Innehållsförteckning för January 2019 från BBC Gardeners' World

Year-round bulbs Spring bulbs will burst into life shortly but you can grow bulbs all year. Read more in our special guide. Get yours for £5.99 incl. postage – a £1 saving just for subscribers – by going to bit.ly/GWbulbs Small space ideas Give your garden a new look with the help of our 132-page guide to small spaces, which is packed with projects and inspiration. Get your copy for just £6.99 incl. postage direct from bit.ly/GWspace Highgrove festival We’ve teamed up with Highgrove, home to HRH The Prince of Wales, for the Talking Gardens Festival this April. See our stellar line-up of experts on page 23. Alan’s video guide If you’re impatient to get growing veg, start with spuds! Turn to Alan’s feature on p58 and watch his video…

Leafmould: take it or leave it When I was young, we used to roam the beech woods and gather up sacks of leaves for leafmould. These days, though, I’m uneasy about the enthusiasm expressed by Monty Don (The Full Monty, November issue). Surely leafmould belongs to its own tree? It depends on it for the fungal ecosystem that sustains it, so I feel we ought to leave it where it is (unless it’s piled up in the gutters). Andrew Blount, London I am the horticulture officer at the award-winning Clifton Park in Rotherham, and we collect our leaves and have huge leafmould piles around the park, which we incorporate into our beds before planting and as a mulch. We have more than we need and members of the public are…

In January, all thoughts of gardening tend to go out of the window. There is little to tempt us outside, where it’s cold, damp and dull. But it is for that very reason that I think it is exactly the time when we most need to inject colour into our outdoor space, bringing a little brightness to the bleak beginning of the year. Making a large statement container is ideal for this time of year, as plants prefer not to go directly into freezing ground. Place your pot near the door or where it can easily be seen from inside the house, so you get maximum benefit. All of the plants in this scheme are long-lived and can either stay in the pot, to be thinned once things get too…

Aquilegia (columbine) These self-sow but if you want special hybrids buy seed. Sow on surface of good seed compost. Prick out seedlings when they’ve made several true leaves. Flowers May-Jun Height x Spread 100cm x 45cm Astrantia (masterwort) Buy seeds, or collect from your best plants, they won’t all come true but you may get some with their parents’ traits. Surface sow under glass, cover with grit. If no germination after two months put outside in an exposed spot. FJun-Aug H x S90cm x 30cm Pulsatilla (pasqueflower) Both these and clematis seeds have fluffy tails and are distributed by the wind. Push each seed into compost with its tail in the air. F Apr-May H x S20cm x 20cm Geranium psilostemon (Armenian…

“You get what you pay for. There is good-quality bird food available, but there’s an awful lot of bad stuff out there, too” Feeding birds used to be a simple pleasure: you’d hang out peanuts or put scraps on a bird table, top up the bird bath and then watch nature enjoying a winter feast. Today, garden-centre shelves are piled high with seeds for blue tits, blackbirds, finches, robins and thrushes. There are bags of niger seeds, peanuts, sunflower hearts and mealworms and specific seed mixes for winter or young birds. The Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) found that Brits spend £297m on bird food each year. Market analysts GfK Global last studied the bird food sector in 2015 and found it had grown by 15 per cent in one year.…

Soon rhubarb will be ready for harvest. The earliest shoots are the sweetest, but you can go one better by forcing them to grow in the dark for the most tender, sweetest shoots of all. You can only do this at the start of the season, then the plant must be allowed to grow in normal light to recover some of its energy. Look for early, mid and late-shooting varieties so you can grow the plants in succession. Two early cultivars are ‘Timperley Early’ and ‘Champagne’; ‘Victoria’ is a popular late variety while ‘Livingstone’ is an autumn cropper. 1 WEED around the crown, select some buds to cover and make the ground level before putting the forcing jar over them. 2 TAKE the lid off to check for growth, when…

Weed and maintain paths to show off beds It’s so satisfying to see the edges of your borders framed by clean paths. Brush them regularly to remove debris and keep the surface from growing moss or algae and becoming slippery at this time of year. Some weeds like grasses, groundsel and bitter cress just keep growing in winter and will add to the debris, so weed those out now too and reduce the summer weed population. LOOK OUT FOR DISEASED HELLEBORES Brown spots may be seen on hellebores. Remove and destroy any affected leaves, stems and flowers as soon as spotted as this disease spreads quickly. Prepare your beds Tidy your borders ready for the first flushes of spring growth. Prune away any woody branches that have been damaged due…

This month is a great time to get your greenhouse ready for the busy year ahead. You might not have many plants in there now, which gives you the opportunity to do a thorough clean. The aim is to remove overwintering pests and causes of disease, such as red spider mite and moulds. Washing the windows increases the light available to plants, too. Choose a warm, sunny day when you can move tougher plants outside for a while. Cover them with fleece so they’re not exposed to cold. Once you’ve swept away all debris, wash windows, floor and benches with an environmentally friendly cleaning product. Wipe away any pools of water, then open the door and any ventilation to stop it becoming humid. 5 WAYS TO USE A WINTER GREENHOUSE:…

We compost as much as possible at Beechgrove. There are large bays turned annually by a digger, but also several domestic bins. It can take a year or more to get really good compost from them. Being smaller and in a shaded location, the process is slower, but turning the contents helps speed things up. We put a tarp down and empty the bins on to it using a grape (long handled hay fork) then fill it back up again or move the pile into another empty bin. Material is redistributed so that less decayed components are introduced to the middle, where decomposition is faster. Turning introduces more air - essential for the microbial action responsible for the composting process.…

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Most mahonias will grow into large plants, but they’re still ideal for small gardens. Sound like a contradiction? Well, read on… Mahonias make bold, often dramatically architectural, foliage plants. Rows of rich green holly-like leaflets are elegantly laid out to make distinctive leaves. Most varieties tend to be upright in growth, spreading more as they mature, so they make fine back-of-the-border focal points – and that’s before we start to think about their other fine features. In late summer, autumn and winter the frost-hardy flowers appear. The most stylish are those producing long, long strings of dainty yellow flowers. Different varieties open from late summer through the winter until as late as March and feature an attractive, though not intense, fragrance that’s said to resemble lily-of-the-valley. They’re popular with winter…

Snail on hosta , by Alfie Harlan at Harcombe, Dorset. Our judges say: “Using a simple colour palette concentrates the eye. The strong lines give a dynamic feel.” Admiring the view by Karen Parsons at Burrough Hall, Leics. Our judges say: “The interplay between the two subjects intrigues the viewer and draws you in.” Tulip ‘Ballerina’ , by David Vaughan at Orchard House, Amersham, Bucks. Our judges say: “The vibrancy and joy of these tulips made this a perfect subject for our 2019 calendar.” Leaf Spirit Sculpture by Cally Stephens at Sculpture by the Lakes, Dorset. Our judges say: “Clever use of a dark background focuses the light on the face emerging from foliage, giving the shot real depth.” ‘Framing the light’ by Howard…

When you open a packet of seed or a bag in which you’ve collected seed from your own garden, it’s tempting to sow them all. But this can result in you losing the lot, as seedlings growing too close are prone to damping off, a fungal disease that can fell your entire batch. Always sow sparingly to give each seedling adequate light and fresh air around its stem and leaves. A healthy atmosphere is vital in raising healthy seedlings. They need a bright spot but mustn’t be exposed to direct sunlight through glass as this can scorch them. Always use proprietary seed compost. It is sterile and free from pathogens and weed seeds. Firm the compost surface gently before sowing but aim for the compost ending up no lower than…

In the ground Choose a bright spot in well-drained soil. Freshly manured ground can be a magnet for slugs, so pick a patch that was manured for a previous crop. Mark out the row with a line. Make a 15cm-deep, V-shaped trench and space out the tubers along the bottom, shoots uppermost, before replacing the soil (using a draw hoe, rake or the edge of a spade). As the shoots break the surface, pull the earth up around them to make a long ridge, so that only the shoot tips are visible. In bags Any good peat-free multi-purpose compost is suitable, though my favourite is a mix of multi-purpose compost and John Innes No.3, which seems to give them more oomph. Half-fill the bag, then space out the seed potatoes…

1 In the can Spring in a tin! Muscari’s diminutive size means it’s easy to cram several of them into a tin or small container. Make sure there are holes for drainage, fill three quarters full with bulb fibre, pop in a cluster of bulbs and mulch with garden moss. Place in a cool, light position and don’t allow to dry out. Grape hyacinths also look fabulous in white. 2 Line up Any pot will do, but you can’t go wrong with a smart row of terracotta. Place three iris bulbs in 10cm pots of compost and top with a decorative layer of grit. Iris have a shorter flowering time than some bulbs, so keep them cool and moist to extend the display. Rotate the pots regularly to prevent them…

The BTO’s Claire Boothby explains: “Most seeds have a kernel – the bit the bird is going to eat, surrounded by a tough outer case that is discarded by the bird. In some foods, the outer case is removed during processing, resulting in less waste. Sunflower hearts (without the husk) are good, as many birds will take these and they produce less waste.” Bird expert Stephen Moss agrees: “I love kibbled sunflower hearts. You pay more, but there’s no waste. If you buy sunflower seeds that haven’t been shelled, birds use more effort to take the husk off and don’t get as much energy, which is critical in winter, and they leave a mess that can attract vermin.” CJ WildBird Foods launched Hi-Energy No Mess food in 1999. A spokeswoman…

Sow broad beans Broad bean plants will survive all but the hardest frosts, so seeds started in trays now can be planted out when they are big enough. Growing in trays improves germination if you have heavy soil and it protects the seed from mice. Choose a modular tray with large cells and fill with multi-purpose compost. Sow the seed with the short dark scar at the bottom. Press it into the loose compost and cover with 2cm of compost. Soak, then place in a frame or cold greenhouse to germinate. Plant outside in late March and you should have your first crop of beans ready to eat by the end of May. LOOK OUT FOR MOULDY FRUIT Regularly unwrap and check that any stored fruit is firm and undamaged.…

Sowing pelargoniums Pelargoniums, with their brilliant flowers and attractive foliage, have been a firm fixture in my greenhouse ever since I was a boy. The single-flowered varieties will bloom all year round if kept in bright light on a sunny windowsill or a frost-free greenhouse. Some have wonderful leaf variegations; others have scented foliage which is often attractively filigree. Most pelargoniums are propagated from cuttings, but bright-flowered hybrids can be grown from seed sown now. This early sowing will ensure they are of flowering size by early summer and from then on they, too, can be increased from cuttings. As bedding plants, or just as pot plants, they represent really good value for money, provided you can give them the modicum of heat they need to get them through the…

Sweet peas sown now make robust plants that flower earlier than those sown outside in March. Choose a deep pot for good root growth and after germination, keep the plants cool so that roots develop before the shoots really take off. Pinch out the top of the seedlings to three to four leaves to encourage the formation of several strong flowering stems per plant. For the best results plant out into rich, fertile soil. 1 SPEED up germination by softening the hard seed coat on warm, moist kitchen paper or by chipping a tiny hole with a sharp knife to allow water absorption 2 FILL pots with multi-purpose or bedding plant compost and sow 2 or 3 seeds per pot. Cover with a 2cm layer of compost, firm the surface…

1 CLEAR out the guttering and add the debris to your compost bin. Then wash through with a hose or watering can and check the fall pipe isn’t blocked. 2 SWEEP the floor and staging clean with a brush. Pay attention to corners, nooks and crannies, where pests and diseases tend to hide. 3 CHECK heaters are working properly. Use a max/min thermometer to measure the highest and lowest temperatures. Aim for 7°C to keep it frost free. 4 EXAMINE plants for pests and diseases. Pick off dead and damaged leaves to keep your plants healthy and looking their best.…

A mower needs regular maintenance to keep it in top condition – particularly when using it in winter’s damp conditions. Cleaning off all the grass debris will prevent rusting and it’s worth giving further protection by spraying a lubricant over the moving parts, particularly to stop the blade mechanism seizing up. Give the spark plug a clean to make starting the engine trouble free. 1 REMOVE the spark plug so the engine doesn’t start while you are working on it by disconnecting the lead. 2 USE a wire brush to lift all the bits of grass off the mower blades. Go over the casing and wheels too, to get rid of debris. 3 PULL the dipstick out and see if the engine has enough oil. Do this after the mower’s…

• Species adapted to extreme cold may reduce the quantity of water in their leaf cells during the iciest of weather to prevent damage. • Bush fruit growers often spray a fine mist of water onto crops if a frost is predicted. The mist forms an icy shell around the flowers or fruits, thus preventing frost damage. • Warm air rises and cold air falls. When cold air becomes trapped in walled or fenced gardens, it creates ‘frost pockets’. Alleviate these by letting the air out of the garden through gaps. • Plants like fir, spruce and larch are capable of ‘supercooling’ – they can keep cellular water in a liquid state in spite of temperatures being below zero. • Hardy plants tend to have flexible cell membranes that can…

“Take care!” I bet you say it almost every time you bid farewell to your nearest and dearest, even if they are only popping out to the garden. Well, you know the old aphorism: ‘The majority of accidents happen in the home’ – and the garden. The trouble is, that if you are an inveterate potterer like me, it does seem a little excessive to put on a pair of safety boots with steel toe caps, thick gardening gloves, protective glasses, a high-visibility jacket and hard hat every time you venture out to cut a bunch of flowers. All right, so I exaggerate. Or do I? “We can carry on raking safely as long as we do not park the rake with its teeth lying upwards so that when we…

Like so many of you, I start every new year with intentions to eat healthier. This year, helping birds to do the same is on my list of resolutions. Gardeners can be their lifeline in midwinter, with icy nights and a shortage of natural foods stacked against them. So our actions on this really matter. We spend, as a nation, £297m a year on bird food – that’s a mind-boggling £813,698 a day! We set out to gauge whether we were getting all we expected from our bird food, and whether pricier feeds were worth the money. The results? Well, read more, in our special birds section from page 74, but, in short, there’s some shockingly low-grade feed for sale. Dog biscuits anyone? No, I didn’t expect that either. Only…

was listening to the radio the other day, when I caught two geologists being interviewed about the amount of rearranging of earth that man has done. It seems that we have shifted the entire structure of the planet to an enormous extent. The interviewer cheerfully used Stonehenge as an example of this kind of geological rearranging, but the scientists pointed out that in fact they were talking about trillions of tons of rock and earth being moved, mainly as a result of modern-day mining and construction. I thought about my own excavatory exploits with a tinge of shame, but mostly pride and pleasure. I do like a digger and I do like to move, if not mountains, then hillsides that I can hack into. I suspect that this is not…

1 More trees The rate of tree planting needs to double by 2020, according to a new report, ‘Land Use: Reducing Emissions and Preparing for Climate Change’. bit.ly/land-use-report 2 D-Day 75 Garden To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, D-Day 75 Revisited is designing a garden for the Chelsea Flower Show. Pledge your support at gofundme.com/dday-75-garden 3 Blog Of The Year Find inspiration and advice on the trials of growing veg in a communal garden from the winner of Blog of the Year at the recent Garden Media Guild Awards. urbanvegpatch.blogspot.com 4 Vegan approval Franchi Seeds, a family-run seed company started in 1783, has been given vegan approval by the Vegetarian Society. seedsofitaly.com 5 Gardening services You can now have your garden designed and built by John Lewis,…

Nothing beats summer bedding for creating a splash of vibrant colour that lasts for months. You can buy it ready grown in late spring, but it’s much more satisfying and fun to grow it from seed yourself. You’ll get a bigger choice of flowers and even save money. The varieties we’re recommending over the next few pages can all be started off in a propagator in January or February in a greenhouse or on a warm windowsill. Reduce the temperature after germination (the time when the seed sends out a shoot). Start as early as possible because bedding takes a few months to get to the flowering stage. Sow into seed compost in good light, a grow lamp is a good investment particularly if you’re sowing in January (prices start…

We are fortunate that so many birds choose our gardens as their home; it’s no wonder we call them ‘feathered friends’. Where would we be without their songs in spring and their family antics in summer? But it is right now in midwinter that we feel most compelled to put out scraps and seeds, when natural food is in the lowest supply. However, if we want to have the greatest effect, then feeding the right food throughout the year can really help, supported by a few other simple actions. And what can motivate us is knowing that our efforts genuinely make a difference to birds’ survival. So what food should you provide? Just as our bodies need a balance of protein, fats and carbs, so do birds. Much of it…

Get ahead by chitting your seed potatoes around six weeks before planting in March. Look on the tuber for the mark where the old stalk was attached. This is the base - stand it on this end so the developing chits or buds are the right way up. If you don’t manage this before planting, you’ll still get a crop but it will shoot a bit later. 1 PLACE the tubers in a light, frost-free place, such as a porch or unheated greenhouse. Egg cartons will keep them upright. 2 TUBERS will chit properly in the light, kept in the dark they will sprout useless long shoots like these that should be removed. 3 SEVERAL short, sturdy dark green or purple chits appear at the top of the tuber, two…

1 FILL a pot to within 1cm of the rim with fresh peat-free, multi-purpose compost. Gently flatten the surface with the base of another pot. 2 REMOVE the seeds from the packet or tube and space them out on the surface of the compost so they rest 2.5cm or so apart. 3 SIEVE a little compost over the seeds until they just disappear from view. A plastic pot with several holes in the base can be used for the same purpose. 4 STAND the pot in a saucer of water for an hour or so until the surface is moist. Place the pot somewhere at a constant 21ºC. Once sprouted, 15ºC will be fine.…

Remove snow from the roof Even a light covering of snow on the greenhouse roof reduces the light getting to your plants inside. If the snow persists the structure also has to stand the weight and when it begins to thaw, there will be slippage and the danger of a big dump of snow onto whatever is near the outside of the house. Brush the snow off daily with a long-handled broom and give it a final clean with a window cleaning blade when the snow is over. Clean plastic pots Many plants are grown and sold in plastic pots and if you’ve accumulated a supply, they can be reused. So do your bit for the environment, avoid sending them straight to landfill and save yourself having to buy new…

Brush snow from plants A canopy of snow over a shrub or hedge can look magical but the weight can cause branches to drop and snap. Knock off the snow onto the ground with a long-handled broom or rake. The snow at the very top on the leading shoots needs to be knocked off, too, to save damaging the overall shape of the shrub. Hedges particularly can have shoots snapped out along their flat top. They will recover eventually, but it’s better to avoid it. VISIT gardenersworld.com/problems for tips on troubleshooting in the winter garden Winter wildlife-pond care Pond dwellers slow down in winter, so don’t feed the fish or do anything with the dormant plants. However, they still need the water to contain plenty of oxygen,…

A dusting of frost sprinkled across the garden might look beautiful, but it’s potentially devastating to plants. As temperatures drop, frost can lead to leaf and stem damage, heaving of the plant crowns (when cracks in the ground expose roots to air) or even plant death. But with the right plants and the correct protection it’s possible to deal with another beastly blow from the east relatively unscathed. There are three main forms of frost that can damage plants – air, ground and hoar. Air frost is when the air temperature falls below the freezing point of water. This type of frost is exacerbated by the wind and can burn foliage and kill plants. Ground frost is the formation of ice on the ground or objects that have a temperature…

Christine Walkden Garden writer Christine appears on BBC1’s The One Show. She is also a lecturer and tour leader. Anne Swithinbank A keen fruit, vegetable and houseplant grower, Anne was formerly the glasshouse supervisor at RHS Garden Wisley. Matthew Wilson Garden designer Matthew was curator of RHS Hyde Hall and Harlow Carr, and often appears on television. Q Which perennials will do best in my unusual soil? Ann Elliot, Buckinghamshire ACHRISTINE SAYS You say you have 15cm of topsoil and beneath that, gravel. So before planting any new plants, incorporate lots of organic matter into the soil that has been taken out of the hole, then use this to refill the hole once the plants are in position. Plants that will do well in this situation include Lilium superbum, which…