Innehållsförteckning för Jul-22 från BBC Gardeners' World

HOT TOPIC Mind, body and soil Post Covid-19, one of the first things I did was sign up for one of Myerscough College’s gardening courses. I am a single mum with three young boys and I had been very ill. Just doing the course for three hours a week helped me become more positive and more attuned to nature. I have suffered greatly with both my physical and mental health over the years, and always found gardening therapeutic. Watching plants grow, seeing the fruits of my labour and observing the seasons change are just some of the joys, and my boys have become more interested in gardening. Now, two years later, I have completed the City and Guilds Level 1 and 2 Diplomas and have been accepted for an RHS…

GW fans could help replace lost TV history as the hunt begins for dozens of missing episodes. Only a handful of recordings survive of shows made by presenters Percy Thrower, Clay Jones, Arthur Billit and Peter Seabrook. TV historian Chris Perry, of recovery specialists Kaleidoscope, is calling on viewers to search their stash of old recordings. “These programmes represent the reality of what life was really like in the 1970s,” he says. ◼ Found a lost episode? Email Chris Perry at info@tvbrain.info…

Summer spectacle There is no better time to visit the Lakes than in high summer. Although famous for having some of the wettest weather in the UK, a Lakeland summer is not to be missed. At Brantwood Gardens you can explore the gardens of Victorian art critic and social reformer John Ruskin. Much like the artist JMW Turner, Ruskin fell in love with the sublime Lakeland scenery, and his gardens reflect this passion and the historical significance of plants in British culture. Take the Steam Yacht Gondola across Coniston Water to arrive in true Victorian style. 2 for 1 entry £7. Open 16 Marend Nov, daily. Full details at brantwood.org.uk Family favourite One of 38 National Trust properties in our Guide, Sizergh Castle offers a great family day out. As…

I love perennial plants. I love the way they develop through the seasons, making garden life exciting at every twist and turn – every day new pictures unfold as shoots lengthen, buds swell and flowers open. They offer beautiful foliage, seedheads and often autumn colour too. It’s the way they change with the seasons that is so endearing and although the great majority are herbaceous, disappearing over winter, when they reappear they make up for lost time, filling our gardens with colour and perfume. Of all the plants we can grow, perennials are the ones you can have most fun with. They are plants that collaborate, that mix and mingle, that complement each other, sometimes by contrast, sometimes in harmony. They give us a real opportunity to be creative and…

“Have fun without spending much money, while considering the environment, by reusing and repurposing items” 1 DIY hideaway den There’s no better way to spend a morning than building a den to read in. Your den can be a mighty blanket fort from which to launch epic battles or a dainty bower fit for a queen. What you’ll need ◼ Tepee, tent or den ◼ Blankets, sheets and tablecloths ◼ Pegs (metal, fexi-grip or sturdy bamboo are best) ◼ Cushions and pillows ◼ Basket of books ◼ Snacks ◼ Leakproof water bottles ◼ Cuddly toys ◼ Imagination How to make The tepee shown here was made from old duvet covers from a charity shop and bamboo canes. The covers were cut to size and I sewed some pockets along the…

You’ll learn about: ✔ Which plants need the most watering ✔ Creating a droughttolerant garden ✔ How best to water plants in containers “If your water is metered, you’ll save on bills if you collect the water that falls from the heavens – use water butts to make the most of this free supply” Watering Without it we perish – and so do our gardens. Water is the stuff of life, but like all valuable assets it needs to be carefully managed to avoid wastage and to make sure we get the most out of it. You’ll know from a glance at your bill that as a commodity water is not cheap, so in terms of economy you’ll need to prioritise its use in the garden, reserving it for those…

To ensure your plants survive being home alone, group them into a close-knit bunch in a room that receives no direct sunlight. Stand them on a pebble tray on the floor, about 1.5m back from a north/east-facing window. This ensures they still receive enough light and energy. Give every plant a final drench before saying au revoir. A thorough watering over the sink should do the job. Another good way to hydrate is by placing the plant in a saucer or bowl and pouring water around the compost until the bowl begins filling with water. Instead of pouring the excess away, leave the plant in the bowl for half an hour to let the compost re-absorb the moisture, before returning the plant to the group. Rainwater is always a better…

Take it to another level Increase the vertical physical structure in your garden by having as many levels of planting as you can, from high to low. Greater physical diversity increases the number of animals that can find food, nesting sites, and places to roost. A lawn alone, on the other hand, may attract just starlings and wood pigeons. TOP TIP Add some shrubs and you might also get blue tits and house sparrows; taller trees will encourage song thrushes and great tits to make an appearance in your garden. Learn to love wasps Wasps are important pollinators of many plants late in the season, and they eat a lot of common garden pests such as caterpillars and aphids. TOP TIP Throw away your wasp trap – all it does…

“It can be hard keeping plants happy through climate-change-induced heatwaves, but we’re sharing strategies to help your plants cope without costing the Earth” Dreamy evenings pottering among your plants, the sun still warm on your shoulders and all the fresh-picked, garden-raised food you can eat – it’s beginning to feel a lot like midsummer, quite the nicest time to be a veg gardener. There are a few clouds in that azure-blue summer sky though. It can be hard work keeping plants happy through climate-change-induced heatwaves, so this month we’re sharing climate-proofing strategies to help your crops cope without costing the Earth. Sowing wisely keeps your harvests on track, taking a break from heat-sensitive salads and switching to more resilient, drought-tolerant crops instead. Boost rainwater supplies cheaply, and expand your composting…

In July, although the solstice has passed, it still feels like the summer is building up. Everything is growing so fast and temperatures can be really high. Rainfall is also often low at this time of year, which does mean that our gardens can begin to look like they’re tiring. We often think of a ‘June gap’, but there can also be a ‘July gap’. The early-summer flowers are fading and the late-summer ones are yet to come. But that makes this an easy time of year to get out the secateurs, loppers and shears and give things a bit of a tidy-up. Unruly climbers and shrubs can be snipped back into shape and the high-summer prune can begin for those of us keen to get on. Evergreens can be…

Check climbing beans for pickings Look right into the foliage of climbing and runner beans to check for beans that are ready to pick. Picking them when they are really young and tender is a luxury to be savoured. The time from flowering to harvest can be a matter of days in the height of the season so check every few days to pick the beans at their best. Regular picking also keeps the flowers coming and extends the cropping season. Support the stem above the bean cluster with one hand and give the bean a sharp tug with the other. Thin out apples Reduce the number of fruits on your apple tree to improve the quality of fruit. The tree will naturally drop fruit in the summer but there…

*Just pay £5.80 postage Brighten up winter containers with the vibrant colours of Pansy Cool Wave. Free-flowering and easy to grow, these pansies are at their best during the coldest months and will flower in warm spells into late spring. Perfect for filling hanging baskets, patio containers and window boxes with long-lasting colour. Flowers Nov-Mar Height x Trailing Spread 15cm x 60cm For more offers with no added postage and order details, see opposite page YOU MAY ALSO LIKE… ◼ Large flowers for pots and beds H x S 20cm x 23cm F Nov-Mar 36 plug plants £11.99 ONLY £9.99 SAVE £2 72 plug plants £23.98 ONLY £12.99 SAVE £10.99 ◼ Beautiful golden blooms H x S 20cm x 23cm F Nov-Mar 24 plug plants £10.99 ONLY £8.99 SAVE £2…

There have been new calls for stricter import controls on trees, after the discovery of potentially devastating pine processionary moth on a shipment of pine trees from France. While the species is not yet established in the UK, if it gets a foothold it could spell disaster for the country’s pines – including our only native, the Scots pine. As with its close relative, oak processionary moth – now well entrenched in London and the South East – the caterpillar stage has fine hairs that can cause painful rashes. The infected trees have now been destroyed, and the Government has ended imports of pine and cedar trees from France and Italy. But the Woodland Trust says the interception is a stark reminder of the risks of importing trees. The Trust’s…

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“The hydrangea’s big blowsy cream flowers really sing out in the half-light” Often we have a shady spot in the garden that gets neglected because we’re not quite sure how to brighten it up. This is where a container can work wonders. Not only can you experiment with plant combinations, but if you choose the right container then this once overlooked space can become a real focal point. You need plants that will shine out from the shadows, and that’s why I chose to use Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’. This shrub gives you so much. Structure from the stems and big blowsy flowers that are cream with hints of lime, so they really sing out in the half-light. It’s not just colour that can entice us in a garden, we can also…

Enjoy our late-summer tour of the West Country’s beautiful gardens, local sights and food David Hurrion, GW Magazine’s Associate Editor, joins you on this scenic garden tour HIGHLIGHTS ◼ DAY 1 Arrive at Taunton’s Castle Hotel for welcome drinks and three-course dinner. ◼ DAY 2 Our first visit is to South Wood Farm (opening exclusively), then to picturesque Lyme Regis for lunch (not included). Next it’s off to Mapperton House and Gardens for a tour. ◼ DAY 3 We join the head gardener to discover the private gardens of Batcombe House. Next to The Newt for delicious lunch in the Garden Café, then a talk and tour by the head gardener. ◼ DAY 4 Our first stop is the iconic cottage garden at East Lambrook Manor, then we visit Tintinhull…

1 To give the fine seeds the best chance to germinate well, fill a pot or tray with peat-free compost, then create a fine tilth to sow on to by sieving a little compost over the top. Take care to sow the seeds evenly by tapping the open seed packet gently to gradually tease out the seeds, or flick them from your open palm over the surface. 2 Water the pot or tray by placing it in a tray of water until the water soaks up to the surface. This way, the seed won’t be displaced. Label the pot, and then keep the compost just damp. A sheet of glass balanced on the pot helps prevent the compost drying out without reducing light, which the seeds need to germinate. 3…

“Smooth newts eat tadpoles, crustaceans and molluscs in ponds, and caterpillars, insects and slugs on land” Smooth newt, Lissotriton vulgaris The smooth, or common, newt is greyish brown, with a black-spotted yellow-orange belly. In the breeding season, males develop a crest along the length of their body, when they’re sometimes confused with great-crested newts, which are bigger and have darker, wartier skin. They eat frog tadpoles, crustaceans and molluscs in ponds, while on land they devour insects, caterpillars, worms and slugs. Smooth newts breed from April to June in ponds. The male uses his tail to ‘waft’ pheromones to the female, who then chooses whether or not to pick up a packet of sperm (known as a spermatophore) he has left for her, with which she fertilises her eggs. She…

This moreish, moist cake makes an exquisite summertime treat MAKES 8 TO 10 SLICES ◼ 175g light-brown sugar ◼ 125ml sunflower oil ◼ 3 large eggs ◼ 1 tsp lemon extract ◼ 1 tbsp poppy seeds (plus extra to sprinkle) ◼ 350g courgettes, freshly grated and squeezed ◼ 300g self-raising flour METHOD 1 Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly oil and line a 1kg loaf tin. 2 Whisk together the sugar, oil, eggs and lemon extract. 3 Stir in the poppy seeds and the grated courgette. 4 Sift and fold in the flour until it is incorporated into the courgette mix. 5 Spoon into the lined tin and bake for 40-45 mins. Insert a skewer to check it is cooked through. If it comes away clean, it’s done. If not, bake…

This month 141 Gardeners’ Question Time The BBC Radio 4 experts answer this month’s pick of readers’ queries, including: ◼ Eradicating bindweed in compost heaps ◼ What to do with bulbs after flowering ◼ Controlling slugs and snails Hollyhock rust Some plants seem to come hand-in-hand with certain diseases, to the extent that when we gardeners see them, we simply expect to find tell-tale signs of the partner disease lurking around. One such plant is hollyhock, which by this time of year is often disfigured by marks caused by rust disease. It arrived in Europe in the 1800s and causes yellow-orange or rusty brown spots, usually on the leaves, which can end up in a sorry state. It’s not fussy and infects hollyhock relatives, like hibiscus and abutilon too. The popular…

ACROSS 1 These long green-skinned salad favourites should now be ready to harvest (9) 7 The __ Project created a global garden in a Cornish clay mine (4) 8 Quercus palustris is also known as __ oak (3) 9 ‘A Shropshire __’ is a vigorous rose with a fruity scent and large pink-peach blooms (3) 10 Fragrant __ odorata attracts bees to the summer garden (6) 12 Tall deciduous conifer whose needles drop in autumn (5) 13 The male reproductive parts of a flower (7) 16 Grow this dwarf hot chilli pepper on a sunny windowsill (6) 18 Genus of mat-forming plants better known as thrift (7) 19 Common name for Achillea millefolium (6) 21 Salvia sylvestris ‘May __’ has gorgeous deep violet blooms (5) 22 ‘Red __‘ is a heritage cabbage…

A cynic, we were told by Oscar Wilde, is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. It is something I find myself musing upon with increasing regularity, especially when it comes to the countryside that surrounds us. As gardeners, aside from growing our own food, our main aim is to beautify our own patch of the landscape. It is something for which we are often given little credit. Granted, events over the past couple of years have brought most people into closer contact with that patch of earth outside their back door, mainly because for a considerable time they were allowed limited access to spaces further afield. The scales fell away from the eyes of those who had hitherto overlooked the potential of a seemingly…

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability”Sam Keen July is sometimes a quiet month in our gardens – the hustle and bustle of early summer is over, and we are settling into a gentle jog through the next few weeks. There are lots of plants doing their thing, but we need to plan and make sure there are spaces for fizzy annuals, late perennials and (of course) the first of the dahlias. The good thing is that if we have a gap then that is a shopping opportunity, and that is something that few gardeners can resist! Plant fairs, nurseries and flower shows: watch out, we are coming for you! STAR OF THE MONTH Agastache ‘Blackadder’ When presented with a plant with this name it is very difficult to avoid…

1 GLASSHOUSES SAVED Two Victorian glasshouses at risk of ‘catastrophic failure’ are safe again after the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was awarded £4 million by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. rbge.org.uk 2 MOON GARDENING Growing crops on the moon may have moved a step closer to reality as scientists persuaded thale cress to germinate in lunar soil. bit.ly/moon-crops 3 FORCES OF WEEVIL South American weevils have been released on UK waterways to help fight against invasive floating pennywort weeds. bit.ly/wonder-weevil 4 DOING THE CHARLESTON Gardening legends such as Great Dixter Head Gardener, Fergus Garrett, are headlining the Charleston Festival of the Garden, near Brighton, 14-17 July. charleston.org.uk 5 SEEDY SUCCESS A new kind of ‘sprouter’ – a receptacle for sprouting seeds – has won pupils at a Cambridge secondary school a Design Museum award. It’s…

“Beans, peas, the first tomatoes and salads all tumble from garden to kitchen with increasing rapidity. Supermarket shopping seems a dreary process in comparison” I love July most for its harvests. These days, an allotment or a vegetable patch in the back garden is the nearest that most of us get to experiencing a harvest. But it remains a magical word, bringing with it all the resonance of fulfilment and completion. Around the time of my birthday, at the beginning of July, our summer vegetable harvests begin. The first is new potatoes, which emerge white and gleaming from the soil, almost blinking in the sunlight. No potatoes ever taste as good as this first, shy crop of the year. Next comes the garlic crop that has been growing since October.…

‘It’s a pleasure to be joining this exclusive trip in a region that’s so dear to me. The East of England has some of the finest gardens in the country’ Visit an array of wonderful gardens, with fascinating tours and talks You’ll be accompanied on this garden tour by David Hurrion, GW Magazine’s Associate Editor HIGHLIGHTS ◼ DAY 1 Enjoy drinks and dinner at your hotel near Rutland Water. ◼ DAY 2 We head to Cottesbrooke Hall for a garden tour, then lunch. Next to the private garden of the Old Vicarage where you’ll meet its owner. Later enjoy drinks, dinner with wine and a talk by Nick Hamilton, owner of Barnsdale Gardens, created by his father, the late Geoff Hamilton. ◼ DAY 3 Nick will welcome you to Barnsdale Gardens,…

Garden birds such as robins, goldfinches, house sparrows, blackbirds and blue tits provide a great example of how different types of wildlife support each other throughout the food chain, and why all wildlife diversity is valuable. The British Trust for Ornithology reckons that a blue tit chick can eat the equivalent of 100 caterpillars a day. A typical garden nest box might have 10 chicks, and boxes can have as many as 16 chicks, so those busy parents could be on the look-out for 1,600 caterpillars daily: that’s why these birds are so busy in the spring! Many of the insects that garden birds feed to their young, including aphids and caterpillars, are common pests of garden plants. So, if we poison these insects with pesticides, we’re depriving our birds…

SOW ◻ Daikon and Spanish Black radishes Sow in shallow rows once the second-early potatoes are cleared. Thin out to 5cm when the first set of true leaves appear. Keep the seedlings well-watered during the summer heat for a harvest from September onwards. ◻ Beetroot seeds Continue to successionally sow. ‘Chioggia’ is always a crowd pleaser in early autumn. ◻ Maincrop peas A second direct sowing of a variety like ’Hurst Greenshaft’ will benefit from the warm soil. You’ll then be able to harvest in early September, just as autumn arrives. HARVEST ◻ Pull up any beetroot that’s slightly smaller than a tennis ball with a gentle tug. This will help to make room for younger plants. Roast whole, peel and serve with crumbled feta cheese and a tahini dressing.…

VISIT GardenersWorld.com/what-to-do-now for more advice on the best crops to sow and plant this month, and how to do it. LETTUCE ALFRESCO MIXED Lettuce Alfresco Mixed contains a mix of red and green lettuce, rocket, endive, and radicchio. These ‘cut and come again’ varieties can be picked as young leaves every 2 to 3 weeks to make delicious and colourful salads or to use in sandwich fillings 20 peat-free plug plants £10.29 £6.99 SAVE £3.30 KC1865) Call 0844 573 6054* Go to thompson-morgan.com/TM_GW89 Please add £5.99 P&P Items despatched from July. Offer closes 15/08/22. Contract for supply of goods is with Thompson & Morgan. Offer subject to availability. Full growing instructions included. We reserve the right to substitute varieties if necessary. Regretfully we are unable to ship live plants to the following…

July is when the freshness of spring and early summer starts to transition to the faded opulence of late August and September. Early-flowering plants are cut back, the roses cease flowering and the late-summer annuals have not really got going. As a result, the garden can look thin for a week or two, as though emerging at 5am from the glorious party that was spring and early summer. The answer is to cut back stragglers and to make sure that everything is properly supported so it stands upright and does not flop and suppress new growth. As with supporting plants at any time of year, the one rule is to do it before it is needed rather than afterwards as a rescue operation. Gentle, unobtrusive support as tall plants grow,…

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. Matt Biggs Matt trained at Kew and has been gardening professionally for more than 30 years. Q What could fill the gap when my hardy geraniums are cut back? Jackie, Nottinghamshire A CHRISTINE SAYS Sadly, the competitive nature of many geraniums makes it almost impossible to plant other things with them that will not be swamped by their growth. I have a similar situation in my own garden and have found the only thing that grows well there is Cyclamen hederifolium. Even if the cyclamen leaves are partly removed when…