

Sacred bamboo (Nandina domestica ) is a great choice for a small garden, offering attractive foliage, flowers and berries. It’s slow growing too, so only needs a little trim now. 1 REMOVE one or two of the oldest stems, cutting them down to a low joint or to the base. 2 TRIM OFF the old bare stalks that carried last year’s flowers and berries, cutting back to a leaf joint. 3 CHECK for dead or damaged shoots and remove, so you’re left with a healthy framework.…

“ To some folk, the moment ivy begins its climb upwards, it signs its own death warrant and is mercilessly reminded just who is boss” Just as I struggle to enjoy certain pieces of music (Schoenberg, Berio and much of Wagner), so there are some plants I struggle to love. Large-flowered gladioli are fine in church but hard to place in the garden, except on the veg patch for cutting. I’ve always felt that the orange peel plant (Houttuynia ‘Chameleon’) cannot make up its mind what colour it wants to be – red, green or orange – and that’s just the leaves. Begonias are at least honest in their vulgarity and I find that endearing. But it is with ivy that I have a love-hate relationship, and for many the…

• Explore with us Discover amazing gardens in great company with our exclusive travel offers this year. Explore America’s Deep South with Alan (p84) and inspiring Irish private gardens with Monty (p69). • Made for nature Every size garden can support a space for wildlife, as our square metre project on p57 shows. Find out more about growing for wildlife in Monty’s video series at bit.ly/GW-wildlife Herbs for health Join the team at the Highgrove Festival in March, for five days of expert talks, including herb guru Jekka McVicar revealing their health benefits. bit.ly/Highgrove-festival • Buyer’s guide If you’re trading up to a new mower, don’t buy a thing until you read our Best Buys (p92), and watch our video guide to choosing the best cordess mower, at bit.ly/cordless-mowers KEEP…

These colourful evergreen and deciduous shrubs usually flower in late winter and early spring – though some bloom again in summer. Perfect plants for small gardens, there are daphnes for a wide range of garden situations – in a large window box, a trough, at the edge of raised bed, spreading across a gravel garden, in a pot (large enough to give their roots plenty of room), against a sunny fence or wall, or in a mixed border. A few even thrive in dry shade. Most of them feature clusters of small spring flowers in red or pink tones, maybe white or green, often opening from darker buds; usually at the shoot tips, often in the leaf joints. Their main needs are good moisture, combined with good drainage. As they…

Can you help? I work in the volunteering team at Mencap, providing daily care and support to around 5,000 adults with learning disabilities living in care homes, supported living services and their own homes – and that’s a lot of gardens! As time and money are tight, staff often don’t have time to look after the gardens. This is where the volunteers come in. We also have ‘gardening sidekicks’, who assist someone with their garden. Volunteers get the satisfaction of sharing their skills, experience and enthusiasm, while helping to reduce social isolation. We would like to recruit more volunteer gardeners and gardening sidekicks across England and Wales. You can find out more at mencap.org.uk/volunteering. Jen Stoneman, Volunteer Services Co-ordinator, Royal Mencap Society We say This sounds like a great…

Our pollinating insects are struggling. Creatures such as bees, moths, butterflies, lacewings and hoverflies are vital for helping our flowers to set seed, fruit and reproduce. Two of the biggest factors in their decline are that there isn’t enough food for them and there are few suitable places to nest. So why not help out by devoting a spot in your garden just to them? You don’t need lots of space. Even just a small patch in a tiny garden can make a huge difference – the key is to choose the right plants. Go for those with nectar-rich, single flowers rather than blousy double blooms, which are harder for pollinators to get into and may not contain any nectar or pollen. Aim for a broad range of plants that…

A mower is an essential piece of machinery for any gardener who wants to keep a neat lawn. Until recently, the main options were petrol- or electric-powered models, or manual push mowers for energetic gardeners. Now, there’s another choice: cordless, battery-powered mowers, with rechargeable, long-life lithium-ion batteries. Cordless mowers have a range of benefits. They are compact in size and lightweight compared with old-style mowers. They charge up quickly, hold their charge and don’t lose power in storage. They’re really simple and easy to operate, they’re quieter than petrol or cabled models, and there are none of the emissions that you get with petrol mowers. With fewer moving parts, machines are lightweight and therefore easy to manoeuvre and carry around. Plus, many models fold down small so they’re easy to…

Begonias propagate well from leaf cuttings. A young plant will erupt from tissue along the leaf veins and then root into the compost before being separated from the mother leaf and potted on. Make sure you cut a young, clean, healthy leaf from right at the base. 1 Remove the stalk and make slashes along the underside of the main vein. Pin the whole leaf down onto firmed, moist compost. 2 Warmth and moisture will encourage growth at the damaged parts of the vein. Several young plants will form on each leaf.…

Many gardeners think of autumn as the only time for planting bulbs and tubers. That’s because the majority of bulbous plants we grow in our cool temperate climate flower in spring. But there are many bulbs that can be planted now to flower in summer – and the garden is a better place for them. Planted in March, many summer blooms will still have time to establish their roots in the cooler earth before pushing up leaves and flowers that will open any time from June onwards. These can be planted directly into borders – they are great gap fillers – and on the veg patch to be used as cut flowers. But perhaps their most useful attribute is that they are well suited to containers, offering pockets of brightness…

1 Choose a large pot to give your tree the best possible conditions, then part fill with a good quality loam-based potting compost such as John Innes No.3. 2 Handle the tree by the rootball or stem base to avoid damaging the graft union. Place in the centre and press more compost firmly around the roots. 3 Ensure the top of the tree’s rootball is at the same level as the new compost. Apply a mulch of organic matter or decorative stone, keeping it away from the trunk. 4 Fill a can with water and drench the pot. Even if water runs out at the bottom, there may be areas of compost that haven’t soaked up the water, so use plenty.…

Get your strawberry bed ready for this year’s harvest. Weeds will have grown under the old foliage by now and this crop does so much better with less competition for moisture and nutrients. It’s a good idea to mulch your beds with straw to keep the berries clean, dry and easier to spot for harvesting. 1 Go through each plant and trim off any dead or old leaves. Pull away winter debris such as moss and old mulch from the crowns. 2 Gently hand fork through the bed to remove weeds among the plants without disturbing the shallow-rooted strawberry plants. Make sure you lift the roots of perennial weeds. 3 Give your crop a big nutrient boost with a top dressing of organic fertiliser scattered on the soil around each…

Salsify and scorzonera While these uncommon vegetables are mainly grown for their tasty roots, the shoots and flower buds are delicious too. Sow in spring to enjoy over winter and beyond. 3 WAYS TO TRY • Simmer with stock, onions, garlic and thyme, then blend with cream to make soup • Blanch, then pan-fry in brown butter until caramelised; finish with lemon juice • Peel into very fine strips and deep-fry to create tasty crisps Nutrition High in fibre, with good levels of iron, phosphorus, potassium and vitamin B1. How to grow A sunny site and light, deeply cultivated, stone-free soil is essential. If your garden soil is not suitable, grow in deep, raised beds. Soil should be fertile but not freshly manured otherwise roots fork in search of clusters…

These soil organisms, whose name comes from the Ancient Greek words for fungus and root, bind onto plant roots, increasing the root area and absorbing water and mineral nutrients that can be used by the plants above. Mycorrhizal fungi are specialists, able to take up nutrients in soil that plant roots cannot access. In return, plants supply them with carbohydrates that they’ve produced by photosynthesis. Garden soils may lack mycorrhizal fungi as a result of cultivation and the use of fertilisers, but we can add them when we plant. With long-term plantings, such as trees and shrubs, it’s a good idea to dust the rootballs with mycorrhizal fungi (look for Rootgrow) just before covering them with soil. Our understanding of these ancient organisms is limited, but research has shown that…

“As a garden designer I know for a fact there’s no space too small to be improved by plants” Joe Swift Entering his 20th year on the programme, Joe is still excited about the season ahead. “The hour-long format was such a success last year. With twice the air time, we can just do so much more. We will still be covering all the important practical jobs for the time of year, but as well as that it means we can go into more depth, explore more avenues, offer more inspiration. “I particularly love the idea of Every Space Counts. It’s a theme we are going to be exploring a lot this year. As a garden designer I know for a fact that there’s no space too small to be…

Well, what a day it was! Fuelled by coffee, gossip and a buzz about the year ahead, our TV, magazine and website teams came together to launch the next half century of Gardeners’ World. We know how much you enjoyed the programme’s 50th anniversary, so we’re aiming to make this year just as special! As we caught up with the presenters during the day, it was clear how much we all felt at the turning point for gardening. Our gardens don’t just offer us a valued escape from the pressure cooker of daily life but now have a role in many wider questions around health, community, ecology and more. We’ll be exploring all these avenues of gardening in the year ahead and uncovering a few answers, while still of course…

“...tank number one started to rise like an obscene bulb from the border...” I remember filming in a garden near Kidderminster and noting that the soil was beautifully rich and almost black, while the general land around was heavy red clay. This discrepancy, I was told, was due to the fact that the cottage had once been part of the servants’ quarters for the nearby Bishop’s residence, and the servant who lived there was in charge of emptying the earth closets. A perk of his job was that he was allowed to keep the night soil and bring it home. So the richness of the soil was directly – intimately – down to the digestive systems of a succession of Bishops of Worcester. I am writing this with feeling because…

“Our programme ensures we have trees to be proud of” Yes there is, although tree replacement here in Sheffield is always a last resort and occurs only when all other options to retain them have been considered. Our trees are only replaced if they are dead, dying, diseased, dangerous, damaging (including to third-party properties such as boundary walls, driveways, homes and drains) or discriminatory, when they cause access problems for pedestrians and road users, especially those with restricted mobility. As one of the greenest cities in the UK, and with more trees per person than any other city in Europe, we are passionate about our tree stock, recognising the many benefits they bring to our lives. We are in a fortunate position where we are able to proactively manage our…

• Naughtyculture The GQT presenters show lots of bare-faced cheek in the Garden Museum’s GQT display, which includes a nude shoot for British Naturism mag! gardenmuseum.org.uk • Borde Hill’s big birthday A magnolia tour on 22 March kicks off a year of celebrations to mark the 125th anniversary of Borde Hill Garden, Sussex – see bordehill.co.uk • The power of plants The role of gardening in healing both humans and the planet is a major theme of 2018’s Chelsea Flower Show. For more details, see rhs.org.uk/Chelsea • Eggciting weekend The National Trust and Cadbury are teaming up to offer a fun family Easter treat, with 250 egg hunts at NT venues around the UK. Go to cadbury.co.uk/easter • Charity garden guides out now Start planning visits to lots of amazing…

Early-flowering pollinator plants Wallflower Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ A tall bushy plant, so grow just one at the back of the patch. In flower Feb-Jul or later H x S75cm x 60cm Primrose Primula vulgaris Seven plug plants were scattered around the front and middle of the bed. In flower Mar-May H x S 20cm x 35cm Crocus Crocus ‘Pickwick’ Plant 18 artfully through the patch as flowering plants now or as bulbs in autumn. In flower Feb-Mar H x S15cm x 10cm Bugle Ajuga reptans ‘Atropurpurea’ Site this great groundcover plant at a front corner. In flower Apr-Jun H x S15cm x 1m Hellebore Helleborus x hybridus Just one of…

“A good rule of thumb is that if it is dry enough for soft furnishings then it will be too dry for any citrus to be happy for very long” Last April, I walked into the courtyard of the Real Alcázar in Seville and was overwhelmed by the intensity of scent from the orange trees in blossom. It seemed as though not just the courtyard of the palace but all the streets around – the entire city – was bathed in this opulent fragrance. It was a powerful reminder that the Moors and subsequent Christian occupants of the palace grew oranges as much for their scent as their appearance. Eating the fruit did not feature at all because they grew the bitter or Seville orange, Citrus x aurantium, which arrived…

“Much wildlife, and the atmosphere itself, derives enormous benefit from peat bogs” Sometimes we don’t realise how lucky we are. You need some compost for your pot plants? No problem; off you pop to the garden centre to buy a bag of the stuff. But that wasn’t always the case. Had you been reading this magazine 100 years ago, you would have been advised to possess, in your potting shed, a comprehensive list of ingredients from which you could concoct a range of compost mixes. The recipes themselves would have been based on the personal experience (and whim) of a gardening writer, frequently having been handed down by a head gardener, and would have varied from establishment to establishment. Most of these would have been country estates, where labour was…

STEP BY STEP Sow hardy annuals Create a beautiful border with hardy annuals. Flowers such as cornflowers, larkspur, nigella and calendula work well in mixed borders and make great cut flowers for the home. Plus, they are good self-seeders. Unlike tender half-hardy exotic displays of African marigolds and petunias that are pulled out and never seen again, these have hardy seed and once the plants have gone, the seeds will volunteer themselves all over the garden for years to come. If you want more control, they can be directly sown, then the young plants thinned out. You will need to deadhead them later in summer to reduce seeding. Then you’ll have an exclusive hardy annual border that flowers from May to November. 1 Rake and firm a weed-free area of…

This is a quick and easy way to make new plants and harnesses perennials’ urge to put out new growth at this time of year. Early shoots taken from clump-forming perennials, like chrysanthemums, asters, delphiniums, salvias, campanulas, heleniums and phlox, make fast-rooting cuttings. (Some cuttings may already have roots emerging when you cut them from the plant.) Collect these soft cuttings straight away – choose sturdy shoots at the base of the plant, up to 10cm long and with no sign of a flower. If you’re not ready to put them into compost immediately, they’ll keep for a day or two in a damp polythene bag placed in the salad drawer of a fridge. Basal cuttings will root in a few weeks with no extra heat, though some warmth speeds…

Lily Choose fat bulbs that aren’t withered and crispy, and avoid any with mould. Plant them 10cm below the compost surface – three to a 20cm pot, more in a larger one. Begonia Start off tubers (hollow side up) on the surface of a tray of moist compost in a warm place. When they grow, plant so they rest 5cm below the surface in larger pots. Dahlia Plant tubers in pots in a cool greenhouse. Early shoots can be used as cuttings that will flower this year. Plant both tubers and cuttings out at the end of May. Anemone Plant now for summer blooms or in the autumn for spring flowers. Soak the hard tubers overnight in water before planting them in pots or in the ground.…

Clay is a curse in the minds of many, but this mineral-rich soil, managed in the right way, is much more useful than it’s cracked up to be. You don’t need any techie gadgets to identify whether your soil is rich in clay – just do the soil-ball test. Dig out a good handful of soil, then wet it and try forming it into a ball. If you can make a sticky soil ball that holds together well as a solid, bound lump, then it contains plenty of clay. If it also has a shine when you rub your thumb across it, it’s classed as heavy clay. During winter, clay soil tends to be very wet, sticky, airless and difficult to dig. In spring, there’s often a brief window when…

How to make use of every space in your garden... • Go vertical with beautiful climbers in pots • Grow tasty veg in a container • Attract wildlife with a mini pond Expert advice Alan ‘s good feed guide – when to do it and how... Give your plot a colour boost with Carol’s pick of violas Follow Monty’s expert guide to kickstart your veg-growing year PLUS Adam Frost’s pick of plants for every location • Joe Swift’s clay soil border plan • Growing for pollinators year-round • Time to sow edible flowers • 50 timely tasks…