Innehållsförteckning för January 2021 från BBC Gardeners' World

Grow... Get your veg-growing year off to a flying start with our Grow Your Own special, on sale 21 January at £8.99, with five packs of veg seed. Get your copy at major stores. Win… Enter our competition to win a Corsican cruise worth £7,200, courtesy of CroisiEurope. Travel in comfort and safety in a king-size, ocean-view cabin. Find out how to enter on p40. Explore… Discover the beautiful gardens of Somerset this September with our GW Magazine guided tour – led by magazine regular Sally Nex. See more at gardeners world.com/somerset Save… Our award-winning app lets your read your copy on the go. Save 50% at bit.ly/GW-digital. Find us in the Readly app on Apple or Google, or with a monthly subscription to Apple News+. Save even more... subscribe…

There are 460 different heucheras available to British gardeners. Yes, I counted them all! But I also went back to see how many were available 30 years ago, and the answer is just 34. We’ve been flooded with new varieties, 17 new ones last year, but heucheras also had a burst of popularity back in the 1950s and 1960s when they were an important cut flower crop. These days, it’s their beautifully coloured or patterned foliage that catches our eye and, even now, new colours, patterns and leaf shapes are still appearing. And the choice of leaf colour is simply astonishing – it’s almost become rare to find a variety with green leaves. So how to choose? Well, it’s simple – just pick the foliage colour you like. Check the…

“The garden can be looking a little dreary, but a container allows you to introduce instant colour” I love planting up seasonal pots to bring instant interest to the garden. They’re a great way to ring the changes, brighten up a dull spot and give you the opportunity to get creative. For me, potted winter displays are most important of all – the garden can be looking a little dreary, but a container allows you to introduce instant colour. And, best of all, you can position it where it can be seen from the house meaning you can enjoy it without having to venture out in the cold. There aren’t many rules when it comes to planting a winter container, so just nip to the garden centre and see what…

Step by step 1 Remove your orchid from its pot, untangle the roots and remove all the compost. Shorten roots to 15cm and cut off dead or diseased pieces. Leave aerial roots (growing outside the pot) intact. 2 If the roots fit back into the old pot, then reuse that, as sizing up can leave roots sitting in wet compost for too long. If the roots don’t fit, use a new pot that is just slightly larger. 3 Pack orchid compost around your plant’s roots, ensuring you fill every crevice. Don’t bury the aerial roots below soil level. Add a new cane if needed, water well and allow to drain. Where to buy orchids Burnham Nurseries orchids.uk.comLove Orchids shop.loveorchids.co.ukNovaBlooms novablooms.com Prestige Flowers prestigeflowers.co.ukMichael Perry is a plant-obsessed broadcaster and blogger…

Hello New Year! I am hoping you’ll give me yet another productive 12 months on the allotment. But there’s something I need to confess first, at this time in the calendar there is a big hurdle that slows me down; it’s these dark mornings followed by the low number of daylight hours. Just writing that down instantly makes me glum. However, as all my family know, I come alive when I snap open the folding table, roll out the heat mat and settle into a corner of the dining room, ready to start the seed-sowing process. First, I whittle down seed packets from a wide range of aubergine, chilli, and pepper varieties, then I get started on my sowing. Next, I place my sharpened secateurs into my holster, tuck a…

Let in fresh air Protect plants from fungal diseases by opening windows or vents for an hour or so on bright breezy days to improve airflow. If you open them in the morning and shut them by midday, there’s time for the air to warm up again through the afternoon. Begin chitting potatoes Towards the end of the month, start your seed potatoes chitting ahead of planting in March and April. Chitting – or encouraging them to sprout – gives your potato crop a head start. Stand the tubers upright in an egg box, or similar, with the old stalk-end downwards and the tiny buds around the top. Put them in a dry, cool, light place, such as in a cold greenhouse or unheated porch. Short dark shoots, or chits,…

Force rhubarb Dig up a clump of rhubarb to bring inside and force delicious, tender early stems. Pot up the fleshy root loosely in compost, then place it somewhere warm and dark. The easiest option is to put a bin over it. Keep checking for new stems and crop them when they’re about 30cm long. Harvest by holding a stem at the base and gently pulling it from the crown. It will be pale, sweet and succulent. Once the stems have been cropped, plant the crown outside again. Give it a good feed to help it recover and build up its strength. Start sowing veg seeds Get the new year off to a good start by sowing a few early and slow-growing crops. Some need protection in a greenhouse or…

What’s wrong with my leeks? Leeks make a great winter vegetable, standing proud on your plot for months, to give you a delicate onion flavour long after you’ve harvested garlic, bulb onions and chives. But a couple of pests, new to our gardens this century, can spoil your harvest if you let them. Both leek moth and allium leaf mining fly produce larvae that feed within leek plants, leaving damage that makes the vegetable susceptible to secondary rots. These pests aren’t active in January; the moth caterpillars have pupated in white cocoons on the leaves, turned into moths and are overwintering in sheltered spots, and the fly maggots have turned into brown pupae in the stems. Meanwhile, the holes made in your leeks will have allowed rot to gain entry…

How different are the resolutions we’re making for 2021 compared with last year… chasing bucket lists and cramming the diary feels an odd way to live now. In their place are slower pleasures and a shared appreciation that small things bring as much joy as big ambitions. Through 2020, we all experienced delight at the slowly unfurling flower, the blackbird singing, green shoots breaking through. These, and more, brought us immeasurable hope and optimism, nourishing us when the world looked bleak. And what a pleasure to welcome new gardeners to this world, as gardening emerged at the heart of a national conversation around wellbeing. Health is also at the heart of many of the conversations we’ve been recording for our new magazine podcast – just the thing for these winter…

I was asked the other day, if I was to start Longmeadow again would I do anything differently? Without hesitation I said, “everything”. This is because all the really significant design plans and planting were done over a quarter of a century ago. I have no regrets at all about that, but I now have wholly different influences and factors affecting my life. Unless you have a designer in to do it all for you, almost all gardens evolve with time. Sometimes this is because you get initial ideas a bit wrong or learn more about the place and how your desired planting fares, find new inspiration, or just get bored and want a change. Money and fashion influence all of us. When I made the series The Secret History…

Have your say, Gardeners’ World Magazine, Vineyard House, 44 Brook Green, London W6 7BT or email letters@gardenersworld.com and you could win a prize. Letters or emails submitted may be edited for publication. Prizes sent to UK addresses only. ACROSS 1 Galanthus 7 Trim 8 Agave 9 Ace 10 Dot 11 Leaf 12 Ivy 13 Elegans 15 Grass 17 Osmunda 19 Pollen 22 Stipa 23 Growmore 24 Scabs DOWN 1 Glazing2 Leafy gall3 Needles4 Heathers5 Stella6 Lilacs14 Nandina16 Salads17 Onion18 Moses20 Okra21 Lawn…

Ivy Often overlooked as a house plant, because it is so common outdoors, this tough plant is ideal for anyone who struggles with houseplants. It’s also ideal for cool rooms and those with low levels of natural light. Though it comes in a range of variegated creams and whites, choose classic green for the shadiest corners, as these leaves contain the most chlorophyll and are therefore better able to make use of what light is available. You can even dig ivy up from outside and pot it up to green up your home for free. This vigorous plant is recognised by NASA as an effective air purifier, cleansing it of benzene and formaldehyde, among other toxins. It will climb up a support or can be placed on a shelf to…

Do you know how much peat is in your potting compost? There’s a groundswell of concern among gardeners over the environmental cost of digging up peat to use in gardening. Yet we’re still planting our way through over two million cubic metres of peat every year. Potting composts contain less peat than they used to – new industry figures show peat content is at its lowest in a decade. However, most are still far from peat-free. In fact only one in every 20 bags of compost on sale is peat free, and the average bag contains more than 40 per cent pure peat. Unless your bag of compost is clearly labelled peat-free, it will contain peat. ‘Organic’ doesn’t mean peat-free, nor does ‘eco-friendly’ or ‘sustainable’. The plants you buy are…

STEP BY STEP Make a raised bed Raised beds are an easy way to add planting to a patio or create a free-draining area if your garden has damp soil. Use pressure-treated timber and make it deep enough for root growth if it’s positioned on a hard surface. 1 MEASURE your space to work out the ideal dimensions for your raised bed, then carefully cut your planks to size. 2 LINE UP the planks in position, using a set square for accuracy. Mark out where the screws will go, then pre-drill the holes. 3 GET some help or use clamps to hold the planks square while you screw them together. Then put your finished frame in place and fill with compost, ready for planting. Look after indoor azaleas Deadhead indoor…

STEP BY STEP Protect your garden from winter weather Take steps to protect your garden from the physical damage that can be caused during a period of very cold weather. Plants are vulnerable to leaf scorch from cold winds and freezing temperatures, but protecting a plant’s main growing point or crown is the priority. Good drainage and the shelter of a warm wall will also help. 1 MAKE a temporary fleece tent around plants that are vulnerable to scorch. You can use garden twine to keep the fleece in place and pegs to attach it to the outer branches. 2 SHOVEL snow off the paths to make them safe. If snow freezes it can become an ice rink, so grit the paths or sweep off any patches of dusty…

Anne Swithinbank A keen fruit, vegetable and houseplant grower, Anne was formerly the glasshouse supervisor at RHS Garden Wisley. Bob Flowerdew Bob is an organic gardener and has designed his garden to produce lots of veg, fruit and cut flowers. Christine Walkden Garden writer Christine appears on BBC1’s The One Show. She is also a lecturer and tour leader. Q What can we grow in a narrow, shady plot? Katherine, by email A CHRISTINE SAYS If there is no soil in this little space between your fence and wall, you could break up the hard surface material. Alternatively, you could just use troughs that are deep enough to contain plenty of compost or large pots. Another option would be to make a raised bed and then plant into that. I…

This month our Subscriber Club members received TWO FREE packets of seeds with their magazine. You can join them from our February issue, getting FREE seeds delivered with your magazine every month (worth over £25 in total) until June. Subscribers will be sowing their chilli and rocket seeds shown here this month, so why not start your bumper year of growing veg and flowers with us? Turn to the page to find out more and how to subscribe. Growing chilli plants from seed Sowing seeds 1 Pour multi-purpose compost into a small pot. Gently tamp it level about 1cm below the rim, to leave room for watering. 2 Place the seeds about 3cm apart on the surface. Cover lightly with more compost, ideally using a sieve to remove any lumps.…

We’ve all been there. You are given a beautiful orchid as a gift – festooned with elegant flowers. But soon, the flowers fall off and you’re left with bare stems and a few sad looking leaves. And you wonder what you’ve done wrong. There’s often a lot of mystery around growing orchids, but by following a few simple rules, you’ll become an orchid whisperer in no time. Give your orchids the right care and you can enjoy healthy plants that flower for 12 weeks or more at a time. The most common type of orchid for homes is the phalaenopsis, or moth orchid. These exotic plants come from rainforests, but thanks to developments in propagation, you can now pick them up at a reasonable price in the supermarket. New breeding…

The exact recipe for each potting compost is a closely guarded secret. But most composts rely on the same basic ingredients. If you want organic compost, look for those with Soil Association accreditation, and if you want to avoid peat, choose composts clearly labelled as peat-free. Basic ingredients: Peat Mechanically harvested from 10,000-year-old peat bogs, it’s cheap and reliable for growing plants, but non-renewable, with high carbon emissions. Coir A by-product of the coconut industry, coir is light, fibrous and absorbent. But it’s shipped from South Asia, which generates pollution, and processing it uses lots of water in a region where water is in short supply. Wood fibre Produced in the UK, wood fibre is lightweight and renewable. However, it takes a lot of energy to harvest and transport it,…

Best versatile design WormBox, £96.65 Great indoors or out, this rainproof wormery doubles as a seat or planter. Casters help it move easily and it comes in a range of colours. Best for low maintenance Hungry Bin, £294.95 This large-capacity wheely bin-type wormery is self-draining, rainproof and very simple to use, composting up to 2kg of waste a day. Best all-round package Tiger Wormery, £73.99 Comes in a range of colours, is a handy medium size, and the package included 100 worms, bedding, a coir mat, worm food and Composting with Worms by George Pilkington. Best stacking wormery WormCity, £78 With a large capacity in relation to its footprint, this is a sturdy construction and excellent design. It’s made in the UK from 100 per cent recycled materials.…

We love to watch the birds feeding in the garden. Whether it’s greenfinches on the seed feeders, blue tits hanging from the fat balls or redwings feasting on cotoneaster berries, our daily encounters with garden birds are uplifting and life-affirming. Gardeners can help keep birds fed in winter by growing plants that offer berries, fruit and seeds, and by putting out food and water on a regular basis. High-energy foods, such as suet cakes, are ideal to help birds maintain their fat reserves in cold weather and they are so easy to make. Great as a family project in the run up to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (see below for more details). You will need  to make suet cakes Suet or lard (avoid turkey fat) Bird seed Raisins or…

Having a robust and well-functioning gut protects and bolsters our ability to deal with infections on several levels. Specific gut microbes maintain the integrity of the gut wall, preventing harmful pathogens or materials inappropriately entering the bloodstream. The microbes themselves produce and release micronutrients that support our immune cells, as well as protecting us from harmful environmental toxins. Keeping our microbiota in shape improves our immune health and involves eating colourful vegetables, fibre and a wide variety of whole foods. In recent years, we’ve also begun to recognise the profound importance of a component of our cells called mitochondria. Cutting a long-winded biology lesson short, we require healthy, functioning mitochondria for a robust immune system that can boost its metabolic activity to adapt to the increased demands of when our…

Sowing onions Many gardeners grow their onions from sets (small bulbs), forgetting that seed is capable of producing a much larger crop of onions come the summer. Onion seeds are not long lived so, rather than settling for last year’s leftovers, always buy new. Keen growers with their eyes on the show bench will traditionally sow their onion seed on Boxing Day, but I think that January or February is soon enough. It allows plenty of growing time for them to make up ground on sets that are planted out in March/April. Germinate the seeds in a temperature of between 16°C and 21°C. The warmer the temperature, the quicker germination – anything between one and two weeks. When they are large enough to handle, transplant the seedlings into individual cells…

Don’t forget Remove suckered shoots and prune out stems to ease congestion at the base of established deciduous shrubs such as lilacs Heel in bare-root trees, shrubs and hedging or keep in a shed until they can be planted out Treat and repaint wooden fences, sheds, furniture and tubs Clean and maintain your mower or book a service from a professional Compost your Christmas tree Shred your Christmas tree and add it to the compost heap, where it will rot down, or use it as a weed suppressing mulch on the ground between trees and shrubs. Finely shredded woody material is useful in a compost heap as the slow release of carbon helps to power the rotting process, and keeps it from getting too slimy, particularly in closed bins. If…