Category Archives for Gardening

Echium spires?

Citrus

When you see new shoots & flowers on citrus, feed them – water and liquid seaweed – 30:1 – half a jamjar in a watering can.

If in doubt, basic tomato feed one time a month over winter, easter 10 days to 2 weeks, summer once a week.

Grayswood Ghost – Silver Birch – Betula utilis var. jaquemontii – Himalayan birch – Plant 3 together to stunt growth and create a nice effect.

Shade

Bleeding Heart Dicentra – Perfect for shade.  Needs moisture.  Cut back after flowering.

Dilys Geranium – plant with the above.

Polygonatum x hybridum ‘Betberg’ – Solomon’s seal.

Speirantha convallarioides – needs acid shade

Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘sem’ – what we’ve got by the office – bush – red and green.

Hostas

Clifford’s Forest Fire – very large hosta.

Hostas can be divided – either just as they start to grow, or whenever really.

Erythronium Jeanette Brickell – Dog’s tooth violet – in shade with Frittery

Acer in shade.  They hate wind.  Acer palmatum Osakazuki – Japanese Maple.  Add compost to soil, plus extra drainage – composted bracken (acidic) plus a load of grit.  This one is green in summer and goes bright red.  Acers are grafted – make sure graft is above the ground.  Heal it in – quite gently, don’t crush the drainage and compact it down.  Mulch thoroughly with pine bark – erricacious mulch.

Navelwort – Omphalodes Cappadocica – ideal under shrubs and trees

Trillium rivale – seed

Lathyrus Vernus “Alboroseus” – spring pea – from seed easily – dappled shade.

Imperial Frittery – for the woodland bit – big flowers in spring – yellow.

Pea Alderman – 6′ traditional – fill the gaps with radish and lettuce

Easter – cuttings of dahlias – cut a shoot off the tuba and pot up.

Spring flowering shrubs – cut back after flowering – honeysuckle – new wood carries next year’s flowers.

Woodland – primulas

Sept – Tulips in front garden – “Oranjezon” – Deep – 8” is not too deep.  Plant in December.  Take off the flowering stem after flowering stem after flowering – don’t let go to seed.

Tulipa acuminata – Horned tulip.  About £2.50 each.  Sept-Nov planting.

Tulipa “Wendy Akers” – nice

Euphorbia Fireglow – for woodland bit.

Polymonium Bressingham Purple – Jacob’s Ladder.  With Tangerine Geum – dappled shade.

Kohl Rabi Azure Star

Allium Atropurpureum

Oxalis Triangularis – Houseplant

Amelanchier Lamarckii – blossom, fruit, autumn colour – great tree in small garden.  In sun.

Cercis Canadensis – Forest Pansy.

Garden is 6.2 wide.  12.5m from house to office

Path from office to Shed is 8m.  Office is 3.3m  Office front to Garage is 4.4m

Rosemary – drainage – lots of horticultural grit.  Miss Jessopp’s upright – for hedging.  Pot, window sill.  Plant slightly proud of the surface of the soil in a mound.  Needs sun.

May – 2nd week – pinch out dahlias if they are growing strongly but you’re not ready to pot out.

Forgetmenots and Apricot Beauty Tulip – very nice combination.

V dry, poor soil:

Euforbia

Verbascum Christoes Yellow Lightning – 3-4′ tall

Cephalaria Gigantia – Giant Scabious – 6′ tall – v pale yellpw

Acanthus Mollis – Bear’s breaches.

Cactai

Twin spined cactur – mommillaria geminispiha

Euphorbia canariensis

Feed: lush growth – nitrogen

Flowering – potasium – general purpose tomato feed – liquid seaweed

Plants I want – lemongrass

kafir lime leaves – citrus hystrix

Lemons – prune hard in spring

high nitrogen furtalizer

water when the leaves curl and the pot is bone dry.

Calamondin Orange Citrus X microcarpa

Four seasons lemon

Tahiti lime

The citrus centre – pullborough, west sussex

Put chocks under pot so they don’t sit in water.

Cold frames?

Greenhouse?

Pond? 

Water feature?

BBQ

Daphne – shrub – smells nice.

Amalancia – beautiful flower, lovely berry, autumn colour

Carnus – bright stems, bit like dogwood

April 26th – sow parsnips, put radishes in to grow and harvest before the parsnips come up.  Sew sunflowers – one seed per plug, plant out towards the end of June.